PMP Practice Test 27 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A project manager is reviewing the project's risk register and identifies several risks that could impact the project. According to PMBOK Guide, which THREE of the following are strategies for negative risks or threats? (Choose three.)

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

Accepted Answer

Avoid. Avoid, Transfer, and Mitigate are the three primary strategies for dealing with negative risks or threats as defined in the PMBOK Guide. Avoid involves eliminating the threat entirely by changing the project plan, Transfer shifts the impact of the threat to a third party (e.g., insurance, fixed-price contracts), and Mitigate reduces the probability or impact of the threat to an acceptable threshold. These strategies are specifically designed to address risks with a negative impact on project objectives.

Answer

Exploit

Answer

Enhance

Question 2

A project manager is leading a software development project. The sponsor insists on using a waterfall approach, but the team has experience with agile and believes it would be more effective. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting with the sponsor and team to discuss trade-offs.. The project manager's first responsibility is to facilitate a data-driven discussion between the sponsor and the team. By presenting trade-offs—such as the waterfall's rigid phase-gate structure versus agile's iterative feedback loops—the PM can align the project's delivery approach with its business environment and benefit realization strategy, without prematurely escalating or bypassing authority.

Answer

Adopt agile without informing the sponsor.

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Follow the sponsor's directive and use waterfall.

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Escalate to the PMO to resolve the conflict.

Question 3

You are managing a project using a hybrid approach. A team member has been underperforming for several weeks. You have had informal conversations and provided coaching, but there has been no improvement. What should you do next?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a formal meeting to discuss the performance gap, set clear expectations, and agree on a performance improvement plan. After informal coaching has failed, the next step in progressive performance management is to hold a formal meeting to document the performance gap, set clear expectations, and create a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's emphasis on addressing issues through a structured, documented process before escalating or removing a team member, especially in a hybrid approach where the project manager retains team leadership responsibilities.

Answer

Escalate to the functional manager to handle the situation

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Reassign the team member to less critical tasks to minimize impact

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Remove the team member from the project and request a replacement

Question 4

A project manager is developing the project schedule. After defining activities and sequencing them, what is the next step in the schedule development process?

Accepted Answer

Estimate activity resources. In the schedule development process, after defining activities and sequencing them, the next step is to estimate the resources required for each activity (option A). This is because resource availability and constraints directly impact activity durations, and you must know what resources are available before you can estimate how long each activity will take. The PMBOK Guide's schedule management process follows the order: Plan Schedule Management → Define Activities → Sequence Activities → Estimate Activity Resources → Estimate Activity Durations → Develop Schedule.

Answer

Estimate activity durations

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Estimate costs

Answer

Develop the schedule baseline

Question 5

During a project audit, you discover that a team member has been gold-plating the deliverables by adding extra features not requested. What is the BEST action to take?

Accepted Answer

Meet with the team member to discuss the importance of adhering to the approved scope and the risks of gold-plating. Gold-plating is a project management term for adding extra features beyond the approved scope, which introduces scope creep, increases costs, and may introduce defects or integration issues. The best action is to meet with the team member to reinforce the importance of adhering to the scope baseline and explain the risks, such as schedule delays, budget overruns, and potential rework. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's emphasis on scope verification and control, ensuring that only approved changes are implemented through the formal change control process.

Answer

Allow the team member to continue as the extra features may add customer value

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Report the team member to HR for violating project policies

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Remove the extra features immediately without consulting the team member

Question 6

Your project is halfway through its schedule. Earned value analysis shows: EV = $120,000, PV = $150,000, AC = $140,000. What is the best interpretation of the project's performance?

Accepted Answer

The project is behind schedule and over budget.. The project is behind schedule because the Earned Value (EV) of $120,000 is less than the Planned Value (PV) of $150,000, resulting in a Schedule Performance Index (SPI) of 0.8. The project is over budget because the Actual Cost (AC) of $140,000 exceeds the EV, giving a Cost Performance Index (CPI) of 0.857. Thus, option B correctly identifies both schedule and cost issues.

Answer

The project is behind schedule but under budget.

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The project is on schedule and under budget.

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The project is ahead of schedule but over budget.

Question 7

During a daily standup, a developer mentions they found a way to improve the code's performance but it will add two extra days of work. What should the scrum master do?

Accepted Answer

Advise the developer to discuss the improvement with the product owner after the standup. Adding extra work without stakeholder approval is gold-plating. The scrum master should remind the team to focus on the sprint goal and discuss the idea with the product owner.

Answer

Record the idea in the project documentation and move on

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Allow the developer to proceed because the improvement is valuable

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Add the improvement to the sprint backlog immediately

Question 8

A critical risk identified in the risk register has occurred. The planned response was to mitigate, but the impact is higher than anticipated. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Implement the planned mitigation response and then reassess the situation. The risk response plan should be executed first, then reassess and update the risk register. PMI recommends implementing the planned response and evaluating its effectiveness.

Answer

Develop a new response from scratch because the impact changed

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Update the risk register and ignore the planned response

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Escalate the risk to the project sponsor immediately

Question 9

A project team member is consistently late with deliverables, affecting the critical path. The project manager has had informal conversations, but performance hasn't improved. What should the project manager do next?

Accepted Answer

Initiate a formal performance improvement plan.. The project manager has already attempted informal resolution, and the continued impact on the critical path requires a formal performance improvement plan (PIP) to document the issue, set clear expectations, and provide a structured path for improvement. This aligns with the PMI's progressive discipline approach, where informal coaching precedes formal action to protect the project's schedule and maintain team accountability.

Answer

Reassign the task to another team member.

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Ask the team member's manager to intervene.

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Remove the team member from the project.

Question 10

A new regulatory requirement has been discovered that affects your project's deliverables. The project is halfway through its schedule. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to assess the impact on scope, schedule, and cost. D is correct because the PMBOK Guide mandates that any change, including a new regulatory requirement, must first be processed through a formal change request to evaluate its impact on scope, schedule, and cost. Since the project is already halfway through its schedule, the project manager must follow the integrated change control process to ensure the change is assessed before any action is taken. This prevents unauthorized changes that could disrupt project baselines.

Answer

Ignore the requirement because the project is already underway

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Inform the team to start incorporating the new requirement immediately

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Update the project management plan directly to include the change

Question 11

A project manager is closing a project. Several lessons learned were documented throughout the project. What should the PM do with the lessons learned?

Accepted Answer

Submit them to the PMO for inclusion in the organizational process assets. Lessons learned are a key input to organizational process assets (OPA). Submitting them to the PMO ensures they are formally captured, stored, and made available for future projects, enabling continuous process improvement. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's guidance on updating OPAs during project closure.

Answer

Include them in the final project report and then discard them

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Archive them in the project file for reference only

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Distribute them to the project team for their personal development

Question 12

A project team member has been consistently missing deadlines for the past two weeks, causing delays for dependent tasks. When you speak with them, they mention personal issues but assure you they will catch up. What is the BEST approach?

Accepted Answer

Offer support such as flexible hours or counseling resources, and set clear expectations with a recovery plan. It aligns with the PMP's emphasis on servant leadership and emotional intelligence. By offering support (flexible hours, counseling) and collaboratively setting a recovery plan, you address the root cause (personal issues) while maintaining accountability, which is more effective than punitive or escalatory measures for a temporary performance dip.

Answer

Redistribute the team member's tasks to others to avoid delays

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Escalate the issue to the team member's functional manager

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Issue a formal warning to the team member about performance

Question 13

During project execution, a risk event that was identified and listed in the risk register occurs. The risk response plan includes a mitigation strategy. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Implement the risk response as defined in the risk register. The risk response plan is the approved course of action for handling identified risks. When a risk event occurs, the project manager should first implement the predefined mitigation strategy as documented in the risk register, ensuring a timely and controlled response without unnecessary delay.

Answer

Re-evaluate the risk to see if the response is still valid

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Update the risk register and lessons learned

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Inform the sponsor immediately about the risk occurrence

Question 14

You are managing a virtual team across four time zones. Team members report feeling disconnected and communication is becoming fragmented. What is the BEST way to improve team cohesion?

Accepted Answer

Schedule weekly videoconference meetings with a clear agenda and time for informal discussion. It directly addresses the root cause of fragmentation in a virtual team: lack of personal connection. Weekly videoconferences with a clear agenda ensure structured communication, while informal discussion time builds rapport and trust, which are critical for team cohesion across time zones.

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Rotate meeting times to accommodate each time zone fairly

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Encourage team members to use email for all communication

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Assign a team member to act as a communication hub

Question 15

You are the project manager for a large infrastructure project funded by a government grant that requires the project to deliver specific social benefits within three years. The project is currently in its second year, and a recent audit reveals that the project is on track to exceed its budget by 20% due to unexpected material cost increases. The grant terms stipulate that any cost overrun must be absorbed by the organization, not the grant. Additionally, the project benefits are measured based on the number of beneficiaries served, which is currently 70% of the target. The project sponsor is concerned that cutting costs may reduce the number of beneficiaries and jeopardize the grant conditions. The project team has identified two options: (1) reduce the scope of the project to stay within budget, which would lower the beneficiary count to 60% of target; or (2) request additional funding from the organization, but the CFO is reluctant because the project's return on investment is already marginal. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Conduct a benefits analysis to determine the minimum viable beneficiary count and then propose a revised plan that optimizes cost and benefits.. It aligns with the PMP's focus on benefits realization management. The project manager should first analyze the minimum beneficiary count required to satisfy grant conditions, then optimize the project plan to balance cost and benefits. This approach ensures data-driven decision-making before escalating or implementing scope changes, directly addressing the sponsor's concern about jeopardizing grant conditions.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the steering committee for a decision.

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Implement option 1 to control costs and then inform the sponsor of the reduced benefits.

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Request additional funding from the CFO, emphasizing the risk of non-compliance.