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

Question 1

You are managing a software development project using Scrum. During the sprint review, the product owner praises the team's work but mentions that a key stakeholder is unhappy because an expected feature was delivered with limited functionality. The feature was completed according to the sprint backlog, but the stakeholder had not communicated their detailed expectations. What should you do FIRST?

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

Accepted Answer

Schedule a meeting with the stakeholder to clarify expectations and discuss how to incorporate their feedback into the product backlog. The correct first step because the issue stems from a communication gap. Scheduling a meeting with the stakeholder allows the project manager to understand the detailed expectations that were not communicated, and to discuss how to incorporate the feedback into the product backlog for future sprints. This aligns with the Agile principle of continuous stakeholder involvement and iterative refinement. Option A is incorrect because adding features without formal approval bypasses the product owner's role and the backlog prioritization process. Option B is too passive; simply updating the issue log does not address the underlying expectation gap. Option C escalates prematurely before attempting direct communication with the stakeholder.

Answer

Add the missing features to the next sprint without formal approval to satisfy the stakeholder immediately

Answer

Update the issue log and move on, since the team delivered the scope as planned

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor as a risk that the stakeholder may reject the deliverable

Question 2

During project execution, a team member reports that a critical path activity is delayed by two days because a required component failed quality inspection. The project has no schedule contingency. What is the BEST course of action for the project manager?

Accepted Answer

Evaluate schedule compression techniques such as crashing or fast tracking to recover the two days. Delaying a critical path activity threatens the project end date. The project manager should first evaluate schedule compression techniques like crashing (adding resources) or fast tracking (performing activities in parallel) to recover the two-day delay without automatically changing scope, baseline, or escalating. Option A (reduce scope) requires a change request and may not be necessary if compression works. Option B (update baseline) is premature; baseline changes should only occur after recovery options are exhausted. Option C (escalate to sponsor and request budget) is an overreaction; escalating for budget before trying compression is not best practice.

Answer

Reduce the scope of the next deliverable to compensate for the lost time

Answer

Update the schedule baseline to reflect the delay and inform stakeholders

Answer

Escalate the issue to the sponsor and request additional budget for overtime

Question 3

You are managing a hybrid project with both predictive and agile components. A key risk from the risk register materializes: a critical vendor may go bankrupt, threatening delivery of a hardware component needed for the predictive phase. The risk response plan includes 'mitigate by identifying alternative vendors.' However, the only alternative vendor quotes a price that would exceed the project cost baseline by 10%. What should you do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Initiate a change request to increase the cost baseline, documenting the risk response and vendor selection. When a risk response (mitigate by identifying alternative vendors) is executed and the chosen response causes a cost overrun, the correct next step is to initiate a change request to formally update the cost baseline. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's change control process, ensuring the project's budget reflects the approved risk response and maintains traceability. Option B is correct because it follows the formal change management process required for any deviation from the cost baseline.

Answer

Proceed with the alternative vendor and inform the sponsor of the cost overrun after the fact

Answer

Accept the risk and hope the vendor recovers, avoiding the cost increase

Answer

Escalate to the sponsor for a decision on whether to cancel the project

Question 4

In your agile project, the team's velocity has been declining over the past three sprints from 30 to 25 to 20 story points. The team members report feeling overworked and demotivated. The daily standup meetings are running long, and the product owner is adding too many stories each sprint. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a retrospective to identify root causes and collaboratively develop improvement actions. The correct first step is to facilitate a retrospective (Option B) because the team's declining velocity, overwork, and demotivation indicate systemic issues that require collaborative root-cause analysis. In agile, the retrospective is the primary mechanism for inspecting and adapting processes; jumping to solutions without understanding the underlying technical and workflow problems would violate the empirical process control principles of Scrum. The project manager must empower the team to identify impediments—such as excessive story churn from the product owner or inefficient standups—and co-create actionable improvements.

Answer

Ask the product owner to reduce the number of stories per sprint

Answer

Reduce the sprint length to create urgency and improve focus

Answer

Mandate that the team must increase velocity to 30 story points next sprint

Question 5

Your project is a construction project with a fixed price contract. At the 40% progress point, earned value (EV) is $400,000, actual cost (AC) is $480,000, and planned value (PV) is $500,000. What does this indicate?

Accepted Answer

The project is behind schedule and over budget. The project is behind schedule because the earned value (EV) of $400,000 is less than the planned value (PV) of $500,000, resulting in a schedule performance index (SPI) of 0.80. It is over budget because the actual cost (AC) of $480,000 exceeds the earned value (EV) of $400,000, yielding a cost performance index (CPI) of 0.83. Both SPI and CPI below 1.0 confirm the project is underperforming in terms of schedule and cost.

Answer

The project is ahead of schedule and under budget

Answer

The project is behind schedule but under budget

Answer

The project is ahead of schedule but over budget

Question 6

During a daily standup, a developer mentions that they have started working on an additional feature requested by the product owner, which was not in the sprint backlog. What should the scrum master do?

Accepted Answer

Remind the team that work should only be added to the sprint through the product owner and should be deferred to the backlog for prioritization. In Scrum, the sprint backlog is frozen during the sprint to protect the team's focus and commitment. The scrum master's role is to enforce this boundary by reminding the team that any new work must first be vetted by the product owner and added to the product backlog for future prioritization. Allowing unplanned work undermines the sprint goal and velocity tracking.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project manager after the standup

Answer

Allow the work to continue since it adds value to the product

Answer

Praise the developer for being proactive and customer-focused

Question 7

You are the project manager for a large infrastructure project. The sponsor has requested that the team skip the quality assurance review for the next deliverable to save two weeks and meet an aggressive deadline. The deliverable is critical to the next phase. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Explain the consequences of skipping QA to the sponsor and propose schedule compression alternatives to meet the deadline without compromising quality. As the project manager, you have a fiduciary duty to protect the quality of deliverables, especially when they are critical to the next phase. Skipping quality assurance (QA) introduces technical debt and potential rework that could delay the project more than the two weeks saved. By explaining the consequences and proposing schedule compression alternatives (e.g., fast-tracking or crashing), you uphold quality standards while addressing the sponsor's deadline concern.

Answer

Comply with the sponsor's request since they have authority over the project

Answer

Skip the QA review but document the risk in the issue log

Answer

Ask the sponsor to put the request in writing to protect yourself

Question 8

Your project is using a hybrid approach with a fixed-price contract for the predictive portion and a time-and-materials contract for the agile portion. A change request from a stakeholder would affect both portions. The change control board (CCB) has approved the change for the predictive portion but deferred the agile portion to the product owner. How should you proceed?

Accepted Answer

Update the predictive baseline as approved, and coordinate with the product owner to prioritize the agile portion in the product backlog. The correct approach is option A. The CCB approved the change for the predictive portion, so you should update the predictive baseline accordingly. For the agile portion, the CCB deferred to the product owner, so you should coordinate with the product owner to prioritize the change in the product backlog. This aligns with the hybrid approach where the CCB oversees the predictive part and the product owner manages the agile part.

Answer

Implement the change for both portions since the CCB approved the overall change

Answer

Request the CCB to also approve the agile portion before taking any action

Answer

Reject the change entirely because it was not fully approved

Question 9

During a sprint retrospective, the team identifies that the daily standups are too long and not adding value. They suggest implementing a timebox of 15 minutes and a strict 'three questions' format. What should the scrum master do?

Accepted Answer

Support the team's decision and help enforce the new format in future standups. The Scrum Master is a servant-leader who empowers the team to self-organize and improve its processes. By supporting the team's decision to timebox standups to 15 minutes and enforce the 'three questions' format, the Scrum Master fosters continuous improvement and team ownership, which is a core agile principle. The team's suggestion directly addresses the identified waste (too-long standups) and aligns with the Scrum Guide's recommendation for a focused, timeboxed daily Scrum.

Answer

Escalate to the product owner for approval

Answer

Overrule the suggestion because the scrum master is responsible for facilitating standups

Answer

Ignore the suggestion because the team has already discussed it and no action is needed

Question 10

Your project is running 15% over budget at the midpoint. The earned value (EV) is $500,000, actual cost (AC) is $575,000, and planned value (PV) is $550,000. The project sponsor is concerned and asks for an estimate at completion (EAC). Assuming the cost performance index (CPI) will continue as is, what is the EAC?

Accepted Answer

$1,265,000. CPI = EV/AC = $500,000 / $575,000 ≈ 0.8696. BAC is derived from the midpoint: PV = $550,000 at 50% planned completion, so BAC = $550,000 × 2 = $1,100,000. EAC = BAC / CPI = $1,100,000 / 0.8696 ≈ $1,265,000. Option A is the BAC; Option B uses an incorrect formula; Option C would result from using AC + (BAC - EV) which assumes future work at planned rate, but the assumption is CPI continues.

Answer

$1,100,000

Answer

$1,200,000

Answer

$1,175,000

Question 11

A team member consistently misses deadlines, causing delays in the project. The project manager has had informal conversations with the team member, but the issue persists. What is the BEST next step?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a private meeting with the team member to discuss the issue, identify root causes, and create a performance improvement plan with clear expectations. The correct action because it directly addresses the performance issue collaboratively, aiming to understand root causes and set clear expectations through a documented performance improvement plan. This aligns with PM best practices for managing team member performance. Option A is incorrect because reassigning without addressing the root cause may shift the problem rather than solve it. Option B escalates prematurely before attempting direct resolution. Option D is punitive and may damage team morale without understanding underlying issues.

Answer

Reassign the team member to a less critical task to minimize impact

Answer

Escalate the issue to the team member's functional manager immediately

Answer

Remove the team member from the project and replace them with a more reliable resource

Question 12

Your project is in execution phase. An executive stakeholder bypasses you and directly instructs a team member to add a new feature. The team member complies and completes the work. You discover this during a status review. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Assess the impact of the new feature on scope, schedule, and cost, then submit a change request retroactively. As the project manager, your first responsibility is to assess the impact of the unauthorized change on the project's triple constraints (scope, schedule, cost) before taking any corrective action. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's guidance to evaluate the situation and then follow the formal change control process, even retroactively, to ensure proper documentation and approval. Confronting or reporting without understanding the impact would be premature and could escalate the issue unnecessarily.

Answer

Accept the work as done and update the project documents accordingly

Answer

Report the executive to the project sponsor for violating the change control process

Answer

Confront the executive stakeholder and insist they follow the change control process

Question 13

You are managing a software upgrade project using a hybrid approach. During execution, the team discovers a critical security vulnerability that was not identified during risk planning. The vulnerability requires immediate patching to avoid a potential data breach. Which TWO actions should you take NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Assess the impact of the vulnerability on the project scope, schedule, and cost. Upon discovering an unplanned critical security vulnerability, the immediate next step is to assess its impact on the project's scope, schedule, and cost. This assessment provides the necessary data to determine the appropriate response and informs the subsequent change request. Without this impact analysis, any action taken could be misaligned with project constraints and stakeholder expectations.

Answer

Immediately assign the team to fix the vulnerability without formal approval

Answer

Add the vulnerability to the risk register and continue with the current sprint as planned

Answer

Implement a temporary workaround to reduce the risk and monitor the situation

Question 14

A project manager is closing a project that was delivered on time and within budget. The customer has accepted the final deliverable. Which THREE activities should the project manager complete during project closure?

Accepted Answer

Conduct a lessons learned session with the team and stakeholders. A is correct because conducting a lessons learned session is a key activity in the Close Project or Phase process, as defined in the PMBOK Guide. This session captures knowledge from the project's technical execution, such as how the team met the on-time and within-budget constraints, and ensures that insights are documented for future projects. It is a formal requirement to improve organizational process assets and prevent repeating mistakes.

Answer

Process final payment to vendors and suppliers

Answer

Close all procurement contracts formally

Question 15

You are managing a software development project using a hybrid approach. During a sprint review, the customer expresses dissatisfaction with a recently delivered feature and requests a significant redesign. This change will impact the critical path and increase costs. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to the change control board (CCB) for evaluation and approval. In a hybrid project, changes impacting the critical path and costs must follow a formal change control process. Submitting a change request to the CCB ensures the redesign is evaluated for feasibility, impact on schedule, budget, and quality before approval. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's integrated change control and prevents unauthorized scope creep.

Answer

Approve the redesign to satisfy the customer and update the project schedule accordingly

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Instruct the team to implement the redesign immediately to maintain customer satisfaction

Answer

Reject the request because it was not part of the original scope agreement