PMP Practice Test 7 — 10 Questions

Question 1

Your project is running 15% over budget at the midpoint. The project sponsor asks you to reduce costs by cutting the quality assurance phase. As a servant leader, what is the BEST response?

Accepted Answer

Explain the risks of skipping QA and propose other cost-saving options, such as reducing scope or using less expensive resources. As a servant leader, your primary responsibility is to protect the project's value and stakeholder interests. Cutting the quality assurance phase introduces significant technical debt and risk of defects, which could lead to rework, schedule delays, and higher costs later. By explaining these risks and proposing alternatives like scope reduction or resource optimization, you demonstrate ethical leadership and a focus on long-term project success.

Answer

Agree to the sponsor's request to reduce costs, as the sponsor has authority over the budget

Answer

Update the risk register to reflect the sponsor's request and proceed without QA

Answer

Refuse to cut QA and continue with the current project plan

Question 2

Your project is using a hybrid approach. Mid-project, the sponsor asks you to skip the testing phase to save time and meet the deadline. The team is concerned about quality. Which THREE actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Consult with the team to identify the most critical tests that can be performed within the remaining time. Consulting with the team to identify the most critical tests aligns with the hybrid approach's principle of balancing agility with quality. By focusing on high-risk or high-value test cases, you can reduce testing time while still mitigating key defects, preserving the project's quality standards within the sponsor's deadline constraint.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the PMO or steering committee without further discussion

Answer

Agree to skip testing to meet the sponsor's request

Question 3

During project execution, a team member reports that a critical path activity is delayed by two days because a required component failed quality inspection. The project has no schedule contingency. What is the BEST course of action for the project manager?

Accepted Answer

Evaluate schedule compression techniques such as crashing or fast tracking to recover the two days. Delaying a critical path activity threatens the project end date. The project manager should first evaluate schedule compression techniques like crashing (adding resources) or fast tracking (performing activities in parallel) to recover the two-day delay without automatically changing scope, baseline, or escalating. Option A (reduce scope) requires a change request and may not be necessary if compression works. Option B (update baseline) is premature; baseline changes should only occur after recovery options are exhausted. Option C (escalate to sponsor and request budget) is an overreaction; escalating for budget before trying compression is not best practice.

Answer

Reduce the scope of the next deliverable to compensate for the lost time

Answer

Update the schedule baseline to reflect the delay and inform stakeholders

Answer

Escalate the issue to the sponsor and request additional budget for overtime

Question 4

A new regulatory requirement has been introduced that affects your project's deliverables. The requirement must be implemented within the current timeline. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Assess the impact on the project and submit a change request through change control. When a new regulatory requirement emerges mid-project, the project manager must first assess its impact on scope, schedule, cost, and quality before any action. Submitting a change request through the formal change control process ensures that the change is evaluated, approved, and documented, maintaining alignment with the project management plan and avoiding unauthorized scope creep. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's 'Perform Integrated Change Control' process, which mandates that all changes be reviewed and approved before implementation.

Answer

Direct the team to incorporate the requirement immediately to avoid non-compliance

Answer

Ignore the requirement since the project is already underway

Answer

Update the project management plan to include the new requirement

Question 5

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 6

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 7

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 8

Your project team is using a hybrid approach. During a sprint, an executive stakeholder contacts a developer directly and asks them to add a new feature without going through the product owner. The developer is confused about what to do. What should you, as the project manager, do to address this?

Accepted Answer

Speak with the executive stakeholder privately and remind them that all scope changes must go through the product owner and change control process. The stakeholder is bypassing the agreed process. The PM should communicate the importance of following the change control process and reinforce the roles and responsibilities.

Answer

Submit a change request on behalf of the executive stakeholder to formalize the request

Answer

Allow the developer to add the feature since it comes from an executive

Answer

Tell the developer to ignore the executive's request and continue with the sprint backlog

Question 9

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 10

You are managing a hybrid project that uses both predictive and agile approaches. The team has been delivering consistently, but recently the customer requested a critical feature that was not in the original scope. The feature is high value but will require rework of a completed component. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to the change control board (CCB) to evaluate the impact on scope, schedule, and cost.. To submit a change request through the formal change control process. This ensures proper evaluation and approval before any work begins, aligning with PMI's emphasis on following the change control process.

Answer

Add the feature to the product backlog and prioritize it for the next sprint without formal approval.

Answer

Ask the team to implement the feature immediately to maintain customer satisfaction, and document it later.

Answer

Update the project management plan to include the new feature and communicate the change to the team.