PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
A project team is in the performing stage of development. The project manager is leaving for a two-week vacation. What is the best way to ensure the team remains productive?
⚠ Common exam trap
PMI often tests the misconception that a performing team still requires direct oversight or a formal leader replacement, when in fact the correct approach is to empower the team and trust their established processes.
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
✓
Empower the team to make decisions within agreed boundaries and check in periodically.
The team is in the performing stage, characterized by high autonomy, trust, and self-organization. Empowering the team to make decisions within agreed boundaries leverages their maturity and maintains productivity, while periodic check-ins provide necessary oversight without micromanagement. This approach aligns with the Tuckman model and servant leadership principles, ensuring the team remains effective in the project manager's absence.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Appoint a temporary project manager to oversee the team.
Why it's wrong here
Appointing a temporary project manager to oversee a team already in the performing stage is counterproductive. This action would disrupt the established self-organizing structure and high autonomy characteristic of a performing team, potentially causing regression to earlier team development stages like storming or norming. Such an intervention undermines team maturity, reduces efficiency, and can negatively impact morale by signaling a lack of trust in their self-management capabilities.
- ✗
Ask the team to pause all non-urgent decisions until your return.
Why it's wrong here
Asking a performing team to pause all non-urgent decisions until the project manager's return is detrimental to project progress and team morale. This approach creates unnecessary decision-making bottlenecks, leading to delays and reduced productivity, especially when the team is fully capable of autonomous problem-solving. It also significantly diminishes the team's sense of ownership and autonomy, which are critical motivators for a mature, self-organizing group.
- ✗
Schedule daily status calls to monitor progress.
Why it's wrong here
Scheduling daily status calls for a team in the performing stage constitutes micromanagement and is counterproductive. This level of intrusive oversight signals a lack of trust in the team's self-sufficiency and ability to manage their own progress, which is a hallmark of the performing stage. It consumes valuable time that could be better spent on project work, potentially reducing efficiency and undermining the team's morale and autonomy.
- ✓
Empower the team to make decisions within agreed boundaries and check in periodically.
Why this is correct
Empowering the team to make decisions within agreed boundaries while checking in periodically is the most appropriate action for a performing team. This approach leverages their high level of maturity, self-organization, and expertise, fostering continued autonomy and productivity. The established boundaries ensure alignment with project objectives, while periodic check-ins provide necessary support and oversight without resorting to micromanagement, reinforcing trust and maintaining momentum.
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