Identifying Impediments

Correct Answer: Facilitate a constructive discussion allowing every team member to voice their opinion, then lead the team to reach a consensus.

The role of Scrum Master is to facilitate discussions and help the team reach a consensus. This is why the answer 'Facilitate a constructive discussion allowing every team member to voice their opinion, then lead the team to reach a consensus' is the most appropriate. The other options are flawed: 'Make the decision on behalf of the team to resolve the disagreement quickly' is against the principle of self-organization in Scrum, a Scrum Master should not make decisions for the team rather helps the team make decisions. 'Ignore the disagreement, it's important to allow the team to learn from their mistakes' can lead to further conflicts and block progress even more. Finally, 'Ask for help from the Product Owner' wouldn't solve the issue directly as the Product Owner is not responsible for resolving team conflicts or making technical decisions, that's the team's responsibility.

Correct Answer: Facilitate a root-cause analysis with the team to identify underlying problems and find solutions.

The Scrum Master's role is to facilitate and support the development team, not to enforce overtime or to escalate issues to senior management at the first instance. The best approach is to conduct a root cause analysis with the team, as this will help identify the core issues that are leading to consistent under-delivery. There could be numerous reasons for underperformance, such as technical debt, lack of necessary skills or tools, or simply overestimating the team's capacity during Sprint planning. Conducting a root cause analysis will help the Scrum Master to understand, and more importantly, address these underlying issues. Reducing the team's commitment in the next Sprint may seem like a solution, but without understanding the reasons for the underperformance, the same issues could continue to hamper delivery in subsequent Sprints.

Correct Answer: Private discussion with the individual, encouraging them to let others speak and take part in decisions.

The scrum master is a facilitator for the team and the role includes promoting healthy team dynamics. If a team member is dominating discussions, the scrum master should definitely intervene. The best course of action is to have a private discussion with the individual, encouraging them to let others speak and take part in decisions. This approach is aimed at solving the issue without creating unnecessary conflict in the team. On the other hand, letting it continue because they are the most experienced team member is not healthy for the team dynamics and does not promote equal contribution. Publicly criticizing the individual would likely cause resentment and can backfire, causing more harm than good. Lastly, excluding the individual from the scrum meetings is not an option, as team members need to work together and cooperate rather than exclude others.