PMP Practice Test 47 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You are the project manager for a large-scale data migration project from on-premises servers to AWS. The project involves migrating 50 terabytes of sensitive customer data. The team has completed the initial assessment and is now in the planning phase. The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) has mandated that all data must be encrypted in transit and at rest. Additionally, the migration must minimize downtime and ensure data integrity. The project has a tight budget and schedule. During a planning meeting, the lead architect proposes using AWS Snowball Edge devices for the initial bulk transfer, followed by AWS DataSync for ongoing replication. However, the CISO is concerned about encryption key management and audit trails. As the project manager, what should you do first to address the CISO's concerns?

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

Accepted Answer

Schedule a meeting with the security team and the architect to define encryption key management and audit trail requirements.. The CISO's concerns about encryption key management and audit trails are legitimate governance issues that must be addressed before proceeding. As the project manager, you need to facilitate a meeting between the security team and the lead architect to define clear requirements for key management (e.g., using AWS KMS with customer-managed keys) and audit logging (e.g., AWS CloudTrail for API calls and Snowball Edge device logs). This collaborative approach ensures that the proposed technical solution aligns with organizational security policies and compliance needs, which is critical before moving forward with the migration plan.

Answer

Proceed with the architect's proposal and document that encryption is handled by AWS services.

Answer

Update the risk register and accept the risk related to encryption key management.

Answer

Inform the CISO that the proposed services meet all encryption requirements per AWS documentation.

Question 2

You are a project manager for a software implementation. The testing team reports that they have found several defects, but the project sponsor insists on releasing the product on the original date to meet a market opportunity. The product is not fully tested. What is the BEST response?

Accepted Answer

Explain the risks of releasing with defects and propose a compromise, such as releasing only critical features after testing. It balances the sponsor's market opportunity with the technical risk of releasing untested software. By proposing to release only critical features after targeted testing, the project manager applies a risk-based testing approach, ensuring that the highest-priority functionality is verified while deferring non-critical defects. This aligns with the PMI's emphasis on managing stakeholder expectations and making data-driven trade-offs between quality and schedule.

Answer

Release the product as requested by the sponsor but document the known defects

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Refuse to release until all defects are fixed, regardless of the sponsor's request

Answer

Escalate to the PMO for a decision on release criteria

Question 3

You are the project manager for a software development project using an agile methodology. The team is co-located and has been working together for three months. Recently, you notice that during daily stand-up meetings, the product owner often interrupts the team members to ask detailed technical questions, causing the meetings to run over the 15-minute timebox. Additionally, the team seems hesitant to share progress openly, and some members have started arriving late to the stand-up. The sprint backlog shows that velocity has dropped by 20% in the last two sprints. The product owner insists that the stand-up is the only time they have to get technical updates. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Coach the product owner privately on the purpose of the daily stand-up and the importance of not interrupting.. The daily stand-up is a team synchronization event for inspecting progress toward the sprint goal, not a technical Q&A session. The product owner's interruptions violate the event's timebox and purpose, causing the team to withhold information and reducing velocity. The project manager should first coach the product owner privately on the Scrum Guide's definition of the daily stand-up, emphasizing that detailed technical discussions should be deferred to separate sessions.

Answer

Extend the stand-up to 30 minutes to allow time for the product owner's questions.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor and request a replacement product owner.

Answer

Remove the product owner from the daily stand-up and provide a written daily summary instead.

Question 4

A resource on a project has been consistently logging 12-14 hours of overtime per day for several weeks. Recently, the resource's productivity has declined and errors have increased. What is the MOST likely cause of the resource issue?

Accepted Answer

The resource is overworked due to excessive overtime.. The scenario describes a consistent pattern of the resource working excessive overtime hours over an extended period, leading to diminishing productivity and increased errors. This is a classic sign of overwork and burnout, not a one-time estimation inaccuracy (A) or unplanned scope changes (B). While being behind schedule (C) might cause overtime, the persistent overtime with declining quality indicates overwork as the primary cause rather than a reactive response to schedule pressure. Therefore, D is correct.

Answer

The resource estimation was inaccurate for the tasks.

Answer

Scope creep is causing additional unplanned work.

Answer

The project is behind schedule, forcing overtime.

Question 5

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?

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 6

Your project is experiencing scope creep due to informal requests from stakeholders. The project manager wants to establish better control. Which TWO actions should the project manager take?

Accepted Answer

Implement a formal change control process and educate stakeholders on how to submit change requests. Implementing a formal change control process ensures that all changes are evaluated, documented, and approved before being incorporated into the project. This directly addresses scope creep by replacing informal verbal requests with a structured, traceable workflow. Option E is correct because reviewing and updating the scope management plan clarifies the procedures for handling changes, including roles, responsibilities, and approval thresholds, which reinforces the new control mechanism.

Answer

Politely decline all additional requests from stakeholders

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Increase the project budget to accommodate potential changes

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Ask the team to accommodate small requests without documentation if they are low effort

Question 7

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

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

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

Question 8

In a Scrum project, the development team is consistently missing sprint commitments. The daily standup reveals that they are blocked by unclear acceptance criteria. What should the scrum master do?

Accepted Answer

Coach the product owner on writing clear acceptance criteria and ensure stories are refined before sprint planning. The Scrum Master's primary responsibility is to ensure the Scrum framework is followed and to coach the team and Product Owner in effective practices. Unclear acceptance criteria are a symptom of insufficient backlog refinement, which the Product Owner owns. By coaching the Product Owner on writing clear acceptance criteria and ensuring stories are refined before sprint planning, the Scrum Master addresses the root cause of the blockers, enabling the team to deliver committed work consistently.

Answer

Reduce the team's velocity for the next sprint to match their actual performance

Answer

Increase the sprint length to give the team more time to complete work

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Remove the blockers during the standup by clarifying the acceptance criteria yourself

Question 9

A project manager is developing the project schedule and wants to determine the critical path. The activity network diagram shows multiple paths. Which technique should the project manager use?

Accepted Answer

Critical Path Method (CPM). The Critical Path Method (CPM) is the correct technique because it is specifically designed to identify the longest path through a project's activity network diagram, which determines the shortest possible project duration. By calculating early start, early finish, late start, and late finish dates for each activity, CPM reveals which activities have zero float and thus constitute the critical path. This directly answers the project manager's goal of determining the critical path from the network diagram.

Answer

Resource leveling

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Gantt chart

Answer

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

Question 10

Your agile project has seen sprint velocity drop for the past three sprints. The team attributes it to increasing technical debt. As the project manager, what should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion with the product owner to allocate time for refactoring in the next sprint. The first step when technical debt impacts velocity is to collaborate with the product owner to prioritize refactoring. As the project manager, you should facilitate a discussion to allocate dedicated time in the next sprint for addressing technical debt, ensuring the team can sustainably improve velocity without compromising quality or overworking.

Answer

Bring in external consultants to fix the technical debt

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Reduce the scope of future sprints to compensate

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Ask the team to work extra hours to maintain velocity while addressing debt

Question 11

In a SAFe environment, a project manager (release train engineer) notices that multiple teams are working on features that do not align with the strategic themes defined by the portfolio. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Escalate the misalignment to the portfolio management team for guidance.. In a SAFe environment, the Release Train Engineer (RTE) is responsible for facilitating the ART events and processes. When teams are working on features not aligned with strategic themes, the RTE should first escalate to the Portfolio Management team (or Lean Portfolio Management) to clarify priorities and ensure alignment. This is consistent with SAFe principles where portfolio decisions drive the program backlog. Option A is the correct first step because the RTE does not have the authority to unilaterally redirect teams or change strategic themes; escalation ensures proper governance. Options B, C, and D are incorrect because they either ignore the misalignment, exceed the RTE's authority, or undermine strategic planning.

Answer

Let the teams continue as they have already started work.

Answer

Redirect the teams to work on features that align with the strategic themes.

Answer

Update the strategic themes to match the current work.

Question 12

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

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Assign specific tasks to each team member to ensure efficiency

Question 13

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

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

Question 14

Your project team is distributed across three time zones. A team member from the India office has been consistently delivering tasks late, impacting the critical path. When you discuss this, they mention feeling isolated and unmotivated due to lack of interaction with the rest of the team. What is the BEST action to take?

Accepted Answer

Schedule regular one-on-one virtual meetings to mentor and understand their challenges. The root cause of the performance issue is the team member feeling isolated and unmotivated. The project manager should first address this through supportive and coaching actions. Scheduling regular one-on-one virtual meetings (Option B) demonstrates emotional intelligence and servant leadership. It allows the project manager to understand the team member's challenges, provide mentoring, and work together to find ways to increase motivation and integration with the rest of the team. This approach aligns with PMI's emphasis on building a high-performing team by addressing individual needs. Option A (warning) is punitive and disregards the underlying cause. Option C (reassignment) might temporarily protect the critical path but does not solve the isolation issue; it could further demotivate the team member and hinder team cohesion. Option D (working extra hours) risks burnout and is not a sustainable solution. Therefore, Option B is the best choice.

Answer

Formally warn the team member and put them on a performance improvement plan

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Reassign the tasks to another team member in a different time zone

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Ask the team member to work extra hours to catch up on missed deadlines

Question 15

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

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Hold meetings only with individual team members to gather their input

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