PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
A risk event that was identified and included in the risk register has occurred. The impact on the project schedule is moderate. What should the project manager do first?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to think a moderate impact means they can ignore the risk or that they need to escalate or create a new response, but the PMP exam expects you to follow the established risk response plan first, regardless of impact level.
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
✓
Implement the agreed-upon risk response from the risk register
When a risk event that was identified and included in the risk register occurs, the project manager should first implement the agreed-upon risk response that was already planned and documented. This is because the risk response plan was developed during risk planning and approved by stakeholders, making it the immediate and correct action to take. Implementing the pre-agreed response ensures a timely, consistent, and controlled reaction to the risk, minimizing disruption to the project schedule.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Ignore the event since the impact is only moderate
Why it's wrong here
Ignoring a risk event, even one with only moderate impact, is contrary to proactive risk management principles. Every identified risk, regardless of its assessed impact or probability, should have a pre-defined response strategy in the risk register. Failing to execute the planned response allows the risk to potentially materialize fully, leading to unmanaged consequences and undermining the entire risk planning effort. This approach neglects the cumulative effect of moderate risks.
- ✓
Implement the agreed-upon risk response from the risk register
Why this is correct
When a previously identified risk event occurs, the project team's primary responsibility is to execute the specific, agreed-upon risk response strategy documented in the risk register. This proactive approach ensures that the project is prepared to mitigate threats or leverage opportunities, as these responses were developed and approved during the Plan Risk Responses process. Implementing the pre-planned response minimizes disruption and maintains project control, aligning with the Monitor Risks process.
- ✗
Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for guidance
Why it's wrong here
Escalating to the project sponsor for guidance is premature and generally inappropriate when a risk event has a pre-defined response in the risk register. Escalation is reserved for situations where the risk event falls outside the project manager's authority, the existing response plan proves ineffective, or the risk was previously unidentified and requires significant strategic input. In this case, the project team should first attempt to execute the established plan before considering higher-level intervention.
- ✗
Develop a new risk response immediately
Why it's wrong here
Developing a new risk response immediately is inefficient and bypasses the proactive planning already conducted for this identified risk event. The project team invested time and resources to analyze and plan specific responses for risks documented in the risk register. A new response should only be considered if the existing, agreed-upon plan is found to be ineffective after implementation, or if the risk event is a previously unidentified "unplanned risk."
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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.