How do you handle conflict or difficult dynamics on an Agile team?

Question

Accepted Answer

Conflict on teams is normal and, handled well, productive. The Scrum Master's job is to **create enough psychological safety that disagreements stay about the work**, and to intervene when dynamics turn toxic — a dominant voice, silent disengagement, or chronic finger-pointing.

## An approach

```text
1. OBSERVE   name the pattern factually, not the person
2. SAFETY    reinforce that it's safe to disagree respectfully
3. SURFACE   use 1:1s and retros to hear all sides
4. FACILITATE  guide toward shared goals, not winners/losers
5. ESCALATE  involve a manager only for HR-level issues
```

## Concrete example

One engineer dominates every discussion. In the retro the Scrum Master introduces silent written input first, then round-robin sharing, so quieter members contribute. Privately, they coach the dominant member on creating space for others.

## Common pitfalls

- Avoiding conflict and hoping it resolves itself — it usually festers.
- Taking sides publicly, which destroys trust.
- Treating every disagreement as a problem; healthy debate improves decisions.

## Why it matters

Teams with safety to disagree make better decisions because more perspectives surface before commitment.

Left unaddressed, toxic dynamics quietly destroy velocity and retention — handling them is core to the team's effectiveness, which the Scrum Master owns.