10/11/23, 4:15 PM 20+ Must-Ask Scrum Master Interview Questions (+ Answers)

Templates Interview question templates

20+ Must-
Ask Scrum
Master
Interview
Questions
(+
Answers)
The Scrum Master role is critical when
dealing with project management
methods. So much so that the success
of an entire project is dependent on
the strength and ability of your Scrum
Master to keep your team on track and
delivering value. That’s why, when
conducting job interviews, it’s
essential to come prepared with solid
interview questions for Scrum Master
candidates that can help identify
potential strengths and challenges in
your candidates.
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 Below you’ll find some excellent
10/11/23, 4:15 PM 20+ Must-Ask Scrum Master Interview Questions (+ Answers)

scrum master interview questions to

help you learn more about your
candidate, their experience, and skill
set. You will also find some guidance
on the kind of insight each question
provides and how that can be useful.

💡 Remember: A job
interview is a two-way street
—your candidate is also
interviewing you about what
it is like to work at your
company. They need to feel
confident in their decision
to join your team. Be ready
to answer candidate
questions and share
information that’d get them
excited about accepting an
offer to be your next Scrum
Master.

Universal Scrum
Master interview
questions

1. Can you tell me about your

career journey as a Scrum
Master?

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 Beyond what’s written on the CV or
10/11/23, 4:15 PM 20+ Must-Ask Scrum Master Interview Questions (+ Answers)

job application, you’ll want to hear

directly from your candidate about
their Scrum Master background. How
did they get to where they are now?
What or who inspired them to start a
career in this industry? There’s a lot
more to a person than what’s on
paper.
Listen for: An easy-to-follow story of
how they landed a career as a Scrum
Master. Be aware of your unconscious
bias when hearing their answer — they
don’t have to have a linear career path
and there’s no right or wrong answer.
Remember that it’s okay if your
candidate has taken a somewhat
unconventional career route.
📣 Check out our essential hiring
guide on how to interview someone
2. What are you hoping to gain
from your next Scrum Master role Log Start
that you lacked inProduct
 your previous Pricing Use cases  Resources  in for
free
role?
This question can help you gauge
whether their career aspirations align New to
with your needs as an employer. It will hiring?

also help you gain a deeper Find

understanding of their motivators
which is an integral part of keeping out
employees happy, productive and how
loyal. Homerun
Listen for: Identifiers as to what
can
makes this person tick and what it will help
take to help you keep them around for you
organize
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 organize
the long haul. That could be money,
10/11/23, 4:15 PM 20+ Must-Ask Scrum Master Interview Questions (+ Answers)

growth opportunities or a passion for

the work. It’s important to listen your
without judgment and try to meet hiring
them where they’re at. workflow.
Learn
3. Which of our company values
do you most identify with and
more
why?
Ideally your candidate would have
done their research on your company
values. However, depending on your
interview stage, it’s also possible your
candidate may not be super familiar
with this information. Be sure to share
a proper introduction to your company,
including your values and what they
mean to you as a team before you ask
this question. Their answer will help
you figure out if your values are
aligned.
Listen for: Someone who is
particularly interested in the
company’s future. People who are
already thinking of ways to help your
company are valuable assets.
4. Why do you think this role with
us is the right fit for you?
Their answer will let you know if they
see themselves thriving in your
particular work environment and what
they’ll bring to the team.
Listen For: Examples of their strong
communication skills, a collaborative
spirit, and leadership qualities. Their
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 answer should also demonstrate
10/11/23, 4:15 PM 20+ Must-Ask Scrum Master Interview Questions (+ Answers)

organizational skills and attention to

detail.
5. What do you suspect will be
some of your most significant
challenges in this role?
Every role comes with its fair share of
trials and tribulations, and a Scrum
Master’s is no different. Ask this
question to get insight into what
challenges your candidate foresees.
Who knows? They may even teach you
something about the role based on
their own previous experiences.
Listen for: How they’ve previously
overcome their challenges and
limitations in the workplace. What has
been their greatest struggle? How
have they dealt with those challenges?
The vital part of their answer will tell
you how they handle adversity and
problem-solve to overcome it.
6. What’s the most exciting thing
about being a Scrum Master right
now?
Ask this question to get a sense of
what your candidate enjoys most
about being a Scrum Master and also
how they might stay up to date on the
latest industry trends. They may also
mention something they’ve recently
learned about being a Scrum Master.
Listen for: A sense of passion in their
response. An ideal candidate enjoys
what they do and should also see that
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 there is always room to learn and grow
10/11/23, 4:15 PM 20+ Must-Ask Scrum Master Interview Questions (+ Answers)

in their career.

An interview
flow you can
wrap your
head around
Organize all your job
interviews in one place with
Homerun.
Learn more

Hard skills interview

questions

7. In simple terms, how would you

explain Scrum to someone who’s
never heard it before?

The definition itself should be

relatively simple and easy to
understand. Your candidate should
also be able to speak about the
importance of Scrum and how it can
benefit your team and add value to
your business.
Listen for: Your candidate’s ability to
address ways that Scrum can help
your company specifically. They
should have a strong idea of what it
means to be a Scrum Master and why
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 it’s a vital role for an Agile team.
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Additionally, listen out for mention of

the artifacts of Scrum.
8. What are some ways that a
Scrum Master helps keep a
development team operating at a
high productivity level?
Keeping the development team
operating productively is one of the
main functions of the Scrum Master.
This question will give insight into how
much working experience your
candidate has as a Scrum Master.
Listen for: Talk of removing
roadblocks that impede the team’s
productivity. You will also want to
listen for examples like facilitating
team discussions and Daily Scrum
meetings.
9. Have you ever needed to adapt
when the Scrum process wasn’t
working for a specific project? If
so, can you explain what you did?
There are many widespread benefits
to using Scrum in your organization.
But there are also some less talked
about limitations to Scrum. It’s crucial
that your Scrum Master knows how to
recognize the limitations of the
framework and how to overcome them
as well.
Listen for: Other project management
methods your candidate may have
worked with in the past. They should
also display an ability to recognize
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 when Scrum won’t work for your team
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and how to continue the project with

another management method.
10. What is your favorite Scrum
event?
With this Scrum Master interview
question, you’re testing your
candidates’ knowledge of Scrum
events. It also gives you a subtle
insight into their style as a Scrum
Master.
Listen for: One of four different events
that take place during the Scrum
process. It can be sprint planning,
daily scrum, sprint review or sprint
retrospectives. Your candidate should
be able to elaborate on which event
they prefer and why.
11. Tell me your definition of what
a Scrum Master is and what they
do for a company like ours.
This is a crucial question to display
how well the candidate understands
the responsibilities of the role they’re
interviewing for. It will also provide
insight as to how experienced they are
in the industry.
Listen for: An understanding of and
respect for Scrum's rules, values and
principles. You’ll want to learn how
they remove distractions from their
work environment and ensure their
team delivers real value. They should
also put a focus on leading their team,
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 not managing. They understand their
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role is to manage roadblocks to make

sure their team stays productive.
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Soft skill Scrum

Master questions

12. How do you handle

collaboration with people and
their varied personality types?
The answer to this question will give
you an idea if your candidate is going
to be able to work well with your team.
Working in a collaborative
environment requires shared mutual
respect among everyone — no matter
the seniority level.
Listen for: Talk of communication,
mutual respect, teamwork and
participation. Your candidate should
display a sense of empathy, patience
and openness in their response to how
they work with others.
📣 A Guide to Diversity, Equity &
Inclusion in the workplace
13. How do you respond to and
take on constructive feedback?
This Scrum Master interview question
is all about feedback, which is a vital
part of any team member’s
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 professional growth and development.
10/11/23, 4:15 PM 20+ Must-Ask Scrum Master Interview Questions (+ Answers)

Feedback is tricky but as an employer,

you need to know that your candidate
can embrace any constructive
feedback in a productive way, and also
views feedback as a positive thing.
Listen for: Someone who speaks of
feedback as an opportunity for growth
and development. They can both
receive and deliver feedback
professionally and positively.
14. What’s the most valuable
feedback you’ve received in your
career or in your personal life?
Continuing on with the theme of the
importance of feedback, ask this
interview question to get insight into
what your candidate has learned from
feedback in the past and how they’ve
improved with it. You can make this
question more interesting by opening
it up to their personal life as well —
there’s no doubt the feedback we get
in our personal lives can positively
impact our professional lives too.
Listen for: A real-life scenario and
how they took on this feedback to
improve themselves. And remember,
an example from outside of the
workplace could be incredibly
enlightening!
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10/11/23, 4:15 PM 20+ Must-Ask Scrum Master Interview Questions (+ Answers)

15. How do you handle conflict

within your team?
It’s only natural that conflict among
team members will happen. When it
does, it’s important that a Scrum
Master can resolve it quickly, with
calmness, empathy and a healthy dose
of communication.
Listen for: Your candidate’s ability to
de-escalate a situation. You will also
want to pay attention to their conflict
resolution skills and how they manage
to take care of their team members in
the face of an internal issue. It would
be helpful if they mention one-to-one
meetings, encouraging team members
to come up with a solution and
bringing the issue to leadership only if
necessary.
16. How do you stay organized
when managing multiple projects,
meetings, resources and tasks?
This is a big question to answer but
nonetheless an important one to ask!
Your Scrum Master candidate should
display prioritization and smart multi-
tasking skills. Additionally, they
should be able to identify tools and
techniques to maintain organization.
Listen for: Their ability to prioritize
their workload, manage their time well,
delegate to their team and
communicate to stakeholders.
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10/11/23, 4:15 PM 20+ Must-Ask Scrum Master Interview Questions (+ Answers)

17. Which Scrum values do you

most identify with and why?
The five Scrum values — commitment,
courage, focus, openness and respect
— are what drives a Scrum team and
the Scrum Master’s success. A Scrum
Master candidate should be very
familiar with these values and have a
strong connection to some or all of
them. They should also be able to
explain why any of these values are
important to them.Listen for: How
they have applied these five values to
their work in the past and how they
will carry them with them in future
roles, namely as your potential Scrum
Master.

Scenario-based
Scrum Master
interview questions

18. Tell me about a time when you

managed a project that didn’t
meet its initial objectives?
The goal of this question is to learn
how a Scrum candidate handles
mistakes in their role. The truth is,
mistakes are inevitable —
communication may break down, team
members may run into issues or
details may be missed. What you’re
looking for in a candidate is how they
deal with those roadblocks to come
out on top.
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10/11/23, 4:15 PM 20+ Must-Ask Scrum Master Interview Questions (+ Answers)

Listen for: A real-world scenario. You

want to hear that they displayed
sound judgment, applied logic to the
situation, and collaborated with their
team to resolve the problem.
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19. What do you do when a team
member falls behind on their
tasks for a sprint?
It’s likely your candidate will
encounter this at some point or
another in their career and it’s their
job as Scrum Master to keep
everything in check. They need the
ability to be empathetic while also
figuring out a fix for the issue so the
task can be completed successfully
and on schedule.
Listen for: How they approach the
situation with the team member,
ideally in a one-to-one conversation.
They should also mention how they
work to create an open and
understanding work environment
while providing suggestions and
support for team members.
20. Tell me about a work
accomplishment you’re most
proud of.
This is your candidate's chance to
brag and demonstrate their abilities. It
will provide you with a glimpse into
their personality as well as their
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 passion and dedication to their work
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as a Scrum Master.
Listen for: Excitement or pride as they
talk about their accomplishments.
Listen out for what motivates them
and consider if you as an employer
can meet that motivational need — Is
it money for them and their family?
Promotion potential?
21. What's your experience with
managing remote teams?
In an increasingly remote-first world,
it’s likely that you’re looking for a
Scrum Master with remote work
experience or a preference for remote
work. Your candidate will need to
understand the limitations of remote
work and how to excel despite them.
Listen for: Examples of strong
communication skills, adaptability,
organizational skills and solution-
based action. Also make sure they
understand the importance of being
accessible to their remote team
members.
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onboarding
22. What would you do if a team
member expressed that they find
sprint planning to be a waste of
time?
Being a Scrum Master comes with a
lot of responsibilities — one being the
infamous sprint planning. These
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 meetings are incredibly importance to
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Agile teams and help make sure a

Scrum team runs smoothly. It’s
possible that a team member may
become bored of the meetings and
eventually skeptical of their
effectiveness. It’s a Scrum Master’s
job to get to the bottom of this.
Listen for: What the candidate does to
come up with a solution. They should
first try to understand why the team
member is feeling this way. They
should also communicate to them that
each Scrum team member is integral
to the project, as are Scrum planning
meetings.

Organize your Scrum

Master interview
process with Homerun
Now that you’ve armed yourself with
the essential interview questions for a
Scrum Master, it’s time to get set up
with the right hiring tool. 🎉
Homerun helps you organize and
streamline your interview process,
creating a positive experience for
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Keep team interview notes in one,
centralized place
Schedule candidate interviews and
invite your team to join in
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10/11/23, 4:15 PM 20+ Must-Ask Scrum Master Interview Questions (+ Answers)

Auto-confirm candidate interviews

and much more.
Ready to get started? 💪

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