PMP · Question #933
A project defined to be executed in four months is divided into eight iterations. During its first retrospective, the team realizes that only one member has experience doing a key project…
The correct answer is C. Plan knowledge-sharing sessions within the team. When a key skill is concentrated in one team member, the project manager should organize internal knowledge-sharing sessions to disseminate this expertise among the team. This builds collective capability and reduces single points of failure.
Question
A project defined to be executed in four months is divided into eight iterations. During its first retrospective, the team realizes that only one member has experience doing a key project requirement. What should the project manager do?
Options
- AInvite the team member to share experience in the next retrospective.
- BAsk the sponsor to add team members with the required experience.
- CPlan knowledge-sharing sessions within the team.
- DAsk the sponsor for a training course for the team.
How the community answered
(68 responses)- A12% (8)
- B3% (2)
- C79% (54)
- D6% (4)
Why each option
When a key skill is concentrated in one team member, the project manager should organize internal knowledge-sharing sessions to disseminate this expertise among the team. This builds collective capability and reduces single points of failure.
Sharing experience only in the next retrospective is reactive and delays crucial knowledge transfer, which is needed sooner given the key requirement.
Asking the sponsor to add more team members is a costly and potentially time-consuming solution when existing team members could be upskilled internally.
Planning knowledge-sharing sessions within the team is an effective agile practice to cross-train team members and build collective knowledge, reducing reliance on a single individual for critical skills. This empowers the existing team to grow their capabilities, aligning with self-organizing team principles.
Requesting a training course for the entire team from the sponsor is a good long-term solution but might not be fast enough for a project with an immediate key requirement and existing internal expertise.
Concept tested: Fostering knowledge transfer and cross-training within an agile team
Topics
Community Discussion
4
Ingrid P.Mar 17, 2026C is correct. The agile principle here is getting knowledge to flow within the team rather than letting it pool in one person. A is too passive because waiting until the next retrospective wastes an entire iteration and delays the transfer. D is often a trap because formal training is slow and external, whereas C leverages the internal expert to spread the skill immediately. I have a card on this exact pattern. Front side reads: one team member holds the knowledge for a key requirement. Back side reads: plan knowledge-sharing sessions within the team. I flagged the "one member has experience" phrase as the trigger word
Prof. SaraMar 14, 2026C is correct. Cross-training prevents a single-person dependency risk.
Mei-Ling H.Mar 20, 2026C is correct. Saw this on my exam last month, the key word is "retrospective" which means the team is actively inspecting and adapting, so you handle it internally with knowledge-sharing instead of escalating to the sponsor. A is wrong because waiting for the next retrospective wastes time when the team already identified the gap now.
Prof. SaraMar 21, 2026Agree on C and the internal handling logic, but worth noting that if the knowledge gap is blocking a sprint goal, the Scrum Master should facilitate an ad-hoc session now rather than waiting to formalize it as a retrospective action item.