Answering: “You are the Scrum Master of a Scrum Team that has one Developer who disagrees with team decisions. Their disagreements are becoming disruptive and slowing progress. The Developer often returns to earlier team decisions and re-opens the issue.”

The Scrum Master should help the team raise and resolve the issue itself, using the Sprint Retrospective and direct conversations. Fixing it for them, escalating to HR or forcing compliance undercuts self-management.

Exam Question

You are the Scrum Master of a Scrum Team that has one Developer who disagrees with team decisions. Their disagreements are becoming disruptive and slowing progress. The Developer often returns to earlier team decisions and re-opens the issue. What are two ways to go about this problem? (choose the best two answers)

• A. At the Sprint Retrospective you observe whether the topic is raised. If it doesn’t happen, you check on how comfortable everybody is with the way team decisions are made.
• B. To every team member expressing this concern you suggest raising this with the full team. You offer to help initiate the conversation but not to resolve the concern yourself.
• C. You go to the Human Resources department and ask them to have a conversation with the Developer based on the issues the team has raised.
• D. You take the Developer aside to express your concern over their disagreements and tell them to act as a team player and to comply with the team’s decision.
• E. You organize an offsite team building activity in order to establish a foundation of trust. You observe whether the problem persists after the offsite activity.

Correct Answer

A and B.

Why This Is the Correct Answer

The Scrum Master is accountable for the Scrum Team’s effectiveness and serves the team by coaching its members in self-management. Option A uses the Sprint Retrospective, where the team inspects individuals and interactions, and checks whether people feel safe to raise the issue. If nobody does, the Scrum Master opens a conversation about how the team makes decisions. Option B encourages team members to take the concern to the whole team, with the Scrum Master helping to start the conversation but not owning the outcome. Both build the team’s capacity to handle conflict. Scrum values like openness and respect support this approach.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

C. Ask HR to talk with the Developer. Escalating outside the team before the team has tried to resolve it removes ownership and can damage trust.

D. Tell the Developer privately to comply with the team. Ordering someone to comply treats the Scrum Master as a manager. It may also silence useful dissent rather than resolve it.

E. Organize an offsite team building event. A social event may build trust, but it does not address how the team makes and revisits decisions.

Exam Tip

In PSM II conflict scenarios, prefer answers where the Scrum Master facilitates and the team resolves the problem. Escalating or directing is rarely the first move.

Key Takeaways

• Teams resolve internal conflict; the Scrum Master facilitates.
• The Sprint Retrospective is a natural place to inspect team dynamics.
• Directing compliance is not coaching.