PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
A project manager notices that two junior team members are struggling with a new technology required for the project. They are frustrated and their productivity is low. What should the project manager do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often choose to escalate (Option B) or reassign tasks (Option C) because they mistake a skill gap for a critical risk requiring immediate escalation, rather than recognizing it as a common team development opportunity that the project manager should resolve first.
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
✓
Provide training or pair them with a mentor to build their skills
The project manager's primary responsibility is to remove obstacles and develop the team's competencies. Providing training or pairing the junior members with a mentor directly addresses the root cause—lack of proficiency with the new technology—while fostering a supportive environment that aligns with the PMI's emphasis on servant leadership and team development.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Provide training or pair them with a mentor to build their skills
Why this is correct
This is the most appropriate first step for a project manager. By providing targeted training or assigning a mentor, the project manager directly addresses the identified skill gap, fostering professional development and increasing the team's overall capability. This proactive approach empowers junior team members, enhances future project performance, and aligns with the PMP principle of building high-performing teams.
- ✗
Inform the sponsor that the project may be delayed due to skill gaps
Why it's wrong here
Informing the sponsor at this stage represents premature escalation. A project manager's primary responsibility is to identify and attempt to resolve issues at the team level before involving higher stakeholders, especially when internal solutions like skill development are available. Escalating without first exploring resolution options demonstrates a lack of proactive problem-solving and can erode stakeholder confidence in the project manager's ability to manage the team effectively.
- ✗
Reassign the tasks to more experienced team members
Why it's wrong here
While seemingly a quick fix, reassigning tasks to more experienced team members is a reactive measure that fails to address the fundamental skill gap of the junior members. This approach prevents their professional growth and development, potentially leading to future recurrences of similar issues. Furthermore, it risks overloading experienced team members, increasing their workload, and potentially leading to burnout or reduced quality in their own deliverables, thereby creating new project risks.
- ✗
Reduce the scope of work for those team members
Why it's wrong here
Reducing the scope of work for specific team members is generally not a viable or desirable solution. It avoids addressing the underlying skill deficiency and could lead to the project's overall scope being compromised, potentially impacting project objectives or deliverables. Such a decision would require formal change control and stakeholder approval, and it does not contribute to the long-term development or capability building of the project team.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to the PMP Exam and Project Management Basics
Key term
Team Building
Team building is the process of creating a cohesive group of people who work together effectively toward a shared goal.
Key term
Project Management Plan
A formal, approved document that defines how a project is executed, monitored, controlled, and closed, serving as the single source of truth for the project team.
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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.