PMP Practice Test 40 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You are the project manager for a marketing campaign launch. The project has a tight deadline. During a status meeting, a team member announces that they have completed a task two days early. However, you notice that the quality of the deliverable is below the acceptance criteria. What should you do?

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

Accepted Answer

Reject the deliverable and ask the team member to rework it to meet the acceptance criteria. The deliverable does not meet the acceptance criteria, so the project manager should reject it and request rework to ensure quality standards are met. Option A is incorrect because ignoring quality issues sets a bad precedent and may lead to further problems. Option C is incorrect because lowering acceptance criteria without stakeholder approval violates the project scope and quality management plan. Option D is incorrect because accepting a substandard deliverable with the intent to improve later is not effective; deliverables should meet criteria upon completion.

Answer

Thank the team member for the early completion and move on to the next task

Answer

Lower the acceptance criteria to match the deliverable's quality to save time

Answer

Accept the deliverable since it was completed early and the team can improve it later

Question 2

You are managing a software development project using a hybrid approach. During a sprint review, the customer expresses dissatisfaction with a recently delivered feature and requests a significant redesign. This change will impact the critical path and increase costs. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to the change control board (CCB) for evaluation and approval. In a hybrid project, changes impacting the critical path and costs must follow a formal change control process. Submitting a change request to the CCB ensures the redesign is evaluated for feasibility, impact on schedule, budget, and quality before approval. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's integrated change control and prevents unauthorized scope creep.

Answer

Approve the redesign to satisfy the customer and update the project schedule accordingly

Answer

Instruct the team to implement the redesign immediately to maintain customer satisfaction

Answer

Reject the request because it was not part of the original scope agreement

Question 3

Your project is behind schedule, and you need to compress the schedule. The critical path has been identified. What is the BEST schedule compression technique to use if you have additional budget available?

Accepted Answer

Crashing. Crashing is the correct technique because it involves adding resources (e.g., overtime, additional staff, or expedited shipping) to critical path activities to compress the schedule, and the question explicitly states additional budget is available. Unlike fast tracking, crashing does not increase risk but does increase cost, making it the best choice when budget is not a constraint.

Answer

Fast tracking

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Resource smoothing

Answer

Resource leveling

Question 4

As a project manager in an agile environment, you need to empower the development team to self-organize. Which THREE practices support this goal? (Choose three)

Accepted Answer

Provide the team with clear goals and boundaries, then trust them to deliver. Empowering a self-organizing team in agile requires providing clear goals and boundaries (e.g., sprint goals and Definition of Done) and then trusting the team to determine the best way to achieve them. This aligns with the Agile Manifesto's principle of 'build projects around motivated individuals' and the Scrum Guide's emphasis on self-management, where the team decides how to accomplish its work within the sprint.

Answer

Make all final decisions on technical approaches to maintain control

Answer

Assign specific tasks to each team member to ensure efficiency

Question 5

A new government regulation has been enacted that affects your project's deliverables. The regulation requires additional compliance checks that were not in the original scope. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to incorporate the compliance checks and assess the impact on scope, schedule, and cost. When a new government regulation impacts your project, the first step is to submit a change request to formally document the required compliance checks and assess their impact on scope, schedule, and cost. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's integrated change control process, ensuring that the regulation is addressed through a controlled change rather than ad-hoc adjustments. Option A is correct because it initiates the proper change management workflow, which includes impact analysis and stakeholder approval.

Answer

Refuse to comply with the regulation because it increases project costs

Answer

Discuss with stakeholders before taking any action

Answer

Inform the team to ignore the regulation as it was not part of the original plan

Question 6

Your project team includes members from different cultural backgrounds. You notice that some team members are uncomfortable challenging ideas during meetings, which you attribute to cultural norms. How can you best promote a culture of open communication?

Accepted Answer

Create a safe environment by explicitly encouraging diverse perspectives and using anonymous feedback tools. It directly addresses the root cause—cultural norms that discourage open challenge—by creating psychological safety through explicit encouragement and anonymous feedback tools. This approach aligns with the PMP's emphasis on servant leadership and fostering a collaborative team environment without forcing individuals to act against their cultural conditioning.

Answer

Provide diversity training to the team

Answer

Hold meetings only with individual team members to gather their input

Answer

Assign a mentor to each team member to help them speak up

Question 7

Your agile team has been using Scrum for six months, but the product owner is not consistently available for sprint planning and reviews. The team is frustrated and the last two sprints did not meet the definition of done. Which THREE actions should you take to address this?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a retrospective to discuss the challenges and agree on improvements. Option A is correct because a retrospective is the Scrum ceremony specifically designed for the team to inspect its process and identify actionable improvements, making it the right first step to surface the product owner availability problem and agree on remedies. Option D is correct because the last two sprints failed to meet the definition of done, so the team and product owner must jointly review and revise that definition to make it achievable and unambiguous, which is a core Scrum practice for restoring quality. Option E is correct because the product owner's inconsistent availability directly undermines sprint planning and review, so coaching them on the importance of their role and required availability addresses the root cause rather than a symptom. Option B does not belong because introducing a new tool adds overhead without fixing the underlying collaboration and availability issue. Option C does not belong because assigning a proxy product owner from the development team violates Scrum's separation of accountabilities and does not resolve the actual problem of the product owner's engagement.

Answer

Implement a new project management tool to improve transparency

Answer

Assign a proxy product owner from the development team

Question 8

During a sprint review, the product owner expresses dissatisfaction with the feature delivered, stating it does not meet the acceptance criteria. The team disagrees, claiming it meets the definition of done. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a meeting with the product owner and the team to review the acceptance criteria and define done. When the product owner and team disagree on whether a deliverable meets acceptance criteria versus the definition of done, the root cause is usually a mismatch in shared understanding. The PM should first facilitate a meeting between the product owner and team to review the acceptance criteria and definition of done, aligning expectations before deciding on any action. This is a servant-leadership and conflict-resolution response.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision

Answer

Support the team's position and ask the product owner to accept the deliverable

Answer

Ask the team to redo the work to meet the product owner's expectations

Question 9

You are the project manager for a large construction project. An executive stakeholder has been bypassing you and directly giving instructions to the site supervisor to add extra features. The supervisor complied, and now the project is experiencing scope creep. The changes have not been formally approved. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a meeting with the executive stakeholder to explain the impact of the unauthorized changes and request that all change requests go through the formal process.. The project manager should first address the root cause by meeting with the executive stakeholder to explain the impact of the unauthorized changes and to request that all future changes go through the formal change control process. This respects the stakeholder's authority while re-establishing proper governance and preventing further scope creep. Only after that conversation should the PM determine how to handle the already-made changes through the change control board.

Answer

Update the project management plan to include the new features and adjust the budget and schedule accordingly.

Answer

Direct the site supervisor to stop all work and revert the changes.

Answer

Issue a change order retroactively to document the changes.

Question 10

You are managing a large project with multiple vendors. One vendor has delivered a critical component two weeks late, jeopardizing the project schedule. The vendor claims that the delay was caused by unclear specifications from your team. Your team insists the specifications were clear. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting between the vendor and your team to clarify specifications and agree on a recovery plan. As the project manager, your first responsibility is to facilitate collaboration and resolve the root cause of the conflict—unclear specifications—before escalating or assigning blame. By bringing the vendor and your team together, you can clarify the requirements, identify the actual gap, and jointly develop a recovery plan to mitigate the schedule impact. This aligns with the PMP's focus on stakeholder engagement and conflict resolution as a proactive leadership practice.

Answer

Review the contract and specifications yourself to determine who is at fault

Answer

Refer the matter to the legal department for breach of contract

Answer

Ask the vendor to expedite delivery at no extra cost to make up for the delay

Question 11

Your project is using a hybrid approach. An executive stakeholder has been bypassing you and giving direct instructions to the development team. The team is confused about priorities. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Speak privately with the executive stakeholder to remind them of the communication protocols and the impact of their actions on the team. In a hybrid project, the project manager is responsible for maintaining clear communication channels and protecting the team from conflicting priorities. Option C is correct because the first step is to address the issue directly with the executive stakeholder in a private, respectful conversation, explaining how bypassing the PM disrupts the agreed-upon communication protocols and creates confusion for the development team. This aligns with the PMI principle of managing stakeholders and ensuring the team can focus on the prioritized backlog without interference.

Answer

Instruct the team to ignore any instructions that do not come through you

Answer

Update the communications management plan to include the stakeholder's preferred communication channels

Answer

Escalate the issue to the sponsor and request intervention

Question 12

You are the project manager for a portfolio of projects. One project is consistently underperforming and missing milestones. The steering committee asks you to recommend whether to continue or cancel the project. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Conduct a benefits review and assess if the project still aligns with organizational strategy. Before recommending cancellation or recovery, the project manager must conduct a benefits review to determine whether the project still aligns with organizational strategy, as this is the foundational input for a continue/cancel decision. This aligns with PMBOK's emphasis on benefits realization and strategic alignment in portfolio management.

Answer

Recommend cancelling the project to free up resources for other projects

Answer

Escalate to the sponsor for decision

Answer

Ask the project team to create a recovery plan

Question 13

You are managing a project to develop a mobile app. The sponsor asks you to skip user acceptance testing (UAT) to meet an aggressive launch date. The team is concerned about quality risks. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Explain the risks of skipping UAT and propose a change request to adjust the schedule. It demonstrates the project manager's responsibility to balance stakeholder requests with quality standards. By explaining the risks of skipping UAT—such as undetected defects leading to user dissatisfaction or rework—and proposing a change request to adjust the schedule, you follow the PMI ethical code and the change control process. This approach respects the sponsor's authority while advocating for project quality, aligning with the 'People' domain of leading the team and stakeholders.

Answer

Refuse the request without further discussion

Answer

Comply with the sponsor's request to meet the deadline

Answer

Proceed with UAT secretly and report the launch date as planned

Question 14

You are the project manager for a marketing campaign launch. The project has a tight deadline. During a status meeting, a team member announces that they have completed a task two days early. However, you notice that the quality of the deliverable is below the acceptance criteria. What should you do?

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

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to evaluate the impact on the business case and obtain approval. In a hybrid project, any change that affects the approved business case must go through the formal change control process. Submitting a change request ensures the impact on scope, schedule, cost, and the business case is evaluated and approved by the appropriate authority (e.g., Change Control Board or sponsor) before implementation. This preserves the integrity of the baseline and ensures alignment with organizational governance.

Answer

Ask the sponsor for permission to proceed

Answer

Allow the team to add the feature since they have capacity

Answer

Refuse to add the feature because it was not in the business case

Question 15

In a Scrum team, the product owner frequently changes priorities during the sprint, causing the team to lose focus. The team has raised this concern in the retrospective. What should the scrum master do?

Accepted Answer

Coach the product owner on the importance of stable sprint goals.. The Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring the Scrum framework is followed. Changing priorities mid-sprint violates the principle of a stable Sprint Goal, which protects the team from disruption and allows them to deliver a potentially releasable increment. Coaching the Product Owner on this principle directly addresses the root cause without bypassing Scrum rules or escalating prematurely.

Answer

Allow the changes if they add value, and adjust the sprint backlog.

Answer

Update the definition of done to accommodate changes.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor.