PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
During a sprint review, the customer expresses dissatisfaction with the user interface, stating it does not meet their expectations. The team followed the specifications agreed upon during sprint planning. What should the project manager do NEXT?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently choose Option C, thinking that adhering to specifications is sufficient, but the PMP exam emphasizes stakeholder satisfaction and the need to validate that the delivered product meets the customer's actual needs, not just the documented requirements.
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
✓
Schedule a meeting with the customer to review their expectations and discuss potential adjustments
The project manager must first understand the customer's unmet expectations before taking any corrective action. The team followed the agreed specifications, but the customer's dissatisfaction indicates a gap between those specifications and their actual needs. Scheduling a meeting to review expectations and discuss adjustments aligns with the agile principle of customer collaboration and ensures any changes are properly evaluated before being implemented.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Log the issue in the issue log and address it in a future sprint
Why it's wrong here
Logging the issue for a future sprint without immediate engagement is suboptimal in an Agile framework. This approach delays addressing critical customer feedback, potentially escalating dissatisfaction and missing an opportunity for timely adaptation. Agile principles emphasize rapid inspection and adaptation, making a deferred, passive logging approach less effective than direct, proactive communication to understand and resolve the concern promptly.
- ✗
Instruct the team to rework the UI immediately to satisfy the customer
Why it's wrong here
Instructing immediate rework bypasses crucial Agile processes, such as proper change control and Product Owner prioritization. Such an impulsive decision could introduce scope creep, disrupt the current sprint's goals, or lead to rework without a clear, agreed-upon understanding of the new requirements. It undermines the structured approach to backlog management and collaborative decision-making essential for sustainable product development.
- ✗
Explain to the customer that the team adhered to the agreed specifications
Why it's wrong here
Explaining that the team adhered to specifications, while potentially factual, is a confrontational and unconstructive response in an Agile environment. This approach prioritizes adherence to a document over customer satisfaction and fails to embrace the Agile value of customer collaboration. It dismisses valuable feedback rather than seeking to understand the underlying gap between the delivered increment and the customer's evolving or clarified expectations.
- ✓
Schedule a meeting with the customer to review their expectations and discuss potential adjustments
Why this is correct
Scheduling a dedicated meeting exemplifies a proactive and collaborative Agile approach to resolving customer dissatisfaction. This allows for a focused discussion to thoroughly review the customer's current expectations, understand the root cause of the perceived gap, and collaboratively explore potential adjustments to the product backlog. This aligns with the "inspect and adapt" principle and fosters strong stakeholder relationships by demonstrating responsiveness and a commitment to delivering value.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to the PMP Exam and Project Management Basics
Key term
Scrum Methodology
Scrum is a lightweight process framework that helps teams deliver complex projects in small, iterative chunks called sprints.
Key term
Sprint Planning
Sprint Planning is a time-boxed meeting at the start of a Scrum sprint where the team decides what work they can deliver and how they will do it.
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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.