PMP · Question #1256
After a project team has been working on a project for several months, the project is cancelled. The project sponsor is putting pressure on the project manager to perform closeout duties as fast as…
The correct answer is D. Consult with the project management office (PMO) for guidance on project artifacts. The project manager should consult the Project Management Office (PMO) for guidance regarding archiving project artifacts, as the PMO defines organizational project management processes and standards, especially for cancelled projects. This ensures compliance with…
Question
After a project team has been working on a project for several months, the project is cancelled. The project sponsor is putting pressure on the project manager to perform closeout duties as fast as possible so that the project team can move on to other work. The project sponsor has instructed the team not to waste time archiving the project artifacts for the cancelled project. How should the project manager handle this situation?
Options
- AArchive the project artifacts on the project manager's local computer for future reference.
- BDocument the project sponsor's instructions as the archived project artifacts.
- CComply with the project sponsor's request to not archive the project artifacts.
- DConsult with the project management office (PMO) for guidance on project artifacts.
How the community answered
(23 responses)- A9% (2)
- B17% (4)
- D74% (17)
Why each option
The project manager should consult the Project Management Office (PMO) for guidance regarding archiving project artifacts, as the PMO defines organizational project management processes and standards, especially for cancelled projects. This ensures compliance with organizational policies and proper governance.
Archiving on a local computer is not an official, centralized, or secure method of archiving organizational project artifacts and does not comply with organizational standards.
Documenting the sponsor's instructions is part of project records, but it does not fulfill the requirement of archiving the project artifacts themselves, nor does it address the conflict with standard procedures.
Complying with the sponsor's request without further action would violate organizational procedures for project closure and artifact retention, potentially leading to loss of valuable information and governance issues.
The PMO is responsible for establishing and maintaining organizational project management standards, processes, and policies, including those related to project closure and archiving artifacts (historical information, lessons learned). When a project is cancelled and the sponsor gives instructions that contradict standard closeout procedures, the project manager should consult the PMO for official guidance. This ensures compliance with organizational governance, protects organizational assets, and helps prevent future issues by retaining valuable project data, even from cancelled projects.
Concept tested: Project closure processes and PMO governance
Source: https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/pmbok/project-closure
Topics
Community Discussion
10
Zlatan X.Mar 31, 2026D is correct. Even on a cancelled component, archival is a governance and benefits realization matter, not a call the sponsor can override unilaterally, so escalating to the PMO ensures organizational process assets are protected and interdependencies from the terminated work remain traceable.
Viktor S.Apr 2, 2026D is right but calling it archival in the real world usually means updating the risk register and dependency map so the cancelled piece does not quietly poison the components still in flight.
Viktor S.Apr 13, 2026D is the move, and yes I hit this on my exam last week. Sponsor pressure is a distractor, and the real question is whether organizational process assets get tossed just because someone says skip it, so you loop in the PMO because they own the archiving rules, not the sponsor.
Nina C.Apr 15, 2026Coming from teaching where we had to keep lesson records forever, this clicks: sponsor pressure is like a principal saying skip the paperwork, but I thought the PM owned the archiving process and the PMO just provided the standards, so is the distinction here that the PMO enforces it when the PM is being pressured to skip it?
Grace U.Mar 19, 2026D. Even cancelled projects need proper closeout, but wondering if PMO policies always override the sponsor?
Zlatan X.Mar 21, 2026Good point on closeout discipline, but the nuance is that PMO policies define the governance framework and stage gate criteria, while the sponsor owns go or no-go decisions at the benefit realization level, so the real question is whether cancellation was a governance-directed shutdown or a sponsor-initiated deferral.
Ingrid P.Apr 8, 2026C is the right call here. The sponsor explicitly directed the team to skip archiving, and in a cancelled project the sponsor owns that decision. The PM's job is to execute the closure efficiently per those instructions, not escalate to the PMO over a procedural disagreement. I flagged the PMO trap on a card because D keeps tempting people, but the sponsor has the authority to waive artifact retention when the project is killed. One review note: I put sponsor authority on a 7-day interval since it shows up across closure questions. Worth drilling the distinction between sponsor decisions and PMO governance so you
Viktor S.Apr 10, 2026D is correct because skipping archiving on a cancelled project is exactly the kind of governance override that needs to go through the PMO, not something the sponsor can just waive unilaterally. Artifact retention is a PMO policy matter, not a sponsor preference matter, which is why D trips people who think sponsor authority extends further than it actually does.
Nina C.Mar 7, 2026Going with A here. Even though the sponsor says skip the archiving, the PM still has a responsibility to preserve project records in case of audits or future reference, so saving them locally is a reasonable compromise that does not waste everyones time. The PM is not openly defying the sponsor, just quietly covering all bases on their own machine. Does anyone see a reason why this would be the wrong call?
Zlatan X.Mar 9, 2026D is correct here. The PMI ethic you are being tested on is that you do not quietly work around a sponsor's directive on your own, you escalate the concern through proper governance channels so the decision and its risks are documented at the right level.