PMP · Question #1070
A project manager is assigned to a new project. The project management office (PMO) and the project manager agree that this is the night opportunity to include daily standup meetings. The project team
The correct answer is D. Define the ground rules, responsibilities, and conflict management strategies. When introducing a new practice like daily stand-ups to a team unfamiliar with it, the project manager should define ground rules, responsibilities, and conflict management strategies to address resistance and ensure successful adoption.
Question
A project manager is assigned to a new project. The project management office (PMO) and the project manager agree that this is the night opportunity to include daily standup meetings. The project team has never used such tools, and a few members are challenging the decision. What should the project manager do in this situation?
Options
- AUpdate the project schedule to consider a daily standup as part of the project design phase
- BEngage an external vendor to perform the design phase under an iterative approach
- CRequest that new team members familiar with iterative approaches be assigned to this project
- DDefine the ground rules, responsibilities, and conflict management strategies
How the community answered
(17 responses)- A6% (1)
- B18% (3)
- C6% (1)
- D71% (12)
Why each option
When introducing a new practice like daily stand-ups to a team unfamiliar with it, the project manager should define ground rules, responsibilities, and conflict management strategies to address resistance and ensure successful adoption.
Simply updating the project schedule does not address the team's resistance or lack of familiarity with daily stand-ups; it's a procedural step, not a team management one.
Engaging an external vendor for the design phase is an overreaction and does not address the internal team's challenge with adopting a specific meeting practice.
Requesting new team members might bypass the current team's development opportunity and doesn't directly address the challenge of introducing new practices to an existing team.
When introducing a new practice like daily stand-ups to a challenging team unfamiliar with iterative approaches, the project manager must define clear ground rules, responsibilities, and strategies for managing potential conflicts. This helps the team understand the purpose, expectations, and how to effectively participate, thereby reducing resistance and fostering adoption.
Concept tested: Team onboarding to agile practices
Source: https://www.scrum.org/resources/scrum-guide
Topics
Community Discussion
6
Luis F.Mar 14, 2026D is the answer here. When the team is pushing back on a new process like daily standups, the PM needs to establish ground rules and clarify expectations right away. Setting up conflict management strategies also helps address the resistance directly instead of trying to work around it. I almost picked A at first, but just slapping standups into the schedule without addressing the team's concerns would just make things worse.
Viktor S.Mar 15, 2026D is right but the real reason is that ground rules plus conflict management gives you a foundation to actually have the conversation about why they are pushing back, because if you skip that and just enforce the process you get compliance not buy-in, and the resistance goes underground where it does more damage.
Ola B.Mar 26, 2026D is the right call here. When the team pushes back on a new process like daily standups, the PM needs to establish ground rules and clarify expectations rather than swap people out or outsource the work. Setting clear responsibilities and conflict management strategies gives everyone a framework to operate within while they adjust to the new approach. It makes me wonder whether the exam expects you to always formalize ground rules before introducing any new agile practice, or if there is room to coach the team through the change first?
Luis F.Mar 27, 2026Agreed on D, but I'd say coaching through the change usually comes first in real life, the exam just likes ground rules because it's the "official" PMP answer.
Viktor S.Apr 16, 2026Saw this one two weeks ago, picked D without hesitation. Team pushback on a new process is a governance and ground-rules problem, not a staffing or vendor problem, and PMI wants you to set expectations and conflict strategies before forcing a tool on people.
Yuki V.Apr 9, 2026Confirmed D on my exam. C is tempting but you work with the team you have.