The correct answer is to conduct a scope review with the sponsor and key stakeholders to prioritize remaining features and freeze requirements. This is the best recovery plan because the root cause of the budget overrun due to scope creep is uncontrolled changes and unclear requirements, which have driven rework and wasted effort, as reflected in the CPI of 0.75 and SPI of 0.90. By freezing the baseline and prioritizing scope, you directly address the inefficiency that earned value management reveals, allowing the team to focus on high-value work within the remaining budget. On the CompTIA Project+ PK0-005 exam, this scenario tests your ability to diagnose the underlying issue—scope creep—rather than simply re-estimating or crashing the schedule, which are common traps when the real problem is uncontrolled change. Remember the mnemonic: "Freeze the scope, fix the slope"—meaning stabilize requirements first to stop the CPI from sliding further.
PK0-005 Project Management Concepts Practice Question
This PK0-005 practice question tests your understanding of project management concepts. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
You are the project manager for a software upgrade project at a mid-sized company. The project has a budget of $500,000 and a timeline of 12 months. The team consists of 10 members, including developers, testers, and a business analyst. The project is in month 8, and the team has completed 60% of the work but has spent $400,000. The sponsor is concerned about the budget overrun and asks for a recovery plan. The original estimate at completion (EAC) was $500,000. Using earned value management, you calculate the cost performance index (CPI) is 0.75 and the schedule performance index (SPI) is 0.90. The team is demoralized due to scope creep and unclear requirements. The business analyst recently left, and the replacement is not yet fully onboarded. Which of the following is the BEST course of action to bring the project back on track?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Conduct a scope review with the sponsor and key stakeholders to prioritize remaining features and freeze requirements.
Option D is correct because the root cause of the budget overrun and schedule delay is scope creep and unclear requirements, which have demoralized the team and led to inefficient work. By conducting a scope review with the sponsor and stakeholders to prioritize remaining features and freeze requirements, you directly address the source of rework and wasted effort. This action stabilizes the project baseline, allowing the team to focus on delivering the highest-value work within the remaining budget and timeline, and it prevents further uncontrolled changes that would worsen the CPI and SPI.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Outsource the remaining development work to a vendor to accelerate completion.
Why it's wrong here
Outsourcing introduces new risks and does not solve requirements issues.
✗
Immediately reduce the team size to cut costs and ask the remaining team to work overtime.
Why it's wrong here
Reducing team may further delay; overtime can reduce morale and quality.
✗
Request an additional budget of $100,000 from the sponsor and extend the schedule by two months.
Why it's wrong here
This does not address scope creep; may be necessary but not best first step.
✓
Conduct a scope review with the sponsor and key stakeholders to prioritize remaining features and freeze requirements.
Why this is correct
Addresses root cause of scope creep and helps focus efforts on critical features.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates focus on the numerical EVM metrics (CPI=0.75, SPI=0.90) and jump to a budget or schedule recovery action, ignoring the contextual clues about scope creep and demoralized team, which indicate that the real problem is uncontrolled requirements, not just poor performance.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Earned Value Management (EVM) uses CPI = EV/AC and SPI = EV/PV to measure cost and schedule efficiency. With a CPI of 0.75, the project is getting only $0.75 of work for every dollar spent, indicating cost inefficiency often driven by rework from unclear requirements. The TCPI (To-Complete Performance Index) for the remaining work would be (BAC - EV) / (BAC - AC) = ($500k - $300k) / ($500k - $400k) = 2.0, meaning the team would need to be twice as efficient to stay within budget—an unrealistic target without first stabilizing scope. In real-world scenarios, freezing requirements and prioritizing features (a scope baseline reset) is the only way to reduce the TCPI to a feasible level, as it aligns the remaining work with the actual budget and schedule.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A practitioner preparing for the PK0-005 exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Project Management Concepts — This question tests Project Management Concepts — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Conduct a scope review with the sponsor and key stakeholders to prioritize remaining features and freeze requirements. — Option D is correct because the root cause of the budget overrun and schedule delay is scope creep and unclear requirements, which have demoralized the team and led to inefficient work. By conducting a scope review with the sponsor and stakeholders to prioritize remaining features and freeze requirements, you directly address the source of rework and wasted effort. This action stabilizes the project baseline, allowing the team to focus on delivering the highest-value work within the remaining budget and timeline, and it prevents further uncontrolled changes that would worsen the CPI and SPI.
What should I do if I get this PK0-005 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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