PMP Practice Test 4 — 25 Questions

Question 1

Your agile team has been working remotely for the past three months. You notice that sprint velocity has dropped significantly over the last two sprints. Team members seem disengaged during daily stand-ups and collaboration has decreased. What should you do FIRST?

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

Accepted Answer

Schedule virtual team-building activities and one-on-one check-ins to understand concerns. The first step in addressing a drop in velocity and team disengagement is to understand the root cause through direct communication. As a servant leader, you should schedule virtual team-building activities and one-on-one check-ins to uncover concerns such as burnout, isolation, or unclear expectations, which aligns with the PMI People domain of leading projects. This approach fosters psychological safety and collaboration, which are essential for remote agile teams.

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Implement a new project management tool to track tasks more closely

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Ask the team to work longer hours to make up for lost velocity

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Report the velocity drop to the sponsor and ask for more resources

Question 2

You are managing a portfolio of three projects. Project A is on track and aligned with strategic goals. Project B is behind schedule but has high strategic value. Project C is on time but its strategic value has diminished due to market changes. The steering committee asks you to recommend which project to prioritize. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Present the status and strategic alignment of each project to the committee and facilitate a decision. The project manager's role is to provide objective information to the steering committee, including the status and strategic alignment of each project, and then facilitate their decision-making. This aligns with the project manager's responsibility to present trade-offs and let the governance body prioritize. Option A is incorrect because unilaterally increasing resources for Project B bypasses the committee's authority. Option C is incorrect because it makes a biased recommendation without considering other factors. Option D is incorrect because it delays the decision and avoids the collaborative governance process.

Answer

Recommend increasing resources for Project B to get it back on track

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Recommend stopping Project C and reallocating resources to Project B

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Ask each project manager to submit a recovery plan and then decide

Question 3

A new team member joins your project and is struggling to understand the technical domain and the team's culture. Their productivity is low, and they seem hesitant to ask questions. As project manager, what is the BEST way to support this team member?

Accepted Answer

Assign a senior team member to mentor and pair with them on tasks. Assigning a senior team member to mentor and pair with the new member directly addresses both the technical domain gap and the cultural hesitancy. Pairing provides real-time, context-rich learning and psychological safety, which is more effective than passive documentation or isolated training for accelerating integration and productivity.

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Provide them with detailed documentation and ask them to read it on their own time

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Extend their deadlines to reduce pressure

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Enroll them in an online training course for the technical domain

Question 4

Your project is developing a new mobile app using Scrum. The team has consistently delivered 30 story points per sprint for the last three sprints. Suddenly, velocity drops to 20 story points in the current sprint. The team members report that they are spending extra time fixing defects from previous sprints. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a retrospective to identify root causes of defects and implement process improvements. The root cause of the velocity drop needs to be understood before taking corrective action. A retrospective is the appropriate forum to discuss process improvements.

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Reduce the definition of done to lower the quality bar

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Add more developers to the team to increase velocity

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Ask the team to work overtime to catch up

Question 5

Your agile team has recently formed and is struggling to agree on work methods and communication norms. Several team members are frustrated with the lack of consistency. What should you do as the project manager?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a workshop to develop a team charter that defines working agreements and communication norms. The team is in the forming stage and needs explicit guidance to establish shared expectations. Facilitating a workshop to create a team charter directly addresses the root cause—lack of agreed-upon work methods and communication norms—by providing a structured, collaborative process that aligns with agile principles while still leveraging the project manager's leadership to resolve the impasse.

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Let the team work out the issues on their own since they are self-organizing

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Assign a team lead to make decisions on work methods

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Replace the frustrated team members with more collaborative ones

Question 6

You are leading a globally distributed team with members in three time zones. During a virtual sprint retrospective, team members express frustration that decisions are often made without their input, leading to rework. What is the BEST action to improve team empowerment and collaboration?

Accepted Answer

Establish a decision-making framework that includes input from all time zones before finalizing decisions. Establishing a decision-making framework that explicitly includes input from all time zones addresses the root cause of the frustration: lack of inclusion in decisions. This directly improves team empowerment and collaboration by ensuring asynchronous participation, reducing rework caused by decisions made without full team input.

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Introduce a new collaboration tool to facilitate asynchronous communication

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Implement a strict decision-making hierarchy where the project manager makes all final decisions

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Encourage team members to speak up more during meetings

Question 7

You are the project manager for a 9-month product launch. At the midpoint review, the earned value analysis shows: EV = $450,000, PV = $500,000, AC = $550,000. The project is underperforming. The sponsor asks for a recovery plan. Which metric should you use to estimate the new total cost at completion assuming no change in cost performance?

Accepted Answer

EAC = BAC / CPI. With no change in cost performance, the Estimate at Completion (EAC) using the cost performance index (CPI) is appropriate: EAC = BAC / CPI. Given EV = $450,000, AC = $550,000, CPI = EV/AC = 0.818, so EAC = BAC / 0.818. Option D is correct. Option A (EAC = AC + (BAC - EV) / (CPI * SPI)) applies when both cost and schedule performance are expected to continue. Option B and C (EAC = AC + (BAC - EV)) assume future work is performed at the budgeted rate, not the current cost performance. Thus, only D is correct under the assumption of no change in cost performance.

Answer

EAC = AC + (BAC - EV) / (CPI * SPI)

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EAC = AC + (BAC - EV)

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EAC = AC + BAC - EV

Question 8

At the midpoint of your 18-month project, the earned value analysis shows: EV = $450,000, PV = $500,000, AC = $550,000. What should you be most concerned about?

Accepted Answer

The project is both behind schedule and over budget.. With EV < PV and EV < AC, the project is behind schedule and over budget. The cost performance index (CPI) is 0.82, indicating cost efficiency is poor. Both schedule and cost are concerns, but cost overrun is more severe.

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The project is ahead of schedule but over budget.

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The project is on schedule and on budget.

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The project is behind schedule but on budget.

Question 9

During a project's execution phase, you discover that a team member has been delivering work that does not meet the quality standards defined in the quality management plan. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Review the quality reports and perform a root cause analysis to prevent recurrence. The first step when quality standards are not met is to analyze the quality reports and perform root cause analysis to identify the underlying cause of the defect. This aligns with the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle and the principle of continuous improvement, ensuring the issue is corrected and prevented from recurring rather than just fixing the symptom.

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Ask the team member to redo the work without further discussion

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Escalate the issue to the human resources department

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Update the quality management plan to lower the standards

Question 10

During the execution phase of a construction project, you discover that a key vendor will not deliver steel beams on time, threatening the critical path. The risk was identified and the response plan was to use an approved backup supplier. What should you do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Contact the backup supplier immediately to activate the contract. Since the risk response plan already identified the backup supplier, the PM should implement the planned response. Activating the contingency plan is the correct proactive step. Communicating with stakeholders is important but secondary to executing the response.

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Ask the team to find a new vendor not on the approved list

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision

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Update the risk register and wait for the vendor to confirm the delay

Question 11

Your project is running 15% over budget at the midpoint. The cost variance is due to higher-than-expected material costs. What is the BEST action?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the variance and implement corrective actions such as reducing scope or using cheaper materials. The PM should analyze the variance, determine root cause, and develop corrective actions, then communicate to stakeholders.

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Reduce the quality of deliverables to cut costs

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Request additional budget from the sponsor

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Inform the sponsor of the overrun and wait for instructions

Question 12

A project manager is managing a construction project that is currently 15% over budget at the midpoint. The sponsor asks the PM to reduce quality testing to save costs. What should the PM do first?

Accepted Answer

Explain the risks of reducing quality and recommend submitting a change request if cost reduction is necessary. Reducing quality without change control and impact analysis is risky and violates PMI principles. Option B is reactive, option C bypasses analysis, option D ignores the issue.

Answer

Ignore the sponsor's request and continue with the current plan

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Agree with the sponsor and reduce testing immediately

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Review the budget and identify other areas to cut costs without affecting quality

Question 13

In a Scrum project, the product owner asks the team to add a new user story during the sprint. The team is currently working on committed stories. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Explain to the product owner that new stories cannot be added during the sprint without removing an equal amount of work. In Scrum, the sprint backlog is fixed once the sprint starts. The product owner can add new stories only after the current sprint is completed, unless a story is swapped out with equal effort. The Scrum Master should protect the team from scope changes during the sprint.

Answer

Immediately schedule a sprint planning meeting to add the new story

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

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Tell the team to finish current stories first and then work on the new story

Question 14

During a daily standup meeting, a team member mentions that they encountered a technical issue that will delay their task by two days. The project is time-sensitive. What should the scrum master do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Remove the impediment by helping the team member find a solution or escalating if necessary. The scrum master's role is to remove impediments and help the team resolve issues. Addressing the block immediately aligns with agile principles.

Answer

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

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Report the issue to the project sponsor

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Update the project schedule to reflect the two-day delay

Question 15

In your Scrum project, the development team has been consistently missing sprint commitments. During the retrospective, the team identifies that scope is often added during the sprint by the product owner without consulting the team. What should you do as the Scrum Master?

Accepted Answer

Coach the product owner on the importance of not changing scope during a sprint.. The Scrum Master is responsible for protecting the team and ensuring the Scrum process is followed. The product owner should not add scope during a sprint; changes should be deferred to the next sprint. The Scrum Master should coach the product owner.

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Ask the product owner to stop attending daily standups to prevent scope changes.

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Update the sprint backlog to reflect the changes and extend the sprint duration.

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Allow the product owner to add scope if the team agrees.

Question 16

Your project team includes members from diverse cultural backgrounds. A team member from a high-context culture is perceived by others as not being direct enough, causing misunderstandings. What should you do to improve team cohesion?

Accepted Answer

Provide diversity and inclusion training to the entire team. Providing diversity and inclusion training addresses the root cause of the misunderstanding—cultural differences in communication styles—by educating the entire team on high-context vs. low-context cultures. This aligns with the PMP's focus on fostering a collaborative team environment through mutual understanding, rather than singling out or forcing change on one individual. It promotes team cohesion by building awareness and respect for diverse communication norms, which is essential for leading projects in a global context.

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Assign a mentor to coach the team member on being more direct

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Ask the team member to adapt their communication style to match the majority

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Send a memo clarifying preferred communication styles

Question 17

You are the project manager for a large infrastructure project to upgrade a legacy network system across 50 remote sites. The project is in its second month, and the team consists of 12 members: 6 network engineers, 3 site coordinators, 2 QA testers, and 1 procurement specialist. The team is co-located at the headquarters except for the site coordinators who are at various locations. Recently, you have noticed that the weekly status meetings are dominated by the network engineers, and the QA testers rarely speak. The site coordinators have missed the last two meetings due to 'scheduling conflicts.' Deliverables from QA are consistently late, and there have been three incidents where network configurations were deployed without QA approval, causing outages at two sites. When you asked the lead network engineer about it, he said, 'QA is too slow; we had to move fast.' The QA lead is frustrated and feels marginalized. The sponsor has expressed concern about the increasing number of outages. The organizational culture is hierarchical, but the project charter gives you authority to manage the team. What should you do first to address this situation?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a team meeting to revisit the team charter, establish ground rules for decision-making and communication, and reinforce the importance of QA approvals.. The core issue is a breakdown in team processes and collaboration, not a technical problem. As the project manager with authority, your first step should be to facilitate a team meeting to revisit the team charter, establish clear ground rules for decision-making and communication, and reinforce the mandatory QA approval gate. This directly addresses the root cause—the network engineers bypassing QA—by realigning the team on agreed-upon processes and roles, which is a fundamental leadership action in the 'Manage Team' process.

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Hold one-on-one meetings with each team member to understand their perspectives and then make decisions unilaterally.

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Escalate the issue to the sponsor and request authority to replace the lead network engineer.

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Implement a new project schedule with tighter deadlines for QA to encourage faster turnaround.

Question 18

During a project, the team encounters a risk event that was identified in the risk register. The project manager needs to implement a response. Which THREE actions should the project manager take?

Accepted Answer

Implement the response plan defined in the risk register.. When a risk event occurs, the project manager should first implement the planned response as documented in the risk register (A). After the response is executed, the outcome should be documented (E) to capture what happened. Finally, the lessons learned should be updated (B) to benefit future projects. Option C is incorrect because the team should follow the existing plan, not brainstorm new responses immediately. Option D is incorrect because requesting additional contingency reserve is not the first action; the planned response should be executed using existing reserves if needed.

Answer

Immediately convene the team to brainstorm new responses.

Answer

Request additional contingency reserve from the sponsor.

Question 19

You are managing a project in a highly regulated industry. An audit reveals that your project is not fully compliant with a new data privacy regulation. The regulation requires specific data handling procedures that your team has not implemented. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to incorporate the regulatory requirements and assess impact on schedule and budget. The first step is to analyze the gap and submit a change request to implement the required procedures. Compliance is non-negotiable, but changes must follow the formal process.

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Ignore the audit findings because the project is almost complete

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Immediately implement the required procedures to avoid legal penalties

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Update the risk register and continue as planned until the regulation is enforced

Question 20

Your project is halfway through its planned 18-month schedule. The sponsor has asked you to skip the final testing phase to meet a regulatory deadline, citing that the team is experienced and testing is unnecessary. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Explain the risks of skipping testing and propose alternatives such as reducing test scope while maintaining critical tests. As a project manager, your first responsibility is to assess and communicate the impact of a requested change. Skipping the final testing phase introduces significant quality and compliance risks, especially given the regulatory deadline. By explaining these risks and proposing a reduced but critical test scope, you demonstrate proactive risk management and stakeholder negotiation, which aligns with the PMI's focus on balancing constraints.

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Escalate to the PMO for a decision

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Refuse to skip testing and insist on the original plan

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Agree to skip testing to maintain the deadline, as the sponsor has authority