PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
A new team member joins your project and is struggling to understand the technical domain and the team's culture. Their productivity is low, and they seem hesitant to ask questions. As project manager, what is the BEST way to support this team member?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates choose Option D (online training) because it seems like a direct solution to a technical skill gap, but they overlook that the core issue is cultural integration and psychological safety, which requires human interaction and context-specific mentoring, not just technical knowledge acquisition.
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
✓
Assign a senior team member to mentor and pair with them on tasks
Assigning a senior team member to mentor and pair with the new member directly addresses both the technical domain gap and the cultural hesitancy. Pairing provides real-time, context-rich learning and psychological safety, which is more effective than passive documentation or isolated training for accelerating integration and productivity.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Assign a senior team member to mentor and pair with them on tasks
Why this is correct
This approach directly addresses the new team member's struggle by providing immediate, hands-on support and knowledge transfer within the project's specific context. Mentoring fosters a supportive environment, enabling the new member to ask questions without hesitation and learn practical application of project processes and technical skills in real-time. This method accelerates integration into both the team culture and the project's technical domain, building confidence and competence simultaneously.
- ✗
Provide them with detailed documentation and ask them to read it on their own time
Why it's wrong here
While documentation is crucial for knowledge repositories, relying solely on self-study for a struggling new team member is often insufficient. This passive learning approach lacks interactive feedback, does not provide immediate clarification for complex topics, and fails to address potential hesitancy or discomfort in asking questions, which is critical for effective integration and problem-solving. It also doesn't facilitate direct cultural or procedural assimilation.
- ✗
Extend their deadlines to reduce pressure
Why it's wrong here
Extending deadlines might temporarily alleviate immediate pressure, but it is a reactive measure that does not proactively address the root cause of the team member's struggle, which is a lack of understanding or skill. This action fails to build the necessary competence, confidence, or integration required for long-term project success and could inadvertently delay critical path activities without improving the individual's capability. It merely postpones the problem rather than resolving it.
- ✗
Enroll them in an online training course for the technical domain
Why it's wrong here
Enrolling a new team member in an online training course can certainly enhance technical skills, but it often provides generic knowledge rather than project-specific application or context. This approach may not effectively address the immediate challenges of integrating into the specific project team's culture, workflows, or unique technical implementations, nor does it provide the personalized, real-time support needed to overcome current struggles and build team cohesion.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.