PMP Practice Test 6 — 10 Questions

Question 1

In a daily standup, a developer mentions that a task is taking longer than expected due to an unfamiliar technology. The sprint goal may be at risk. As a Scrum Master, what should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Work with the developer and team to find a solution or pair with an expert. The Scrum Master's first responsibility is to facilitate the team in self-organizing to remove impediments. In this scenario, the developer is blocked due to unfamiliar technology; the Scrum Master should coach the team to collaborate, such as through pair programming or knowledge sharing, to keep the sprint goal on track. Option A is incorrect as it undermines the team's self-organization and imposes a command-and-control approach. Option B is premature; descoping should only be considered after the team has attempted to resolve the issue internally and determined it's not feasible. Option D delays the issue unnecessarily; the Scrum Master should address impediments immediately, not defer them to a risk register.

Answer

Assign the task to a more experienced developer

Answer

Escalate to the product owner to descope the task

Answer

Add the issue to the risk register for future sprints

Question 2

Your agile project has seen a consistent drop in velocity over the last three sprints. The team is demotivated and blaming external dependencies. Retrospectives have not yielded actionable improvements. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a root cause analysis with the team to identify underlying issues and create an action plan.. The first step when facing a consistent drop in velocity and team demotivation is to facilitate a root cause analysis with the team. This aligns with the PMP's focus on servant leadership and empowering the team to identify and solve their own problems, rather than imposing external solutions. The retrospective has failed to produce actionable improvements, so a deeper, facilitated analysis is needed to uncover the true underlying issues, which may include but are not limited to external dependencies.

Answer

Remove the team's external dependencies by negotiating with stakeholders.

Answer

Replace the scrum master with a more experienced one.

Answer

Increase the sprint duration to give the team more time.

Question 3

During a project's execution phase, the sponsor asks you to skip the user acceptance testing (UAT) phase to expedite delivery, stating that the client is eager to use the system. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Explain the risks of skipping UAT and recommend proceeding with the planned testing.. Skipping UAT poses significant quality and acceptance risks. The PM should communicate the risks to the sponsor and recommend following the quality plan. PMI emphasizes the importance of quality assurance and control processes.

Answer

Skip UAT but add a note in the lessons learned about the decision.

Answer

Compromise by reducing UAT to only critical test cases.

Answer

Agree to skip UAT to meet the sponsor's request and expedite delivery.

Question 4

You are managing a virtual team where members are in different time zones. Some team members feel left out of decision-making because meetings are scheduled at times convenient for the majority. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Rotate meeting times to accommodate different time zones periodically. Rotating meeting times periodically ensures equitable access to synchronous decision-making for all team members, directly addressing the core issue of inclusion in a virtual team with diverse time zones. This approach aligns with the PMP's emphasis on servant leadership and stakeholder engagement by proactively mitigating the negative impact of time zone differences on team cohesion and participation.

Answer

Schedule all meetings during the time zone of the project manager

Answer

Record meetings and ask those who cannot attend to comment later

Answer

Use asynchronous communication tools for all decisions

Question 5

A project manager is working on a predictive project. A team member identifies a risk that was not previously identified. The risk has a low probability but high impact. What should the PM do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Add the risk to the risk register and assess its impact. In predictive project management, the first step upon identifying a new risk is to document it in the risk register and perform a qualitative analysis to assess its probability and impact. This ensures the risk is formally captured and prioritized before any further action, such as escalation or response planning, is taken. Option A correctly follows this standard risk management process.

Answer

Escalate the risk to the project sponsor

Answer

Accept the risk because it has low probability

Answer

Implement a contingency plan immediately

Question 6

You are leading a virtual team that includes members from different cultural backgrounds. Several team members have expressed that they feel left out of decision-making because most discussions happen in the project manager's time zone. What is the BEST action to foster inclusion?

Accepted Answer

Implement an asynchronous collaboration tool for decision-making and rotate meeting times.. It directly addresses the core issue of time zone exclusion by using asynchronous collaboration tools (e.g., shared documents, discussion boards) to allow all members to contribute to decisions at their convenience, and rotating meeting times ensures no single time zone is consistently disadvantaged. This approach aligns with the PMP's emphasis on inclusive leadership and adapting communication methods to foster team cohesion in a virtual, multicultural environment.

Answer

Tell the team that decisions will be made by you and communicated via email.

Answer

Schedule all meetings during your own working hours to maximize your availability.

Answer

Hold separate meetings for each time zone and compile the results.

Question 7

Your agile team has been working remotely for the past three months. You notice that sprint velocity has dropped significantly over the last two sprints. Team members seem disengaged during daily stand-ups and collaboration has decreased. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Schedule virtual team-building activities and one-on-one check-ins to understand concerns. The first step in addressing a drop in velocity and team disengagement is to understand the root cause through direct communication. As a servant leader, you should schedule virtual team-building activities and one-on-one check-ins to uncover concerns such as burnout, isolation, or unclear expectations, which aligns with the PMI People domain of leading projects. This approach fosters psychological safety and collaboration, which are essential for remote agile teams.

Answer

Implement a new project management tool to track tasks more closely

Answer

Ask the team to work longer hours to make up for lost velocity

Answer

Report the velocity drop to the sponsor and ask for more resources

Question 8

A new team member joins your project and is struggling to understand the technical domain and the team's culture. Their productivity is low, and they seem hesitant to ask questions. As project manager, what is the BEST way to support this team member?

Accepted Answer

Assign a senior team member to mentor and pair with them on tasks. Assigning a senior team member to mentor and pair with the new member directly addresses both the technical domain gap and the cultural hesitancy. Pairing provides real-time, context-rich learning and psychological safety, which is more effective than passive documentation or isolated training for accelerating integration and productivity.

Answer

Provide them with detailed documentation and ask them to read it on their own time

Answer

Extend their deadlines to reduce pressure

Answer

Enroll them in an online training course for the technical domain

Question 9

Your agile team has recently formed and is struggling to agree on work methods and communication norms. Several team members are frustrated with the lack of consistency. What should you do as the project manager?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a workshop to develop a team charter that defines working agreements and communication norms. The team is in the forming stage and needs explicit guidance to establish shared expectations. Facilitating a workshop to create a team charter directly addresses the root cause—lack of agreed-upon work methods and communication norms—by providing a structured, collaborative process that aligns with agile principles while still leveraging the project manager's leadership to resolve the impasse.

Answer

Let the team work out the issues on their own since they are self-organizing

Answer

Assign a team lead to make decisions on work methods

Answer

Replace the frustrated team members with more collaborative ones

Question 10

You are leading a globally distributed team with members in three time zones. During a virtual sprint retrospective, team members express frustration that decisions are often made without their input, leading to rework. What is the BEST action to improve team empowerment and collaboration?

Accepted Answer

Establish a decision-making framework that includes input from all time zones before finalizing decisions. Establishing a decision-making framework that explicitly includes input from all time zones addresses the root cause of the frustration: lack of inclusion in decisions. This directly improves team empowerment and collaboration by ensuring asynchronous participation, reducing rework caused by decisions made without full team input.

Answer

Introduce a new collaboration tool to facilitate asynchronous communication

Answer

Implement a strict decision-making hierarchy where the project manager makes all final decisions

Answer

Encourage team members to speak up more during meetings