PMP · Question #243
A project to build a new energy plant was just completed. However, a few days before operation of the plant, the local community protested and closed access to the plant. They argue that an important
The correct answer is A. Stakeholder engagement plan. Community protests citing lack of consultation and environmental impact immediately after project completion point directly to a failure in stakeholder engagement, requiring the project manager to verify the relevant plan.
Question
Options
- AStakeholder engagement plan
- BCost-benefit analysis
- CBusiness case
- DRisk management plan
How the community answered
(33 responses)- A70% (23)
- B3% (1)
- C18% (6)
- D9% (3)
Why each option
Community protests citing lack of consultation and environmental impact immediately after project completion point directly to a failure in stakeholder engagement, requiring the project manager to verify the relevant plan.
The protest specifically mentions a lack of prior consultation and impact on a natural reserve, pointing directly to a failure in identifying, analyzing, and engaging with key stakeholders, particularly the local community and environmental groups. The Stakeholder Engagement Plan dictates how and when stakeholders should be involved, and verifying it will reveal if these groups were identified and if the planned engagement activities were executed effectively.
Cost-benefit analysis is about financial viability, not stakeholder consultation or environmental impact.
The business case justifies the project's existence but does not detail the execution of stakeholder engagement.
While lack of consultation is a risk, the immediate problem is a failure in engagement, and the Stakeholder Engagement Plan specifically addresses how to manage these relationships, making it the most relevant document to check first for this specific issue.
Concept tested: Stakeholder management and engagement
Topics
Community Discussion
3
Anjali D.Mar 11, 2026A is correct. Our group universally agreed on this one because the community protest is a classic stakeholder engagement failure, so the PM needs to verify whether the stakeholder engagement plan properly identified the local community and included the required consultation activities.
Olusegun A.Mar 15, 2026I first leaned toward D because a protest blocking access sounds like a risk that materialized, but the stem is about a consultation that was never done, which is a stakeholder engagement gap. Verify the stakeholder engagement plan first to confirm whether the community was identified and how engagement was scoped. A is the answer.
Samuel O.Mar 29, 2026A is the right call here but I have to say the timing bugs me. In my experience doing plant builds, if you are verifying stakeholder engagement plans days before go-live you already failed months ago. D is tempting because a community shutdown is a realized risk, but the question asks what to verify first and the root cause is a consultation gap, which lives in the stakeholder engagement plan. You check whether that plan actually addressed the natural reserve and local community requirements, then figure out how badly you missed them.