PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
Your project team is co-located, but you notice that collaboration has decreased recently. Team members are working in silos, and communication is minimal. You suspect the team is not functioning as a high-performing team. What should you do first?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to choose team-building events (B) as a quick fix for collaboration issues, but the PMP exam emphasizes that process-oriented solutions (like a team charter) should precede social activities to address underlying behavioral norms.
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
✓
Facilitate a meeting to create or revise the team charter with collaboration norms
The team charter establishes shared expectations for collaboration, communication, and conflict resolution. Since the team is co-located but working in silos, the first step is to revisit or create the team charter to realign norms and rebuild a collaborative culture, which directly addresses the root cause of decreased collaboration.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Facilitate a meeting to create or revise the team charter with collaboration norms
Why this is correct
Facilitating a meeting to create or revise the team charter is the most effective and proactive approach to address observed collaboration issues. A team charter explicitly defines shared values, communication protocols, decision-making processes, and, critically, collaboration norms that all team members agree to uphold. This structured approach fosters a sense of collective ownership and provides a clear framework for expected behaviors, directly targeting the root cause of poor collaboration.
- ✗
Organize a team-building event to improve relationships
Why it's wrong here
While team-building events can enhance interpersonal relationships and morale, they are generally a secondary intervention for addressing fundamental process-related collaboration breakdowns. The observed issue points to a lack of established or adhered-to collaboration norms rather than solely strained personal relationships. Addressing the underlying process and setting clear expectations through a formal mechanism like a team charter is a more direct and sustainable solution than relying solely on social activities.
- ✗
Assign specific roles and responsibilities to each team member
Why it's wrong here
Assigning specific roles and responsibilities primarily clarifies who is accountable for what tasks and deliverables, which is distinct from how team members interact and work together. The problem statement indicates a lack of collaboration, implying that the manner of interaction is deficient, not necessarily that individual accountabilities are unclear. While important, redefining roles does not directly address the behavioral norms required for effective team collaboration.
- ✗
Escalate the issue to the project sponsor
Why it's wrong here
Escalating directly to the project sponsor is premature and bypasses the project manager's primary responsibility for team management and conflict resolution. The project manager is expected to first utilize their leadership and facilitation skills to address internal team dynamics and performance issues. Only after exhausting direct interventions and if the issue persists or exceeds the PM's authority should escalation be considered, making this an inappropriate initial response.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to the PMP Exam and Project Management Basics
Key term
Project Team Management
Project Team Management is the process of leading, coordinating, and supporting a group of people to complete project tasks and achieve project objectives.
Key term
Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution is the process of addressing and resolving disagreements between team members or stakeholders to maintain a productive and collaborative project environment.
About these practice questions
This PMP question is part of Courseiva's 800-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. 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.