The correct answer is to acknowledge the feedback, discuss the balance between guidance and team autonomy in agile, and agree on decision-making boundaries. This response is correct because it directly validates the team’s frustration while opening a collaborative dialogue, which upholds the agile principle of self-organization without abandoning the project manager’s duty to provide necessary guidance for less experienced teams. On the PMP exam, this scenario tests your understanding of servant leadership and the agile value of continuous improvement, often appearing as a trap where test-takers choose either total autonomy or strict control. The key is recognizing that agile is not anarchy—it requires negotiated boundaries. Memory tip: think of it as “Guide, don’t dictate; agree, don’t assume.”
PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
This PMP practice question tests your understanding of people — leading projects. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
During a sprint retrospective, several team members express frustration that the project manager often overrides their decisions, contradicting the agile principle of self-organization. The project manager believes the team lacks experience and needs guidance. What should the project manager do?
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, discuss the balance between guidance and autonomy, and agree on decision-making boundaries
Option C is correct because it directly addresses the team's frustration by acknowledging their feedback, opening a dialogue about the balance between guidance and autonomy, and collaboratively agreeing on decision-making boundaries. This aligns with the agile principle of self-organization while recognizing the project manager's responsibility to provide necessary guidance, especially for less experienced teams. It fosters a culture of continuous improvement and mutual respect, which is essential for effective team performance in agile environments.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Ask the product owner to mediate the situation
Why it's wrong here
The PM should address the issue directly rather than deferring to others.
✗
Continue as before because the team still needs direction
Why it's wrong here
Ignoring feedback damages trust and team morale.
✓
Acknowledge the feedback, discuss the balance between guidance and autonomy, and agree on decision-making boundaries
Why this is correct
This demonstrates emotional intelligence and openness to change, aligning with servant leadership.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Explain to the team that as the project manager, final decisions rest with you
Why it's wrong here
This contradicts agile principles and servant leadership.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may choose Option D, believing the project manager must retain authority for accountability, but the PMP exam emphasizes servant leadership and empowering teams over command-and-control management.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In agile frameworks like Scrum, the project manager (often a Scrum Master or Agile Coach) serves as a servant leader, facilitating the team's self-organization rather than directing it. The balance between guidance and autonomy is critical: too much control stifles innovation and ownership, while too little can lead to chaos in inexperienced teams. A real-world scenario is a team new to agile where the project manager must gradually shift from directive to supportive coaching, using retrospectives to adjust boundaries as the team matures.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A practitioner preparing for the PMP exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this PMP question in full detail.
People — Leading Projects — This question tests People — Leading Projects — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Acknowledge the feedback, discuss the balance between guidance and autonomy, and agree on decision-making boundaries — Option C is correct because it directly addresses the team's frustration by acknowledging their feedback, opening a dialogue about the balance between guidance and autonomy, and collaboratively agreeing on decision-making boundaries. This aligns with the agile principle of self-organization while recognizing the project manager's responsibility to provide necessary guidance, especially for less experienced teams. It fosters a culture of continuous improvement and mutual respect, which is essential for effective team performance in agile environments.
What should I do if I get this PMP question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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