PgMP Practice Test 21 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A program has completed all component projects and the outputs are now embedded in business operations. The program manager is preparing to close the program and needs to confirm that the benefits will continue to be tracked after closure. Which action addresses this requirement?

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

Accepted Answer

Transfer ownership of the benefits and their ongoing measurement to the designated benefit owners in operations. Programs are temporary, but benefits often continue long after closure, so sustainment depends on transferring each benefit and its measurement approach to an accountable owner in the business. That handover preserves the metric, target, and review cadence and keeps benefits visible in operational governance. Archiving reports or extending the program does not create ongoing accountability, and audits do not measure benefit realization.

Answer

Close the program and rely on the annual financial audit to surface any benefits that fail to materialize

Answer

Extend the program indefinitely so the program management office can keep reporting on the benefits

Answer

Archive the benefits register and distribute the final benefits realization report to the steering committee

Question 2

Which TWO of the following are necessary to validate the Program Business Case?

Accepted Answer

Return on Investment (ROI) analysis. Validating a Program Business Case requires demonstrating that the program delivers measurable financial value, which is why A (Return on Investment (ROI) analysis) is correct—ROI quantifies the expected benefits against the costs and is a standard financial justification for funding decisions. C (Alignment with corporate strategic objectives) is also correct because a business case must show that the program supports the organization's strategic goals, ensuring the investment is relevant and prioritized. Options B, D, and E are irrelevant operational or personal details that have no bearing on the financial or strategic validity of a business case.

Answer

The number of emails sent by the team

Answer

The team's favorite lunch spot

Answer

The brand of the office printers

Question 3

A program manager finds that a project team member has bypassed the governance process by going directly to a senior executive for budget approval. What should the manager do?

Accepted Answer

Document the incident and address the process gap with the executive. When a team member bypasses governance by going directly to a senior executive, the program manager must document the incident and address the underlying process gap with that executive, reinforcing the governance framework while preserving relationships. This response treats the symptom (the bypass) and the root cause (a governance gap or unclear escalation path) without resorting to punitive or structural overreactions. Governance exists to ensure consistent, transparent decision-making, so the manager's job is to restore and strengthen that framework.

Answer

Punish the team member immediately

Answer

Change the governance plan to allow direct requests

Answer

Ignore it since the project got the budget

Question 4

A program manager is leading a program that delivers a new customer relationship management (CRM) platform for a global sales organization. Midway through execution, the organization announces a strategic pivot toward subscription-based revenue, which requires the CRM to support recurring billing and usage analytics. The program's business case and benefits register currently focus on sales pipeline efficiency. What is the program manager's most appropriate first action to maintain strategic alignment?

Accepted Answer

Initiate a program change request to update the business case, benefits register, and roadmap to reflect the subscription-based strategy.. A strategic pivot changes the benefits the program must deliver. The program manager's first action is to formally assess the impact and update the business case, benefits register, and roadmap so the program remains aligned. This ensures governance can make informed decisions about scope, funding, and priorities. Simply continuing, terminating, or delegating scope changes bypasses the program-level integration and benefits management responsibilities.

Answer

Ask the project managers to independently adjust their project scopes to include subscription features.

Answer

Immediately terminate the CRM program and initiate a new program focused on subscription billing.

Answer

Direct the constituent projects to continue as planned and document the new strategic direction as a future program.

Question 5

A program manager is preparing a Stakeholder Engagement Plan for a complex, multi-year program with stakeholders across five business units. Several stakeholders hold conflicting priorities, and the program manager needs a structured way to determine how much engagement effort each stakeholder requires. Which tool or technique should the program manager use FIRST to prioritize engagement activities?

Accepted Answer

Stakeholder power/interest grid. Prioritizing engagement across a complex program begins with understanding each stakeholder's relative power over the program and their level of interest in its outcomes. The power/interest grid provides that structured classification, allowing the program manager to concentrate effort on high-power, high-interest stakeholders while adapting approaches for other quadrants. Other tools refine communication and assess engagement gaps, but the classification step logically comes first.

Answer

Meetings and focus groups

Answer

Stakeholder engagement assessment matrix

Answer

Communication requirements analysis

Question 6

A program manager is developing the Stakeholder Engagement Plan and needs to decide how often to communicate with a group of mid-level managers who are moderately interested but have limited influence over program decisions. What is the most appropriate approach?

Accepted Answer

Include them in periodic updates and targeted communications that match their level of interest and influence.. Engagement intensity should be proportional to stakeholder power, interest, and impact. For mid-level managers with moderate interest and limited influence, periodic updates and targeted communications keep them informed and supportive without diverting disproportionate program resources from higher-priority stakeholders.

Answer

Exclude them from formal communications and address their questions only if they proactively reach out.

Answer

Engage them continuously with detailed, real-time program data to keep them fully informed.

Answer

Assign a dedicated liaison to manage a high-touch, individualized engagement plan for each manager.

Question 7

A stakeholder expresses concerns about the lack of communication regarding a program-wide risk. What should the program manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Review the Program Communications Management Plan and address the concern.. The program manager should immediately consult the Program Communications Management Plan to ensure communication obligations are met and address the gap.

Answer

Call a meeting with all stakeholders to discuss the risk.

Answer

Send an apology email to the stakeholder.

Answer

Update the risk register to include 'communication failure'.

Question 8

During a program's execution phase, a vendor partner that supplies a critical component begins missing deliverable dates and stops attending the joint governance meetings. The vendor's account director is influential with the program's steering committee. What is the most appropriate action for the program manager?

Accepted Answer

Meet directly with the vendor's account director to understand the disengagement and jointly agree on recovery actions and engagement expectations.. The program manager should engage the vendor's influential account director directly to uncover the cause of the disengagement and jointly establish recovery actions. This preserves a critical supplier relationship, uses the stakeholder's influence productively, and addresses the root cause rather than escalating prematurely or passively monitoring a deteriorating situation.

Answer

Replace the vendor's participation in governance meetings with internal staff until the vendor resumes attending.

Answer

Document the vendor's non-performance in the risk register and monitor the situation for the next two reporting periods.

Answer

Escalate the vendor's missed deliverables to the steering committee and recommend contract termination.

Question 9

During a program's benefits delivery phase, the program manager is reviewing the benefits register and notices that a benefit related to 'increased employee productivity' has a target of 15% improvement, but the current measurement shows only 5% improvement. The program is still ongoing and there are remaining projects that could impact this benefit. What should the program manager do?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the gap between the target and current measurement and identify corrective actions.. When a benefit is underperforming, the program manager should analyze the gap and identify corrective actions. This is a core part of benefits monitoring and ensures that the program can take timely action to realize the benefit. Adjusting targets, escalating, or removing the benefit without analysis are not appropriate.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the program sponsor and request additional funding.

Answer

Update the benefits register to reflect the current 5% improvement and adjust the target downward.

Answer

Remove the benefit from the benefits register because it is not being realized.

Question 10

A program manager is leading a program that is in the benefits delivery phase. A component project has encountered a significant delay that will impact the program's ability to realize a key benefit on time. The program manager needs to take corrective action. What should be the program manager's first step?

Accepted Answer

Conduct a impact analysis to understand the effect on benefits and interdependencies, then develop options.. The program manager should first conduct an impact analysis to understand how the delay affects benefits and interdependencies. This enables informed decision-making and the development of appropriate corrective actions. Escalation, direction, or plan updates should follow this analysis.

Answer

Update the program management plan to reflect the delay and continue monitoring.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the program sponsor and request additional funding to accelerate the component project.

Answer

Direct the component project manager to implement a recovery plan immediately.

Question 11

A program is in its second year, and the governance board has requested a review of the program's alignment with organizational strategy. The program manager discovers that one component project's objectives no longer support the current strategic goals. What should the program manager do?

Accepted Answer

Work with the project manager to revise the project's objectives to align with the new strategic goals and submit a change request.. The program manager should first explore realigning the project's objectives with the current strategic goals through a formal change request. This maintains the project's potential value and ensures governance oversight. If realignment is not feasible, the program manager can then present other options, such as termination or transfer, to the governance board with a full impact analysis.

Answer

Recommend to the governance board that the project be terminated immediately to avoid wasting resources.

Answer

Transfer the project to another program where its objectives might still be relevant.

Answer

Continue the project as is, since it was originally approved and may still deliver some benefits.

Question 12

Which THREE of the following are indicators that a program needs a major re-alignment during execution?

Accepted Answer

Consistent failure to realize projected benefits. Option A is correct because a consistent failure to realize projected benefits shows the program is not delivering the value in its business case, which is a core trigger for major realignment. Option B is correct because market changes that render the business case obsolete remove the program's justification, so it must be realigned or stopped. Option D is correct because a significant delay in a critical path dependency threatens the program's schedule baseline and benefits delivery, requiring major realignment. Option C is not a program performance indicator; changing a project manager's job title is an administrative HR matter with no bearing on execution alignment. Option E is not a realignment trigger; a single team member's sick day is a routine resource absence handled by normal team management.

Answer

Updating the project manager's job title

Answer

A team member taking a sick day

Question 13

You are the program manager for a global program with components in multiple countries. The Program Governance Board (PGB) has a policy that all component risks with a high probability and high impact must be escalated to the PGB. A project manager in one region identifies a risk that meets these criteria but argues that the risk is specific to their local context and should be managed locally. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Escalate the risk to the PGB and recommend a local response strategy.. The risk meets the PGB's escalation criteria, so it must be escalated. The program manager should escalate while recommending a local response strategy to leverage contextual knowledge. This balances governance compliance with practical effectiveness. Escalation ensures the PGB can exercise oversight and provide support, while local management can address the risk appropriately.

Answer

Delegate the decision to the regional governance board without informing the PGB.

Answer

Ask the project manager to reassess the risk using a different rating scale to avoid escalation.

Answer

Allow the project manager to manage the risk locally because they understand the context best.

Question 14

Which THREE documents are essential for ensuring a program remains aligned with its strategic mandate throughout the lifecycle?

Accepted Answer

Program Charter. The Program Charter (B) is essential because it formally authorizes the program and documents its strategic alignment, objectives, and success criteria, anchoring the program to its mandate from the start. The Program Roadmap (D) is essential because it translates the strategic mandate into a phased, time-based view of benefits, milestones, and transitions, keeping the program aligned as it evolves through its lifecycle. The Program Business Case (E) is essential because it justifies the investment and continuously validates that expected benefits and strategic value still outweigh costs and risks, supporting go/no-go decisions. The Project Management Plan (A) is not correct here because it governs delivery of an individual project's scope, schedule, and cost, not the program's strategic mandate. The Team Roster (C) is not correct because it is an operational resource document listing personnel, not a strategic alignment artifact.

Answer

Project Management Plan

Answer

Team Roster

Question 15

During a program's execution, the Program Governance Board (PGB) requests a health check. The program manager discovers that one component project is significantly behind schedule and over budget, but the component manager has been reporting green status. The program manager verifies the data and confirms the discrepancy. What should the program manager do next?

Accepted Answer

Work with the component manager to develop a recovery plan and then report the revised status to the PGB with the recovery plan.. The program manager should address the inaccurate reporting by working with the component manager to create a recovery plan and then transparently report the true status and plan to the PGB. This maintains governance integrity, ensures the board has accurate information, and focuses on corrective action. Other options either overstep authority, delay necessary disclosure, or focus on punishment rather than resolution.

Answer

Report the component manager's misreporting to the PGB and request guidance on disciplinary action.

Answer

Adjust the program's overall status to reflect the component's issues and continue monitoring without informing the PGB yet.

Answer

Immediately replace the component manager and report the issue to the PGB.