PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
Two senior developers on your agile team have a conflict about the technical approach for a user story. This conflict is causing delays. What should the project manager 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 developers to discuss and resolve the conflict collaboratively
PMI recommends conflict resolution through collaboration. The PM should facilitate a discussion to reach a consensus that aligns with project goals.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Ask the product owner to prioritize the story and bypass the developers' discussion
Why it's wrong here
This approach inappropriately shifts a technical decision to the Product Owner, whose primary role is to define and prioritize product backlog items based on business value, not to dictate technical implementation details. Bypassing the developers' discussion undermines team autonomy and self-organization, preventing the team from collaboratively finding the most effective technical solution and potentially leading to a suboptimal outcome that lacks team buy-in.
- ✗
Decide the technical approach yourself and assign it to the developers
Why it's wrong here
Imposing a technical solution from above disempowers the self-organizing agile team and reduces their ownership and commitment to the chosen approach. This autocratic method fails to address the root cause of the conflict, potentially fostering resentment and stifling innovation by not leveraging the collective technical expertise and diverse perspectives of the developers, which are crucial for optimal problem-solving in an agile environment.
- ✗
Separate the developers onto different teams to avoid further conflict
Why it's wrong here
Separating team members is a conflict avoidance tactic rather than a resolution strategy, failing to address the underlying technical disagreement or interpersonal dynamics. This action disrupts established team cohesion, potentially leading to reduced productivity, increased communication overhead, and a loss of shared knowledge within the original team. It also sets a precedent that conflicts are to be avoided rather than constructively resolved, which is detrimental to long-term team health.
- ✓
Facilitate a meeting between the developers to discuss and resolve the conflict collaboratively
Why this is correct
As a project manager or Scrum Master, facilitating a collaborative discussion empowers the developers to leverage their collective technical expertise to find the optimal solution. This approach fosters mutual understanding, promotes team ownership and buy-in for the chosen solution, and strengthens team cohesion by demonstrating trust in their problem-solving abilities, aligning with agile values of self-organization and collaboration. It directly addresses the conflict, turning it into an opportunity for growth.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to the PMP Exam and Project Management Basics
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
Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution is the process of addressing and resolving disagreements between team members or stakeholders to maintain a productive and collaborative project environment.
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Same concept, more angles
2 more ways 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. Two senior developers on your agile team have a disagreement about the best technical approach for a user story. The disagreement is causing delays and tension in the team. What should the scrum master do?
easy- ✓ A.Facilitate a meeting where both developers present their approaches and the team decides.
- B.Decide on the technical approach yourself to resolve the conflict quickly.
- C.Ask the developers to resolve it on their own without intervention.
- D.Escalate the issue to the product owner for a decision.
Why A: The scrum master should facilitate a collaborative decision-making process, allowing the team to evaluate both approaches and reach a consensus. Option B is incorrect because the scrum master should not impose a technical solution; that undermines the team's self-organization. Option C is incorrect because leaving the conflict unresolved may cause further delays. Option D is incorrect because the product owner is not responsible for technical decisions; the team should decide.
Variation 2. Two senior developers on your Scrum team have a disagreement about the technical approach for a user story. The disagreement is causing delays in sprint execution. As the Scrum Master, what should you do FIRST?
easy- A.Escalate the issue to the product owner
- B.Remove both developers from the story and assign it to someone else
- C.Decide on the approach yourself to end the conflict quickly
- ✓ D.Facilitate a meeting between the developers to discuss and resolve the issue
Why D: The Scrum Master should facilitate a discussion to help the developers resolve the conflict constructively and reach a consensus.
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.