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PMP practice questions

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Question 1People

A project team has just been assembled. Members are polite, unsure of their roles, and depend on the project manager for direction. Which stage of the Tuckman model is this team in?

  1. Performing
  2. Norming
  3. Storming
  4. Forming Correct answer.

Explanation

Tuckman's sequence runs forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Forming is characterized by orientation, politeness, and dependence on the leader for structure and direction.

Question 2People

What is the main purpose of a team charter?

  1. To clarify purpose and working agreements Correct answer.
  2. To record the project budget and funding sources
  3. To list the risks owned by each team member
  4. To document the approved schedule baseline

Explanation

A team charter captures the team's purpose, values, roles, and agreed ways of working, giving members a shared reference for behavior and decisions. Baselines, cost information, and risk data live in other project artifacts.

Question 3People

A project manager notices recurring friction about meeting start times, side conversations, and response times. Which action best addresses the root cause?

  1. Escalate the behavior to the sponsor
  2. Add meeting attendance to the RACI chart
  3. Facilitate team agreement on ground rules Correct answer.
  4. Publish the communication management plan again

Explanation

Ground rules are the team's own agreements about how members interact, communicate, and behave. Facilitating their creation gives the team ownership and a shared basis for addressing violations.

Question 4People

After a layoff announcement, a team member stops contributing ideas and asks repeatedly about job security. Which level of Maslow's hierarchy best explains this behavior?

  1. Safety needs Correct answer.
  2. Esteem needs
  3. Self-actualization needs
  4. Social needs

Explanation

Maslow's hierarchy orders needs from physiological and safety up through social, esteem, and self-actualization. Concerns about job security relate to safety needs, which dominate attention until they are addressed.

Question 5People

In Herzberg's two-factor theory, which of the following is a motivator?

  1. Challenging work Correct answer.
  2. Company policies
  3. Salary and benefits
  4. Job security

Explanation

Motivators are intrinsic to the work itself: achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, and growth. Hygiene factors such as pay, security, and policy prevent dissatisfaction but do not create motivation.

Question 6People

A team member repeatedly volunteers to lead meetings and asks for feedback on how much influence she has on decisions. Which of McClelland's needs is most dominant?

  1. Need for achievement
  2. Need for autonomy
  3. Need for affiliation
  4. Need for power Correct answer.

Explanation

McClelland identified three acquired needs: achievement, affiliation, and power. A preference for influencing others and monitoring one's influence reflects the need for power.

Question 7People

Two senior engineers disagree on a design approach that affects cost and quality. Time allows discussion, and both views carry valid concerns. Which conflict-handling approach is most appropriate?

  1. Avoiding
  2. Forcing
  3. Collaborating Correct answer.
  4. Accommodating

Explanation

Collaborating, or problem solving, seeks a win-win outcome and is preferred when the issue is important, both parties hold relevant information, and time permits. It produces commitment rather than mere compliance.

Question 8People

Which behavior is most characteristic of servant leadership?

  1. Removing impediments so the team can deliver Correct answer.
  2. Making the key technical decisions personally
  3. Limiting information to the management layer
  4. Using positional authority to settle disputes

Explanation

Servant leaders shift from command to support: they grow people, share power, and clear obstacles so the team can self-organize. Decision hoarding and authority-based control reflect more directive styles.

Question 9People

A team member is enthusiastic about a new task but has never done it before and lacks the skill. According to situational leadership, which style should the project manager use?

  1. Delegating
  2. Directing Correct answer.
  3. Supporting
  4. Coaching

Explanation

In situational leadership the style follows the follower's development level. A member with low competence but high commitment needs clear direction on what to do and how, with limited two-way support.

Question 10People

A project manager feels irritation rising during a heated exchange and deliberately pauses before replying, choosing her words carefully. Which component of emotional intelligence is she demonstrating?

  1. Relationship management
  2. Social awareness
  3. Self-awareness
  4. Self-management Correct answer.

Explanation

Emotional intelligence comprises self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Regulating one's own emotional reaction before acting is self-management.

Question 11People

You need a shared specialist for three weeks, but the functional manager has already assigned her to another project. What is the best first step?

  1. Offer a compromise before hearing their needs
  2. Explore each side's interests and constraints Correct answer.
  3. Escalate the conflict to the sponsor at once
  4. Accept the manager's position to keep the relationship

Explanation

Effective negotiation starts with interests rather than positions. Surfacing each side's constraints and priorities opens options for a mutually acceptable trade.

Question 12People

Which action best illustrates coaching a team member?

  1. Asking questions that help the member find a solution Correct answer.
  2. Taking over the member's task to meet the deadline
  3. Noting the member's weakness in the performance log
  4. Telling the member exactly how to fix the defect

Explanation

Coaching builds capability by helping people think through problems themselves, typically through open questions, reflection, and feedback. Telling and taking over the work create dependence rather than growth.

Question 13People

A virtual team spread over five time zones complains that decisions are made without their input. Which practice best addresses this?

  1. Rotate meeting times and share decision logs Correct answer.
  2. Send recordings of meetings after they occur
  3. Assign one point of contact per region
  4. Require all members to attend every live meeting

Explanation

Distributed teams need deliberate inclusion practices: rotating meeting times so no group is always disadvantaged, and making decisions visible so remote members can review and challenge them. One-way recordings and single contact points do not create real participation.

Question 14People

A project manager is delegating a task but remains accountable for the outcome. What should the manager do?

  1. Assign it to two members for redundancy
  2. Define the outcome, authority, and due date Correct answer.
  3. Assign the task and delete it from the schedule
  4. Delegate only tasks that carry no risk

Explanation

Delegation transfers authority for a defined piece of work while the project manager keeps accountability. Clear outcomes, boundaries of authority, resources, and a due date make the transfer workable.

Question 15People

A team member's reports have been arriving late for two weeks. Which feedback approach is most effective?

  1. Record the issue without telling the member
  2. Give specific, timely feedback in private Correct answer.
  3. Compare the member with peers in a team meeting
  4. Raise it at the annual performance review

Explanation

Effective feedback is specific, timely, behavioral, and delivered privately. Describing the observed behavior and its impact lets the member act on it while preserving trust.

Question 16People

The team must adopt a new tool, and a skills assessment shows most members cannot use it. What should the project manager do next?

  1. Reassign the work to another team
  2. Log the gap as a risk and continue
  3. Arrange training and verify it closed the gap Correct answer.
  4. Extend the project schedule by a fixed percentage

Explanation

Once a competence gap is identified, the response is to close it through training, mentoring, or acquiring skills, and then confirm the gap is actually closed. Adjusting the schedule or logging a risk leaves the team unable to deliver.

Question 17People

The team cannot reach consensus on a technical choice and a decision is needed today. What is the most appropriate action?

  1. Ask the sponsor to choose the design
  2. Wait until consensus emerges on its own
  3. Let the project manager decide and announce it
  4. Apply the decision rule the team agreed on Correct answer.

Explanation

Teams should agree in advance how decisions will be made when consensus is not reached, such as voting, quorum, or escalation to a designated decider. Using the agreed rule preserves fairness and keeps the project moving.

Question 18People

A team member from another culture seldom speaks in meetings but shares strong views one to one. What should the project manager do?

  1. Record the behavior as low engagement
  2. Assume silence means agreement
  3. Require the member to speak first each time
  4. Add written and one-to-one input channels Correct answer.

Explanation

Participation norms vary across cultures; quieter members may be deferential rather than disengaged. Offering alternative channels such as written input and individual discussions surfaces their ideas and supports inclusion.

Question 19People

Which action most empowers a self-organizing team?

  1. Letting the team decide within clear limits Correct answer.
  2. Setting hourly output targets for each member
  3. Approving every task assignment personally
  4. Reviewing every deliverable before release

Explanation

Empowerment means giving the team real decision rights inside boundaries the project manager defines, such as scope, budget, quality thresholds, and escalation paths. Micromanaging tasks, hours, or outputs removes that ownership.

Question 20People

A colocated team of twelve rarely interacts outside formal meetings, and handoffs between sub-teams are producing rework. Which action best improves team performance?

  1. Publish an organization chart of the team
  2. Add a coordinator to route the handoffs
  3. Require daily written status from each sub-team
  4. Run joint working sessions across sub-teams Correct answer.

Explanation

Team building creates working relationships and shared understanding of how work flows between members. Structured joint sessions let sub-teams learn each other's work and reduce handoff errors.

Question 21People

You need 20 days of a specialist's time. Her manager has committed those days to another project with a fixed regulatory deadline, and the specialist prefers your work. What is the most effective action?

  1. Ask the sponsor to mandate the assignment
  2. Ask the specialist to split time across projects
  3. Let the manager's decision stand to keep goodwill
  4. Seek options that satisfy both departments Correct answer.

Explanation

Principled negotiation searches for options that address both parties' real interests; the regulatory deadline is a constraint that a partial or rescheduled allocation may still satisfy. Mandating or abandoning the request skips that search and damages the relationship.

Question 22People

In a design review, a senior technical lead dismisses a junior member's proposal with a sarcastic remark. The junior member goes quiet for the rest of the meeting. What should the project manager do?

  1. Reassign the junior member to another team
  2. Ignore it to avoid embarrassing the technical lead
  3. Escalate immediately to the functional manager
  4. Address it privately, reinforce ground rules Correct answer.

Explanation

The project manager protects a respectful team environment. The fastest durable fix is a private conversation with the senior lead that names the behavior and ties it to the agreed ground rules, followed by support for the junior member.

Question 23People

Three weeks into a project, team members argue about role boundaries and the delivery process, and progress slows. What is the project manager's most appropriate action?

  1. Reassign roles and dissolve the current team
  2. Replace the most disruptive members
  3. Facilitate role clarity and ground rules Correct answer.
  4. Escalate the conflict to the sponsor

Explanation

Arguing about roles and process is typical of the storming stage and is a normal step toward norming. The project manager helps the team work through it by clarifying roles, facilitating agreement on process, and modeling constructive conflict.

Question 24People

In a steering meeting, a stakeholder accuses your team of hiding problems. Which response is most effective?

  1. Agree to investigate and move on quickly
  2. Defend the team's record with detailed data
  3. End the meeting and reschedule it
  4. Acknowledge the concern, then review facts Correct answer.

Explanation

Acknowledging the concern first lowers defensiveness and preserves the relationship; presenting facts afterwards moves the discussion from emotion to evidence. Leading with a counter-argument tends to escalate the exchange.

Question 25People

You take over a project whose team is spread across three countries. Members disagree about working hours, response times, and how decisions get made. What should you do first?

  1. Record the disagreement in the risk register
  2. Publish a schedule of mandatory meetings
  3. Require everyone to follow head-office hours
  4. Co-create working agreements with the team Correct answer.

Explanation

Distributed teams need explicit, co-created norms for availability, response times, and decision making; involving members builds commitment and surfaces cultural differences early. Imposing head-office norms or merely documenting the problem does not resolve it.

Question 26People

The final deliverable has been accepted and the team is being released to other work. Which action best completes the adjourning stage?

  1. Delay releasing members until the next project charter is approved
  2. Capture lessons learned, recognize contributions, and release members formally Correct answer.
  3. Ask the sponsor to announce the team's dissolution at the next steering meeting
  4. Reassign the strongest performers first so remaining work finishes faster

Explanation

Adjourning is the final stage of team development, in which the team disbands and members move to new assignments. Effective closure includes capturing lessons learned, acknowledging individual and team contributions, and formally releasing people so they can be reassigned.

Question 27People

A newly formed team has moved past polite introductions. Members now openly challenge each other's estimates and question who is really in charge. What stage is the team in, and what should the project manager do?

  1. Norming; step back and let the team settle into its working agreements
  2. Performing; delegate fully and avoid interfering with the team's work
  3. Storming; reinforce ground rules and facilitate resolution of disagreements Correct answer.
  4. Forming; introduce the team members to each other and clarify the schedule

Explanation

Storming follows forming, when competing expectations, roles, and working styles surface as open disagreement. The project manager keeps conflict constructive by reinforcing ground rules, clarifying roles, and facilitating resolution rather than suppressing debate.

Question 28People

A manager states that team members will avoid responsibility unless they are closely supervised and given explicit instructions. Which motivational assumption does this reflect?

  1. Theory Y
  2. Expectancy theory
  3. Two-factor theory
  4. Theory X Correct answer.

Explanation

Theory X assumes that workers are inherently disinclined to work and must be directed and controlled. Theory Y takes the opposite view, holding that people seek responsibility and can direct themselves.

Question 29People

In a responsibility assignment matrix, how many people should be accountable for a single work package?

  1. As many as the work package touches
  2. Exactly one Correct answer.
  3. Any number, provided the names are recorded
  4. One for each deliverable the package produces

Explanation

In a RACI chart, accountability is singular: one person owns the outcome of each work package even when several people contribute or must be consulted. Multiple accountable parties blur ownership and slow decisions.

Question 30People

A team member tells you privately that a colleague has repeatedly made demeaning comments about her religion. What should you do first?

  1. Bring both people together so the colleague can apologize in front of the team
  2. Report the matter promptly through the organization's established channel Correct answer.
  3. Wait for a formal written complaint before taking any action
  4. Tell her to raise it directly with the colleague and revisit it in a month

Explanation

Harassment and discrimination allegations must be handled promptly through the organization's established policy and human resources channels, not informally. The project manager should act on the report, protect confidentiality, and avoid public or retaliatory confrontation.

Question 31People

Two team members hold critical skills, and work stalls whenever either is absent. Which action best reduces this single-point-of-failure risk?

  1. Pair team members so each learns the other's critical skills Correct answer.
  2. Escalate to the sponsor to request additional specialist resources
  3. Add a buffer to the schedule to absorb the delays
  4. Document the procedures the two members follow

Explanation

Cross-training, often described as developing T-shaped team members, builds redundant capability so the team is not hostage to one person's availability. Documentation helps but does not transfer the ability to perform the work.

Question 32People

A senior team member is highly skilled, experienced with the technology, and eager to own the work. In situational leadership, which style fits?

  1. Delegating, because competence and commitment are both high Correct answer.
  2. Coaching, because the member still needs frequent feedback
  3. Supporting, because enthusiasm needs to be reinforced
  4. Directing, because the project manager still remains accountable

Explanation

Situational leadership matches style to the follower's development level for the specific task. When both competence and commitment are high, the leader delegates the task and stays available without close direction.

Question 33People

A replacement engineer joins the team in the middle of an execution phase. What should the project manager do to integrate the new member?

  1. Assign a mentor only if the engineer asks for one
  2. Orient the engineer to the charter, working agreements, and current goals Correct answer.
  3. Send the project charter and schedule and let the engineer catch up independently
  4. Postpone the integration until the next phase boundary to avoid disruption

Explanation

New members should be brought into the team's context quickly: project objectives, ground rules, roles, and current priorities. Structured orientation shortens the disruption that a mid-project addition creates.

Question 34People

A safety flaw is discovered on a live construction site, and two leads are debating options while work continues. Which conflict approach should the project manager use?

  1. Accommodate both leads so neither loses face
  2. Force a decision now, then explain the reasoning Correct answer.
  3. Smooth the tension and revisit the issue at the next review
  4. Withdraw and let the leads settle it themselves

Explanation

Forcing is appropriate when the issue is critical, time is short, or safety and compliance are at stake. The relationship cost is accepted because the risk of delay outweighs it, and the decision is explained afterward to rebuild buy-in.

Question 35People

A project manager consistently emphasizes areas of agreement and downplays differences to keep meetings pleasant. Which is the main risk of this approach?

  1. The underlying conflict remains unresolved and resurfaces later Correct answer.
  2. The team will reach decisions too quickly and skip careful analysis
  3. Team members will feel overruled and disengage
  4. The project manager will be seen as too collaborative

Explanation

Smoothing highlights agreement and avoids the substance of a disagreement, so it can buy temporary harmony while leaving the root cause in place. Unresolved conflicts typically return, often with greater intensity.

Question 36People

Two team members each want their own testing approach adopted. Each gives up part of what they want so a decision can be made. Which statement about this outcome is accurate?

  1. It is compromising, which may leave the root issue unresolved Correct answer.
  2. It is avoiding, because neither party fully engaged
  3. It is forcing, because a single approach was chosen
  4. It is collaborating, because both parties gained something they wanted

Explanation

Compromise is a settlement in which each side concedes something; it can work when time is short or positions are equal but may not solve the underlying problem. Collaborating instead searches for a solution that fully satisfies both parties.

Question 37People

A team member repeatedly chooses tasks with clear, moderate stretch where she can see her personal contribution to the result. Which need is she displaying?

  1. Need for achievement Correct answer.
  2. Need for affiliation
  3. Need for power
  4. Need for security

Explanation

McClelland's need for achievement is characterized by a preference for moderately challenging goals with clear personal feedback. High achievers avoid both trivial tasks and odds they consider a gamble.

Question 38People

Team members believe they can meet the new quality target, but they also believe that meeting it will not be noticed or rewarded. In expectancy theory terms, which link is weak?

  1. Equity, the fairness of the reward relative to others
  2. Instrumentality: performance will not lead to the outcome Correct answer.
  3. Expectancy, the belief that effort will lead to the required performance
  4. Valence, the value the person places on the reward

Explanation

Expectancy theory holds that motivation depends on expectancy, instrumentality, and valence multiplied together. When people are confident they can perform but doubt that performance will produce the promised outcome, instrumentality is the broken link.

Question 39People

Which behavior best characterizes transformational leadership?

  1. Trading rewards for compliance with the agreed performance targets
  2. Articulating a compelling vision and challenging people to grow Correct answer.
  3. Relying on formal authority to enforce standards
  4. Monitoring deviations and correcting them against the plan

Explanation

Transformational leaders motivate through vision, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration, raising both performance and commitment. Transactional leadership, by contrast, relies on exchanges of rewards for compliance and on management by exception.

Question 40People

During a status meeting a normally quiet team member becomes curt and monosyllabic. The project manager notices the change and sets up a private conversation later that day. Which emotional intelligence component is being applied first?

  1. Motivation, because the manager persists toward goals
  2. Self-awareness, because the manager knows her own moods
  3. Self-regulation, because the manager stays calm under pressure
  4. Social awareness, reading other people's emotional cues Correct answer.

Explanation

Social awareness is the ability to pick up on the emotions and concerns of others and to read the organizational context. Acting on those cues in a private conversation then converts awareness into relationship management.

Question 41People

A project team will work from four countries and has never met in person. Which action most improves the chance of effective collaboration?

  1. Require everyone to work the time zone of the project manager
  2. Rely on chat as the only channel to keep exchanges fast
  3. Increase the number of status reports so that progress is always fully visible
  4. Hold a structured kickoff to agree on roles, norms, and working hours Correct answer.

Explanation

Distributed teams need an explicit launch where relationships, roles, communication norms, and meeting hours are agreed. Tools help, but the shared agreement is what prevents later misunderstandings.

Question 42People

A distributed team keeps scheduling decisions late in the day for the project manager's time zone, which is after midnight for two members. What should the project manager do?

  1. Cancel the meetings and rely on email decisions instead
  2. Continue as is, because the project manager's schedule is the anchor
  3. Ask the two members to adjust their personal schedules permanently
  4. Rotate meeting times and record sessions for asynchronous review Correct answer.

Explanation

Fair working agreements for distributed teams rotate inconvenient hours and provide asynchronous alternatives so that no member is structurally excluded. Exclusion leads to disengagement and decisions made without full input.

Question 43People

The project manager wants to reward a team whose work depends heavily on mutual help. Which reward approach is most appropriate?

  1. Give the largest bonus to whoever works the most overtime
  2. Rank members annually so the top performer is visible to executives
  3. Recognize joint results and the help team members give each other Correct answer.
  4. Reward only the people whose tasks finish ahead of schedule

Explanation

Reward systems should encourage the behavior the team actually needs. A team that relies on cooperation should be rewarded for collective results and mutual support; individual, zero-sum rankings encourage hoarding and undermine collaboration.

Question 44People

When assembling an integration team, the project manager finds that senior roles keep going to people who resemble him in background and style. What is the best first action?

  1. Screen all candidates against predefined, job-related criteria Correct answer.
  2. Add diversity of any kind to the team and move on quickly
  3. Defend the choices, since a similar background predicts team fit
  4. Let the sponsor approve the list to shift the responsibility

Explanation

Unconscious bias is best countered structurally: define the knowledge and skills the work requires and evaluate every candidate against those criteria. Awareness alone rarely changes selection outcomes.

Question 45People

Much of a team's expertise is undocumented know-how held by experienced members. Which approach best shares it with newer members?

  1. Require newcomers to learn through trial and error
  2. Distribute the expert's reports so newcomers can read them
  3. Pair newcomers with experienced members on real work Correct answer.
  4. Ask the experts to write complete procedures before they leave

Explanation

Tacit knowledge is gained through experience and is hard to codify, so it transfers best through interaction such as pairing, mentoring, and shared practice. Written procedures capture explicit knowledge but not judgment.

Question 46People

A project manager is planning how to develop a newly formed team. Which approach to team building is most effective?

  1. Use the same team-building program on every project
  2. Schedule a social event every month for the duration of the project
  3. Wait until the team performs poorly, then arrange an offsite
  4. Match activities to the team's current development needs Correct answer.

Explanation

Team building should be a deliberate intervention aimed at the team's actual stage and issues, such as clarifying roles during storming or reinforcing trust during norming. Generic or reactive events rarely address the real impediment.

Question 47People

Two team members have stopped speaking to each other after a personal remark, and their work handoffs are now failing. Which type of conflict is this, and how should it be handled?

  1. Task conflict; escalate it to the sponsor for a decision
  2. Task conflict; allow it to continue because debate tends to improve team decisions
  3. Process conflict; revise the handoff procedure and the issue will fade
  4. Relationship conflict; address it privately to repair the working relationship Correct answer.

Explanation

Task and process conflict can be productive when managed, but relationship conflict, rooted in personal friction and distrust, is destructive. It must be surfaced and resolved directly, because procedural fixes do not repair a damaged relationship.

Question 48People

Two team leads both insist their work must use the only available test environment during the same week. The project manager asks each lead what deadline drives the need and whether the environment can run in shifts, then proposes a schedule that meets both deadlines. Which negotiating approach is she using?

  1. Integrative negotiation, creating options that serve both parties' interests Correct answer.
  2. Accommodating, giving up her own need to preserve the relationship
  3. Avoiding, deferring the request until the environment is less busy
  4. Distributive negotiation, claiming the largest possible share of a fixed resource

Explanation

Integrative, or interest-based, negotiation looks behind stated positions to the underlying interests and searches for options that satisfy both sides. Distributive bargaining instead assumes a fixed pie and divides it.

Question 49People

A highly productive developer routinely belittles colleagues in reviews, and two other members have asked to be reassigned. The developer's deliverables are always on time. What should the project manager do?

  1. Confront the behaviour directly and set clear expectations Correct answer.
  2. Ask the affected members to be more resilient during the crunch
  3. Keep the situation unchanged until the current release is delivered
  4. Move the developer to independent work with no team contact

Explanation

Delivering on time does not justify destructive behaviour; the team's health and retention are project risks. The project manager should address the conduct directly and specifically, state the expected behaviour, and follow the organization's policy, including corrective action if it continues.

Question 50People

A project manager wants evidence about how well the team is functioning, not just how much work is done. Which approach provides the most useful information?

  1. Ask the sponsor for a personal impression of how the team is performing
  2. Track only schedule performance, since it reliably reflects team output
  3. Review progress against team objectives with the members' own input Correct answer.
  4. Wait for the post-project review to identify team issues

Explanation

Team performance assessment combines objective measures of the team's work with the members' own input on how they are collaborating, so issues surface while there is still time to act. Restricting measurement to cost and schedule misses how the team is working.