Consensus-Driven

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Scrum focuses on a consensus-driven approach where decisions are made with mutual consent. It emphasizes that the team as a whole comes to an agreement and decides the best possible solution. This process ensures that every member is heard, valued, and contributes to the decision. Though this may be time-consuming, it leads to a more democratic and fair system that helps in building strong bonds and a sense of unity among team members, thereby substantially increasing the team's overall performance.

Guide: Consensus-Driven in Cross-Functional Teams, Scrum

The Consensus-Driven approach in Cross-Functional Teams, Scrum is vital for several reasons. Firstly, it encourages collective decision making, resulting in enhanced team collaboration and stronger commitment to decisions and actions. It also promotes individual empowerment, creating a culture of mutual respect and shared responsibility.

Consensus-Driven refers to a decision-making process in which all team members develop and agree to support a decision. This approach ensures that everyone's opinions are heard, considered, and incorporated, and that all team members support the decisions.

It works by soliciting input from all team members and reaching a decision that everyone can support. This support may not mean it’s each team member's first choice, but they can live with it and will back it.

Here are some tips to answer questions regarding Consensus-Driven in an exam:
  • Ensure you understand the concept well.
  • Remember, it's about collective agreement, not necessarily unanimous agreement.
  • Share examples of a Consensus-Driven approach in practice.
  • Discuss the benefits, such as increased team collaboration and ownership.


Remember, to answer correctly about Consensus-Driven, visualize it as a critical team interaction tool that boosts cooperation, ownership, and effective decisions.
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PSM I - Consensus-Driven Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Consensus-Driven

Question 1

The team is having trouble reaching consensus on the effort estimation for a complex user story. As the Scrum Master, what will be your approach?

Correct Answer: Organize a refinement session where team members use the Fibonacci sequence for estimation and encourage everyone to explain their reasoning.

The correct answer involves organizing a refinement session with the Fibonacci sequence to facilitate estimation, fostering a culture of understanding and consensus. Wrong_answer_1 misinterprets the strategy of decomposing user stories, which could lead to backlog inflation without solving the estimation issue. Wrong_answer_2 suggests a delay in estimation, offering a temporary escape but potentially leading to project delays. Wrong_answer_3 proposes an alternative consensus technique, Dot Voting, which is not typically used for effort estimation and may not adequately address the complexity of the task.

Question 2

Your team reached an impasse on a key decision during a sprint. The debate becomes heated and counterproductive. As the Scrum Master, what should you do first?

Correct Answer: Facilitate a discussion to create a shared understanding of the problem and help them to reach a consensus.

As a Scrum Master, the primary responsibility is to facilitate the team and help them to resolve any conflicts or blockers that might hinder the project progress. Therefore, when a key decision triggers a heated debate among the team members, the Scrum Master's first step should be to initiate a discussion to ensure everyone understands the issue at hand. This will enable the team to reach a consensus. Taking the decision yourself is not appropriate, as the role of Scrum Master is not to dictate, but to facilitate. Leaving the team to continue arguing doesn't solve the problem, instead, it might lead to increased tension and lost productivity. Escalating the situation to higher management should not be the first step; the Scrum Master should first attempt to facilitate a resolution within the team.

Question 3

The business stakeholder is imposing a critical decision instead of forming a consensus with the team. As a Scrum Master, what is your best approach?

Correct Answer: Coach the team on self-organization principles and encourage them to express their concerns and solutions directly to the stakeholder.

The correct approach for a Scrum Master when facing a situation where a business stakeholder is imposing a decision is to empower the team. By coaching the team on self-organization and encouraging open communication, the Scrum Master supports the team in becoming self-sufficient and confident in addressing issues directly with stakeholders. Suggesting temporary adherence, setting up formal review processes, or escalating to higher management may seem practical but could undermine team autonomy and self-organization principles central to Scrum.

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Other Cross Functional Teams in Scrum concepts

Autonomous Decision-MakingCollaboration and CommunicationCollective Code OwnershipContinuous Learning and ImprovementCustomer-CentricEmergent ArchitectureFull End to End functionalityRespect for PeopleRole FlexibilityShared SkillsSingle ObjectiveT-shaped Skills
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