PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Test 11 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You are managing a project that is experiencing scope creep. Several stakeholders have been informally requesting additional features directly from team members. Which TWO actions should you take to address this?

Accepted Answer

Educate the team on the importance of following the change control process.. To prevent scope creep, the PM should educate the team on the change control process so they know not to accept informal requests. Additionally, the PM should reinforce the communication plan to ensure all requests go through the proper channels. Option A is reactive; Option D is not the best practice.

Answer

Refuse all new requests until the project is completed.

Answer

Conduct a meeting with stakeholders to review the project scope and re-baseline if necessary.

Answer

Update the stakeholder engagement plan to limit stakeholder interactions with the team.

Question 2

Your project is in the executing phase, and a new regulation is announced that will affect the project's deliverables. The required changes will impact scope, schedule, and budget. Which THREE actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Update the project management plan and other project documents after the change is approved.. When a new regulation arises, the PM should first analyze the impact, then submit a change request to formally propose the changes, and finally update the project management plan and documents after approval. Informing the team immediately is premature without analysis. Escalating to the change control board is part of the process but not the first step.

Answer

Immediately inform the project team to stop work on affected deliverables.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision on how to proceed.

Question 3

During a project retrospective, the team identifies that communication breakdowns between developers and testers caused rework. Which THREE techniques could the team adopt to improve communication and quality?

Accepted Answer

Hold daily standup meetings to discuss progress and issues.. Implementing a definition of done ensures shared understanding of quality. Holding daily standups improves daily communication. Using pair programming facilitates real-time collaboration. Option D is about testing, but not directly improving communication. Option E is a process change that might help but is less direct.

Answer

Increase automated test coverage.

Answer

Adopt a kanban board to visualize workflow.

Question 4

You are managing a software development project using a hybrid approach. During a sprint review, the product owner demonstrates a completed feature to key stakeholders. One stakeholder is impressed and requests an additional functionality that was not in the original scope. The team estimates it would take two additional sprints. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to the change control board (CCB) and assess the impact on schedule, cost, and resources.. The correct action is to follow the change control process. Any change to scope must be formally evaluated and approved before implementation. Simply adding to the backlog or refusing without analysis bypasses proper governance.

Answer

Add the request to the product backlog and prioritize it in the next sprint planning.

Answer

Ask the development team to quickly estimate the effort and begin work if it can be accommodated without delaying the next release.

Answer

Thank the stakeholder and explain that the request is out of scope; no changes can be made.

Question 5

Your project is halfway through its schedule. Earned value analysis shows: EV = $120,000, PV = $150,000, AC = $140,000. What is the best interpretation of the project's performance?

Accepted Answer

The project is behind schedule and over budget.. SPI = EV/PV = 0.8, indicates behind schedule. CPI = EV/AC = 0.857, indicates over budget. The project is both behind schedule and over budget.

Answer

The project is behind schedule but under budget.

Answer

The project is on schedule and under budget.

Answer

The project is ahead of schedule but over budget.

Question 6

During a daily standup, a developer mentions that they are blocked due to a missing API from a third-party vendor. The vendor had promised delivery two days ago. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Check the risk register for any identified risk response related to vendor delays.. The PM should first check the risk register to see if this vendor delay was identified as a risk, and review the planned response. This is a proactive step before taking further action.

Answer

Contact the vendor to understand the delay and expedite delivery.

Answer

Escalate the issue to senior management immediately.

Answer

Ask the developer to work on other tasks until the API is available.

Question 7

You are managing a construction project using a predictive approach. The project is currently in the execution phase. A key vendor notifies you that due to a raw material shortage, the delivery of critical steel beams will be delayed by 4 weeks. This will impact the critical path. The risk register had identified a 'material shortage' risk with a response of 'accept'. What should the project manager do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to update the project schedule and baseline due to the delay.. Since the risk occurred, the PM should implement the planned response (accept) but also initiate a change request to formally address the schedule impact. Accepting without action is passive; the change request documents the impact and seeks approval for schedule changes.

Answer

Ask the team to compress the schedule by overlapping activities to recover the delay.

Answer

Invoke the 'accept' response and do nothing further, as it was planned.

Answer

Immediately escalate to the sponsor for additional budget to expedite delivery.

Question 8

In an agile project, the team's velocity has decreased over the last three sprints from 30 story points to 22. During the retrospective, the team cites increasing technical debt as the cause. What should the scrum master do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion with the team to identify actions to reduce technical debt and improve velocity.. The scrum master should facilitate the team to identify root causes and create an action plan to address technical debt. This aligns with agile principles of continuous improvement and self-organization.

Answer

Ask the product owner to reduce the sprint backlog to match the lower velocity.

Answer

Report the velocity drop to management and escalate the technical debt issue.

Answer

Add more developers to the team to increase velocity.

Question 9

A project manager is reviewing the quality metrics of a software project. The defect density is 0.5 defects per function point, which is below the acceptable threshold of 0.2. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Initiate corrective action by increasing quality control activities like additional testing and code reviews.. Defect density above the threshold indicates quality issues. The PM should implement quality control activities, such as additional testing or reviews, to reduce defects.

Answer

Update the quality management plan to reflect a higher acceptable defect density.

Answer

Report the metric to the sponsor and ask for more time to fix defects.

Answer

Accept the current defect density as it is still within the acceptable range.

Question 10

You are managing a project using a hybrid approach. The project has a fixed-price contract with a customer. Midway through, the customer requests a significant scope change that would increase the contract value. The change request is approved by the CCB. What must the project manager do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Update the project management plan and baselines, and communicate the approved change to all relevant stakeholders.. After approval, the PM must update the project management plan and baselines (scope, schedule, cost) to reflect the change, and then communicate the change to all stakeholders.

Answer

Inform the team of the approved change and update the work packages accordingly.

Answer

Proceed with the change immediately to avoid delays.

Answer

Update the contract with the new scope and cost, and then start the work.

Question 11

During a project, an executive stakeholder bypasses the project manager and directly instructs a team member to add a new feature. The team member is already overloaded. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Speak with the executive stakeholder privately to explain the change control process and the impact of the request.. Option C is correct because the project manager must first address the unauthorized change directly with the executive stakeholder, explaining the formal change control process and the impact on scope, schedule, and resources. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's principle of managing stakeholder expectations and protecting the project from uncontrolled scope creep, which is a key technical aspect of project integration management.

Answer

Instruct the team member to follow the executive's order to maintain good relations.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the sponsor and request intervention.

Answer

Update the issue log and continue with the original plan.

Question 12

A project manager is closing a phase of a large project. What is the most important activity to perform during phase closure?

Accepted Answer

Conduct a lessons learned session with the team and document findings.. Lessons learned are crucial for continuous improvement. While updating the project management plan and archiving documents are part of closure, capturing lessons learned ensures knowledge transfer and process improvement for future phases and projects.

Answer

Release all project resources to new assignments.

Answer

Update the project management plan for the next phase.

Answer

Obtain formal acceptance of deliverables from the customer.

Question 13

You are the project manager for a software development project that is using a hybrid approach. A key team member informs you that they have identified a new risk that could cause a two-week delay. The risk is not in the risk register. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Update the risk register with the risk and perform qualitative analysis.. The PM should first update the risk register with the new risk, then analyze its probability and impact, and plan an appropriate response. This follows the risk management process.

Answer

Immediately implement a contingency plan to mitigate the risk.

Answer

Ignore the risk until it occurs, as it may not materialize.

Answer

Inform the sponsor and ask for additional budget to handle the risk.

Question 14

During a sprint planning meeting, the product owner proposes a user story that the team feels is too large to complete in one sprint. What is the best approach?

Accepted Answer

Break the story down into smaller, more manageable stories that can be completed within the sprint.. Large user stories should be decomposed into smaller stories that can be completed within a sprint. This facilitates estimation and tracking.

Answer

Ask the product owner to remove the story from the sprint backlog.

Answer

Include the story as is and let the team work on it across multiple sprints.

Answer

Estimate the story with a high point value and accept that it may spill over.

Question 15

A project is using a predictive approach. The project manager discovers that a team member has been gold-plating by adding extra features to a deliverable without authorization. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Meet with the team member to discuss the issue and explain that only approved scope should be worked on.. Gold-plating is a violation of scope management. The PM must address the issue directly with the team member, explain why it's problematic, and reinforce the need to follow the defined scope. Corrective action may include removing the extra features.

Answer

Praise the team member for going above and beyond to satisfy the customer.

Answer

Submit a change request to formally approve the extra features.

Answer

Ignore it because it might improve customer satisfaction.