SSM Supporting Team Events Practice Question
A Scrum Master notices that during the Iteration Retrospective, the same two team members dominate the conversation while others remain silent. The team is not identifying meaningful improvements. What should the Scrum Master do?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is thinking the Scrum Master should directly address the dominant individuals or accept the imbalance, rather than using neutral facilitation techniques to encourage balanced participation.
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
✓
Use a structured retrospective format such as silent brainstorming or round-robin to ensure all voices are heard.
The Scrum Master should use structured facilitation techniques to balance participation and surface diverse viewpoints. This helps the team identify more meaningful improvements and fosters psychological safety. Directly confronting individuals, fragmenting the event, or doing nothing would all fail to create an inclusive retrospective environment.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Let the team continue as is, since the dominant members may simply have more to contribute and the Scrum Master should not interfere.
Why it's wrong here
Allowing the same voices to dominate prevents the team from benefiting from diverse perspectives and can lead to groupthink. The Scrum Master is responsible for facilitating effective team events, including ensuring balanced participation. Non-interference in this case would fail to address a clear dysfunction and miss an opportunity to improve the team's retrospective process.
- ✓
Use a structured retrospective format such as silent brainstorming or round-robin to ensure all voices are heard.
Why this is correct
Using a structured format like silent brainstorming or round-robin encourages equal participation and reduces the influence of dominant personalities. This is a proven facilitation technique that helps the team generate more diverse insights and identify meaningful improvements. The Scrum Master's role is to create an environment where everyone can contribute, especially in the Retrospective.
- ✗
End the Retrospective early and schedule a separate meeting with the quiet team members to gather their input privately.
Why it's wrong here
Ending the Retrospective early prevents the team from collectively identifying improvements, and holding separate meetings undermines the team's unity and shared ownership of the retrospective outcomes. The Scrum Master should facilitate the whole team's participation within the event, not fragment it. Private meetings may also make quiet members uncomfortable.
- ✗
Ask the dominant members to stop talking so much and explicitly invite the quieter members to speak.
Why it's wrong here
Directly asking dominant members to stop talking can embarrass them and create tension, while explicitly calling on quieter members may pressure them and reduce psychological safety. The Scrum Master should use neutral facilitation techniques that naturally balance participation without singling out individuals. This approach can damage team dynamics and trust.
About these practice questions
This SSM question is part of Courseiva's 385-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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 Scaled Agile exam blueprint
This SSM practice question is part of Courseiva's free Scaled Agile 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 SSM exam.