PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
You are managing a project where a key team member has been consistently missing deadlines. This has caused delays in dependent tasks. The team member has good technical skills but seems overloaded. What is the best course of action for the project manager?
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
✓
Have a one-on-one meeting with the team member to discuss the challenges and offer support.
The PM should first understand the root cause of the missed deadlines. Option B is correct because it addresses the issue through communication and support.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Formally document the missed deadlines and issue a warning to the team member.
Why it's wrong here
Formal documentation and a warning address symptoms, not the overload causing the missed deadlines. It is tempting because progressive discipline is the correct route for genuine performance or conduct failures, but here the stem attributes the delays to excessive workload, which resourcing or schedule adjustment must resolve.
- ✓
Have a one-on-one meeting with the team member to discuss the challenges and offer support.
Why this is correct
A private one-on-one uncovers whether overload, unclear priorities or blockers cause the missed deadlines. Discussing challenges and offering support addresses the root cause directly, preserving the member's technical contribution while restoring dependent task delivery, rather than escalating or reassigning prematurely.
- ✗
Reassign the team member's tasks to others to avoid further delays.
Why it's wrong here
Reassigning the work removes the overload symptom but leaves the underlying capacity or estimation problem unresolved and can demotivate a technically strong member. Reassignment is tempting because it protects the schedule immediately, and it would be correct if the member genuinely lacked the required skills.
- ✗
Replace the team member with a more productive resource.
Why it's wrong here
Replacing a technically skilled member discards capability and incurs recruitment and onboarding cost, while the overload itself remains unaddressed and will simply transfer to the successor. Replacement is the correct response to sustained capability or conduct failure, not to a resourcing shortfall that workload rebalancing can fix.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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