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's velocity has dropped for the third consecutive sprint. The team members report feeling burned out and demotivated due to excessive overtime. What should the project manager 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
✓
Hold a retrospective focused on identifying the causes of overtime and discuss ways to improve sustainable pace
Option B is correct because the first step when facing burnout and overtime is to hold a retrospective to identify root causes and discuss sustainable pace improvements. This aligns with the agile principle of continuous improvement and the PMP People domain focus on team motivation and well-being. Addressing the underlying issues before taking corrective actions ensures long-term productivity rather than temporary fixes.
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.
✗
Increase the team size by adding new members to distribute the workload
Why it's wrong here
Adding members may not solve burnout and could introduce additional overhead.
✓
Hold a retrospective focused on identifying the causes of overtime and discuss ways to improve sustainable pace
Why this is correct
The retrospective is the appropriate agile ceremony to address team issues and find solutions collaboratively.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Reduce the scope of the next sprint to give the team a break
Why it's wrong here
While well-intentioned, this should be a result of the retrospective, not a unilateral decision.
✗
Inform the product owner that the team cannot commit to any new features until morale improves
Why it's wrong here
This is too abrupt; the PM should first discuss the issue with the team and product owner.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
PMI often tests the misconception that the immediate response to a velocity drop is to add resources or reduce scope, rather than first diagnosing the root cause through a team-led retrospective.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In agile frameworks, sustainable pace is a core principle from the Agile Manifesto, emphasizing that teams should maintain a constant, manageable pace indefinitely. The retrospective is a formal Scrum event (typically time-boxed to 1.5 hours for a one-month sprint) where the team inspects its processes and creates a plan for improvements. Burnout often results from cumulative work-in-progress (WIP) limits being ignored, leading to context switching and reduced flow efficiency, which can be measured using cycle time and throughput metrics.
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: Hold a retrospective focused on identifying the causes of overtime and discuss ways to improve sustainable pace — Option B is correct because the first step when facing burnout and overtime is to hold a retrospective to identify root causes and discuss sustainable pace improvements. This aligns with the agile principle of continuous improvement and the PMP People domain focus on team motivation and well-being. Addressing the underlying issues before taking corrective actions ensures long-term productivity rather than temporary fixes.
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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