PMP · Question #529
A project manager is leading a team that is geographically dispersed. The team needs to collaborate and finalize the monthly reports. Occasionally, meetings occur during the weekends due to the time d
The correct answer is C. Remind the team members of their governance responsibilities documented in the team charter.. When a geographically dispersed team expresses unwillingness to work weekends for mandatory meetings, the project manager should first refer to the established team charter. This document outlines agreed-upon governance and expected responsibilities, serving as a guideline for te
Question
A project manager is leading a team that is geographically dispersed. The team needs to collaborate and finalize the monthly reports. Occasionally, meetings occur during the weekends due to the time differences. Team members have expressed that they do not want to work on the weekends. What should the project manager do?
Options
- ATake over the activity and deliver the reports whenever work is required on a weekend.
- BAvoid reporting during the months that team members would need to work on the weekend.
- CRemind the team members of their governance responsibilities documented in the team charter.
- DCommunicate to the project stakeholders that the reports will be delayed certain months of the
How the community answered
(19 responses)- A16% (3)
- B5% (1)
- C74% (14)
- D5% (1)
Why each option
When a geographically dispersed team expresses unwillingness to work weekends for mandatory meetings, the project manager should first refer to the established team charter. This document outlines agreed-upon governance and expected responsibilities, serving as a guideline for team operations.
Taking over the activity is unsustainable, creates a single point of failure, and does not address the underlying team expectation issue or improve team collaboration.
Avoiding reporting entirely is unprofessional and likely violates project requirements or stakeholder expectations, which is not an acceptable solution.
The team charter is a foundational document that outlines team norms, working agreements, and responsibilities, often including expectations around availability and collaboration for specific activities like monthly reports. If weekend work was established and agreed upon in the team charter due to global time differences, reminding team members of these documented governance responsibilities is the appropriate first step to ensure adherence to agreed-upon norms and manage expectations.
Communicating delays without first addressing the team's ability to meet commitments or exploring alternative solutions is premature and reflects poor project management.
Concept tested: Team charter adherence and conflict resolution
Source: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/project-team-charter-develop-6889
Topics
Community Discussion
9
Olusegun A.Mar 21, 2026C is correct. The team charter is where working hours, availability, and meeting expectations get documented and agreed to, so you reference it instead of absorbing the work yourself or letting stakeholder commitments slip.
Mateus R.Mar 23, 2026Right call on C, and the way I remember it is the team charter is basically the ranch fence: it keeps folks from wandering into each other's pastures at odd hours, so when a stakeholder tries to rope you into after-hours work you just point at the fence line instead of building a new one yourself.
Toby R.Mar 6, 2026Confirmed C on exam last month. A is tempting but PM doing the work alone is wrong.
Olusegun A.Mar 6, 2026C is right but the real reason A is wrong is that risk identification pulls from stakeholders and historical data, not a PM sitting in a room solo.
Bao N.Feb 22, 2026C is the right pick here because the team charter is where you document working hours and availability expectations, and this question is testing whether you go back to that governance document instead of just absorbing the work yourself or skipping reports. A trips a lot of people up because it feels like a servant leadership move, but taking over the task yourself is a band-aid that ignores the real process gap. Does anyone know if the exam always treats the team charter as the first stop for conflict about availability, or are there scenarios where you would renegotiate the charter before citing it?
Anjali D.Feb 22, 2026Our group was split pretty evenly between A and C on this one. I initially leaned toward A because it felt like a servant-leadership move to just absorb the weekend work myself, but the consensus was that taking over reporting tasks removes accountability and sets an unsustainable precedent. C is the right call because the team charter is where working hours, availability expectations, and governance responsibilities get documented and agreed to up front, so the PM should reference that shared agreement rather than improvising. A few people pushed back saying C feels heavy-handed, but the group generally agreed that pointing back to an established charter is more
Bao N.Feb 24, 2026C is the right call and the charter angle is solid, but the reason A trips people up is that servant leadership gets confused with doing the work yourself instead of removing obstacles for the team.
Mateus R.Mar 25, 2026Think of it like a neighborhood covenant everyone signed at the start: you agreed to certain rules up front, and now somebody wants to change them mid-stream. The team charter is that signed agreement, laying out working hours, meeting expectations, and core hours for a dispersed crew. C is the right call because the PM points back to that shared document instead of just caving or absorbing the work solo. Option A is tempting because it feels like a servant-leader move, but the PM doing all the weekend grunt work is a band-aid that hides a real process gap and sets a rough precedent.
Toby R.Mar 26, 2026Confirmed C on my exam last month but the stem I got framed it as the PM updating the charter, not just pointing back to it, so make sure you read carefully because they may twist the action slightly.