PMP Practice Test 46 — 15 Questions

Question 1

During a sprint retrospective, the team identifies that they are consistently overcommitting during sprint planning, leading to incomplete work. Which action should the project manager take to address this issue?

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

Accepted Answer

Encourage the team to use historical velocity data to set sprint goals. Encouraging the team to use historical velocity data to set sprint goals is a core agile practice. Velocity, the average amount of work completed per sprint, provides an empirical basis for forecasting. This helps the team avoid overcommitting by setting realistic goals based on past performance.

Answer

Assign the project manager to set sprint goals for the team

Answer

Increase the number of working hours per day for the team

Answer

Reduce the sprint length to force the team to be more focused

Question 2

In a project using a hybrid approach, the team is developing a new product. During sprint planning, the product owner wants to add several new user stories that were not in the release plan. The team is concerned that adding these stories will overload the sprint. What should the scrum master do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a negotiation between the product owner and the team to prioritize and possibly swap stories.. In a hybrid project using Scrum, the Scrum Master should facilitate a negotiation between the Product Owner and the team to prioritize and possibly swap stories. This respects the team's capacity and the Product Owner's authority over the backlog, while ensuring the sprint goal remains achievable.

Answer

Add the stories to the product backlog and defer them to a future sprint.

Answer

Accept the new stories and ask the team to work overtime.

Answer

Reject the new stories because they were not planned.

Question 3

During a project, a new regulation is introduced that affects your project's compliance requirements. The team will need to complete additional documentation and training. What is the FIRST thing you should do?

Accepted Answer

Assess the impact of the regulation on the project and submit a change request. When a new regulation changes compliance requirements, the project manager must first perform an integrated change control assessment — evaluating how the regulation affects scope, schedule, cost, risk, and quality — and then submit a formal change request through the change control board. This preserves the baseline and ensures the impact is understood before committing resources.

Answer

Instruct the team to begin working on the new requirements immediately to ensure compliance

Answer

Inform the sponsor and ask for a budget increase

Answer

Update the risk register and continue with the current plan

Question 4

You are managing a project with a fixed-price contract. Midway, a new regulation requires additional compliance testing that was not in the original scope. The cost of this testing is significant. The project has no contingency reserve left. What is the best course of action?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to the customer to secure additional funding for the required testing. Submitting a change request to the customer to secure additional funding for the required testing is the best course of action because the new regulation introduces a scope change that was not included in the original fixed-price contract. The change request allows for formal evaluation and approval of the additional work and associated costs, ensuring proper contract management and avoiding unilateral actions.

Answer

Proceed with the testing and absorb the cost to ensure compliance, as it is mandatory

Answer

Stop work until the customer agrees to pay for the additional testing

Answer

Ask the team to find ways to reduce costs elsewhere to fund the testing

Question 5

Your project is running 15% over budget at the midpoint. The team is motivated, but the sponsor is concerned. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Conduct a variance analysis to identify the reasons for the overspend. Conducting a variance analysis is the first step because it identifies the root causes of the budget overrun — whether it's scope creep, inaccurate estimates, or unexpected costs. PMBOK and PMP best practices dictate that you analyze before acting; jumping to solutions without understanding the cause can worsen the situation. This aligns with the 'analyze first' mindset tested throughout the PMP exam.

Answer

Immediately reduce team resources to cut costs

Answer

Request the team to work overtime without additional pay

Answer

Ask the sponsor for additional funding

Question 6

Your agile project is experiencing a drop in velocity for the third consecutive sprint. The team reports that they are spending too much time in unplanned meetings and dealing with frequent requirement changes. Which TWO actions should you take to address this?

Accepted Answer

Implement a process to control scope changes during the sprint.. Option D is correct because the team explicitly reports frequent requirement changes as a cause of lost velocity, so implementing a scope-change control process (e.g., protecting the sprint backlog and deferring changes to the next sprint or product backlog refinement) directly addresses that root cause and stabilizes the sprint goal. Option E is correct because unplanned meetings and context switching indicate multitasking and overloading; limiting work-in-progress (WIP) via a Kanban-style WIP limit reduces context switching, exposes bottlenecks, and improves flow and throughput, which restores velocity. Option A is not appropriate because overtime is unsustainable, degrades quality, and masks the underlying process problems rather than fixing them. Option B is not appropriate because adding team members mid-project (Brooks's Law) increases communication overhead and onboarding time, typically reducing short-term velocity. Option C is not appropriate because lengthening the sprint does not address the causes of the velocity drop and delays feedback, contrary to agile principles.

Answer

Encourage the team to work overtime to catch up.

Answer

Add more team members to increase capacity.

Answer

Increase the sprint duration to give the team more time.

Question 7

You are managing a large infrastructure project. At the midpoint, earned value analysis shows CPI = 0.85 and SPI = 0.90. The project budget is $10 million, and the schedule is tight. Several stakeholders are concerned about cost overruns. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the cost and schedule variances to identify root causes and develop corrective actions.. When CPI and SPI are both below 1.0, the project is over budget and behind schedule, but the PMP mindset requires analysis before action. The project manager must first perform root cause analysis on the variances to understand why they occurred before selecting corrective or preventive actions. Jumping straight to scope reduction, budget increases, or quality cuts without data violates the 'analyze before acting' principle and the Perform Integrated Change Control process.

Answer

Immediately reduce scope to bring costs back in line.

Answer

Submit a change request to increase the budget by 15% to cover the overrun.

Answer

Instruct the team to reduce quality to lower costs.

Question 8

Your project is 60% complete. The CPI is 1.05 and SPI is 0.92. You have received a change request from the customer that would add scope but also increase the budget. The change request is currently under review. What should you do while the change request is being evaluated?

Accepted Answer

Continue with the current project work as planned until the change is approved. While a change request is under review, the project team should continue executing the approved baseline plan; unapproved changes must not be implemented because they would bypass the Perform Integrated Change Control process. The CPI of 1.05 and SPI of 0.92 indicate the project is under budget but slightly behind schedule, which does not change the rule that only approved changes enter the plan. Continuing as planned preserves the integrity of the baseline until the CCB decides.

Answer

Inform the customer that the change request will likely be rejected due to cost

Answer

Instruct the team to begin work on the change to avoid schedule delays

Answer

Update the project management plan to include the change and inform stakeholders

Question 9

A project is nearing completion. The project manager is preparing for project closure. Which of the following is the most important activity to complete during project closure?

Accepted Answer

Obtain formal acceptance of the project deliverables from the customer.. Obtaining formal acceptance of deliverables is the most critical closure activity because it confirms the customer agrees the project scope is complete and triggers final payment and administrative closure. Without formal acceptance, the project cannot be officially closed.

Answer

Archive all project documents and lessons learned.

Answer

Conduct a final team meeting to celebrate the project's success.

Answer

Update the project management plan to reflect final status.

Question 10

During a project status meeting, a key stakeholder expresses dissatisfaction with the quality of deliverables. The team believes they have met all acceptance criteria. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Arrange a meeting with the stakeholder to understand their concerns and review the acceptance criteria. When a stakeholder expresses dissatisfaction despite the team believing acceptance criteria are met, the project manager should first understand the stakeholder's concerns and review the acceptance criteria together. This ensures mutual understanding and may reveal a mismatch between expectations and documented criteria. Initiating a formal audit or dismissing the feedback would be premature without clarifying the issue.

Answer

Add the stakeholder's feedback to the lessons learned and move on

Answer

Initiate a formal quality audit to verify compliance with requirements

Answer

Explain that the deliverables meet the agreed criteria and ask the stakeholder to accept them

Question 11

Two senior developers on your agile team have a disagreement about the best technical approach for a user story. The disagreement is causing delays and tension in the team. What should the scrum master do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting where both developers present their approaches and the team decides.. As a servant-leader and facilitator, the scrum master should help the team resolve the disagreement by facilitating a collaborative discussion where both developers present their approaches and the team makes a decision. This empowers the team, encourages self-organization, and addresses the conflict constructively without imposing a solution.

Answer

Decide on the technical approach yourself to resolve the conflict quickly.

Answer

Ask the developers to resolve it on their own without intervention.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the product owner for a decision.

Question 12

Your project team is experiencing a conflict between two members that is affecting the entire team's productivity. As the project manager, which TWO actions should you take to resolve the situation?

Accepted Answer

Meet with each team member individually to understand their perspectives.. Option B is correct because meeting with each team member individually lets the project manager gather each party's perspective, identify the root cause of the conflict, and build trust before bringing them together, which is a standard first step in conflict resolution. Option E is correct because facilitating a joint conflict resolution session with both parties directly addresses the disagreement, encourages open communication, and allows the team members to collaboratively agree on a resolution, restoring team productivity. Option A is not appropriate because removing both members is a punitive, last-resort action that disrupts the project and does not resolve the underlying conflict. Option C is not appropriate because escalating to the sponsor should be reserved for conflicts that cannot be resolved at the project manager's level, and the PM is expected to attempt resolution first. Option D is not appropriate because ignoring the conflict allows it to escalate and further damage team productivity.

Answer

Remove both team members from the project.

Answer

Escalate the conflict to the project sponsor.

Answer

Ignore the conflict and hope it resolves on its own.

Question 13

A project manager is assigned to a troubled project. The team is divided into two factions: one supports a technical solution A, the other solution B. The conflict is causing delays. The project manager wants to resolve this using a collaborative approach. Which THREE actions should the project manager take?

Accepted Answer

Bring in a neutral external expert to evaluate both options. Bringing in a neutral external expert aligns with the collaborative approach the project manager wants to use. The expert can objectively evaluate both technical solutions A and B based on data and evidence, helping to de-escalate the conflict without taking sides. This fosters a collaborative environment by focusing on facts rather than personal biases, which is essential for resolving the delay-causing faction dispute.

Answer

Make the final decision based on your own expertise to save time

Answer

Implement both solutions in parallel to satisfy both sides

Question 14

A project manager is defining the benefits management plan for a new product launch. The company's strategy includes expanding into emerging markets. Which TWO elements must be included in the benefits management plan to align with the company's strategy?

Accepted Answer

Timeline for realizing benefits. The benefits management plan must include a timeline for realizing benefits (Option B) to ensure that the expected value from the product launch in emerging markets is achieved within a defined period, aligning with the company's strategic expansion. Target benefits such as market share increase (Option C) are also required to quantify the specific outcomes that support the strategy, providing measurable criteria for success.

Answer

The business case justifying the project

Answer

The project's strategic objectives

Answer

The project scope statement

Question 15

Your agile team is distributed across four countries. During the daily stand-up, some team members are not speaking, and others dominate the conversation. The project manager wants to improve collaboration. What is the BEST approach?

Accepted Answer

Implement a round-robin format where each team member takes turns speaking. The round-robin format ensures every team member has a dedicated turn to speak, which directly addresses both the silence of some members and the dominance of others. In a distributed agile team, this structured approach promotes equal participation and psychological safety, key to effective collaboration. It aligns with PMP's emphasis on servant leadership and fostering an inclusive environment. Unlike the other options, it actively engages all members without singling out individuals or adding unnecessary overhead.

Answer

Send a written report after each stand-up

Answer

Require everyone to keep their cameras on during meetings

Answer

Ask the dominating members to speak less