PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
You are the project manager for a marketing campaign launch. The project has a tight deadline. During a status meeting, a team member announces that they have completed a task two days early. However, you notice that the quality of the deliverable is below the acceptance criteria. What should you do?
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
✓
Reject the deliverable and ask the team member to rework it to meet the acceptance criteria
The deliverable does not meet the acceptance criteria, so the project manager should reject it and request rework to ensure quality standards are met. Option A is incorrect because ignoring quality issues sets a bad precedent and may lead to further problems. Option C is incorrect because lowering acceptance criteria without stakeholder approval violates the project scope and quality management plan. Option D is incorrect because accepting a substandard deliverable with the intent to improve later is not effective; deliverables should meet criteria upon completion.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Thank the team member for the early completion and move on to the next task
Why it's wrong here
This action demonstrates a failure in the "Control Quality" process, as it neglects to verify the deliverable against established quality metrics and acceptance criteria. Ignoring a known quality issue, even with early completion, risks propagating defects into subsequent project phases or to the customer, leading to potential rework, increased costs, and stakeholder dissatisfaction later in the project lifecycle.
- ✓
Reject the deliverable and ask the team member to rework it to meet the acceptance criteria
Why this is correct
This is the correct action, aligning with the "Control Quality" process, where deliverables are inspected to ensure they meet the project's defined quality requirements and acceptance criteria. Rejecting a non-conforming deliverable and initiating rework is crucial for maintaining quality standards, preventing downstream defects, and ultimately ensuring that the final product or service satisfies stakeholder expectations, even if it causes a schedule adjustment.
- ✗
Lower the acceptance criteria to match the deliverable's quality to save time
Why it's wrong here
Unilaterally lowering acceptance criteria to accommodate a substandard deliverable is an unacceptable practice that undermines the project's quality baseline and scope. Such a change constitutes a scope change or a change to the quality management plan, requiring a formal change request, thorough impact analysis, and approval through the Integrated Change Control process involving relevant stakeholders, not a unilateral decision by the project manager.
- ✗
Accept the deliverable since it was completed early and the team can improve it later
Why it's wrong here
Accepting a non-conforming deliverable, even with the intention of future improvement, is a critical misstep in quality management. This approach bypasses the "Control Quality" process, risks formalizing a defective output, and shifts the burden of correction to a later, potentially more costly, stage. It can lead to scope creep, increased technical debt, and a perception of lax quality standards, ultimately jeopardizing project success and customer satisfaction.
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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.