Free Practice Questions for PMI PMP Exam

In long-term projects executed in stages, it's essential to continuously evaluate whether the intended business value is being realized as the project progresses. Monitoring benefits at project milestones allows the project manager and stakeholders to assess if the project is still aligned with the business objectives and delivering the intended value.

According to the PMBOK® Guide – Seventh Edition (Principle 1 and Principle 7: Focus on Value), the project manager must ensure that the project delivers value continuously and not just at the end. Benefits realization is measured at key points (e.g., stage gates or milestones) to confirm alignment with the business plan.

Option A (ETC) refers to the cost/time remaining and doesn't directly assess realized business value.

Option B (throughput analysis) is a Lean metric, not directly tied to business value unless explicitly defined.

Option C (NPS) is a customer satisfaction metric and may not always correlate with monetized value.

The project manager should first revisit the project charter and assess if the project goals and objectives can be met with other alternatives. This could include re-evaluating the project requirements, researching other suppliers and/or re-designing the project in order to reduce the cost. If all other alternatives are exhausted, then the project manager should seek approval from the project sponsor or the CEO to proceed with the purchase order.

 Effective communication is crucial for the success of virtual teams. Regularly collecting feedback from team members can help the project manager understand the effectiveness of current communication methods and identify areas for improvement. This approach aligns with PMI’s emphasis on continuous engagement and iterative improvement in project management processes.

The answer is supported by PMI’s resources on best practices for managing and developing virtual project teams, which suggest that understanding team dynamics and maintaining open lines of communication are essential for virtual team engagement and performance12.

 In this scenario, the project manager should assess the impact of including an additional geographical location in the project scope. This involves conducting a change impact analysis to understand how the change will affect the project’s objectives, timeline, budget, and resources. Once the impact is assessed, the project manager should submit a change request for the inclusion of the two locations. The change request will be reviewed and approved by the project governance body, such as the project board or change control board, as part of the integrated change control process. This ensures that any scope changes are formally documented, evaluated, and approved before being implemented.

PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition, Section 4.3 Direct and Manage Project Work; Section 4.6 Perform Integrated Change Control; Managing Change Practice Guide | PMI1.

When stakeholders express concerns about poor communication, it’s important for the project manager to investigate the underlying causes of the communication issues. Performing a root cause analysis (RCA) can help identify not just superficial problems, but also systemic issues that may be affecting communication. This approach aligns with PMI’s emphasis on continuous improvement and problem-solving within project management processes.

= PMI’s PMBOK® Guide and the standards for project communication management emphasize the importance of effective communication and the need for project managers to adapt their communication plans to meet the needs of stakeholders. The PMBOK® Guide provides guidelines on how to manage project communications effectively, which includes monitoring and controlling communications throughout the project life cycle to ensure that stakeholder needs are met.

Please note that this response is based on general project management principles and does not reference specific documents or materials. For detailed information, you should refer to the latest editions of PMI’s PMBOK® Guide and other official PMI publications.

In Agile, scope is flexible, and time and resources are generally fixed per sprint. Therefore, when scope seems unmanageable, prioritization is the correct approach. The Scrum team—including the Product Owner—must decide which items provide the most value and can fit within the sprint.

Option B aligns with Agile principles by focusing on value delivery and continuous negotiation. This maintains flexibility while aiming to achieve business objectives.

Option A contradicts Agile team principles by injecting resources mid-sprint.

Option C is partially correct but lacks the negotiation and prioritization step.

Option D contradicts Agile’s principle of team-driven planning and adaptive scope.

 When a key team member is unexpectedly absent, it’s important for the project manager to collaborate with the rest of the team to assess the impact and reprioritize tasks. This is in line with agile principles, which emphasize team collaboration and self-organization1. The team should collectively decide how to redistribute the workload, possibly by sharing responsibilities or adjusting the iteration’s scope. This approach maintains the team’s agility and ensures that everyone is on board with the revised plan, fostering a sense of ownership and commitment to the project’s success.

The project manager is responsible for ensuring that the project remains aligned with its expected benefits and strategic objectives. If the benefits management plan contains questionable or outdated forecasted values, the correct course of action is to confirm that information with the sponsor and key stakeholders. This ensures alignment before execution continues.

Option B is premature and drastic.

Option C disregards the risk of misalignment with business value.

Option D assumes changes before confirming whether the original forecast is incorrect.

To avoid such setbacks, the project manager should have conducted a thorough stakeholder analysis as part of the initial project planning. This involves identifying all stakeholders, understanding their interests and influence, and anticipating their reactions to the project. By doing so, the project manager can engage with key stakeholders early on, address their concerns, and gain their support, which is crucial for the smooth approval of the project charter123.

In Agile environments, value delivery is driven by an actively managed and prioritized product backlog. When a customer feels that value is not being delivered according to the original scope, the first action the project manager should take is to ensure the backlog accurately reflects customer priorities. The Product Owner is responsible for backlog prioritization, but the project manager facilitates stakeholder engagement and ensures that feedback leads to backlog refinement.

According to the Agile Practice Guide, “Backlog refinement is a key mechanism to adjust scope and priorities throughout the project.” Misalignment between delivery and customer expectations often originates from improper backlog management.

Options A and B refer to logs that track issues and changes, but these are reactive records and don’t directly address value delivery. Option D (risk register) deals with potential problems, not actual missed value.