PMP Question #776: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

Question

A project manager is evaluating a project and realizes that its earned value (EV) shows the cost spent is higher than the value delivered. The project manager then discovers that the team has been adding small features that are not part of the requirements. What should the project manager do?

Options

• ARequest additional budget because additional features are being added
• BAsk the product owner to add the additional features to the requirements
• CEncourage the team to continue, as this will eventually help the customer
• DAsk the team to focus on and deliver only the agreed-upon features

Explanation

To correct a project where costs exceed delivered value due to unauthorized feature additions, the project manager must instruct the team to cease gold-plating and concentrate solely on delivering the formally agreed-upon features.

Common mistakes.

• A. Requesting additional budget for unauthorized features rewards scope creep and exacerbates the problem of costs exceeding value, rather than resolving it.
• B. Asking the product owner to retroactively add unauthorized features to the requirements legitimizes unplanned work, undermining scope control and encouraging future gold-plating without addressing the root cause of the negative EV performance.
• C. Encouraging the team to continue adding features, even if perceived as helpful, is known as gold-plating, which directly leads to cost and schedule overruns and negatively impacts earned value, thus worsening the current situation.

Concept tested. Scope control and earned value management

Reference. https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/pmbok

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