PMP (Project Mgmt) practice questions and exam guide

A culturally specific gift (e.g., a meal or token at a relationship-building dinner) is offered. PMI ethics suggests:

1. Refuse every offer as a matter of policy, since a uniform rule removes any appearance of bias
2. Accept without disclosure, since courtesies exchanged at a shared meal are private hospitality
3. Accept every offer as a matter of respect, since refusal would damage the local relationship
4. Assess against policy and local norms — nominal customary courtesies yes, significant gifts no

Answer: D — Assess against policy and local norms — nominal customary courtesies yes, significant gifts no

(D) The judgment combines organizational policy, cultural context, and value, with disclosure where policy requires it. (A) applies a blanket rule that ignores legitimate cultural courtesy and can itself give offense. (B) is right that small courtesies can be accepted but wrong to treat disclosure as optional. (C) makes respect override policy, which would oblige acceptance of gifts that are plainly improper.

Two team members are in heated disagreement about technical approach. Which conflict resolution technique should the PM use FIRST?

1. Withdrawal/avoiding
2. Forcing/directing
3. Collaborating/problem solving — get both perspectives and find a mutual solution
4. Compromising immediately
5. Smoothing/accommodating

Answer: C — Collaborating/problem solving — get both perspectives and find a mutual solution

Collaborating produces the best long-term outcome (win-win). It takes more time but addresses root cause. Compromise is partial; smoothing avoids; forcing damages relationships; withdrawing defers the issue. PMI emphasizes collaborative conflict resolution.

Mid-execution, a key stakeholder requests a 'small' feature addition. The team estimates 80 hours. The PM should:

1. Absorb the request into the current sprint to keep the stakeholder engaged
2. Refuse it as scope creep, since it was not in the approved requirements
3. Route it through integrated change control before any commitment
4. Have the team fit it into available float without changing the baseline

Answer: C — Route it through integrated change control before any commitment

(C) Eighty hours mid-execution is a change regardless of how small it sounds, so it needs impact analysis across scope, schedule, cost and risk before the CCB decides. (A) is scope creep with a customer-service rationale. (B) reaches the likely outcome without the analysis, and refuses a change that might well be worth making. (D) hides real consumption of float from the baseline.

A team wants to adopt an AI code-review tool. The data governance team notes the tool sends source code to an external service. What is the BEST next step?

1. Approve the tool, since source code is not personal data under applicable privacy regulation
2. Prohibit the tool and standardize the team on peer manual code review for every change
3. Permit the tool only for open-source parts of the codebase, excluding proprietary modules
4. Evaluate it against the organization's data classification and vendor requirements

Answer: D — Evaluate it against the organization's data classification and vendor requirements

A) True-but-irrelevant: even if privacy law does not apply, source code is intellectual property governed by internal classification and contractual obligations. B) Blanket prohibition forfeits productivity without assessing whether controls (e.g., enterprise tenancy, no-retention terms) exist. C) A partial carve-out sounds pragmatic but skips the actual governance assessment and may still leak proprietary patterns. D) Correct: run the standard evaluation — classification, vendor terms, retention, residency — then pilot under governance.

If a project is performing at 0.80 CPI with $200K of original work remaining (BAC − EV = 200K) and the variance is expected to CONTINUE, the Estimate at Completion (EAC) is calculated by:

1. BAC / CPI
2. BAC − CV
3. AC + (BAC − EV)
4. AC + ETC where ETC is bottom-up re-estimated

Answer: A — BAC / CPI

A) Variance-continues EAC = BAC / CPI. B) Misapplication. C) Variance-NOT-typical EAC: AC + remaining work at original rate. D) Bottom-up EAC when prior estimates are invalid. Read the stem's variance assumption.

Two workstream leads on a hybrid program both claim decision authority over a shared component. Their teams have started duplicating work. What should the project manager do FIRST?

1. Let the two leads negotiate ownership directly, since intervening would undermine their authority
2. Split the shared component into two separately owned modules so each lead has clear authority
3. Facilitate a session with both leads to clarify decision rights, then document the agreed ownership
4. Escalate to the program sponsor and ask them to designate a single owner for the component

Answer: C — Facilitate a session with both leads to clarify decision rights, then document the agreed ownership

A) Hands-off is appropriate for minor friction, but duplicated work shows negotiation has already failed without facilitation. B) Redesigning the architecture to route around a role conflict adds technical debt to solve a people problem. C) Correct: the PM facilitates clarification of decision rights — a role-ambiguity conflict — and documents the outcome so it sticks. D) Escalation is the fallback if facilitation fails, not the first move.

Tailoring in project management means:

1. Applying every PMBOK process as written, without omission or adaptation
2. Adapting processes and techniques to the project's characteristics
3. Transferring process responsibility to an external delivery partner
4. Dropping the processes the team finds inconvenient during delivery

Answer: B — Adapting processes and techniques to the project's characteristics

(B) Tailoring is a deliberate selection based on size, complexity, industry, team experience and organizational culture — PMBOK 7 treats it as expected practice, not deviation. (A) is the rigid reading tailoring exists to correct. (D) is the opposite failure: unjustified omission dressed up as tailoring. (C) is outsourcing, a sourcing decision rather than a process one.

Which is MOST predictive of a high-functioning virtual team?

1. Distribution of the team across several time zones and regions
2. A team size held between five and seven with stable membership
3. Adoption of advanced collaboration and video-conferencing tooling
4. The team's psychological safety and clarity of its working agreements

Answer: D — The team's psychological safety and clarity of its working agreements

D) Psychological safety plus explicit working agreements is the strongest predictor of team performance, and it matters more, not less, when the team is distributed. A) Distribution is a constraint to manage, not a performance driver. B) Small team size is a useful heuristic but does not by itself predict performance. C) Good tooling is necessary but not sufficient.

During execution, the PM discovers a quality requirement was misunderstood and product is being built to wrong spec. The PM should:

1. Continue building to the current spec and schedule corrective rework after the release stabilizes
2. Correct the specification quietly within the team to avoid alarming the sponsor and stakeholders
3. Replace the requirements analyst and have the new analyst re-validate the affected specifications
4. Stop the affected work, confirm the requirement with stakeholders, and raise a change request

Answer: D — Stop the affected work, confirm the requirement with stakeholders, and raise a change request

(D) Stop producing defective output, verify the true requirement with the stakeholders who own it, then route the correction through change control and replan. (A) knowingly compounds the defect and inflates rework. (B) bypasses change control and hides a baseline deviation from the people accountable for it. (C) is scapegoating and still leaves the wrong-spec work in progress and the baseline unchanged.

A Monte Carlo simulation of project duration produces a 50% confidence interval of 90-110 days and an 80% confidence interval of 85-118 days. The PM should report the project's expected duration as:

1. About 100 days, reported together with the confidence ranges
2. 90 days, the optimistic end of the 50% confidence interval
3. 118 days, the pessimistic bound of the 80% confidence interval
4. The midpoint of the 80% interval, since it spans more outcomes

Answer: A — About 100 days, reported together with the confidence ranges

A) Report the central tendency together with the range and the confidence level attached to it; communicating the distribution is the point of running the simulation. B) Quoting the optimistic bound as the estimate hides most of the risk. C) Quoting the pessimistic bound builds in hidden contingency and inflates the plan. D) Averaging interval bounds is not how a simulation's central tendency is derived.

Which is a primary purpose of a Risk Register?

1. Hide risks
2. Financial reporting
3. Tracking tasks
4. Stakeholder list
5. Document identified risks with probability, impact, response strategy, owner, status — enables ongoing risk management throughout project

Answer: E — Document identified risks with probability, impact, response strategy, owner, status — enables ongoing risk management throughout project

Risk Register: living document with risk ID, description, probability, impact, score, response, owner, status. Updated through monitoring. Foundation of risk management practice. Process domain.

The PMO scores active projects quarterly against strategic objectives. The project manager's project scores lowest in the portfolio this quarter. What should the project manager do NEXT?

1. Understand the scoring drivers, then strengthen the value evidence or support a portfolio decision
2. Lobby the PMO to revise the scoring model, which systematically undervalues infrastructure projects
3. Accelerate visible deliverables this quarter so the project's next portfolio score improves
4. Prepare the team for cancellation and begin transition planning for the work in progress

Answer: A — Understand the scoring drivers, then strengthen the value evidence or support a portfolio decision

A) Correct: engage with the portfolio process — understand the score, improve the evidence of contribution if it's understated, or accept that reallocating funds may genuinely serve the strategy. B) Contesting the model may occasionally be fair, but leading with lobbying treats governance as an adversary. C) Gaming visible output for a score optimizes the metric, not the value it represents. D) A low relative score triggers scrutiny, not automatic cancellation — premature transition planning is fatalistic.

Three-point estimation (PERT-style) uses:

1. A single most likely duration, adjusted by a fixed contingency percentage
2. Analogous durations drawn from unrelated past projects and then averaged
3. Optimistic, most likely and pessimistic estimates combined as (O + 4M + P) / 6
4. The simple average of the optimistic and pessimistic values, ignoring most likely

Answer: C — Optimistic, most likely and pessimistic estimates combined as (O + 4M + P) / 6

(C) The beta-distribution PERT formula weights the most likely value four times and divides by six, producing an expected duration that reflects the spread. (D) is the triangular idea stripped of its central term, so it ignores where the estimate actually clusters. (A) is single-point estimating with a buffer. (B) is analogous estimating, which uses history rather than a range.

A team member asks the PM to omit their absence days from the timesheet to protect their bonus. The PM should:

1. Decline, explain that timesheet accuracy is a Responsibility obligation, and offer HR options
2. Record the days as worked this period and have the member take unpaid leave in the next cycle
3. Omit the absence once, treating it as a minor rounding within the reporting period's totals
4. Report the request to the member's line manager before discussing the matter with the member

Answer: A — Decline, explain that timesheet accuracy is a Responsibility obligation, and offer HR options

(A) Records integrity is not negotiable, and the constructive response pairs the refusal with a legitimate route through HR. (B) falsifies two periods to net out one, and the record is still wrong in each. (C) treats materiality as the test, but accuracy of the record, not the size of the error, is the obligation. (D) is not dishonest, yet escalating first bypasses the direct conversation and treats a coaching moment as a disciplinary one.

Midway through the project, a previously unknown stakeholder surfaces, a regulator who must approve the design. The PM should FIRST:

1. Add the regulator to the stakeholder register and assess power and interest
2. Notify the sponsor that late regulatory involvement may delay the project
3. Continue execution while preparing the regulatory submission in parallel
4. Pause execution until the regulator's approval requirements are fully known

Answer: A — Add the regulator to the stakeholder register and assess power and interest

A) Stakeholder identification is iterative; a newly surfaced stakeholder is registered and analyzed before engagement or escalation decisions are made. B) Telling the sponsor about a delay presumes an impact that has not been assessed. C) Preparing a submission without knowing the requirements invites rework. D) A full stop overreacts before the regulator's actual demands are understood.

A team member proposes adding a new feature that wasn't in scope. What should the PM do?

1. Add it immediately
2. Reject it without consideration
3. Process it through formal change control: assess impact (cost, schedule, scope) and route to Change Control Board for approval
4. Discuss informally only
5. Wait until project closes

Answer: C — Process it through formal change control: assess impact (cost, schedule, scope) and route to Change Control Board for approval

All scope changes go through change control: impact analysis, CCB approval, then update of plan/baselines if approved. Skipping change control is scope creep — a major PMP exam topic.

A team member gossips about peers, undermines decisions in side conversations, and demoralizes the team. After private coaching produces no change, the PM should:

1. Document the behavior and impact, then work with HR and the functional manager
2. Tolerate the behavior because the person's technical output is hard to replace
3. Raise the behavior in front of the team so peers apply corrective pressure
4. Reassign their work to others while keeping them on the team roster

Answer: A — Document the behavior and impact, then work with HR and the functional manager

(A) Coaching has already failed, so the next step is documented evidence and the proper HR and line-management channel, up to removal. (B) trades the whole team's health for one person's output. (C) is a respect violation under the PMI code and models the behavior being corrected. (D) is a half-measure: the person stays, the conduct continues, and the team absorbs the work.

Which estimation technique uses ranges (optimistic, most likely, pessimistic) to produce a weighted average?

1. PERT / Three-point: (O + 4M + P) / 6 (beta distribution) or (O + M + P) / 3 (triangular)
2. Analogous
3. Parametric
4. Bottom-up
5. Expert judgment alone

Answer: A — PERT / Three-point: (O + 4M + P) / 6 (beta distribution) or (O + M + P) / 3 (triangular)

Three-point estimating (PERT) accounts for uncertainty. Beta = (O+4M+P)/6; triangular = (O+M+P)/3. Better than single-point for risky activities. Standard deviation = (P-O)/6. PMP Process domain.

Project closure activities include:

1. Obtaining the sponsor's signature and closing the project immediately
2. Holding a team celebration to mark the end of the delivery effort
3. Moving the team straight onto the next project in the portfolio
4. Formal acceptance, resource release, archiving, and lessons learned

Answer: D — Formal acceptance, resource release, archiving, and lessons learned

(D) Closing covers formal acceptance, financial closeout, releasing resources, archiving records and capturing lessons learned so the organization keeps the knowledge. (A) captures sign-off but skips everything that makes the closure useful later. (B) is one worthwhile part of it. (C) is what happens when closure is skipped entirely.

A new stakeholder joins the project late and disagrees with priorities. What should the PM do FIRST?

1. Ignore them
2. Comply with all their demands
3. Meet to understand their concerns and interests, update the stakeholder register and engagement plan, and assess impact on existing priorities before responding
4. Escalate immediately
5. Refuse to engage

Answer: C — Meet to understand their concerns and interests, update the stakeholder register and engagement plan, and assess impact on existing priorities before responding

Active stakeholder engagement: listen first, understand interests/power, update register. Then communicate impact before changes. PMI Way: relationships over reactions. People domain (PMP ECO 42%) tested heavily.

Kano analysis classifies requirements as:

1. Must-be, performance, and attractive — plus indifferent and reverse — by satisfaction impact
2. High, medium, and low priority, ranked by the sponsor's assessment of relative business value
3. Functional and nonfunctional, separating behavior from quality attributes such as performance
4. In-scope and out-of-scope, drawing the boundary recorded in the approved project scope statement

Answer: A — Must-be, performance, and attractive — plus indifferent and reverse — by satisfaction impact

(A) Kano classifies features by how their presence or absence affects customer satisfaction, adding indifferent and reverse to the three main categories. (B) is simple priority ranking, which says nothing about satisfaction behavior. (C) is a requirement type taxonomy rather than a satisfaction model. (D) is a scope boundary decision, which comes after prioritization and classification.

A project manager wants to strengthen the project's connection to organizational strategy. Which artifact is the BEST place to trace each major deliverable to a strategic objective?

1. The work breakdown structure, which decomposes the whole of the project's approved scope
2. The stakeholder register, which records who cares about each of the project's outcomes
3. The risk register, which links identified threats and opportunities to project objectives
4. The benefits realization plan, which links outputs to outcomes to strategic objectives

Answer: D — The benefits realization plan, which links outputs to outcomes to strategic objectives

A) The WBS decomposes scope into work — it shows what will be built, not why it matters strategically. B) The stakeholder register maps people to interests, not deliverables to strategy. C) The risk register ties uncertainties to objectives — protective, not directional. D) Correct: the benefits map/realization plan is purpose-built to chain deliverables → outcomes → benefits → strategic objectives.

In a hybrid project, an agile team's velocity should be communicated to the steering committee as:

1. A target the committee sets, so teams have a clear productivity commitment for each iteration
2. An individual performance KPI, apportioning delivered points across each team member's record
3. A comparison across teams, ranking them so the committee can reallocate capacity to leaders
4. Contextual data alongside delivered outcomes, since velocity is internal and not comparable

Answer: D — Contextual data alongside delivered outcomes, since velocity is internal and not comparable

(D) Velocity is a team-internal forecasting input; steering committees should be shown delivered outcomes, with velocity as context only. (A) turns a forecasting tool into a target, which invites point inflation. (B) attributes team output to individuals and breaks collective ownership. (C) compares numbers built on each team's own estimation scale, so the ranking is meaningless.

Sprint velocity has been stable at 30 points for six sprints. The sponsor asks the project manager to commit to a fixed feature list for the next two quarters based on that velocity. What is the BEST response?

1. Commit to the feature list, since six sprints of stable velocity make the baseline reliable
2. Give a forecast with a confidence range and agree a cadence to re-forecast as scope emerges
3. Decline to forecast beyond the current sprint, since agile teams commit one sprint at a time
4. Commit to the feature list but pad the underlying estimate by 25% to protect against variance

Answer: B — Give a forecast with a confidence range and agree a cadence to re-forecast as scope emerges

A) Stable velocity supports forecasting, not fixed long-range commitment — scope, team, and priorities will shift over two quarters. B) Correct: probabilistic forecasting with ranges plus a re-forecast cadence gives the sponsor plannable information without false certainty. C) Common misconception: agile forecasts beyond a sprint all the time; it declines false precision, not planning. D) Hidden padding is dishonest reporting and still converts a range into a fake point commitment.

What is a histogram?

A bar chart showing the frequency distribution of data. Used to identify patterns, central tendency, and variation in processes.

What is a resource breakdown structure?

Hierarchical chart of resources by category and type, used to plan, manage, and control project work.

What is an Agile Release Train (ART)?

In SAFe, a team of Agile teams (~50-125 people) that delivers value on a fixed cadence (usually 8-12 week Program Increments).

What is the formula for SV?

Schedule Variance = EV − PV. Positive = ahead of schedule. Negative = behind.

What is psychological safety?

Team members feel safe to take risks, speak up, and admit mistakes without fear of punishment. Key driver of high-performing teams (Google's Project Aristotle).

What is situational leadership?

Leadership style should adapt to the team member's competence and commitment: Directing → Coaching → Supporting → Delegating.