CAPM Practice Question: Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts
A medium-sized software company is developing a new mobile application. The project manager, Alex, has a team of 10 developers and 2 testers. The organization uses a hybrid approach combining waterfall planning for the overall phases and agile for individual iterations. In the first iteration, the team committed to completing 20 user stories. During the sprint, two developers left the company, and the remaining team members had to pick up their tasks. The product owner is concerned about the delivery date. Alex needs to communicate the impact to stakeholders. What should Alex do first?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is jumping to solutions or premature communication without first analyzing the impact; candidates might choose to inform the sponsor immediately or add resources, but the first step is always to assess the situation.
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
✓
Re-estimate the remaining user stories using the new team capacity to determine the impact on the schedule.
When team capacity changes due to unexpected departures, the project manager must first assess the impact on the schedule by re-estimating the remaining work with the new team capacity. This provides accurate data to communicate to stakeholders. Only after understanding the impact can Alex inform the sponsor or take corrective actions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Re-estimate the remaining user stories using the new team capacity to determine the impact on the schedule.
Why this is correct
Re-estimating against the reduced capacity quantifies the schedule impact before any stakeholder communication, satisfying Alex's need to determine the delivery-date effect. Losing two developers lowers velocity, so revised estimates convert that lost throughput into a concrete forecast the product owner requires.
- ✗
Immediately inform the project sponsor that the release date will be delayed.
Why it's wrong here
Telling the sponsor the date will slip asserts a delay before the remaining team's actual velocity and revised forecast are measured. It is tempting because sponsors need early warning, but that escalation belongs after the impact analysis, not as the first action.
- ✗
Ask the remaining team members to work overtime to make up for the lost capacity.
Why it's wrong here
Overtime does not recover the two developers' lost capacity, and sustained extra hours reduce throughput and increase defect rates. It is tempting as a quick velocity boost, but it addresses effort rather than the commitment change, and should follow assessing and communicating the delivery impact.
- ✗
Add more developers from another project to the team.
Why it's wrong here
Adding developers mid-iteration cannot restore the lost velocity within the current sprint, and new members need onboarding time, so the delivery impact remains unquantified. It is tempting as a capacity fix, but it belongs to replanning after the impact has been assessed and communicated to stakeholders.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official PMI exam blueprint
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