Facilitation
Facilitation questions test whether a Scrum Master can design and run events that achieve their purpose. Facilitation is about process, participation, and outcomes, not about the facilitator's content expertise.
Core rules
- Facilitate to help the group achieve its goal; remain neutral on content.
- Use clear purpose, agenda, timeboxes, and working agreements.
- Encourage full participation and make disagreement visible.
- Adapt techniques to the event: planning, Daily Scrum, review, or retrospective.
- The Scrum Master may facilitate, teach facilitation, or help the team self-facilitate.
- A good facilitator protects the timebox and closes with clear next steps.
Worked example
In a Retrospective, two senior Developers dominate while others stay silent. The Scrum Master uses a silent brainstorming step, then round-robin sharing, then dot voting. The team produces actions with owners. Reasoning: the facilitator changed the process to increase participation and decision quality, not to choose the actions.
Traps
Facilitator making the team's decisions; running a meeting without a purpose; treating facilitation as presentation; ignoring power dynamics; letting one voice set the Retrospective outcome.