PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Test 5 — 15 Questions

Question 1

During a sprint review, the product owner expresses dissatisfaction with the delivered increment because it does not meet their expectations. The team followed the agreed-upon acceptance criteria. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a conversation between the product owner and the team to clarify expectations and update the acceptance criteria for next sprint. The PM should facilitate a discussion between the product owner and the team to clarify expectations. This demonstrates servant leadership and proactive communication. Adjusting the acceptance criteria for future sprints ensures alignment.

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Inform the product owner that the work meets the agreed criteria and cannot be changed

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision

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Ask the team to redo the work to meet the product owner's unstated expectations

Question 2

A project manager is leading a large, distributed team. Several team members have expressed feeling isolated and disconnected from the project's goals. The project manager wants to improve team cohesion and motivation. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Create a team charter with agreed-upon communication norms, shared values, and goals. Option C is correct because creating a team charter establishes a foundational agreement on communication norms, shared values, and goals, which directly addresses the root cause of isolation and disconnection in a distributed team. This aligns with the PMP People domain's emphasis on building a cohesive team environment through collaborative rule-setting before implementing tactical solutions.

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Implement daily stand-up meetings to increase communication

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Send a motivational email to the team emphasizing the project's importance

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Organize an in-person team-building event to boost morale

Question 3

A project manager is managing a hybrid project with both fixed-price and agile components. The sponsor asks the project manager to skip the testing phase for the agile portion to save time, assuring that the team is highly skilled and can deliver quality code without testing. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Explain the risks of skipping testing and suggest alternatives such as automated testing or risk-based testing. Option A is correct because the project manager has a fiduciary duty to protect the project from unnecessary risk. Skipping testing entirely, even with a highly skilled team, violates the principle of 'inspect and adapt' in agile and ignores the statistical certainty of defects in complex code. Suggesting automated testing or risk-based testing provides a pragmatic compromise that reduces time while maintaining quality assurance, aligning with the hybrid project's need for both speed and governance.

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Add a buffer in the schedule to compensate for potential rework from skipped testing

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Escalate the issue to the PMO for guidance

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

Question 4

A new project manager is assigned to an ongoing project. The team seems demotivated because the previous PM did not recognize their contributions. What can the new PM do to motivate the team?

Accepted Answer

Publicly appreciate individual contributions and involve the team in key decisions. Option A is correct because recognizing individual contributions and involving the team in key decisions directly addresses the root cause of demotivation—lack of appreciation and empowerment. According to the PMBOK Guide's 'Manage Team' process, recognition and involvement in decision-making are key motivators under the 'People' domain, as they foster trust, ownership, and psychological safety. This approach aligns with Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene theory, where recognition and responsibility are true motivators, unlike hygiene factors such as team lunches or monetary bonuses.

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Organize a team lunch to get to know everyone

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Focus on project tasks and avoid discussing past issues

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Offer monetary bonuses for meeting milestones

Question 5

A project manager is leading a team in a country with a high power distance culture. The team members are reluctant to speak up in meetings or challenge the project manager's ideas. How should the project manager foster an inclusive environment?

Accepted Answer

Use anonymous surveys and one-on-one meetings to gather input and encourage participation. In high power distance cultures, direct confrontation or open disagreement with authority figures is often seen as disrespectful. Using anonymous surveys and one-on-one meetings allows the project manager to gather honest input without putting team members in a culturally uncomfortable position, thereby fostering an inclusive environment while respecting cultural norms.

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Tell the team that they must speak up and share their opinions openly

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Appoint a team representative who will speak on behalf of the group

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Ignore the behavior because it is culturally appropriate

Question 6

A project manager is leading a Scrum team. The product owner frequently changes priorities mid-sprint, causing the team to lose focus and miss sprint goals. The team is frustrated. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Coach the product owner on Scrum rules and the impact of mid-sprint changes on team focus. In Scrum, the product owner should not change priorities during a sprint; the sprint backlog is frozen once the sprint starts. The project manager, acting as a servant leader, should coach the product owner on Scrum rules and explain how mid-sprint changes disrupt team focus and jeopardize sprint goals. This aligns with the PMP's emphasis on stakeholder management and agile principles.

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Add a buffer in the sprint to accommodate potential changes

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Ask the team to accommodate the changes since the product owner has authority

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor to intervene

Question 7

A project manager is building a new project team. Several team members have never worked together before. The project manager wants to accelerate team development and improve collaboration. Which approach is most effective?

Accepted Answer

Organize a team kickoff workshop with icebreakers and create a team charter together. Initiating team-building activities and setting clear expectations early helps form a cohesive team quickly. This aligns with the Forming stage of Tuckman's model and PMI's emphasis on team charter.

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Assign tasks individually and monitor progress closely

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Send the team to a formal training on teamwork

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Let the team naturally develop norms over time without intervention

Question 8

A project manager notices that two junior team members are struggling with a new technology required for the project. They are frustrated and their productivity is low. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Provide training or pair them with a mentor to build their skills. Option A is correct because the project manager's primary responsibility is to remove obstacles and develop the team's competencies. Providing training or pairing the junior members with a mentor directly addresses the root cause—lack of proficiency with the new technology—while fostering a supportive environment that aligns with the PMI's emphasis on servant leadership and team development.

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Inform the sponsor that the project may be delayed due to skill gaps

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Reassign the tasks to more experienced team members

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Reduce the scope of work for those team members

Question 9

A project manager is managing a large infrastructure project. The lead engineer has a strong personality and often dismisses ideas from other team members during meetings, causing some to withdraw from participation. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Speak privately with the lead engineer about the impact of their behavior and set expectations for collaboration. The PM should address the behavior privately with the lead engineer, emphasizing the value of diverse input and collaboration. This aligns with conflict management and servant leadership.

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Redistribute the lead engineer's tasks to reduce their influence

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Ignore the behavior and hope the team members will stand up for themselves

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Schedule a team meeting to discuss meeting etiquette without singling out the engineer

Question 10

A project manager is leading a hybrid project. The team is co-located but the project manager observes that some team members are reluctant to share opposing views during discussions, leading to groupthink. Which TWO actions should the project manager take to foster a culture of constructive debate?

Accepted Answer

Assign one team member to play the 'devil's advocate' in each meeting to challenge ideas. Option B is correct because assigning a 'devil's advocate' systematically introduces constructive challenge, directly countering groupthink by ensuring every idea is tested. Option C is correct because establishing ground rules that reward respectful disagreement creates a psychological safety net, encouraging team members to voice opposing views without fear of reprisal.

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Implement anonymous voting for all decisions

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Make decisions quickly to avoid prolonged debates

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Only ask for opinions from senior team members to streamline discussions

Question 11

A project manager is assigned to a troubled project. The team is divided into two factions: one supports a technical solution A, the other solution B. The conflict is causing delays. The project manager wants to resolve this using a collaborative approach. Which THREE actions should the project manager take?

Accepted Answer

Bring in a neutral external expert to evaluate both options. Option A is correct because bringing in a neutral external expert aligns with the collaborative approach the project manager wants to use. The expert can objectively evaluate both technical solutions A and B based on data and evidence, helping to de-escalate the conflict without taking sides. This fosters a collaborative environment by focusing on facts rather than personal biases, which is essential for resolving the delay-causing faction dispute.

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Make the final decision based on your own expertise to save time

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Implement both solutions in parallel to satisfy both sides

Question 12

A project manager is leading a global virtual team with members in three different time zones. The project manager wants to improve collaboration and ensure equitable participation. Which TWO actions are most effective?

Accepted Answer

Record meetings and require asynchronous input for those who cannot attend live. Option C is correct because recording meetings and requiring asynchronous input ensures that team members in less convenient time zones can still contribute meaningfully without being forced to attend live sessions at odd hours. This approach leverages technology to promote equitable participation and maintains a record for reference, which is critical for global virtual teams where synchronous attendance is not always feasible.

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Schedule all meetings at the project manager's local time for consistency

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Hold separate meetings for each time zone to avoid conflicts

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Assign a single point of contact for each time zone who will represent the team

Question 13

Two senior developers on your project have a heated disagreement about the technical approach for implementing a key feature. They both have strong arguments, and the conflict is delaying the sprint. As the project manager, what is the BEST first step to resolve this conflict?

Accepted Answer

Meet with each developer separately to understand their perspectives before facilitating a joint discussion. Option B is correct because it follows the PMI conflict resolution principle of 'collaborate/problem-solve' by first gathering individual perspectives privately before facilitating a joint discussion. This approach ensures each developer feels heard, reduces emotional tension, and allows the project manager to identify the underlying technical merits of each argument without group bias. It is the best first step because it addresses the root cause of the conflict—differing technical opinions—before attempting any resolution or escalation.

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision

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Tell the developers to set aside their differences and move forward with the current plan

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Choose the approach that aligns with the project's objectives and instruct the team to implement it

Question 14

During a sprint review, the product owner requests a significant change to a feature that was just completed. The change would improve user experience but would require reworking two sprints' worth of work. The project is already behind schedule. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Document the change request and assess its impact on the project constraints before submitting for approval. Option B is correct because the project manager must first follow the formal change control process by documenting the change request and assessing its impact on the triple constraints (scope, schedule, cost) before any approval or rejection. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's Integrated Change Control process, which ensures that changes are evaluated systematically to avoid uncontrolled scope creep, especially when the project is already behind schedule.

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Agree to the change since it improves user experience and ask the team to start rework

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Reject the change because the project is already behind schedule

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Add the change to the product backlog for a future release without adjusting the current sprint

Question 15

Your hybrid project team consists of five local members and three remote members in different time zones. Recently, the remote team members have been missing daily stand-up meetings, and their task completion rate has dropped. When you ask, they say they feel disconnected and their input is often overlooked during the meetings. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Adjust the meeting schedule to rotate times and use video conferencing with collaboration tools to ensure remote members can contribute. Option C is correct because it directly addresses the root cause of disconnection and overlooked input by rotating meeting times to accommodate different time zones and using video conferencing with collaboration tools to foster inclusion. This aligns with the hybrid project management principle of adapting communication methods to ensure all team members can actively participate, which is a key leadership responsibility in the People domain.

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Cancel the daily stand-ups and use asynchronous communication instead

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Record the stand-up meetings and share the recordings with remote members

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Remind the remote team members of their responsibilities and the importance of attending meetings