PMP · Question #329
The project is delayed due to the high amount of major changes requested by different stakeholders at different stages of the project. If the project continues on the same path, it will consume twice
The correct answer is A. Conduct a stakeholder analysis D. Adopt an incremental approach. To address project delays and budget overruns caused by frequent major changes, the project manager should conduct a stakeholder analysis to better understand needs and adopt an incremental approach for phased delivery.
Question
Options
- AConduct a stakeholder analysis
- BReinforce team communication.
- CUpdate the project management plan with the new timeline
- DAdopt an incremental approach
- ELeverage work between team members
How the community answered
(29 responses)- A69% (20)
- B17% (5)
- C3% (1)
- E10% (3)
Why each option
To address project delays and budget overruns caused by frequent major changes, the project manager should conduct a stakeholder analysis to better understand needs and adopt an incremental approach for phased delivery.
Conducting a stakeholder analysis helps identify key stakeholders, understand their influence, interests, and potential for change requests, which can lead to better engagement strategies and change management.
While good communication is always beneficial, reinforcing general team communication doesn't directly address the root cause of excessive stakeholder change requests.
Updating the project management plan with new timelines is a reactive measure reflecting the current problem, not a proactive action to become more cost-effective and prevent future excessive changes.
Adopting an incremental approach allows for phased delivery, incorporates feedback more frequently, and inherently manages changes by breaking the project into smaller, more manageable iterations, reducing the impact of continuous major changes.
Leveraging work between team members addresses resource allocation or workload balancing, which is not the primary cause of delays due to numerous major stakeholder changes.
Concept tested: Managing excessive change requests and cost-effectiveness
Source: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/project-management-stakeholder-analysis-10115
Topics
Community Discussion
8
Yusuf A.Mar 9, 2026A and D are correct. A senior PM at my company showed me that when you have constant changes from scattered stakeholders, you do a stakeholder analysis to understand who wants what and why, then switch to an incremental approach so you can deliver in smaller chunks and catch those changes early instead of letting them blow up the whole budget.
Fatima Z.Mar 10, 2026Solid reasoning Yusuf, and for anyone struggling to keep the two choices straight just remember ASAP: Analyze Stakeholders, Adapt Process, because scattered stakeholders demand a plan before you chunk the work.
Prof. SaraMar 30, 2026A and D are the exam answers here because the root cause is uncontrolled stakeholder change requests, which a stakeholder analysis addresses, and an incremental approach lets you deliver value in chunks rather than burning the full budget on a moving target. C is a trap because updating the plan just documents the failure without fixing the behavioral problem. What specific output of the stakeholder analysis actually helps you control when and how those changes get injected into the work?
Ola B.Mar 18, 2026I first picked B and E because better communication and workload sharing always sounds reasonable on paper, but the real issue is uncontrolled changes from too many stakeholders. Go run a quick stakeholder grid in your sandbox and you will see why A plus D fixes the root cause instead of just patching the symptoms.
Imani T.Mar 24, 2026E is a no-brainer here. If you leverage work between team members you cut the wasted effort from everyone doing their own thing on all these changes, and the second pick is D because going incremental stops stakeholders from dumping major changes all at once.
Prof. SaraMar 25, 2026A and D is the correct pair here, Imani. You are right that D supports incremental delivery, but E describes internal team coordination rather than a technique that controls scope creep from stakeholders, whereas A directly addresses managing those incoming changes so they do not overwhelm the project.
Fatima Z.Mar 20, 2026Picked C for sure - the doubled timeline demands a plan update, pure PMP logic.
Yusuf A.Mar 22, 2026Actually it is A and D, not C. My lead showed me that a doubled timeline triggers a formal change request through Perform Integrated Change Control first, and then the project documents and schedule get updated, so you need both actions rather than just the plan update.