The correct answer is D. ask questions of the quiet members . In a VM workshop, the facilitator must maintain balanced participation so the team benefits from the full range of technical, operational, customer, and stakeholder perspectives. A dominating participant can unintentionally suppress alternative viewpoints, reduce creativity, and weaken the quality of evaluation and consensus. The facilitator’s response should therefore be corrective but professional, not punitive.
SAVE International guidance identifies the team leader’s responsibilities as keeping the team focused, keeping team members involved in the discussion and work, keeping the team together, and acting as a catalyst while being diplomatic rather than dictatorial. ( ) Asking quiet members targeted, neutral questions directly supports these responsibilities because it redistributes participation without embarrassing the dominant person or disrupting team cohesion.
Option A is too extreme and damages trust. Option B worsens the imbalance by allowing quieter members to remain disengaged. Option C may distract the group but does not solve the participation problem. The best facilitation technique is to invite quieter members into the conversation through open-ended questions, round-robin input, or direct prompts tied to their expertise.
References/topics: VM Facilitation and Team Dynamics; Team Leader Responsibilities; Balanced Participation; Group Engagement; Workshop Control.
