The answer is ensuring stakeholders are involved in the sprint review and provide feedback early and often. This is correct because the root cause of stakeholder dissatisfaction in a sprint review is a disconnect between the team’s assumptions and the stakeholders’ actual expectations, which can only be resolved through continuous collaboration. The technical concept here is the Agile principle of customer collaboration over contract negotiation, which demands that feedback loops be short and frequent so the product increment aligns with stakeholder needs throughout development, not just at the end. On the PMP exam, this question tests your understanding of stakeholder engagement in Agile frameworks, often appearing as a trap where candidates mistakenly choose to “re-estimate the backlog” or “improve user story writing,” missing the core issue of insufficient feedback. A strong memory tip is to think of the “feedback firewall”—early and often involvement prevents last-minute disappointment by validating expectations incrementally.
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.
During a sprint review, stakeholders express disappointment with the product increment, stating it does not meet their expectations. The team believed they were on track based on the user stories. What should the project manager do to prevent this in the future?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Ensure stakeholders are involved in the sprint review and provide feedback early and often
Option B is correct because the root cause of the disconnect is a lack of early and continuous stakeholder involvement. By engaging stakeholders in the sprint review and soliciting feedback frequently, the project manager ensures that expectations are validated against the increment throughout the development cycle, not just at the end. This aligns with the Agile principle of customer collaboration over contract negotiation and prevents the team from building features based on assumptions.
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.
✗
Document the feedback and adjust the next sprint accordingly
Why it's wrong here
This is reactive; prevention is better.
✓
Ensure stakeholders are involved in the sprint review and provide feedback early and often
Why this is correct
Regular stakeholder involvement during reviews helps catch misalignment early.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Ask the product owner to write more detailed user stories
Why it's wrong here
While helpful, the issue may be about validation, not just detail.
✗
Have the team present their work to stakeholders more frequently
Why it's wrong here
Frequency alone may not help if the format doesn't allow for meaningful feedback.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
PMI often tests the misconception that more documentation or more frequent status updates solve communication gaps, when the real solution is structured, iterative stakeholder collaboration during the sprint review.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In Scrum, the sprint review is a formal inspect-and-adapt event where stakeholders and the team collaborate on what to do next. The Product Owner is responsible for ensuring the backlog items align with stakeholder needs, but the project manager must facilitate a culture of continuous feedback. A real-world scenario where this matters is in regulated industries (e.g., healthcare IT), where late-stage stakeholder disappointment can lead to costly rework or compliance failures—early feedback loops mitigate this risk.
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: Ensure stakeholders are involved in the sprint review and provide feedback early and often — Option B is correct because the root cause of the disconnect is a lack of early and continuous stakeholder involvement. By engaging stakeholders in the sprint review and soliciting feedback frequently, the project manager ensures that expectations are validated against the increment throughout the development cycle, not just at the end. This aligns with the Agile principle of customer collaboration over contract negotiation and prevents the team from building features based on assumptions.
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.
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 →
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 a sprint review, the product owner expresses dissatisfaction with the feature delivered, stating it does not meet the acceptance criteria. The team disagrees, claiming it meets the definition of done. What should the project manager do first?
medium
A.Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision
✓ B.Schedule a meeting with the product owner and the team to review the acceptance criteria and define done
C.Support the team's position and ask the product owner to accept the deliverable
D.Ask the team to redo the work to meet the product owner's expectations
Why B: Clarifying expectations by reviewing the acceptance criteria together resolves the misunderstanding and aligns both parties.
Variation 2. During a sprint review, the product owner expresses dissatisfaction with the delivered increment because it does not meet their expectations. The team followed the agreed-upon acceptance criteria. What should the project manager do?
medium
A.Inform the product owner that the work meets the agreed criteria and cannot be changed
B.Escalate the issue to the project sponsor for a decision
C.Ask the team to redo the work to meet the product owner's unstated expectations
✓ D.Facilitate a conversation between the product owner and the team to clarify expectations and update the acceptance criteria for next sprint
Why D: The PM should facilitate a discussion between the product owner and the team to clarify expectations. This demonstrates servant leadership and proactive communication. Adjusting the acceptance criteria for future sprints ensures alignment.
Variation 3. During a sprint review, the product owner expresses dissatisfaction with a feature delivered by the team, stating it does not meet the acceptance criteria. The team insists they followed the requirements as written. What should the project manager do FIRST?
medium
A.Ask the team to redo the feature to meet the product owner's expectations.
✓ B.Facilitate a conversation between the product owner and the team to clarify the acceptance criteria.
C.Update the project documents to reflect the product owner's new requirements.
D.Refer to the project charter to determine the original scope.
Why B: Option B is correct because the immediate priority is to resolve the misunderstanding between the product owner and the team. The project manager should facilitate a conversation to clarify the acceptance criteria, ensuring both parties have a shared understanding before any rework or documentation changes occur. This aligns with the PMP's focus on stakeholder engagement and conflict resolution within the 'People' domain.
Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.