CSM Scrum Master Core Competencies Practice Question
A newly formed Scrum Team is experiencing intense interpersonal conflict during Daily Scrums, frequently devolving into finger-pointing regarding missed targets. The team looks to the Scrum Master to assign individual accountability and arbitrate disputes. What is the most effective coaching stance?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often choose to act as an arbiter or mediator to resolve the conflict directly, failing to realize this prevents the team from developing their own conflict-resolution skills.
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
✓
Coach the team to reflect on their collaboration agreements during the Retrospective and take ownership of their interpersonal dynamics.
Scrum Masters coach teams toward self-organization rather than acting as command-and-control managers who resolve conflicts or assign blame. By facilitating root-cause problem solving and encouraging direct peer communication, the Scrum Master builds sustainable psychological safety. This empowers the cross-functional group to address systemic impediments independently and mature their internal collaboration dynamics over time.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Act as an active mediator during every Daily Scrum to immediately shut down arguments and assign tasks to individual contributors.
Why it's wrong here
Stepping in as a permanent mediator creates unhealthy dependency and shifts the team away from true self-organization toward command-and-control management. The Scrum Master should coach the team to resolve their own interpersonal friction rather than taking over their communication channels.
- ✗
Escalate the behavioral issues directly to the functional engineering managers to implement formal performance improvement plans.
Why it's wrong here
Escalating to functional managers imposes external performance management, which removes ownership from the team and contradicts Scrum's self-management principle. This stance would suit persistent misconduct requiring HR or disciplinary process, not routine conflict the Scrum Master should coach the team to resolve.
- ✗
Suspend the Daily Scrum event indefinitely until the developers complete mandatory corporate conflict resolution training sessions.
Why it's wrong here
Suspending a foundational Scrum event removes the primary inspection and adaptation mechanism needed to address the impediment. The Scrum Master must maintain the integrity of Scrum events while helping the team adapt their communication norms within the framework.
- ✓
Coach the team to reflect on their collaboration agreements during the Retrospective and take ownership of their interpersonal dynamics.
Why this is correct
Guiding the team to address underlying behavioral patterns during the Retrospective fosters long-term self-management and mutual accountability. This approach encourages the developers to build constructive communication habits rather than relying on external authority figures to police their daily interactions.
Visual reference
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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 Scrum Alliance exam blueprint
This CSM practice question is part of Courseiva's free Scrum Alliance 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 CSM exam.