PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Test 22 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Your project is running 15% over budget at the midpoint. Upon review, you find that the cost overrun is due to an underestimation of hardware costs. The sponsor is concerned and asks for a plan to get back on track. What should you do first?

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

Accepted Answer

Analyze the cost variance, determine the corrective actions, and submit a change request if necessary. The first step in addressing a cost overrun is to analyze the variance to understand its root cause and impact, then determine corrective actions. The PMBOK Guide emphasizes that before any change request, you must perform a root cause analysis and evaluate options within the existing budget. Requesting additional funds (A) or using management reserve (D) without analysis violates the principle of first exhausting all other options and maintaining transparency.

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Request additional funds from the sponsor without further analysis

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Ask the team to reduce scope to cut costs immediately

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Use the management reserve without notifying the sponsor

Question 2

An executive stakeholder has been directly assigning tasks to your agile team members without going through you or the product owner. Team members are confused about priorities and the sprint goal is at risk. What is the best first step?

Accepted Answer

Request a meeting with the executive to clarify roles and the importance of adhering to the prioritization process. The first step in resolving a stakeholder bypassing the agile process is to directly address the root cause—misunderstanding of roles. Requesting a meeting with the executive allows you to clarify the prioritization process, reinforce the product owner's authority over the backlog, and protect the sprint goal without escalating prematurely. This aligns with the PMP's focus on stakeholder engagement and conflict resolution at the lowest appropriate level.

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Tell the team members to ignore the stakeholder's requests

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Escalate to the project sponsor immediately

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Update the stakeholder management plan to classify the executive as 'keep satisfied'

Question 3

A key vendor has informed you that they cannot deliver a critical component for another two weeks, which will delay your project. The component is on the critical path. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Update the risk register and review the response plan for this risk. The first action when a known risk materializes is to consult the risk register and execute the pre-defined response plan. Since the vendor delay is a risk that was likely identified and documented, updating the register and reviewing the planned response ensures a structured, data-driven approach rather than a reactive one. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's guidance on implementing risk responses as the immediate next step after risk occurrence.

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Ask the team to work overtime to make up for the delay

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Penalize the vendor as per the contract

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Immediately notify the sponsor and request a schedule extension

Question 4

You are the project manager on a large infrastructure project. During execution, a new government regulation is announced that will affect your project's compliance requirements. The change is mandatory and must be implemented within 60 days, or the project will be shut down. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the impact on the project and submit a change request to incorporate the new requirements. The first step when a mandatory regulation arises is to analyze its impact on the project's scope, schedule, and budget, then submit a formal change request to integrate the new requirements. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's change control process, ensuring the change is evaluated and approved before implementation, even under urgent compliance deadlines.

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Direct the team to immediately implement the changes required by the regulation to avoid shutdown

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Inform the sponsor that the project will need to be cancelled due to the new regulation

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Ignore the regulation and continue as planned because it is not yet enforced

Question 5

Your agile team has been self-organizing and performing well, but during the last two retrospectives, the team has raised concerns about the product owner not providing clear acceptance criteria for user stories. As the project manager, what is the most effective way to address this?

Accepted Answer

Coach the product owner on writing effective acceptance criteria and encourage the team to raise concerns during backlog refinement. It directly addresses the root cause—unclear acceptance criteria—by coaching the Product Owner (PO) on how to write them effectively. This aligns with the agile principle of continuous improvement and the servant-leader role of the project manager, who facilitates collaboration between the PO and the development team. Encouraging the team to raise concerns during backlog refinement ensures that issues are resolved proactively before the sprint begins, maintaining self-organization and team performance.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor

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Write the acceptance criteria yourself to ensure clarity

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Add a task to the sprint backlog for the team to clarify acceptance criteria with the product owner

Question 6

You are managing a project using a predictive approach. A key team member has expressed that they feel micromanaged by you and wants more autonomy. The team member's performance is satisfactory. How should you respond?

Accepted Answer

Gradually delegate more responsibility and trust the team member to manage their own tasks. It directly addresses the team member's need for autonomy while maintaining project control. In a predictive (waterfall) approach, delegating responsibility gradually allows the team member to demonstrate self-management without risking project deliverables, aligning with the PMI talent triangle's leadership principle of empowering team members.

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Reassign the team member to a less critical task to minimize risk

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Explain that your management style is necessary to keep the project on track

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Ask the team member to provide a detailed plan of how they will manage their own work

Question 7

You are the project manager for a multinational project with team members from diverse cultural backgrounds. You notice that some team members are hesitant to speak up during meetings due to cultural norms. Which TWO actions would best foster an inclusive environment?

Accepted Answer

Use round-robin or other structured techniques to ensure each person has an opportunity to contribute. Structured techniques like round-robin ensure every team member has an equal opportunity to contribute, directly addressing cultural norms where speaking up unprompted is discouraged. This method creates a safe, predictable space for participation without putting individuals on the spot, fostering inclusivity by respecting diverse communication styles.

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Provide language training to non-native speakers

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Require each team member to speak at least once per meeting

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Encourage open discussion and let the most vocal members lead

Question 8

Your project team is distributed across four countries with significant time zone differences. Communication has been challenging, leading to misunderstandings and delays. Which THREE actions would most effectively improve collaboration?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a weekly synchronous meeting at a time that rotates to accommodate different time zones. Rotating the meeting time distributes the inconvenience of early or late hours across all team members, ensuring no single region is consistently disadvantaged. This approach maintains regular synchronous interaction, which is critical for building rapport and resolving complex issues, while respecting the team's global distribution.

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Reduce the frequency of communication to minimize coordination overhead

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Require all team members to be available during a fixed 4-hour overlap window each day

Question 9

You are the project manager for a software development project using a hybrid approach. Two senior developers have a disagreement about the technical approach for a critical feature. The conflict is causing delays and affecting team morale. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Meet with both developers individually to understand their perspectives, then facilitate a joint discussion. As a project manager using a hybrid approach, your first responsibility is to address the conflict through collaborative conflict resolution. Meeting individually with each developer to understand their perspectives, then facilitating a joint discussion, aligns with the PMI People domain's emphasis on emotional intelligence and servant leadership. This approach preserves team morale, leverages the expertise of both senior developers, and allows the team to reach a consensus on the technical approach, which is critical for a hybrid project where both agile and plan-driven elements require team buy-in.

Answer

Decide on the technical approach yourself and assign tasks accordingly

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision

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Replace both developers with a single developer who agrees with the original plan

Question 10

During a sprint retrospective, the team expresses frustration that they are frequently interrupted by unplanned work from other departments. The project manager wants to improve team focus. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Meet with other department managers to negotiate dedicated team time and establish a process for handling requests. It addresses the root cause of the team's frustration by negotiating dedicated team time with other departments and establishing a formal process for handling unplanned work requests. This aligns with the servant leadership approach in the People domain, where the project manager acts as a buffer and facilitator to protect the team's focus and productivity, rather than imposing a technical fix that ignores the systemic issue.

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Increase the sprint duration to accommodate unplanned work

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Tell the team to ignore unplanned work requests

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Add a daily stand-up to discuss unplanned work

Question 11

A project manager is leading a virtual team across four time zones. The project has entered the execution phase, and the project manager notices that team members are not collaborating effectively, and communication is becoming fragmented. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Review and update the communication management plan and set up a shared collaboration platform with clear guidelines. The first step in resolving fragmented communication in a virtual team is to review and update the Communication Management Plan, which defines how information is shared, stored, and accessed. Setting up a shared collaboration platform with clear guidelines directly addresses the root cause—lack of structured communication channels and protocols—rather than applying a superficial or disruptive fix. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's principle of tailoring communication to the team's distributed environment.

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Send a team-wide email reminding everyone to communicate more effectively

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Require all team members to work during the same core hours

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Schedule a team-building retreat to improve relationships

Question 12

A project manager is leading a large construction project. The sponsor requests that the team skip a mandatory quality inspection to save two weeks on the schedule. The project manager knows that skipping the inspection could compromise safety and violate regulations. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Explain the regulatory and safety implications to the sponsor and recommend against skipping the inspection. The project manager has a fiduciary and ethical duty to prioritize safety and regulatory compliance over schedule pressure. Skipping a mandatory quality inspection violates regulations and could lead to legal liability, project shutdown, or harm. The PM must clearly communicate these risks to the sponsor and recommend against the action, as per the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.

Answer

Document the sponsor's request and proceed with the inspection as planned without further discussion

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Comply with the sponsor's request to maintain a good relationship

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Propose reducing the inspection scope rather than skipping it entirely

Question 13

A project manager is forming a new project team. To build a high-performing team, the project manager wants to establish clear expectations for behavior and communication. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a team charter workshop to collaboratively define ground rules, values, and communication protocols. A team charter workshop is a collaborative, facilitated process where the team collectively defines ground rules, values, and communication protocols. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's emphasis on building a high-performing team through mutual agreement and shared ownership, which fosters trust and reduces ambiguity in behavior and communication from the start.

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Create a detailed project schedule and assign tasks immediately

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Ask each team member to submit a list of their personal expectations

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Send an email listing team rules and ask for acknowledgment

Question 14

During a project, a key team member consistently misses deadlines, causing delays. The project manager has had informal conversations with the team member, but the situation has not improved. What should the project manager do next?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a private meeting to discuss the performance gap, identify underlying issues, and create an improvement plan. The project manager should first address performance issues through direct, private communication to understand root causes and collaboratively develop an improvement plan. This aligns with the PMI People domain, emphasizing servant leadership and coaching to resolve team member performance gaps before escalating or reassigning tasks. The informal conversations have not worked, so a structured approach with clear expectations and support is the next logical step.

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Ignore the issue and adjust the schedule to accommodate the delays

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Escalate the issue to the functional manager and request a replacement

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Reassign the task to another team member without discussion

Question 15

A project manager is leading a global team with diverse cultural backgrounds. Two team members from different cultures have a misunderstanding that is causing tension. The project manager wants to promote inclusivity and resolve the issue. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Arrange a mediation session where both parties can share perspectives and learn about each other's cultural norms. It directly addresses the root cause of the conflict—cultural misunderstanding—by facilitating open dialogue and mutual learning. This aligns with the PMP's focus on emotional intelligence and inclusive leadership, as the project manager acts as a mediator to foster understanding rather than imposing rules or assigning blame.

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Create a policy requiring all team members to communicate in a standard way

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Determine which team member is at fault and counsel them individually

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Advise the team to avoid discussing cultural differences to prevent further conflict