The answer is to reduce the number of work items allowed in the 'In Progress' column, meaning you lower the WIP limit. This is correct because in Kanban, a rising lead time and a pile-up of work in progress directly indicate that the system is overloaded; reducing the WIP limit forces the team to finish existing tasks before pulling new ones, which clears the bottleneck and restores flow. On the PMP exam, this question tests your understanding of Kanban’s pull-based flow optimization versus traditional push-system thinking—common traps include choosing to add more people or increase priority, which violate the core principle of limiting work in progress. The key insight is that to reduce lead time, you must first limit the work you start, not accelerate the work you’re doing. Memory tip: “Less in progress means faster out the door.”
PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
This PMP practice question tests your understanding of process — managing technical aspects. 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 is using a Kanban approach. The team's lead time has increased over the last two weeks, and work items are piling up in the 'In Progress' column. What is the BEST action for the project manager to take?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Reduce the number of work items allowed in the 'In Progress' column (WIP limit)
In Kanban, the primary lever to address flow issues like increased lead time and work piling up in 'In Progress' is to reduce the WIP limit. This forces the team to finish existing work before pulling new items, directly addressing the bottleneck and reducing cycle time. Increasing priority, adding people, or working overtime are classic push-system responses that violate Kanban's pull-based, flow-optimization principles.
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.
✗
Increase the priority of all items in the backlog
Why it's wrong here
Prioritizing all items equally does not address the bottleneck.
✓
Reduce the number of work items allowed in the 'In Progress' column (WIP limit)
Why this is correct
Limiting WIP helps reduce multitasking and improves flow, which is a core Kanban principle.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Add more team members to the project to increase capacity
Why it's wrong here
Adding resources may not address the root cause of increased lead time.
✗
Ask the team to work overtime to clear the backlog
Why it's wrong here
Overtime may lead to burnout and is not a sustainable solution.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Kanban with Scrum or traditional project management, and choose to add resources or work overtime (options C or D) because they think 'more capacity' solves the problem, when in reality Kanban's core mechanism is limiting WIP to improve flow.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Kanban's WIP limit is a pull-based constraint that directly implements Little's Law (L = λ × W), where reducing Work in Progress (L) reduces Lead Time (W) for a given throughput (λ). By capping the 'In Progress' column, the team is forced to finish (deliver) items before pulling new ones, which exposes bottlenecks and enables continuous improvement through metrics like Cumulative Flow Diagrams. In practice, a team with a WIP limit of 3 that sees items piling up should first reduce the limit to 2 to force completion, not increase capacity.
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.
Process — Managing Technical Aspects — This question tests Process — Managing Technical Aspects — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Reduce the number of work items allowed in the 'In Progress' column (WIP limit) — In Kanban, the primary lever to address flow issues like increased lead time and work piling up in 'In Progress' is to reduce the WIP limit. This forces the team to finish existing work before pulling new items, directly addressing the bottleneck and reducing cycle time. Increasing priority, adding people, or working overtime are classic push-system responses that violate Kanban's pull-based, flow-optimization principles.
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: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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