PMP · Question #541
At the end of a project, the project manager was asked to provide a performance rating of the project team members. What should the project manager mainly make reference to?
The correct answer is C. Agreed-upon key performance indicators (KPIs). When rating team member performance, a project manager should primarily refer to agreed-upon Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to ensure objective and consistent evaluation.
Question
At the end of a project, the project manager was asked to provide a performance rating of the project team members. What should the project manager mainly make reference to?
Options
- AInput from project stakeholders
- BFeedback from the project sponsor
- CAgreed-upon key performance indicators (KPIs)
- DCompetencies of team members
How the community answered
(17 responses)- C94% (16)
- D6% (1)
Why each option
When rating team member performance, a project manager should primarily refer to agreed-upon Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to ensure objective and consistent evaluation.
While stakeholder input can be valuable, it might be subjective or incomplete and should not be the sole or primary basis for formal performance ratings, which require objective measures.
Feedback from the project sponsor is important for overall project direction but is typically high-level and not sufficiently detailed or objective for individual team member performance ratings.
Agreed-upon Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) provide objective, measurable criteria for evaluating team member performance against predefined expectations and project goals. By referencing KPIs, the project manager can ensure that performance ratings are fair, consistent, and directly tied to individual contributions to project success, rather than subjective opinions.
Assessing competencies is part of performance evaluation, but specific, measurable KPIs related to their work on this project provide the concrete basis for their performance rating on that project.
Concept tested: Project team performance appraisal criteria
Source: https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/pmbok/control-resources
Topics
Community Discussion
4
Hiroshi T.May 11, 2026C is correct. Per the PMBOK Guide, team performance assessments and individual evaluations should be measured against the KPIs that were established and agreed upon during the Plan Resource Management process, not subjective input from stakeholders or the sponsor.
Orla P.May 26, 2026I first leaned toward D because evaluating competencies seems like the natural thing to do at the end of a project. But the PMBOK is pretty specific that performance assessments should be measured against the KPIs that were established and agreed upon during resource management planning. You are not just rating people on generic skill sets, you are rating them on the metrics everyone already signed off on. C is the answer because it ties the evaluation back to the agreed baseline rather than subjective judgment.
Bao N.May 18, 2026Went with B on this one. The sponsor is the one who funds the whole thing and ultimately owns the success criteria, so their feedback carries the most weight when you are rating team performance at project close.
Hiroshi T.May 19, 2026C is correct here. Per the PMBOK Guide, project performance appraisals during the closing process draw on input from multiple stakeholders, not just the sponsor, and Bao is conflating sponsor authority over the business case with the 360-degree feedback model the blueprint specifies for evaluating team performance.