PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Test 7 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Your agile team's velocity has dropped for three consecutive sprints. The team says they are overwhelmed by the number of user stories and that the definition of 'done' keeps changing. As the Scrum Master (project manager), what should you do FIRST?

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

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a sprint retrospective to identify the causes of the velocity drop and collaboratively develop an improvement plan. The Scrum Master's first responsibility is to facilitate a retrospective to uncover the root causes of the velocity drop and the changing definition of 'done.' This aligns with the PMP's emphasis on leading the team through collaborative problem-solving rather than imposing top-down solutions. The team's feedback about being overwhelmed and the shifting 'done' criteria indicates a process breakdown that requires team-driven improvement.

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Reduce the sprint backlog to lower the team's workload

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Ask the functional manager to add more developers to the team

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Ask the product owner to prioritize fewer stories in the next sprint

Question 2

During a project status meeting, a stakeholder requests a change that would improve the product but significantly impact the critical path. The project manager has not yet evaluated the change. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Document the change request, assess the impact, and submit it to the change control board for approval. The PMBOK Guide mandates that all change requests must be formally documented and assessed for impact on constraints like the critical path before any decision is made. Submitting the evaluated change to the Change Control Board (CCB) ensures proper governance and prevents unauthorized scope creep, even if the stakeholder is influential.

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Accept the change to satisfy the stakeholder and update the project plan immediately

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Reject the change because it impacts the critical path and would delay the project

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Inform the stakeholder that the change will be considered after the current phase is complete

Question 3

You are leading a virtual project team with members in four countries. A team member from one location complains that another team member from a different location is not responding to emails and messages promptly, causing delays. Upon investigation, you find that the second team member feels their work hours are not respected and they are expected to respond outside their working hours. The team charter does not address communication hours. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a team meeting to update the team charter with agreed communication protocols, including response time windows and respect for working hours. The team charter is the foundational document that defines ground rules, communication norms, and working agreements for the team. Since the charter does not address communication hours and the conflict stems from a missing agreement, the PM should first facilitate a collaborative session to update the charter with agreed protocols. This addresses the root cause, respects both team members, and aligns with PMBOK's emphasis on team charter as the primary tool for establishing team norms.

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Ask the second team member to respond to messages within 2 hours during their working hours

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Transfer the second team member to a different project if they are unable to meet communication expectations

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Establish a new policy that all team members must be available during a common overlapping time zone

Question 4

Your project team includes members from diverse cultural backgrounds. During a team meeting, you notice that some members are not speaking up, while others dominate the conversation. The meeting is not productive. What should the project manager do to promote inclusion and improve meeting effectiveness?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a session to create team norms that include respectful communication and equal opportunity to speak. Establishing team norms through a facilitated session directly addresses the root cause of unproductive meetings—lack of agreed-upon communication protocols. This aligns with the PMP's 'People' domain, specifically leading diverse teams by creating a psychologically safe environment where all members have equal opportunity to contribute. The project manager uses facilitation skills to co-create rules that respect cultural differences, which is more sustainable than top-down mandates.

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Assign each team member a specific time to speak during meetings

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Continue with the current approach and hope the team adapts over time

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Ask the dominant members to refrain from speaking and encourage the quiet members to contribute

Question 5

Your project team is co-located, but you have noticed a lack of collaboration and trust among members. Which TWO actions would BEST help build a high-performing team? (Choose two)

Accepted Answer

Organize team-building activities to improve relationships. Option C is correct because organizing team-building activities directly targets the lack of collaboration and trust by creating informal, positive interactions that strengthen interpersonal relationships and psychological safety among co-located members. Option E is correct because a team charter with shared values, norms, and goals establishes a common purpose and agreed-upon behavioral expectations, which is a foundational PMI practice for building a high-performing team and resolving the trust deficit. Option A is wrong because isolating members on separate tasks reduces interaction and would worsen the collaboration and trust problem rather than fix it. Option B is wrong because issuing formal warnings for underperformance is a disciplinary/punitive response that does not address relationship and trust issues and can further erode team cohesion. Option D is wrong because one-on-one meetings, while useful for surfacing individual concerns, address issues individually rather than building the collective trust and shared norms needed for a high-performing team.

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Assign team members to work independently on separate tasks to avoid conflict

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Immediately address any underperformance with formal warnings

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Conduct one-on-one meetings with each team member to discuss their concerns

Question 6

As a project manager in an agile environment, you need to empower the development team to self-organize. Which THREE practices support this goal? (Choose three)

Accepted Answer

Provide the team with clear goals and boundaries, then trust them to deliver. Empowering a self-organizing team in agile requires providing clear goals and boundaries (e.g., sprint goals and Definition of Done) and then trusting the team to determine the best way to achieve them. This aligns with the Agile Manifesto's principle of 'build projects around motivated individuals' and the Scrum Guide's emphasis on self-management, where the team decides how to accomplish its work within the sprint.

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Make all final decisions on technical approaches to maintain control

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Assign specific tasks to each team member to ensure efficiency

Question 7

Your project is in the execution phase and a key vendor has notified you that they will be unable to deliver a critical component on time due to a labor strike. Which TWO actions should the project manager take? (Choose two)

Accepted Answer

Implement the contingency plan that was documented in the risk register. Option B is correct because the risk register documents agreed risk responses, and a labor strike at a vendor is exactly the kind of identified risk whose contingency plan (e.g., alternate supplier, buffer stock, or schedule reserve) should be triggered during execution. Option E is correct because the project manager must promptly communicate the delay and its impact on scope, schedule, cost, and quality to the sponsor and key stakeholders, as stakeholder engagement and transparent reporting are essential in the executing phase. Option A is not appropriate because negotiating with a labor union is outside the project manager's authority and role. Option C is wrong because passively waiting allows the schedule and cost impact to worsen instead of executing a planned response. Option D is wrong because unilaterally demanding a no-cost alternative supplier is not a valid risk response and ignores contract terms, change control, and cost impact.

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Travel to the vendor's site to negotiate directly with the labor union

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Wait for the strike to end before taking any action

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Ask the vendor to find an alternative supplier without additional cost

Question 8

You are leading a global software development project with team members in three different time zones. Recently, two senior developers from different locations have been in conflict over the design approach for a critical component. The conflict has started to affect team morale and productivity. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a meeting with both developers to discuss the issue and find a mutually agreeable solution.. As the project manager, your first responsibility is to address interpersonal conflicts directly and collaboratively. Scheduling a meeting with both developers to discuss the issue and find a mutually agreeable solution aligns with the PMI's emphasis on conflict resolution techniques like 'collaborating/problem-solving,' which seeks a win-win outcome. This approach preserves team morale and productivity by involving the stakeholders in the decision, rather than imposing a solution or avoiding the problem.

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Decide on the design approach yourself to end the conflict quickly.

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Escalate the issue to the sponsors and ask them to intervene.

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Reassign the developers to different tasks to avoid further conflict.

Question 9

During a sprint review, the product owner expresses dissatisfaction with a feature delivered by the team, stating it does not meet the acceptance criteria. The team insists they followed the requirements as written. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a conversation between the product owner and the team to clarify the acceptance criteria.. The immediate priority is to resolve the misunderstanding between the product owner and the team. The project manager should facilitate a conversation to clarify the acceptance criteria, ensuring both parties have a shared understanding before any rework or documentation changes occur. This aligns with the PMP's focus on stakeholder engagement and conflict resolution within the 'People' domain.

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Ask the team to redo the feature to meet the product owner's expectations.

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Update the project documents to reflect the product owner's new requirements.

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Refer to the project charter to determine the original scope.

Question 10

Your project uses a hybrid approach with a fixed-price contract. Midway through, the client requests a significant scope change that would increase project duration by two months. The project manager has assessed the impact and believes the change is beneficial. However, the sponsor is reluctant because of the schedule extension. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Prepare a change request with impact analysis and submit it to the CCB for approval.. In a hybrid project with a fixed-price contract, any scope change must follow the formal change control process. The project manager has assessed the change as beneficial, but the sponsor's reluctance requires a documented impact analysis to enable an informed decision by the Change Control Board (CCB). Submitting a formal change request ensures contractual compliance, protects against scope creep, and provides a clear audit trail, which is critical when the schedule extension affects fixed-price terms.

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Negotiate with the client to drop another requirement to keep the schedule.

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Accept the change informally and adjust the schedule to accommodate it.

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Reject the request because it will delay the project and risk penalties.

Question 11

You are managing a project where a team member consistently misses deadlines, affecting the team's velocity. You have had informal conversations with the team member, but the behavior continues. What is the BEST next step?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a private meeting to discuss the challenges and offer support to help improve performance.. As a project manager, your first formal step should be to understand the root cause of the performance issue through a private, supportive conversation. This aligns with the PMP's focus on servant leadership and addressing people problems with empathy before escalating to punitive measures. The goal is to identify obstacles (e.g., skill gaps, resource constraints, personal challenges) and collaboratively develop a plan to improve velocity, which is more effective than immediate reprimand or task reassignment.

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Formally reprimand the team member and put them on a performance improvement plan.

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Inform the team that delays are unacceptable and expect improvement.

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Reassign the team member to less critical tasks to minimize impact.

Question 12

During a risk review meeting, a risk that was identified and registered occurs. The risk response plan is implemented, but it does not fully mitigate the impact, and the project is now behind schedule. What should the project manager do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the situation, implement a workaround, and communicate the impact to stakeholders.. When a risk response plan fails to fully mitigate the impact, the project manager must immediately analyze the situation to understand the residual effect, implement a workaround (an unplanned response to an emerging issue), and communicate the impact to stakeholders. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's guidance on managing risks and issues: after a risk occurs and the planned response is insufficient, the PM must take corrective action and keep stakeholders informed to maintain transparency and support decision-making.

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Blame the risk owner for inadequate response planning.

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Update the risk register and continue with the project as planned.

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for guidance.

Question 13

Your project team is distributed across four countries, and you notice that communication is breaking down, leading to misunderstandings and rework. The team members are not using the collaboration tools effectively. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Create a team charter that outlines communication norms, tool usage, and meeting schedules.. The first step in addressing communication breakdowns is to establish clear expectations and norms. A team charter defines how the team will communicate, which tools to use, and meeting schedules, aligning the distributed team on a shared framework. This proactive approach prevents misunderstandings and rework by setting ground rules before investing in new tools or roles.

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Replace the current collaboration tools with more user-friendly software.

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Assign a communication lead in each location to facilitate information flow.

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Mandate daily video calls for all team members to improve communication.

Question 14

An executive stakeholder has been directly contacting your team members and assigning them work that is not in the sprint backlog. The team is feeling pressured and confused about priorities. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Speak privately with the executive to explain the impact on the project and ask them to route requests through the proper channels.. The project manager must address scope creep and priority conflicts directly with the stakeholder who is causing the disruption. By speaking privately with the executive, the PM can explain how unauthorized work impacts the sprint goal, team velocity, and project deliverables, and request that all work be routed through the proper change control or product owner process. This aligns with the PM's responsibility to manage stakeholder expectations and protect the team from conflicting priorities.

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Inform the project sponsor about the executive's behavior and ask them to intervene.

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Tell the team to prioritize the executive's requests to maintain a good relationship.

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Update the risk register to document this as a future risk.

Question 15

Your team has been working together for three months and has started to gel. However, you notice that the team is not openly sharing differing opinions during meetings, and decisions are being made too quickly without considering alternatives. What stage of team development is the team likely in, and what should you do?

Accepted Answer

The team is in the norming stage; encourage constructive conflict and diverse viewpoints.. The team has been together for three months and is gelling, indicating they have moved past the storming stage into norming. However, the lack of open disagreement and rushed decisions without considering alternatives is a classic sign of groupthink, which is a risk in the norming stage. The correct action is to encourage constructive conflict and diverse viewpoints to prevent premature consensus and ensure robust decision-making.

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The team is in the forming stage; organize team-building activities.

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The team is in the storming stage; facilitate conflict resolution.

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The team is in the performing stage; let them continue as they are.