PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Test 17 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A junior team member consistently misses deadlines, affecting the project schedule. You have spoken to them twice about the issue, but performance has not improved. What should you do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Meet with the team member privately to explore any obstacles or personal challenges.. The PM should first seek to understand the root cause of the performance issue through a private, supportive conversation. This aligns with the PMP's 'People' domain, emphasizing servant leadership and emotional intelligence. Exploring obstacles or personal challenges addresses potential underlying factors (e.g., unclear requirements, resource constraints, or personal stress) before escalating or reassigning work.

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Reassign the tasks to another team member.

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Escalate the matter to the team member's functional manager.

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Ignore the issue to avoid conflict.

Question 2

During a sprint retrospective, the team expresses frustration that they are frequently interrupted by unplanned support requests from the operations department. The product owner agrees this is impacting velocity. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Work with the product owner to prioritize support requests and allocate a dedicated buffer for them.. The immediate priority is to manage the unplanned work that is disrupting the sprint. By working with the product owner to prioritize support requests and allocate a dedicated buffer (e.g., a fixed capacity within the sprint backlog), the project manager ensures that the team can handle operational interruptions without derailing planned work. This aligns with the Agile principle of protecting the team's focus and using empirical data to adjust the process, rather than escalating or deferring action.

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor to negotiate with operations.

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Ask the team to track the time spent on support requests and report it at the next retrospective.

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Instruct the team to handle support requests as they come to maintain stakeholder satisfaction.

Question 3

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.

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

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

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

Question 4

A key stakeholder has been bypassing the project manager and giving direct instructions to team members, causing confusion about priorities. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a meeting with the stakeholder to discuss the importance of following the communication plan.. The first step in resolving stakeholder interference is to address the issue directly with the stakeholder through a meeting, reinforcing the communication plan established during project planning. This aligns with PMI's principle of proactive stakeholder engagement and conflict resolution at the lowest appropriate level, ensuring clarity on roles and reporting structures without escalating prematurely.

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Update the stakeholder management plan to include this stakeholder.

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Report the stakeholder's behavior to the project sponsor.

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Instruct the team to ignore any instructions from the stakeholder.

Question 5

During a project, you notice that a team member with specialized skills is becoming demotivated because their work is not being recognized. What is the BEST way to address this?

Accepted Answer

Publicly acknowledge the team member's contributions during team meetings.. Publicly acknowledging the team member's contributions directly addresses the root cause of demotivation—lack of recognition—by leveraging positive reinforcement and team visibility. This aligns with the PMP's focus on servant leadership and motivational theories like Herzberg's hygiene factors, where recognition is a key motivator. It fosters a supportive team culture without bypassing the project manager's direct relationship with the team member.

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Discuss the issue with the team member's supervisor.

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Give the team member a monetary bonus.

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Assign the team member more challenging tasks.

Question 6

A team member has informed you that they are feeling burnt out due to the high pace of the project. The project is on schedule and within budget. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Discuss workload distribution with the team and consider adjusting assignments.. The project manager should first assess and address the workload imbalance that is causing burnout, which is a key responsibility under the 'Manage Team' process. By discussing workload distribution with the team and considering adjustments, the PM uses a collaborative approach to optimize resource utilization without compromising the project's schedule or budget. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's emphasis on servant leadership and proactive team management.

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Tell the team member to take a short vacation and return refreshed.

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Remove the team member from the project to protect their health.

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Reduce the project scope to lower the pace.

Question 7

In a Scrum team, the product owner frequently changes priorities during the sprint, causing the team to lose focus. The team has raised this concern in the retrospective. What should the scrum master do?

Accepted Answer

Coach the product owner on the importance of stable sprint goals.. The Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring the Scrum framework is followed. Changing priorities mid-sprint violates the principle of a stable Sprint Goal, which protects the team from disruption and allows them to deliver a potentially releasable increment. Coaching the Product Owner on this principle directly addresses the root cause without bypassing Scrum rules or escalating prematurely.

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Allow the changes if they add value, and adjust the sprint backlog.

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Update the definition of done to accommodate changes.

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor.

Question 8

Your project is in the execution phase when a new regulation is passed that affects the project's deliverables. The team is already working at full capacity. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the impact of the regulation on scope, schedule, and cost.. D is correct because the PMBOK Guide requires the project manager to first analyze the impact of a change on the triple constraint (scope, schedule, cost) before taking any action. Since the team is at full capacity, immediate incorporation (A) or stopping work (B) would be premature without understanding the regulation's effect. Updating the risk register (C) without analysis skips the necessary impact assessment step.

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Instruct the team to incorporate the regulation into current work immediately.

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Stop all work until the regulation is fully understood.

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Update the risk register and continue as planned.

Question 9

A project team has low trust and poor collaboration. The project manager wants to build a high-performing team. Which of the following is the MOST effective first step?

Accepted Answer

Develop a team charter that defines values, communication norms, and conflict resolution processes.. Developing a team charter is the most effective first step because it establishes a shared foundation of values, communication norms, and conflict resolution processes, which directly addresses low trust and poor collaboration by creating psychological safety and clear expectations. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's emphasis on team charter as a key tool for forming a high-performing team, as it proactively prevents conflicts rather than reactively resolving them.

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Conduct a team-building event, such as a social gathering.

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Identify and resolve the biggest conflict in the team.

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Introduce daily stand-up meetings.

Question 10

During a project, the sponsor asks you to skip the testing phase to save time and meet the deadline. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Explain the risks of skipping testing and propose alternatives such as reducing scope or extending the schedule.. As a project manager, your first responsibility is to protect the project's value and quality. Skipping testing introduces significant technical debt and risk of undetected defects, which can lead to costly rework or failure. By explaining the risks and proposing alternatives like scope reduction or schedule extension, you demonstrate proactive stakeholder management and adherence to the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.

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Comply with the sponsor's request to meet the deadline.

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Ignore the request and continue as planned.

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Ask the quality assurance team to expedite testing.

Question 11

Your project team is experiencing a conflict between two members that is affecting the entire team's productivity. As the project manager, which TWO actions should you take to resolve the situation?

Accepted Answer

Meet with each team member individually to understand their perspectives.. Options B and E are correct. Meeting individually with each team member allows the project manager to understand their perspectives without group pressure. Facilitating a conflict resolution session provides a structured approach to help both parties collaboratively resolve the issue. Option A is an extreme measure that removes team members unnecessarily. Option C escalates prematurely before attempting resolution at the team level. Option D ignores the conflict, which typically causes it to worsen.

Answer

Remove both team members from the project.

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Escalate the conflict to the project sponsor.

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Ignore the conflict and hope it resolves on its own.

Question 12

Your agile team's velocity has been declining for the past three sprints. The team cites increasing technical debt and unclear requirements. As the project manager, which THREE actions should you take to address this?

Accepted Answer

Allocate time for the team to refactor code and reduce technical debt.. Allocating time for refactoring directly addresses the technical debt that is slowing the team down. By dedicating sprint capacity to code cleanup and improvement, the team can improve code maintainability, reduce future defects, and restore velocity. This is a standard agile practice to manage technical debt and sustain delivery pace.

Answer

Replace underperforming team members.

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Switch to a different agile framework, such as Kanban.

Question 13

A project team member from a different cultural background tends to avoid direct confrontation during disagreements, which frustrates other team members who prefer direct communication. As the project manager, which TWO actions should you take to improve team dynamics?

Accepted Answer

Introduce anonymous feedback tools for sensitive issues.. Anonymous feedback tools allow team members to express concerns about cultural or communication differences without the discomfort of direct confrontation, which aligns with the PMI principle of fostering a respectful and inclusive team environment. This approach respects the cultural preference for indirect communication while still surfacing issues that need resolution. Option D is correct because facilitating a team session on cultural diversity and communication preferences directly addresses the root cause of the conflict by educating the team and promoting mutual understanding, which is a proactive leadership action under the 'People' domain.

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Tell the frustrated team members to accept the differences.

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Require all team members to adopt direct communication styles.

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Report the issue to human resources.

Question 14

You are leading a hybrid project team consisting of both colocated and remote members. During a daily stand-up, two senior developers have a heated argument about the technical approach for a critical feature. The argument disrupts the meeting and creates tension. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Acknowledge the disagreement and schedule a separate meeting with both developers to discuss and resolve the issue. As a project manager leading a hybrid team, your first responsibility is to de-escalate the conflict and create a structured environment for resolution without disrupting the daily stand-up. Acknowledging the disagreement preserves team dynamics and ensures the technical decision is made collaboratively, leveraging both developers' expertise rather than imposing a unilateral solution. Scheduling a separate meeting allows focused discussion, preventing the stand-up from losing its purpose of synchronization.

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Immediately decide on the technical approach yourself to end the argument

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Tell both developers to resolve the issue on their own and report back

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for resolution

Question 15

Your agile team has been consistently delivering high-quality increments, but the product owner recently started bypassing you and giving direct instructions to the development team. The team is confused and some have started working on unapproved features. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a private meeting with the product owner to discuss roles and the importance of following the agreed communication protocols. The first step in resolving this conflict is to have a private, collaborative discussion with the product owner to clarify roles, responsibilities, and the agreed communication protocols. This aligns with the PMI-ACP and PMP focus on servant leadership and stakeholder management, where direct confrontation is avoided in favor of coaching and realignment. Bypassing the Scrum Master undermines the agile framework and can lead to scope creep, so addressing the root cause with the product owner is the most appropriate initial action.

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Report the product owner's behavior to the project sponsor for disciplinary action

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Call a team meeting to remind everyone of the proper change control process

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Instruct the team to ignore the product owner's instructions and follow only your directions