TOPIC: Free PMP® Exam Sample Question

You have just taken over a project in execution. During your first week, you determine that the project team members spend a lot of time responding to unexpected requests for information from different project stakeholders. Because of these interruptions, the team cannot focus on their project activities, and as a result, the project is behind schedule.

What should you do first?

A. Tell the team members to stop responding to unexpected requests since it is not the responsibility of the team
B. Push the team to respond to all the requests faster so that they can perform their assigned project activities on time
C. Ask the team to forward all stakeholder inquiries to you so that the team members can focus on their assigned tasks
D. Review the communications management plan to understand how stakeholder requests should be handled

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HINT: What should a project manager do when issues are recognized?

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Answer and Explanation:
The correct answer is D.

Monitor Communications is the process of monitoring and controlling communications throughout the entire project life cycle to ensure the information needs of the project and its stakeholders are met.

In this scenario, the stakeholders are reaching out directly to the project team members, which is not the most effective use of the team's time. To determine why this is happening, you need to review the communications management plan to determine how stakeholder inquiries are to be managed.

With this information, you can best judge whether the stakeholders are violating that agreement. After that, you can proceed to make whatever changes are needed to shield the project team from the time-consuming responses to the stakeholders' requests for information and develop a better communications protocol for stakeholder information requests.

Details for each option:

A. Incorrect. The communications plan should first be reviewed to understand how stakeholder requests were planned to be handled. Plus, there is nothing specifically stated in the scenario indicating that the team should not be responding to stakeholder requests.

B. Incorrect. This is not a feasible plan of action because it can result in team member burnout and a disgruntled team.

C. Incorrect. This could be one way to approach the problem. However, you need first to learn how stakeholder requests were planned for in the communications management plan.

D. Correct. The communications management plan contains the documented procedures outlining how to respond to stakeholder requests for information and should be reviewed first. If a change in communication flow is needed, then the Perform Integrated Change Control process should be followed to initiate the change.

Reference: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) – Seventh Edition, Project Management Institute Inc., 2021, The Standard for Project Management:
3.3 EFFECTIVELY ENGAGE WITH STAKEHOLDERS
2.1.1.4 Engage
2.4.4 COMMUNICATION
2.5.4 PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT
4.6.3 PLANS

Process Groups: A Practice Guide, Project Management Institute Inc., 2023,
7.9 Monitor Communications