Scrum Master Interview Questions — ChatGPT Edition

Previously, I tested how ChatGPT would answer questions from the Scrum Master Interview Guide; see below. Back in January 2023, I would not have taken the next step in the Scrum Master interview process, inviting ChatGPT to a full-size interview with several Scrum team members.

So, if the GPT 3.5 or 4.0 models still need to be better to pass the interview hurdle, what about their capability to create similar interview questions? Enjoy the following article on my excursion into creating Scrum Master interview questions with ChatGPT.

Setting up the Session for the Scrum Master Interview Questions

I ran the session on ChatGPT on Sunday, May 28, 2023, from 7:05 am CEST to 8:55 am CEST on the model GPT-4. (This requires upgrading to ChatGPT Plus.) I did not apply Grammarly to ChatGPT’s answers.

Prompt Design

I used the following prompt to trigger the session:

As Scrum Master GPT, your task is to generate five unique interview questions to identify talented Scrum Masters and Agile coaches. Each question should address a specific topic related to Scrum events, roles, or artifacts. Your questions should be open-ended and provide room for discussion while avoiding trick questions or those that can quickly be answered by browsing the Scrum Guide.

Your interview questions should adhere to specific criteria, including being less than 400 characters in length and comprising four paragraphs:

1. Question headline,
2. The question itself,
3. Background on the topic of the question based on the Scrum Guide 2020 or Agile Manifesto,
4. Suggestions for suitable answers from candidates.

You should focus on thought-provoking and actionable content beyond usual interview patterns. Your goal is to identify knowledgeable candidates among applicants who know about Scrum or Agile product development.

Additionally, please refer to relevant information about yourself provided in the prompt when crafting your questions.

ChatGPT Response

Comment SW: This is only the first of five suggested Scrum Master interview questions:

1. Question headline: Driving Adoption of Scrum in an Organization.

2. Question: How have you promoted and supported the adoption of Scrum in a traditionally non-Agile environment?

3. Background: Introducing Scrum in a traditional, non-Agile environment can be challenging. Scrum Masters are often responsible for driving this change, promoting Scrum’s benefits, and coaching the organization through the transition.

4. Suitable answers: Candidates should share specific examples of strategies they’ve used and challenges they’ve overcome. Responses could include:

• “I facilitated workshops and training sessions to educate teams and stakeholders about Scrum.”
• “I worked closely with leadership to help them understand and support the benefits of an Agile transformation.”
• “I acted as a change agent, promoting Scrum values and principles, and helped teams navigate through the transformation.”

Comment SW: The suggestions regarding acceptable answers are way too superficial, merely some vague, meta-level sequence of words—I was about to say: LLM-ish—and thus unsuited to distinguish a talented candidate from competing applicants. Let’s fine-tune the prompt.

Follow-up Prompt

Elaborate on #4 “suitable answers” of the last response, “Driving Adoption of Scrum in an Organization:”

1. The current answer is superficial and lacks hands-on examples of accomplishing the outlined tasks.
2. What workshops and training sessions may be helpful to educate teams and stakeholders?
3. What did you do to “work closely with leadership?”
4. How did you promote Scrum values and principles?

ChatGPT Response

Suitable answers: Expanding on the previous response, candidates should share specific examples of strategies they’ve used and challenges they’ve overcome. Here’s a more in-depth look at suitable responses:

• “I organized workshops and training sessions covering the basics of Scrum, its roles, events, and artifacts. I also included hands-on exercises, such as creating a mock Product Backlog, running a Sprint simulation, and conducting Retrospective meetings. Additionally, I provided training on Agile values and principles, emphasizing their importance in the Scrum framework.”
• “Working closely with leadership involved regular meetings to discuss the progress of Scrum adoption, addressing any concerns or issues they may have had. I also helped them understand their role in the Scrum framework. For example, I emphasized the importance of respecting the Scrum Team’s decisions and not interfering with the Sprint once it has started.”
• “To promote Scrum values and principles, I consistently modeled them in my interactions with the team and stakeholders. For example, I made sure to maintain transparency in all processes, fostered an environment that encouraged inspection and adaptation, and emphasized the importance of individuals and interactions over processes and tools. I also facilitated a session with the team to discuss these values and principles and how we could better embody them in our day-to-day work.”

Comment SW: That is looking much better. Next step: merge the answer fragments.

Follow-up Prompt #2

Based on the last response, go back and regenerate question #5, “Driving Adoption of Scrum in an Organization,” from the previous answer and merge it with the extended section 4, “Suitable answers.”

ChatGPT Response

Comment SW: Here comes our first ChatGPT-generated question for the Scrum Master Interview Guide:

Scrum Master Interview Guide — ChatGPT Question #1

1. Question headline: Driving Adoption of Scrum in an Organization.

2. Question: How have you promoted and supported the adoption of Scrum in a traditionally non-Agile environment?

3. Background: Introducing Scrum in a traditional, non-Agile environment can be challenging. Scrum Masters are often responsible for driving this change, promoting Scrum’s benefits, and coaching the organization through the transition.

4. Suitable answers: An ideal candidate should provide detailed examples of their previous experiences. Here are acceptable responses, merging the previous and revised suitable answers:

• “I organized workshops and training sessions about Scrum. They covered Scrum basics and involved hands-on exercises such as creating a mock Product Backlog, running Sprint simulations, or conducting Retrospective meetings. Training on Agile values and principles was a core part of these sessions.”
• “To work closely with leadership, I scheduled regular meetings to discuss the progress of Scrum adoption, where I addressed their concerns or issues. I also helped them understand their roles in the Scrum framework, especially the importance of respecting the Scrum Team’s decisions and the sanctity of the Sprint.”
• “I demonstrated the principles of Scrum by modeling them in my interactions. I maintained transparency in all processes, fostered an environment that encouraged inspection and adaptation, and emphasized the importance of individuals and interactions over processes and tools.”

Follow-up Prompt #3

Repeat the last exercise: go back to your initial responses, comprising the following questions:

• Facilitating Conflict Resolution as a Scrum Master
• Building a High-Performing Scrum Team
• Handling External Interference in the Scrum Process
• Scrum Master’s Role in Product Backlog Management

I want you to elaborate on every section 4, “suitable answers,” of the respective interview questions 1 to 4. Then, add more lessons learned and practical examples of accomplishing the tasks the candidate may share.

Finally, merge the newly generated responses for section 4 with the original four questions to deliver well-rounded Scrum Master interview questions.

ChatGPT Response

Of course, here are the four interview questions with elaborated suitable answers:

Scrum Master Interview Guide — ChatGPT Question #2

1. Question headline: Facilitating Conflict Resolution as a Scrum Master.

2. Question: Can you describe a situation where you had to facilitate conflict resolution within the Scrum Team? What was the conflict about, and how did you handle it?

3. Background: Conflict is inevitable in any team. As a Scrum Master, facilitating conflict resolution is crucial to maintain harmony and productivity in the team.

4. Suitable answers: A candidate should emphasize their ability to maintain neutrality, foster open communication, and help the team come to a resolution:

• “I ensured a safe space for the team members to express their concerns and feelings without fear of backlash. We then tried to find common ground, ensuring everyone feels heard and respected.”
• “I facilitated a workshop on effective communication and conflict resolution techniques. This training allowed the team to navigate conflicts independently over time.”
• “For a particularly complex conflict, I brought in an external mediator. This decision helped us find a resolution and learn more about handling such situations in the future.”

Comment SW: You cannot “ensure a safe space” as the team needs to create it over time within the existing culture. Nevertheless, the “suitable answers” section contains several valuable hints for spotting talent.

Scrum Master Interview Guide — ChatGPT Question #3

1. Question headline: Building a High-Performing Scrum Team.

2. Question: As a Scrum Master, what steps would you take to transform a newly formed group of individuals into a high-performing Scrum Team?

3. Background: Scrum Masters are crucial in building high-performing teams. They help foster an environment of trust, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

4. Suitable answers: Candidates should demonstrate an understanding of Scrum values and how they contribute to high-performing teams:

• “I fostered a culture of trust and collaboration within the team, using team-building exercises and workshops on effective communication and feedback.”
• “I regularly checked in with each team member individually, helping them overcome obstacles and addressing their needs and challenges.”
• “To foster continuous improvement, I made sure the team understood the value of the Retrospective meeting. We used these sessions to identify areas for improvement and create actionable plans.”

Comment SW: Again, the “suitable answers” section points in the right direction but ultimately falls short. I want more concrete suggestions like pointers to Liberating Structures, Core Protocols, or working agreements. It is a start, though. 

Scrum Master Interview Guide — ChatGPT Question #4

1. Question headline: Handling External Interference in the Scrum Process.

2. Question: Can you share an experience when you had to handle external interference during a Sprint? How did you protect the team, and what was the outcome?

3. Background: It is part of the Scrum Master’s role to shield the team from disruptions during the Sprint and maintain focus on the Sprint Goal.

4. Suitable answers: Candidates should demonstrate how they’ve protected the Scrum team and facilitated their ability to focus on the Sprint Goal:

• “I held a meeting with the interfering stakeholder, clarifying the Scrum rules and the importance of respecting the team’s focus during the Sprint.”
• “I collaborated with the Product Owner to manage stakeholder expectations, ensuring changes were appropriately prioritized in the Product Backlog for future Sprints.”
• “I introduced a Stakeholder Engagement Plan that defined the stakeholder’s input process, which helped reduce disruptions during the Sprint.”

Comment SW: This time, the “suitable answers” section contains a lot of garbage: Scrum Masters, for example, do not ensure “changes were appropriately prioritized in the Product Backlog.” Moreover, a “Stakeholder Engagement Plan that defined the stakeholder’s input process” is classic project management speak. Instead, multiple other ways of aligning with stakeholders exist, starting with the Sprint Review at the Scrum level or practices like user story mapping during product discovery.

Scrum Master Interview Guide — ChatGPT Question #5

1. Question headline: Scrum Master’s Role in Product Backlog Management.

2. Question: How do you support the Product Owner and the Developers in Product Backlog refinement?

3. Background: The Scrum Master supports the Product Owner and Developers in managing the Product Backlog, ensuring it is transparent, visible, and clear to all stakeholders.

4. Suitable answers: Candidates should highlight their understanding of the Scrum Master’s supportive role:

• “I facilitated Backlog refinement sessions, ensuring they were time-boxed and focused, which helped the Product Owner in refining the Product Backlog.”
• “I trained the Developers on writing good User Stories and Acceptance Criteria, improving the quality of items in the Backlog.”
• “I hosted a workshop on prioritization techniques, such as MoSCoW and Value vs. Effort matrix, to support the Product Owner in effectively prioritizing the Product Backlog. These techniques were then used in our refinement sessions to decide which items should be considered for the next Sprint planning.”

Comment SW: Hm. The magic about Product Backlog refinement is that the Product Owner brings the Why, the Developers decide on the How, and both haggle about the What, creating a shared understanding of why the team is heading where. Also, I do not know why the Scrum Master would organize a workshop on prioritization techniques; that is a core domain of the Product Owner, assuming they are capable. The suggestions are way too process-focused; however, the Scrum Master is not a project manager in disguise.

Let’s follow up and see if we can resolve this (I also shared my previous comment with ChatGPT.) Follow-up prompt: Regenerate the response by eliminating the project management language and perspective and apply Scrum and agile principles to the task.

ChatGPT Response:

Suitable answers: Candidates should highlight their understanding of the Scrum Master’s supportive role:

• “During the Backlog refinement sessions, I ensured an environment that promotes the discussion between the Product Owner and Developers. The Product Owner would explain the ‘Why’ behind the user stories, which would lead to the Developers brainstorming ‘How’ to implement them. This process would foster a shared understanding of the direction we’re heading.”
• “I supported the Developers in learning to ask the right questions about User Stories and Acceptance Criteria. This helped them gain a clearer understanding of each item’s purpose, increasing the quality of our implementation.”
• “To make sure that we maintain a Product Owner-led environment, I worked on empowering the Product Owner to own their role effectively. I would support them in understanding and applying prioritization techniques; however, I made sure to respect the boundaries of their role. I also helped to create a collaborative environment where the Product Owner and Developers could effectively negotiate the ‘What’ in the Backlog refinement sessions.”

Comment SW: ChatGPT tries hard to please; unfortunately, to little avail, as the answers are only marginally better than someone parroting some phrases.

Food for Thought Regarding the Scrum Master Interview: Is GPT 4.0 the Right Model for the Task?

I used the prompt also with GPT 3.5 instead of GPT 4.0. This is one of the suggestions:

Scrum Master Interview Guide — ChatGPT Question #6 (GPT 3.5)

Question headline: Scrum Artifacts — Definition of Done

Question: How do you establish and maintain a clear Definition of Done (DoD) to ensure the team consistently delivers high-quality, releasable Increments, as emphasized by the Scrum Guide?

Background: The Definition of Done is a shared understanding within the Scrum Team about what it means for a Product Backlog item to be complete. The Scrum Guide highlights the importance of a well-defined DoD to ensure consistent quality and releasable Increments.

Suitable Answers:

• Demonstrating knowledge of the purpose and benefits of a Definition of Done in ensuring the quality of delivered Increments.
• Discussing techniques for collaboratively establishing and evolving the Definition of Done, such as team workshops, continuous improvement practices, or retrospective discussions.
• Explaining how they would enforce adherence to the DoD, such as through peer reviews, automated tests, or code reviews.
• Sharing examples of how they have worked with teams to refine and improve their Definition of Done over time, resulting in higher-quality deliverables.

Comment SW: Not bad, given that it took GPT 3.5 less than 30 seconds to create all five questions. Admittedly, words like “enforce” or “deliverables” would not be my choice; nevertheless, I will need to return to the idea later.

Conclusion

The outcome of the session based on the GPT 4.0 model is mixed at best. The prompt design turned out to be significantly more challenging than expected, resulting in a poor, barely usable outcome. Interestingly, the older model is pretty close, with much less effort regarding prompt creation.

I will need to come back to this question later, then use an extended prompt creation approach. Somewhere in GPT 4.0, there are fantastic questions worthy of becoming part of the Scrum Master Interview Questions Guide; I just need to unearth them.

Have you used a GPT model to help you organize or augment the Scrum Master interview process? If so, please share your learning with us in the comments.