Collaborative Decision Making

Correct Answer: Project manager should facilitate a discussion allowing each team member to express their viewpoint on both options. Following this, a joint decision should be made.

The role of a project manager, especially in a situation of conflict, is to foster communication and inclusive decision-making. The best approach is to facilitate a discussion allowing each team member to express their viewpoint on both options. This way, the entire team can make a joint decision based on the merits of both options and the opinion of all parties involved, creating a sense of ownership and collective responsibility. This approach aids mutual understanding and collaboration. The option where the project manager ignores the discussions and makes a swift decision himself may save time, but it's not inclusive decision-making, potentially causing resentment amongst team members. Asking for an external consultant's advice may be useful but could sabotage the team's skills and insight and can have financial implications. Selecting the safe option without discussion is also not ideal as it dismisses the potential upside of the new and promising technology.

Correct Answer: Facilitate a decision-making meeting and ask each member to share their viewpoint and potential solutions.

The best action for the Scrum Master to take in this scenario is to facilitate a decision-making meeting and ask each member to share their viewpoint and potential solutions. This supports the Agile principle that encourages face-to-face conversations and collective decision-making process. It ensures that all viewpoints are considered, which can lead to a better solution, a more cohesive team and ultimately a successful product. Implementing the plan without a team discussion is not the agile way, as it does not encourage transparency and collaboration. Ignoring the dispute and leaving the team to handle it on their own would not be proactive or supportive, roles a Scrum Master should always play. Choosing the plan that most of the team agrees with without addressing the minority's concerns would disregard important viewpoints, which may be necessary for decision making or for revealing potential pitfalls the team hadn't thought of.

Correct Answer: You motivate a team discussion with the purpose of understanding the pros and cons of each solution, aiming for the decision to be reached by the team collectively.

The best course of action when finding it challenging to agree on a complex part of design in an Agile team is to motivate a team discussion with the purpose of understanding the pros and cons of each solution, aiming for the decision to be reached by the team collectively. This decision-making approach is commensurate with the Agile principle of harnessing the collective intelligence and promoting collaborative decision making. Using the quickest solution to implement may result in overlooking some potential risks or challenges. Choosing the solution provided by the most experienced team member doesn't guarantee the best solution, as this disregards the collective intelligence. Similarly, disregarding all solutions provided and bringing in a new one does not engage the team in the decision-making process, which is against Agile's emphasis on collaboration and team ownership.