PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
A key stakeholder on your agile project frequently attends the daily standup and redirects team members to work on tasks that are not part of the sprint backlog. This is causing confusion and reducing the team's velocity. As the project manager, what should you do first?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is choosing the most decisive-sounding action (removing the stakeholder) instead of the PMI-preferred first step: a private, collaborative conversation. PMP questions almost always reward 'talk to the person first' over process changes or escalation.
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
✓
Have a private conversation with the stakeholder about the purpose of the daily standup and the impact of their actions.
The first step in servant-leadership and stakeholder management is to address the behavior directly and privately with the stakeholder. A private conversation preserves the relationship, educates the stakeholder on the purpose of the daily standup (a team synchronization event, not a status meeting for stakeholders), and clarifies the impact of redirecting work. Escalating or changing the process before attempting direct resolution violates PMI's preference for collaborative, lowest-level resolution.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Have a private conversation with the stakeholder about the purpose of the daily standup and the impact of their actions.
Why this is correct
Agile principles emphasize transparency and direct communication, making a private conversation the appropriate first step. The Daily Scrum is a time-boxed event for the Development Team to synchronize and plan their work for the next 24 hours, not for stakeholders to introduce new requirements or engage in detailed discussions. This direct approach allows for education on the event's specific purpose and its timeboxed nature, effectively addressing the disruption without alienating the key stakeholder, aligning with effective stakeholder management.
- ✗
Remove the stakeholder from the daily standup invitations to prevent disruption.
Why it's wrong here
Excluding a key stakeholder from project communications, even if they are disruptive, is counterproductive to effective stakeholder engagement and transparency. Agile principles advocate for continuous stakeholder involvement and collaboration, fostering trust and shared understanding. Removing them without prior communication or explanation can lead to mistrust, reduced buy-in, and a perception of being deliberately excluded, potentially escalating issues rather than resolving them and undermining the collaborative spirit of agile.
- ✗
Ask the team to accommodate the stakeholder's requests to maintain a good relationship.
Why it's wrong here
Accommodating ad-hoc stakeholder requests during a daily standup directly violates the sprint commitment and disrupts the team's planned work. The Daily Scrum is not a forum for introducing new work or changing priorities; that process occurs during backlog refinement and sprint planning. Uncritically accepting new requests undermines the team's autonomy, predictability, and ability to deliver on the sprint goal, leading to scope creep, potential burnout, and a loss of focus for the development team.
- ✗
Update the sprint backlog to include the stakeholder's requests and adjust the sprint goal.
Why it's wrong here
Immediately updating the sprint backlog and adjusting the sprint goal based on ad-hoc requests from a single stakeholder during a daily standup is a significant deviation from established agile practices. Changes to the sprint backlog or goal require formal discussion, prioritization by the Product Owner, and team consensus, typically during sprint planning or a dedicated backlog refinement session. Unilateral changes undermine the sprint commitment, destabilize the team's focus, and can lead to an unmanageable scope, jeopardizing the successful completion of the sprint.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Executing Project Work and Managing Changes
Key term
Daily Standup
A short, time-boxed daily meeting where team members share progress, plans, and blockers to stay aligned.
Key term
Scrum Methodology
Scrum is a lightweight process framework that helps teams deliver complex projects in small, iterative chunks called sprints.
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JA
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 PMP 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 PMP exam.