PMP People — Leading Projects Practice Question
Your team has been working together for three months and has started to gel. However, you notice that the team is not openly sharing differing opinions during meetings, and decisions are being made too quickly without considering alternatives. What stage of team development is the team likely in, and what should you do?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse the lack of conflict with the performing stage, but the key clue is 'decisions being made too quickly without considering alternatives,' which signals groupthink in norming, not the high-functioning autonomy of performing.
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
✓
The team is in the norming stage; encourage constructive conflict and diverse viewpoints.
The team has been together for three months and is gelling, indicating they have moved past the storming stage into norming. However, the lack of open disagreement and rushed decisions without considering alternatives is a classic sign of groupthink, which is a risk in the norming stage. The correct action is to encourage constructive conflict and diverse viewpoints to prevent premature consensus and ensure robust decision-making.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The team is in the forming stage; organize team-building activities.
Why it's wrong here
The forming stage is characterized by initial politeness, uncertainty, and dependence on the project manager for direction, as members are new to each other and the project. A team that has been together for three months, even if exhibiting some challenges, has typically progressed beyond this initial orientation phase. While team-building is always valuable, the symptoms described in the question stem (which imply conflict avoidance rather than initial unfamiliarity) do not align with the primary characteristics of a team still in the forming stage.
- ✓
The team is in the norming stage; encourage constructive conflict and diverse viewpoints.
Why this is correct
The norming stage is where team members begin to resolve differences, develop cohesion, and establish working norms and relationships. However, teams in this stage often prioritize harmony, leading to an avoidance of deeper, constructive conflict that could challenge established comfort zones. Encouraging diverse viewpoints and facilitating healthy debate is crucial here to prevent groupthink, foster innovation, and enable the team to address complex issues more effectively, thus maturing towards higher performance.
- ✗
The team is in the storming stage; facilitate conflict resolution.
Why it's wrong here
The storming stage is distinctly marked by overt conflict, power struggles, and resistance as team members assert individuality and challenge leadership or task requirements. The question stem implies a situation where conflict is being avoided, rather than openly expressed or confronted. While conflict resolution is a key activity for a project manager during storming, the team's behavior of sidestepping disagreements does not align with the direct confrontation and open challenges characteristic of this turbulent phase.
- ✗
The team is in the performing stage; let them continue as they are.
Why it's wrong here
In the performing stage, teams are highly functional, interdependent, and capable of solving problems and making decisions effectively, including managing conflict constructively and independently. If the team is avoiding conflict, they have not yet developed the high level of trust, psychological safety, and maturity required to navigate disagreements productively and leverage diverse perspectives. Therefore, simply allowing them to continue without intervention would hinder their development and prevent them from reaching optimal performance.
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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.