PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
During a project status meeting, a key stakeholder expresses dissatisfaction with the quality of deliverables. The team believes they have met all acceptance criteria. What should the project manager do?
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
✓
Arrange a meeting with the stakeholder to understand their concerns and review the acceptance criteria
When a stakeholder expresses dissatisfaction despite meeting acceptance criteria, the project manager should first understand the stakeholder's concerns and review the acceptance criteria to ensure alignment. This approach fosters collaboration and may reveal uncommunicated expectations or misunderstandings about the criteria. Option B is incorrect because dismissing feedback to lessons learned without resolution fails to address the immediate issue and can damage stakeholder relationships. Option C is incorrect because initiating a formal quality audit is reactive and escalates the situation unnecessarily before attempting to understand the stakeholder's perspective. Option D is incorrect because dismissing the stakeholder's concerns and insisting on acceptance can harm trust and may lead to future conflict, even if the deliverables technically meet criteria.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Arrange a meeting with the stakeholder to understand their concerns and review the acceptance criteria
Why this is correct
Arranging a direct meeting with the stakeholder is the most appropriate first step. This proactive approach demonstrates active listening and a commitment to understanding their specific concerns, which is fundamental to effective stakeholder management. Reviewing the acceptance criteria together ensures mutual understanding, clarifies any potential misinterpretations, and facilitates collaborative problem-solving to achieve alignment and secure project acceptance.
- ✗
Add the stakeholder's feedback to the lessons learned and move on
Why it's wrong here
Adding feedback to lessons learned and moving on is an inadequate response to an immediate, active concern from a key stakeholder. While lessons learned are valuable for organizational process improvement, this action fails to address the current dissatisfaction, potentially escalating the issue and jeopardizing the project's success. It neglects the critical need for real-time issue resolution and proactive stakeholder engagement.
- ✗
Initiate a formal quality audit to verify compliance with requirements
Why it's wrong here
Initiating a formal quality audit at this stage is premature and potentially misdirected. A quality audit primarily verifies compliance with processes and requirements, but it does not directly uncover the root cause of a stakeholder's specific concern, which might stem from a misunderstanding, evolving expectations, or unstated needs. Understanding the stakeholder's perspective through direct communication is a more efficient and targeted first step before committing resources to a formal audit.
- ✗
Explain that the deliverables meet the agreed criteria and ask the stakeholder to accept them
Why it's wrong here
Simply explaining that deliverables meet agreed criteria and demanding acceptance is a confrontational and dismissive approach to stakeholder management. This action can severely damage trust and engagement, even if technically accurate. Ignoring a key stakeholder's expressed concern without attempting to understand its basis can lead to resistance, rework, or outright rejection, undermining project success and future collaboration.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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