PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
Your project is running 15% over budget at the midpoint. The team is motivated, but the sponsor is concerned. What should you do first?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is the urge to take immediate corrective action — PMP candidates often pick 'reduce resources' or 'ask for more money' because they sound decisive, but the exam consistently rewards analysis before action.
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
✓
Conduct a variance analysis to identify the reasons for the overspend
Conducting a variance analysis is the first step because it identifies the root causes of the budget overrun — whether it's scope creep, inaccurate estimates, or unexpected costs. PMBOK and PMP best practices dictate that you analyze before acting; jumping to solutions without understanding the cause can worsen the situation. This aligns with the 'analyze first' mindset tested throughout the PMP exam.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Immediately reduce team resources to cut costs
Why it's wrong here
Immediately reducing team resources is a premature and potentially detrimental action. Without first conducting a thorough variance analysis to understand the root causes of the overspend, such a decision risks compromising project scope, quality, or schedule. This reactive measure could lead to further delays or rework, ultimately exacerbating cost issues rather than resolving them effectively.
- ✗
Request the team to work overtime without additional pay
Why it's wrong here
Requesting the team to work overtime without additional compensation is an unethical and unsustainable practice. This approach significantly damages team morale, increases the risk of burnout, and can lead to decreased productivity and quality in the long run. It violates principles of fair labor practices and is not a recommended or effective strategy for addressing budget overruns in professional project management.
- ✓
Conduct a variance analysis to identify the reasons for the overspend
Why this is correct
Conducting a variance analysis is the most appropriate and PMP-recommended first step when a project is over budget. This process involves comparing actual cost performance against the cost baseline to identify the magnitude and specific causes of the deviation. Understanding the root causes through analysis enables the project manager to determine whether corrective actions, preventive actions, or a formal change request to the cost baseline is necessary.
- ✗
Ask the sponsor for additional funding
Why it's wrong here
Asking the sponsor for additional funding as an initial response is inappropriate and demonstrates a lack of proactive project control. Before requesting more funds, the project manager must conduct a comprehensive analysis to understand why the project is over budget and explore all possible internal solutions. Approaching the sponsor without this due diligence suggests poor management and may erode stakeholder confidence.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Team Building and Psychological Safety
Key term
Stakeholder Engagement
Stakeholder engagement is the process of identifying people or groups who have an interest in a project and actively involving them through communication and collaboration to meet their needs and expectations.
Key term
Team Building
Team building is the process of creating a cohesive group of people who work together effectively toward a shared goal.
About these practice questions
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JA
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
This PMP practice question is part of Courseiva's free PMI certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PMP exam.