PMP · Question #886
A customer calls the project manager to express concern about a project team member who has been making changes within the live environment without approval. The team member mentioned that the custome
The correct answer is D. Reinforce the value of documenting and approving all change requests and ask the customer to. Upon discovering unauthorized changes in a live environment, the project manager must reinforce formal change control processes and educate the customer on proper request procedures.
Question
A customer calls the project manager to express concern about a project team member who has been making changes within the live environment without approval. The team member mentioned that the customer called and asked them to make the changes. What should the project manager do next?
Options
- AOrganize a meeting to mediate the relationship between the customer and the team member to
- BExplain to the customer that the team member was just trying to help and the changes can be
- CAsk the customer to email all requests directly to you and you will ensure they are actioned by the
- DReinforce the value of documenting and approving all change requests and ask the customer to
How the community answered
(34 responses)- A6% (2)
- B12% (4)
- C3% (1)
- D79% (27)
Why each option
Upon discovering unauthorized changes in a live environment, the project manager must reinforce formal change control processes and educate the customer on proper request procedures.
While mediation might be necessary for relationship management later, the immediate concern is addressing the systemic breach of the change control process, which this option does not directly resolve.
Excusing unauthorized changes by saying the team member was 'just trying to help' undermines the importance of the change control process and implicitly condones actions that bypass formal procedures.
While directing requests through the project manager is an improvement over direct team member action, it still bypasses the formal change control process for documentation, impact analysis, and approval, which is crucial for project stability.
The immediate priority is to stop unauthorized changes and ensure adherence to established project governance. Reinforcing the importance of documented and approved change requests educates the customer and team, preventing future recurrences of bypassing the proper change control system.
Concept tested: Change control process adherence
Source: https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/pmbok/seventh-edition
Topics
Community Discussion
5
Anjali D.Jan 5, 2026D is the consensus pick in our group. The key is that the PM needs to reinforce the change control process with the customer, since undocumented changes in a live environment are a risk regardless of who asked for them. A few folks initially leaned C because it sounds proactive, but C just reroutes the requests without addressing why the process was bypassed in the first place. What do others think, does anyone see a scenario where A or B would be the better move here?
Brenda K.Jan 8, 2026D is right and your group is spot on about C being a decoy, but flag this one for review if you have it later because the real exam loves to swap in wording like "inform the sponsor" which trips people into picking A when the customer relationship angle still points back to D.
Brenda K.Dec 25, 2025D is correct and its the fast pick once you spot the change-control keywords, but that dangling sentence ending bugs me. A is the trap for anyone who burns four minutes playing therapist, so flag it and move on.
Hiroshi T.Jan 10, 2026D per PMI: changes flow through change control, not direct calls. Does reinforce mean train or enforce?
Wei W.Dec 31, 2025Saw this one on my exam last August and D is the clear pick. Had a similar situation on a real project where a dev was doing ad hoc favors for a stakeholder and it wrecked our change control traceability, so reinforcing documented and approved change requests with the customer was exactly the move the PMBOK mindset rewards here.