CVS Team Management 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A newly formed value study team is polite but hesitant to share critical opinions. Which facilitation technique BEST addresses this?
- Using anonymous idea submission or nominal group technique to lower the risk of speaking up (Correct answer)
- Demanding that each member criticize the design aloud
- Skipping the information phase to save time
- Waiting silently until someone volunteers criticism
Correct answer: Using anonymous idea submission or nominal group technique to lower the risk of speaking up
Anonymous or structured input techniques reduce social risk and draw out candid contributions from a reserved team.
Question 2: The project manager pressures the value team to protect a pet design feature from analysis. How should the Certified Value Specialist respond?
- Explain that all functions within the study scope must be analyzed objectively for the study to be credible (Correct answer)
- Quietly exclude the feature from all worksheets
- Analyze the feature but suppress unfavorable findings
- Resign from the study immediately without discussion
Correct answer: Explain that all functions within the study scope must be analyzed objectively for the study to be credible
Professional integrity requires objective analysis of everything in scope, and explaining this preserves study credibility.
Question 3: Two sub-teams developing different alternatives discover their proposals conflict with each other. The BEST management action is to:
- Bring both sub-teams together to reconcile the alternatives or define them as mutually exclusive options (Correct answer)
- Present both to the owner without mentioning the conflict
- Discard both alternatives to avoid confusion
- Have the facilitator secretly merge them without team input
Correct answer: Bring both sub-teams together to reconcile the alternatives or define them as mutually exclusive options
Joint reconciliation ensures conflicting alternatives are either integrated or clearly presented as exclusive choices.
Question 4: Which characteristic distinguishes a high-performing value study team from a merely functional one?
- Members constructively challenge each other's assumptions while staying committed to shared goals (Correct answer)
- Members always agree quickly to preserve harmony
- The facilitator makes all substantive decisions
- Each member works independently and merges results at the end
Correct answer: Members constructively challenge each other's assumptions while staying committed to shared goals
High-performing teams combine constructive challenge with shared commitment, producing better alternatives than harmony-driven or siloed groups.
Question 5: A team member privately tells the facilitator they feel their ideas are being credited to others. What should the facilitator do?
- Adjust facilitation practices to record and acknowledge contributions fairly going forward (Correct answer)
- Tell the member that credit does not matter in value studies
- Announce the complaint to the whole team naming the member
- Promise the member extra credit in the final report regardless of contribution
Correct answer: Adjust facilitation practices to record and acknowledge contributions fairly going forward
Fair acknowledgment of contributions sustains motivation and trust without publicly exposing the member's concern.
Question 6: When scheduling a multi-day value workshop, why should the facilitator secure full-time commitment from core team members in advance?
- Partial attendance breaks continuity of analysis and weakens team cohesion and decision quality (Correct answer)
- Full-time attendance guarantees the study will find 30 percent savings
- It allows the facilitator to bill more hours
- Contract law requires continuous attendance at value studies
Correct answer: Partial attendance breaks continuity of analysis and weakens team cohesion and decision quality
Continuous participation preserves the shared context and cohesion the team needs for sound, collectively owned decisions.
Question 7: After the workshop, resistance emerges from departments not represented on the team. What is the BEST lesson for future team management?
- Identify all affected stakeholders during pre-workshop planning and include or brief them early (Correct answer)
- Keep future studies confidential until recommendations are final
- Reduce team size so fewer people can object
- Only staff future teams with members who agree with the facilitator
Correct answer: Identify all affected stakeholders during pre-workshop planning and include or brief them early
Early stakeholder identification and involvement prevents post-study resistance from excluded groups.
CVS Team Management 5
A newly formed value study team is polite but hesitant to share critical opinions.
Which facilitation technique BEST addresses this?