PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Test 22 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Your agile team has experienced a drop in velocity for the past three sprints. During the retrospective, team members mention that they are spending too much time on unplanned work and context switching. As the project manager, what should you do FIRST?

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

Accepted Answer

Analyze the sources of unplanned work and discuss with the team how to minimize interruptions. The PM should first investigate the root cause of unplanned work and context switching. This involves analyzing the situation before taking corrective action. Jumping to solutions like reducing scope or adding resources without understanding the cause may be ineffective.

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Add more team members to the project to increase capacity

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Reduce the sprint backlog size to lower the team's workload

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Ask the product owner to prioritize all unplanned work into upcoming sprints

Question 2

You are managing a project where a team member consistently misses deadlines. This has caused frustration among other team members and is affecting the project schedule. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Speak with the team member privately to understand the root cause and offer support. The PM should first have a private conversation with the team member to understand the reasons behind the missed deadlines. This aligns with PMI's emphasis on addressing performance issues through communication and understanding before taking formal action.

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Reassign the team member's tasks to other team members

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Remove the team member from the project and request a replacement

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Document the issue in the issue log and escalate to the functional manager

Question 3

During project execution, a key executive stakeholder bypasses you and gives direct instructions to the development team, causing confusion about priorities. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Meet with the executive to discuss the importance of following the project communication plan. The PM should first address the issue directly with the executive stakeholder, explaining the impact of bypassing the project manager and reinforcing the communication plan. This is a proactive communication approach that aligns with PMI's stakeholder management principles.

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Update the issue log and escalate the matter to the project sponsor

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Instruct the team to ignore the executive's instructions

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Add the executive's requests to the change log and process them through change control

Question 4

Your project is 50% complete, and your earned value analysis shows: EV = $200,000, PV = $220,000, AC = $240,000. Based on this data, what is the most accurate assessment of the project's performance?

Accepted Answer

The project is over budget and behind schedule. CPI = EV/AC = 200,000/240,000 = 0.833 (over budget); SPI = EV/PV = 200,000/220,000 = 0.909 (behind schedule). The project is both over budget and behind schedule.

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The project is under budget and ahead of schedule

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The project is over budget but ahead of schedule

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The project is under budget but behind schedule

Question 5

In a Scrum project, the product owner asks the team to add a new user story during the sprint. The team is currently working on committed stories. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Explain to the product owner that new stories cannot be added during the sprint without removing an equal amount of work. In Scrum, the sprint backlog is fixed once the sprint starts. The product owner can add new stories only after the current sprint is completed, unless a story is swapped out with equal effort. The Scrum Master should protect the team from scope changes during the sprint.

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Immediately schedule a sprint planning meeting to add the new story

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Add the story to the sprint backlog and ask the team to work overtime

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Tell the team to finish current stories first and then work on the new story

Question 6

You are managing a project that is running 15% over budget at the midpoint. The variance is due to higher-than-expected material costs. The sponsor is concerned about cost overruns. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the cost variance to determine the root cause and update the EAC. The PM should first analyze the root cause of the cost variance and determine if the trend is likely to continue. Based on this analysis, the PM can develop a revised estimate at completion (EAC) and communicate it to the sponsor. Simply asking for more budget or reducing scope without analysis is premature.

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Ask the team to find cheaper alternatives for materials immediately

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Reduce the project scope to bring costs back in line with the budget

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Request additional budget from the sponsor to cover the overrun

Question 7

During a project's execution phase, you receive a change request from a stakeholder that would improve the product's performance but is not required by the original specifications. The change is estimated to add 2 weeks to the schedule and $10,000 to the budget. The project is currently on schedule and under budget. What should you do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Perform an impact analysis and submit the change request to the CCB. The PM should first assess the impact of the change on the project constraints (scope, schedule, cost, quality, risk) and then present the analysis to the CCB for a decision. Proceeding without approval or rejecting outright are not appropriate.

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Instruct the team to implement the change and adjust the project plan later

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Approve the change since the project has contingency

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Reject the change because it is out of scope

Question 8

Your project is using a Kanban approach. The team's lead time has increased over the last two weeks, and work items are piling up in the 'In Progress' column. What is the BEST action for the project manager to take?

Accepted Answer

Reduce the number of work items allowed in the 'In Progress' column (WIP limit). In Kanban, the primary lever to address flow issues like increased lead time and work piling up in 'In Progress' is to reduce the WIP limit. This forces the team to finish existing work before pulling new items, directly addressing the bottleneck and reducing cycle time. Increasing priority, adding people, or working overtime are classic push-system responses that violate Kanban's pull-based, flow-optimization principles.

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Increase the priority of all items in the backlog

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Add more team members to the project to increase capacity

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Ask the team to work overtime to clear the backlog

Question 9

During the closure phase of a project, the customer is satisfied with the deliverables but refuses to sign the formal acceptance document, citing minor issues that were not part of the original scope. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Meet with the customer to understand the concerns and negotiate a path to acceptance. The PM should first attempt to resolve the minor issues through negotiation and follow the project's change control process if needed. Formal acceptance is crucial for project closure, so the PM should work with the customer to address concerns without gold-plating.

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor immediately

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Accept the refusal and close the project without formal sign-off

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Instruct the team to fix the minor issues free of charge to obtain sign-off

Question 10

You are managing a project where the team is experiencing conflict between two senior developers over technical approach. The conflict is affecting team morale and productivity. Which TWO actions should you take? (Select exactly two.)

Accepted Answer

Escalate the conflict to the functional managers of the developers. The PM should first address the conflict directly by facilitating a meeting between the developers to discuss and resolve the technical disagreement (C). If the conflict cannot be resolved within the team, the PM may escalate it to the functional managers (A) as a next step. Publicly reprimanding (D) is not constructive; ignoring (B) is not proactive; reassigning (E) should be a last resort after other efforts fail.

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Ignore the conflict and hope it resolves on its own

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Reprimand both developers publicly for causing disruption

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Reassign one of the developers to another project

Question 11

Your project is using a hybrid approach. At the end of the first iteration, the customer provides feedback that significantly changes the priority of features. The team has already started work on the next iteration's backlog. As the project manager, which THREE actions should you take? (Select exactly three.)

Accepted Answer

Communicate the changes and their impact to all relevant stakeholders. The correct actions are to communicate the changes to stakeholders (A), assess the impact on schedule and budget (B), and update the risk register (C). Communicating ensures transparency and alignment; assessing impact is necessary for informed decision-making; updating the risk register captures the new uncertainty. Option D (proceeding without adjustment) ignores stakeholder feedback, and option E (immediate adjustment without analysis) bypasses proper change management.

Answer

Proceed with the current iteration backlog to avoid disrupting the team

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Immediately adjust the iteration backlog to reflect the new priorities

Question 12

During project execution, a key supplier notifies you that they will be unable to deliver a critical component on time. This component is on the critical path. The risk was identified, and the response strategy was to accept the risk. Which THREE actions should you take? (Select exactly three.)

Accepted Answer

Document the issue in the issue log and update the risk register. The correct actions are to document the issue in the issue log and update the risk register (A), communicate the delay to key stakeholders and sponsor (B), and evaluate alternative suppliers or workarounds to minimize schedule impact (E). These steps align with proactive risk management: first record the issue, then inform stakeholders, and finally explore alternatives to mitigate the delay. Option C (escalating to sponsor) is premature without first exploring options, and option D (waiting for supplier) is a passive approach that does not address the schedule risk.

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision

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Wait for the supplier to provide a new delivery date before taking action

Question 13

Your project is in the execution phase, and you discover that a key vendor will deliver a critical component two weeks late, impacting the critical path. The contract does not include penalties for late delivery. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Evaluate the impact on the project schedule and consider schedule compression techniques like fast-tracking or crashing. The first step when a vendor delay occurs is to analyze its impact on the project schedule and explore compression techniques (fast-tracking or crashing) to mitigate the delay. Option A is wrong because escalating to senior management without first assessing the impact and options is premature. Option C is wrong because enforcing penalty clauses is not possible if the contract doesn't include them, and even if it did, it would not be the immediate action. Option D is wrong because accepting the delay without analysis is not proactive project management.

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Escalate the issue to senior management immediately

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Enforce penalty clauses in the contract to motivate the vendor

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Accept the delay and inform stakeholders that the project will be late

Question 14

You are managing a marketing campaign project using an agile approach. During the daily standup, a developer mentions they have started working on a feature that was not agreed upon in sprint planning. The product owner is not aware of this work. What should you do as the Scrum Master?

Accepted Answer

Remind the team that only items from the sprint backlog should be worked on, and ask the developer to stop and discuss with the product owner after the standup. The Scrum Master's role is to ensure the team adheres to Scrum practices, including focusing only on the sprint backlog during the sprint. Unauthorized work can lead to scope creep and undermine sprint goals. The developer should stop and discuss with the product owner after the standup to determine if the feature should be added to the product backlog for future consideration. Option A is wrong because allowing unplanned work without stakeholder agreement disrupts the sprint plan. Option C is wrong because it still permits unplanned work without proper prioritization by the product owner. Option D is wrong because adding the feature to the product backlog should be done only after discussion with the product owner, not ignored, and the team should not continue working on it during the current sprint.

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Allow the developer to continue because the feature might add value

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Ask the developer to work on the feature after the current sprint

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Add the feature to the product backlog and ignore it for now

Question 15

Your project's cost performance index (CPI) is 0.8, and the schedule performance index (SPI) is 1.1. The project is in the execution phase. What is the most likely reason for these indices?

Accepted Answer

The project manager used crashing to meet a deadline, adding resources and increasing costs. A CPI of 0.8 indicates cost overrun (spending more than planned) while an SPI of 1.1 indicates the project is ahead of schedule (more work completed than planned). Crashing involves adding resources to critical path activities to compress the schedule, which increases costs (lower CPI) but can improve schedule performance (higher SPI). Option A is incorrect because rework due to quality issues would likely increase both cost and schedule, resulting in both CPI and SPI being less than 1. Option B is incorrect because scope creep typically increases both cost and schedule, not resulting in SPI > 1. Option C is incorrect because working more efficiently would likely improve both CPI and SPI, not lead to a cost overrun.

Answer

The team had to rework deliverables due to quality issues

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The project is experiencing scope creep

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The team is working more efficiently than planned