To limit time and cost from a contract programming firm, the product manager declares developers won't be paid for unrequested embellishments. How can the development team and scrum master ensure they are paid for all their work?

The correct answer is to ensure the task board is used as an information radiator and all stories have enough detail. This directly addresses the problem by making all work transparent and ensuring that only requested, well-defined features are built. If user stories are detailed and approved, the work performed directly corresponds to requested features, ensuring payment. Converting user story points to hours is an estimation technique that doesn't guarantee payment for all work, only estimated work, and doesn't prevent unrequested embellishments. Assigning specialists is a resource allocation strategy and doesn't inherently prevent unrequested work or ensure payment for all work. Refining the definition of done to include a verification review of the code is a quality control measure, but it doesn't prevent unrequested features from being built in the first place, nor does it guarantee payment for them.