PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
On a large-scale project, you have a team member who is technically skilled but consistently fails to complete tasks on time, affecting the team's morale. You have had informal conversations about this, but there has been no improvement. What should you do next?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often jump to replacing the team member (Option B) because it seems efficient, but the PMP exam tests the correct progressive discipline process, which requires documentation and a formal PIP before any termination or replacement.
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
✓
Conduct a formal performance review, document the issues, and create a performance improvement plan with clear expectations and timelines
As a project manager, you must follow a progressive discipline process. After informal conversations failed, the next step is a formal performance review to document the issues and create a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) with clear expectations and timelines. This aligns with the PMBOK Guide's emphasis on managing team performance through structured feedback and corrective actions, ensuring fairness and legal defensibility.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Conduct a formal performance review, document the issues, and create a performance improvement plan with clear expectations and timelines
Why this is correct
This is the most appropriate and professional project management approach. A formal performance review ensures objective assessment and documentation of the specific issues, providing a clear record. Creating a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) with defined expectations and timelines offers a structured path for the team member to address deficiencies, aligning their performance with project objectives and organizational standards while demonstrating supportive leadership.
- ✗
Replace the team member with a more reliable resource
Why it's wrong here
Replacing a team member prematurely is a drastic and costly measure that should be considered only as a last resort after all performance management and coaching efforts have failed. This action incurs significant expenses related to recruitment, onboarding, and potential loss of institutional knowledge, which can severely disrupt project progress, budget, and team stability. Effective project management prioritizes developing existing team members.
- ✗
Ignore the issue as the team member is technically strong
Why it's wrong here
Ignoring performance issues, even for a technically strong individual, is detrimental to overall team morale and productivity. This inaction can create a perception of unfairness among other team members who may be picking up the slack or adhering to higher standards. Such an oversight can erode trust, foster resentment, and ultimately degrade the team's collective efficiency and the project's quality, as unaddressed problems tend to escalate.
- ✗
Reassign all critical tasks to other team members
Why it's wrong here
Reassigning all critical tasks to other team members is a short-term, reactive solution that fails to address the root cause of the original team member's performance issues. This approach not only overburdens other project resources, potentially leading to burnout, decreased efficiency, and resentment, but also prevents the struggling team member from developing and contributing effectively, hindering long-term team capability and skill development within the project.
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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.