The answer is to facilitate a meeting to create or revise the team charter with collaboration norms. This is correct because the team charter is the foundational agreement that sets shared expectations for communication, conflict resolution, and decision-making; when a co-located team drifts into silos, the root cause is often a lack of clear, mutually agreed-upon norms for how they interact. On the PMP exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the Team Charter as a key tool in the Develop Team process, and it frequently appears as a trap where test-takers jump to team-building activities or conflict resolution techniques too early. The memory tip is “Charter before culture”—always revisit the team’s operating agreement first to improve team collaboration silos, as it realigns the team’s shared purpose and behavioral expectations before any other intervention.
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 project team is co-located, but you notice that collaboration has decreased recently. Team members are working in silos, and communication is minimal. You suspect the team is not functioning as a high-performing team. What should you do first?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "first"
Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Facilitate a meeting to create or revise the team charter with collaboration norms
The team charter establishes shared expectations for collaboration, communication, and conflict resolution. Since the team is co-located but working in silos, the first step is to revisit or create the team charter to realign norms and rebuild a collaborative culture, which directly addresses the root cause of decreased collaboration.
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.
✓
Facilitate a meeting to create or revise the team charter with collaboration norms
Why this is correct
A team charter sets agreed-upon expectations for communication and collaboration.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Organize a team-building event to improve relationships
Why it's wrong here
Team-building can help but first address the underlying process.
✗
Assign specific roles and responsibilities to each team member
Why it's wrong here
Roles may already be defined; the issue is collaboration, not roles.
✗
Escalate the issue to the project sponsor
Why it's wrong here
The PM should first attempt to resolve the issue.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose team-building events (B) as a quick fix for collaboration issues, but the PMP exam emphasizes that process-oriented solutions (like a team charter) should precede social activities to address underlying behavioral norms.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The team charter is a foundational artifact in the PMBOK Guide that documents team values, communication preferences, decision-making processes, and meeting guidelines. It is created during the 'Develop Team' process and is a key input to 'Manage Team' and 'Plan Resource Management'. In a co-located team, the charter's norms directly influence daily interactions; revising it can reset expectations without external intervention.
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: Facilitate a meeting to create or revise the team charter with collaboration norms — The team charter establishes shared expectations for collaboration, communication, and conflict resolution. Since the team is co-located but working in silos, the first step is to revisit or create the team charter to realign norms and rebuild a collaborative culture, which directly addresses the root cause of decreased collaboration.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
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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