PMP · Question #874
A pharmacy needs to launch a medication delivery service. An interdisciplinary team was created in order to have the service ready in one-month when it usually takes five months to complete. What shou
The correct answer is C. Assist the team in proposing a minimum viable product (MVP).. Given an ambitious one-month deadline for a service that typically takes five months, the project manager should guide the team to define a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). An MVP focuses on delivering only the core functionality needed to launch, allowing for early value delivery a
Question
Options
- ARegister a risk and define a contingency plan.
- BReview and reduce the project backlog.
- CAssist the team in proposing a minimum viable product (MVP).
- DAsk to increase the capacity of the team.
How the community answered
(52 responses)- A10% (5)
- B19% (10)
- C67% (35)
- D4% (2)
Why each option
Given an ambitious one-month deadline for a service that typically takes five months, the project manager should guide the team to define a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). An MVP focuses on delivering only the core functionality needed to launch, allowing for early value delivery and iterative improvements.
While registering a risk is prudent, it does not directly address how to achieve the extremely tight deadline for launching the service.
Simply reviewing and reducing the project backlog might not be sufficient to achieve such a drastic time reduction without a clear strategy for what constitutes "minimum viable."
When faced with a severely compressed timeline (one month vs. five months usual), the most effective agile strategy is to propose a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). An MVP focuses on delivering the absolute core set of features necessary to launch the service and provide initial business value, allowing the team to meet the tight deadline by drastically reducing scope while still delivering a functional product. This iterative approach allows for subsequent enhancements in future iterations.
Asking to increase team capacity in such a short timeframe is often not feasible or effective, as new team members require onboarding and might not immediately boost productivity (Brooks's Law).
Concept tested: Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for aggressive deadlines
Source: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/minimum-viable-product-agile-delivery-8032
Topics
Community Discussion
7
Viktor S.Jun 28, 2026C is the answer here. One month instead of five means you are not delivering the full scope, period, so an MVP is the only sane way to frame that conversation with the team and stakeholders. A is a cop-out because a risk register does not actually solve the schedule problem, and D just throws bodies at it which never works. B sounds agile-ish but reducing the backlog without an MVP framing leaves nobody aligned on what done means for this launch.
Mateus R.Jun 29, 2026Right that the MVP framing is what gets you home, but Id add one angle: the exam also wants you to pair that MVP conversation with an explicit scope-reduction decision documented for stakeholders, because shipping less without that paper trail just looks like a slip.
Bao N.Jul 5, 2026Leaned toward A first since a one-month timeline for a five-month project screams risk, but the key is they already formed an interdisciplinary team to compress the schedule, so the real move is scoping down to an MVP. C is the agile answer for impossible timelines.
Yusuf A.Jul 8, 2026One of my seniors said the same thing, that C is the go-to when the timeline is genuinely impossible, but he also warned to watch for questions where they want you to push back on the deadline first before resorting to MVP scoping.
Mateus R.Jul 5, 2026C. One month instead of five? Ship a skateboard first, not the whole car. Does the MVP always satisfy stakeholders?
Lena V.Jul 2, 2026C. One month vs five means MVP is the only play, not padding the team.
Yusuf A.Jul 5, 2026Leaned toward A but my mentor said one month means MVP, not contingency.