PMP · Question #1118
A project manager held a meeting and framed the project schedule. A critical stakeholder, who was not consulted at the time of the schedule discussion, complained that the published dates are not agre
The correct answer is A. Organize a new schedule framing meeting with the critical stakeholder to obtain input.. When a critical stakeholder raises a scheduling conflict due to not being consulted, the project manager's immediate first step is to engage that stakeholder directly in a meeting to gather their input and address their concerns.
Question
A project manager held a meeting and framed the project schedule. A critical stakeholder, who was not consulted at the time of the schedule discussion, complained that the published dates are not agreeable due to a prescheduled task for another assignment. What should the project manager do first?
Options
- AOrganize a new schedule framing meeting with the critical stakeholder to obtain input.
- BDiscuss with the project sponsor and create a new project schedule.
- CAnalyze the root cause of the issue and update the communications management plan.
- DReach out to the project sponsor and request additional resources.
How the community answered
(26 responses)- A81% (21)
- B4% (1)
- C4% (1)
- D12% (3)
Why each option
When a critical stakeholder raises a scheduling conflict due to not being consulted, the project manager's immediate first step is to engage that stakeholder directly in a meeting to gather their input and address their concerns.
The immediate priority is to engage the critical stakeholder who was missed in the initial scheduling process. Organizing a new meeting specifically to obtain their input directly addresses their concern and is crucial for obtaining their buy-in and creating a realistic, acceptable schedule, before making any changes.
Discussing with the project sponsor and creating a new schedule without direct input from the affected critical stakeholder risks further alienating them and repeating the same mistake.
While analyzing the root cause and updating the communications plan is important in the long run, it's not the *first* immediate step to resolve the current critical stakeholder conflict regarding the schedule.
Requesting additional resources is premature and might not be necessary; the issue is stakeholder input and schedule alignment, not necessarily resource capacity.
Concept tested: Stakeholder engagement and schedule management
Source: https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/pmbok/project-stakeholder-management
Topics
Community Discussion
6
Olusegun A.Jun 29, 2026Confirmed A on exam last week. The PM skipped stakeholder input during schedule framing, which is a stakeholder engagement failure, so the fix is to get that critical stakeholder to the table now. C is the trap because updating the communications management plan sounds proactive, but you have a concrete scheduling conflict to resolve first, not a process document to edit. B and D both escalate to the sponsor unnecessarily when the issue is simply a missed consultation that the PM can fix directly.
Yusuf A.Jul 5, 2026I first leaned toward C because it sounded like a process fix, but my mentor pointed out that the real issue here is a missed stakeholder, not a broken communications plan. The stakeholder was left out of scheduling, so the first move is to bring them into a new framing meeting and get their input before anything else.
Orla P.Jul 5, 2026A is the right move because the stakeholder was never consulted, so the fix is to get them in the room and incorporate their input before touching anything else. B and D both jump straight to the sponsor for resources or a full schedule rebuild, which is overkill when the real problem is just a missed voice in the original framing. C sounds proactive but root cause analysis of a communications gap is a follow-up step, not your first response when you already know the stakeholder just needs to be heard. Saw this one on my PMP attempt last spring and almost went with C because the wording
Luis F.Jul 8, 2026Agreed on A, but I would add that after you get their input you should document the conversation and update the stakeholder register so the same gap doesnt bite you on the next phase.
Luis F.Jul 5, 2026A is the move here because the PM messed up by leaving a critical stakeholder out of the schedule discussion, so the fix is to bring them in and get their input directly. C sounds tempting with the whole root cause angle but that is more of a later step, the immediate issue is a missing voice that needs to be heard now. I actually got almost this exact question on my exam last month and the key was noticing the stakeholder was never consulted in the first place, which made A the obvious correction rather than escalating to the sponsor or doing a post-mortem.
Olusegun A.Jul 6, 2026Agree on A, but frame it as stakeholder engagement, not just schedule input, because the exam wants you connecting the missed identification step to the engagement plan, not treating it as a one-off fix.