TOPIC: Free PMP® Exam Sample Question

You are leading a project to develop a new web application. Together with your project team you reprioritize the product backlog, determine velocity for the past iterations, and adapt your work plans accordingly. Additionally, you facilitate retrospectives every two weeks. Which of the following processes describes the work you are performing?

A. Monitor Risks
B. Manage Quality
C. Control Schedule
D. Develop Schedule

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HINT: Conducting retrospectives, reprioritizing the backlog, and determining the velocity of an iteration are activities performed by a project team when an agile project management approach is used.

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Answer and Explanation
The correct answer is C

Adaptive life cycles, such as the agile approach, use short cycles to undertake work, review the results, and adapt as necessary. These cycles provide rapid feedback on the approaches and suitability of deliverables and generally involve iterative scheduling. The project described in the scenario is using an agile approach as evidenced by the use of retrospectives, a backlog, and iterations. When an agile approach is used, Control Schedule is concerned with conducting retrospectives to correct and improve processes, reprioritizing the backlog, determining the velocity in the current iteration, and adjusting the plans accordingly. Therefore, of the choices provided, the work you are performing is best described by the Control Schedule process.


Details for each option:

A. Monitor Risks
Incorrect. Monitor Risks is the process of monitoring the implementation of agreed-upon risk response plans, tracking identified risks, identifying and analyzing new risks, and evaluating risk process effectiveness. Activities outlined in the scenario do not fit this description.

B. Manage Quality
Incorrect. Manage Quality is the process of translating the quality management plan into executable quality activities. While recurring retrospectives can be used during this process when the project is managed using agile methodologies, other activities described in the scenario, such as reprioritizing the backlog, determining velocity, and adapting work plans accordingly are not associated with the Manage Quality process.

C. Control Schedule
Correct. When an agile approach is used, Control Schedule is concerned with conducting retrospectives for correcting and improving processes, reprioritizing the backlog, and determining the velocity of the current iteration. All of these activities are mentioned in this scenario making the Control Schedule process the correct answer.

D. Develop Schedule
Incorrect. Develop Schedule is the process of creating the project schedule model for project execution and monitoring and controlling. Activities described in the question do not reflect any of the activities of the Develop Schedule process making it an incorrect answer.

Reference: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK^® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute Inc., 2017, Page(s) 224