PMP Exam Dumps - Project Management Professional (2025 Version)

According to the PMBOK Guide, a product backlog is an ordered list of requirements that a project team maintains for a product. It consists of features, functions, requirements, enhancements, and fixes that need to be delivered by the project. The product backlog is the single source of truth for what the project team will work on.

The PMI Guide to Business Analysis states that one of the key competencies of a business analyst is to elicit, analyze, and manage requirements that deliver value to stakeholders. The business analyst is also responsible for ensuring that the requirements are aligned with the business needs and objectives, and that they are prioritized and validated.

Therefore, to avoid the perception that the project did not add any business value, the project manager should have defined the product backlog priorities with the sponsor and key stakeholders to deliver business benefits. The project manager should have:

Engaged the sponsor and key stakeholders in the project initiation and planning phases, and clarified the project scope, objectives, and expected outcomes

Collaborated with the business analyst and the product owner to elicit, analyze, and manage the requirements that address the stakeholder needs and expectations

Established a clear and transparent prioritization criteria for the product backlog items, based on the business value, urgency, risk, dependency, and complexity

Involved the sponsor and key stakeholders in the prioritization and validation process, and obtained their agreement and approval on the product backlog

Communicated the product backlog priorities and changes to the project team and other stakeholders, and ensured their understanding and alignment

Reviewed and refined the product backlog regularly, and adapted to changing business needs and feedback

By defining the product backlog priorities with the sponsor and key stakeholders to deliver business benefits, the project manager can:

Ensure that the project delivers the most valuable and relevant features and functions to the customer

Increase the stakeholder satisfaction and engagement, and build trust and rapport

Reduce the waste and rework, and optimize the project resources and time

Enhance the quality and usability of the product, and increase the customer loyalty and retention

Demonstrate the business value and impact of the project, and celebrate the success and achievements

 A sprint planning meeting is an event in scrum that kicks off the sprint. The purpose of sprint planning is to define what can be delivered in the sprint and how that work will be achieved. Sprint planning is done in collaboration with the whole scrum team1.

Sprint planning addresses the following topics1:

Topic One: Why is this Sprint valuable? The Product Owner proposes how the product could increase its value and utility in the current Sprint. The whole Scrum Team then collaborates to define a Sprint Goal that communicates why the Sprint is valuable to stakeholders. The Sprint Goal must be finalized prior to the end of Sprint Planning.

Topic Two: What can be Done this Sprint? Through discussion with the Product Owner, the Developers select items from the Product Backlog to include in the current Sprint. The Scrum Team may refine these items during this process, which increases understanding and confidence. Selecting how much can be completed within a Sprint may be challenging. However, the more the Developers know about their past performance, their upcoming capacity, and their Definition of Done, the more confident they will be in their Sprint forecasts.

Topic Three: How will the chosen work get done? For each selected Product Backlog item, the Developers plan the work necessary to create an Increment that meets the Definition of Done. This is often done by decomposing Product Backlog items into smaller work items of one day or less. How this is done is at the sole discretion of the Developers. No one else tells them how to turn Product Backlog items into Increments of value.

The Sprint Goal, the Product Backlog items selected for the Sprint, plus the plan for delivering them are together referred to as the Sprint Backlog1.

Therefore, the two pieces of information that the project manager needs in order to make the sprint planning meeting productive and effective are the Product Backlog and the Sprint Goal. The Product Backlog is the source of the work items that the Developers will select and commit to deliver in the Sprint. The Sprint Goal is the outcome that the Scrum Team wants to achieve in the Sprint and that guides their work.

The other options are not essential for the sprint planning meeting. A Sprint Charter is not a scrum artifact and is not required for sprint planning. A Burndown Chart is a tool to track the progress of the Sprint, but it is not needed for planning the Sprint. The Company Mission and Vision are important for the overall product strategy, but they are not specific enough for the Sprint planning.

 1: What is Sprint Planning? | Scrum.org

Rolling wave planning is a project planning technique that allows the project manager to plan and execute the project in short iterations, based on the available information and the level of detail required12. Rolling wave planning is suitable for projects that have a high degree of uncertainty, complexity, or change, such as a component development project13. Rolling wave planning can help the project manager to accelerate the deliverable by enabling the following benefits123:

It reduces the risk of rework and waste by allowing the project manager to adjust the plan as more information becomes available or as the requirements change.

It increases the flexibility and responsiveness of the project team by allowing them to focus on the most important and urgent tasks in each iteration, rather than following a rigid and detailed plan.

It improves the quality and customer satisfaction of the deliverable by allowing the project manager to incorporate feedback and lessons learned from each iteration into the next one, and by delivering incremental value to the customer.

It enhances the collaboration and communication among the project team and stakeholders by involving them in the planning and execution of each iteration, and by providing frequent and transparent updates on the project progress and status.

The other options are not the best techniques to accelerate the deliverable in this scenario. Impact mapping (A) is a strategic planning technique that helps the project manager to align the project deliverables with the organizational goals and the customer needs, by identifying the actors, impacts, and deliverables involved45. However, impact mapping does not address the issue of how to plan and execute the project in a fast and adaptive way, especially when the project has failed to comply with a product functionality. Collective code ownership © is a software development practice that encourages the entire team to share the responsibility and the authority to modify any code file as necessary, to improve the quality, the performance, and the functionality of the software product67. However, collective code ownership does not address the issue of how to plan and execute the project in a fast and adaptive way, especially when the project has a predominantly predictive approach. Scrum of Scrums (D) is a scaling technique that helps multiple Scrum teams to coordinate and collaborate on complex and interdependent projects, by having representatives from each team meet regularly to report on their progress, their impediments, and their dependencies89. However, Scrum of Scrums does not address the issue of how to plan and execute the project in a fast and adaptive way, especially when the project has a predominantly predictive approach. References:  https://www.teamgantt.com/waterfall-agile-guide/hybrid-approach

https://www.float.com/resources/hybrid-project-management/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling-wave_planning

 According to the PMBOK Guide, the resource calendar is a component of the resource management plan that identifies the availability, capability, and skills of human resources, as well as the availability of physical resources. The resource calendar may be affected by various factors, such as organizational policies, holidays, vacations, and work shifts. If the project team members enroll in the work-from-home policy, the project manager should update the resource calendar to reflect their availability and working hours, as well as any potential impact on the project schedule, budget, quality, and risk. The project manager should not update the communication styles, roles and responsibilities, or stakeholder engagement plan, as these are not directly related to the change in the resource availability. References: PMBOK Guide, 7th edition, pages 309-310, 313-314.

 According to the PMBOK Guide, 7th edition, section 9.1.3, “The resource management plan is a component of the project management plan that provides guidance on how project resources should be categorized, allocated, managed, and released. It may be formal or informal, highly detailed or broadly framed, based on the needs of the project.” Therefore, the project manager should have used the resource management plan to identify the impacts of the other projects on the availability and allocation of the shared resources, and to plan for contingencies or alternatives to avoid or mitigate the delay. Updating the risk management plan and registering lessons learned for the project (option A) may be done after the delay is resolved, but not before. Reorganizing the team for the project based on the WBS (option B) may not be feasible or effective, as the shared resources may still have competing priorities or dependencies. Maintaining constant communication with the stakeholders of the other projects (option C) is a good practice, but not sufficient to prevent the delay from happening, as the project manager still needs to monitor and control the resource usage and performance. References:

PMBOK Guide, 7th edition, section 9.1.3

PMI-PBA Exam Practice Test and Study Guide, 2nd edition, page 181, question 16

The project manager should address this concern with the functional managers to ensure there will be no further delays in the project. The functional managers are the managers who have authority over the team members in their respective functional areas, such as engineering, marketing, finance, etc. The functional managers are responsible for assigning and releasing the team members to the project, as well as providing them with the necessary training, support, and feedback. The project manager should communicate and coordinate with the functional managers to ensure that the team members are available and committed to the project, and that they are not distracted or overloaded by other nonproject-related tasks. The project manager should also explain to the functional managers the impact of their emails on the team’s productivity and morale, and request them to respect the team’s priorities and schedules. The project manager should also seek the support and intervention of the project sponsor or the senior management, if needed, to resolve any resource conflicts or issues.

The other options are not the best actions for the project manager to take in this situation. Asking the product owner to speak with the functional managers to ensure future requirements come through the product owner is not relevant or effective, as it does not address the current problem of the team members receiving emails from their functional managers to support other nonproject-related tasks. The product owner is the person who represents the customer’s voice and defines and prioritizes the product backlog, which is a list of features and requirements that the customer wants to have in the product. The product owner is not involved in the resource management or allocation of the project, and may not have the authority or influence to negotiate with the functional managers. Logging this as a risk in the risk register and continuing to monitor the issue at subsequent meetings is not proactive or sufficient, as it does not prevent or mitigate the negative impact of the team members receiving emails from their functional managers to support other nonproject-related tasks. The risk register is a document that records the identified risks, their causes, impacts, probabilities, responses, and owners. The project manager should not just document and monitor the issue, but also take action to resolve it as soon as possible. Scheduling a meeting with all of the functional managers to resolve the resource conflicts may be too time-consuming and complicated, as it may involve multiple parties and perspectives. The project manager should not wait for a meeting to address the issue, but rather contact the functional managers individually and directly, and seek their cooperation and understanding. References:

PMBOK® Guide, 6th Edition, Chapter 9, Section 9.2, “Plan Resource Management”

PMBOK® Guide, 6th Edition, Chapter 9, Section 9.3, “Acquire Resources”

PMBOK® Guide, 6th Edition, Chapter 9, Section 9.5, “Control Resources”

PMBOK® Guide, 6th Edition, Chapter 11, Section 11.4, “Plan Risk Responses”

PMP Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide: 2021 Exam Update, 10th Edition, Chapter 8, Section 8.2, “Planning Resources” 1

 According to the Agile Practice Guide, one of the principles of agile project management is to “reflect on how to become more effective, then tune and adjust behavior accordingly” (Section 2.1). This implies that the project manager should facilitate regular retrospectives, where the team can inspect their work processes, identify what went well and what can be improved, and plan actions for the next iteration. By conducting a focused retrospective, the project manager can help the team to discover the root cause of why they had to work extra hours, and find ways to avoid or mitigate it in the future. This is also consistent with the PMBOK® Guide, which states that “the project manager should use retrospectives to review the effectiveness of the project team and the project management approach” (Section 4.6.3.3). References:

Agile Practice Guide, Section 2.1

PMBOK® Guide, 6th Edition, Section 4.6.3.3

When some team members are not engaged, it is critical to explore the root cause in a safe and collaborative manner. Conducting a team-building or issue-identification activity encourages open communication and uncovers barriers such as time zones, cultural differences, or unclear expectations.

According to the PMBOK® Guide – Seventh Edition and Agile Practice Guide, engagement and psychological safety are key to high-performing teams. Identifying the cause first ensures that corrective actions are meaningful and not superficial.

Option B may be valid but assumes the problem is scheduling.

Option C is reactive and may be seen as confrontational.

Option D treats the issue as a risk without attempting resolution.