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PMP Practice: Organize around team strengths

Question 1 of 4 in Empower Team Members and Stakeholders

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Wanjiku Njoroge is leading an agile project at Colossal Wombat Labs, a design software startup. During sprint planning, senior developer Zephyr Chakraborty-Stone proposes a technical solution for implementing a complex animation feature. Junior developer Lucía Delgado-Vega, who has deep expertise in animation algorithms from her academic background, suggests a different approach that she believes would be more efficient. Dante dismisses her idea, saying 'We've always done it this way.' Lila becomes quiet and stops contributing to the discussion. The team has established working agreements that emphasize collaboration and psychological safety. Which approach would be MOST effective for Wanjiku to empower the team and ensure all voices are heard?
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Correct answer: Invite Lila to explain her proposed approach to the team, then facilitate a discussion where both technical solutions are evaluated based on their merits

Explanation

In an agile environment that values psychological safety and collaboration, the project manager should create immediate opportunities for all team members to contribute, especially when someone has been shut down. By inviting Lila to explain her approach and facilitating an objective discussion, Wanjiku empowers both team members, validates Lila's expertise, and demonstrates that ideas should be evaluated on merit rather than seniority. This action addresses the immediate power imbalance, reinforces the team's working agreements in practice, and enables better technical decisions through diverse perspectives. The scenario specifically mentions Lila has deep expertise in the relevant area and that the team values psychological safety, making it essential to restore her voice in the current discussion rather than deferring it.

**Why not B:** This approach reinforces hierarchical decision-making based on tenure rather than expertise, contradicts the team's working agreements around collaboration, and misses the opportunity to leverage Lila's specialized knowledge. Agile teams make better decisions when they draw on all available expertise, and empowerment means ensuring everyone's ideas are evaluated fairly regardless of experience level.

**Why not C:** While one-on-one coaching can be valuable, addressing this privately after the meeting leaves the problematic dynamic unresolved in front of the team and signals that Lila's input isn't valued in the current discussion. This delays empowerment when immediate action is needed, and frames the issue as Lila's communication skills rather than the team's collaboration pattern. The team needs to see inclusive behavior modeled in real-time.

**Why not D:** Simply reminding the team of their working agreements without taking concrete action to restore Lila's voice treats collaboration as a checkbox rather than a practice. The team has already violated their agreements, and moving forward without addressing the dynamic reinforces the dismissive behavior. Empowerment requires actively creating space for participation, not just referencing principles, especially when someone has been silenced.

Key Concept

This question covers Organize around team strengths under Empower Team Members and Stakeholders (People).

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