CAPM Practice Question: Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts
During project execution, a key team member leaves the company. The project manager needs to quickly reassign tasks to maintain progress. Which document should be consulted first to understand the team member's current responsibilities?
⚠ Common exam trap
CAPM often tests the confusion between the resource management plan (roles, responsibilities, RACI) and the project schedule (timing) — candidates pick the schedule because it 'shows tasks,' but it lacks ownership detail.
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
✓
Resource management plan
The resource management plan documents how project resources are acquired, managed, and released, and it includes role assignments, responsibility matrices (RAM/RACI), and team member responsibilities. When a team member departs, the PM consults this plan first to identify exactly what that person was accountable for before reassigning work. It is the authoritative source for 'who does what' on the project.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Resource management plan
Why this is correct
The resource management plan defines roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships, so it identifies what the departing member owned and who can absorb those tasks. Consulting it first satisfies the stem's need to reassign work quickly, before checking schedules or issue logs, which lack that responsibility mapping.
- ✗
Project schedule
Why it's wrong here
The schedule shows activity dates, durations and dependencies, but not the named individual accountable for each task. It is the right artefact for assessing timeline impact and resequencing work after reassignment, not for identifying the departing member's responsibilities.
- ✗
Stakeholder register
Why it's wrong here
The stakeholder register lists interested parties, their influence and engagement approach; it does not map people to tasks. It would be consulted to identify whom to notify or whose support is needed, not to establish what work the departing member was performing.
- ✗
Communications management plan
Why it's wrong here
The communications management plan defines who receives which information, in what format and when; it holds no task ownership detail. It would be the first reference when planning stakeholder messaging about the departure, not when determining what work the leaver currently owns.
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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
This CAPM practice question is part of Courseiva's free PMI 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 CAPM exam.