PMP Practice Test 5 — 10 Questions

Question 1

A project manager is leading a globally distributed team. Two team members from different time zones have conflicting work styles, leading to missed deadlines and tension. What is the best first step for the project manager to resolve this?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a virtual meeting with both team members to discuss and resolve the conflict.. Option B is correct because the PMBOK Guide emphasizes that the project manager should first address interpersonal conflicts directly through collaboration and communication. Scheduling a virtual meeting allows both team members to discuss their work styles, understand each other's constraints (e.g., time zone differences), and find a mutually acceptable solution, which aligns with the 'Collaborate/Problem Solve' conflict resolution technique. This step is proactive and respects the team's autonomy, which is critical for globally distributed teams.

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Reassign tasks to separate the team members and minimize interaction.

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Ignore the conflict and hope the team members resolve it themselves.

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Escalate the issue to the functional managers of both team members.

Question 2

During a project's execution phase, the project manager notices that two senior team members are in frequent conflict over technical approaches, causing delays. What is the BEST course of action for the project manager?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting between the two team members to discuss and resolve the conflict.. Option D is correct because the project manager's role includes facilitating conflict resolution among team members to maintain team cohesion and project progress. By mediating a meeting, the PM addresses the root cause of the delays—technical disagreement—while empowering the team to find a mutually acceptable solution, which aligns with the PMP's emphasis on servant leadership and collaborative problem-solving.

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Escalate the issue to the sponsor without involving the team members.

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Immediately reassign one of the team members to another project.

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Ignore the conflict and hope it resolves on its own.

Question 3

A project manager notices that a team member consistently submits deliverables late. The project manager suspects the team member is overburdened. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a one-on-one meeting to discuss workload and any challenges.. Option C is correct because the first step in addressing a potential performance issue is to gather information through a private, respectful conversation. The project manager should schedule a one-on-one meeting to understand the team member's workload and challenges before taking any corrective action, aligning with the PMI's emphasis on servant leadership and emotional intelligence.

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Reassign the tasks to another team member immediately.

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Reprimand the team member in the next team meeting as a warning.

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Issue a formal written warning about performance.

Question 4

Based on the resource histogram exhibit, what is the most likely impact on the project if no corrective action is taken?

Accepted Answer

Team burnout and decreased productivity will likely cause delays.. The resource histogram shows a significant overallocation of team members beyond their normal capacity for an extended period. Without corrective action such as leveling or adding resources, this sustained overwork leads to fatigue, reduced efficiency, and increased error rates, which typically cause schedule delays despite the initial appearance of progress.

Answer

Scope creep will increase resource requirements.

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The project will likely finish ahead of schedule.

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The project will meet its schedule with overtime.

Question 5

During a project, a key team member resigns unexpectedly. The project manager needs to fill the role quickly. What is the first action the project manager should take?

Accepted Answer

Review the project management plan to determine resource requirements and update the staffing plan.. Option A is correct because the project manager must first refer to the project management plan to identify the documented resource requirements, roles, and responsibilities for the vacant position. This ensures that any replacement aligns with the approved staffing management plan and avoids ad-hoc decisions that could violate budget or skill specifications. Updating the staffing plan is the foundational step before initiating any recruitment or reassignment actions.

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Contact the former employee to negotiate a return.

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Ask the sponsor to reassign someone from another project.

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Immediately post a job opening for the same role.

Question 6

A project manager is forming a new project team. The team includes members from diverse cultural backgrounds and different functional areas. Which team development model should the project manager use to guide the team through forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning?

Accepted Answer

Tuckman's stages of group development. Tuckman's stages of group development (forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning) is the correct model because it directly maps to the sequence described in the question. This model is specifically designed to guide project managers through the predictable phases a team goes through when forming, especially when members come from diverse cultural backgrounds and functional areas.

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McClelland's theory of needs

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Maslow's hierarchy of needs

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Herzberg's two-factor theory

Question 7

Which TWO actions are effective for improving team performance in a virtual environment? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Schedule daily stand-up meetings via video conference.. Option C is correct because daily stand-up meetings via video conference foster regular communication, alignment, and accountability in a virtual team, which is a key practice in agile project management. Video adds non-verbal cues that improve engagement and trust, directly addressing the isolation common in remote work.

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Increase meeting duration to cover all topics in one session.

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Replace synchronous meetings with email updates.

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Encourage team members to record their contributions for later review.

Question 8

Refer to the exhibit. A project manager is reviewing the Git history of a project. Which statement accurately describes the state of the repository?

Accepted Answer

The 'feature/login' branch was merged into main via a merge commit.. The exhibit shows a merge commit (e.g., 'Merge branch feature/login into main') with two parent commits, one from main and one from the tip of 'feature/login'. This indicates that the 'feature/login' branch was integrated into main via a merge commit, not a fast-forward merge. Therefore, option B is correct.

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The 'feature/login' branch is still active and contains unmerged commits.

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The 'feature/login' branch has not been merged into main.

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The 'feature/login' branch is behind main by one commit.

Question 9

The project manager reviews the benefits realization report for a cloud migration project. The project sponsor asks why the benefits are not being realized as planned. What is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The project's deliverables did not fully support the expected benefits. The benefits realization report tracks whether the expected business outcomes from the cloud migration are being achieved. If the project's deliverables (e.g., migrated applications, infrastructure) do not fully support the expected benefits—such as cost savings from auto-scaling or performance gains from cloud-native services—then the benefits will not materialize, regardless of schedule or team skill. This is the most direct cause because benefits depend on the alignment between deliverables and the defined benefit criteria.

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The project was behind schedule

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The benefits were not clearly defined

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The project team lacked technical skills

Question 10

Match each knowledge area to its primary focus.