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Question 21

A project manager notices that a high-priority risk has become more likely after a major supplier changed its manufacturing process. What should the project manager do first?

1. Close the risk because the original assumptions are no longer valid.
2. Review and reassess the risk with the appropriate stakeholders.
3. Immediately transfer the risk to the supplier.
4. Remove the supplier from the project.

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation

When circumstances surrounding an identified risk change, the project manager should reassess its probability, impact, proximity, and potential response. The supplier’s process change may increase or decrease the project’s exposure, so the risk information should be updated based on current facts. The project manager should involve relevant stakeholders when evaluating the change. Automatically transferring or eliminating the risk without analysis may be inappropriate. Regular risk reassessment ensures that the risk register remains current and that response strategies continue to match the project’s actual exposure.

Question 22

During a sprint review, customers provide feedback that a feature is useful but does not fully address their business need. What should the team do?

1. Ignore the feedback because the feature has already been completed.
2. Ask the sponsor to approve the existing feature.
3. Capture the feedback and use it to reprioritize or refine future backlog items.
4. Restart the completed sprint immediately.

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation

Sprint reviews provide an opportunity for stakeholders to inspect the product increment and provide feedback. If customers identify that a feature does not fully satisfy their business need, the feedback should be captured and used to refine or reprioritize future backlog items. This supports continuous adaptation and value delivery. Ignoring feedback defeats the purpose of iterative inspection. Restarting a completed sprint is generally unnecessary, while sponsor approval does not replace the product owner’s responsibility for managing and prioritizing the product backlog.

Question 23

A project manager discovers that a team member has valuable knowledge that is not documented anywhere. The team member will leave the organization before project completion. What should the project manager do?

1. Wait until the team member leaves and then identify a replacement.
2. Capture and transfer the knowledge before the team member leaves.
3. Ask the team member to keep the information confidential.
4. Remove the team member’s responsibilities immediately.

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation

Undocumented knowledge creates a significant project risk when a knowledgeable team member is expected to leave. The project manager should facilitate knowledge transfer through documentation, demonstrations, mentoring, workshops, or other appropriate methods. Capturing lessons learned and critical technical or process information can reduce dependency on a single individual. Waiting until the person leaves may result in permanent knowledge loss. Removing responsibilities without transferring knowledge can make the situation worse. Effective knowledge management ensures that important information remains available to the project team and organization.

Question 24

A project manager calculates the schedule performance index (SPI) as 0.82. What does this indicate?

1. The project is progressing slower than planned.
2. The project is progressing faster than planned.
3. The project is exactly on schedule.
4. The project is under budget.

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation

The Schedule Performance Index is calculated as earned value divided by planned value, or SPI = EV/PV. An SPI of 1.0 indicates that the project is performing according to the planned schedule. An SPI below 1.0 indicates that less work has been accomplished than was planned at that point in time. Therefore, an SPI of 0.82 indicates schedule performance below the planned level. SPI does not directly measure cost performance. Cost performance is assessed using measures such as the Cost Performance Index, which compares earned value with actual cost.

Question 25

A project manager is working with a team that has recently been formed. Team members are unfamiliar with one another and frequently ask for direction about roles and procedures. Which leadership approach is most appropriate?

1. Allow the team to operate without guidance.
2. Establish clear expectations, roles, working agreements, and communication practices.
3. Replace team members who require additional guidance.
4. Assign all decisions to the project sponsor.

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation

A newly formed team generally benefits from clear direction and structure. The project manager should help team members understand responsibilities, project objectives, communication methods, decision-making processes, and working agreements. This creates a foundation for collaboration and gradually allows the team to become more self-managing. Providing no guidance can increase confusion and conflict. Replacing team members is unnecessary when the issue is simply team formation, and transferring routine decisions to the sponsor reduces the team’s ability to develop ownership and accountability.

Question 26

A stakeholder with high influence and high interest has become concerned about the project’s expected benefits. What should the project manager do?

1. Monitor the stakeholder without additional action.
2. Reduce the stakeholder’s influence by limiting communication.
3. Engage the stakeholder closely and address the concerns.
4. Ask another stakeholder to communicate on the project’s behalf.

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation

Stakeholders with high influence and high interest require close and proactive engagement. The project manager should communicate directly with the stakeholder, understand the concerns, provide relevant information, and determine whether project actions or expectations need adjustment. Monitoring alone is insufficient for a stakeholder with significant influence. Limiting communication can increase resistance and misunderstanding. Delegating the relationship to another stakeholder may also weaken accountability. Effective stakeholder engagement focuses on building trust, maintaining alignment, and addressing concerns before they negatively affect project objectives.

Question 27

A project team is estimating the duration of a complex activity for which there is limited historical information. The team has three possible duration estimates. Which technique should the team consider?

1. Three-point estimating
2. Bottom-up estimating only
3. Resource leveling
4. Milestone analysis

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation

Three-point estimating is useful when there is uncertainty around an activity’s duration. It uses optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely estimates to provide a more realistic view of potential outcomes. Depending on the chosen method, these estimates can be used to calculate an expected duration and account for uncertainty. Resource leveling addresses resource constraints rather than estimating uncertainty. Milestone analysis does not provide a direct method for calculating activity duration. Three-point estimating is particularly useful when historical information is limited or when the work contains substantial variability.

Question 28

A project manager learns that a key customer has been receiving inconsistent information from different project team members. What should the project manager do?

1. Stop all communication with the customer.
2. Establish a consistent communication approach and clarify the source of project information.
3. Allow each team member to communicate independently.
4. Ask the customer to select which information appears most accurate.

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation

Inconsistent communication can create confusion, conflicting expectations, and loss of stakeholder confidence. The project manager should establish a clear communication approach, define appropriate communication channels, and ensure that project information is accurate and consistent. Team members should understand what information they are authorized and expected to communicate. Stopping communication would worsen the relationship, while allowing unrestricted individual communication can continue the inconsistency. Asking the customer to determine which information is correct shifts responsibility away from the project team and does not address the underlying communication problem.

Question 29

A project has a fixed deadline, but several activities require the same specialized resource. The project manager discovers that the resource has been assigned to overlapping tasks. What should the project manager consider first?

1. Increasing project scope
2. Resource optimization techniques and schedule impact
3. Closing the project
4. Removing all schedule dependencies

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation

When a specialized resource is assigned to overlapping activities, the project manager should evaluate resource constraints and determine how the schedule can be optimized. Resource leveling or smoothing may be considered depending on the project’s constraints and objectives. The project manager should assess the resulting impact on the critical path, deadline, cost, and resource availability. Increasing scope or removing dependencies does not solve the resource conflict. Closing the project is clearly inappropriate. Resource management requires balancing availability with schedule requirements while maintaining realistic expectations.

Question 30

A project manager is reviewing project performance and finds that earned value is $90,000 while actual cost is $100,000. What is the project’s Cost Performance Index (CPI)?

1. 0.90
2. 1.11
3. 1.90
4. 0.10

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation

The Cost Performance Index is calculated using CPI = EV/AC. In this case, earned value is $90,000 and actual cost is $100,000. Therefore, CPI = 90,000 / 100,000 = 0.90. A CPI below 1.0 indicates that the project is receiving less earned value for each unit of money spent than planned. A CPI above 1.0 would indicate favorable cost performance. The result should prompt the project manager to analyze the reason for the cost variance and determine whether corrective or preventive action is necessary.

Question 31

A project team is experiencing frequent disagreements because team members have different expectations about how decisions should be made. What should the project manager do?

1. Avoid discussing decision-making differences.
2. Establish or revisit team working agreements.
3. Ask the sponsor to make all team decisions.
4. Replace the team members involved in disagreements.

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation

Team working agreements can establish expectations for communication, collaboration, conflict resolution, decision-making, and other team behaviors. Revisiting or creating these agreements helps the team develop a shared understanding of how it will operate. Avoiding the issue allows conflict to continue. Having the sponsor make routine team decisions reduces team autonomy and may create unnecessary delays. Replacing team members is excessive when the underlying problem can potentially be resolved through clearer expectations and facilitated discussion. Working agreements are especially valuable for teams with diverse backgrounds and working styles.

Question 32

A customer requests a significant new feature after the scope baseline has been approved. The feature would increase cost and extend the schedule. What should the project manager do?

1. Add the feature immediately to satisfy the customer.
2. Ask the team to work overtime without changing the baseline.
3. Evaluate the request through the formal change control process.
4. Reject the request because the scope baseline cannot change.

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation

A significant new feature that affects the approved scope, cost, and schedule should be evaluated through the project’s change control process. The request should be assessed for its impacts and benefits, and the appropriate change authority should decide whether it should be approved. Automatically implementing the feature creates uncontrolled scope changes. Working overtime without adjusting the plan can create unrealistic commitments and quality risks. Rejecting every change simply because a baseline exists is also incorrect; approved baselines can be changed through proper governance.

Question 33

A project manager wants to determine whether stakeholders are becoming more supportive of the project after a new engagement strategy is implemented. What should the project manager do?

1. Reassess stakeholder engagement and compare the results with previous assessments.
2. Stop communicating with stakeholders to avoid influencing their opinions.
3. Assume engagement has improved because the strategy was implemented.
4. Replace stakeholders who remain resistant.

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation

Stakeholder engagement should be monitored throughout the project because stakeholder attitudes and influence can change. The project manager can reassess stakeholder engagement and compare current results with previous assessments to determine whether the engagement strategy is effective. Simply implementing a strategy does not guarantee improved engagement. Stopping communication would prevent the project manager from understanding stakeholder perceptions. Replacing resistant stakeholders is generally not appropriate because legitimate concerns may need to be addressed. Continuous assessment helps the project manager adjust engagement activities based on actual stakeholder responses.

Question 34

A project manager discovers that an approved deliverable contains a defect that was identified during quality control. What should happen next?

1. Release the deliverable because the defect is minor.
2. Determine the appropriate corrective action based on the defect and acceptance requirements.
3. Delete the quality records to avoid unnecessary documentation.
4. Ask the customer to fix the defect after delivery.

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation

When quality control identifies a defect, the project team should determine the appropriate corrective action based on the defect’s severity, acceptance criteria, requirements, and project context. The deliverable should not be accepted or released simply because a defect appears minor unless the relevant acceptance requirements permit it. Quality records should be maintained to support transparency and organizational learning. Shifting responsibility to the customer is generally inappropriate when the defect is the project’s responsibility. Corrective action helps ensure that deliverables meet agreed requirements before acceptance.

Question 35

An agile team consistently carries unfinished work from one iteration into the next. What should the project manager or agile leader do first?

1. Increase the team’s workload for the next iteration.
2. Investigate the cause of unfinished work with the team.
3. Remove all difficult backlog items.
4. Extend every iteration until all planned work is completed.

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation

Repeatedly carrying unfinished work indicates that the team should inspect its planning, capacity, dependencies, work size, interruptions, or other contributing factors. The team should discuss the situation during appropriate inspection and adaptation activities and identify improvements. Increasing workload is likely to worsen the problem. Removing difficult work without understanding the cause can distort prioritization and reduce value. Extending every iteration undermines timeboxing and makes performance difficult to measure. Agile teams should use transparency and inspection to identify the root cause and adapt their approach.

Question 36

A project manager is preparing to procure specialized equipment. Several suppliers offer different prices, warranties, delivery times, and service levels. What should the project manager do?

1. Select the supplier with the lowest price automatically.
2. Select the supplier with the shortest delivery time only.
3. Evaluate proposals against established procurement criteria.
4. Ask the supplier with the highest price to reduce its price immediately.

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation

Procurement decisions should be based on established evaluation criteria that reflect project and organizational requirements. Factors may include price, technical capability, quality, delivery schedule, warranty, service, contractual terms, and supplier risk. Selecting solely on price or delivery time may overlook important factors that affect total value and project success. The project manager should ensure that proposals are evaluated consistently against predefined criteria and that procurement governance is followed. A structured evaluation provides a defensible basis for supplier selection and reduces the risk of making decisions based on a single attribute.

Question 37

A project manager discovers that two activities on the critical path have no schedule flexibility. A delay in either activity will delay the project completion date. What does this indicate?

1. The activities have significant total float.
2. The activities have zero or very limited total float.
3. The activities can be removed without affecting the project.
4. The project has no schedule constraints.

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation

Activities on the critical path generally have zero total float or very limited schedule flexibility. A delay in a critical path activity can directly delay the project’s planned completion date unless corrective action is taken. Identifying critical path activities helps the project manager focus schedule monitoring and management efforts on work that has the greatest impact on completion. Activities with significant float have more scheduling flexibility. Understanding the critical path is essential when evaluating schedule changes, resource constraints, delays, and potential recovery strategies.

Question 38

A sponsor asks the project manager to provide a brief summary of whether the project is still aligned with organizational objectives. Which information would be most useful?

1. The personal preferences of each team member
2. Detailed task-level notes from every team meeting
3. Project benefits, performance, risks, and alignment with strategic objectives
4. The complete history of every minor project decision

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation

A sponsor typically needs concise, decision-oriented information that demonstrates whether the project continues to support organizational objectives. Useful information includes progress toward expected benefits, major performance indicators, significant risks and issues, key decisions, and strategic alignment. Detailed task notes and minor historical decisions can overwhelm executive stakeholders without answering the primary question. Team members’ personal preferences are also not the appropriate focus. Tailoring communication to the audience allows the project manager to provide the right level of information for effective governance and decision-making.

Question 39

A project manager notices that the team is spending excessive time discussing a low-priority issue while a high-impact risk is receiving little attention. What should the project manager do?

1. Allow the team to continue because all issues are equally important.
2. Redirect the team’s attention based on project priorities, impact, and urgency.
3. Cancel all team discussions.
4. Ask the sponsor to manage the team’s daily priorities.

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation

The project manager should help the team focus its limited time and resources on matters that have the greatest potential impact on project objectives. A high-impact risk should receive appropriate attention based on its probability, impact, urgency, and response requirements. Not all issues have equal importance, and allowing the team to spend excessive time on low-priority matters can reduce project effectiveness. The sponsor should not be responsible for routine team prioritization. Effective project leadership involves facilitating focus, making priorities visible, and ensuring that important risks and issues receive appropriate attention.

Question 40

At project closure, the project manager realizes that several lessons learned were never documented during execution. What should the project manager do?

1. Skip lessons learned because the project is already complete.
2. Reconstruct and document important lessons with the project team and stakeholders.
3. Delete all project records before closing the project.
4. Ask the next project manager to identify the lessons independently.

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation

Lessons learned should be captured throughout the project, but important lessons can still be reconstructed during closure. The project manager should engage the team and relevant stakeholders to identify what worked well, what did not, why outcomes occurred, and what recommendations could benefit future projects. Skipping the activity wastes valuable organizational knowledge. Deleting records removes useful information, while asking another project manager to determine lessons without the original team’s input may lose important context. Proper lessons learned documentation supports continuous improvement and strengthens organizational project management practices.