PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
During a project status meeting, an executive stakeholder bypasses you and directly instructs a team member to add a new feature to the current sprint. The team member looks confused. What should you do FIRST?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often choose Option D, thinking they must assert authority immediately, but the PMP exam emphasizes emotional intelligence and private conflict resolution over public confrontation to maintain stakeholder trust and team stability.
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
✓
After the meeting, privately remind the executive about the change control process and offer to submit a change request
The PM must protect the team from scope creep while maintaining stakeholder relationships. Privately reminding the executive about the change control process and offering to submit a change request addresses the issue diplomatically, enforces the formal change management system, and ensures the team member is not put in a conflicting position. This aligns with the PMP's focus on leading through influence rather than confrontation.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
After the meeting, privately remind the executive about the change control process and offer to submit a change request
Why this is correct
This action demonstrates effective stakeholder management by addressing the executive's input respectfully while upholding project governance. By privately reminding them of the change control process and offering to facilitate a formal change request, the project manager maintains a collaborative relationship and ensures all modifications are properly evaluated against project baselines and approved by the Change Control Board (CCB). This approach prevents unauthorized scope changes and reinforces the importance of established project procedures.
- ✗
Ignore the situation and continue the meeting
Why it's wrong here
Ignoring an executive's direct request for a feature sets a detrimental precedent, signaling that formal project processes can be circumvented without consequence. This inaction directly undermines project governance, potentially leading to uncontrolled scope creep, budget overruns, and schedule delays as team members might assume direct stakeholder requests supersede established change control procedures. It reflects a lack of proactive project management and accountability for maintaining project integrity.
- ✗
Tell the team member to add the feature as requested to satisfy the stakeholder
Why it's wrong here
Directing a team member to implement an unapproved feature immediately violates the Integrated Change Control process, a critical component of project governance. This action bypasses the necessary impact analysis and formal approval by the Change Control Board (CCB), directly causing unauthorized scope creep. It jeopardizes the project's baselines for scope, schedule, and cost, potentially leading to project failure and setting a dangerous precedent for future stakeholder interactions.
- ✗
Immediately interrupt the executive and explain that all changes must go through you
Why it's wrong here
Publicly interrupting an executive to assert control over changes can severely damage stakeholder relationships and create an adversarial environment. While enforcing change control is crucial, a confrontational public approach can be perceived as disrespectful, undermining trust and making future collaboration more challenging. Effective project managers prioritize private, diplomatic communication for sensitive governance issues to maintain positive stakeholder engagement.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to the PMP Exam and Project Management Basics
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
Scrum Methodology
Scrum is a lightweight process framework that helps teams deliver complex projects in small, iterative chunks called sprints.
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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.