PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Test 29 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You are closing a project phase. Which THREE activities should be performed during the project closure process?

Accepted Answer

Conduct a lessons learned session with the team.. Project closure includes obtaining formal acceptance, archiving documents, and conducting lessons learned. Updating the risk register is done throughout the project, and team performance appraisals may be done separately.

Answer

Evaluate team member performance and provide feedback.

Answer

Update the risk register with residual risks.

Question 2

Your agile team's velocity has dropped over the last three sprints. During the retrospective, the team cites increasing technical debt and lack of automated testing. Which TWO actions should you take to address this?

Accepted Answer

Allocate time each sprint to address technical debt and improve code quality.. To improve velocity, the team should allocate time to reduce technical debt (e.g., refactoring) and implement automated testing to improve efficiency.

Answer

Reduce the definition of done to skip testing.

Answer

Ask the team to work overtime to complete more story points.

Answer

Add more developers to the team to increase capacity.

Question 3

A new regulatory requirement has been introduced that affects your project's deliverables. The requirement must be implemented within two months. Your project is currently in the execution phase. Which THREE actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Update the project management plan and baselines after approval.. Since the requirement is mandatory, you must assess its impact, submit a change request to incorporate it, and update the project management plan accordingly. Ignoring or delaying is not acceptable.

Answer

Ask the team to implement the change without documentation to save time.

Answer

Ignore the requirement until the next project phase.

Question 4

Your project has multiple stakeholders with conflicting interests. The project sponsor wants to prioritize speed, while the quality assurance manager insists on thorough testing. The product owner wants to add more features. Which THREE techniques can help manage these conflicting stakeholder expectations?

Accepted Answer

Develop a communications management plan to ensure consistent messaging.. Effective stakeholder management includes communication planning, negotiation, and using a stakeholder engagement assessment matrix to understand and address expectations. The issue log documents conflicts but doesn't resolve them directly.

Answer

Create an issue log to document all stakeholder concerns.

Answer

Escalate all conflicts to the project sponsor for decision.

Question 5

You are managing a software development project using a hybrid approach. During a sprint review, the product owner requests a new feature that was not in the backlog. The team estimates it will require 5 additional days. The project is currently on schedule and within budget. Which TWO actions should you take NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request and evaluate the impact on the project constraints. Options B and D are the correct next steps. Option B is correct because any change to scope outside the current iteration must go through a formal change control process to assess impact on constraints such as time, cost, and quality. Option D is correct because the product owner is responsible for prioritizing the backlog; the new feature should be evaluated against existing items for the next sprint to ensure value delivery. Option A is wrong because adding work to the current sprint without approval violates the change control process and disrupts the sprint commitment. Option C is wrong because using free time for unplanned work undermines transparency and may lead to scope creep without proper assessment. Option E is wrong because completely rejecting a potentially valuable feature without analysis is not agile; the product owner should decide based on priority and value.

Answer

Add the feature to the current sprint backlog immediately to not delay the release

Answer

Tell the team to implement the feature during any free time

Answer

Reject the request because it is outside the original scope

Question 6

Your construction project is halfway through the schedule. The earned value analysis shows: EV = $500,000, PV = $600,000, AC = $550,000. The sponsor is concerned about the schedule delay. You need to present recovery options. Which THREE actions should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Fast-track remaining tasks by performing some activities in parallel. Options B, C, and E are correct. Fast-tracking (B) involves performing activities in parallel to shorten the schedule. Evaluating cost impact (C) is essential before applying schedule compression techniques like crashing or fast-tracking, as they often increase costs. Crashing (E) adds resources to critical path tasks to compress the schedule. Option A is incorrect because reducing scope requires formal change control and stakeholder approval, not a direct recovery action. Option D is incorrect because revising the cost performance baseline does not address schedule delay; it only updates budget expectations.

Answer

Reduce the project scope to meet the original schedule

Answer

Revise the cost performance baseline to reflect current efficiency

Question 7

You are the PM for a highway construction project. A key vendor informs you that they cannot deliver the steel beams on time due to a factory fire. This risk was identified in the risk register with a mitigation plan to have a backup supplier. However, the backup supplier's price is 20% higher. Which TWO actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Inform the sponsor about the cost increase and request a budget adjustment. When the identified risk materializes, the contingency plan (backup supplier) should be executed, but the associated cost increase must be communicated to the sponsor and a budget adjustment should be requested. Option D is correct because the previously planned contingency plan is to engage the backup supplier, which is the appropriate immediate action. Option B is incorrect because the vendor's failure is not a new risk—it is the occurrence of an already identified risk. Option C is incorrect because sourcing alternative materials locally would bypass the established contingency plan and could introduce new risks without proper evaluation. Option E is incorrect because changing the construction method would require a formal change request and is not the immediate response to the risk occurrence.

Answer

Add the vendor's failure to the risk register as a new risk

Answer

Authorize the team to source alternative materials locally

Answer

Update the project management plan to use a different construction method

Question 8

In a hybrid project, the team uses Scrum but the organization requires detailed phase-gate reviews. During the gate review, the steering committee asks for a Gantt chart showing all tasks until project completion. The Scrum team only maintains a product backlog and sprint backlogs. Which THREE actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Create a high-level milestone schedule for the remaining phases. In a hybrid project, the team uses Scrum but the organization requires phase-gate reviews. The steering committee requests a Gantt chart, but the Scrum team only maintains backlogs. To satisfy governance without disrupting the team's agile practices, you should create a high-level milestone schedule for the remaining phases (C), provide a release plan with expected feature delivery dates by sprint (D), and educate the steering committee on agile principles and the value of iterative delivery (E). Converting to pure waterfall (A) is unnecessary and would undermine the benefits of agile. Asking the team to create a detailed Gantt chart for all future sprints (B) is impractical because detailed planning is done sprint by sprint in Scrum.

Answer

Convert the project to a pure waterfall approach to meet governance requirements

Answer

Ask the team to create a detailed Gantt chart for all future sprints

Question 9

You are managing a marketing campaign project. Midway, you discover that the team has been working on additional features requested by the sales director without formal approval. The project is now 10% over budget. Which TWO actions should you take FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Meet with the sales director to explain the change control process and the consequences. The correct first actions are to document the unauthorized changes and assess their impact (Option E) and to meet with the sales director to explain the change control process and consequences (Option D). Option E is essential to understand the full effect on budget and schedule before any corrective action. Option D addresses the root cause by educating the stakeholder who initiated the unauthorized changes. Option A is incorrect because accepting changes without proper approval violates project governance and may set a bad precedent. Option B is premature; escalation to sponsor should occur only after internal assessment and discussion with the sales director. Option C is not a primary action; finance should be informed after the impact is assessed and a decision is made.

Answer

Accept the changes and update the project baseline accordingly

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision

Answer

Report the budget overrun to the finance department immediately

Question 10

During a daily standup, a developer mentions that a critical integration task will take longer than expected because of a technical dependency on another team. The project is on a tight schedule. Which THREE actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Help the team remove the impediment by coordinating with the other team's manager. Removing impediments is a key responsibility of the project manager or Scrum Master; coordinating with the other team's manager addresses the dependency promptly. Option C is correct because the product owner should reprioritize the backlog if the delay impacts the sprint goal, ensuring the team works on the most valuable items. Option E is correct because updating the risk register with the potential delay and mitigation actions is a standard risk management practice to track and communicate risks. Option B is incorrect because adding tasks does not resolve the delay and may overwhelm the team. Option D is incorrect because informing the sponsor of a delay is premature; the team should first assess the impact and explore mitigation options.

Answer

Add more tasks to the sprint to keep the team busy

Answer

Immediately inform the sponsor that the project will be delayed

Question 11

Your IT infrastructure project is being audited for compliance. The auditor finds that several change requests were approved verbally but not documented. The project is in the execution phase. Which TWO actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Update the change control process to require written approval before implementation. Documented approval is required for compliance; updating the change control process to require written approval prevents future documentation gaps. Option C is correct because retroactively documenting the verbally approved changes and obtaining signatures formalizes them and rectifies the compliance issue. Option B is wrong because reversing changes that were properly approved (albeit verbally) would cause unnecessary rework and delays; the issue is documentation, not validity. Option D is wrong because redoing work is not required since the changes were approved; the issue is documentation, not quality. Option E is wrong because stopping all work is excessive; the audit is about documentation and can be resolved without halting the project.

Answer

Reverse the undocumented changes and revert to the original baseline

Answer

Request the team to redo the work to ensure it meets requirements

Answer

Stop all project work until the audit is resolved

Question 12

You are managing a pharmaceutical research project using a predictive approach. A new regulation requires additional clinical trials that will extend the project by 6 months. The sponsor wants to know how this affects the business case. Which THREE documents should you review to provide an informed response?

Accepted Answer

Risk register. (Risk register) is correct because the risk register contains assumptions, constraints, and risks that may be affected by the regulatory change. The impact of the regulation on project risks should be assessed. Option B (Business case) is correct because it documents the justification and financial analysis; the sponsor wants to know how the change affects the business case. Option E (Project management plan schedule and cost baselines) is correct because the schedule and cost baselines are needed to quantify the extension and cost increase to inform the business case. Option C (Stakeholder register) is incorrect; it lists stakeholders and their interests but does not contain financial or schedule information needed to assess impact on the business case. Option D (Work breakdown structure dictionary) is incorrect; it defines work packages and deliverables, not the business case impact.

Answer

Stakeholder register

Answer

Work breakdown structure dictionary

Question 13

Your agile team is consistently completing 30 story points per sprint. In the next sprint planning, the product owner wants to commit to 40 points. The team feels this is too ambitious. Which THREE actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Suggest decomposing larger stories into smaller ones to improve estimation accuracy. Decomposing larger stories into smaller ones can improve estimation accuracy and make the work more manageable. Option C is correct because the team should feel empowered to push back if they believe the goal is unattainable, as they know their capacity best. Option D is correct because reviewing historical velocity data provides objective evidence to support a realistic commitment during sprint planning. Option A is wrong because forcing the team to accept an overly ambitious goal undermines self-organization and trust. Option E is wrong because increasing sprint length is a process change that typically requires team agreement and may not address the root cause of overcommitment.

Answer

Instruct the team to accept the 40-point goal to satisfy the product owner

Answer

Increase the sprint length to 3 weeks to allow more time

Question 14

During project execution, a key stakeholder repeatedly bypasses the formal communication channels and directly contacts team members for status updates. This is causing confusion and rework. Which TWO actions should you take?

Accepted Answer

Schedule a meeting with the stakeholder to understand their concerns and reiterate the agreed process. The correct actions are to schedule a meeting with the stakeholder to understand their concerns and reiterate the agreed process (C), and to reinforce the communication management plan and explain why following it is important (D). These approaches address the root cause and reaffirm the process without escalating unnecessarily. Ignoring the behavior (A) allows confusion to continue. Blocking access (B) is confrontational and damages relationships. Escalating to the sponsor (E) should be a last resort after direct engagement fails.

Answer

Ignore the behavior as it is not causing major issues

Answer

Block the stakeholder's access to team members until they comply

Answer

Escalate the issue to the project sponsor to enforce compliance

Question 15

You are managing a software upgrade project. The team has identified a critical defect that requires immediate fixing, but the fix will delay the next release by one week. The product owner wants to release on time with the defect. Which THREE factors should you consider when advising the product owner?

Accepted Answer

Whether the defect violates the agreed definition of done. The definition of done includes quality criteria; releasing with a critical defect violates that agreement. Option B is correct because releasing with a known defect introduces risk of rework and negative impact on users. Option E is correct because the severity and user impact are primary factors in prioritizing the fix. Option C is incorrect: while cost of delay is relevant, the question focuses on quality and risk, not purely cost trade-offs. Option D is incorrect: the team's ability to fix without affecting other features is a technical consideration but not among the top three factors for this decision.

Answer

The cost of delaying the release versus the cost of fixing later

Answer

The team's ability to fix the defect without affecting other features