PMP · Question #391
A project manager has been assigned to a project and receives the project charter from the project management office (PMO). The document is very clear about customer requests. During Project Scope…
The correct answer is B. Use a focus group and brainstorming sessions to gather more details about the project scope. If requirements during scope management seem to differ from the project charter, the project manager should use techniques like focus groups and brainstorming to gather more details and clarify the scope.
Question
A project manager has been assigned to a project and receives the project charter from the project management office (PMO). The document is very clear about customer requests. During Project Scope Management some requirements seem to be different from the ones specified within the project charter. What should the project manager do?
Options
- AModify the baseline of the project for minor impact changes to the project scope
- BUse a focus group and brainstorming sessions to gather more details about the project scope
- CRegister the changes in the configuration management plan and send it to the change control
- DExplain to the sponsor that these requests could endanger the schedule and cost of the project
How the community answered
(38 responses)- A5% (2)
- B84% (32)
- C8% (3)
- D3% (1)
Why each option
If requirements during scope management seem to differ from the project charter, the project manager should use techniques like focus groups and brainstorming to gather more details and clarify the scope.
Modifying the baseline is a step taken after changes are formally approved and analyzed; it's premature to assume these differences are 'minor impact changes' without further investigation.
If current requirements differ from the initial project charter, the project manager needs to thoroughly investigate to understand the new requests and reconcile them with the original scope. Techniques like focus groups and brainstorming are effective for gathering detailed information and clarifying requirements when there's ambiguity or perceived divergence.
Registering changes and sending them to change control is part of the formal change request process, which occurs after the impact and validity of potential changes have been analyzed and understood.
Immediately explaining negative impacts to the sponsor without first understanding the full scope of the differing requirements is an alarmist approach and bypasses the necessary investigative steps.
Concept tested: Requirements gathering and clarification
Source: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/collecting-requirements-tools-techniques-7729
Topics
Community Discussion
5
Olusegun A.May 27, 2026B is correct. You are still in Project Scope Management collecting requirements, not executing against a baseline, so the move is to gather more details with focus groups and brainstorming to reconcile the gap before anything hits change control.
Toby R.May 16, 2026Saw this last month, picked B because you are still gathering requirements not yet at change control.
Yusuf A.May 25, 2026Leaned toward C but a senior PM pointed out you are still gathering requirements, not changing scope yet. B.
Mei-Ling H.May 10, 2026Leaned toward C first but stem says "during Project Scope Management" meaning still gathering requirements, so B.
Yusuf A.May 12, 2026That "during Project Scope Management" phrasing got me too, but my mentor pointed out the real trap is people confuse scope management with the planning phase overall, so B is right but for a slightly different reason than you might think.