PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
Your project is using a predictive approach. The schedule baseline shows that the project should be 50% complete by now, but only 40% of the work is done. The critical path has been impacted. Several team members are idle because of a dependency conflict. What is the BEST scheduling technique to address this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse resource leveling with crashing or fast tracking, but the key clue is 'idle team members because of a dependency conflict'—this indicates a resource constraint, not a need for schedule compression.
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
✓
Apply resource leveling to resolve the resource conflict and optimize the schedule
Resource leveling is the best technique because the project has idle team members due to a dependency conflict, which is a resource constraint. By adjusting the schedule to resolve the conflict, you can reallocate resources to critical path tasks and optimize the overall schedule without necessarily adding resources or changing the baseline. This directly addresses the root cause of the delay—resource contention—rather than just compressing the schedule.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Apply resource leveling to resolve the resource conflict and optimize the schedule
Why this is correct
Resource leveling is a schedule optimization technique used to adjust the project schedule when resource availability is limited or when common resources are over-allocated. It involves strategically delaying non-critical activities within their float to smooth out resource usage, thereby preventing resource overallocation and optimizing resource utilization across the project. While it may sometimes extend the project's overall duration, it ensures a more realistic and achievable schedule by resolving resource conflicts effectively.
- ✗
Rebaseline the schedule to reflect the current progress
Why it's wrong here
Rebaselining the schedule involves establishing a new performance measurement baseline for the project, which is a formal process. This action should only be undertaken after significant, approved changes to the project scope, schedule, or cost baseline have been incorporated, not as an immediate corrective action for current performance issues or resource conflicts. Rebaselining resets the basis for future performance measurement, making it inappropriate for resolving an active resource conflict without prior change approval.
- ✗
Fast track the schedule by performing tasks in parallel
Why it's wrong here
Fast tracking is a schedule compression technique that involves performing project activities in parallel that would typically be executed in sequence. While this method can shorten the project's overall duration, it inherently increases project risk due to potential rework, quality issues, and increased communication complexity from overlapping phases. Critically, fast tracking does not directly resolve resource conflicts or optimize resource allocation; it primarily focuses on time reduction, potentially exacerbating resource overloads if not carefully managed.
- ✗
Crash the schedule by adding resources to critical path tasks
Why it's wrong here
Crashing is a schedule compression technique that involves adding resources to critical path activities to shorten their duration, typically incurring additional cost. While effective for reducing the project's overall completion time, crashing primarily focuses on accelerating specific tasks and does not inherently address underlying resource conflicts or optimize the utilization of existing resources across the entire project. It might even create new resource overloads or fail to resolve issues stemming from task dependencies rather than insufficient task duration, making it an unsuitable primary solution for resource leveling.
Visual reference
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 800 original PMP practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.