PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
You are leading a virtual project team with members in four countries. A team member from one location complains that another team member from a different location is not responding to emails and messages promptly, causing delays. Upon investigation, you find that the second team member feels their work hours are not respected and they are expected to respond outside their working hours. The team charter does not address communication hours. What should the project manager do FIRST?
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 team meeting to update the team charter with agreed communication protocols, including response time windows and respect for working hours
The PM should facilitate a team discussion to update the team charter with agreed communication norms, including response time expectations and respect for working hours. This fosters collaboration and prevents future conflicts.
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 team meeting to update the team charter with agreed communication protocols, including response time windows and respect for working hours
Why this is correct
This option correctly identifies that collaboratively updating the team charter is the most effective approach. By facilitating a team meeting, the project manager engages the entire team in establishing agreed-upon communication protocols, including specific response time windows and respect for diverse working hours. This process fosters buy-in, promotes shared understanding, and addresses the root cause of communication challenges in a virtual setting, aligning with the 'Develop Team' process area by building team cohesion and commitment.
- ✗
Ask the second team member to respond to messages within 2 hours during their working hours
Why it's wrong here
This action unilaterally imposes a specific communication expectation on one team member without involving the entire team in the decision-making process. Such an approach can lead to resentment, reduce psychological safety, and fail to address systemic communication challenges within a virtual team. Effective team communication protocols should be collaboratively developed and agreed upon by all members to ensure buy-in and sustainability, rather than dictated to individuals.
- ✗
Transfer the second team member to a different project if they are unable to meet communication expectations
Why it's wrong here
Transferring a team member without first attempting to understand the root cause of the communication issue or collaboratively establishing clear expectations is a premature and punitive measure. This action fails to address potential systemic problems in team communication processes or the virtual work environment itself. A project manager's role includes conflict resolution and team development, making reassigning a team member an extreme last resort after all other collaborative and corrective actions have been exhausted.
- ✗
Establish a new policy that all team members must be available during a common overlapping time zone
Why it's wrong here
Mandating a common overlapping time zone for all team members, especially in a globally distributed virtual team, is often impractical and can lead to significant inconvenience or burnout for individuals working outside their typical hours. While some overlap is beneficial, a rigid policy can be detrimental to team morale and work-life balance, potentially forcing team members to work excessively early or late. Effective virtual team communication strategies prioritize flexibility and asynchronous methods alongside designated synchronous interactions, rather than imposing a single, potentially unfeasible, availability window.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 800 original PMP practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
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.