PMP Practice Test 17 — 15 Questions

Question 1

In an agile project, the team's velocity has been declining over the last three sprints. The team is delivering fewer story points each sprint. The product owner is concerned about the release date. What should the Scrum Master do first?

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

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a retrospective focused on identifying root causes of the declining velocity. The Scrum Master's first responsibility is to facilitate the team's inspection and adaptation process. Declining velocity is a symptom of underlying issues (e.g., technical debt, poor estimation, or process inefficiencies). A retrospective focused on root causes allows the team to identify and address these issues empirically, which is the core agile principle for continuous improvement. Only after understanding the cause can the team and Product Owner make informed decisions about scope or schedule.

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Ask the product owner to descope some features to meet the release date

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Add more story points to the next sprint to compensate for the loss

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Extend the sprint duration to give the team more time

Question 2

During a hybrid project, an executive stakeholder bypasses you and directly instructs a team member to add a new feature. The team member is now confused about priorities. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Meet with the executive stakeholder to explain the project's change control process and the importance of proper communication channels. As the project manager, you must first address the root cause of the confusion—the executive stakeholder's bypass of the formal change control process. By meeting with the executive, you reinforce the importance of proper communication channels and the change control board (CCB) process, which protects the project from scope creep and ensures all changes are evaluated for impact on cost, schedule, and quality. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's principle of managing stakeholder engagement and maintaining a single point of accountability for project decisions.

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Ignore the issue and allow the feature to be added to maintain stakeholder satisfaction

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Reprimand the team member for accepting instructions without your approval

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Add the feature to the backlog and treat it as a priority

Question 3

You are managing a project where the sponsor has asked the team to skip testing to save time. The team is against it because they believe it will compromise quality. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Explain the risks of skipping testing to the sponsor and propose a risk-based testing approach that reduces testing time without sacrificing critical quality. The project manager's primary responsibility is to balance stakeholder expectations with project constraints while protecting the quality of deliverables. By explaining the risks of skipping testing and proposing a risk-based testing approach, the PM demonstrates leadership by negotiating a solution that addresses the sponsor's time concerns without compromising critical quality. This aligns with the PMP's focus on leading the team and managing stakeholder communication effectively.

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Instruct the team to test anyway without telling the sponsor

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Follow the sponsor's directive to skip testing because the sponsor has authority

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Accept the sponsor's request but document the risk in the risk register

Question 4

Your project is running 15% over budget at the midpoint. Upon review, you find that the cost overrun is due to an underestimation of hardware costs. The sponsor is concerned and asks for a plan to get back on track. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the cost variance, determine the corrective actions, and submit a change request if necessary. The first step in addressing a cost overrun is to analyze the variance to understand its root cause and impact, then determine corrective actions. The PMBOK Guide emphasizes that before any change request, you must perform a root cause analysis and evaluate options within the existing budget. Requesting additional funds (A) or using management reserve (D) without analysis violates the principle of first exhausting all other options and maintaining transparency.

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Request additional funds from the sponsor without further analysis

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Ask the team to reduce scope to cut costs immediately

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Use the management reserve without notifying the sponsor

Question 5

Your construction project is experiencing resource levelling issues because a key piece of equipment is shared between two critical path activities. What is the best approach to resolve this?

Accepted Answer

Rent additional equipment to run both activities in parallel. Renting additional equipment allows both critical path activities to run in parallel, eliminating the resource conflict without impacting the project schedule. This approach directly addresses the resource levelling issue by increasing resource availability, which is a common technique in resource optimization when the critical path cannot be compressed.

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Ask the team to work overtime to complete one activity faster

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Remove one activity from the critical path by re-sequencing

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Delay one of the activities until the equipment is available, which may extend the project schedule

Question 6

Your predictive project is halfway through execution. A team member has been consistently missing deadlines, and their work quality is declining. You suspect personal issues but are unsure. The project is at risk of schedule delays. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a private meeting to discuss their performance concerns and offer support. The PMBOK Guide emphasizes that the first step in addressing performance issues is to have a private, respectful conversation to understand the root cause. As a project manager, you must demonstrate emotional intelligence and servant leadership by offering support before escalating or penalizing the team member. This approach aligns with the 'Manage Team' process and the principle of leading with empathy, which is critical for maintaining trust and motivation.

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Escalate the issue to human resources for disciplinary action

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Formally document the underperformance and issue a performance improvement plan

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Reassign their tasks to other team members to protect the schedule

Question 7

A key stakeholder on your agile project frequently attends the daily standup and redirects team members to work on tasks that are not part of the sprint backlog. This is causing confusion and reducing the team's velocity. As the project manager, what should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Have a private conversation with the stakeholder about the purpose of the daily standup and the impact of their actions.. The PM should address the issue directly with the stakeholder, explaining the importance of protecting the team's focus and the agreed-upon process. This aligns with stakeholder engagement and communication management.

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Remove the stakeholder from the daily standup invitations to prevent disruption.

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Ask the team to accommodate the stakeholder's requests to maintain a good relationship.

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Update the sprint backlog to include the stakeholder's requests and adjust the sprint goal.

Question 8

During a quality audit, it is discovered that the team has been using outdated templates for test cases, resulting in some defects that were not caught. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Perform a root cause analysis to understand why outdated templates were used. The correct first step is to perform a root cause analysis (Option C) because the quality audit revealed a process deficiency—outdated templates—not just a defect. Without understanding why the team used outdated templates (e.g., poor version control, lack of training, or inadequate change management), any corrective action will be superficial and the problem will recur. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's emphasis on addressing the root cause of nonconformances before implementing corrective or preventive actions.

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Update the issue log and assign team members to fix the defects

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Update the templates immediately and train the team

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Have the team re-execute all test cases with correct templates

Question 9

During project execution, a key stakeholder requests a new feature that is not in the scope. The project manager determines that the change will impact the schedule by 3 weeks and increase costs by $50,000. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to the change control board. The correct first step when a change request impacts scope, schedule, and cost is to submit a formal change request to the change control board (CCB) for evaluation. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's integrated change control process, which requires all changes to be documented and reviewed before any action is taken. The project manager must not accept or reject the change unilaterally, as that would bypass the established governance framework.

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Accept the change and update the project management plan

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Reject the change because it is out of scope

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Analyze alternatives to minimize the impact

Question 10

You are managing a software development project using a hybrid approach. During sprint planning, the product owner insists on adding a feature that was not in the approved product backlog. The team estimates it will take 3 additional days. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Ask the product owner to submit a change request for formal evaluation. In a hybrid project management approach, changes to the approved product backlog must follow a formal change control process to maintain baseline integrity and avoid scope creep. Asking the product owner to submit a change request ensures the proposed feature is evaluated for impact on schedule, cost, and quality before any work begins, aligning with both agile principles of prioritization and traditional project governance.

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Add the feature to the sprint backlog and accept the change

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Reject the feature outright because it is not in scope

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Tell the team to work overtime to accommodate the feature

Question 11

During a sprint review, the product owner expresses dissatisfaction with a feature delivered by the team, stating it does not meet the acceptance criteria. The team insists they followed the requirements as written. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a conversation between the product owner and the team to clarify the acceptance criteria.. The immediate priority is to resolve the misunderstanding between the product owner and the team. The project manager should facilitate a conversation to clarify the acceptance criteria, ensuring both parties have a shared understanding before any rework or documentation changes occur. This aligns with the PMP's focus on stakeholder engagement and conflict resolution within the 'People' domain.

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Ask the team to redo the feature to meet the product owner's expectations.

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Update the project documents to reflect the product owner's new requirements.

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Refer to the project charter to determine the original scope.

Question 12

Your project is running 15% over budget at the midpoint. The team is working hard, but you suspect the original estimates were too optimistic. What is the BEST action to take?

Accepted Answer

Review the cost performance index (CPI) and estimate at completion (EAC) to determine the extent of the overrun and decide on corrective actions. The first step when facing a budget overrun is to analyze the cost performance index (CPI) and estimate at completion (EAC) to quantify the variance and forecast the final cost. This data-driven approach allows you to determine whether the overrun is a trend or an anomaly, and then decide on appropriate corrective actions such as rebaselining, scope reduction, or efficiency improvements. Without this analysis, any action (like requesting more budget or cutting scope) would be premature and could worsen the project's outcome.

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Immediately submit a change request for additional budget

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Ask the team to work overtime to get back on budget

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Reduce the project scope to meet the original budget

Question 13

During a project to develop a mobile app, the product owner wants to add a feature that the team believes will increase user engagement but was not in the approved scope. The sprint is already in progress. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Explain that changes should be added to the product backlog for future sprints after evaluation. The PM should uphold the sprint goal and manage changes through the product backlog. Option A violates the sprint commitment, option C is premature, option D bypasses the product owner.

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Ask the team to do a quick spike to estimate the effort

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Ask the sponsor for immediate approval to include the feature

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Allow the team to add the feature since it improves the product

Question 14

During the execution phase of a construction project, you notice that a junior team member is consistently missing deadlines and producing work of lower quality. Other team members have expressed frustration. What is the best approach to address this?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a private meeting to discuss performance concerns and offer coaching or additional training. The PMBOK Guide emphasizes that performance issues should first be addressed through a respectful, private conversation to understand root causes, followed by coaching or training as part of the 'Manage Team' process. This approach aligns with the 'Servant Leadership' mindset, focusing on developing team members rather than punitive measures, which can damage morale and trust.

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Issue a formal warning in writing to document underperformance

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Immediately reassign the junior member to administrative tasks

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Ask other team members to cover the missing deadlines

Question 15

You are leading a virtual team across three time zones. During a video conference, you notice that one team member from the Asia-Pacific region has not spoken for the entire meeting. After the meeting, they email you saying they felt unheard and that their ideas were dismissed by a dominant team member from the US. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Speak privately with the dominant team member to discuss the importance of equal participation and set expectations. The immediate priority is to address the disruptive behavior directly with the dominant team member. As a project manager, you must first resolve the root cause of the imbalance—the dominant individual's behavior—before implementing broader process changes. This aligns with the PMP principle of addressing conflict at its source and setting clear expectations for team conduct.

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Assign a rotating facilitator for each meeting to ensure everyone gets a chance to speak

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Schedule a one-on-one with the APAC team member to empathize and encourage them to speak up more

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Send an email to the entire team reminding them to be respectful during meetings