PMP Process — Managing Technical Aspects Practice Question
Your project team is using a hybrid approach. During a sprint, an executive stakeholder contacts a developer directly and asks them to add a new feature without going through the product owner. The developer is confused about what to do. What should you, as the project manager, do to address this?
⚠ Common exam trap
PMP often tests stakeholder management and Agile governance, and candidates pick options that either bypass the product owner (A, B) or unprofessionally ignore the executive (C), missing the correct approach of private coaching and process reinforcement.
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
✓
Speak with the executive stakeholder privately and remind them that all scope changes must go through the product owner and change control process
As the project manager, you should address the executive privately and reinforce that all scope changes must go through the product owner and the change control process. This respects the executive's position while protecting the team from scope creep and maintaining the integrity of the hybrid approach. It also empowers the developer with clear guidance on how to handle such situations in the future.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Submit a change request on behalf of the executive stakeholder to formalize the request
Why it's wrong here
Submitting a change request on behalf of the executive without prior discussion or addressing the process violation is premature and bypasses proper stakeholder engagement. This action would legitimize an unauthorized scope change rather than correcting the process breach, potentially setting a dangerous precedent for future direct interventions. The project manager's role is to uphold project governance and educate stakeholders on correct procedures, not merely formalize deviations post-factum.
- ✗
Allow the developer to add the feature since it comes from an executive
Why it's wrong here
Allowing the developer to proceed with an executive's direct request for a new feature directly violates the project's established integrated change control process. This action bypasses the Product Owner, who is the sole authority for sprint backlog changes in a hybrid agile environment, and inevitably leads to uncontrolled scope creep. Such unauthorized additions can destabilize the project's baselines, impact resource allocation, and jeopardize the successful delivery of committed sprint goals.
- ✗
Tell the developer to ignore the executive's request and continue with the sprint backlog
Why it's wrong here
Instructing the developer to simply ignore an executive's request without engaging the executive stakeholder directly is an avoidance strategy that can escalate issues and damage stakeholder relationships. This passive approach fails to address the root cause of the process bypass and misses an opportunity to educate the executive on proper project governance and the Product Owner's role. Such an action could lead to further direct interventions or a perception of disrespect, creating more significant problems for the project manager and team.
- ✓
Speak with the executive stakeholder privately and remind them that all scope changes must go through the product owner and change control process
Why this is correct
Speaking with the executive stakeholder privately is the most appropriate and professional course of action to address the process violation respectfully. This allows the project manager to reinforce the importance of the established change control process and remind the executive that all scope modifications, even those from leadership, must be channeled through the Product Owner. This proactive engagement educates the stakeholder, upholds project governance, and prevents future attempts to bypass the agreed-upon procedures, thereby protecting the project's scope and team's focus.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Plans
Key term
Scrum Methodology
Scrum is a lightweight process framework that helps teams deliver complex projects in small, iterative chunks called sprints.
Key term
Change Control Process
A formal, structured procedure used to manage any changes to a project's scope, schedule, budget, or requirements, ensuring every modification is reviewed, approved, tested, and documented before implementation.
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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.