The answer is to facilitate a team retrospective where members can discuss collaboration norms and decision-making processes. This is correct because the agile framework relies on self-organization and team ownership; imposing a manager’s solution would undermine that principle. Instead, a retrospective directly addresses the root cause of disengagement by restoring psychological safety, allowing the team to collaboratively redefine how decisions are made, which naturally reverses the velocity drop. On the PMP exam, this scenario tests your understanding of servant leadership and the agile principle of empowering the team to solve its own process issues. A common trap is choosing to coach the dominating member privately, which may feel efficient but bypasses team ownership and can create resentment. Remember the memory tip: “Retro before reproach”—always let the team fix its own collaboration norms before singling out an individual.
PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
This PMP practice question tests your understanding of people — leading projects. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Your agile team has been self-organizing, but recently a team member with strong technical skills has been dominating discussions and decisions, causing others to feel disengaged. The sprint velocity is starting to drop. What is the BEST approach to address this?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Facilitate a team retrospective where members can discuss collaboration norms and decision-making processes
The correct answer is A because the agile framework emphasizes self-organization and team ownership. Facilitating a retrospective directly addresses the root cause—disengagement due to dominance—by enabling the team to collaboratively redefine collaboration norms and decision-making processes, which restores psychological safety and can reverse the velocity drop without imposing external control.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 team retrospective where members can discuss collaboration norms and decision-making processes
Why this is correct
The team can collectively agree on how to ensure everyone's voice is heard.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Ignore the behavior as long as the team is still delivering
Why it's wrong here
Ignoring it will likely worsen disengagement and velocity.
✗
Reassign tasks to ensure equal participation by controlling the workload
Why it's wrong here
This undermines self-organization and may cause resentment.
✗
Speak privately with the dominating team member and ask them to step back
Why it's wrong here
This addresses symptoms but not the underlying team dynamics.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose a direct, managerial fix (like speaking privately with the dominant member) because it feels efficient, but the PMP exam tests the agile principle that the team, not the manager, owns its process and norms.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In agile frameworks like Scrum, the retrospective is a time-boxed event (typically 1.5 hours for a 2-week sprint) where the team inspects its processes and creates a plan for improvements. The Scrum Master acts as a facilitator, not a commander, ensuring all voices are heard. A real-world scenario might involve a senior developer dominating pair programming sessions; the retrospective allows the team to agree on a 'round-robin' decision-making rule or a 'talking token' to balance participation, directly impacting sprint velocity by re-engaging all members.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this PMP question in full detail.
People — Leading Projects — This question tests People — Leading Projects — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Facilitate a team retrospective where members can discuss collaboration norms and decision-making processes — The correct answer is A because the agile framework emphasizes self-organization and team ownership. Facilitating a retrospective directly addresses the root cause—disengagement due to dominance—by enabling the team to collaboratively redefine collaboration norms and decision-making processes, which restores psychological safety and can reverse the velocity drop without imposing external control.
What should I do if I get this PMP question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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