PMP Practice Questions

Your agile project team has been using two-week sprints successfully for six months. A new regulatory requirement has been introduced that mandates monthly compliance reports with detailed documentation of all work completed. The compliance officer suggests moving to four-week sprints to align with the reporting cycle, arguing it will reduce administrative overhead. The team is concerned this will reduce their ability to adapt quickly to changing market conditions. How should you address this situation?

September 21, 2026

During a sprint, your development team discovers that implementing a user story as currently defined would require significant technical debt due to integration with a legacy system. The story is high priority for the product owner and represents 8 story points of the 40-point sprint commitment. Refactoring to avoid technical debt would increase the effort to 13 story points. The team is currently on day 3 of a 10-day sprint. What should happen next?

September 21, 2026

Your agile team is developing a customer portal and has received feedback from the product owner that the last three increments did not meet customer expectations, despite meeting acceptance criteria. The team followed all documented requirements and the product owner approved each user story before development. Customers are frustrated that features don't solve their actual problems. What should the team do to prevent this in future sprints?

September 21, 2026

You are managing an agile software development project with a distributed team across three time zones. During sprint planning, the team commits to 45 story points, which is significantly higher than their historical average of 32 story points per sprint. When you question this, the team explains they want to impress the new executive sponsor who will attend the sprint review. The product owner supports the ambitious commitment. What is the BEST action to take?

September 21, 2026

Your agile team has completed three sprints on a mobile application project. During the sprint retrospective, several team members mention that the Definition of Done (DoD) has become unclear, as some user stories are being marked complete without proper testing documentation. The product owner suggests loosening the DoD to improve velocity metrics. Team members are divided on this approach. What should you do as the Scrum Master?

September 21, 2026

You are managing a 14-month product development project currently in month 8. The project has a documented communications management plan that specifies monthly status reports to stakeholders. A key stakeholder who rarely attended review meetings or responded to status reports suddenly expresses strong dissatisfaction with the project direction during a chance meeting with your sponsor. The sponsor is now questioning your stakeholder management approach. Upon investigation, you discover this stakeholder's engagement level has dropped from 'supportive' to 'resistant' without your awareness. What should you have done differently?

September 18, 2026

You are managing a software development project using a predictive approach. During a quality audit, the quality assurance team identifies that 15% of the deliverables from the development phase contain defects that meet the defined acceptance criteria but fall short of industry best practices for security standards. The project quality management plan specifies conformance to acceptance criteria as the measure of quality. Fixing these issues would require additional time and budget not currently allocated. What should you do?

September 18, 2026

Your manufacturing project is in the execution phase. A critical supplier informs you that a key component will be delayed by three weeks due to material shortages. This component is on the critical path and was scheduled to be delivered in two weeks. You review your risk register and find that supplier delays were identified as a risk, with a mitigation strategy to identify alternate suppliers. However, no alternate suppliers were pre-qualified. What should you do first?

September 18, 2026

You are managing a construction project with a 12-month timeline and a fixed budget of $2.5 million. During the fourth month, you conduct an earned value analysis and find that the Cost Performance Index (CPI) is 0.85 and the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is 0.92. The sponsor asks you to forecast the final project cost assuming current performance continues. What is the most appropriate estimate to provide?

September 18, 2026

Your project team has completed the work breakdown structure (WBS) for a complex infrastructure project. During the activity definition process, a senior team member suggests that some work packages are still too large and should be decomposed further into smaller activities. Another team member argues that further decomposition is unnecessary and will create excessive administrative overhead. The work packages in question represent approximately 120 hours of work each. How should you proceed?

September 18, 2026

A project manager is leading a predictive ERP implementation project for a financial services company. During execution, a major cybersecurity breach occurs at a competitor, resulting in significant regulatory scrutiny across the industry. The regulatory body issues new data security requirements that affect how customer information must be encrypted and stored. These requirements were not part of the original project scope or compliance assessment. The changes would add 2 months and $500,000 to the project. What is the most appropriate course of action?

September 18, 2026

A manufacturing company is executing a predictive project to build a new production facility. The project is 40% complete when the organization announces a merger with another company. The merged entity's executive team requests a review of all capital projects to ensure alignment with the new corporate strategy, which emphasizes sustainability and carbon neutrality by 2030. The current facility design meets all contracted requirements but uses conventional energy systems. What should the project manager do?

September 18, 2026

A project manager is overseeing a predictive construction project to build a new corporate headquarters. The local economy has been experiencing significant inflation, and the central bank has raised interest rates three times in the past six months. The project has a fixed-price contract with the general contractor, but several subcontractors are requesting price increases citing increased material costs and higher borrowing costs for equipment. The project is 30% complete with 18 months remaining. The contingency reserve is 8% and has not yet been used. What should the project manager do?

September 18, 2026

A project manager is overseeing a government infrastructure project using a predictive approach. Six months into the 24-month project, a new political administration takes office and announces a comprehensive review of all ongoing infrastructure projects. The review is expected to take 3 months, during which all project expenditures must be approved on a weekly basis rather than monthly. The project has sufficient budget allocated, but the change in approval frequency could impact the critical path. How should the project manager respond to this external environmental change?

September 18, 2026

A project manager is leading a predictive project to develop a new medical device. During the planning phase, the sponsor informs the project manager that a competitor has just announced a similar product launch in 12 months. The original project schedule was 18 months, with significant regulatory approval milestones at months 6, 12, and 15. The sponsor wants to know if the project can be accelerated to match the competitor's timeline without compromising regulatory compliance. What should the project manager do first?

September 18, 2026

A project team is using a hybrid approach where high-level milestones and deliverables were defined upfront, but the team uses two-week sprints to deliver increments. At the end of each sprint, the team holds a review session with stakeholders. A key stakeholder has missed the last three sprint reviews and is now complaining that the project is not meeting their expectations. What should the project manager do?

September 18, 2026

A hybrid project has a fixed budget approved by the steering committee, but features are being delivered iteratively based on business value. After completing 40% of the planned iterations, the project has spent 50% of the budget due to higher than expected infrastructure costs. The remaining features in the backlog are all considered high priority by stakeholders. What should the project manager do next?

September 18, 2026

A project manager is leading a hybrid project where the design phase was completed using a predictive approach, and now the team is moving into iterative development sprints. Several team members who were not involved in the design phase are confused about the project requirements. Velocity has been lower than expected in the first sprint. What should the project manager do?

September 18, 2026

A project team is using a hybrid approach where requirements are gathered upfront but development is executed in two-week sprints. The product owner has just requested a new feature that was not in the original project scope. The team has completed three sprints and has five more planned. What should the project manager do first?

September 18, 2026

A software development project is using a hybrid approach with a defined budget and timeline, but iterative delivery of features. During the third iteration, the team discovers that a core architectural component needs to be redesigned, which will impact the overall project schedule. The project sponsor is concerned about meeting the fixed deadline. What is the best way for the project manager to address this situation?

September 18, 2026

A project manager is assigned to deliver a new customer relationship management (CRM) system for a retail company. During the planning phase, the project manager learns that a major competitor has just launched a similar system with innovative features that customers are responding to positively. The sponsor is concerned about market positioning. The project requirements have been approved and baselined. What should the project manager recommend?

September 18, 2026

A project manager is leading a government infrastructure project with a fixed contract of $5 million and a timeline of 18 months. Three months into the project, new environmental regulations are passed that will require additional permitting and compliance documentation. The sponsor asks the project manager how this will affect the project. What should the project manager do first?

September 18, 2026

A pharmaceutical company is executing a project to upgrade its laboratory information management system using a waterfall methodology. Six months into the 18-month project, a new data privacy law is enacted that requires additional security controls and audit capabilities. The compliance deadline is 10 months away. The project manager has verified that the new requirements were not anticipated in the original scope. What is the first step the project manager should take?

September 18, 2026

A project manager is leading a construction project for a new office building using a predictive approach. The local government announces plans to build a new subway station near the project site, which will begin construction in 12 months. This development is expected to significantly increase property values in the area. Several stakeholders suggest the project manager should redesign the building to add more floors to capitalize on this opportunity. The project is currently in the execution phase with 40% completion. What should the project manager do?

September 18, 2026

A manufacturing company is implementing a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system using a waterfall approach. The CFO informs the project manager that the company's quarterly financial results show declining revenue, and there may be budget cuts across all departments next quarter. The project is currently in the design phase and is on track with its baseline. What is the most appropriate action for the project manager?

September 18, 2026