You join a new Scrum Team as Scrum Master. Up until now, the Product Owner has not been attending Sprint Retrospectives. The Development Team fear they will become 搕oo negative?with the PO present…

Question

Options

• AExplore further why the Development Team fear the presence of the PO. Work with the Scrum
• BSpeak to the Product Owner and see what they think. Do what they suggest is best.
• CRespect the Development Teams wishes
• DFacilitate a discussion in the Scrum Team and allow them to decide what is best to do

• A
  80% (51)
• B
  3% (2)
• C
  6% (4)
• D
  11% (7)

Explanation

Option A is correct because the Scrum Master's role is to serve the team by understanding the root cause of friction - not simply acting on surface-level fears. By exploring the Development Team's concerns first, the Scrum Master can then coach both the team and the PO toward the Scrum Guide's intent: the entire Scrum Team (including the PO) should attend Retrospectives.

• B is wrong because deferring to the Product Owner's preference undermines the Scrum Master's servant-leadership role and could validate excluding the PO entirely without addressing the real problem.
• C is wrong because simply respecting the team's wishes avoids the Scrum Master's responsibility to uphold Scrum events as defined - the PO should be in the Retrospective, and avoidance doesn't fix the underlying team dynamic.
• D is wrong because while facilitation is a core SM skill, putting this decision to a vote sidesteps the Scrum Master's duty to coach the team toward correct Scrum practice rather than leaving it open-ended.

Memory tip: Think of the Scrum Master as a coach, not a people-pleaser - when the team has a concern, always explore first, then guide toward proper Scrum. If an answer says "just do what someone wants," it's almost certainly wrong.

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