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.
You are the project manager for a software development project using a hybrid approach. Two senior developers, Maria and John, have a disagreement about the technical approach for implementing a critical feature. Their conflict is causing delays and affecting team morale. What should you do first?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "first"
Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Meet privately with Maria and John to understand each perspective and facilitate a resolution
Option C is correct because, as the project manager using a hybrid approach, your first responsibility is to address the conflict directly by understanding each developer's perspective and facilitating a collaborative resolution. This aligns with the PMP's focus on servant leadership and conflict management, ensuring that technical decisions are made based on merit and team consensus rather than authority or voting, which could undermine team cohesion and the hybrid model's flexibility.
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.
✗
Escalate the issue to the functional manager to resolve the technical disagreement
Why it's wrong here
PM should first attempt resolution before escalating; this is a team management issue.
✗
Tell the team to vote on the technical approach and proceed with the majority decision
Why it's wrong here
Voting may not resolve the conflict and could create winners and losers, damaging team cohesion.
✓
Meet privately with Maria and John to understand each perspective and facilitate a resolution
Why this is correct
Direct, private conflict resolution is the best first step to address the issue constructively.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Reassign one of the developers to a different task to reduce friction
Why it's wrong here
Reassignment avoids the underlying conflict and may not be a sustainable solution.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may mistakenly choose escalation (A) or reassignment (D) as quick fixes, overlooking the PMP's emphasis on collaborative conflict resolution and servant leadership, or they may opt for voting (B) as a seemingly democratic solution, not realizing it can compromise technical quality and team dynamics.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In a hybrid project management approach, which combines predictive and agile elements, the project manager must act as a facilitator to resolve technical disputes by encouraging open dialogue and evidence-based decision-making. This involves using techniques like active listening, root cause analysis, and possibly a technical spike or proof-of-concept to validate assumptions, ensuring that the chosen implementation aligns with both project constraints and architectural integrity. Real-world scenarios, such as choosing between a microservices or monolithic architecture for a critical feature, require this collaborative approach to balance trade-offs in scalability, maintainability, and delivery speed.
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: Meet privately with Maria and John to understand each perspective and facilitate a resolution — Option C is correct because, as the project manager using a hybrid approach, your first responsibility is to address the conflict directly by understanding each developer's perspective and facilitating a collaborative resolution. This aligns with the PMP's focus on servant leadership and conflict management, ensuring that technical decisions are made based on merit and team consensus rather than authority or voting, which could undermine team cohesion and the hybrid model's flexibility.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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