PMP Practice Test 2 — 10 Questions

Question 1

Your agile team has been experiencing conflicts between two senior developers over technical approaches during sprint planning. The conflicts are causing delays and affecting team morale. As the project manager, what is the BEST course of action?

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

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting between the developers to discuss and resolve the technical disagreement. Facilitating a meeting between the developers is the best course of action because it directly addresses the root cause of the conflict—a technical disagreement—while empowering the team to self-organize and resolve the issue collaboratively. As an agile project manager, your role is to remove impediments and foster a safe environment for constructive debate, not to impose technical decisions or escalate unnecessarily. This approach aligns with the agile principle of building projects around motivated individuals and trusting them to solve technical problems, which preserves team morale and avoids delays caused by unresolved conflicts.

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Escalate the issue to the functional managers of the developers

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Make the technical decision yourself to end the debate

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Assign the developers to different teams to avoid future conflicts

Question 2

A new regulatory requirement has been discovered mid-project. The change will affect the project scope and schedule. Which TWO actions should the project manager take FIRST? (Choose two)

Accepted Answer

Analyze the impact of the regulation on scope, schedule, and cost. The first step when a new regulatory requirement emerges mid-project is to analyze its impact on the triple constraint (scope, schedule, cost). This analysis provides the data needed to determine whether a change request is warranted and what its implications will be. Without this impact analysis, the project manager cannot make an informed decision or properly communicate the change to stakeholders.

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Inform the team to ignore the regulation until the project is complete

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Update the risk register and move on

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Immediately instruct the team to implement the changes to ensure compliance

Question 3

Your agile project has been experiencing declining velocity over the last three sprints. During the retrospective, the team identifies that they are spending too much time on unplanned work and technical debt. The product owner wants to maintain the current scope. Which THREE actions should the project manager take? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Allocate a portion of each sprint to address technical debt. Options B, C, and E are correct. B: Allocating a portion of each sprint to address technical debt directly reduces the accumulation of unplanned work and improves velocity. C: Shielding the team from external interruptions minimizes distractions, allowing more focus on planned work. E: Improving the 'definition of ready' ensures that user stories are sufficiently refined before a sprint begins, reducing ambiguity and rework. Option A is incorrect because reducing scope does not address the root cause of declining velocity (technical debt and unplanned work). Option D is incorrect because adding more developers can increase coordination overhead and may not solve the underlying issues.

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Ask the product owner to reduce the scope of the next sprint

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Add more developers to the team to increase capacity

Question 4

You are the project manager for a team that recently transitioned to remote work. You notice that team morale is declining and collaboration has decreased. What is the BEST action to improve team cohesion?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a virtual team-building activity and weekly informal coffee chats. It directly addresses the root causes of declining morale and reduced collaboration in a remote team by creating structured opportunities for social interaction and informal bonding. Virtual team-building activities and weekly coffee chats foster psychological safety and interpersonal connections, which are critical for team cohesion in a distributed environment. This aligns with the PMI talent triangle's emphasis on leadership and emotional intelligence, as it proactively builds trust and engagement rather than relying on formal oversight or one-way communication.

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Increase the frequency of status meetings to ensure everyone is accountable

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Assign a mentor to each remote team member

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Send a motivational email to the team every week

Question 5

You are managing a project in a virtual environment. A team member from a different time zone misses an important deadline because he was not aware of the priority due to a language barrier. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Have a one-on-one video call with the team member to discuss the communication breakdown and offer language support tools. The first step in addressing a missed deadline caused by a language barrier in a virtual environment is to have a one-on-one video call with the team member. This allows you to understand the specific communication breakdown, clarify the priority, and offer language support tools (e.g., translation software or written summaries) to prevent recurrence. The PMBOK Guide emphasizes that the project manager should first use interpersonal skills to resolve issues and support the team, not escalate or penalize immediately.

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Update the team charter to include clearer communication protocols for virtual teams

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Reassign the task to another team member who can complete it on time

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Issue a formal warning to the team member about the missed deadline

Question 6

A project manager is developing a business case for a new project. Which TWO elements are essential for a strong business case?

Accepted Answer

Alignment with organizational strategy. Alignment with organizational strategy (A) is essential because a business case must demonstrate how the proposed project supports the organization's strategic goals and objectives. Without this alignment, the project risks being unfunded or deprioritized, as it fails to justify its contribution to the broader business mission.

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Identified risks and mitigation strategies

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Resource allocation plan

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Detailed project schedule

Question 7

You are managing a project where a team member consistently misses deadlines, affecting the team's velocity. You have had informal conversations with the team member, but the behavior continues. What is the BEST next step?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a private meeting to discuss the challenges and offer support to help improve performance.. As a project manager, your first formal step should be to understand the root cause of the performance issue through a private, supportive conversation. This aligns with the PMP's focus on servant leadership and addressing people problems with empathy before escalating to punitive measures. The goal is to identify obstacles (e.g., skill gaps, resource constraints, personal challenges) and collaboratively develop a plan to improve velocity, which is more effective than immediate reprimand or task reassignment.

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Formally reprimand the team member and put them on a performance improvement plan.

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Inform the team that delays are unacceptable and expect improvement.

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Reassign the team member to less critical tasks to minimize impact.

Question 8

You are leading a virtual team across three time zones. During a video conference, you notice that one team member from a remote location has not spoken for the entire meeting. In previous meetings, this team member has also been quiet. What should you do to ensure effective collaboration?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a one-on-one conversation to understand any barriers and encourage participation. It aligns with the PMP principle of servant leadership and proactive stakeholder engagement. By scheduling a one-on-one conversation, you create a safe environment to identify potential barriers (e.g., time zone fatigue, cultural differences, or technical issues with the virtual platform) that may be inhibiting participation. This approach fosters trust and encourages collaboration without putting the team member on the spot in a group setting.

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Ask the team member directly during the meeting why they are not contributing

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Assign the team member as the note-taker to ensure they are engaged

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Assume the team member has nothing to contribute and focus on others

Question 9

You are managing a project that is running 15% over budget at the midpoint. The variance is due to higher-than-expected material costs. The sponsor is concerned about cost overruns. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the cost variance to determine the root cause and update the EAC. The PM should first analyze the root cause of the cost variance and determine if the trend is likely to continue. Based on this analysis, the PM can develop a revised estimate at completion (EAC) and communicate it to the sponsor. Simply asking for more budget or reducing scope without analysis is premature.

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Ask the team to find cheaper alternatives for materials immediately

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Reduce the project scope to bring costs back in line with the budget

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Request additional budget from the sponsor to cover the overrun

Question 10

A key vendor notifies you that they cannot deliver a critical component on time due to raw material shortages. This component is on the critical path and has no float. The vendor suggests using a substitute material that meets specifications but costs 20% more. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to evaluate the substitute material, including cost and schedule impacts. Any change to the procurement approach (substitute material) requires a change request to assess cost and schedule impacts before approval.

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Invoke the penalty clause in the vendor contract for late delivery

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Accept the vendor's suggestion to use the substitute material to avoid delay

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Look for alternative vendors who can deliver the original component on time