Practice for the PMP exam with 17 exam-style practice questions, instant answer reveals, and concise explanations of every correct answer. Topics include: A project team is working to deliver a solution to manage nationwide crisis relief operations. The project team is spend. Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- A project team is working to deliver a solution to manage nationwide crisis relief operations. The project te…
- A project manager works for an organization that intends to begin using agile delivery, but there is a lack o…
- During the implementation phase of a project, a new regulation affects the project, and a critical status mee…
- A client wants to create an innovative software for the travel industry using an agile approach. A project ma…
- A project has been successfully completed. The project was ahead of schedule, under budget, and delivered the…
- While a project manager is trying to build the first baseline for a project, a change request is being sent f…
Answers and explanations
Tap a question to expand the answer and the exam reasoning. Try to commit to your own pick first.
Q1. A project team is working to deliver a solution to manage nationwide crisis relief operations. The project team is spending most of its time in meetings with end users. The meetings have been slowing down project progress. What should the…
Answer: D. D. Put all of the requirements, priorities, and progress on a visible board, share it with all entities, and decrease the number of meetings.
Using a visible information radiator decreases unnecessary meetings while maintaining transparency and obtaining stakeholder approval. Mandating a daily meeting or stopping attendance entirely fails to solve the underlying communication bottleneck and damages valuable stakeholder engagement.
Q2. A project manager works for an organization that intends to begin using agile delivery, but there is a lack of support from some business units. The project manager needs to address the lack of trust in agile. What should the project manag…
Answer: A. A. Negotiate special arrangements for an agile pilot project.
A pilot project builds trust through demonstrated results without forcing a risky, large-scale organizational transition. Detailed work instructions contradict agile principles, and hiring contractors ignores the fundamental need to build internal capability and secure business buy-in.
Q3. During the implementation phase of a project, a new regulation affects the project, and a critical status meeting discussing the scope changes is required. The project manager discovers that a key stakeholder cannot attend the scheduled me…
Answer: D. D. Meet with the stakeholder prior to the meeting to obtain their opinion
Meeting the stakeholder beforehand ensures their critical perspective is included in the scope change discussion. Proceeding directly with the change control board without their input risks alienating a key partner and making poorly informed decisions.
Q4. A client wants to create an innovative software for the travel industry using an agile approach. A project manager from the company was assigned to work on the details and estimates as requested by the client. What should the project manag…
Answer: D. D. Work with the team to understand their views and add the appropriate dependencies and risks.
Agile estimation requires collaborative team input to identify dependencies and risks accurately before sending details to the client. Working independently violates this core principle and leads to unrealistic estimates, despite the temptation to directly deliver a prototype.
Q5. A project has been successfully completed. The project was ahead of schedule, under budget, and delivered the expected benefits. The project sponsor was satisfied and distributed recognition certificates to key project team members. Howeve…
Answer: C. C. Explain the situation to the team member and follow up with a reward and recognition for them.
Explaining the oversight transparently and securing proper recognition maintains fairness and trust. Simply requesting another certificate later ignores the immediate disappointment, while offering a public lunch feels like an inadequate excuse rather than formal recognition.
Q6. While a project manager is trying to build the first baseline for a project, a change request is being sent from one of the functional managers. What should the project manager do?
Answer: D. D. Analyze the impact of the change request on the project.
Analyzing the impact on scope, schedule, and cost is the mandatory first step before any change decision is made. Immediately seeking formal approval or rejecting it outright bypasses the necessary evaluation required to make an informed choice.
Q7. A project manager is leading a program execution and has challenges, because a project team waits for every decision to be made by the project manager. The progress of the team is slow because the project manager is the bottleneck. Upon as…
Answer: D. D. Revise the roles and responsibilities and empower the team to make their own decisions.
Revising roles and empowering the team to make their own decisions eliminates the bottleneck and applies servant leadership principles. Creating a feedback process merely formalizes the dependency, whereas shifting decision-making authority directly accelerates delivery and builds team capability.
Q8. The project manager is reviewing the program risks and issues with key stakeholders. One of the stakeholders wants to understand when the risk may potentially become an issue. What artifact should the project manager share with the stakeho…
Answer: D. D. Risk register
The risk register is the correct artifact because it tracks identified risks alongside their specific triggers and potential timing. The risk management plan merely outlines the methodology for handling risks, whereas the register captures the actual project-specific data requested.
Q9. A lead project manager for an agile project needs to prioritize requirements, define the scope of the initial product, and deliver the approved scope in a series of multiple versions. What should the project manager do next?
Answer: C. C. Work with the product owner to evaluate and prioritize the requirements.
Working with the product owner to evaluate and prioritize requirements is correct because the product owner holds final authority over backlog ordering. The project manager acts as a facilitator to ensure alignment, but should never unilaterally dictate priorities based on stakeholder hierarchy.
Q10. A town wants to build a community center and has appointed a project manager. A site was found, and all of the necessary approvals and governance were completed. When the project kick-off was held, it was discovered that a local farmers' g…
Answer: B. B. Discuss the project objectives with all stakeholders. including the farmers' group, and review their requirements.
Discussing the project objectives with all stakeholders, including the farmers' group, and reviewing their requirements is the correct approach. This promotes inclusive stakeholder engagement and helps identify mutually acceptable solutions. Ignoring them or simply documenting a risk avoids necessary collaboration.
Q11. A project manager is managing a government project that targets the development of small businesses in remote towns. The project team is having difficulty conducting entrepreneurship training in some of the targeted towns because the local…
Answer: B. B. The project did not identify and engage the correct stakeholders.
The most probable reason is that the correct stakeholders, meaning the local municipal authorities, were not identified and engaged early. In government projects, failing to recognize local decision-makers inevitably leads to delays and resistance. Building centers without authorization is an unrealistic distractor.
Q12. A project manager has been managing a project for several months when an issue that had not been registered as a risk appeared. This issue may have a big impact on the project. What should the project manager do?
Answer: B. B. Hold a meeting with the project team and relevant stakeholders to agree on the best way to manage the issue.
Holding a meeting with the project team and stakeholders to determine the best response is the correct approach. This promotes collaboration and enables the development of an effective issue resolution plan. Avoiding the issue or halting the project are passive and incorrect actions.
Q13. A project manager is managing a large project. During a review meeting, the project manager discovers that one of the team members who used to be a high performer was not able to complete their work on time. What should the project manager…
Answer: A. A. Talk to the team member to determine why their performance changed.
The project manager should talk directly with the team member to uncover the root cause of the sudden performance drop. Involving human resources or functional managers immediately is a premature escalation before attempting personal coaching and collaborative problem-solving.
Q14. A project sponsor asked the product owner to deliver the functionality that provides the highest return on investment (ROI) as soon as possible. Which artifact should the project lead use to track benefits?
Answer: B. B. Product backlog
The product backlog is the primary artifact used to prioritize and track the delivery of features based on their value and return on investment. Requirements backlog is a distractor because agile teams officially prioritize work through the product backlog.
Q15. A project is in the final stages, and a key stakeholder demands a change to a product feature that will add 2 weeks to the critical path. What should the project manager do?
Answer: B. B. Perform a detailed assessment to analyze the impact.
Performing a detailed impact assessment is required before deciding how to handle any requested change, regardless of the project phase. Rejecting the change outright bypasses formal change control procedures, while instantly applying schedule compression acts without proper analysis.
Q16. During a project's third iteration, two of the existing team members were replaced. As the project entered the next iteration, the team velocity dropped and the performance started to slip. What should the project manager do?
Answer: A. A. Guide the team to revert back to the forming and storming stages.
According to Tuckman Ladder, adding new members resets the team dynamic, requiring the project manager to coach them back through the forming and storming stages. Escalating performance issues to human resources happens only if coaching fails to restore productivity.
Q17. During the planning stage of a project, the project manager realizes that a standard stakeholder engagement approach will not suffice. One of the client representatives, who is not a key decision maker, is extremely opinionated. This clien…
Answer: C. C. Allocate time to gain buy-in from the stakeholder prior to key decision meetings.
Gaining buy-in from the stakeholder before key meetings is the best approach. This proactive engagement strategy minimizes disruptions. Updating the risk register alone is too passive, as it does not actively solve the interpersonal issue.
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