PMP Practice Exam 54 — 20 Questions

Question 1

Your project is executing a major software upgrade. A key stakeholder requests a significant scope change that would require additional funding and extend the timeline. Which TWO actions should you take first?

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

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to the change control board. Option E is correct because before any scope change can be approved or rejected, the project manager must perform an integrated impact analysis covering scope, schedule, cost, and quality, which is the foundation of the Perform Integrated Change Control process. Option C is correct because, once the impact is understood, the change must be formally documented and submitted as a change request to the change control board (CCB), which is the authorized body to approve, defer, or reject changes affecting baselines. Option A is wrong because adding the change to the backlog without formal approval bypasses the change control process and could allow unapproved work to enter the project. Option B is wrong because directing the team to start work immediately violates change control and risks committing funds and effort before the change is authorized. Option D is wrong because politely declining is premature; a change request should be evaluated through the CCB rather than rejected outright simply because the project is underway.

Answer

Add the change to the product backlog without formal approval

Answer

Instruct the team to begin work on the change immediately

Answer

Politely decline the request because the project is already underway

Question 2

Your agile team is self-organizing, but a team member is consistently missing sprint commitments. The rest of the team is frustrated. As a Scrum Master, which THREE actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team member individually to understand the root cause of the missed commitments. Option B is correct because a Scrum Master serves the team by coaching individuals; a private one-on-one conversation is the appropriate way to uncover the root cause (e.g., unclear acceptance criteria, impediments, skill gaps, or personal issues) behind the missed sprint commitments. Option C is correct because Scrum relies on team self-organization and empiricism; the retrospective is the inspect-and-adapt event where the team can surface the problem and propose its own solutions, which the Scrum Master facilitates rather than dictates. Option D is correct because if the root cause is a capability or knowledge gap, providing targeted training or pairing the member with a senior developer is a legitimate coaching/development action that supports the individual while protecting the team's delivery. Option A is not appropriate because unilaterally reassigning simpler tasks undermines self-organization and treats a symptom rather than the cause. Option E is not appropriate because removing and replacing a team member is a destructive, management-level decision that contradicts the Scrum Master's servant-leadership role and should only follow genuine, documented inability to improve.

Answer

Assign simpler tasks to the team member to increase their success rate

Answer

Remove the team member from the team and replace them with a more capable person

Question 3

Your agile team has been experiencing conflicts between two senior developers over technical approaches during sprint planning. The conflicts are causing delays and affecting team morale. As the project manager, what is the BEST course of action?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting between the developers to discuss and resolve the technical disagreement. Facilitating a meeting between the developers is the best course of action because it directly addresses the root cause of the conflict—a technical disagreement—while empowering the team to self-organize and resolve the issue collaboratively. As an agile project manager, your role is to remove impediments and foster a safe environment for constructive debate, not to impose technical decisions or escalate unnecessarily. This approach aligns with the agile principle of building projects around motivated individuals and trusting them to solve technical problems, which preserves team morale and avoids delays caused by unresolved conflicts.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the functional managers of the developers

Answer

Make the technical decision yourself to end the debate

Answer

Assign the developers to different teams to avoid future conflicts

Question 4

Your project is using a hybrid approach. During a mid-project review, you discover that the team has been gold-plating deliverables—adding extra features not requested by the customer. Which THREE actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Investigate why the team felt the need to add extra features. Option B is correct because gold-plating signals a root-cause issue—such as unclear requirements, pressure to over-deliver, or misunderstanding of scope—so the project manager must investigate why the team added unrequested features before correcting the behavior. Option C is correct because any work not authorized in the scope baseline is scope creep and must be identified and removed or reverted to bring deliverables back into alignment with approved requirements. Option E is correct because reinforcing that the team should only perform work tied to approved requirements prevents recurrence and protects the scope, schedule, and cost baselines. Option A is not appropriate because praising gold-plating rewards unauthorized work that consumes budget and time without customer approval. Option D is wrong because updating the scope baseline to legitimize unapproved features bypasses the integrated change control process and effectively ratifies scope creep.

Answer

Praise the team for their initiative and innovation

Answer

Update the scope baseline to include the extra features

Question 5

Your project is 40% complete, and the earned value analysis shows CPI = 0.85 and SPI = 0.90. The project sponsor is concerned about the cost overrun. The original budget at completion (BAC) is $1,000,000. What is the Estimate at Completion (EAC) using the typical cost performance index (CPI) assumption?

Accepted Answer

$1,176,471. The typical CPI assumption means the cost performance to date will continue for the remainder of the project. The formula is EAC = BAC / CPI = $1,000,000 / 0.85 = $1,176,470.59, which rounds to $1,176,471. This assumes the same efficiency (CPI) for the remaining work, reflecting the current cost overrun trend.

Answer

$850,000

Answer

$1,000,000

Answer

$1,111,111

Question 6

During a project to develop a mobile app, the product owner wants to add a feature that the team believes will increase user engagement but was not in the approved scope. The sprint is already in progress. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Explain that changes should be added to the product backlog for future sprints after evaluation. In an agile environment, scope changes are managed through the product backlog, not by altering the current sprint's commitment. The product owner should add the new feature to the product backlog, where it can be prioritized and evaluated for future sprints. This preserves the sprint's focus and allows the team to deliver the agreed-upon increment. The project manager's role is to facilitate this process and ensure the team is not disrupted mid-sprint.

Answer

Ask the team to do a quick spike to estimate the effort

Answer

Ask the sponsor for immediate approval to include the feature

Answer

Allow the team to add the feature since it improves the product

Question 7

In a Scrum project, the development team consistently misses deadlines. The project manager (who also serves as the Scrum Master) discovers that the team is overcommitting during sprint planning due to pressure from the product owner. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Coach the product owner on the importance of sustainable pace and realistic commitments.. The Scrum Master serves the product owner by coaching them on backlog management and sustainable pace. Since the root cause is the product owner pressuring the team into overcommitment, the first action is to coach the product owner on realistic commitments and the value of a sustainable pace, rather than unilaterally changing the sprint or escalating.

Answer

Reduce the sprint backlog to a manageable size without consulting the product owner.

Answer

Add more team members to increase capacity.

Answer

Escalate to senior management about the product owner's behavior.

Question 8

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

Answer

Reduce the scope of future sprints to compensate

Answer

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

Question 9

A project manager is closing a project and compiling lessons learned. The project delivered its objectives but exceeded the budget by 10%. What should the PM include in the lessons learned?

Accepted Answer

Both the successes and the budget overrun with root causes and recommendations for improvement. Lessons learned must capture both positive and negative outcomes to provide a balanced view for future projects. Including the budget overrun with root causes and recommendations enables continuous improvement, which is a core principle of project management. The PMBOK Guide emphasizes that lessons learned should document what went well and what did not, along with actionable insights.

Answer

Recommendations on how to penalize the team for the budget overrun

Answer

Only the successful aspects to maintain a positive tone

Answer

The budget overrun and reasons, but not the successes as they are not lessons

Question 10

A key vendor informs you that they cannot deliver a critical component on time due to a supply chain disruption. This risk was identified and included in the risk register. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Implement the contingency plan that was defined for this risk. Since the risk was identified and included in the risk register, a contingency plan should have been defined. The correct first action is to implement that pre-planned contingency plan to address the supply chain disruption, as it is the most efficient and proactive response to a known risk.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the steering committee for guidance

Answer

Brainstorm new solutions with the team since the risk was not anticipated

Answer

Wait to see if the vendor can resolve the issue before taking action

Question 11

A project is running 15% over budget at its midpoint. The project manager determines that the variance is due to unexpected price increases in raw materials. The project sponsor asks the project manager to reduce the project scope to bring costs back in line. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to reduce scope and assess the impact on the project.. Any change to the approved project scope — including a reduction — must go through Integrated Change Control, which starts with a formal change request and an impact assessment on scope, schedule, cost, risk, and quality. The project manager cannot unilaterally reduce scope, even at the sponsor's request, without following the change control process. Submitting the change request and assessing impacts is the correct first step.

Answer

Instruct the team to reduce scope immediately.

Answer

Update the risk register and continue as planned.

Answer

Ask the sponsor for additional budget.

Question 12

You are managing a project that is currently in the execution phase. A risk event that was identified and included in the risk register has occurred. The planned response is to mitigate the risk. Which TWO documents should you update to reflect the occurrence and response? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Risk register. The Risk register (B) must be updated because it is the central document that records the risk event's occurrence, its actual impact, the mitigation response taken, and the risk's status change from open to occurred/closed. The Lessons learned register (C) should also be updated to capture how the risk was handled, what worked or didn't in the mitigation, and recommendations for future projects, which is a standard practice throughout execution. The Stakeholder engagement plan (A) is not updated for a risk occurrence since it governs how stakeholders are involved, not risk responses. The Project schedule (D) may be affected by the mitigation but is not the document that reflects the risk occurrence and response itself. The Cost baseline (E) is only changed through formal change control if the mitigation requires additional approved funds, not as a direct update for recording the risk event.

Answer

Stakeholder engagement plan

Answer

Project schedule

Answer

Cost baseline

Question 13

During project execution, a key supplier notifies you that they will be unable to deliver a critical component on time. This component is on the critical path. The risk was identified, and the response strategy was to accept the risk. Which THREE actions should you take? (Select exactly three.)

Accepted Answer

Document the issue in the issue log and update the risk register. Option A is correct because once an accepted risk materializes, it becomes an issue that must be recorded in the issue log, and the risk register should be updated to reflect that the risk has occurred and to capture any residual or secondary risks. Option B is correct because a delay to a critical-path component threatens the project schedule baseline, so stakeholders and the sponsor must be informed promptly per the communications management plan. Option E is correct because the project manager should proactively evaluate alternatives such as substitute suppliers, expediting, or schedule compression workarounds to reduce the impact on the critical path. Option C is not appropriate here because escalation is reserved for issues beyond the project manager's authority, and the scenario does not indicate that the PM lacks the authority to act. Option D is wrong because passively waiting for the supplier's new date violates proactive project management and allows schedule impact to grow unchecked.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision

Answer

Wait for the supplier to provide a new delivery date before taking action

Question 14

Your agile team is consistently completing 30 story points per sprint. In the next sprint planning, the product owner wants to commit to 40 points. The team feels this is too ambitious. Which THREE actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Suggest decomposing larger stories into smaller ones to improve estimation accuracy. Option B is correct because decomposing large stories into smaller, more granular items improves estimation accuracy and reduces uncertainty, allowing the team to make a more reliable forecast of what fits in a sprint. Option C is correct because agile teams are self-organizing and should transparently push back on commitments they believe are unattainable, rather than accepting an imposed goal that risks burnout and quality erosion. Option D is correct because historical velocity (30 story points per sprint) is the empirical basis for forecasting; reviewing that data supports a realistic, data-driven commitment instead of an arbitrary 40-point target. Option A is wrong because instructing the team to accept an unrealistic goal violates self-management and sustainable pace principles. Option E is wrong because lengthening the sprint to three weeks does not increase the team's throughput capacity and distorts the established cadence rather than addressing the estimation and commitment issue.

Answer

Instruct the team to accept the 40-point goal to satisfy the product owner

Answer

Increase the sprint length to 3 weeks to allow more time

Question 15

Your agile team has been experiencing a decline in sprint velocity over the past three sprints. During the retrospective, the team identifies unclear requirements and frequent interruptions as root causes. Which TWO actions should you take to address these issues?

Accepted Answer

Work with the product owner to improve user story refinement and ensure acceptance criteria are clear. Option C is correct because unclear requirements are best resolved upstream through better backlog refinement: collaborating with the product owner on user story refinement and explicit acceptance criteria gives the team a shared Definition of Ready and reduces mid-sprint ambiguity that erodes velocity. Option D is correct because frequent interruptions directly consume the team's capacity and break flow; establishing a policy to shield the team during the sprint (e.g., routing requests through the Scrum Master or product owner and deferring non-urgent work to the next sprint) protects focus and stabilizes velocity. Option A is wrong because overtime is unsustainable, degrades quality, and masks the systemic causes rather than fixing them. Option B is wrong because adding members mid-stream increases coordination overhead and onboarding cost (Brooks's Law) without addressing unclear requirements or interruptions. Option E is wrong because shortening the sprint does not resolve unclear requirements or interruptions and may simply compress the same problems into a shorter cadence.

Answer

Ask the team to work overtime to compensate for lost velocity

Answer

Add more team members to the next sprint to increase capacity

Answer

Reduce the sprint length to increase accountability

Question 16

In a hybrid project, the team is struggling with unclear requirements. The project manager wants to improve the situation. Which THREE actions should the project manager take?

Accepted Answer

Conduct a requirements workshop with key stakeholders to clarify and prioritize. In a hybrid project with unclear requirements, the project manager should directly engage stakeholders to elicit and prioritize needs, so conducting a requirements workshop with key stakeholders (C) is correct because it surfaces ambiguities, aligns expectations, and establishes priorities collaboratively. Implementing regular backlog refinement sessions (D) is correct because iterative grooming breaks down and clarifies user stories, keeping the backlog ready and reducing mid-sprint uncertainty in the agile portion of the hybrid delivery. Increasing communication with the product owner (E) is correct because the product owner owns requirement definition and prioritization, and frequent interaction ensures stories are well-defined before sprint commitment. Option A is not marked correct because requesting a business analyst from the sponsor is an indirect escalation that may not be timely or within the PM's control, whereas the PM can act directly through workshops, refinement, and product owner engagement. Option B is not marked correct because a detailed requirements document with mandatory sign-off before any work begins is a predictive, big-design-up-front approach that conflicts with the hybrid/iterative need to clarify requirements progressively and would stall delivery.

Answer

Request the project sponsor to assign a business analyst to the project

Answer

Create a detailed requirements document and require sign-off before any work begins

Question 17

You are leading a virtual team across three time zones. Team members have expressed feeling isolated and disconnected. Which THREE actions would best improve team cohesion and collaboration?

Accepted Answer

Schedule overlapping work hours for real-time collaboration. Option B is correct because scheduling overlapping work hours gives the distributed team a shared window for synchronous, real-time collaboration, which directly counters the isolation that arises when three time zones never interact live. Option C is correct because video conferencing adds non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and tone, fostering the personal connection and trust that text-only channels cannot provide. Option E is correct because virtual team-building activities deliberately create informal social bonds and shared experiences, which strengthen cohesion and reduce the feeling of disconnection among remote members. Option A does not belong because relying primarily on email is asynchronous and low-context, which tends to increase rather than reduce isolation. Option D does not belong because assigning all work individually eliminates the interdependence and interaction that build a cohesive team.

Answer

Encourage team members to communicate primarily via email

Answer

Assign all work individually to minimize coordination overhead

Question 18

A project manager is developing the schedule for a new product development project. Which TWO techniques can be used to compress the schedule?

Accepted Answer

Fast tracking. Fast tracking (A) is a schedule compression technique in which activities that would normally be performed sequentially are done in parallel, shortening the overall duration (often at the cost of increased risk and rework). Crashing (D) is the other recognized schedule compression technique, adding resources or working overtime to shorten activity durations, typically increasing cost. Both are explicitly the two techniques PMBOK identifies for compressing a schedule. Monte Carlo analysis (B) is a quantitative risk/schedule simulation technique, not a compression method. The critical chain method (C) is a scheduling approach that adds buffers and manages resource constraints, not a compression technique. Resource leveling (E) adjusts start/finish dates to resolve resource over-allocation and usually lengthens, not shortens, the schedule.

Answer

Monte Carlo analysis

Answer

Critical chain method

Answer

Resource leveling

Question 19

Your project is using a hybrid approach. The development team has completed the deliverables, but the testing team is overwhelmed and behind schedule. The project manager needs to address this resource constraint. Which THREE actions are most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Negotiate with the functional manager to prioritize testing resources. Option A is correct because negotiating with the functional manager to prioritize testing resources directly addresses the resource constraint by reallocating or prioritizing existing testing capacity, which is a standard resource-leveling and negotiation technique in a hybrid environment. Option D is correct because training developers in testing cross-trains the team, building additional testing capability and reducing the bottleneck without violating labor practices or bypassing proper authority. Option E is correct because temporarily reassigning developers to assist with testing is a valid resource reallocation approach that leverages available (developer) capacity to relieve the overwhelmed testing team. Option B is not appropriate because requiring overtime without additional compensation is unethical and typically violates labor laws and organizational policy. Option C is not the best choice because immediately escalating to the sponsor should be a last resort after attempting to resolve the constraint through negotiation and resource reallocation.

Answer

Ask the testing team to work overtime without additional compensation

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor immediately

Question 20

A project is falling behind schedule, and the project manager wants to get it back on track. Which TWO schedule compression techniques are most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Crashing. Crashing (D) is correct because it is a schedule compression technique that adds resources to critical path activities to shorten the overall project duration, directly addressing a project that is behind schedule. Fast tracking (E) is also correct because it is a schedule compression technique that overlaps sequential activities, such as performing design and construction in parallel, to reduce the schedule duration. Resource smoothing (A) is incorrect because it only levels resource usage within existing float and does not shorten the project schedule. The critical chain method (B) is incorrect because it is a scheduling technique that manages buffers and resource constraints, not a schedule compression technique. Monte Carlo simulation (C) is incorrect because it is a quantitative risk analysis technique used to model schedule or cost uncertainty, not to compress the schedule.

Answer

Resource smoothing

Answer

Critical chain method

Answer

Monte Carlo simulation