PMP · Question #1289
A project manager is leading an integration project for a retail company. The project demands a lot of time from the stakeholders to make important business decisions. The project is critical and must
The correct answer is A. Share the project schedule, milestones, and meeting agendas with the stakeholders ahead of. To ensure key stakeholders are available for a critical project, the project manager should proactively communicate the project schedule, milestones, and meeting agendas.
Question
A project manager is leading an integration project for a retail company. The project demands a lot of time from the stakeholders to make important business decisions. The project is critical and must be completed on time and within budget. What should the project manager do to ensure that key stakeholders are available for this project?
Options
- AShare the project schedule, milestones, and meeting agendas with the stakeholders ahead of
- BAdd time reserve in the project schedule to allow extra time for the stakeholders to make
- CSchedule meetings with all of the stakeholders to make business decisions when needed.
- DWork with the available stakeholders to make business decisions and keep all unavailable
How the community answered
(56 responses)- A73% (41)
- B7% (4)
- C4% (2)
- D16% (9)
Why each option
To ensure key stakeholders are available for a critical project, the project manager should proactively communicate the project schedule, milestones, and meeting agendas.
Proactive communication of the project schedule, key milestones, and meeting agendas allows stakeholders to plan their time effectively, understand their commitments, and ensure their availability for crucial decisions. This transparency fosters engagement and minimizes scheduling conflicts.
Adding time reserves (contingency) is for managing risks and uncertainties in task durations, not for proactively ensuring stakeholder availability.
Scheduling meetings 'when needed' without prior notice or a clear agenda can lead to low attendance and lack of preparedness from busy stakeholders.
Making decisions with only available stakeholders excludes key individuals, potentially leading to incorrect decisions, rework, and lack of buy-in from those who were unavailable.
Concept tested: Stakeholder engagement and communication planning
Topics
Community Discussion
6
Zlatan X.Apr 23, 2026A is the correct answer here. Sharing the schedule, milestones, and agendas ahead of time gives stakeholders the visibility they need to plan their involvement and secure availability for critical decision points. B is a weak governance choice because padding the schedule just masks the problem instead of actively engaging your stakeholders. D is outright dangerous for an integration project, as moving forward without the proper decision-makers creates downstream rework and misalignment across components.
Bao N.Apr 25, 2026Agree on A, but the real trap is C because it sounds like good stakeholder management when it is actually just generating noise without visibility.
Nina C.May 17, 2026Agree with A here. Coming from teaching, I learned that giving parents the syllabus and agenda upfront made a huge difference in getting them to show up for conferences. Same idea here, if stakeholders can see the schedule, milestones, and what decisions are coming up well in advance, they can plan their time accordingly. B sounds nice but reserves dont solve the core problem of people not knowing when they are needed.
Bao N.May 5, 2026A is correct. Sharing schedule and agendas ahead lets stakeholders plan availability.
Zlatan X.May 7, 2026Agree on A, but the deeper rationale is governance: early schedule distribution enables benefits realization by ensuring the right decision-makers are present at component interfaces where interdependencies get resolved.
Toby R.May 28, 2026Confirmed A on exam last month. B is tempting but reserves dont fix availability.