PMP Practice Exam 2 — 20 Questions

Question 1

A team member has been consistently late completing tasks. When you discuss this, they mention personal issues affecting their work. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Offer support, such as adjusting workload or providing resources. Show empathy and explore solutions together. Option A ignores the human aspect. Option B is punitive. Option D escalates prematurely without trying to resolve at the team level.

Answer

Escalate to human resources for disciplinary action

Answer

Reassign the tasks to another team member

Answer

Document the issue in the performance report

Question 2

During a project, a risk you identified in the risk register occurs. Your response plan was to mitigate by purchasing backup equipment. However, you discover the backup equipment is not available due to a supplier issue. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Implement the contingency plan or develop a new response given the change in circumstances. The correct first action is to implement the contingency plan if one exists, or develop a new response (Option C). When a risk occurs and the planned mitigation fails, the project manager should immediately apply the fallback plan or create an alternative response. Option A (escalating to sponsor) is premature because escalation should be considered only after response options are exhausted. Option B (adding a new risk) is not the immediate action; addressing the current risk takes priority. Option D (updating the risk register) is insufficient without taking proactive steps to handle the realized risk.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for guidance

Answer

Add a new risk to the risk register about supplier reliability

Answer

Update the risk register to reflect that the mitigation is ineffective

Question 3

Your agile team has a high turnover rate. New members are joining frequently, and the team's performance is declining. What should you do as a servant leader?

Accepted Answer

Implement a structured onboarding process and assign mentors to new members. As a servant leader on an agile team, your primary responsibility is to remove impediments and foster an environment where the team can thrive. A structured onboarding process with assigned mentors directly addresses the performance decline by accelerating the integration of new members, ensuring they understand team norms, tools, and processes, which stabilizes velocity and reduces disruption.

Answer

Ask HR to hire more experienced contractors to stabilize the team

Answer

Conduct a retrospective to identify why people are leaving

Answer

Reduce the team's workload until the new members are up to speed

Question 4

During the closure phase of a project, the customer is satisfied with the deliverables but refuses to sign the formal acceptance document, citing minor issues that were not part of the original scope. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Meet with the customer to understand the concerns and negotiate a path to acceptance. The PM should first attempt to resolve the minor issues through negotiation and follow the project's change control process if needed. Formal acceptance is crucial for project closure, so the PM should work with the customer to address concerns without gold-plating.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor immediately

Answer

Accept the refusal and close the project without formal sign-off

Answer

Instruct the team to fix the minor issues free of charge to obtain sign-off

Question 5

During a sprint review, a stakeholder expresses dissatisfaction with a deliverable's feature, claiming it does not meet their needs. The product owner disagrees, stating the feature was built exactly as specified. What is the BEST next step?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting between the stakeholder and product owner to clarify the requirements. The core issue is a misalignment between the stakeholder's needs and the product owner's interpretation of the requirements. The best next step is to facilitate direct communication between the stakeholder and product owner to clarify the requirements, ensuring that the team has a clear, shared understanding before any changes are made. This aligns with the PMP's emphasis on stakeholder engagement and conflict resolution through collaboration.

Answer

Ask the product owner to reprioritize the backlog and add the modification

Answer

Thank the stakeholder for the feedback but proceed with the current deliverable

Answer

Instruct the team to modify the feature to satisfy the stakeholder

Question 6

Your project team is distributed across three time zones. You notice that team members from one location often dominate discussions during daily stand-ups, while others remain silent. As a result, collaboration is suffering. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a session to create a team charter that includes agreed-upon communication practices and meeting etiquette. The correct first step is to facilitate a team charter session because it establishes agreed-upon communication practices and meeting etiquette, addressing the root cause of unequal participation by creating a shared framework for collaboration. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's emphasis on team charter development as a proactive, collaborative tool to define norms and expectations, rather than imposing top-down solutions or avoiding the issue.

Answer

Ask the quieter team members to speak up more during meetings

Answer

Assign a rotating facilitator for each stand-up to ensure equal participation

Answer

Switch to asynchronous communication tools to avoid time zone conflicts

Question 7

You are managing a project where a key team member has been consistently missing deadlines. This has caused delays in dependent tasks. The team member has good technical skills but seems overloaded. What is the best course of action for the project manager?

Accepted Answer

Have a one-on-one meeting with the team member to discuss the challenges and offer support.. The PM should first understand the root cause of the missed deadlines. Option B is correct because it addresses the issue through communication and support.

Answer

Formally document the missed deadlines and issue a warning to the team member.

Answer

Reassign the team member's tasks to others to avoid further delays.

Answer

Replace the team member with a more productive resource.

Question 8

During a project, a new government regulation is enacted that directly affects your project's deliverables. The regulation requires additional testing and documentation, which will increase costs by 10%. What is the first action you should take?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to assess and incorporate the new regulation. The first step is to analyze the impact on the project and then submit a change request to formally address the regulatory requirement.

Answer

Immediately implement the required changes to ensure compliance

Answer

Ignore the regulation because it was not part of the original scope

Answer

Update the risk register and inform the sponsor of the impact

Question 9

Your project is behind schedule due to an unexpected delay from a key supplier. The critical path analysis shows that the total float is now negative. What is the BEST course of action?

Accepted Answer

Crash the schedule by adding resources to critical path activities. Crashing the schedule involves adding resources to critical path activities to compress the schedule, which is appropriate when float is negative.

Answer

Reduce project scope by eliminating non-essential deliverables

Answer

Update the risk register and inform stakeholders of the delay without taking action

Answer

Immediately apply fast tracking to overlap activities on the critical path

Question 10

A new government regulation is announced that will impact your project's deliverables. The regulation requires additional compliance testing that was not in the original scope. The project is currently on schedule and within budget. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to formally assess and incorporate the new requirements. The PMBOK Guide mandates that any new requirement, especially one imposed by an external regulation, must first be formally documented and assessed through a change request. This ensures the impact on scope, schedule, budget, and quality is evaluated before any action is taken, maintaining control over the project baseline. The regulation introduces additional compliance testing, which is a technical scope change that requires a formal integrated change control process to update the project management plan and technical specifications.

Answer

Add the testing tasks to the project schedule and continue

Answer

Immediately implement the necessary changes to comply with the regulation

Answer

Inform the sponsor and ask for more budget and time

Question 11

A team member consistently misses deadlines, causing delays for the rest of the team. When you discuss this with them, they cite personal issues but assure you they will improve. However, the pattern continues. What is the BEST next step?

Accepted Answer

Consult with human resources to determine the appropriate course of action. When a team member's performance issue persists despite verbal coaching and involves personal matters, consulting HR ensures the project manager follows organizational policies and legal guidelines. The PMP emphasizes that the project manager should leverage HR expertise for sensitive personnel issues to mitigate risk and maintain fairness, rather than making unilateral disciplinary decisions.

Answer

Reassign the team member to less critical tasks to minimize impact

Answer

Issue a formal warning and put the team member on a performance improvement plan

Answer

Remove the team member from the project to protect the team's morale

Question 12

In a Scrum project, the development team consistently fails to meet the sprint goal. The product owner is frustrated, and the team is demotivated. During the retrospective, the team identifies that the sprint backlog is too ambitious. What is the BEST action for the Scrum Master?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team on how to estimate and commit to a realistic amount of work based on velocity. The Scrum Master's primary role is to coach the team in self-management and continuous improvement. Since the team identified that the sprint backlog is too ambitious, the best action is to coach them on estimating and committing to a realistic amount of work based on their historical velocity. This empowers the team to make accurate commitments, directly addressing the root cause of missed sprint goals and demotivation.

Answer

Reduce the sprint backlog yourself to ensure the team can succeed

Answer

Add more team members to increase capacity

Answer

Extend the sprint duration to give the team more time

Question 13

In a Scrum team, the product owner frequently changes priorities within a sprint, causing the team to abandon work mid-task. The team is becoming demotivated. What should the scrum master do?

Accepted Answer

Coach the product owner on the impact of changing priorities mid-sprint and reinforce the sprint backlog agreement. The Scrum Master's primary role is to coach the Product Owner and the team on Scrum principles, including the importance of a stable Sprint Backlog. Changing priorities mid-sprint violates the Sprint Goal and undermines team focus, leading to demotivation. By reinforcing the Sprint Backlog agreement, the Scrum Master protects the team from disruption while respecting the Product Owner's authority outside the sprint.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor to overrule the product owner

Answer

Shorten the sprint length to two or three days to accommodate frequent changes

Answer

Accept the changes as the product owner has authority over priorities

Question 14

Which TWO of the following are typically included in a business case? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Cost-benefit analysis. The business case is a foundational document used to justify the initiation of a project or investment. It must demonstrate that the project is worthwhile, which is why a cost-benefit analysis (Option B) is a core component, quantifying the financial viability. Additionally, the business case must show how the project aligns with the organization's strategic objectives (Option C) to ensure it supports the broader business goals and receives executive sponsorship.

Answer

Risk register

Answer

Detailed project schedule

Answer

Communication plan

Question 15

An executive stakeholder has been directly contacting your team members and assigning them work that is not in the sprint backlog. The team is feeling pressured and confused about priorities. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Speak privately with the executive to explain the impact on the project and ask them to route requests through the proper channels.. The project manager must address scope creep and priority conflicts directly with the stakeholder who is causing the disruption. By speaking privately with the executive, the PM can explain how unauthorized work impacts the sprint goal, team velocity, and project deliverables, and request that all work be routed through the proper change control or product owner process. This aligns with the PM's responsibility to manage stakeholder expectations and protect the team from conflicting priorities.

Answer

Inform the project sponsor about the executive's behavior and ask them to intervene.

Answer

Tell the team to prioritize the executive's requests to maintain a good relationship.

Answer

Update the risk register to document this as a future risk.

Question 16

A project team member from a different culture consistently remains silent during daily stand-ups and rarely contributes ideas. Other team members are frustrated because they feel the person is not engaged. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a one-on-one meeting with the team member to understand their communication style and any barriers. The project manager should first seek to understand the team member's perspective and any cultural or personal barriers before taking action. Directly addressing the behavior in a one-on-one setting aligns with the PMP's emphasis on servant leadership and emotional intelligence, ensuring the root cause is identified rather than assuming disengagement.

Answer

During the next stand-up, directly ask the team member to share their progress and ideas

Answer

Reassign the team member to a solo task where they can work independently

Answer

Inform the team that the member is disengaged and they should not rely on them

Question 17

Your agile project team has been consistently delivering high-quality work, but sprint velocity has dropped over the last three sprints. The team reports feeling overworked and demotivated. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a retrospective to identify root causes and collaboratively develop improvements. Facilitating a retrospective is the correct first step because it empowers the team to collaboratively identify the root causes of the decreased velocity and demotivation, such as technical debt, unclear requirements, or process inefficiencies. This aligns with the agile principle of continuous improvement and servant leadership, where the project manager acts as a facilitator rather than imposing solutions. Addressing the underlying issues through team-driven improvements is more sustainable than forcing scope or personnel changes.

Answer

Reduce the sprint scope to increase velocity

Answer

Replace the scrum master with a more experienced one

Answer

Ask the team to work overtime to regain velocity

Question 18

During a project, you discover that a team member is being excluded from social interactions by others because of cultural differences. The team member has not complained, but you sense low morale. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Organize a team session on cultural awareness and inclusion. The PMBOK Guide emphasizes proactive leadership in fostering an inclusive team environment. By organizing a cultural awareness session, you address the root cause of exclusion without waiting for a formal complaint, which aligns with the 'Servant Leadership' principle and the 'Manage Team' process. This approach prevents escalation and improves team cohesion, directly tackling low morale.

Answer

Reprimand the team members who are excluding the individual

Answer

Ignore it since no one has complained

Answer

Speak privately with the team member to see if they are bothered

Question 19

An agile project team is in the middle of a sprint when the product owner introduces a high-priority change that was not part of the sprint backlog. The team is concerned about their ability to deliver the sprint goal. Which TWO options align with the Scrum framework? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

The product owner cancels the current sprint and starts a new sprint with the revised backlog. The Scrum framework explicitly allows the Product Owner to cancel a sprint if the Sprint Goal becomes obsolete, such as when a high-priority change emerges that invalidates the current goal. Cancelling the sprint and starting a new one with the revised backlog ensures the team focuses on the highest-value work without disrupting the sprint's time-box or overloading the team. Option E is correct because the Product Owner can add the new work to the Product Backlog and prioritize it for the next sprint, which respects the current Sprint's commitment and allows the team to complete the Sprint Goal without interruption.

Answer

Replace the least important sprint backlog item with the new work and adjust the sprint goal accordingly

Answer

Instruct the team to include the new work in the current sprint and extend the sprint duration

Answer

Add the new work to the sprint backlog and ask the team to work overtime

Question 20

A project manager is leading a hybrid project where the team uses Scrum for development but has a fixed end date for regulatory compliance. Halfway through, a key vendor informs you that they will be unable to deliver a critical component on time. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the schedule to determine the impact on the critical path and identify possible mitigation options. In a hybrid project with a fixed regulatory deadline, the first step when a vendor fails to deliver a critical component is to analyze the schedule impact on the critical path and identify mitigation options. This aligns with the PMI approach of assessing the situation before escalating or making changes, ensuring the project manager maintains control and explores all feasible alternatives to meet the compliance date.

Answer

Adjust the sprint backlog to deprioritize features dependent on the component

Answer

Escalate the issue immediately to the project sponsor and request additional budget

Answer

Initiate legal proceedings against the vendor for breach of contract