PMP Practice Question: Business Environment: strategy and project benefits
Your organization is undergoing an agile transformation. The current project uses Scrum, but the executive sponsor wants to adopt SAFe to align with enterprise strategy. Several team members resist the change, citing loss of autonomy. As the project manager, what should you do first?
⚠ Common exam trap
PMP often tests the instinct to escalate or mandate when facing resistance — candidates pick the authoritative option thinking the sponsor's directive justifies it, but PMP consistently rewards communication, engagement, and servant leadership over coercion.
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
✓
Organize a meeting with the team to discuss concerns and explain the benefits of SAFe in alignment with organizational strategy
In an agile transformation, resistance to change is best addressed through open communication and engagement — meeting with the team to understand concerns and explain how SAFe aligns with organizational strategy builds buy-in and respects the team's autonomy concerns. This is the servant-leadership and stakeholder-engagement approach PMP expects.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Mandate the adoption of SAFe and enforce it through performance reviews
Why it's wrong here
This approach is authoritarian and fails to engage stakeholders, which is crucial for successful organizational change. Mandating a framework like SAFe without addressing team concerns or providing adequate rationale will likely lead to passive resistance, decreased morale, and ultimately hinder the transformation's success, directly contradicting principles of servant leadership and collaborative problem-solving.
- ✗
Delay the transformation until the next fiscal year to avoid conflict
Why it's wrong here
Delaying a strategic organizational transformation is a reactive and avoidance-based tactic that fails to address the underlying issues or the strategic imperative driving the change. This approach postpones necessary adaptation, potentially causing the organization to fall behind competitors, miss market opportunities, and erode stakeholder confidence in leadership's ability to navigate change effectively.
- ✗
Escalate to the project sponsor and request that the team be replaced
Why it's wrong here
Requesting to replace the entire team is an extreme and punitive measure that fails to address the root causes of resistance, such as lack of understanding, fear of change, or perceived threats to job security. This action would severely damage trust, morale, and institutional knowledge, incurring significant costs in recruitment and onboarding, while also signaling a failure of leadership to manage change and engage its workforce effectively.
- ✓
Organize a meeting with the team to discuss concerns and explain the benefits of SAFe in alignment with organizational strategy
Why this is correct
This option embodies key agile and change management principles by proactively engaging the team, listening to their concerns, and transparently communicating the strategic rationale and benefits of SAFe. By fostering open dialogue and demonstrating how the transformation aligns with organizational goals, this approach builds understanding, addresses resistance constructively, and promotes buy-in, which is essential for sustainable adoption and successful change.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Managing Conflicts and Communication
Key term
Organizational Change Management
Organizational Change Management (OCM) is the structured approach to preparing, supporting, and guiding people through changes in an organization to ensure lasting success.
Key term
Project Management Plan
A formal, approved document that defines how a project is executed, monitored, controlled, and closed, serving as the single source of truth for the project team.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official PMI exam blueprint
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