PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  Ask the team to work overtime without additional cost.

  Why it's wrong here

  This option is generally unsustainable and unethical as a primary response to project variances. Expecting overtime without compensation can lead to decreased morale, burnout, reduced productivity, and increased errors, ultimately exacerbating project issues rather than resolving them. Furthermore, it fails to address the underlying root causes of the schedule or cost deviations, making it a short-term, high-risk tactic that is not a PMP-recommended first step.

• ✓

  Conduct root cause analysis of variances, then consider fast tracking or crashing as appropriate.

  Why this is correct

  This is the most appropriate PMP-aligned response. Before implementing any corrective actions, a thorough root cause analysis (RCA) is essential to understand why the project is deviating from its baselines. Only after identifying the true causes can effective and targeted strategies like fast tracking (performing activities in parallel) or crashing (adding resources to shorten duration) be considered and applied judiciously, ensuring the chosen method addresses the specific problem and aligns with project constraints.

• ✗

  Reduce scope to meet the schedule and cost baselines.

  Why it's wrong here

  Reducing project scope is a significant change that directly impacts the project's deliverables and stakeholder value, making it an extreme measure. This action requires formal change control, including re-evaluation of business needs, stakeholder approval, and updates to the scope baseline, which is a complex and often undesirable process. It should only be considered as a last resort when other corrective actions are insufficient or infeasible, not as an initial response to variances.

• ✗

  Crash the schedule by adding resources and request additional budget.

  Why it's wrong here

  Crashing the schedule is a valid schedule compression technique that involves adding resources to critical path activities to shorten their duration, often incurring additional cost. However, implementing crashing without first conducting a root cause analysis of the variances is premature and potentially wasteful. This approach assumes crashing is the optimal solution without understanding the underlying problem, which could lead to ineffective spending or even exacerbate issues if the root cause is not resource-related.

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