You are the Scrum Master for four teams working from the same Product Backlog.

 As the Scrum Master, your role is to serve the Scrum Team by helping them to work effectively and deliver value. You are not responsible for managing the work or assigning tasks to the Developers. You should respect the self-organization and autonomy of the Developers, and support them in finding their own solutions to the problem. You should also facilitate collaboration and communication among the Developers and with other stakeholders, such as Phil and the Product Owner.

Some reasons why the other options are not correct are:

A: Preparing the Sprint Backlogs each day for the teams so Phil can spend some time in each team. This option is not correct because it violates the Scrum framework and the Scrum Master role. The Sprint Backlog is owned and managed by the Developers, not by the Scrum Master. The Scrum Master should not interfere with or dictate how the Developers plan and execute their work. The Scrum Master should also not impose a solution that may not be optimal or feasible for the teams or for Phil.

B: Allocate Phil to one team per Sprint, so that over four Sprints every team will have had the support it requires. This option is not correct because it violates the Scrum framework and the Scrum Master role. The Scrum Master should not allocateresources or assign tasks to the teams or to Phil. The Scrum Master should also not impose a solution that may not be aligned with the Product Owner’s priorities or the teams’ needs.

D: Ask Phil for a plan to hire and train additional people in his domain, and in the meantime work with the Product Owner and Developers to re-prioritize the work so that tasks not depending on Phil can be done first. This option is not correct because it violates the Scrum framework and the Scrum Master role. The Scrum Master should not ask Phil to do something that may be beyond his authority or responsibility. The Scrum Master should also not work with the Product Owner and Developers to re-prioritize the work, as this is the Product Owner’s accountability. The Scrum Master should respect the Product Owner’s decisions on what is valuable and what is not, and support the Developers in delivering that value.

References:

What is a Scrum Master?| Scrum.org

What is a Sprint Backlog?| Scrum.org

Who is responsible for dependency management?| Scrum.org

[Managing Dependencies in Scrum - Scrum Alliance]