PMP Practice Test 22 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You are managing a software upgrade project using a hybrid approach. During execution, the team discovers a critical security vulnerability that was not identified during risk planning. The vulnerability requires immediate patching to avoid a potential data breach. Which TWO actions should you take NEXT?

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

Accepted Answer

Assess the impact of the vulnerability on the project scope, schedule, and cost. Upon discovering an unplanned critical security vulnerability, the immediate next step is to assess its impact on the project's scope, schedule, and cost. This assessment provides the necessary data to determine the appropriate response and informs the subsequent change request. Without this impact analysis, any action taken could be misaligned with project constraints and stakeholder expectations.

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Immediately assign the team to fix the vulnerability without formal approval

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Add the vulnerability to the risk register and continue with the current sprint as planned

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Implement a temporary workaround to reduce the risk and monitor the situation

Question 2

Your team is about to start a new project. To ensure a common understanding of rules and expectations, you want to create a team charter. When should this be developed?

Accepted Answer

During the project kick-off meeting with the entire team. The team charter is developed during the project kick-off meeting with the entire team to establish shared expectations, ground rules, and operating norms from the outset. This collaborative creation ensures buy-in and alignment before work begins, reducing ambiguity and preventing conflicts later. The PMBOK Guide emphasizes that the team charter is a product of the team, not the project manager alone, and is created during the 'Develop Team' process within the People domain.

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At the end of the project for lessons learned

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After the first conflict arises to guide resolution

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Developed solely by the project manager and then shared with the team

Question 3

Your project is being executed, and a risk event occurs that was identified and planned for. Which THREE actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Implement the risk response plan that was developed for this risk. When a planned risk event occurs, the immediate action is to implement the risk response plan that was specifically developed for that risk. This ensures the predefined mitigation or contingency strategy is executed promptly to minimize impact. The risk register must then be updated to document the occurrence and the response taken, providing an accurate historical record for future risk analysis. Finally, communicating the risk occurrence and response to stakeholders as per the communication plan maintains transparency and supports informed decision-making.

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Conduct a new risk assessment to identify new risks

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Add the risk to the watch list for monitoring

Question 4

An executive stakeholder has been bypassing you and giving direct instructions to your team, causing confusion and scope creep. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Meet with the stakeholder to discuss the issue and reinforce the project's communication management plan. The first step in resolving stakeholder interference is to address the issue directly with the stakeholder through a meeting, reinforcing the communication management plan. This plan defines how information flows, including who can give instructions to the team, and is a key tool in managing stakeholder expectations and preventing scope creep. By discussing the issue, you can clarify roles, re-establish agreed-upon channels, and avoid further confusion without escalating prematurely.

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Instruct the team to ignore any instructions from the stakeholder

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Update the stakeholder engagement plan without informing the stakeholder

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor immediately

Question 5

A team member has been consistently missing deadlines for the past three sprints. Their work quality is also declining. You have had informal conversations with them, but the problem persists. What is the BEST next step for the project manager?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a private meeting to discuss the performance issues, identify underlying causes, and agree on an improvement plan. The PMBOK Guide emphasizes addressing performance issues through direct, collaborative communication. A private meeting allows the project manager to explore root causes (e.g., skill gaps, personal challenges, or unclear requirements) and co-create a performance improvement plan, which aligns with the 'Manage Team' process and the principle of servant leadership.

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Escalate the issue to human resources to initiate a replacement process

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Reassign the team member to less critical tasks to minimize impact

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Ignore the issue for now and hope the team member improves on their own

Question 6

You are managing a software development project using a hybrid approach. Two senior developers have a technical disagreement that has escalated into a personal conflict, causing delays. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Meet with each developer separately to understand their perspectives and facilitate a resolution. As a project manager using a hybrid approach, your first responsibility is to address interpersonal conflicts privately and individually to understand each party's perspective before attempting a facilitated resolution. This aligns with the PMI People domain's emphasis on emotional intelligence and conflict resolution techniques, where direct, private conversations help de-escalate tensions and uncover root causes without public embarrassment or escalation.

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Bring the two developers together in a team meeting to resolve the issue openly

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for resolution

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Reassign one of the developers to a different project to avoid further conflict

Question 7

During a sprint review, the product owner is dissatisfied with the increment and wants to revert to a previous version of a feature. The development team believes the current version meets the acceptance criteria. As Scrum Master, what should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion to clarify the acceptance criteria and expectations. Facilitate a conversation between the product owner and team to clarify expectations. Option B is reactive and may not be needed after discussion. Option C escalates prematurely. Option D bypasses collaboration.

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Escalate to the program manager to resolve the conflict

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Instruct the team to revert the feature as requested

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Update the issue log with the product owner's concern

Question 8

Two senior developers on your agile team have a conflict about the technical approach for a user story. This conflict is causing delays. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting between the developers to discuss and resolve the conflict collaboratively. PMI recommends conflict resolution through collaboration. The PM should facilitate a discussion to reach a consensus that aligns with project goals.

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Ask the product owner to prioritize the story and bypass the developers' discussion

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Decide the technical approach yourself and assign it to the developers

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Separate the developers onto different teams to avoid further conflict

Question 9

In a hybrid project, the team has been using both Kanban and traditional planning. The product owner requests that the team focus on completing all work in the current iteration before taking on new tasks. However, the team has been pulling new work as capacity allows. What is the BEST action for the project manager?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting between the product owner and the team to agree on the workflow and update the process accordingly. In a hybrid project, the project manager's role is to facilitate alignment between the product owner's request and the team's workflow. Option D is correct because it promotes collaboration and process improvement by having the product owner and team agree on how to handle work-in-progress limits and iteration boundaries, which is essential for maintaining both Kanban's pull-based flow and traditional iteration commitments.

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Instruct the team to follow the product owner's request immediately

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Allow the team to continue as they are, since they are productive

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Escalate to the project sponsor for a decision

Question 10

During a sprint retrospective, the team expresses frustration that they are frequently interrupted by unplanned support requests from the operations department. The product owner agrees this is impacting velocity. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Work with the product owner to prioritize support requests and allocate a dedicated buffer for them.. The immediate priority is to manage the unplanned work that is disrupting the sprint. By working with the product owner to prioritize support requests and allocate a dedicated buffer (e.g., a fixed capacity within the sprint backlog), the project manager ensures that the team can handle operational interruptions without derailing planned work. This aligns with the Agile principle of protecting the team's focus and using empirical data to adjust the process, rather than escalating or deferring action.

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor to negotiate with operations.

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Ask the team to track the time spent on support requests and report it at the next retrospective.

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Instruct the team to handle support requests as they come to maintain stakeholder satisfaction.

Question 11

You are managing a construction project using a predictive approach. A key vendor informs you that they will not be able to deliver a critical component for another two weeks, which will delay the project. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Evaluate the impact on the project schedule and identify possible mitigation strategies. The first step in managing a schedule delay is to analyze the impact on the project schedule and identify potential mitigation strategies. According to the PMBOK Guide's 'Manage Communications' and 'Control Schedule' processes, you must assess the situation before escalating or taking corrective action. This aligns with the principle of 'analyze before act' in predictive project management.

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Ask the team to work overtime to make up for the delay

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Initiate a change request to extend the project schedule

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Immediately notify the sponsor about the delay without further analysis

Question 12

You are managing a marketing campaign project. A key stakeholder, the VP of Marketing, frequently bypasses you and gives direct instructions to team members. This has caused confusion and rework. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a meeting with the VP to discuss the communication management plan and roles. The first step in resolving a stakeholder bypassing the project manager is to address the issue directly with the stakeholder through a scheduled meeting. This allows you to clarify roles, reinforce the communication management plan, and ensure all instructions flow through the proper channels to prevent confusion and rework. By discussing the plan, you align expectations and maintain project governance without escalating prematurely or undermining authority.

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor

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Politely remind the team to ignore instructions that don't come through you

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Update the stakeholder engagement plan without informing the VP

Question 13

During a sprint retrospective, the team expresses frustration about unclear requirements from the product owner. The project manager wants to improve the situation. Which action aligns with the Agile principle of self-organizing teams?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting between the team and product owner to co-create a solution.. It aligns with the Agile principle of self-organizing teams, where the team collaborates with the product owner to co-create a solution for unclear requirements. The project manager acts as a facilitator, empowering the team to resolve the issue collectively rather than imposing a top-down process or ignoring the problem. This approach fosters ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement, which are core to Agile frameworks like Scrum.

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Define a new process for requirement clarification and enforce it.

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Tell the team to adapt as best they can with the current requirements.

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Ask the product owner to provide more detailed user stories.

Question 14

During a sprint retrospective, the team identifies that the daily standups are taking too long and are not focused. Several team members suggest canceling them to save time. What should the scrum master do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion to identify ways to make the standups more focused and time-boxed. The Scrum Master's role is to facilitate the Scrum process and remove impediments. Canceling the daily standup would eliminate a key inspection and adaptation opportunity. Instead, the Scrum Master should facilitate a discussion to help the team improve the focus and time-boxing of the standup, addressing the root cause of the issue.

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Agree to cancel the daily standups as the team suggests

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Keep the standups as they are and remind the team of their importance

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Enforce the timebox strictly without discussion

Question 15

During a daily standup, a developer mentions that a risk identified in the risk register has occurred and is causing a one-day delay. The risk response plan includes a mitigation strategy that can be implemented immediately. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Implement the planned risk response as documented in the risk register. When a risk occurs and a pre-planned mitigation strategy exists in the risk register, the project manager should implement that strategy immediately to minimize impact. In this scenario, the risk response plan already accounts for the one-day delay, so executing the documented mitigation is the most efficient and proactive action, aligning with the PMBOK Guide's guidance on risk response implementation.

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Update the issue log and inform stakeholders of the delay

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Escalate the issue to the sponsor for guidance

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Conduct a new risk assessment to determine the best response