What to Do First When Developers Argue Over Technical Approach
You are managing a hybrid project to develop a new mobile app. During the daily stand-up, two senior developers get into a heated argument about the technical approach for integrating a third-party API. The disagreement is causing tension and delaying progress. What should you do FIRST?
Quick Answer
The correct first step is to schedule a meeting with both developers to listen to their perspectives and facilitate a resolution. This approach aligns with the PMP exam’s emphasis on servant leadership and emotional intelligence, where the project manager acts as a facilitator rather than a dictator. By first seeking to understand the root cause of the technical argument, you avoid escalating prematurely or imposing a solution without collaboration, which would damage team trust. On the PMP exam, this scenario tests your ability to apply conflict resolution techniques, specifically the “collaborate/problem-solve” mode from Thomas-Kilmann, and it often appears in questions about managing stakeholder expectations and team dynamics. A common trap is choosing to escalate to a sponsor or impose your own technical decision, but the correct path is always to listen first. Memory tip: “Listen before you leap” — the first step to resolve any technical argument is always to gather data through active listening.
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is choosing escalation or unilateral decision-making as the first step, when PMP expects the PM to facilitate direct resolution first.
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
✓
Schedule a meeting with both developers to listen to their perspectives and facilitate a resolution
In a hybrid project using agile practices, the project manager's first responsibility when a conflict arises is to address it directly by facilitating a resolution, which starts with listening to both parties' perspectives. Scheduling a meeting with both developers allows the PM to understand the technical disagreement, mediate, and guide the team toward a consensus, preserving team cohesion and progress. This aligns with PMP's emphasis on servant leadership, emotional intelligence, and conflict management.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Ignore the argument and hope it resolves on its own
Why it's wrong here
Ignoring the conflict lets tension and delay persist, and the stand-up's purpose of surfacing impediments is defeated. It is tempting when a dispute looks like a healthy technical debate that will settle itself, but that applies to brief exchanges, not a heated argument blocking progress.
- ✗
Escalate the issue to the functional managers of the developers
Why it's wrong here
Escalation hands a technical disagreement to managers who cannot resolve the API design question, and it damages the team's ability to self-organise. It is tempting because escalation suits scope, resource or authority conflicts beyond the team's control, where a functional manager genuinely owns the decision.
- ✓
Schedule a meeting with both developers to listen to their perspectives and facilitate a resolution
Why this is correct
Facilitating a meeting lets both developers present their technical reasoning and reach an agreed approach, resolving the conflict at its source. Listening first preserves the relationship and unblocks progress, rather than imposing a decision or escalating prematurely.
- ✗
Decide on the technical approach yourself and assign tasks accordingly
Why it's wrong here
Imposing a solution removes the developers' ownership and risks a technically poor choice, since the project manager lacks their API expertise. It is tempting when a decision is urgent and the team is deadlocked, but that scenario calls for facilitating consensus or a technical spike, not unilateral assignment.
Go deeper
Related to this question
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Risk Management and Issue Resolution
Key term
Project Management Plan
A formal, approved document that defines how a project is executed, monitored, controlled, and closed, serving as the single source of truth for the project team.
Key term
Organizational Change Management
Organizational Change Management (OCM) is the structured approach to preparing, supporting, and guiding people through changes in an organization to ensure lasting success.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on PMP
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. You are managing a hybrid software development project. During the daily stand-up, two senior developers get into a heated argument about the best technical approach for a critical feature. The argument is delaying the meeting and causing tension. As the project manager, what should you do first?
medium- A.Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision
- B.Let the team resolve the conflict on their own without intervention
- C.Decide on the technical approach yourself to move forward quickly
- ✓ D.Intervene, acknowledge both perspectives, and schedule a separate meeting to resolve the conflict
Why D: As the project manager in a hybrid project, you must facilitate conflict resolution without imposing a technical decision that exceeds your role. By acknowledging both perspectives and scheduling a separate meeting, you keep the daily stand-up focused on coordination while ensuring the technical debate is resolved by the appropriate experts, preserving team autonomy and project momentum.
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official PMI exam blueprint
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.