PMP · Question #484
A project manager is assigned to a project within a program. The high-level requirements of the project are known, but the priorities of some of the requirements are uncertain as they are interdepende
The correct answer is C. Prioritize and estimate the milestones for the high-level requirements based on historical data. When faced with some known but interdependent requirements, the project manager should proactively prioritize and estimate the high-level requirements using available historical data to establish an initial project plan.
Question
A project manager is assigned to a project within a program. The high-level requirements of the project are known, but the priorities of some of the requirements are uncertain as they are interdependent on some other pipeline projects within the program. How should the project manager prepare for the next steps of the project?
Options
- AEscalate to the management team to increase the timeline based on the complexity of the project
- BWait for the other project estimates before planning the schedule
- CPrioritize and estimate the milestones for the high-level requirements based on historical data
- DAsk the project management office (PMO) to estimate the tasks for all the projects and share the
How the community answered
(53 responses)- A6% (3)
- B19% (10)
- C64% (34)
- D11% (6)
Why each option
When faced with some known but interdependent requirements, the project manager should proactively prioritize and estimate the high-level requirements using available historical data to establish an initial project plan.
Escalating to increase the timeline without first attempting to plan based on available information is a premature and reactive response that avoids the project manager's responsibility for initial planning.
Waiting indefinitely for other project estimates will cause delays and demonstrates a lack of proactive management, failing to leverage the high-level requirements that are already known.
Despite interdependencies and uncertain priorities for some requirements, the project manager can still prioritize and estimate the known high-level requirements using historical data. This approach allows the project to establish a baseline, create a preliminary schedule and budget, and identify initial milestones, providing a framework for future adjustments as more information becomes available from interdependent projects.
While the PMO can provide support and guidance, it is the project manager's responsibility to manage and estimate the tasks and milestones for their specific project, not to offload this entire responsibility to the PMO for all projects.
Concept tested: Planning with uncertainty; progressive elaboration
Source: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/agile-adaptive-planning-progressive-elaboration-7871
Topics
Community Discussion
4
Ola B.May 18, 2026C is the answer here. You work with what you know and use historical data to get traction on those high-level requirements instead of stalling out. A and B are just delay tactics, and D hands your job to the PMO. This is a great scenario to lab out if you are studying program dependencies: spin up a quick sandbox with a sample program, sketch the interdependencies, and try sequencing milestones with and without the missing info. Seeing that blocker pattern in action makes it obvious why moving forward on knowns beats waiting.
Luis F.May 1, 2026C on my exam last month, used historical data when pipeline deps were unclear.
Mei-Ling H.May 10, 2026Picking D here. The key word is "interdependent" across pipeline projects within the program, so only the PMO has the cross-project visibility to estimate all the tasks together and share the results, which lets you plan against dependencies instead of guessing in isolation.
Luis F.May 13, 2026Actually the answer is C because the question is about who does the estimating, not who coordinates dependencies. The individual project teams closest to the work are best positioned to estimate their own tasks, even on an interdependent program.