PMP Practice Test 23 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You are managing a pharmaceutical research project using a hybrid approach. Midway through, a new regulatory requirement is announced that will affect your project's deliverables. The compliance deadline is before your planned project completion. What should you do first?

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

Accepted Answer

Perform an impact analysis to determine the effect on scope, schedule, cost, and quality.. When a new regulatory requirement emerges mid-project, the first step is to perform an impact analysis to assess its effect on scope, schedule, cost, and quality. This analysis provides the data needed to make informed decisions about how to proceed, such as whether to update the plan, escalate, or request additional resources. Without this analysis, any subsequent actions would be based on assumptions rather than evidence.

Answer

Update the project management plan to incorporate the new requirement.

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor and ask for guidance.

Answer

Immediately inform the project sponsor and request additional budget and time.

Question 2

A project team is transitioning from a predictive to an agile approach. One team member is resistant to change and insists on detailed upfront planning. What is the best way for the project manager to address this resistance?

Accepted Answer

Involve the team member in the agile transition planning to gain buy-in.. Involving the resistant team member in the agile transition planning directly addresses the root cause of resistance—lack of ownership and understanding. By participating in planning, the team member can see how agile practices (e.g., iterative delivery, adaptive planning) still incorporate upfront analysis but in a more flexible, value-driven way. This collaborative approach leverages the team member's experience while aligning with agile principles, reducing friction without forcing change.

Answer

Inform the team member that the change is mandatory and must be followed.

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Assign a mentor to guide the team member through the new processes.

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Conduct a training session on agile principles and practices.

Question 3

You are the project manager for a hybrid software development project. During a sprint review, two senior developers get into a heated argument about the technical approach for a critical feature. The argument is delaying the review and making other team members uncomfortable. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Call a brief break, then meet privately with the two developers to facilitate a resolution. As a project manager in a hybrid environment, your first responsibility is to address the conflict directly and privately to de-escalate the situation without disrupting the sprint review. By calling a brief break and meeting privately with the two developers, you facilitate a resolution using conflict management techniques, which aligns with the PMI's emphasis on servant leadership and stakeholder engagement. This approach preserves team morale and allows the review to continue productively after the issue is resolved.

Answer

Ask both developers to stop arguing and continue the review

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for resolution

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Cancel the sprint review and reschedule it for the next day

Question 4

A project manager is leading a cross-functional team that includes members from marketing, engineering, and finance. The team is struggling with collaboration because each department has different priorities and jargon. What should the project manager do to improve team cohesion?

Accepted Answer

Conduct a team-building workshop focused on communication styles and shared goals. The core issue is cross-functional collaboration due to differing priorities and jargon, which is a communication and team dynamics problem. A team-building workshop focused on communication styles and shared goals directly addresses these root causes by fostering mutual understanding and aligning the team around common objectives, which is a key leadership practice in the PMBOK Guide's 'Manage Team' process. This approach builds trust and cohesion without resorting to punitive or siloed measures.

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Clearly define each member's role and responsibilities in a RACI chart

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Request that the functional managers replace members who are not collaborating well

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Hold separate meetings with each department to address their concerns individually

Question 5

You are managing a project to build a new office building. During excavation, the team discovers an unexpected archaeological site. This is a risk that was identified in the risk register with a low probability and high impact. The mitigation plan was to contact local authorities. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Stop work immediately and contact the local authorities as per the risk response plan. The risk was identified and a mitigation plan was defined in the risk register. The first action when a risk occurs is to execute the planned response, which in this case is to stop work and contact local authorities. This aligns with the PMBOK® Guide's guidance on implementing risk responses immediately when a risk trigger is observed.

Answer

Escalate to the project sponsor for a decision

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Direct the team to continue work and cover the site to avoid delays

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Update the risk register and mark the risk as closed

Question 6

Your project is in execution phase. An executive stakeholder bypasses you and directly instructs a team member to add a new feature. The team member complies and completes the work. You discover this during a status review. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Assess the impact of the new feature on scope, schedule, and cost, then submit a change request retroactively. As the project manager, your first responsibility is to assess the impact of the unauthorized change on the project's triple constraints (scope, schedule, cost) before taking any corrective action. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's guidance to evaluate the situation and then follow the formal change control process, even retroactively, to ensure proper documentation and approval. Confronting or reporting without understanding the impact would be premature and could escalate the issue unnecessarily.

Answer

Accept the work as done and update the project documents accordingly

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Report the executive to the project sponsor for violating the change control process

Answer

Confront the executive stakeholder and insist they follow the change control process

Question 7

You are managing a project using a predictive approach. A key team member has expressed that they feel micromanaged by you and wants more autonomy. The team member's performance is satisfactory. How should you respond?

Accepted Answer

Gradually delegate more responsibility and trust the team member to manage their own tasks. It directly addresses the team member's need for autonomy while maintaining project control. In a predictive (waterfall) approach, delegating responsibility gradually allows the team member to demonstrate self-management without risking project deliverables, aligning with the PMI talent triangle's leadership principle of empowering team members.

Answer

Reassign the team member to a less critical task to minimize risk

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Explain that your management style is necessary to keep the project on track

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Ask the team member to provide a detailed plan of how they will manage their own work

Question 8

A team member has been consistently missing deadlines, causing the team to pick up the slack. The PM has had informal conversations, but the behavior persists. What should the PM do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Have a private meeting to discuss performance issues and establish a performance improvement plan. The PM should first address the performance issue directly with the team member through a private meeting to discuss the missed deadlines and collaboratively establish a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). This aligns with the PMI's focus on leading the team, using conflict resolution and performance management techniques before escalating. Informal conversations have failed, so a structured PIP provides clear expectations, measurable goals, and a timeline for improvement, which is the next logical step in the progressive discipline process.

Answer

Ignore the behavior as the team is compensating

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Escalate to human resources for immediate termination

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Reassign the team member to less critical tasks

Question 9

During project execution, a key team member resigns. The project manager needs to fill the position quickly. What is the FIRST step the project manager should take?

Accepted Answer

Review the project resource management plan and update the staffing requirements.. The project resource management plan contains the procedures for acquiring, developing, and managing the project team. When a key team member resigns, the first step is to review this plan to identify the pre-defined staffing requirements, roles, and acquisition methods (e.g., hiring, reassignment) before taking any action. This ensures alignment with the project's resource constraints and avoids ad-hoc decisions that could disrupt the project's technical execution.

Answer

Immediately hire a replacement with similar skills.

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for approval to hire.

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Ask the team to redistribute the workload.

Question 10

You are managing a hybrid software development project. During the daily stand-up, two senior developers get into a heated argument about the best technical approach for a critical feature. The argument is delaying the meeting and causing tension. As the project manager, what should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Intervene, acknowledge both perspectives, and schedule a separate meeting to resolve the conflict. As the project manager in a hybrid project, you must facilitate conflict resolution without imposing a technical decision that exceeds your role. By acknowledging both perspectives and scheduling a separate meeting, you keep the daily stand-up focused on coordination while ensuring the technical debate is resolved by the appropriate experts, preserving team autonomy and project momentum.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision

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Let the team resolve the conflict on their own without intervention

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Decide on the technical approach yourself to move forward quickly

Question 11

A key vendor informs you that due to raw material shortages, they cannot deliver a critical component on time. This component is on the critical path. The risk register included this as a high-probability risk with a contingency plan to use an alternative supplier. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Activate the contingency plan and engage the alternative supplier. D is correct because the risk was already identified, assessed as high-probability, and a contingency plan (alternative supplier) was documented in the risk register. When the risk occurs, the first action is to execute the pre-approved contingency plan, not to reanalyze or seek new approvals, as the plan was already vetted during risk planning.

Answer

Ask the project sponsor to approve the alternative supplier

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Replan the project schedule to accommodate the delay

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Perform a new risk analysis to assess the impact

Question 12

During a sprint retrospective, the team identifies that communication breakdowns are causing delays. They propose a new collaboration tool. The project manager supports the idea but it requires additional budget. What should the PM do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Evaluate the tool's cost and benefits, then submit a change request for approval. The project manager must first evaluate the cost and benefits of the proposed collaboration tool to build a business case, then submit a formal change request to the change control board (CCB) for approval. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's integrated change control process, ensuring that budget adjustments are justified and authorized before any expenditure.

Answer

Purchase the tool using the management reserve without approval

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Ask the team to continue without the tool to save money

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Authorize the purchase using the contingency reserve

Question 13

During a sprint review, a key stakeholder expresses dissatisfaction with the product increment, stating that it does not meet their expectations. The team followed the acceptance criteria defined in the user stories. What should the project manager do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a meeting with the stakeholder and product owner to clarify expectations and refine the backlog. The project manager must facilitate a meeting between the stakeholder and the product owner to clarify expectations and refine the backlog. This aligns with the agile principle of continuous stakeholder engagement and ensures that acceptance criteria are updated to reflect true needs, preventing future mismatches.

Answer

Explain that the team delivered exactly what was agreed upon and the stakeholder should have raised concerns earlier

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Refer the stakeholder to the product owner to discuss changes for future sprints

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Ask the team to redo the work to meet the stakeholder's unspoken needs

Question 14

You are managing a software development project that uses an agile methodology. The team has been working on a critical feature for the past two weeks. During the daily standup, a developer mentions that they discovered a significant technical debt in the codebase that will require refactoring before the feature can be completed. The product owner is not present at the standup. The developer estimates that the refactoring will take an additional three days, which will delay the current sprint's delivery. The sprint ends in five days. The team is already at full capacity. As the project manager, what should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Escalate the issue to the product owner and discuss reprioritization of backlog items.. The product owner is the authority on prioritization and must be informed of the technical debt that impacts the sprint goal. The project manager should first escalate the issue to the product owner to discuss reprioritization of backlog items, ensuring alignment with business value and sprint commitments. This aligns with agile principles of transparency and stakeholder collaboration, especially when technical debt threatens delivery.

Answer

Remove the refactoring from the sprint and add it to the backlog for future sprints.

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Instruct the team to work overtime to complete both the refactoring and the feature.

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Extend the sprint by three days to accommodate the refactoring.

Question 15

You are the project manager for a software development project using a hybrid approach. During the sprint review, the product owner is satisfied with the deliverables, but one key stakeholder requests a significant change that would add a new feature. The team has already started planning the next sprint. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to the change control board for evaluation and approval.. In a hybrid project, changes are managed through a formal change control process. The stakeholder's request for a new feature is a significant change that must be evaluated for impact on scope, schedule, and budget before any action is taken. Submitting a change request to the change control board (CCB) ensures proper governance and prevents unauthorized scope creep, which is critical when the team has already begun planning the next sprint.

Answer

Refuse the change because the scope was already agreed upon during sprint planning.

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Ask the team to include the new feature in the next sprint since it's a high priority for the stakeholder.

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Advise the stakeholder to wait until the project is complete and then submit an enhancement request.