During the project planning phase, a project manager is informed that they cannot start one activity before another department implements the required IT system. What should the project manager do?

The correct answer is D. Include the dependency in the project schedule. When encountering a hard dependency where a project activity cannot start until another department completes a required system, the project manager must formally incorporate this dependency into the project schedule.

Submitted by lars.no· Apr 18, 2026Process

Question

During the project planning phase, a project manager is informed that they cannot start one activity before another department implements the required IT system. What should the project manager do?

Options

AFast track this dependency to avoid delaying the project.
BPerform Integrated Change Control.
CAsk IT to prioritize the needed system to meet the schedule.
DInclude the dependency in the project schedule.

How the community answered

(68 responses)

A
18% (12)
B
3% (2)
C
7% (5)
D
72% (49)

Why each option

When encountering a hard dependency where a project activity cannot start until another department completes a required system, the project manager must formally incorporate this dependency into the project schedule.

AFast track this dependency to avoid delaying the project.

BPerform Integrated Change Control.

CAsk IT to prioritize the needed system to meet the schedule.

While asking IT to prioritize the system is a valid action to mitigate the dependency, the project manager's immediate and primary responsibility is to formally document and schedule the dependency.

DInclude the dependency in the project schedule.Correct

Including the dependency in the project schedule is a fundamental project management practice for accurately representing the sequence of activities and identifying potential critical path items. This allows for proper planning, communication, and management of the inter-project reliance to prevent unexpected delays.

Concept tested: Project scheduling, managing dependencies

Source: https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/pmi-standards+

Topics

#Project Scheduling#Dependency Management#Activity Sequencing#Project Planning

Community Discussion

Mei-Ling H.Jul 5, 2026

D is correct. The key word here is "planning phase" which means you are still building the schedule, so you simply document this as a dependency, specifically an external dependency, rather than doing change control or trying to compress the schedule.

Anjali D.Jul 6, 2026

Good catch on the external dependency, but worth noting you still want to log it in the risk register too since a vendor delivery slip could blow out your critical path.

Fatima Z.Jul 5, 2026

D is the answer because a dependency you discover in planning belongs IN the schedule, not in a change request. Remember my little hook: Found a Dependency? Document it, Don't Dodge it! Quick question for anyone who has sat the exam recently: when the stem says a dependency is external, does PMI still want us modeling it with a finish-to-start relationship, or do they just want to see the word "dependency" in the schedule notes to get this one right?

Mateus R.Jul 6, 2026

Good hook Fatima, but to answer your question: PMI wants you modeling an external dependency as a finish-to-start (or whatever the logic dictates) relationship in the schedule network, just with the understanding that the predecessor sits outside your project, like waiting on the county to issue a permit before you can pour the foundation.

Mateus R.Jun 25, 2026

Think of it like booking a band for a wedding reception but the caterer has to set up the buffet tables first, so you write that sequence down in your master plan so nobody books the band for the wrong time. That is a mandatory dependency, and the PM's job in planning is to capture it in the project schedule. A is wrong because fast tracking only applies to activities you can actually overlap, not a hard predecessor you are waiting on someone else to finish. Saw this almost word for word on my exam last spring and D was the only clean planning-phase answer, since B is premature and

Anjali D.Jun 19, 2026

Our study group landed on A for this one after a pretty long debate. Fast tracking means you sequence activities in parallel or adjust dependencies to compress the schedule, and since the PM is in the planning phase, this is exactly the right window to look at whether that external IT dependency can be fast tracked rather than just accepting a delay. A couple folks in the group pushed for D, arguing you should just document the dependency and move on, but the general consensus was that simply recording it doesn't actually solve the scheduling risk. Anyone else run into this one and see it differently?

-1

Mei-Ling H.Jun 20, 2026

The stem says the PM is in the planning phase, so fast tracking in A is premature because the schedule is not yet baselined. D is correct because documenting the external dependency in the schedule and risk register is exactly what you do during planning to capture that risk before execution.

Full PMP Practice