PMP Practice Test 25 — 15 Questions

Question 1

During a project, two senior developers have a conflict regarding the technical approach. As project manager, which TWO actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Encourage both developers to collaborate and find a mutually acceptable solution. The project manager should facilitate collaboration between the two senior developers to resolve the technical conflict, which aligns with the PMP's emphasis on conflict resolution through collaboration and problem-solving. This approach leverages the team's expertise to find a mutually acceptable solution, which is more effective than imposing a decision or escalating prematurely. Documenting the conflict and resolution in the issue log (Option E) is also correct as it ensures transparency and provides a record for future reference, which is a key practice in project management.

Answer

Decide on the technical approach yourself

Answer

Escalate to the project sponsor for a decision

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Reassign one developer to another project to avoid further conflict

Question 2

During a project's execution phase, the project manager notices that two senior team members are in frequent conflict over technical approaches, causing delays. What is the BEST course of action for the project manager?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting between the two team members to discuss and resolve the conflict.. The project manager's role includes facilitating conflict resolution among team members to maintain team cohesion and project progress. By mediating a meeting, the PM addresses the root cause of the delays—technical disagreement—while empowering the team to find a mutually acceptable solution, which aligns with the PMP's emphasis on servant leadership and collaborative problem-solving.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the sponsor without involving the team members.

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Immediately reassign one of the team members to another project.

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Ignore the conflict and hope it resolves on its own.

Question 3

A project manager is leading a cross-functional team where two key members have conflicting priorities. One member insists on following a strict process, while the other wants to expedite delivery. The project manager needs to resolve the conflict to keep the project on track. Which approach is most effective?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting to discuss both perspectives and find a solution that meets core needs.. Facilitating a meeting to discuss both perspectives aligns with the PMP's 'Manage Conflict' process under the 'People' domain. This collaborative approach, known as 'collaborating' or 'problem-solving,' seeks a win-win solution that addresses the core needs of both team members—ensuring quality while meeting delivery timelines—without forcing a compromise that dilutes value or ignoring the issue.

Answer

Enforce the strict process to ensure quality.

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Suggest a compromise where both give up some requirements.

Answer

Ignore the conflict and hope it resolves itself.

Question 4

A project manager notices that during virtual team meetings, only a few members participate actively while others remain silent. The team is diverse and geographically distributed. What technique should the PM use to encourage participation?

Accepted Answer

Create a team charter that includes meeting etiquette and expectations for participation. A team charter establishes agreed-upon norms for meeting behavior, including expectations for participation, which proactively addresses the root cause of silence in a diverse, distributed team. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's emphasis on creating a team charter to define ground rules and foster a collaborative environment, especially when virtual communication challenges exist.

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Reduce the frequency of meetings to avoid overwhelming the team

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Send meeting recordings to those who don't speak

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Call on silent members individually during meetings

Question 5

A project manager is leading a hybrid project. The team has members in three countries, and communication has been challenging. The project manager wants to improve collaboration and build trust among remote team members. Which TWO actions should the project manager take?

Accepted Answer

Rotate meeting times so that no single region always has an inconvenient time. Rotating meeting times distributes the inconvenience of early or late meetings across all time zones, which demonstrates fairness and respect for team members' work-life balance. This action directly addresses the challenge of remote collaboration in a hybrid project by fostering trust and inclusivity, which are critical for team cohesion. Option E is correct because a virtual team charter establishes clear communication norms, availability windows, and expectations, reducing ambiguity and enabling more effective asynchronous and synchronous collaboration.

Answer

Implement a reward system for individual performance metrics

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Assign a single point of contact in each country to relay information

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Require all team members to relocate to a central office for the project duration

Question 6

Your project team is newly formed, and you notice that members are hesitant to share ideas during meetings. To build a high-performing team, what should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Encourage the team to develop a team charter that defines norms and expectations. A is correct because a team charter is a foundational tool in project management that establishes shared norms, expectations, and ground rules. By collaboratively developing the charter, the team builds psychological safety and clarity, which directly addresses the hesitation to share ideas. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's emphasis on forming a high-performing team through agreed-upon behaviors and communication protocols.

Answer

Assign a note-taker to record all ideas

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Tell the team that all ideas are welcome and no one will be judged

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Start each meeting with an icebreaker

Question 7

During a project, the team identifies a risk that could cause a major delay. The probability is high and the impact is high. The project manager decides to hire an external expert to manage the risk. Which risk response strategy is being used?

Accepted Answer

Transfer. Hiring an external expert to manage the risk transfers the financial and managerial responsibility for that risk to a third party. This is a classic Transfer strategy because the project retains the risk but shifts the liability and response execution to the expert via a contract or service agreement. In technical projects, this often involves outsourcing specialized tasks like penetration testing or cloud migration to a vendor.

Answer

Mitigate

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Accept

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Avoid

Question 8

Two senior developers have a conflict over which technical approach to use for a module. The disagreement is delaying the sprint. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting with the developers to discuss the pros and cons of each approach and help them reach a consensus. The project manager's first responsibility in a technical conflict is to facilitate collaboration and consensus-building between the developers. This aligns with the PMP's emphasis on servant leadership and conflict resolution techniques like 'collaborating' or 'problem-solving' within the team, especially when the disagreement directly impacts sprint delivery. By guiding a structured discussion of pros and cons, the PM preserves team autonomy and leverages the developers' expertise to find the best technical solution.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision

Answer

Assign the module to a different developer to avoid the conflict

Answer

Decide on the approach yourself based on your experience

Question 9

A project manager is assigned to a complex project with a team distributed across three time zones. The project requires high collaboration and frequent decision-making. The project manager wants to select a team structure that maximizes communication and efficiency. Which organizational structure is most suitable?

Accepted Answer

Establish a virtual team with core overlap hours and use collaboration tools.. A virtual team with core overlap hours and collaboration tools directly addresses the challenge of a distributed team across three time zones. This structure maximizes communication by synchronizing work during overlapping hours and leverages technology (e.g., Slack, Zoom, Jira) for asynchronous collaboration, ensuring frequent decision-making without requiring physical co-location.

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Use a functional structure where each team works independently.

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Co-locate all team members in a single location.

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Implement a matrix structure with dual reporting.

Question 10

Your project is using a predictive approach, and you are in the execution phase. A key stakeholder requests a minor change that you believe will improve the product but is not in the scope. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request and follow the Integrated Change Control process. In a predictive (waterfall) project, any change to the approved scope, even if minor and beneficial, must go through the formal Integrated Change Control (ICC) process. This ensures the change is evaluated for impacts on cost, schedule, quality, and risk before approval. Submitting a change request is the correct procedure to maintain control over the project baseline and avoid scope creep.

Answer

Implement the change and document it later

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Refuse the change because the project is already in execution

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Approve the change yourself since it is minor and will improve the product

Question 11

A project manager notices that the team's velocity has decreased over the last two sprints. Retrospectives have not identified clear causes. The project manager suspects that team members are overworked and possibly experiencing burnout. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Schedule individual meetings to discuss workload and well-being.. The first step when suspecting burnout is to engage directly with team members to understand their individual workloads and well-being. This aligns with the PMP's emphasis on servant leadership and proactive people management, as it addresses the root cause before taking further action. Individual meetings allow the project manager to gather specific data on overwork, which retrospectives failed to surface, enabling a targeted response.

Answer

Continue monitoring; the velocity may recover naturally.

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Reduce the project scope to lower pressure.

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Add more team members to distribute the workload.

Question 12

A project manager is forming a new team for a complex software development project. The sponsor insists on using a co-located team for better communication. However, the best available resources are located in different countries. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Propose a hybrid model with core team co-located and remote members integrated via collaboration tools.. It balances the sponsor's preference for co-location with the practical reality of distributed talent. A hybrid model allows a core team to be co-located for high-bandwidth collaboration while integrating remote members via collaboration tools (e.g., video conferencing, shared repositories, and agile boards). This approach aligns with PMI's emphasis on stakeholder negotiation and adaptive leadership, ensuring the project benefits from the best resources without sacrificing communication quality.

Answer

Accept the sponsor's requirement and hire local contractors.

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Relocate the remote resources to the project location.

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Replace remote resources with local ones who have similar skills.

Question 13

A project manager is using earned value management. At month 6 of a 12-month project, the EV is $50,000, PV is $60,000, and AC is $55,000. What is the cost performance index (CPI)?

Accepted Answer

0.91. The Cost Performance Index (CPI) is calculated as EV / AC. Here, EV = $50,000 and AC = $55,000, so CPI = 50,000 / 55,000 = 0.909, which rounds to 0.91. A CPI less than 1 indicates the project is over budget, as the cost incurred ($55,000) exceeds the value of work performed ($50,000).

Answer

0.83

Answer

1.20

Answer

1.10

Question 14

You are managing a distributed team across three time zones. A team member from the Asia office reports that they feel excluded from decision-making because key meetings are held during their late evening hours. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Rotate meeting times so that no single region is always disadvantaged. It directly addresses the root cause of exclusion by implementing a fair rotation of meeting times, ensuring no single time zone is consistently disadvantaged. This aligns with the PMP's emphasis on stakeholder engagement and team cohesion, particularly for distributed teams where time zone equity is critical to maintaining inclusion and collaboration.

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Tell the team member that they can catch up by reading meeting minutes

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Schedule all meetings at the same time regardless of time zones

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Record meetings and require the team member to watch them

Question 15

You are managing a software development project using a hybrid approach. Midway through, the customer requests a new feature that was not in the original scope. The team estimates it will add two weeks to the schedule. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request and conduct an impact analysis. In a hybrid project, changes to scope must follow a formal change control process. Option D is correct because submitting a change request and conducting an impact analysis ensures the feature's effect on cost, schedule, and quality is evaluated before any action is taken, aligning with both predictive and agile governance.

Answer

Refuse the request, as the scope was already finalized

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Ask the team to start working on the feature to keep the customer happy

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Add the feature to the product backlog and prioritize it for the next release