PMP Practice Test 15 — 15 Questions

Question 1

An executive stakeholder bypasses the project manager and directly assigns work to a team member. The team member is now overloaded and missing sprint commitments. What should the project manager do first?

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

Accepted Answer

Meet with the executive stakeholder to explain the impact and request that all work requests go through the project manager.. The correct first step is to discuss the issue with the executive stakeholder privately to reinforce the project governance and communication protocols. This is proactive and respectful. Option A escalates prematurely. Option C ignores the root cause. Option D is reactive and does not address the bypassing behavior.

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Escalate to the sponsor about the executive's interference.

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Update the risk register and monitor for further occurrences.

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Assign the extra work to another team member to balance the load.

Question 2

During a project, an executive stakeholder bypasses the project manager and directly instructs a team member to add a new feature. The team member is already overloaded. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Speak with the executive stakeholder privately to explain the change control process and the impact of the request.. The project manager must first address the unauthorized change directly with the executive stakeholder, explaining the formal change control process and the impact on scope, schedule, and resources. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's principle of managing stakeholder expectations and protecting the project from uncontrolled scope creep, which is a key technical aspect of project integration management.

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Instruct the team member to follow the executive's order to maintain good relations.

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Escalate the issue to the sponsor and request intervention.

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Update the issue log and continue with the original plan.

Question 3

You are managing a software development project using a hybrid approach. During a sprint review, the product owner demonstrates a completed feature to key stakeholders. One stakeholder is impressed and requests an additional functionality that was not in the original scope. The team estimates it would take two additional sprints. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to the change control board (CCB) and assess the impact on schedule, cost, and resources.. In a hybrid project, changes to scope after a sprint review must follow a formal change control process to protect the baseline. Option D is correct because the project manager should first submit a change request to the CCB to assess the impact on schedule, cost, and resources before any work begins, ensuring alignment with the project's governance framework.

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Add the request to the product backlog and prioritize it in the next sprint planning.

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Ask the development team to quickly estimate the effort and begin work if it can be accommodated without delaying the next release.

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Thank the stakeholder and explain that the request is out of scope; no changes can be made.

Question 4

In an agile project, the team's velocity has decreased over the last three sprints from 30 story points to 22. During the retrospective, the team cites increasing technical debt as the cause. What should the scrum master do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion with the team to identify actions to reduce technical debt and improve velocity.. The Scrum Master's primary role is to facilitate the team's self-improvement. When technical debt is identified as the root cause of velocity decline, the first action is to guide the team in a retrospective discussion to analyze the debt, prioritize refactoring, and agree on concrete actions (e.g., dedicating sprint capacity to debt reduction, implementing coding standards, or using static analysis tools). This aligns with the agile principle of continuous improvement and directly addresses the cause rather than just the symptom.

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Ask the product owner to reduce the sprint backlog to match the lower velocity.

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Report the velocity drop to management and escalate the technical debt issue.

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Add more developers to the team to increase velocity.

Question 5

A project manager is reviewing a project plan that must comply with an industry standard. The compliance review fails. What is the most likely cause of this failure?

Accepted Answer

The version of the industry standard referenced in the plan has been deprecated.. The failure in the compliance review is most likely due to referencing an outdated version of the industry standard, which is no longer recognized or acceptable. This is a common issue when project plans rely on superseded documents without updating them.

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The project charter was not signed by the sponsor.

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The selected project management methodology is not suitable.

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The project team lacks training on the standard.

Question 6

In a hybrid project, the product owner wants to add a high-priority feature to the current sprint, but the team has already committed to the sprint backlog. The product owner insists it is critical for the upcoming release. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Explain to the product owner that the current sprint is committed and the feature can be added to the product backlog for the next sprint. In a hybrid project, the sprint backlog is a commitment made by the team for the current iteration. The project manager should protect the team from scope changes mid-sprint to maintain velocity and predictability. Option D is correct because it respects the sprint commitment and follows the agile principle of not changing the sprint backlog once it is set; the new feature is deferred to the product backlog for prioritization in the next sprint.

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Escalate the request to the steering committee to force the change

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Allow the team to swap the new feature for an equivalent amount of existing work

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Ask the team to add the feature to the current sprint and work overtime

Question 7

In a Scrum project, the team's velocity has been dropping over the last three sprints. The team members seem demotivated and are complaining about too many meetings and unclear priorities. As the agile project manager, what should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a retrospective to identify root causes and collaboratively implement improvements. The first step in addressing a drop in velocity and team demotivation is to facilitate a retrospective, which is a core Scrum ceremony designed to inspect and adapt the team's process. This allows the team to collaboratively identify root causes—such as excessive meetings or unclear priorities—and implement improvements, aligning with the agile principle of continuous improvement and the PMP's focus on leading the team through servant leadership.

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Set a higher sprint goal to challenge the team to improve

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Add more developers to the team to increase capacity

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Reduce the number of meetings by canceling the daily standup

Question 8

During a project's execution phase, a new regulatory requirement is discovered that will impact the project scope. The requirement is mandatory and must be implemented. What is the first action the project manager should take?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request describing the new requirement and its impact on scope, schedule, and cost. The PMBOK Guide mandates that any change impacting scope, schedule, or cost must be formally documented and processed through the Integrated Change Control (ICC) process. A change request is the first formal step to capture the new regulatory requirement, its impact on the project baselines, and to obtain approval before implementation. This ensures compliance with the regulatory mandate while maintaining project governance and traceability.

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Inform the sponsor and ask for a decision

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Instruct the team to implement the requirement immediately to ensure compliance

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Update the project management plan to include the new requirement without formal approval

Question 9

Your agile team has been experiencing a decrease in velocity over the last three sprints. During the daily standup, team members seem disengaged and mention they are unsure of the sprint goals. As the scrum master, what should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting with the team to review and clarify the sprint goal and ensure alignment.. The Scrum Master's first responsibility is to ensure the team understands and aligns on the sprint goal. The disengagement and confusion about sprint goals directly indicate a breakdown in shared understanding, which must be resolved through facilitation before any other action. Addressing this immediately restores focus and can prevent further velocity degradation.

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Add more user stories to the backlog to increase team motivation.

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Ask the product owner to speak with the team about the importance of the sprint goals.

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Report the velocity drop to senior management and ask for intervention.

Question 10

Your project is using a predictive approach. A team member reports that a key deliverable is behind schedule due to an unexpected technical issue. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the issue, determine the impact on the critical path, and evaluate options such as fast-tracking or adding resources. In a predictive (waterfall) project, the project manager must first analyze the situation to understand the root cause and impact before taking corrective action. Option B follows the PMBOK Guide's recommended sequence: assess the issue, determine its effect on the critical path, and then evaluate schedule compression techniques like fast-tracking (performing activities in parallel) or crashing (adding resources). This ensures decisions are data-driven and minimize disruption to the project baseline.

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Ask the team member to work overtime to catch up

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Escalate the issue to the sponsor for guidance

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Update the project schedule with the new completion date

Question 11

A project manager is building a new project team. Several team members have never worked together before. The project manager wants to accelerate team development and improve collaboration. Which approach is most effective?

Accepted Answer

Organize a team kickoff workshop with icebreakers and create a team charter together. Initiating team-building activities and setting clear expectations early helps form a cohesive team quickly. This aligns with the Forming stage of Tuckman's model and PMI's emphasis on team charter.

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Assign tasks individually and monitor progress closely

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Send the team to a formal training on teamwork

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Let the team naturally develop norms over time without intervention

Question 12

You are the project manager for a large infrastructure upgrade project. The project involves deploying new servers across multiple data centers. During the execution phase, you receive a report that one of the critical servers has failed a security compliance test. The security team states that the server must be reconfigured and retested, which will take two days. However, this server is on the critical path and any delay will push the project completion date. Your sponsor is pressing you to meet the original deadline. The project has a contingency reserve for schedule risks. What is the best course of action?

Accepted Answer

Use the contingency reserve to cover the two-day delay and inform the sponsor that the schedule will be extended accordingly.. The project has a contingency reserve specifically allocated for schedule risks, and the two-day delay caused by the security compliance failure is a known risk that the reserve is designed to cover. Using the contingency reserve allows the team to properly reconfigure and retest the server, ensuring security compliance without compromising project quality, while formally extending the schedule with sponsor awareness.

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Instruct the team to skip the retest and proceed with deployment to meet the deadline.

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Request additional funds from the management reserve to hire external consultants to resolve the issue faster.

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Implement schedule compression techniques such as fast tracking to recover the two days.

Question 13

During a large infrastructure project, the sponsor requests that the project manager skip the final round of user acceptance testing (UAT) to meet the regulatory deadline, stating that the system has passed all previous tests. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Explain the risks of skipping UAT and propose a formal change request to the schedule or scope. The project manager must protect the project from risks that could compromise quality or regulatory compliance. Skipping UAT, even after successful earlier tests, could miss critical integration or user-specific defects that only emerge in a production-like environment. The correct action is to explain these risks to the sponsor and initiate a formal change request to adjust the schedule or scope, ensuring any decision is documented and approved through the change control process.

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Delay the deadline by two weeks to conduct UAT as planned

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Conduct a shorter UAT with only critical test cases to save time

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Agree to skip UAT to meet the deadline as the sponsor has authority

Question 14

You are managing a project using a hybrid approach. The project has a fixed-price contract with a customer. Midway through, the customer requests a significant scope change that would increase the contract value. The change request is approved by the CCB. What must the project manager do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Update the project management plan and baselines, and communicate the approved change to all relevant stakeholders.. After a change is approved by the CCB, the project manager must first update the project management plan and baselines (scope, schedule, cost) to reflect the approved change, then communicate the change to all relevant stakeholders. This ensures that the project's performance measurement baselines are aligned with the new scope and cost, and that all stakeholders are aware of the updated plan before work begins. In a hybrid approach with a fixed-price contract, updating the contract is a separate procurement process that occurs after the baselines are updated and communicated.

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Inform the team of the approved change and update the work packages accordingly.

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Proceed with the change immediately to avoid delays.

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Update the contract with the new scope and cost, and then start the work.

Question 15

You are managing a construction project that is behind schedule. The project has non-critical activities with significant float. A key supplier has informed you that a critical component will be delayed by two weeks, impacting the critical path. You have already used up all schedule contingency. What should you do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Implement crashing by adding resources to critical path activities, after evaluating cost and benefit. With all schedule contingency exhausted and the critical path impacted by a two-week delay, the next step is to implement a schedule compression technique. Crashing involves adding resources to critical path activities to reduce duration, but it must be done after evaluating cost-benefit trade-offs to ensure the additional cost is justified by the time saved. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's guidance on using crashing when fast tracking is not feasible or has already been applied.

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Immediately fast track remaining critical path activities to make up the two weeks

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Request the sponsor to approve additional budget for overtime on all activities

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Update the risk register and accept the two-week delay as a residual risk