PMP Practice Questions PDF

Q21: A key member of a project team publicly declare that another team member has been speaking negatively about them. The team member threatens to quit their job if the project manager does not take immediate action to address the conflict.\ \ What should the project manager do first? A\) Call a t...

Q21: A key member of a project team publicly declare that another team member has been speaking negatively about them. The team member threatens to quit their job if the project manager does not take immediate action to address the conflict.\ \ What should the project manager do first? A\) Call a team meeting because the project is in jeopardy without the key team member. B\) Meet with the accused team member to understand their point of view. C\) Schedule a meeting in the future to allow the issue to diffuse over time. D\) Decide to remove one of the two members of the team to address the conflict. Correct Answer: B Rationale: Solution: B. Meet with the accused team member to understand their point of view.\ The project manager should meet with the accused team member to understand more about the situation first before attempting to start resolving this conflict.\ The other answer choices are incorrect. Calling a team meeting is not effective as the other team members are not involved in the conflict between the two members; the option to remove one of the members will jeopardize the work delivery without resolving the conflict; and scheduling a meeting in the future does not address the current issue and conflicts should be addressed immediately. Q22: A project team has complete access to all project-related data, including visual data and information like the Gantt chart, prioritization matrix, story map, and other inputs. However, a project team member repeatedly requests more granular details on a work package than the Gantt chart indicates. The Gantt chart is confirmed to be comprehensive and current, and the other project team members feel that the current Gantt chart is sufficiently detailed.\ \ What should a project manager do to address this situation? A\) Create a new communication channel with granular updates. B\) Ensure that the team member understands the granular information retrieval process. C\) Remind the project team member that the Gantt chart was the agreed format. D\) Continue to ignore the project team members\' requests. Correct Answer: B Rationale: Solution: B. Ensure that the team member understands the granular information retrieval process.\ Visual data and information are artifacts that organize and present data and information in a visual format, such as charts, graphs, matrices, and diagrams. Visualizing data makes it easier to absorb data and turn it into information. Visualization artifacts are often produced after data have been collected and analyzed. A Gantt chart is a bar chart that provides schedule information where activities are listed on the vertical axis, dates are shown on the horizontal axis, and activity durations are shown as horizontal bars placed according to start and finish dates.\ The project manager should ensure that the team member understands how to retrieve the granular update from the data as the member can self-serve. The team member should be empowered to get the level of information that they are authorized to get.\ The other answer choices are incorrect. Since it is only the specific project team member who wishes for more granular updates, creating a whole new communication channel for an individual may be a waste of resources. Ignoring the requests or reminding them that the team had agreed on the current reporting format of the Gantt chart would not address the situation. It may worsen the conflict with the team member who has an expectation gap not met. Q23: An organization is adopting an agile approach to fulfill its customer\'s requirements. Prior to that, the organization worked with specialized resources and project managers who were assigned to the project for a fixed amount of time.\ \ What should the organization change to better adopt the agile approach for resource planning? A\) The product owner should request specialists to be assigned to the team only when they are required. B\) The team should consist of generalists and specialists capable of adapting to changing requirements. C\) The agile team should decide on which customer requirements will be developed and delivered. D\) Customer involvement should be reduced in order to avoid disruptions and confusion. Correct Answer: B Rationale: Solution: B. The team should consist of generalists and specialists capable of adapting to changing requirements.\ An agile team is intended to work together and constantly improve. The organization should ensure that the agile team has an agreed mix of generalists and specialists for the duration of the project. This aligns with the agile philosophy of cross-functional teams and adaptability to evolving needs.\ The other answer choices are incorrect and do not align with the principles of agile development.\ Requesting for specialists only when required is inefficient and can lead to disruptions and delays.\ Customer involvement is important in agile, as it helps to ensure that the team is developing the right features and meeting the customer\'s needs. Q24: In the most recent sprint review meeting, the client announced that they need to implement two of the five modules committed for the project in a few weeks.\ \ What should the project manager do? A\) Conduct a brainstorming meeting. B\) Employ the nominal group technique. C\) Conduct a release plan meeting. D\) Use prototypes to refine the design. Correct Answer: C Rationale: Solution: C. Conduct a release plan meeting.\ Release planning meetings identify a high-level plan for releasing or transitioning a product, deliverable, or increment of value. The project manager should conduct a release plan meeting to discuss the upcoming release and create a plan for delivering it. This would allow them to re-prioritize the work to deliver the two modules first.\ Conducting a brainstorming meeting, employing the nominal group technique, or using prototypes, can be valuable tools in different contexts but do not directly address the client\'s immediate request to reprioritize and plan for the delivery of specific modules within a short timeframe. Q25: In the middle of a release, the project manager is replaced. Feedback provided by the team to the new project manager hinted a team friction caused by the previous project manager\'s constant demands for rapid delivery.\ \ What approach should the new project manager adopt to quickly establish credibility with the team? A\) Do what the team needs to be done, maintain the action log, and provide feedback. B\) Help the team succeed with excellent service, on-time commitments, and an adequate budget. C\) Assess the culture of the team, and observe and interact with them. D\) Have the team explain what is needed, create tasks, and report progress on those tasks. Correct Answer: C Rationale: Solution: C. Assess the culture of the team, and observe and interact with them\ To quickly establish credibility, it is important that the new project manager first observe and understand how the team works and how to best serve them.\ The other answer choices are incorrect. Helping the team succeed with excellent service, on-time commitments, and making sure that there is an adequate budget to cover the project scope is part of the project manager\'s role and is implicit and these actions will not help the project manager to quickly establish credibility with the team which is the primary objective. Going by the team\'s needs and wants and creating tasks and reports will not serve the primary objective. The team members may have conflicting views, wants, and needs. Ultimately, it is important to observe the team to identify where impactful changes can be made and to ensure that any changes are aligned with the culture of the organization and best support the intended outcome. Q26: An organization makes an acquisition of a similar product halfway through the development cycle of a potential product. This might create an overlap in the product portfolio.\ \ What should the project manager do next? A\) Assess the feasibility and viability of the project with the product owner. B\) Continue to develop the product for the benefit of the organization. C\) Discuss the potential impact of the acquisition with team members. D\) Halt the project until a clear path emerges for the product roadmap. Correct Answer: A Rationale: Solution: A. Assess the feasibility and viability of the project with the product owner.\ The project manager should assess the impact of the new acquisition and determine the next steps with the product owner. This would ensure that expectations are aligned.\ The other answer choices are incorrect. Continuing with the product development or halting the work is not reasonable, since the action may result in a waste of effort or time if the organization\'s intentions are not aligned. Discussing the potential impact is valid, but is not the next step. The discussion should be with the product owner first. The team members may join the discussion later for the impact analysis. Q27: A project team, distributed across three different countries, is having a difficult time arranging meetings. The team members are also unclear about the project requirements and are having trouble getting their questions answered.\ \ What should be done to increase project success? A\) Work independently until it is necessary to integrate the work. B\) Review the communications management plan and increase information sharing. C\) Increase frequency of team meetings to discuss any questions. D\) Bring questions to the functional managers to resolve issues across the team. Correct Answer: B Rationale: Solution: B. Review the communications management plan and increase information sharing\ The project manager should review and improve the communications management plan to improve information sharing.\ The other answer choices are incorrect. These options do not increase project success since independent work is not efficient if members are unclear about the requirements; increasing frequency of meetings is also not likely to help if there is stated difficulty arranging them; and raising questions to functional management may transfer the work to functional managers unnecessarily.\ When teams are virtual/distributed, increased documentation helps ensure that requirements are understood by all involved. It can become virtually impossible to get everyone on all the calls, so relying solely on verbal communication limits success. Q28: A project team working in an adaptative approach geographically distributed in different countries. Daily meetings are conducted in a common language over a conference call, and the project manager takes notes to track work progress. Differences in pronunciation, accent, and vocabulary make it extremely difficult for members to understand each other.\ What should the project manager tailor to improve the daily meeting and avoid misunderstanding risks? A\) Use the call to verbally summarize the work status as reported by members. B\) Use an electronic task board to give a visual representation of the work progress for each member. C\) Ask for a change in the project\'s budget to provide access to a real-time translation IA service. So, members can listen to the meeting in their own language. D\) Tailor the project to use a method to make the team members to report daily on the work completed, work to do, and blockers, which will be sent to the team\'s email distribution list. Correct Answer: B Rationale: Solution: B. Use an electronic task board to give a visual summary of the work progress for each member.\ The project manager should use an electronic task board to give a visual summary of the work progress for each member. The electronic task board will provide a common source of truth and will eliminate difficult pronunciations. The daily meeting should be maintained to allow team members to express themselves which is fundamental.\ The other answer choices are incorrect. Summarizing or directing work is against adaptive principles of communication first and collaboration. Real-time translation can introduce further information distortion. Q29: During a standup meeting, the project manager discovers that one of the software developers is struggling to complete work because they lack experience with automation testing, potentially affecting the iteration goal. A quality assurance engineer on the team has automation testing experience but is busy preparing a presentation for new employees.\ \ What action would increase the chances of achieving the iteration goal? A\) Reassign the automation work to the engineer as soon as the presentation is finished. B\) Immediately train the software developer on automation testing and then proceed with testing. C\) Ask the quality assurance engineer to assist the software developer as soon as possible. D\) Reschedule the automation testing for when the quality assurance engineer is available. Correct Answer: C Rationale: Solution: C. Ask the quality assurance engineer to assist the software developer as soon as possible.\ Asking the quality assurance engineer to assist the software developer as soon as possible can increase the chances of the iteration goal being achieved. To address this issue efficiently, it\'s crucial to provide timely assistance. By asking the quality assurance engineer to assist the software developer, the team can leverage the engineer\'s expertise in automation testing, which can lead to more efficient problem-solving and task completion.\ The other answer choices are incorrect in this context.\ Reassigning the work or rescheduling the automation testing may introduce delays, and immediate training may not be feasible within the iterations timebox and could impact the overall project plan. When there is time, the project manager should seek to provide the team member with training and development opportunities to help fill the knowledge gap. Q30: An oil refinery project is in the middle of the execution phase. The project team found that the project is delayed because of an environmental regulation change, procurement delays, and a change in government. However, the project deliverable is still urgently needed.\ \ What should the project manager do next? A\) Terminate the project immediately, avoid further loss through more expenditure, and absorb the current loss. B\) Review the impact of the changes, comply with the new regulations, and then propose a new plan. C\) Make the necessary arrangements for the procurement materials, and continue the project as planned. D\) Stop the project and negotiate with the new government to pay the invoices for work done up to that point. Correct Answer: B Rationale: Solution: B. Review the impact of the changes, comply with the new regulations, and then propose a new plan.\ Any regulatory requirements or changes to requirements must be reviewed and aligned with the new regulations. By reviewing the impact of the changes, complying with the new regulations, and proposing a new plan, the project manager can increase the chances of success and minimize the impact of the delays.\ The other options are too risky, drastic, or premature. Stopping the project is not going to give any proposed solution considering the context of delivery urgency. Q31: An agile project is in the first of six iterations. The team is located globally, so the meetings are in a virtual environment. After the fifth daily meeting, the project manager realizes that not all members are actively participating.\ \ What should the project manager do? A\) Ask the team members why participation is lacking. B\) Engage and guide the team to encourage all members to participate. C\) Ask each team member individually to participate in future meetings. D\) Allow the team to find their own way to fully participate. Correct Answer: B Rationale: Solution: B. Engage and guide the team to encourage all members to participate.\ The project manager should engage and guide the team to encourage all members to participate. The project manager has to be sure that the environment can accommodate member participation. The project manager should take a proactive approach to address the issue and ensure that all team members are actively participating and contributing to the project\'s success.\ The other options are incorrect.\ Asking why participation is lacking may not provide the insights necessary to address the issue and does not propose a solution.\ Asking each team member individually or allowing the team to find their own way to participate does not address the root cause of the issue and may lead to continued participation issues. Q32: A project manager is working on a project to modernize a bank\'s information technology (IT) infrastructure. The project manager recently received approval of the project\'s change management plan from the project sponsor. The project sponsor now requests that the project manager implement a new piece of technology in the solution.\ \ What should the project manager do next? A\) Add the new technology as a risk in the risk register. B\) Submit a change request to the change control board (CCB). C\) Update the schedule and cost baselines with the new technology. D\) Request that the project sponsor procures the new technology. Correct Answer: B Rationale: Solution: B. Submit a change request to the change control board (CCB).\ When there\'s a proposed change to a project, such as implementing a new piece of technology, the change should be formally documented, evaluated, and approved or rejected through a change control process. The project manager should submit a change request to the CCB, which will then decide whether to approve or reject the change based on its impact on project objectives.\ The other options are incorrect because they do not align with the standard project management practice of addressing scope changes through a formal change control process.\ Adding the new technology to the risk register is incorrect because it is not the immediate action to take when the project sponsor requests to implement a new piece of technology.\ Before updating any baselines, the proposed change should go through the change control process. The project manager would only update the appropriate project management plan components if the change is approved.\ Taking steps to procure the new technology should not be the immediate next step. The change request needs to be submitted and approved before any action is taken toward implementing the new technology and requesting proposals. Q33: A developer is expressing concerns about the time spent on daily standups, updating stories, creating tasks, and reviewing dependencies between stories instead of developing code. Other team members support the comment.\ \ What should a servant leader do next? A\) Ask for suggestions on how to manage their time more effectively. B\) Reduce the interactions among team members to increase development time. C\) Explain the definition of an information radiator to the project team. D\) Acknowledge the developer\'s frustration and emphasize the benefit of each activity. Correct Answer: D Rationale: Solution: D. Acknowledge the developer\'s frustration and emphasize the benefit of each activity.\ \ A key role of a servant leader is to coach the team in agile practices and highlight the benefits of each activity and agile ceremony and how they can help the team complete their tasks faster. This can lead to increased motivation and productivity, as the team sees how their work contributes to the overall success of the project.\ \ The other answer choices are incorrect. A servant leader encourages the team to interact to find effective solutions that can reduce the development time. The scrum master is the master of all Scrum practices and asking the team for suggestions is inappropriate. Explaining the definition of an information radiator is not relevant in the present scenario. Q34: A developer has completed the deliverable for a feature. The product owner is not sure how to assess the quality of the deliverable.\ \ Considering that the project is using an agile approach, what kind of tool or technique should the product owner use? A\) Expert judgment B\) Prototyping C\) Demonstrations/reviews D\) Checklists Correct Answer: C Rationale: Solution: C. Demonstrations/reviews\ \ Demos or reviews is a part of every agile sprint that helps the product owner or customer to gain visibility on the development progress and provide feedback that facilities the team to make appropriate changes early in the project. Hence this option is the correct answer.\ \ Expert judgement, prototyping, and checklists are techniques that are generally a part of predictive project management approaches and hence is irrelevant in this scenario. As a result, these options are incorrect. Q35: During execution, the customer submits a change request to maintain the project\'s business value, which has been threatened by a recently implemented government regulatory change. The project manager analyzes the change, which will require 50% of the project deliverable to be reworked and will incur additional costs to the customer.\ \ What should the project manager do? A\) Submit the change request to the CCB as the customer will be comfortable absorbing all additional costs. B\) Submit the change request to the CCB and advise the panel to consider rejecting the request due to its impact. C\) Submit the change request to the CCB and explain the reason for the request, including a cost-impact analysis. D\) Submit the change request to show the change as having no impact, then proceed without notifying the CCB. Correct Answer: C Rationale: Solution: C. Submit the change request to the CCB and explain the reason for the request, including a cost-impact analysis.\ The project manager should document and submit the change request to the CCB for review and approval. Since there is a significant cost impact, the cost-impact analysis must be part of the submission.\ The other answer choices are incorrect. Whether the customer is absorbing the cost or not is irrelevant to the change request. A change request is to capture the reasons for change, the impact on the project, and other relevant facts. It is not required for the project manager to advise as part of the request. The project manager should follow a code of ethics and must not make up or omit any important information from the CCB. Q36: A project manager is leading a complex software development project. The project team cannot agree on which process to use when solving a specific problem.\ \ What approach should the project manager take to help bring the team to consensus? A\) Exert expert authority and determine the path forward and the specific process to use to address the problem. B\) Update the responsible, accountable, consult, and inform (RACI) matrix and assign the work to a different team. C\) Assign a new team lead who has experience in solving similar software development problems. D\) Facilitate a meeting and encourage team members to come up with potential solutions. Correct Answer: D Rationale: Solution: D. Facilitate a meeting and encourage team members to come up with potential solutions.\ The best option is to facilitate a meeting with the team to work out the solution. A collaborative approach not only inspires creative problem solving but also fosters team member engagement and participation.\ The other options are less than ideal as they do not promote teamwork and collaboration. Bringing a different leader without considering the team\'s opportunity to learn can lead to low morale. Q37: During project closure, the team considers that the final sprint retrospective is not necessary because there are no remaining sprints. What should the project manager point out as a helpful outcome of holding this sprint retrospective? A\) Improvement in velocity if the same team is formed in the future. B\) Promotion opportunities for the team members. C\) Information that could be useful for future projects. D\) Tips for adapting to working together if that happens in the near future. Correct Answer: C Rationale: Solution: C. Information that could be useful for future projects.\ Even though there are no remaining sprints, holding a final sprint retrospective can still provide valuable insights and lessons learned for future projects. It allows the team to reflect on their overall performance, identify areas of improvement, and capture knowledge that can be applied in similar projects or for continuous improvement. The retrospective helps to foster a culture of learning and provides an opportunity for the team to celebrate their successes and address any remaining issues or challenges.\ The other answers are incorrect. Velocity improvement for the same team in the future is not the most relevant outcome of a final sprint retrospective. The purpose of a sprint retrospective is not directly related to individual team members\' promotion opportunities. Tips for adapting to future teamwork situations are not the main objective of a final sprint retrospective. Q38: Some of the project\'s materials have been ordered from overseas. The supplier notifies the project team that the materials will not reach the site on time due to a customs clearance delay that will affect the critical path.\ \ What should the project manager do first? A\) Ask the logistics team to arrange an expedited clearance. B\) Revisit the risk register and implement the respective risk response. C\) Identify the root cause of the delay and add it to the bid documents. D\) Ensure the suppliers cover any additional costs due to the delay. Correct Answer: B Rationale: Solution: B. Revisit the risk register and implement the respective risk response\ The project manager should first revisit the risk register since corrective action has been identified at the beginning of the project. Information in a risk register can include the person responsible for managing the risk, probability, impact, risk score, planned risk responses, and other information used to get a high-level understanding of individual risks.\ The other options are incorrect because the project manager should first review the risk register to determine the appropriate course of action.\ Asking the logistics team to arrange expedited clearance is incorrect because it may not be possible and customs regulations are controlled by regional or governmental bodies.\ Identifying the root cause of the issue is incorrect because the basic cause is known in this case. This option is also incorrect because bid documents are used to request proposals from prospective suppliers and the supplier has already been chosen.\ It may not be possible to ensure that the suppliers cover additional costs, agreements like that are typically determined when entering a contract with a supplier. Q39: During a one-year project, a team delivered everything as requested and defined by the product owner and met all of the sprint goals. The project was on track regarding schedule, scope, and budget. A few months after the project release, the product satisfaction surveys show that the customer\'s level of satisfaction is surprisingly low.\ \ What should the project manager do to prevent this situation in the future? A\) Hold a kick-off meeting at the beginning of the project. B\) Use a traceability matrix to track the customer acceptance. C\) Increase project management office (PMO) involvement. D\) Conduct periodic reviews with customer involvement. Correct Answer: D Rationale: Solution: D. Conduct periodic reviews with customer involvement.\ The project manager should take a proactive approach to ensure that the customer is satisfied with the project deliverables and that their needs and expectations are being met. Conducting periodic reviews with customer involvement is an important step in achieving this goal.\ The other answer choices are incorrect. Holding a kick-off meeting at the beginning of the project is not sufficient. Increasing PMO involvement and using a traceability matrix would not address the customer satisfaction issue. Q40: A project manager has just received news that a new regulation has been adopted and the expectation is that the project will be delivered compliant with this new regulation. This was previously documented as a risk item with a low probability and a moderate impact.\ \ What should the project manager do first? A\) Revisit the risk register and update the rating and response. B\) Update the issue log and apply corrective action. C\) Revise the project management plan. D\) Initiate a change request for the updated regulation. Correct Answer: A Rationale: Solution: A. Revisit the risk register and update the rating and response.\ The project manager should first revisit the risk register and update the rating and response for the risk of the new regulation. The probability of the risk has now increased to 100%, as the regulation has been adopted. The impact of the risk may also have increased, as the project is now required to be compliant with the regulation.\ The other answer choices are not as relevant or effective. Updating the issue log and applying corrective action is not the first thing that the project manager should do. The project manager should first update the risk register to reflect the new information. Revising the project management plan may be necessary if the new regulation requires significant changes to the project scope. However, the project manager should first update the risk register to assess the impact of the new regulation on the project. Initiating a change request for the updated regulation may be necessary if the new regulation requires significant changes to the project scope. However, the project manager should first update the risk register to assess the impact of the new regulation on the project.