PRINCE2F PRINCE2 Processes Practice Question
A project is in the Controlling a Stage process. The project manager receives a request from a team manager to change the design specification because of a technical difficulty. The change would not affect the stage plan or the business case. What should the project manager do first?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often jump to escalation (Option C) or risk management (Option A) without first performing the mandatory step of logging the issue in the Issue Register and assessing its impact.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Log the issue in the Issue Register and assess the impact
According to PRINCE2, when a team manager raises a technical difficulty that could result in a change, the project manager must first log it as an issue in the Issue Register. Only after logging and assessing the impact can the project manager decide on the appropriate response. Since the change does not affect the stage plan or business case, the project manager can handle it within the stage without escalating to the project board.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Update the Risk Register and create a risk response
Why it's wrong here
Raising a risk is premature: this is an issue (a request for change), not an uncertain future event, so it belongs in the Issue Register and then the change control procedure. The Risk Register suits identified threats or opportunities with probability and impact, which is not what a submitted change request represents.
- ✓
Log the issue in the Issue Register and assess the impact
Why this is correct
Logging the request in the Issue Register and assessing its impact captures the change before any decision, satisfying the Controlling a Stage activity of issue capture and impact analysis. Only after assessment can the project manager decide whether to escalate or handle within tolerance.
- ✗
Escalate the issue to the project board for a decision
Why it's wrong here
The project board only decides changes exceeding the stage-level tolerances or those affecting the business case; this one affects neither. Escalating wastes board time. It would be correct if the change breached stage tolerances or altered the business justification.
- ✗
Instruct the team manager to proceed with the change
Why it's wrong here
The team manager cannot authorise a design change; all changes must pass through change control regardless of impact. Instructing them to proceed skips configuration management. This would only be acceptable if the change were already approved via the relevant change budget or authority.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PRINCE2F practice question is part of Courseiva's free PeopleCert certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PRINCE2F exam.