PMP · Question #846
In a standup meeting, a team member has been providing the same update for five consecutive days. The task, which is on the critical path, is now at risk for delaying the schedule. What should the pro
The correct answer is D. Ask the team member if there is an impediment, and help to remove the blockers.. A critical path task is stalled, indicated by a team member giving the same update repeatedly, posing a significant risk to the project schedule. The project manager should immediately address this by identifying and removing any impediments or blockers preventing the team member
Question
Options
- AKeep the project sponsor informed about the delay.
- BReassign the task to another member of the team.
- CSupport the team member by providing one more resource to complete the task immediately.
- DAsk the team member if there is an impediment, and help to remove the blockers.
How the community answered
(37 responses)- A8% (3)
- B14% (5)
- C3% (1)
- D76% (28)
Why each option
A critical path task is stalled, indicated by a team member giving the same update repeatedly, posing a significant risk to the project schedule. The project manager should immediately address this by identifying and removing any impediments or blockers preventing the team member from progressing.
Keeping the project sponsor informed is part of stakeholder communication but does not address the immediate problem of the stalled task and potential delay.
Reassigning the task without understanding the root cause (impediment) can lead to the same issue with another team member or demotivate the current team member.
Providing an additional resource without understanding the impediment might not solve the problem and could even reduce efficiency if the blocker is not resource-related.
The primary purpose of standup meetings is for team members to report progress and identify impediments; if a task is stalled, the project manager's role is to actively facilitate the removal of blockers so the team member can proceed, directly impacting the critical path. This aligns with servant leadership in agile contexts.
Concept tested: Impediment removal and critical path management
Source: https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/agile-practice-guide
Topics
Community Discussion
6
Anjali D.May 29, 2026D is the right call here. Most of us in the group gravitated toward D since the PM's job in a standup is to surface blockers and clear them, not to jump straight to reassigning work or escalating before you even know what the problem is. A couple folks argued for C because the task is on the critical path, but the consensus was that adding resources midstream without understanding the impediment often makes things worse.
Hiroshi T.Jun 21, 2026D is correct per the PMBOK Guide section on servant leadership. Had this exact question on my exam last month, and A is the trap because people jump to escalating instead of doing the obvious thing first, which is asking what is blocking progress.
Nina C.Jun 3, 2026Leaned toward C first, but agile says clear blockers before adding resources, so D.
Wesley A.Jun 12, 2026D is the right call, and I remember this exact scenario on my second attempt because I overthought it the first time around and picked C. The standup context is your clue: the whole point of that meeting is to surface blockers and remove them, not to start reassigning work or throwing extra bodies at the problem.
Mei-Ling H.Jun 17, 2026Picked A. The word "critical path" is the qualifier here, and since the task is now at risk for delaying the schedule, the project manager must keep the sponsor informed. D sounds nice in a generic Agile scenario, but five consecutive days of the same update on a critical path item already escalated this beyond a simple blocker conversation.
Anjali D.Jun 19, 2026Actually our group landed on D, because five days of the same blocker on a critical path item means its time to escalate and get help removing the impediment, not just keep reporting the same status to the sponsor.