PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
During a daily standup, a developer mentions she is blocked because two senior engineers are in a heated argument about the technical approach for a critical feature. The disagreement has been ongoing for two days and is affecting the team's velocity. As the Scrum Master, what should you do?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Facilitate a meeting between the two engineers to help them reach a consensus, and involve other team members if needed
The Scrum Master's role is to facilitate conflict resolution and remove impediments. By facilitating a meeting between the two engineers, the Scrum Master helps them reach a consensus without imposing a solution, which aligns with servant leadership. Option B is wrong because the Scrum Master should not impose technical decisions; that undermines team autonomy. Option C is wrong because advising the developer to wait does not address the root cause and further delays the team. Option D is wrong because escalating to the sponsor bypasses the team's ability to self-organize and is not appropriate for technical disagreements.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Facilitate a meeting between the two engineers to help them reach a consensus, and involve other team members if needed
Why this is correct
Facilitating conflict resolution is a key Scrum Master responsibility.
- ✗
Decide on the technical approach yourself and assign tasks accordingly to unblock the team
Why it's wrong here
Imposing a solution undermines team ownership and may not be optimal.
- ✗
Advise the developer to wait until the disagreement is resolved before proceeding
Why it's wrong here
This does not address the conflict and delays progress.
- ✗
Escalate the issue to the project sponsor to resolve the technical disagreement
Why it's wrong here
The Scrum Master should facilitate resolution within the team first.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Leading Teams and Empowering Team Members
Key term
Daily Standup
A short, time-boxed daily meeting where team members share progress, plans, and blockers to stay aligned.
Key term
Project Team Management
Project Team Management is the process of leading, coordinating, and supporting a group of people to complete project tasks and achieve project objectives.
About these practice questions
One of 800 original PMP practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PMP practice question is part of Courseiva's free PMI certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PMP exam.