PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
An executive stakeholder has been directly assigning tasks to your agile team members without going through you or the product owner. Team members are confused about priorities and the sprint goal is at risk. What is the best first step?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers choose to escalate immediately (Option C) or update a plan (Option D) instead of directly engaging the stakeholder, failing to recognize that the PMP emphasizes proactive communication and conflict resolution at the lowest level 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
✓
Request a meeting with the executive to clarify roles and the importance of adhering to the prioritization process
The first step in resolving a stakeholder bypassing the agile process is to directly address the root cause—misunderstanding of roles. Requesting a meeting with the executive allows you to clarify the prioritization process, reinforce the product owner's authority over the backlog, and protect the sprint goal without escalating prematurely. This aligns with the PMP's focus on stakeholder engagement and conflict resolution at the lowest appropriate level.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Request a meeting with the executive to clarify roles and the importance of adhering to the prioritization process
Why this is correct
This is the most appropriate first step as it demonstrates proactive communication and conflict resolution. The project manager (PM) should directly engage the executive to explain the established project governance, the impact of bypassing the prioritization process on project objectives, and the importance of maintaining team focus and morale. This approach seeks to educate and align the stakeholder with project protocols, preventing future recurrences and protecting project integrity.
- ✗
Tell the team members to ignore the stakeholder's requests
Why it's wrong here
Instructing team members to ignore an executive stakeholder's direct requests is highly unprofessional and politically dangerous. This action undermines the executive's authority, creates potential conflict, and could lead to a breakdown in trust and communication within the organization. The project manager's role is to facilitate collaboration and manage stakeholder expectations, not to create an adversarial environment with senior leadership.
- ✗
Escalate to the project sponsor immediately
Why it's wrong here
Immediate escalation to the project sponsor without first attempting direct resolution with the executive stakeholder is premature and bypasses a critical step in conflict management. The project manager should always attempt to resolve issues at the lowest possible level of authority through direct communication. Escalation should be reserved for situations where direct communication has failed, or the issue's impact is severe enough to warrant immediate higher-level intervention.
- ✗
Update the stakeholder management plan to classify the executive as 'keep satisfied'
Why it's wrong here
While regularly updating the stakeholder management plan is a good practice, merely reclassifying the executive as 'keep satisfied' does not address the immediate operational problem of direct task assignments. This action is a documentation update, not a proactive solution to the behavioral issue impacting project execution and team workflow. The plan needs to reflect reality, but the PM's priority is to actively manage the situation and prevent further disruption.
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Related to this question
Learn chapter
Leading Teams and Empowering Team Members
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.
Key term
Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution is the process of addressing and resolving disagreements between team members or stakeholders to maintain a productive and collaborative project environment.
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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.