PMP Practice Test 11 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Your agile team has been consistently delivering in each sprint, but the product owner is concerned because the customer's needs have changed and some completed features may no longer be valuable. The project uses fixed-price contract. What should you do?

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

Accepted Answer

Work with the product owner to reprioritize the remaining backlog and submit a change request to modify the scope. In a fixed-price contract, changes must go through change control to adjust scope, schedule, and cost. The PM should facilitate a discussion about reprioritizing the backlog and submit a change request if needed.

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Continue with the current sprint plan since the contract is fixed-price

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Advise the product owner to accept the current features and add new ones in a separate project

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Stop the project and renegotiate the contract with the customer

Question 2

Your team has been working together for three months and has started to gel. However, you notice that the team is not openly sharing differing opinions during meetings, and decisions are being made too quickly without considering alternatives. What stage of team development is the team likely in, and what should you do?

Accepted Answer

The team is in the norming stage; encourage constructive conflict and diverse viewpoints.. The team has been together for three months and is gelling, indicating they have moved past the storming stage into norming. However, the lack of open disagreement and rushed decisions without considering alternatives is a classic sign of groupthink, which is a risk in the norming stage. The correct action is to encourage constructive conflict and diverse viewpoints to prevent premature consensus and ensure robust decision-making.

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The team is in the forming stage; organize team-building activities.

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The team is in the storming stage; facilitate conflict resolution.

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The team is in the performing stage; let them continue as they are.

Question 3

A project manager notices that two junior team members are struggling with a new technology required for the project. They are frustrated and their productivity is low. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Provide training or pair them with a mentor to build their skills. The project manager's primary responsibility is to remove obstacles and develop the team's competencies. Providing training or pairing the junior members with a mentor directly addresses the root cause—lack of proficiency with the new technology—while fostering a supportive environment that aligns with the PMI's emphasis on servant leadership and team development.

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Inform the sponsor that the project may be delayed due to skill gaps

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Reassign the tasks to more experienced team members

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Reduce the scope of work for those team members

Question 4

A project team is in the performing stage of development. The project manager is leaving for a two-week vacation. What is the best way to ensure the team remains productive?

Accepted Answer

Empower the team to make decisions within agreed boundaries and check in periodically.. The team is in the performing stage, characterized by high autonomy, trust, and self-organization. Empowering the team to make decisions within agreed boundaries leverages their maturity and maintains productivity, while periodic check-ins provide necessary oversight without micromanagement. This approach aligns with the Tuckman model and servant leadership principles, ensuring the team remains effective in the project manager's absence.

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Appoint a temporary project manager to oversee the team.

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Ask the team to pause all non-urgent decisions until your return.

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Schedule daily status calls to monitor progress.

Question 5

During an agile project, the product owner frequently changes priorities during the sprint, causing the team to lose focus and miss sprint goals. The team expresses frustration in the retrospective. As the project manager, what should you do?

Accepted Answer

Coach the product owner on the importance of not changing priorities during a sprint to protect the team's focus. The product owner should be coached on agile principles, specifically the importance of not changing priorities during a sprint to protect the team's focus and sprint goal. Option A is wrong because ignoring the product owner undermines collaboration and agile values. Option C is wrong because adding buffer does not address the root cause and may reduce accountability. Option D is wrong because extending sprint duration does not solve the priority change issue and may lead to loss of time-boxing benefits.

Answer

Instruct the team to ignore the product owner's changes until the next sprint planning

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Add a buffer to the sprint backlog to accommodate potential changes

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Extend the sprint duration to allow the team to accommodate changes

Question 6

A new team member from a different cultural background joins your project. They seem hesitant to share opinions during meetings and prefer written communication. Some team members perceive this as disengagement. As the project manager, what is the BEST approach?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a team-building session focused on cultural diversity and communication styles. The best approach because it proactively addresses the root cause—cultural differences in communication styles—by fostering mutual understanding and inclusion. This aligns with the PMP's emphasis on servant leadership and creating a collaborative team environment, rather than forcing assimilation or ignoring the issue.

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Assign a mentor to the new team member to help them fit in

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Ignore the situation as it may resolve on its own

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Ask the new team member to adapt to the team's existing communication norms

Question 7

Your project is running 15% over budget at the midpoint. The sponsor asks you to skip the testing phase in the next sprint to save costs. The project follows a hybrid approach with both predictive and agile elements. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Perform a cost-benefit analysis and present alternative cost-saving measures to the sponsor. As a project manager, you must balance cost constraints with quality and risk. Skipping testing entirely introduces unacceptable technical debt and quality risks, especially in a hybrid project where testing is a critical control point. Performing a cost-benefit analysis allows you to objectively evaluate the impact of skipping testing and present data-driven alternatives, such as reducing test coverage in low-risk areas or deferring non-critical tests, while maintaining the integrity of the deliverable.

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Reduce the scope of testing but not eliminate it entirely

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Inform the sponsor that testing cannot be skipped under any circumstances

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Agree to skip testing to meet the sponsor's request

Question 8

A project team is distributed across three time zones. The project manager wants to improve team collaboration and ensure effective communication. Which tool or technique would best help achieve this?

Accepted Answer

Implement a virtual collaboration platform with chat, video conferencing, and shared document repositories.. A virtual collaboration platform that integrates chat, video conferencing, and shared document repositories directly addresses the core challenges of distributed teams: real-time interaction, synchronous meetings, and centralized document access. This combination reduces communication latency across time zones and ensures all team members have a single source of truth for project artifacts, which is essential for effective collaboration in a multi-timezone environment.

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Use a shared spreadsheet to track tasks and progress.

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Create a project wiki and ask team members to update it regularly.

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Schedule a weekly status email to all team members.

Question 9

A project manager is leading a virtual team distributed across three time zones. The team has been performing well, but recently two team members have missed deadlines and seem disengaged. The project manager suspects the cause is related to team member motivation. According to the PMBOK Guide, which theory suggests that people are motivated by achievement, recognition, and growth opportunities?

Accepted Answer

Herzberg's two-factor theory. Herzberg's two-factor theory (also known as the motivation-hygiene theory) distinguishes between hygiene factors (e.g., salary, work conditions) and motivators (e.g., achievement, recognition, growth opportunities). The question specifically points to motivation factors, which aligns directly with Herzberg's motivators. In a virtual team context, the project manager can address disengagement by providing challenging assignments, public recognition, and professional development paths.

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Expectancy theory

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Maslow's hierarchy of needs

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McGregor's Theory X

Question 10

A project manager is reviewing the schedule performance index (SPI) and cost performance index (CPI). The current values are SPI = 0.85 and CPI = 1.10. What is the most likely conclusion about the project?

Accepted Answer

The project is behind schedule and under budget.. An SPI of 0.85 indicates the project is behind schedule (less than 1.0), while a CPI of 1.10 indicates the project is under budget (greater than 1.0). Therefore, the project is behind schedule but under budget, making option B correct.

Answer

The project is behind schedule and over budget.

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The project is ahead of schedule and over budget.

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The project is ahead of schedule and under budget.

Question 11

In a Scrum project, the development team consistently misses deadlines. The project manager (who also serves as the Scrum Master) discovers that the team is overcommitting during sprint planning due to pressure from the product owner. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Coach the product owner on the importance of sustainable pace and realistic commitments.. The project manager, acting as Scrum Master, should first coach the product owner on the importance of sustainable pace and realistic commitments. This addresses the root cause of overcommitment due to pressure, fostering a healthy sprint planning process. Option A bypasses collaboration, undermining the product owner's role. Option B is a superficial capacity fix that doesn't address the planning behavior. Option C escalates prematurely before attempting direct coaching, which is the Scrum Master's primary responsibility.

Answer

Reduce the sprint backlog to a manageable size without consulting the product owner.

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Add more team members to increase capacity.

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Escalate to senior management about the product owner's behavior.

Question 12

Your project is in the execution phase when a new regulation is passed that affects the project's deliverables. The team is already working at full capacity. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the impact of the regulation on scope, schedule, and cost.. D is correct because the PMBOK Guide requires the project manager to first analyze the impact of a change on the triple constraint (scope, schedule, cost) before taking any action. Since the team is at full capacity, immediate incorporation (A) or stopping work (B) would be premature without understanding the regulation's effect. Updating the risk register (C) without analysis skips the necessary impact assessment step.

Answer

Instruct the team to incorporate the regulation into current work immediately.

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Stop all work until the regulation is fully understood.

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Update the risk register and continue as planned.

Question 13

During the execution phase of a road construction project, the team discovers an unmarked underground utility line that was not shown on any plans. Working near it poses a safety risk, and the project must halt until the utility is identified and mapped. The risk register did not include this specific risk. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Stop work in the area and engage a utility locating service to identify the line. The immediate priority is to ensure safety by stopping work in the affected area and engaging a utility locating service to identify the unmarked underground utility line. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's emphasis on managing unforeseen risks that pose safety hazards, even if they are not in the risk register. The project manager must first assess and mitigate the risk before proceeding with any other actions.

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Instruct the team to work carefully around the utility to avoid delays

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Update the risk register with this new risk and continue work

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Submit a change request to adjust the project schedule

Question 14

A new regulatory requirement has been discovered that will affect your project's deliverables. The requirement is mandatory and must be implemented before the project can close. Your team has the skills to implement it, but it will add two months to the schedule. The sponsor is pushing for the original deadline. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the impact on scope, schedule, and cost, then submit a change request to the change control board (CCB). The PMBOK Guide mandates that when a mandatory regulatory requirement emerges, the project manager must first analyze its impact on the triple constraint (scope, schedule, cost) and then follow the formal change control process. Submitting a change request to the CCB ensures that the decision is documented, approved, and communicated, protecting the project from unauthorized changes and scope creep. This aligns with the 'Perform Integrated Change Control' process and the 'People' domain's emphasis on stakeholder engagement and governance.

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Refuse to implement the requirement because it will delay the project

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Inform the sponsor that the deadline cannot be met and begin working on the requirement

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Ask the team to implement the requirement while working overtime to minimize schedule impact

Question 15

A key vendor informs you that they cannot deliver a critical component on time due to a raw material shortage. This component is on the critical path. The vendor has a history of poor performance. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Implement the risk response plan that was developed for this vendor risk. The project manager should first implement the risk response plan that was developed for this vendor risk. Since the vendor has a history of poor performance, this risk should have been identified during planning, and a response plan (e.g., using an alternative supplier or buffer stock) should already exist. Acting on the pre-approved plan ensures a structured, timely response without unnecessary delays or escalation.

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Immediately contact alternative vendors to find a replacement

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Perform schedule compression techniques to recover the delay

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Escalate to senior management for a decision