PMP Practice Test 3 — 10 Questions

Question 1

During a sprint retrospective, the team identifies that the daily standup meetings are running too long and are not focused. They want to improve the effectiveness of the standups. What should the scrum master do?

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

Accepted Answer

Ask the team to propose improvements and agree on a new format for the standup. The Scrum Master should facilitate the team's self-organization and continuous improvement. By asking the team to propose improvements and agree on a new format, the Scrum Master empowers the team to own their process, which aligns with the Agile principle of inspecting and adapting. This approach ensures the solution is tailored to the team's specific needs and gains their commitment.

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Cancel standup meetings and replace them with written status reports

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Shorten the standup to 5 minutes and enforce strict time limits

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for guidance

Question 2

During a project, a new government regulation is enacted that directly affects your project's deliverables. The regulation requires additional testing and documentation, which will increase costs by 10%. What is the first action you should take?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to assess and incorporate the new regulation. The first step is to analyze the impact on the project and then submit a change request to formally address the regulatory requirement.

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Immediately implement the required changes to ensure compliance

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Ignore the regulation because it was not part of the original scope

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Update the risk register and inform the sponsor of the impact

Question 3

Your project is behind schedule due to an unexpected delay from a key supplier. The critical path analysis shows that the total float is now negative. What is the BEST course of action?

Accepted Answer

Crash the schedule by adding resources to critical path activities. Crashing the schedule involves adding resources to critical path activities to compress the schedule, which is appropriate when float is negative.

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Reduce project scope by eliminating non-essential deliverables

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Update the risk register and inform stakeholders of the delay without taking action

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Immediately apply fast tracking to overlap activities on the critical path

Question 4

A new government regulation is announced that will impact your project's deliverables. The regulation requires additional compliance testing that was not in the original scope. The project is currently on schedule and within budget. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to formally assess and incorporate the new requirements. The PMBOK Guide mandates that any new requirement, especially one imposed by an external regulation, must first be formally documented and assessed through a change request. This ensures the impact on scope, schedule, budget, and quality is evaluated before any action is taken, maintaining control over the project baseline. The regulation introduces additional compliance testing, which is a technical scope change that requires a formal integrated change control process to update the project management plan and technical specifications.

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Add the testing tasks to the project schedule and continue

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Immediately implement the necessary changes to comply with the regulation

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Inform the sponsor and ask for more budget and time

Question 5

In a Scrum project, the development team consistently fails to meet the sprint goal. The product owner is frustrated, and the team is demotivated. During the retrospective, the team identifies that the sprint backlog is too ambitious. What is the BEST action for the Scrum Master?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team on how to estimate and commit to a realistic amount of work based on velocity. The Scrum Master's primary role is to coach the team in self-management and continuous improvement. Since the team identified that the sprint backlog is too ambitious, the best action is to coach them on estimating and committing to a realistic amount of work based on their historical velocity. This empowers the team to make accurate commitments, directly addressing the root cause of missed sprint goals and demotivation.

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Reduce the sprint backlog yourself to ensure the team can succeed

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Add more team members to increase capacity

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Extend the sprint duration to give the team more time

Question 6

Which TWO of the following are typically included in a business case? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Cost-benefit analysis. A business case is a decision-support document that justifies investment in a proposed initiative, and a cost-benefit analysis (B) is a core component because it quantifies expected costs against anticipated benefits (ROI, NPV, payback period) so stakeholders can judge financial viability. Alignment to strategic objectives (C) is also typically included because it demonstrates how the proposal supports the organization's goals and priorities, which is essential for obtaining executive approval and prioritization. By contrast, a risk register (A) is a project management artifact maintained during project execution, a detailed project schedule (D) is created in the planning phase after approval, and a communication plan (E) is part of project or program management planning — none of these are standard elements used to justify the business case itself.

Answer

Risk register

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Detailed project schedule

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Communication plan

Question 7

A project team member from a different culture consistently remains silent during daily stand-ups and rarely contributes ideas. Other team members are frustrated because they feel the person is not engaged. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a one-on-one meeting with the team member to understand their communication style and any barriers. The project manager should first seek to understand the team member's perspective and any cultural or personal barriers before taking action. Directly addressing the behavior in a one-on-one setting aligns with the PMP's emphasis on servant leadership and emotional intelligence, ensuring the root cause is identified rather than assuming disengagement.

Answer

During the next stand-up, directly ask the team member to share their progress and ideas

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Reassign the team member to a solo task where they can work independently

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Inform the team that the member is disengaged and they should not rely on them

Question 8

During a project, you discover that a team member is being excluded from social interactions by others because of cultural differences. The team member has not complained, but you sense low morale. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Organize a team session on cultural awareness and inclusion. The PMBOK Guide emphasizes proactive leadership in fostering an inclusive team environment. By organizing a cultural awareness session, you address the root cause of exclusion without waiting for a formal complaint, which aligns with the 'Servant Leadership' principle and the 'Manage Team' process. This approach prevents escalation and improves team cohesion, directly tackling low morale.

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Reprimand the team members who are excluding the individual

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Ignore it since no one has complained

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Speak privately with the team member to see if they are bothered

Question 9

An agile project team is in the middle of a sprint when the product owner introduces a high-priority change that was not part of the sprint backlog. The team is concerned about their ability to deliver the sprint goal. Which TWO options align with the Scrum framework? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

The product owner cancels the current sprint and starts a new sprint with the revised backlog. The Scrum framework explicitly allows the Product Owner to cancel a sprint if the Sprint Goal becomes obsolete, such as when a high-priority change emerges that invalidates the current goal. Cancelling the sprint and starting a new one with the revised backlog ensures the team focuses on the highest-value work without disrupting the sprint's time-box or overloading the team. Option E is correct because the Product Owner can add the new work to the Product Backlog and prioritize it for the next sprint, which respects the current Sprint's commitment and allows the team to complete the Sprint Goal without interruption.

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Replace the least important sprint backlog item with the new work and adjust the sprint goal accordingly

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Instruct the team to include the new work in the current sprint and extend the sprint duration

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

Question 10

Your project has a diverse team with members from different cultural backgrounds. A conflict arises because some team members feel their ideas are not being heard during meetings. Which THREE actions should you take to foster inclusion and collaboration?

Accepted Answer

Provide training on cultural diversity and inclusive communication. Option B is correct because cultural diversity and inclusive-communication training builds awareness of differing communication norms (e.g., high-context vs. low-context styles) and gives the team shared vocabulary and techniques to prevent misunderstandings and reduce bias. Option C is correct because anonymous idea submission tools decouple idea evaluation from speaker identity, mitigating status, accent, or cultural bias so quieter or minority-viewpoint members can contribute without social pressure. Option D is correct because a round-robin technique structurally guarantees each member a turn to speak, preventing dominant voices from monopolizing discussion and directly addressing the complaint that some ideas are not being heard. Option A is not appropriate because forcing one direct communication style suppresses cultural differences and can alienate team members rather than foster inclusion. Option E is not appropriate because simply declaring conflict 'normal' and leaving the team to resolve it abdicates the project manager's responsibility to actively facilitate inclusion and constructive resolution.

Answer

Require all team members to communicate in the same direct style

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Tell the team that conflicts are normal and they should work it out themselves