Quiz Questions/Answers

Question 1

A project team is comprised of local and virtual team members. To manage scheduling priority conflicts among team members, the project manager schedules a video conference call.

Which conflict resolution technique does this statement demonstrate?

A) Smooth/Accommodate
B) Collaborate/Problem Solve
C) Force/Direct
D) Compromise/Reconcile

Answer 1

B) Collaborate/Problem Solve

The collaborate/problem solve approach incorporates multiple viewpoints and insights from differing perspectives. It requires a cooperative attitude and open dialogue that typically leads to consensus and commitment. This approach can result in a win-win situation.

Question 2

A Project Manager joins a project as a replacement on a project team. During initial meetings, the Project Manager realized there are many differing opinions about how to address technical decisions. Team members did not respect each other’s ideas, and the environment was becoming counterproductive. However, now the team has begun to communicate more effectively and develop some processes and procedures for working together.

In what phase of development is the team now?

A) Forming
B) Storming
C) Norming
D) Performing

Answer 2

C) Norming

Storming often starts where there is a conflict between team members’ natural working styles. People may work in different ways for all sorts of reasons but, if differing working styles cause unforeseen problems, they may become frustrated and counterproductive. Once the team members start working together and adjusting their work habits and behaviors to be more supportive, the team has transitioned into Norming.

Question 3

A project is comprised of three highly dependent parts, each being completed by its own project team. The team leader, worried that conflicts might arise when the outputs from the three teams are combined, asks for advice.

What advice should the project manager provide?

A) Identify potential conflicts and then arrange for a weekly joint meeting with the members of the three teams to review each other’s work.
B) Decide which team’s work should be prioritized, then delay the work from the other two teams to ensure there are NO conflicts.
C) Document conflicts as they occur and take action to remedy any problems that arise.
D) Continue to let all three teams work simultaneously, recognizing that conflicts can be addressed at the testing phase.

Answer 3

A) Identify potential conflicts and then arrange for a weekly joint meeting with the members of the three teams to review each other’s work.

Question 4

An unresolved conflict between a member of a third-party vendor’s team and a member of a project team is causing disruption. The issue is escalated to the project manager.

What is the first thing the project manager should do?

A) Meet with the vendor to discuss the issue.
B) Place this item on the backlog.
C) Draft and send a contractual letter to the vendor.
D) Send an email to the vendor to discuss the issue.

Answer 4

A) Meet with the vendor to discuss the issue.

The project manager needs to resolve this issue quickly. A face-to-face meeting is the best choice to resolve this conflict. Any other communication choice is not direct enough.

Question 5

The project manager schedules an iteration review and learns that a few key stakeholders do NOT approve of the development of a feature.

What should the project manager do first to address this issue?

A) Invite project team members to a brainstorming session to identify an appropriate response.
B) Address the issue only after evaluating why these stakeholders are concerned.
C) Determine the impact of the conflict by listing the pros and cons of the situation.
D) Ask the project sponsor to act as a neutral party in negotiation with those stakeholders who are dissatisfied.

Answer 5

B) Address the issue only after evaluating why these stakeholders are concerned.

Iterations help identify and reduce uncertainty in the project. The teams need the feedback from each iteration to learn about how they work and how to improve.

Question 6

At a weekly project status meeting, a key team member expresses concerns about the overall approach documented within the project management plan. The project manager is surprised because the team is in the process of executing an important component of the project and the concern has NOT been raised before.

What steps should the project manager take?

A) None of the above.
B) Recognize that the concern must be discussed and resolved prior to continuing with the meeting’s agenda items.
C) Address the team with a generic reminder about meeting etiquette, then ask if the team wants to use the time to fully discuss the concerns raised during the meeting.
D) Immediately acknowledge the team member’s concern, continue with the scheduled agenda, then privately meet with the team member to understand the concerns expressed.

Answer 6

D) Immediately acknowledge the team member’s concern, continue with the scheduled agenda, then privately meet with the team member to understand the concerns expressed.

Update the risk register to document the concerns, then continue with the meeting’s scheduled agenda items.

Question 7

A product owner repeatedly complains, saying that a function developed by the development team does NOT seem to align with the original design.

What will help to solve this issue?

A) Ask the product owner to explain his point of view clearly to the team.
B) Ask the quality assurance team to identify any mismatches in functionality compared to the initial design.
C) Ask the development team to rewrite the function so that it matches with the project scope.
D) Update the product owner twice per week on product development.

Answer 7

D) Update the product owner twice per week on product development.

The product owner has already explained the requirements in the original design. The solution here is to keep the product owner updated on development so that the team can adjust their work if it goes out of scope.

Question 8

During a challenging stakeholder meeting, one stakeholder indicates that they will reject an iteration’s deliverable.

What should the project manager do?

A) “Send a request to the project sponsor, asking them to update the project charter, then reassign the responsibilities and authorities.”
B) “Meet with the project team to add new and improved features to replace the features that were rejected.”
C) “Work with that stakeholder to understand their concerns and address these together with the team.”
D) “Request a private meeting with the stakeholder and a member of the project team to try and defuse the situation.”

Answer 8

C) “Work with that stakeholder to understand their concerns and address these together with the team.”

The project manager and the team should work with the customer to identify the reasons for rejecting the deliverable. Iteration reviews are designed to show the customer what the team has produced in that iteration. This is a perfect opportunity for the customer to raise their concerns, ask questions, and request changes. However, when this is NOT possible, as in this case, then seek a deeper understanding of the objection or concern and address it with all parties.

Question 9

A team misunderstood one product functionality documented in an earlier stage of the project. During the current iteration, the functionality has NOT yet been developed, but a business representative has mentioned the deficiency.

How should the project manager proceed?

A) The functionality was formally approved, so initiate the change management process.
B) “Schedule a meeting to discuss and brainstorm the functionality with the project team and business representative.”
C) “Ensure that the issue is addressed by escalating it to the project sponsor, who should discuss it with the representative.”
D) Continue with the current sprint, recognizing that the issue will be identified during the testing phase.

Answer 9

B) “Schedule a meeting to discuss and brainstorm the functionality with the project team and business representative.”

As the functionality has NOT been built, the project manager should facilitate building common understanding and empowering the team to evaluate the impact of a possible change, thus avoiding re-work.

Question 10

Certain key stakeholders are dissatisfied with the development of a key feature of a project. They express their dissatisfaction during an iteration review meeting.

What should the project manager do first to resolve this issue?

A) Gather the project team for a brainstorming session and identify a solution.
B) Identify the reasons why there are issues with the feature, then address the issue.
C) Create a list of the pros and cons of the situation to define the impact of the conflict.
D) Add a neutral party, such as the project sponsor, to function as a negotiator with stakeholders.

Answer 10

B) Identify the reasons why there are issues with the feature, then address the issue.

Working with the customer in identifying the source of dissatisfaction with the feature is a good first step. This also helps with resolving conflict between the team and stakeholders.

Question 11

During the execution of a project, a key team member is concerned with the overall approach documented in the project management plan. The member surprises the project manager with negative comments about the approach during a weekly status meeting.

How should the project manager address the team member’s concerns?

A) Continue with the meeting and ensure that the concerns are added to the risk register after the meeting is finished.
B) Continue with the scheduled agenda items after reminding the team member of expected meeting etiquette. Then, solicit feedback about the etiquette expectations.
C) Remember that a project should NOT go forward when key team members are in disagreement. Use the meeting to discuss the members’ concerns.
D) Make a short comment to acknowledge the team members’ concerns, continue with the meeting, and meet with the member in private to discuss their concerns.

Answer 11

D) Make a short comment to acknowledge the team members’ concerns, continue with the meeting, and meet with the member in private to discuss their concerns.

Conflict should be addressed in private in order to better understand the concern being raised. Exploring the concern after the meeting gives the project manager an opportunity to verify it and determine next steps without disrupting the meeting with all meeting attendees.

Question 12

A project is utilizing a third-party contractor. A member of the contractor’s team raises an issue with a member of the project team. The two individuals are NOT able to work out a solution. The project manager is aware of the disagreement.

Which type of communication should the project manager use first when contacting the vendor about this issue?

A) Face-to-face
B) Phone
C) Contractual Letter
D) Email

Answer 12

A) Face-to-face

Face-to-face interaction is usually the most effective way to build the trusting relationships that are needed to manage a project. Once relationships are established, virtual interaction can be used to maintain the relationship.

Question 13

Three project teams are working on parts of a single project. The parts are highly dependent on each other. The leader of the team indicates that this might create conflicts when the outputs from the three teams are combined.

What guidance should the project manager offer to the team lead?

A) “Identify potential conflicts and arrange for a weekly joint meeting with the members of the three teams to monitor each other’s work.”
B) “Decide which team’s work should be prioritized, then delay the work from the other two teams to ensure there are no conflicts.”
C) Document conflicts as they occur and take action to remedy any problems that arise.
D) Tell all three teams to continue to work simultaneously, recognizing that conflicts can be addressed at the testing phase.

Answer 13

A) “Identify potential conflicts and arrange for a weekly joint meeting with the members of the three teams to monitor each other’s work.”

Before deciding to act, the project manager needs to determine the potential conflicts and monitor progress.

Question 14

A project manager has assembled a project team. During initial meetings, the project manager observes that team members are getting to know each other, feeling excited and positive about the project, and have NOT been told the specific details of the project.

In what phase of development is the team?

A) Storming
B) Norming
C) Forming
D) Performing

Answer 14

C) Forming

The Forming phase is when the team members meet and learn about the project and their formal roles and responsibilities. Team members tend to be solitary and independent in this phase.

Question 15

A project team is working with an overseas contractor based in a country that has three official languages, and every contractor on the team is multilingual. Team meetings continue to be held in the commonly shared language, but during project work meetings, contractors speak to each other in a different language.

When the project manager brings this up in the next team meeting, the contractors express regret, but they explain that they work better when they can communicate freely with each other.

How should the project manager respond first?

A) Require everyone to speak the same language all of the time, even though this will slow the pace of work.
B) Escalate this as an issue to the human resources department.
C) Obtain formal training or translation services.
D) Let the team discuss language requirements and make ground rules for team communication.

Answer 15

D) Let the team discuss language requirements and make ground rules for team communication.

In this case, forcing the contractors to work less efficiently may jeopardize the project. Work with the whole team to find the best solution that will NOT jeopardize the project. Escalation is NOT required unless the team is unable to find a solution. Teams need to acknowledge the diversity of its members and promote an environment of inclusiveness. Each team is unique in its character, makeup, and tolerance levels, but the high-performing teams are self-aware. Commonly agreed ground rules always make together easier, especially in heterogeneous groups.

Question 16

A project manager with limited experience managing globally distributed team members is appointed to a project with team members who are all from another country and speak a different native language.

To successfully manage this project, the project manager needs to have cultural sensitivity.

What of the following actions should the project manager NOT take?

A) “Read books about cultural sensitivity in leadership.”
B) “Hire a professional coach to learn how to be a more successful leader.”
C) “Request a different assignment, citing the language barrier as an obstacle.”
D) “Enroll in language and culture lessons to learn about this country.”

Answer 16

C) “Request a different assignment, citing the language barrier as an obstacle.”

Great leaders have a growth mindset. Always aim to capitalize on cultural differences, focus on developing and sustaining the project team throughout the project life cycle, and promote working together interdependently in a climate of mutual trust. In this case, you can NOT assume that there is a language barrier, as the team members may be bilingual. This answer also does NOT demonstrate a growth mindset.

Question 17

A planned task in a sprint was nearly NOT completed because of an issue that appeared three (3) days prior but was NOT resolved. The team resolved it in the next daily stand-up meeting, but the project manager wants to prevent this type of situation in the future.

What should the project manager do?

A) During the retrospective, examine the issue.
B) In the demo, address this issue.
C) During the next iteration planning meeting, discuss the issue.
D) Send an email to the team.

Answer 17

A) During the retrospective, examine the issue.

A retrospective is a great opportunity to talk about what went right, what went wrong, lessons learned, and what to improve for next time.

Question 18

A project manager went on a vacation and returned to discord. According to two stakeholders, stakeholder C is causing problems. Every day for the last two (2) weeks, stakeholder C sent an email to the team, checking progress and giving new instructions. The team ignored the emails and carried on working, but the other stakeholders are concerned about stakeholder C’s behavior.

What should the project manager do?

A) Instruct the two stakeholders to ignore stakeholder C, just as the team did.
B) Invite everyone to a meeting and work through the communication issue.
C) Initiate a private conversation with stakeholder C and resolve this problem.
D) Investigate the problem to find the root cause.

Answer 18

D) Investigate the problem to find the root cause.

Conflict situations require a cool, rational approach. Before you approach any party, aim to understand the facts and what is causing the problem.

Question 19

A hybrid virtual reality project is running an agile software track and a predictive electronics track. Halfway into the project, delays are accumulating due to misaligned deliverable releases between the two tracks.

Which two elements should the project manager combine to produce a common network diagram? (Choose TWO.)

A) Definition of Ready with dependency milestones
B) Epic breakdown with work breakdown structure
C) Product backlog with critical path task sequence
D) Definition of Done with exit criteria
E) Definition of Ready with work breakdown structure

Answer 19

A) Definition of Ready with dependency milestones
AND
D) Definition of Done with exit criteria

Misalignment is caused by missing dependencies between the tracks. The purpose of the network diagram is to sequence activities based on dependency. The Scrum equivalent of a task start dependency is the Definition of Ready, and the equivalent of the task exit criteria are the Definition of Done.

Question 20

A project manager needs stakeholder involvement in order to identify strategic and operational assumptions and constraints. Unfortunately, the project manager is finding it hard to obtain consistent input due to lack of participation.

In which two ways can the project manager encourage the stakeholder to participate and collaborate? (Choose TWO.)

A) “Use political awareness techniques.”
B) “Be a servant leader.”
C) “Timebox meetings.”
D) Use effective facilitation techniques.

Answer 20

B) “Be a servant leader.”
AND
D) Use effective facilitation techniques.

Servant leadership, by design, encourages others to follow your positive example. Facilitation is the ability to effectively guide a group event to a successful decision, solution, or conclusion. A facilitator ensures effective participation, so that participants achieve a mutual understanding, that all contributions are considered, that conclusions or results have full buy-in according to the decision process established for the project, and that the actions and agreements achieved are appropriately dealt with afterward.

Question 21

A new regulation requires consumer warnings on labels, but a company’s product package is too small to fit the additional information. The regulatory specification does NOT provide a solution, so the agile team decides to solve the problem by displaying the information on a fold-out flap. The start of mass production of the new labels, the project’s next milestone, is scheduled to begin in five days.

What should the agile team do next?

A) Update the sprint backlog to reflect the additional product label requirement.
B) Contact the compliance team to determine validity of the selected format.
C) Request approval from the steering committee to proceed with the change.
D) Develop a prototype and submit it to the label manufacturer for approval.

Answer 21

B) Contact the compliance team to determine validity of the selected format.

Without validating compliance of the solution before developing it, the team would waste effort at best, and at worst, put the organization at risk of non-compliance penalties. NOT initially seeking approval from the steering committee is in line with agile practices of communicating directly between units rather than through management layers.

Question 22

A project team is small, and the team members have known each other for a long time. The team’s project is in the execution stage. Recently, a team member told the new project manager that another team member has been complaining about how the project is being managed.

How should this new project manager respond?

A) Review the current stakeholder engagement plan to identify how to resolve this difficult
B) Schedule a team meeting to discuss the current team charter and ground rules, especially around communication and teamwork expectations.
C) Hold a team morale-building event to improve team culture.
D) Speak to the team members individually and ask them how they would like to deal with the situation.

Answer 22

B) Schedule a team meeting to discuss the current team charter and ground rules, especially around communication and teamwork expectations.

A team meeting is the best solution because it encourages every team member to participate and results in a clear set of guidelines for the team.

Question 23

An organizational change program has met with internal resistance, a risk which was previously identified. A logistics manager is particularly affected, due to reduction of the team size and the rate of change driven by an agile planning of the predictive implementation. The manager’s supervisor formally requests the change program to delay implementation for the logistics team.

What should the project manager do next in response to this request?

A) Work with the program sponsor to re-prioritize the program backlog sequence.
B) Request that the sponsor escalate the strategic issue to the executive committee.
C) Perform root-cause analysis on the key factors causing the manager’s resistance.
D) Review the risk register and implement the relevant risk response for the case.

Answer 23

D) Review the risk register and implement the relevant risk response for the case.

Stakeholder resistance was anticipated and multiple risk responses are likely to exist, so reviewing the risk register is the correct response. Agile planning would enable frequent retrospectives to refine the risk responses, which could be more flexible than a fully predictive response.

Question 24

A project manager is working on multiple projects. One project has new team members and is in early stages. The other projects are in various states of execution for the next few weeks.

How can the project manager develop the new project team over the next few weeks?

A) Help team members create a set of agreed rules for working, or social contract, that encourages team cohesion.
B) Suggest that the team engage in multiple team-building events to normalize the team.
C) Keep the team informed by sending short daily project status updates.
D) Engage in face-to-face personal conversations with each team member to build relationships.

Answer 24

A) Help team members create a set of agreed rules for working, or social contract, that encourages team cohesion.

Creating a social contract—or a set of agreed rules for working—will allow the team to normalize and be self-servicing when you are unavailable. The other choices do not encourage the team members to develop independently and as a team.

Question 25

A hybrid municipal waste management project combines many brief administrative tasks with small-scale public works. An agile track makes good progress on key objectives, but small tasks are accumulating in the backlog. Most tasks can be done in one day but are dependent on unpredictable triggering events.

Which approach would be most effective to clear out these minor tasks faster?

A) Combine multiple minor tasks to make story sizes consistent with key objectives.
B) Reprioritize the backlog to favor the smallest stories and re-assign them daily.
C) Reprioritize the backlog on a daily basis so that recent triggers boost story priority.
D) Integrate the small tasks to either the Definition of Done or acceptance criteria.

Answer 25

D) Integrate the small tasks to either the Definition of Done or acceptance criteria.

The stories will NOT be considered complete until associated small tasks are triggered and completed.

Question 26

A new project team is setting early priorities, and they plan to gain the customer’s trust by delivering value as quickly as possible. Team member C mentions that they have worked with the project sponsor on other projects.

How should the project manager connect these two facts and create an advantage for the project team?

A) Make team member C the project leader since they already know the sponsor.
B) Ask team member C to tell the whole team everything they know about the sponsor so that the team can work better.
C) Explore how team member C can use personal influence with the sponsor to increase the project’s potential for benefits realization.
D) Discuss whether team member C has a conflict of interest in order to maintain an ethical standard.

Answer 26

C) Explore how team member C can use personal influence with the sponsor to increase the project’s potential for benefits realization.

Personal influence is a leadership skill that enables project teams and individuals to use existing relationships, building on them to further project activities and goals. In this case, team member C has an existing relationship that may help the project team to understand more quickly the needs of the project sponsor.

Question 27

Several unforeseen impediments suddenly appear on the Kanban board in a hybrid project. Each team member has reported one or more different problems relating to a regulatory specification issued by the predictive track.

Which parameter is likely to be highest in the risk assessment?

A) Manageability
B) Dormancy
C) Connectivity
D) Controllability

Answer 27

C) Connectivity

The risks are all related to a common source—the specification—so connectivity ranks high per the definition “Where a risk is connected to many other risks, connectivity is high”. Manageability and controllability are INCORRECT because the risk factor depends on an external regulator. Dormancy is low because the risks were detected immediately after the specification was issued.

Question 28

A project’s daily stand-up meetings are long, often lasting more than two hours. The project team uses the stand-up meetings for extended discussions about solutions to project obstacles.

What should the project manager do to improve the daily stand-up meetings?

A) Allow the meetings to remain long but ensure that the time is productive by using an agenda and recording minutes.
B) Timebox each speaker using a stopwatch in stand-up meetings.
C) Nominate a team member to manage obstacles and schedule meetings to discuss possible solutions.
D) Coach team members towards shortening stand-up meetings to 10-15 minutes and improve their method for identifying solutions.

Answer 28

D) Coach team members towards shortening stand-up meetings to 10-15 minutes and improve their method for identifying solutions.

Daily stand-ups are important meetings for agile teams. The project manager should coach the team in how a daily stand-up meeting is run and what is discussed. Teams run their own stand-ups, and when run well, they can be very useful. Daily stand-ups are typically 10-15 mins and three questions are answered: 1) What did you do since the last stand-up? 2) What will you do today? 3) Are there any impediments or roadblocks? Hold separate meetings to discuss the blockers and find the solution.

Question 29

An energy infrastructure vendor is delivering a complex solution proof of concept to a new strategic customer. The predictive project should complete in 10 weeks, but there is a long list of outstanding items, and some are dependent on external events with uncertain scheduling.

How should the project manager handle the outstanding items?

A) Transfer the outstanding items to the next project with the customer.
B) Plan five agile iterations to complete the tasks as soon as conditions allow.
C) Descope the outstanding tasks and remove them from the invoice.
D) Add resources and crash the schedule to complete outstanding tasks.

Answer 29

B) Plan five agile iterations to complete the tasks as soon as conditions allow.

Five (5) sprints can cover the ten (10) week window, and flexibility gives the best chance to complete work in an ad-hoc manner.

Question 30

Leaders of high-performing project teams __________ team members’ skills and knowledge and keep team members __________ throughout the project.

Fill in the blanks with the correct set of responses.

A) “Nurture, motivated”
B) “Reward, scheduled”
C) “Identify, aware”
D) “Leverage, rewarded”

Answer 30

A) “Nurture, motivated”

The primary goal of a project manager in relation to supporting a high-performing project team is to ensure that the team has the right skills and knowledge to complete the work and to keep them motivated to do their best work. These actions potentially optimize project outcomes.

Question 31

A project manager is having difficulty obtaining consistent input from stakeholders and needs their input to identify assumptions and constraints.

How can the project manager improve stakeholder engagement?

A) Use political awareness techniques.
B) Institute checklist policies.
C) Research effective meeting management techniques.
D) Make use of effective facilitation techniques.

Answer 31

D) Make use of effective facilitation techniques.

Facilitation is the ability to effectively guide a group event to a successful decision, solution, or conclusion. A facilitator ensures effective participation, that participants achieve a mutual understanding, that all contributions are considered, that conclusions or results have full buy-in according to the decision process established for the project, and that the actions and agreements achieved are appropriately dealt with afterward.

Question 32

Two (2) months into a Three (3)-year mobile telecom roll-out, the project manager discovers that approximately fifteen percent (15%) of the equipment is prohibited for delivery because of an embargo. The procurement contract does NOT cover the embargo case, but the company could incur severe penalties for incomplete delivery.

What is the appropriate solution for the situation?

A) Add an agile track to explore and plan delivery of alternative equipment
B) Explore insurance and contingency options to cover the cost of the risk.
C) Compare the penalty costs of delivering or not delivering, and choose the lowest
D) Accept the client’s penalties, close the project and cease business in the country

Answer 32

A) Add an agile track to explore and plan delivery of alternative equipment

The project has contractually committed to deliver infrastructure to the customer. Failure to account for the embargo is the fault of the vendor, NOT the client. Adding an agile track is the only choice which can fulfil the committed deliverables. Accepting penalties without attempting to fulfil commitments is bad business practice; adding layers of insurance or contingency to mitigate risk will lead to further cost penalties.

Question 33

The project manager receives a progress report showing that the agile project is NOT on track. Since all work was deliberately selected and sequenced to meet higher-level objectives, the project manager is surprised by the report.

In the future, how can the project manager prevent this type of miscommunication?

A) Support self-organization for the project team and help them provide buy-in for the project.
B) Ensure that there is a contingency reserve to cover these issues.
C) Ensure that the team is trained to use the agile process reporting system.
D) Provide early training and ongoing mentoring about the agile approach for the project team.

Answer 33

A) Support self-organization for the project team and help them provide buy-in for the project.

For agile projects, rather than a project manager selecting and sequencing work, higher-level objectives are explained, and the team members are empowered to self-organize specific tasks as a group to best meet those objectives. This leads to the creation of practical plans with high levels of buy-in from the team members.

Question 34

In a hybrid product design project, the team encounters a 3D printer malfunction resulting in costly losses of titanium supplies. When the production team tells the agile programming team about the problem, it becomes clear that mistranslated data sheets created problems for both teams. However, the agile team resolved their problems a month before the malfunction.

What could the agile team have done to prevent the current malfunction?

A) Deprioritized the stories impacted by information in the data sheets
B) Asked the project sponsor to halt the project pending translation corrections
C) Summarized their retrospective conclusions on information radiators
D) Formally request a change of equipment supplier for the project

Answer 34

C) Summarized their retrospective conclusions on information radiators

The root problem is that impactful information in the agile team was NOT passed to the predictive team in time to prevent the malfunction. Broadcasting retrospective lessons learned is the best way to reach the broadest group in a timely way.

Question 35

Project team members are concerned that a new resource does NOT seem suitable for an assigned task.

How should the project manager respond to this concern?

A) Contact senior management to discuss the possibility of reassigning the new resource to a different project.
B) Schedule time to chat with the new resource to assess their skills and understand their strength level.
C) Ask the team members to document task-related deficiencies displayed by the resource.
D) Contact the project sponsor to highlight these concerns and decide on an appropriate response.

Answer 35

B) Schedule time to chat with the new resource to assess their skills and understand their strength level.

A Project Manager should not take action by just listening to other members feedback. He should talk to the new member to find out about his strength and make some evaluation later.

Question 36

A smart grid project combines predictive and agile tracks. The agile team detected a major software defect after its release and began working on a correction. But the defective release was deployed by the predictive track, and this caused a field test to fail.

Which measure would be most effective to prevent similar problems in the future?

A) Run the same unit tests in the agile lab and in the field sites.
B) Send project-wide issue log updates via instant messaging.
C) Ensure that retrospectives are shared with the predictive team.
D) Re-plan the software track into the predictive schedule.

Answer 36

B) Send project-wide issue log updates via instant messaging.

The root problem is that impactful information in the agile team was NOT passed to the predictive team quickly enough to prevent the test failure. Instant messaging of issue log updates can reach the full project immediately after the issue is logged, and act as an alert.

Question 37

A cross-functional team on Project B reports a delay in developing a prototype. The project manager believes that the cause is lack of knowledge in a specific, required skill on the team.

In which three ways can the project manager prevent this situation on future projects? (Choose THREE.)

A) Ask the team leader to recommend a solution.
B) Identify required skills and organize the team based on the strength of those skills.
C) Make a list of required, specific skills for the project.
D) Outsource the task to a skilled expert.
E) Identify the skill deficiency as a project risk.

Answer 37

B) Identify required skills and organize the team based on the strength of those skills.
AND
C) Make a list of required, specific skills for the project.
AND
D) Outsource the task to a skilled expert.

Developing the team and proactively strengthening individual team members’ skills is an important part of servant leadership. This means that the project manager needs to know the required strengths and skill sets needed for a project and recruit or be able to outsource the work to a resource with that skill.

Question 38

A pharmaceutical project includes an agile team of doctors who analyze human tissue scans from drug trial patients. The CEO wants to leverage Machine Learning (ML) technology, because it is proven to be faster and more accurate than doctors in scan analysis.

How should the product owner proceed in response to the CEO’s wish?

A) Record the risk in the register and plan for discussing a response in the retrospective.
B) Work with the team to plan how to use the ML resources and produce a business case.
C) Anticipate a negative response from the team and be ready to persuade them that their time and skill will be better spent elsewhere.
D) Ask the team to produce a SWOT analysis supporting human-based validation.

Answer 38

B) Work with the team to plan how to use the ML resources and produce a business case.

The project owner works for the business and supports the CEO decision. ML is an accelerative tool, NOT a replacement for experts. Working with the team to plan their new ways of working and using a business case to support the decision is in the company’s and team’s best interests. Though you should use emotional intelligence to help the team realize the next step, focus on how the team can be involved, NOT on another, unknown future.

Question 39

A project manager notices that team member A seems more unhappy after every team meeting. After looking into the situation, the project manager finds out that team member A is not making progress on a key activity. This has an impact on the critical path. Team member A also feels that they are NOT in the correct role within the project team.

What should the project manager do?

A) Reassure team member A about their abilities by reminding them that they were chosen for a reason.
B) Meet with team member A to discuss where they can contribute, based on their strengths.
C) Enroll team member A in targeted training to acquire the needed skills for their assigned role.
D) Reassign team member A to a more appropriate role in another project.

Answer 39

B) Meet with team member A to discuss where they can contribute, based on their strengths.

Meeting with team member A to find out if they are correctly placed in a project role is the best response. The individual may be right. As a servant leader, you can help them find the correct role. The other responses may be helpful, but they miss addressing the team member’s concern.

Question 40

A customer requests a change in the technical approach for a product in development. The project manager learns about this request during a recurring project review.

How should the project manager respond?

A) Work with team members to immediately implement the new approach.
B) Let the team decide on the appropriate approach, giving them authority to implement and validate their decision in talks with stakeholders.
C) Discuss the pros and cons of the proposed approach with stakeholders, then select the approach that is best for the team and notify team members.
D) In order to obtain sponsor buy-in, allow the team to benchmark the approach.

Answer 40

B) Let the team decide on the appropriate approach, giving them authority to implement and validate their decision in talks with stakeholders.

As this is a technical issue, the project manager should discuss the request with the team and empower them to assess and select the best options to solve the customer’s request and communicate it with them.

Question 41

A multi-year, hybrid pharmaceutical project adds new fixed-date activities for the team to run Machine Learning (ML) processing of medical scans. The output from the ML analysis is used by an agile team of doctors to determine next steps in a patient case.

The project manager has updated the scope statement and schedule.

In which three other documents should the project manager record this new process? (Choose THREE.)

A) Stakeholder Register 
B) Sprint Backlog 
C) Definition of Ready 
D) Risk Register 
E) Resource Management Plan

Answer 41

C) Definition of Ready 
AND
D) Risk Register 
AND
E) Resource Management Plan

The Definition of Ready is updated to ensure that the ML output triggers the agile team’s analysis. The risk register is updated to plan for risks relating to adapting and learning new technology and ways of working. The resource management plan is updated because the machines running the ML routines are resources necessary to complete the work.

Question 42

A project manager receives complaints from a project sponsor because of a delay in developing a prototype. The project manager consults the resource management plan and responds that the delay was due to a lack of knowledge in a specific skill that was needed by the cross-functional project team.

How can the project manager perform this task better in the future?

A) Create training sessions at the start of the project, so all necessary skills are learned.
B) List required skills for the project and organize the project team based on those skills.
C) Consult with the project sponsor to add training once the lack of a specific skill becomes apparent.
D) Empower team members to problem solve where skills may be lacking, using the skills they do have.

Answer 42

B) List required skills for the project and organize the project team based on those skills.

Develop the resource management plan by defining the roles and responsibilities of the project team members to create a project organizational structure and provide guidance regarding how resources will be assigned and managed.

Question 43

A project is in the execution stage, and a change in the market pushes stakeholders to make the due date earlier. The project manager rapidly assigns skilled resources to build and establish the team.

Which of the following would NOT be included in the project manager’s next steps?

A) Assess required skills for the project.
B) Plan suitable interactions for the team
C) Train the new team.
D) Create a project schedule.

Answer 43

A) Assess required skills for the project.

Skill assessment for the project precedes resource assignment. Once the project team is established, the project manager can start developing them. Develop Team is the process of improving competencies, team member interaction, and overall team environment to enhance project performance.

Question 44

A worldwide product launch will likely be delayed by the lengthy analysis needed to assess the impact of new European Union (EU) regulations. Perishable ingredients and factory bookings are at risk of being lost. The executive committee decides to postpone the launch in the EU but maintain launch dates in all non-EU countries.

How should the project manager re-plan the project to support both launches?

A) Use the contingency budget to cover sunken costs for the EU launch and adjust plans for the non-EU launch.
B) Re-plan the project as a fully agile set of iterations and ensure that fixed milestones are documented on the burn-down chart.
C) Plan analysis activities and tollgates for the EU launch and crash the schedule for the non-EU launch.
D) Embed a set of iterations to analyze and develop the EU product, while adjusting plans for the non-EU launch.

Answer 44

D) Embed a set of iterations to analyze and develop the EU product, while adjusting plans for the non-EU launch.

Two (2) launch workstreams will need to run in parallel to avoid delay to the non-EU launch. Lack of known requirements makes it impossible to plan the EU launch with a predictive approach. Existing milestones must be maintained to avoid loss.

Question 45

The latest software build for a virtual reality headset release did NOT include urgent change requests already implemented by the electronics workstream. The product owner informed the software team about the change during a daily meeting, but NO ONE recorded it.

What should the project manager do to avoid this problem in the future?

A) Refine the product backlog with the team and product owner before the next iteration.
B) Increase the frequency of backlog refinement meetings and note the change in the retrospective.
C) Run an ad-hoc retrospective and add the agreed urgent change process to the team charter.
D) Privately remind the team lead that the role requires fast and proactive problem solving.

Answer 45

C) Run an ad-hoc retrospective and add the agreed urgent change process to the team charter.

In this case, iterative agile change handling is NOT fast enough. Continuous improvement in agile is achieved through retrospectives, and work processes are in the team charter. If you wait until the next iteration, it will be too late to catch the change; more frequent backlog refinements violate the principle of “maximizing work not done”; and servant leaders would NOT impose on a team member to improvise.

Question 46

Project A is experiencing schedule performance issues. After assessing the issues, the project manager determines that project resources have low expertise levels.

Specifically, a few of the senior-level resources perform irrelevant work, and some inexperienced resources take too much time to complete tasks.

The project manager needs to enhance team performance.

Which action should the project manager take?

A) Implement training where necessary and make work requirements more visible for all team members.
B) Reassign the senior-level resources as coaches and mentors to the inexperienced ones.
C) Give the junior team members incentives to work faster; send an email to the senior-level resources.
D) Remind the entire team of project goals, schedules, roles, and timelines during the next team meeting.

Answer 46

A) Implement training where necessary and make work requirements more visible for all team members.

The project manager must ensure the junior members are properly trained and ensure that all team members are doing the work that they are supposed to be doing. Implementing training and keeping everyone’s work visible is the most comprehensive option to achieve both goals.

Question 47

The pandemic has caused delays which will make it very difficult to launch the new product on time. Television ads for the launch date are already purchased, so the CEO has asked the project manager to find a way to launch the product even if some minor features are NOT included.

Which measure would be the most effective step toward a successful and timely product launch?

A) Double the size of the test team to ensure that any defects will be detected and corrected as early as possible.
B) Ask the team to remove product tests most likely to fail at first attempt and de-scope requirements relating to those tests.
C) Fast-track the schedule and establish new test and readiness milestones as close as possible to the planned launch date.
D) Plan a parallel iterative track to develop requirements for a minimum viable product (MVP) and de-scope unnecessary predictive tasks.

Answer 47

D) Plan a parallel iterative track to develop requirements for a minimum viable product (MVP) and de-scope unnecessary predictive tasks.

The MVP is specifically intended to increase product success through customer feedback while accelerating development through minimizing effort. Schedule compression or scope reduction alone may be based on unneeded requirements.

Question 48

Several new members are added to an ongoing project. Although all original team members received basic training on the specifics of the business operation that the project supports, the new members do NOT have the same basic understanding. This lack of understanding results in decreased productivity.

How should the project manager respond to this issue?

A) Ask the original team members to provide support and training and schedule a second kick-off meeting for new team members.
B) Assure all new team members that they should feel comfortable asking for help from both the long-term members and project manager.
C) Revise the team, so that the newer resources are moved to other projects and resources with relevant experience are added, then log lessons learned.
D) Recognize that this is a common occurrence when teams experience changes and revise the schedule to allow for the slight decrease in productivity.

Answer 48

B) Assure all new team members that they should feel comfortable asking for help from both the long-term members and project manager.

It is the project manager’s responsibility to make sure that the new members are adequately trained. This approach provides that training.

Question 49

A merger of two companies results in combining an agile software project and a predictive electronics project into a single hybrid project. Two months later, requirements have changed in both tracks but NEITHER has a full picture on status or importance of the requirements.

How can the project manager best resolve the problem?

A) Integrate the product backlog into the requirements specification and educate the software team on working with the new document.
B) Create a requirements traceability matrix by combining the product backlog with the requirements specification and define both documents as input.
C) Integrate the requirements specification into the product backlog and educate the electronics team on working with the new document.
D) Integrate the revised work packages and updated product backlog items into a new master WBS for progress tracking.

Answer 49

B) Create a requirements traceability matrix by combining the product backlog with the requirements specification and define both documents as input.

The requirements traceability matrix provides a simple, flexible but complete status view of requirements. Both product backlog and requirements specification are needed to ensure smooth continuity in each track.

Question 50

A team decides that an agile approach fits the needs of the next phase in their project. Unfortunately, some team members have NOT had the appropriate agile training.

How should the project manager respond to the lack of agile training?

A) Transition some of these team members to other teams and replace them with resources with agile training.
B) Ensure the project’s contingency reserve can cover agile training for all team members.
C) Create virtual training sessions for key team members, covering the main agile topics.
D) Identify and implement the most cost-effective agile training for the team members.

Answer 50

D) Identify and implement the most cost-effective agile training for the team members.

Training for project team members can result in added skills that could be useful for future phases or projects. The project manager should identify and implement agile training for team members. Training lessons and related costs should be evaluated and included in the resource management plan and cost and schedule baselines.

Question 51

A project team has been efficiently delivering results. The product upgrade they are working on must be released in three months or else a competitor’s new product will make theirs obsolete. Citing this reason, the product owner makes a sudden request for a feature revision. However, no one on the project team is capable of doing the work. The project sponsor is willing to extend the budget but CANNOT extend the schedule.

What should the project manager do?

A) Meet the new demand by adding new resources with the required skills.
B) Recommend suspending the project until a firm decision can be made.
C) Discuss options with the project sponsor and choose the best one.
D) Challenge the request and initiate customer research to determine whether the new feature is desirable.

Answer 51

A) Meet the new demand by adding new resources with the required skills.

In situations with time constraints, the most efficient option is expanding the team to include skilled resources. Training is also an option if resources have the capability to learn within the timeframe. The project sponsor has already made their request, so it is up to the project manager to realize it. Agile projects are designed to function in highly complex and unpredictable environments, so suspending or cancelling the project hardly ever is an option.

Question 52

A hybrid project combines IT integration and software development tasks. The predictive and agile teams seem to be working in silos, resulting in misaligned deliverable scheduling.

Which two measures would most effectively enable the teams to better synchronize their deliveries? (Choose TWO.)

A) Alter the story size to ensure more complete integration to the IT build requirements.
B) Use the IT predictive schedule to limit the features the software team starts to develop.
C) Create a common Kanban board to queue and track progress of both teams’ deliverables.
D) Break down IT work packages into more granular tasks to align to the software releases.
E) Define common milestones and an overall dependency network to be used by both teams.

Answer 52

C) Create a common Kanban board to queue and track progress of both teams’ deliverables.
AND
E) Define common milestones and an overall dependency network to be used by both teams.

Common visibility of work in progress would enable better aligned work planning. Common milestones and dependency integration across the two tracks will promote synchronized delivery. The other approaches are wrong because story size should always be as low as possible; agile progress should NOT be reduced to match the predictive schedule, otherwise the project would have to be fully predictive; and the nature of a strictly sequential, predictive IT workflow is NOT compatible with software development needs.

Question 53

Some agile approaches have recently been added to an infrastructure company’s predictive processes. The team is NOT completing the planned story points, and they are becoming passive. The project manager is concerned and wants to improve productivity.

Which two actions should the project manager take? (Choose TWO.)

A) Provide team training, so the team can do a better job of estimating story points.
B) Speed up the project by reducing the backlog.
You Answered
C) Gain the needed time for story point completion by adding more iterations to the project.
D) Use burndown and burnup charts to evaluate team performance and show story points completion.

Answer 53

A) Provide team training, so the team can do a better job of estimating story points.
AND
D) Use burndown and burnup charts to evaluate team performance and show story points completion.

Training can be a great way to empower team members to grow their skillsets. This would also create consistency in story point estimation techniques. Burndown charts show the remaining story points and Burnup charts show story point completion.

Question 54

A new wildlife reserve project will have a staff of approximately 80 experts, builders, and logistics workers with exposure to various safety risks. The project manager wants a scalable approach combining flexibility and team dynamics with traditional safeguards.

Which option could be used to tailor a hybrid project of this nature?

A) Crystal Methods
B) Extreme Programming (XP)
C) Behavior-Driven Development
D) Monte Carlo Simulation

Answer 54

A) Crystal Methods

Other than XP, which is NOT scalable, Crystal Methods is the only option defined as a hybrid tailoring methodology.

Question 55

An agile approach is required during the final phase in a team’s project. As the team discusses the phase, some team members disclose that they have NOT worked with agile before. The deadline is approaching soon.

How should the project manager respond?

A) File a change request that addresses the agile training that members lack.
B) Escalate this as an issue to the project sponsor, as it is a company-wide issue and a blocker for this project.
C) Ask the team members who have worked with agile to mentor the others.
D) Identify and provide the most cost-effective agile training for team members.

Answer 55

D) Identify and provide the most cost-effective agile training for team members.

Providing training to project team members can result in added skills that can be useful for future phases or projects. Training lessons and related costs could be evaluated to be included in the resource management and cost management plans. Mentoring is a good idea, but with a firm schedule, you may NOT have enough time to transfer skills while getting project work done. Finally, this is the project manager’s issue to deal with, NOT the project sponsors.

Question 56

The project sponsor is NOT convinced that an agile track should be used in a new R&D project because the company needs to be certain that specific features will be ready for mass production by a specific date.

Which three agile methods can ensure that the sponsor’s needs can be fulfilled in a hybrid project approach? (Choose THREE.)

A) A product roadmap can provide a detailed breakdown.
B) Requirement priorities are confirmed at each iteration.
C) Incremental development reduces risk of quality delays.
D) Impact mapping can be used to group related stories.
E) Stories can be broken down into granular epics.

Answer 56

B) Requirement priorities are confirmed at each iteration.
AND
C) Incremental development reduces risk of quality delays.
AND
D) Impact mapping can be used to group related stories.

Valid agile methods to secure on-time delivery include backlog reprioritization at every sprint, impact mapping for feature-level view, and incremental testing to secure progressive development. Roadmaps and epics are high-level, NOT detailed views—so these will NOT work.

Question 57

A project has the following characteristics:

• Schedule performance issues occur due to low expertise levels of project resources.
• Junior-level resources are NOT completing tasks in a timely manner.
• Highly-experienced resources report that their junior colleagues are performing unnecessary tasks.

In what two ways can the project manager enhance the performance of this team? (Choose TWO.)

A) Meet with the team leader to discuss the situation and decide if escalation to the project sponsor is necessary.
B) Implement a whole-team training program to address efficient working and task completion.
C) Work collaboratively with the team to design training and a checklist for task completion aligned with project goals.
D) Design a checklist for all team member
E) Set up mentoring sessions within the team so that the experienced resources can coach the junior resources and work collaboratively.

Answer 57

C) Work collaboratively with the team to design training and a checklist for task completion aligned with project goals.
AND
E) Set up mentoring sessions within the team so that the experienced resources can coach the junior resources and work collaboratively.

Project managers should attempt to resolve issues using the tools and techniques available to them prior to changing the plan or escalating the issue. Providing training to those who need it will improve team performance and implementing a checklist ensures each team member is checking only what needs to be checked.

Question 58

A medical equipment vendor is running a hybrid project which includes some custom software development by an agile team. The team progress is good, but slow customer approval causes unnecessary delays. The customer insists that approval can only be given after repeating all the test cases in the target environment.

How can the project manager accelerate the approvals and build customer trust at the same time?

A) Invite the customer to send representatives to witness the team’s testing to pre-approve the tests.
B) Work out an arrangement with the customer to defer as many tests as possible to the final release.
C) Propose new terms for team members to work aside the customer testers to run tests in their environment.
D) Allow the team to progress at their pace while the customer continues to test and approve earlier builds.

Answer 58

C) Propose new terms for team members to work aside the customer testers to run tests in their environment.

Agile seeks to maximize transparency between supplier and customer as well as optimizing to remove unnecessary work. Combining teams to remove work duplication is the best option.

Witnessing only would NOT remove duplicated work; deferring tests is always bad practice because defects are NOT detected at the earliest possible point; and unsynchronized progression between the teams would potentially cause rework if defects are found.

Question 59

The IT integration team has a major setback in a hybrid project. Testing has confirmed that the hardware does NOT support the target operating system. The agile team’s software releases must now run on a later operating system version.

What should the project manager do next?

A) Meet with the scrum master to determine if the product vision is still valid.
B) Meet with the product owner and team to update the product backlog during the sprint.
C) Work with the agile team to run root cause analysis on why the problem did not surface earlier.
D) Inform the team at the daily meeting and update the Definition of Done and Definition of Ready.

Answer 59

B) Meet with the product owner and team to update the product backlog during the sprint.

Changes of frame assumptions during execution requires impact analysis as quickly as possible. Product owner input is required for major scope changes (including rework) which would be reflected as updates to the product backlog.

Question 60

During Project A’s kickoff phase, the project manager provided training for the entire team regarding the specifics of the company operations that the project supports.

A year later, project productivity is suffering because members who were added later in the project do NOT have the same level of understanding.

How should the project manager respond to this challenge?

A) Tell the newer team members to ask for help from the long-term members when they run into things they do not understand.
B) Ask current team members to provide training and support and hold a second kick-off meeting for new team members.
C) Add new members who have the relevant experience, reassign the newer team members, and log turnover issues in the lessons learned register.
D) Recognize that this is a natural project progression and revise the schedule to allow for the slight decrease in productivity.

Answer 60

B) Ask current team members to provide training and support and hold a second kick-off meeting for new team members.

It is the project manager’s responsibility to make sure that the new members are adequately trained. This approach provides that training.

Question 61

A Canadian start-up company announces to the press its imminent launch in the European Union (EU) and Latin America. Soon afterward, the compliance team recommends delaying the launch by six (6) months to avoid substantial penalties related to a new set of EU regulations.

Which approach could the project manager take to advance the launch project while preparing the compliance measures?

A) Run a SWOT analysis to weigh priorities between compliance and consumer needs, and resume project if the result favors consumers.
B) Estimate impact of penalties on the project, increase the contingency reserve accordingly and resume project as planned.
C) Re-plan the predictive project as a Large-Scale Scrum life cycle, and use story points to estimate approval milestones.
D) Split out work affected by the regulations into a agile track, and re-plan unaffected work in the predictive schedule.

Answer 61

D) Split out work affected by the regulations into a agile track, and re-plan unaffected work in the predictive schedule.

The agile track is correct because a launch project would include time-sensitive milestones, thus the work is more suited to waterfall. However, the compliance work should run concurrently with gathering more information to support the launch.