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.
Your agile team has been working together for three months, and you notice that sprint velocity has been steadily declining. During the retrospective, team members mention they feel overworked and unclear about priorities. What is the BEST action to take?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Facilitate a discussion with the product owner and team to reprioritize the backlog and reduce workload
Option A is correct because it directly addresses the root causes of declining velocity: unclear priorities and overwork. By facilitating a discussion between the team and the product owner, you enable collaborative backlog reprioritization and workload adjustment, which aligns with the agile principle of sustainable pace and the servant leadership role of the project manager. This action empowers the team to focus on the highest-value work while reducing burnout, which is the most effective way to restore velocity.
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.
✓
Facilitate a discussion with the product owner and team to reprioritize the backlog and reduce workload
Why this is correct
This addresses the root causes of overwork and unclear priorities, aligning with agile principles of sustainable pace and continuous improvement.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Add more team members to the next sprint to increase capacity
Why it's wrong here
Adding people may not solve the root cause and can introduce onboarding overhead.
✗
Ask the team to work overtime for the next two sprints to catch up
Why it's wrong here
Working overtime is not sustainable and can lead to burnout, further reducing velocity.
✗
Implement a daily stand-up meeting to track progress more closely
Why it's wrong here
While daily stand-ups are useful, they do not address the underlying issues of workload and prioritization.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose a process-focused answer like adding a daily stand-up (Option D) or a capacity-focused answer like adding team members (Option B), mistakenly believing these will improve tracking or throughput, when the real issue is a lack of clarity and unsustainable workload that must be resolved through collaboration with the product owner.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In agile frameworks like Scrum, the sprint retrospective is the formal inspect-and-adapt event where the team identifies process improvements. The product owner is responsible for backlog prioritization, but the project manager (or Scrum Master) facilitates the conversation to ensure the team's capacity is respected. A common real-world scenario is when stakeholders add scope mid-sprint without adjusting the backlog, leading to context switching and reduced throughput—this is why the team must reprioritize together to maintain a sustainable velocity that aligns with the team's actual capacity.
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: Facilitate a discussion with the product owner and team to reprioritize the backlog and reduce workload — Option A is correct because it directly addresses the root causes of declining velocity: unclear priorities and overwork. By facilitating a discussion between the team and the product owner, you enable collaborative backlog reprioritization and workload adjustment, which aligns with the agile principle of sustainable pace and the servant leadership role of the project manager. This action empowers the team to focus on the highest-value work while reducing burnout, which is the most effective way to restore velocity.
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: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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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