PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Test 13 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Your project is in the planning phase, and you need to develop the schedule. You have identified the activities and their dependencies. The team estimates that the project will take 12 months. However, the sponsor requires completion in 10 months. The project has a fixed deadline. What should you do FIRST?

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

Accepted Answer

Apply crashing or fast tracking to the critical path to try to meet the 10-month deadline.. The project has a fixed deadline, so the first step is to explore schedule compression techniques like crashing (adding resources to critical path activities) or fast tracking (performing activities in parallel) to meet the 10-month constraint without changing scope or quality. This aligns with PMBOK's guidance to analyze the critical path and apply compression before escalating or altering scope.

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Inform the sponsor that the deadline is unrealistic and request a 12-month schedule.

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Reduce the project scope without formal change control to shorten the schedule.

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Add more resources to all activities to reduce duration.

Question 2

During project execution, you discover that a key vendor will not be able to deliver a critical component on time, which will delay the project by two weeks. The vendor was selected based on the procurement plan. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Contact the vendor to understand the reason for the delay and explore options to expedite delivery.. The first step in addressing a vendor delay is to gather information directly from the vendor to understand the root cause and explore mitigation options, such as expedited shipping or partial deliveries. This aligns with the PMI's principle of 'manage communications' and the iterative nature of risk response, where immediate escalation or schedule changes without data would be premature. The procurement plan guides vendor selection, but execution issues require collaborative problem-solving before any formal change request.

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Initiate a change request to replace the vendor with a new one.

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Immediately escalate the issue to senior management and request intervention.

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Update the project schedule and continue working on other tasks.

Question 3

Your agile team has been consistently delivering high-quality increments. However, the product owner has been absent from the last two sprint reviews, and stakeholders are losing interest. What should you do as the scrum master?

Accepted Answer

Speak with the product owner to understand the issue and emphasize the importance of their attendance.. The product owner's involvement is crucial in agile. The scrum master should facilitate a conversation with the product owner to understand the reason for absence and encourage participation. This is a coaching role.

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Ask the stakeholders to provide feedback directly to the team instead of attending the review.

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Continue the sprint reviews without the product owner, as the team can self-organize.

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Cancel sprint reviews until the product owner can attend.

Question 4

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.. Educating the team on the change control process ensures that all requests are formally evaluated, preventing unauthorized scope changes. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's emphasis on maintaining a controlled process for scope changes to avoid scope creep.

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Refuse all new requests until the project is completed.

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

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

Question 5

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.. In a hybrid project, changes to scope after a sprint review must follow a formal change control process to protect the baseline. Option D is correct because the project manager should first submit a change request to the CCB to assess the impact on schedule, cost, and resources before any work begins, ensuring alignment with the project's governance framework.

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

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

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

Question 6

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.. The project is behind schedule because the Earned Value (EV) of $120,000 is less than the Planned Value (PV) of $150,000, resulting in a Schedule Performance Index (SPI) of 0.8. The project is over budget because the Actual Cost (AC) of $140,000 exceeds the EV, giving a Cost Performance Index (CPI) of 0.857. Thus, option B correctly identifies both schedule and cost issues.

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The project is behind schedule but under budget.

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The project is on schedule and under budget.

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The project is ahead of schedule but over budget.

Question 7

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.

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Contact the vendor to understand the delay and expedite delivery.

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Escalate the issue to senior management immediately.

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

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's primary role is to facilitate the team's self-improvement. When technical debt is identified as the root cause of velocity decline, the first action is to guide the team in a retrospective discussion to analyze the debt, prioritize refactoring, and agree on concrete actions (e.g., dedicating sprint capacity to debt reduction, implementing coding standards, or using static analysis tools). This aligns with the agile principle of continuous improvement and directly addresses the cause rather than just the symptom.

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

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

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Add more developers to the team to increase velocity.

Question 9

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 a change is approved by the CCB, the project manager must first update the project management plan and baselines (scope, schedule, cost) to reflect the approved change, then communicate the change to all relevant stakeholders. This ensures that the project's performance measurement baselines are aligned with the new scope and cost, and that all stakeholders are aware of the updated plan before work begins. In a hybrid approach with a fixed-price contract, updating the contract is a separate procurement process that occurs after the baselines are updated and communicated.

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

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Proceed with the change immediately to avoid delays.

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

Question 10

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.. 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.

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

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Escalate the issue to the sponsor and request intervention.

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Update the issue log and continue with the original plan.

Question 11

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.. Conducting a lessons learned session and documenting findings is the most important activity during phase closure. This ensures that knowledge gained from the current phase is captured and can be applied to improve processes in subsequent phases or future projects. In the context of managing technical aspects, this includes documenting technical decisions, architectural changes, and integration issues that arose during the phase, which directly informs the technical planning for the next phase.

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Release all project resources to new assignments.

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Update the project management plan for the next phase.

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Obtain formal acceptance of deliverables from the customer.

Question 12

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.. When a new risk is identified that is not in the risk register, the first action is to document it in the risk register and perform qualitative analysis to assess its probability and impact. This aligns with the iterative risk management process in a hybrid approach, where risks are continuously identified and analyzed before deciding on a response. Updating the register ensures the risk is formally tracked and prioritized for further action.

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Immediately implement a contingency plan to mitigate the risk.

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

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

Question 13

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.. In Agile, user stories that are too large for a single sprint are called 'epics' and must be decomposed into smaller, independently valuable stories that fit within the sprint's timebox. Breaking the story down ensures the team can deliver a potentially releasable increment by the end of the sprint, maintaining velocity predictability and adhering to the sprint's fixed duration.

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

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

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

Question 14

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.. In a predictive (waterfall) project, scope is strictly controlled through a formal change control process. Gold-plating—adding unauthorized features—violates this control and introduces risks like scope creep, budget overruns, and schedule delays. The project manager's first action must be to address the behavior directly with the team member, reinforcing that only approved scope should be worked on, before any further steps like change requests are considered.

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

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Submit a change request to formally approve the extra features.

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Ignore it because it might improve customer satisfaction.

Question 15

During a project, a new regulation is enacted that requires additional compliance testing. The project is in the execution phase. Which THREE actions should the project manager take?

Accepted Answer

Update the risk register with the new regulatory requirement as a threat.. The new regulation introduces an unplanned threat to the project (additional compliance testing), which must be captured in the risk register as a risk event. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's risk management process, where any new threat or opportunity is documented and assessed for probability and impact.

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Ignore the regulation because it was not in the original project plan.

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Instruct the team to start compliance testing immediately without formal approval.