PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Test 16 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You are managing a project to deploy a new customer relationship management (CRM) system. During user acceptance testing, the quality assurance team identifies several critical defects that must be fixed before go-live. The project is already behind schedule. What should the project manager do NEXT?

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

Accepted Answer

Prioritize fixing the critical defects and update the project schedule and stakeholders on the new timeline. When critical defects are found during UAT and the project is behind schedule, the project manager should prioritize fixing the defects and then update the schedule and stakeholders on the new timeline. This addresses the quality issue while keeping stakeholders informed, which is essential for managing expectations and obtaining necessary approvals.

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision on whether to delay

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Proceed with go-live and fix defects in a later release

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Ask the team to work overtime to fix defects without changing the go-live date

Question 2

A key vendor notifies you that they cannot deliver a critical component on time due to raw material shortages. This component is on the critical path and has no float. The vendor suggests using a substitute material that meets specifications but costs 20% more. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to evaluate the substitute material, including cost and schedule impacts. Any change to the procurement approach (substitute material) requires a change request to assess cost and schedule impacts before approval.

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Invoke the penalty clause in the vendor contract for late delivery

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Accept the vendor's suggestion to use the substitute material to avoid delay

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Look for alternative vendors who can deliver the original component on time

Question 3

During a project retrospective, the team identifies several process improvements that could increase efficiency. What is the BEST way to ensure these improvements are implemented?

Accepted Answer

Add action items to the next sprint backlog with assigned owners. Adding action items to the next sprint backlog with assigned owners directly integrates the improvements into the team's workflow, ensuring accountability and timely execution. This aligns with Agile principles where continuous improvement is operationalized through backlog management and sprint planning, not left as an afterthought.

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Instruct the team to implement the improvements immediately

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Ask the project sponsor to approve the improvements

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Document the improvements in the lessons learned register for future projects

Question 4

Your project is experiencing scope creep due to informal requests from stakeholders. The project manager wants to establish better control. Which TWO actions should the project manager take?

Accepted Answer

Implement a formal change control process and educate stakeholders on how to submit change requests. Option D is correct because implementing a formal change control process gives the project manager a structured, documented way to evaluate, approve, or reject change requests, and educating stakeholders on how to submit them channels informal requests into that controlled workflow, directly addressing the scope creep. Option E is correct because the scope management plan defines how scope is defined, validated, and controlled, so reviewing and updating it to clarify the change-handling procedure establishes the governance needed to prevent uncontrolled scope expansion. Option A is not appropriate because categorically declining all requests ignores legitimate changes and bypasses proper evaluation rather than controlling them. Option B is wrong because increasing the budget does not control scope and may even encourage further creep. Option C is wrong because accommodating undocumented low-effort requests perpetuates informal changes and undermines the very control the project manager is trying to establish.

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Politely decline all additional requests from stakeholders

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Increase the project budget to accommodate potential changes

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Ask the team to accommodate small requests without documentation if they are low effort

Question 5

Your agile team is struggling with consistently low velocity. The team is demotivated. Which THREE actions should the project manager take to address this?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a retrospective to identify root causes of low velocity. Facilitating a retrospective directly addresses the root cause of low velocity by enabling the team to collaboratively identify and analyze underlying issues, such as process inefficiencies or technical debt, which is a core agile practice for continuous improvement. This action empowers the team to own their solutions, which can also help restore motivation by giving them agency over their workflow.

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Replace underperforming team members with new resources

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Reduce the sprint backlog to match current velocity without analysis

Question 6

A project manager discovers that a key supplier is delivering materials that do not meet quality standards. The project is at risk of delays and rework. Which THREE actions should the project manager take?

Accepted Answer

Escalate the issue to the procurement department if the supplier does not respond. Option A is correct because when a supplier fails to respond to the project manager's direct attempts to resolve nonconformance, the issue exceeds the PM's authority and must be escalated to procurement, which owns the supplier contract and can invoke contractual remedies. Option B is correct because the PM should first engage the supplier collaboratively to develop a corrective action plan (root cause analysis, containment, and preventive measures) so the materials can be brought into conformance and the schedule protected. Option D is correct because the quality issues must be recorded in the issue log and communicated to relevant stakeholders so the risk of delays and rework is transparently tracked and managed. Option C is wrong because immediately terminating the contract is a drastic contractual action that should only follow escalation and failed corrective action, not be the PM's first step. Option E is wrong because accepting nonconforming materials and adjusting the plan violates quality requirements and would transfer the defect into the final deliverable.

Answer

Immediately terminate the contract with the supplier

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Accept the nonconforming materials and adjust the project plan

Question 7

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?

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 is to engage the stakeholder directly to understand their detailed expectations and then work with the product owner to incorporate that feedback into the product backlog. This aligns with PMP principles of stakeholder engagement and adaptive scope management in Agile. Since the feature met the sprint backlog but not the stakeholder's unstated needs, the gap is a communication issue, not a delivery failure. Addressing it through backlog refinement ensures the team can prioritize the work transparently without bypassing Scrum processes.

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

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

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

Question 8

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.

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

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Update the schedule baseline to reflect the delay and inform stakeholders

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

Question 9

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

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

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

Question 10

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.

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

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Reduce the sprint length to create urgency and improve focus

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

Question 11

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

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The project is behind schedule but under budget

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The project is ahead of schedule but over budget

Question 12

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.

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Escalate the issue to the project manager after the standup

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

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Praise the developer for being proactive and customer-focused

Question 13

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.

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

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

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

Question 14

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. In a hybrid project, the predictive portion follows the CCB's formal change control decision, while the agile portion is governed by the product owner who owns backlog prioritization. Since the CCB approved the predictive change and deferred the agile portion to the product owner, the PM should update the predictive baseline and coordinate with the product owner to prioritize the agile work in the backlog.

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

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

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Reject the change entirely because it was not fully approved

Question 15

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.

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Escalate to the product owner for approval

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

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