PMP Practice Test 8 — 10 Questions

Question 1

In an agile project, the team has missed their sprint commitment for the third consecutive sprint. During the retrospective, team members cite unclear requirements and frequent interruptions from stakeholders. As the project manager, what is the BEST action to take?

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

Accepted Answer

Work with the product owner to refine user stories and shield the team from external interruptions. The best action because the root cause is unclear requirements and frequent interruptions. The project manager should work with the product owner to refine user stories and ensure they are clear, and also shield the team from stakeholder interruptions. Option A (reducing story points) does not address the root cause; the team would still face unclear requirements and interruptions. Option C (adding developers) does not solve the clarity or interruption issues and may disrupt the team. Option D (increasing sprint duration) is not appropriate as it does not address the root cause and violates timeboxing principles.

Answer

Require the team to commit to fewer story points next sprint

Answer

Add more developers to the team to increase velocity

Answer

Increase the sprint duration to give the team more time

Question 2

You are managing a project to develop a new mobile app. During the testing phase, the quality assurance team discovers a critical bug that could delay the release by two weeks. The product owner insists on releasing on the original date to meet a market opportunity. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Present the impact of the bug to the product owner and recommend either fixing it or accepting the risk of releasing with the bug. It involves transparent communication with the product owner about the bug's impact and provides a choice between fixing it (which delays release) or accepting the risk. This aligns with the PM's responsibility to manage trade-offs and keep stakeholders informed. Option B is wrong because releasing on time without addressing the bug disregards the risk and could lead to customer dissatisfaction. Option C is wrong because skipping regression testing violates quality standards and increases the likelihood of further issues. Option D is wrong because unilaterally delaying the release without consulting the product owner ignores their authority and the business context.

Answer

Agree to release on time and fix the bug in the next update

Answer

Release as planned but skip the regression testing to save time

Answer

Delay the release without consulting the product owner to fix the bug

Question 3

During a daily standup, a developer mentions she is blocked because two senior engineers are in a heated argument about the technical approach for a critical feature. The disagreement has been ongoing for two days and is affecting the team's velocity. As the Scrum Master, what should you do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting between the two engineers to help them reach a consensus, and involve other team members if needed. The Scrum Master's role is to facilitate conflict resolution and remove impediments. By facilitating a meeting between the two engineers, the Scrum Master helps them reach a consensus without imposing a solution, which aligns with servant leadership. Option B is wrong because the Scrum Master should not impose technical decisions; that undermines team autonomy. Option C is wrong because advising the developer to wait does not address the root cause and further delays the team. Option D is wrong because escalating to the sponsor bypasses the team's ability to self-organize and is not appropriate for technical disagreements.

Answer

Decide on the technical approach yourself and assign tasks accordingly to unblock the team

Answer

Advise the developer to wait until the disagreement is resolved before proceeding

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor to resolve the technical disagreement

Question 4

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 5

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 6

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 7

You are managing a portfolio of three projects. Project A is on track and aligned with strategic goals. Project B is behind schedule but has high strategic value. Project C is on time but its strategic value has diminished due to market changes. The steering committee asks you to recommend which project to prioritize. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Present the status and strategic alignment of each project to the committee and facilitate a decision. The project manager's role is to provide objective information to the steering committee, including the status and strategic alignment of each project, and then facilitate their decision-making. This aligns with the project manager's responsibility to present trade-offs and let the governance body prioritize. Option A is incorrect because unilaterally increasing resources for Project B bypasses the committee's authority. Option C is incorrect because it makes a biased recommendation without considering other factors. Option D is incorrect because it delays the decision and avoids the collaborative governance process.

Answer

Recommend increasing resources for Project B to get it back on track

Answer

Recommend stopping Project C and reallocating resources to Project B

Answer

Ask each project manager to submit a recovery plan and then decide

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 project is developing a new mobile app using Scrum. The team has consistently delivered 30 story points per sprint for the last three sprints. Suddenly, velocity drops to 20 story points in the current sprint. The team members report that they are spending extra time fixing defects from previous sprints. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a retrospective to identify root causes of defects and implement process improvements. The root cause of the velocity drop needs to be understood before taking corrective action. A retrospective is the appropriate forum to discuss process improvements.

Answer

Reduce the definition of done to lower the quality bar

Answer

Add more developers to the team to increase velocity

Answer

Ask the team to work overtime to catch up

Question 10

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