PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
During a retrospective, the team identifies that the root cause of low morale is the project manager's micromanagement style. The team wants more autonomy. What should the PM do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse 'increasing oversight' (Option A) with maintaining control, but the PMP exam emphasizes that servant leadership requires empowering the team, not tightening control, especially when the team explicitly requests autonomy.
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
✓
Acknowledge the feedback and agree to transition to a more empowering leadership style
The PM should acknowledge the team's feedback and adapt their leadership style to empower the team, which aligns with the PMP's focus on servant leadership and fostering autonomy. Micromanagement undermines trust and morale, so transitioning to a more empowering approach directly addresses the root cause identified in the retrospective.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase oversight to ensure the team stays on track
Why it's wrong here
Increasing oversight would directly exacerbate the identified root cause of micromanagement, further eroding team autonomy and trust. This approach contradicts principles of servant leadership and empowering teams, which are crucial for fostering a self-organizing and highly motivated environment. Instead of addressing the team's concerns, it would likely lead to decreased morale, disengagement, and reduced productivity, hindering project success.
- ✓
Acknowledge the feedback and agree to transition to a more empowering leadership style
Why this is correct
Acknowledging the team's feedback and committing to a more empowering leadership style demonstrates crucial emotional intelligence and adaptability, central tenets of effective project management. This response aligns with PMI's emphasis on servant leadership, where the project manager supports and enables the team, fostering self-organization and autonomy. By transitioning, the PM builds trust, improves morale, and empowers the team to take ownership, ultimately enhancing project performance.
- ✗
Explain that micromanagement is necessary to ensure quality
Why it's wrong here
Dismissing the team's feedback by asserting that micromanagement is necessary for quality is counterproductive and demonstrates a lack of empathy and leadership maturity. This response ignores the team's legitimate concerns, perpetuates a command-and-control mindset, and fails to address the underlying morale issues. True quality is often achieved through empowered, self-organizing teams that take ownership, rather than through excessive oversight that stifles initiative and innovation.
- ✗
Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for guidance
Why it's wrong here
Escalating an internal team dynamic issue, such as leadership style, to the project sponsor is an inappropriate abdication of the project manager's responsibility. The PM is accountable for managing team performance, resolving internal conflicts, and adapting leadership approaches to meet team needs. Involving the sponsor for a matter that the PM should directly address demonstrates a lack of leadership capability and problem-solving skills, undermining the PM's authority and the team's trust.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to the PMP Exam and Project Management Basics
Key term
Training and Development
Training and Development is the process of enhancing team members' skills, knowledge, and competencies to improve project performance and achieve career growth.
Key term
Organizational Change Management
Organizational Change Management (OCM) is the structured approach to preparing, supporting, and guiding people through changes in an organization to ensure lasting success.
About these practice questions
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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.