PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Test 8 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You are leading a globally distributed team with members in three time zones. During a virtual sprint retrospective, team members express frustration that decisions are often made without their input, leading to rework. What is the BEST action to improve team empowerment and collaboration?

Accepted Answer

Establish a decision-making framework that includes input from all time zones before finalizing decisions. Option B is correct because establishing a decision-making framework that explicitly includes input from all time zones addresses the root cause of the frustration: lack of inclusion in decisions. This directly improves team empowerment and collaboration by ensuring asynchronous participation, reducing rework caused by decisions made without full team input.

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Introduce a new collaboration tool to facilitate asynchronous communication

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Implement a strict decision-making hierarchy where the project manager makes all final decisions

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Encourage team members to speak up more during meetings

Question 2

Your project team includes members from diverse cultural backgrounds. A team member from a high-context culture is perceived by others as not being direct enough, causing misunderstandings. What should you do to improve team cohesion?

Accepted Answer

Provide diversity and inclusion training to the entire team. Option A is correct because providing diversity and inclusion training addresses the root cause of the misunderstanding—cultural differences in communication styles—by educating the entire team on high-context vs. low-context cultures. This aligns with the PMP's focus on fostering a collaborative team environment through mutual understanding, rather than singling out or forcing change on one individual. It promotes team cohesion by building awareness and respect for diverse communication norms, which is essential for leading projects in a global context.

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Assign a mentor to coach the team member on being more direct

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Ask the team member to adapt their communication style to match the majority

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Send a memo clarifying preferred communication styles

Question 3

During a project status meeting, a sponsor mentions that they have been directly assigning tasks to a team member without going through you. The team member is now confused about priorities. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a meeting with the sponsor to review the communication management plan and roles. Option A is correct because the first step in resolving a communication breakdown is to address the root cause: the sponsor is bypassing the project manager's authority and the established communication management plan. By scheduling a meeting with the sponsor to review the plan and their roles, you reaffirm the agreed-upon escalation and task assignment processes, which is a proactive, professional approach aligned with PMBOK's principles of managing stakeholder expectations and enforcing the project's governance framework.

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Report the sponsor's behavior to the PMO or senior management

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Tell the team member to ignore the sponsor's requests

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Update the team member's task list to include the sponsor's assignments

Question 4

Your agile team has been self-organizing, but recently a team member with strong technical skills has been dominating discussions and decisions, causing others to feel disengaged. The sprint velocity is starting to drop. What is the BEST approach to address this?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a team retrospective where members can discuss collaboration norms and decision-making processes. The correct answer is A because the agile framework emphasizes self-organization and team ownership. Facilitating a retrospective directly addresses the root cause—disengagement due to dominance—by enabling the team to collaboratively redefine collaboration norms and decision-making processes, which restores psychological safety and can reverse the velocity drop without imposing external control.

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Ignore the behavior as long as the team is still delivering

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Reassign tasks to ensure equal participation by controlling the workload

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Speak privately with the dominating team member and ask them to step back

Question 5

Your team is about to start a new project. To ensure a common understanding of rules and expectations, you want to create a team charter. When should this be developed?

Accepted Answer

During the project kick-off meeting with the entire team. The team charter is developed during the project kick-off meeting with the entire team to establish shared expectations, ground rules, and operating norms from the outset. This collaborative creation ensures buy-in and alignment before work begins, reducing ambiguity and preventing conflicts later. The PMBOK Guide emphasizes that the team charter is a product of the team, not the project manager alone, and is created during the 'Develop Team' process within the People domain.

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At the end of the project for lessons learned

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After the first conflict arises to guide resolution

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Developed solely by the project manager and then shared with the team

Question 6

You are managing a construction project using a predictive approach. A key vendor informs you that they will not be able to deliver a critical component for another two weeks, which will delay the project. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Evaluate the impact on the project schedule and identify possible mitigation strategies. Option D is correct because the first step in managing a schedule delay is to analyze the impact on the project schedule and identify potential mitigation strategies. According to the PMBOK Guide's 'Manage Communications' and 'Control Schedule' processes, you must assess the situation before escalating or taking corrective action. This aligns with the principle of 'analyze before act' in predictive project management.

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

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Initiate a change request to extend the project schedule

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Immediately notify the sponsor about the delay without further analysis

Question 7

In a hybrid project, the product owner wants to add a high-priority feature to the current sprint, but the team has already committed to the sprint backlog. The product owner insists it is critical for the upcoming release. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Explain to the product owner that the current sprint is committed and the feature can be added to the product backlog for the next sprint. In a hybrid project, the sprint backlog is a commitment made by the team for the current iteration. The project manager should protect the team from scope changes mid-sprint to maintain velocity and predictability. Option D is correct because it respects the sprint commitment and follows the agile principle of not changing the sprint backlog once it is set; the new feature is deferred to the product backlog for prioritization in the next sprint.

Answer

Escalate the request to the steering committee to force the change

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Allow the team to swap the new feature for an equivalent amount of existing work

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Ask the team to add the feature to the current sprint and work overtime

Question 8

Your project is in the execution phase when a new government regulation is announced that could affect your project's compliance requirements. The regulation is not yet in effect but will be before project completion. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the regulation's impact on the project and initiate a change request if needed. Option A is correct because the PMBOK Guide requires that when a new regulation is announced, the project manager must first analyze its impact on the project's compliance requirements. Since the regulation will be in effect before project completion, proactive assessment is needed to determine if a change request is necessary to align the project with future legal obligations. This follows the 'plan-do-check-act' cycle and ensures the project remains compliant without unnecessary disruption.

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Inform the team to assume compliance and adjust their work accordingly

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Stop all project work until the regulation is clarified

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Continue the project as planned since the regulation is not yet in effect

Question 9

During a sprint review, stakeholders express disappointment with the product increment, stating it does not meet their expectations. The team believed they were on track based on the user stories. What should the project manager do to prevent this in the future?

Accepted Answer

Ensure stakeholders are involved in the sprint review and provide feedback early and often. Option B is correct because the root cause of the disconnect is a lack of early and continuous stakeholder involvement. By engaging stakeholders in the sprint review and soliciting feedback frequently, the project manager ensures that expectations are validated against the increment throughout the development cycle, not just at the end. This aligns with the Agile principle of customer collaboration over contract negotiation and prevents the team from building features based on assumptions.

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Document the feedback and adjust the next sprint accordingly

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Ask the product owner to write more detailed user stories

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Have the team present their work to stakeholders more frequently

Question 10

You are managing a virtual team where several members have expressed feeling isolated and disconnected from the project goals. Which TWO actions would BEST improve team cohesion and alignment?

Accepted Answer

Schedule regular virtual team-building activities. Option B is correct because regular virtual team-building activities directly address feelings of isolation by fostering interpersonal connections and trust among remote team members. Option D is correct because creating a shared project vision and team charter aligns the team around common goals, expectations, and values, which counteracts disconnection from project objectives. Together, these actions improve both social cohesion and goal alignment, which are critical for virtual team success.

Answer

Increase the frequency of status meetings

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Establish a rotating meeting facilitator role

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Implement a formal performance review system

Question 11

Your project team is experiencing conflict due to different working styles: some members prefer detailed plans, while others prefer flexibility. The conflict is affecting morale and productivity. Which THREE actions should you take to resolve the situation?

Accepted Answer

Develop a team charter that includes agreed-upon norms for planning and flexibility. Developing a team charter that includes agreed-upon norms for planning and flexibility is correct because it formalizes a shared understanding of how the team will operate, directly addressing the root cause of the conflict—differing working styles. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's emphasis on establishing team ground rules early to prevent and resolve interpersonal conflicts, thereby improving morale and productivity.

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Ignore the conflict and focus on delivering the project on time

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Decide on a single working style and enforce it across the team

Question 12

As a project manager, you want to motivate your team to achieve high performance. Which TWO techniques are most aligned with PMI's recommended practices for motivating team members?

Accepted Answer

Provide opportunities for professional development and learning. Option A is correct because PMI's leadership model emphasizes that providing opportunities for professional development and learning is a key motivator that aligns with the 'Servant Leadership' approach. This practice fosters intrinsic motivation by helping team members grow their skills, which directly supports high performance and retention. It is grounded in PMI's Talent Triangle and the principle of empowering the team through continuous improvement.

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Assign more challenging tasks to stretch their capabilities

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Implement a penalty system for missed deadlines

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Offer monetary bonuses for early completion of milestones

Question 13

You are a project manager overseeing a 12-month ERP implementation. During sprint 6 of 20, the product owner informs you that a key stakeholder wants to add a new reporting module that was not in the original scope. The team estimates this would add 3 weeks to the schedule. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request through the Integrated Change Control process and assess the impact on scope, schedule, and cost. Option A is correct because the addition of a new reporting module represents a change to the approved scope baseline. According to the PMBOK Guide, any change to scope must go through the Integrated Change Control (ICC) process, which includes submitting a formal change request, assessing impacts on scope, schedule, cost, and quality, and obtaining approval before implementation. This ensures that all changes are evaluated and controlled, preventing scope creep and maintaining project alignment with business objectives.

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Ask the team to begin work on the module immediately to accommodate the stakeholder

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Inform the stakeholder that no changes can be made once the project has started

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Add the requirement to the product backlog and let the team address it in a future sprint without formal approval

Question 14

A project manager is leading a globally distributed team with members in four time zones. During a virtual sprint retrospective, two senior developers accuse each other of not completing tasks on time, causing delays. Emotions are high, and the rest of the team is watching. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a private video call with both developers to listen to their perspectives and mediate a solution. Option C is correct because the immediate priority for a project manager is to de-escalate the conflict privately and understand each developer's perspective before making any decisions. This aligns with the PMI People domain principle of servant leadership and conflict resolution, where the first step is to listen and mediate in a safe, private environment to preserve team trust and psychological safety.

Answer

Reprimand both developers publicly during the retrospective for unprofessional behavior

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Escalate the issue to the functional managers of both developers

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Ask the team to ignore the conflict and focus on the upcoming sprint goals

Question 15

In an agile software project, the sprint velocity has dropped from 30 story points to 18 over the last two sprints. The team members report that they are spending too much time on unplanned technical debt. The product owner is pushing for more features. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion between the team and product owner to prioritize technical debt alongside new features. Option D is correct because the project manager's first responsibility is to facilitate a collaborative discussion between the team and the product owner to address the root cause—unplanned technical debt—while balancing the need for new features. This aligns with the agile principle of transparency and stakeholder collaboration, ensuring that technical debt is explicitly prioritized in the backlog alongside feature work. Removing or ignoring the debt would only compound the velocity drop and degrade product quality.

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Reassign two team members to a separate 'debt reduction' team to isolate the issue

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Remove testing from the definition of done to increase velocity

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Increase the sprint workload to motivate the team to deliver more features