- A
Let the team work out the issues on their own since they are self-organizing
Why wrong: The PM should facilitate team formation, not leave them to struggle.
- B
Assign a team lead to make decisions on work methods
Why wrong: Agile teams are self-organizing; imposing a lead may reduce autonomy.
- C
Replace the frustrated team members with more collaborative ones
Why wrong: This is extreme and does not address the team's development needs.
- D
Facilitate a workshop to develop a team charter that defines working agreements and communication norms
A team charter helps align expectations and builds a foundation for high performance.
Question 316 of 892
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.
Your agile team has recently formed and is struggling to agree on work methods and communication norms. Several team members are frustrated with the lack of consistency. What should you do as the project manager?
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
✓
Facilitate a workshop to develop a team charter that defines working agreements and communication norms
Option D is correct because the team is in the forming stage and needs explicit guidance to establish shared expectations. Facilitating a workshop to create a team charter directly addresses the root cause—lack of agreed-upon work methods and communication norms—by providing a structured, collaborative process that aligns with agile principles while still leveraging the project manager's leadership to resolve the impasse.
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.
- ✗
Let the team work out the issues on their own since they are self-organizing
Why it's wrong here
The PM should facilitate team formation, not leave them to struggle.
- ✗
Assign a team lead to make decisions on work methods
Why it's wrong here
Agile teams are self-organizing; imposing a lead may reduce autonomy.
- ✗
Replace the frustrated team members with more collaborative ones
Why it's wrong here
This is extreme and does not address the team's development needs.
- ✓
Facilitate a workshop to develop a team charter that defines working agreements and communication norms
Why this is correct
A team charter helps align expectations and builds a foundation for high performance.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates mistakenly equate 'self-organizing' with 'no facilitation needed,' leading them to choose Option A, but the PMP exam expects the project manager to actively guide the team through the forming stage to enable true self-organization later.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The team charter is a lightweight but formal agreement that documents working agreements, communication norms, and decision-making rules. In agile frameworks like Scrum, the team charter is often created during the forming stage of Tuckman's model and serves as a reference point for resolving future conflicts. A real-world scenario: a distributed team might agree in the charter to use daily stand-ups via video calls and asynchronous updates on a shared board, preventing misunderstandings about availability and response times.
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.
Visual reference
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
- →
People — Leading Projects — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PMP question test?
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: Facilitate a workshop to develop a team charter that defines working agreements and communication norms — Option D is correct because the team is in the forming stage and needs explicit guidance to establish shared expectations. Facilitating a workshop to create a team charter directly addresses the root cause—lack of agreed-upon work methods and communication norms—by providing a structured, collaborative process that aligns with agile principles while still leveraging the project manager's leadership to resolve the impasse.
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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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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.
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