CAPM Practice Test 19 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A project manager in a weak matrix organization is having difficulty getting team members to complete project tasks because they prioritize their functional work. Which type of power should the project manager primarily rely on to influence the team?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Expert power based on knowledge. In a weak matrix organization, the project manager has limited formal authority and little or no control over rewards or punishments. Therefore, the most effective power base is expert power, which relies on the project manager's knowledge, skills, and expertise to influence team members. Expert power is particularly effective when team members respect the PM's expertise and see value in their guidance, making them more willing to prioritize project tasks despite their functional responsibilities.

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Punitive power by threatening negative consequences

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Reward power by offering bonuses

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Formal power derived from position

Question 2

Which practice is a key component of Extreme Programming (XP)?

Accepted Answer

Pair programming.. Pair programming is a core practice of Extreme Programming (XP), where two developers work together at one workstation—one writes code while the other reviews each line in real time. This continuous code review and collaboration improves code quality, knowledge sharing, and reduces defects. XP emphasizes twelve practices including pair programming, test-driven development, continuous integration, and small releases. The other options are associated with Scrum or general Agile metrics, not XP's specific technical practices.

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Velocity tracking.

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Backlog grooming.

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Sprint Review.

Question 3

A business analyst is managing requirements for a software upgrade project. The project sponsor wants to ensure that every requirement can be traced back to a business need. What is the primary purpose of requirements traceability?

Accepted Answer

To ensure each requirement meets a business need. Requirements traceability ensures that each requirement is linked to a business need, helping to validate scope, manage changes, and confirm value. It also helps in identifying the impact of changes.

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To document system architecture

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To assign requirements to team members

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To estimate project costs

Question 4

In a hybrid agile project, the team uses Scrum for development but the organization requires a detailed upfront plan. How can the team comply while staying agile?

Accepted Answer

Create a high-level plan early and elaborate as work progresses.. The correct approach is to create a high-level plan early and elaborate as work progresses, which aligns with the agile principle of progressive elaboration. This allows the team to satisfy the organization's need for upfront planning while maintaining agility by not over-committing to details that will change. It balances compliance with the ability to adapt to new information and feedback.

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Ignore the organizational requirement and continue with pure Scrum.

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Use predictive planning for the entire project.

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Create a detailed plan and revise it only at the end.

Question 5

In Scrum, what is the purpose of the Sprint Retrospective?

Accepted Answer

To inspect and adapt the team's process.. The Sprint Retrospective is the Scrum event specifically designed for the team to inspect how they worked during the Sprint and identify improvements to their processes, tools, and interactions. It occurs after the Sprint Review and before the next Sprint Planning, and its output is typically one or more actionable improvement items added to the next Sprint Backlog. Its focus is on the 'how' (process and people), not the 'what' (product).

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To review the product increment with stakeholders.

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To plan the work for the next sprint.

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To update the product backlog.

Question 6

A project manager is performing qualitative risk analysis. Which TWO of the following are typical outputs of this process? (Select TWO)

Accepted Answer

Risk register updates. Qualitative risk analysis produces updates to the risk register (option B), since the process records new information about each risk such as its probability, impact, urgency, and risk score, which are documented in the register. It also produces a list of prioritized risks (option D), because the primary purpose of qualitative analysis is to rank risks by their combined probability and impact so the team knows which ones to address first. Option A is incorrect because quantitative risk analysis results come from the separate Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis process, not the qualitative one. Option C is incorrect because risk responses are developed later in the Plan Risk Responses process. Option E is incorrect because the probability and impact matrix is a tool/technique used during qualitative risk analysis, not an output of it.

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Quantitative risk analysis results

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Risk responses

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Probability and impact matrix

Question 7

In a requirements prioritization session, the team uses MoSCoW. A feature that is important but not critical, and could be postponed without major impact, should be classified as:

Accepted Answer

Should have. In MoSCoW, 'Should have' requirements are important and add significant value but are not critical to the release — they can be worked around or deferred if time or budget runs short. This matches the scenario of a feature that is important but postponable without major impact.

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Could have

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Must have

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Won't have

Question 8

During project planning, the team identifies that the project requires a specific vendor for a critical component. Which process group is being executed?

Accepted Answer

Planning. Identifying that a specific vendor is required for a critical component is part of procurement planning, which occurs in the Planning process group. Planning encompasses all activities that establish the project scope, schedule, cost, and resource strategies — including make-or-buy decisions and vendor selection criteria. Since this is happening 'during project planning,' the Planning process group is being executed.

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Initiating

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Closing

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Executing

Question 9

Which THREE of the following are recognized process groups in the PMBOK Guide? (Choose three)

Accepted Answer

Executing. The PMBOK Guide defines exactly five Process Groups that organize the project management processes: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing. Option E (Initiating) is correct because it is the Process Group that authorizes the project or phase and defines its high-level scope and stakeholders. Option D (Planning) is correct because it establishes the project scope, objectives, and the course of action required to attain them. Option C (Executing) is correct because it is the Process Group where the work defined in the project management plan is carried out to satisfy project specifications. Options A (Reviewing) and B (Analyzing) are not recognized PMBOK Process Groups; reviewing and analyzing are activities that occur within Monitoring and Controlling and other processes, but they are not standalone Process Groups.

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Reviewing

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Analyzing

Question 10

A project manager wants to ensure that all project documents are properly managed and approved. Which process group focuses on controlling changes to project documents?

Accepted Answer

Monitoring and Controlling. The Monitoring and Controlling process group includes Perform Integrated Change Control, which is responsible for reviewing, approving, and managing changes to project documents, deliverables, and the project management plan. This is where document version control and approval workflows are governed. Since the question asks about controlling changes to documents, Monitoring and Controlling is the correct process group.

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Initiating

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Planning

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Executing

Question 11

A BA is conducting stakeholder analysis and needs to categorize stakeholders based on their influence and interest. Which grid is commonly used?

Accepted Answer

Power/interest grid. The power/interest grid is a stakeholder analysis tool that categorizes stakeholders based on their level of authority (power) and concern (interest) in the project. It helps determine engagement strategies, such as managing closely those with high power and high interest. This grid is commonly used in business analysis and project management to prioritize stakeholder communication.

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Communication matrix

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Decision tree

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RACI matrix

Question 12

A business analyst is using a requirements management tool to store and track requirements. During a review, the BA notices that two stakeholders have conflicting requirements for the same system feature. What is the best approach to resolve this conflict?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting with both stakeholders to discuss and reach a consensus.. The business analyst's role includes facilitating stakeholder collaboration to resolve conflicts, ensuring that requirements are aligned with business needs. Using a requirements management tool to track conflicting requirements is insufficient; the BA must actively mediate a discussion to reach consensus, as this is a core competency in business analysis frameworks like the BABOK.

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Choose the requirement from the stakeholder with higher authority.

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Document both requirements and let the development team decide.

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Escalate the conflict to the project sponsor immediately.

Question 13

A team is working on a project with high uncertainty. Which agile framework is most suitable?

Accepted Answer

Scrum. Scrum is an agile framework specifically designed to manage complex projects with high uncertainty through iterative sprints, empirical process control, and frequent inspection and adaptation. It provides structured roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team), events (Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Retrospective), and artifacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment) that enable teams to respond to changing requirements. Kanban is also agile but focuses on continuous flow and limiting work in progress, making it better for operational or support work with more predictable demand. Waterfall and V-Model are plan-driven, sequential methodologies that assume requirements are stable and known upfront, which is unsuitable for high uncertainty.

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Waterfall

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V-Model

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Kanban

Question 14

A Kanban team notices that cycle time is increasing despite stable demand. Which action is most likely to reduce cycle time?

Accepted Answer

Implement continuous integration to reduce integration delays.. Cycle time is the elapsed time from when work starts to when it finishes. When cycle time rises despite stable demand, the usual cause is queueing and waiting — work sits in progress waiting for integration, testing, or handoffs. Implementing continuous integration reduces the integration delay by merging and validating code frequently, shrinking the wait time that inflates cycle time. This is a flow-efficiency fix, not a capacity fix.

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Add more developers to the team.

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Use pair programming for all development tasks.

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Increase WIP limits to allow more work in progress.

Question 15

A business analyst is working on a regulatory compliance project with many diverse stakeholders. The analyst needs to categorize stakeholders based on their interest and influence to prioritize engagement. Which tool should the analyst use?

Accepted Answer

Power/Interest Grid. The Power/Interest Grid is a stakeholder analysis tool that categorizes stakeholders based on their level of authority (power) and level of concern (interest) regarding the project outcomes. This helps prioritize engagement strategies. It is exactly designed for the purpose described.

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SWOT Analysis

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RACI Matrix

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Stakeholder Register