PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
You are managing a hybrid project. During the last two sprints, velocity has dropped significantly. The team members complain about unclear priorities and frequent context switching. What should you do first?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often jump to a corrective action (like replacing the product owner or escalating) without first diagnosing the problem through a retrospective, confusing a symptom (velocity drop) with a root cause (unclear priorities).
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
✓
Hold a retrospective with the team to identify root causes and improve processes
The first step in addressing a velocity drop caused by unclear priorities and context switching is to hold a retrospective. This aligns with the hybrid project management principle of continuous improvement and servant leadership, where the team collaboratively identifies root causes and adapts their processes. Reassigning the product owner or escalating prematurely bypasses the team's self-organization and fails to address the underlying issues.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reassign the product owner and replace with a more decisive person
Why it's wrong here
Reassigning a Product Owner without a thorough investigation into the root causes of a velocity drop is a premature and drastic measure. Such an action undermines team stability and trust, potentially demotivating the existing Product Owner and the entire team. Effective problem-solving in a hybrid project requires data-driven analysis and collaborative resolution, not immediate personnel changes based on assumptions, which fails to address systemic issues.
- ✗
Escalate the velocity drop to the steering committee
Why it's wrong here
Escalating a velocity drop directly to the steering committee without first engaging the development team to understand the underlying issues is an inappropriate and counterproductive step. This action bypasses the team's problem-solving capabilities and can significantly erode their autonomy and trust in the project manager. Agile principles emphasize empowering the team to identify and resolve impediments internally before external escalation, ensuring issues are addressed at the lowest effective level.
- ✓
Hold a retrospective with the team to identify root causes and improve processes
Why this is correct
Holding a retrospective is a fundamental agile practice designed for continuous improvement, embodying the "inspect and adapt" principle. This collaborative event empowers the team to collectively analyze recent performance, identify the true root causes of the velocity drop, and collaboratively devise actionable solutions for process enhancement. It fosters team ownership, promotes transparency, and ensures that improvements are sustainable and driven by those closest to the work, aligning with servant leadership.
- ✗
Ask the team to work extra hours to catch up on the velocity
Why it's wrong here
Mandating extra hours for the team to "catch up" on velocity is an unsustainable and short-sighted solution that fails to address the underlying causes of the performance decline. This approach often leads to team burnout, decreased morale, reduced quality, and ultimately, further drops in productivity. Agile methodologies prioritize a sustainable pace and resolving systemic issues over temporary fixes that exhaust the team and mask deeper problems, making it counterproductive.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to the PMP Exam and Project Management Basics
Key term
Team Building
Team building is the process of creating a cohesive group of people who work together effectively toward a shared goal.
Key term
Project Management Plan
A formal, approved document that defines how a project is executed, monitored, controlled, and closed, serving as the single source of truth for the project team.
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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.