- A
Ask the team to accommodate the changes and work overtime to meet the original commitment
Why wrong: Working overtime is not a sustainable solution and may demotivate the team.
- B
Facilitate a retrospective where the team can discuss the impact of changing priorities and agree on a process
The team and product owner can collaboratively find a solution that respects both agility and stability.
- C
Escalate to the project sponsor that the product owner is interfering with the team
Why wrong: Escalation should be considered after internal resolution attempts fail.
- D
Tell the product owner that scope changes are not allowed during a sprint
Why wrong: While scope changes are discouraged, the PM should first facilitate a discussion rather than impose rules.
Question 434 of 892
Handling Product Owner Priority Changes During a Sprint
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.
In an agile project, the product owner frequently changes priorities within a sprint, causing the team to lose focus and velocity to drop. What should the project manager 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 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 retrospective where the team can discuss the impact of changing priorities and agree on a process
Option B is correct because the project manager should first facilitate a retrospective to allow the team to collaboratively analyze the impact of changing priorities and agree on a process to protect the sprint goal. This aligns with the agile principle of continuous improvement and empowers the team to address the root cause without escalating prematurely or violating sprint commitments.
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.
- ✗
Ask the team to accommodate the changes and work overtime to meet the original commitment
Why it's wrong here
Working overtime is not a sustainable solution and may demotivate the team.
- ✓
Facilitate a retrospective where the team can discuss the impact of changing priorities and agree on a process
Why this is correct
The team and product owner can collaboratively find a solution that respects both agility and stability.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Escalate to the project sponsor that the product owner is interfering with the team
Why it's wrong here
Escalation should be considered after internal resolution attempts fail.
- ✗
Tell the product owner that scope changes are not allowed during a sprint
Why it's wrong here
While scope changes are discouraged, the PM should first facilitate a discussion rather than impose rules.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose Option D (rigidly enforcing no scope changes) because they confuse the sprint backlog's stability with a complete ban on change, ignoring that agile frameworks allow negotiated trade-offs and that the first step should always be a facilitated team discussion.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In Scrum, the sprint backlog is frozen once the sprint starts, but the product owner can negotiate with the team to swap out work if it does not jeopardize the sprint goal. A retrospective is a timeboxed event (typically 1.5 hours for a 2-week sprint) where the team inspects its process and creates a plan for improvements, such as defining a clear definition of done for priority changes or implementing a change control board for mid-sprint requests. In real-world scenarios, teams often use a 'change budget' (e.g., 10% of sprint capacity) to absorb urgent changes without disrupting the sprint goal.
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.
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.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PMP question test?
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: Facilitate a retrospective where the team can discuss the impact of changing priorities and agree on a process — Option B is correct because the project manager should first facilitate a retrospective to allow the team to collaboratively analyze the impact of changing priorities and agree on a process to protect the sprint goal. This aligns with the agile principle of continuous improvement and empowers the team to address the root cause without escalating prematurely or violating sprint commitments.
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on PMP
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. During an agile project, the product owner frequently changes priorities during the sprint, causing the team to lose focus and miss sprint goals. The team expresses frustration in the retrospective. As the project manager, what should you do?
medium- A.Instruct the team to ignore the product owner's changes until the next sprint planning
- ✓ B.Coach the product owner on the importance of not changing priorities during a sprint to protect the team's focus
- C.Add a buffer to the sprint backlog to accommodate potential changes
- D.Extend the sprint duration to allow the team to accommodate changes
Why B: Option B is correct because the product owner should be coached on agile principles, specifically the importance of not changing priorities during a sprint to protect the team's focus and sprint goal. Option A is wrong because ignoring the product owner undermines collaboration and agile values. Option C is wrong because adding buffer does not address the root cause and may reduce accountability. Option D is wrong because extending sprint duration does not solve the priority change issue and may lead to loss of time-boxing benefits.
Variation 2. You are managing an agile project. The product owner frequently changes priorities during the sprint, causing the team to lose focus and miss sprint goals. What should the scrum master do?
medium- A.Tell the team to ignore the product owner's changes and focus on the original sprint goal.
- ✓ B.Coach the product owner on the importance of sprint goal stability and the impact of changes.
- C.Ask the product owner to stop changing priorities and escalate to management.
- D.Request a new product owner who understands agile principles.
Why B: Option B is correct because the scrum master should coach the product owner on their role. Option A is incorrect because the scrum master should not override the product owner. Option C is incorrect; the team cannot change priorities without product owner input. Option D is incorrect; the product owner is not empowered to remove the scrum master.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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