PMP · Question #976
A project manager is leading a program execution and has challenges, because a project team waits for every decision to be made by the project manager. The progress of the team is slow because the…
The correct answer is D. Revise the roles and responsibilities and empower the team to make their own decisions. To overcome being a bottleneck and empower a capable team, the project manager should revise roles and responsibilities, explicitly granting the team authority to make decisions.
Question
Options
- ARaise a resource request to get complimentary training for the project manager and team
- BEscalate the situation to the resource manager to ensure the team makes their own decisions.
- CGather feedback from all team members and define a process to handle the team requests.
- DRevise the roles and responsibilities and empower the team to make their own decisions.
How the community answered
(31 responses)- A16% (5)
- B3% (1)
- C10% (3)
- D71% (22)
Why each option
To overcome being a bottleneck and empower a capable team, the project manager should revise roles and responsibilities, explicitly granting the team authority to make decisions.
The issue is not a lack of skills or training but a lack of empowerment and clear decision-making authority, so training is not the primary solution here.
Escalating to a resource manager implies the team is incapable or unwilling, but the PM's assessment is that the team *can* handle the work, making escalation inappropriate.
While gathering feedback is useful, simply defining a "process to handle team requests" doesn't necessarily empower the team to make decisions themselves; it might just formalize the bottleneck.
Since the project manager has assessed that the team members are capable, the core problem is a lack of empowerment and clarity around decision-making authority. Revising roles and responsibilities, and explicitly empowering the team to make their own decisions, directly addresses this bottleneck by distributing authority and fostering self-organization.
Concept tested: Team empowerment; Self-organizing teams
Source: https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/pmbok/resource-management/team-management
Topics
Community Discussion
4
Viktor S.Jul 5, 2026D is the answer here. The key is that the PM already assessed the situation and determined the team can handle the work, so the fix is to update the RACI and push decision-making authority down to them. C is the trap because gathering more feedback just adds delay to a problem that is already diagnosed. Empowering the team is the servant-leadership move the exam wants, and it actually translates to real projects where hoarding decisions kills velocity.
Mateus R.Jul 5, 2026Think of it like a store manager who insists on approving every single price match at the register, causing a huge line, when the cashiers are perfectly capable of handling it themselves. You stop being the bottleneck by updating the job descriptions and trusting the cashiers to make the call, which in PMP terms means revising roles and responsibilities to empower the team. D is the answer here, but I am curious how folks see the practical limit of that empowerment, specifically when does empowering a team cross the line into the PM abdicating responsibility for project outcomes?
Dervla O.Jul 6, 2026D is right, and the line between empowerment and abdication is simple: you still own the framework, the constraints, and the consequences, so empower decisions within boundaries you defined, not decisions about the boundaries themselves.
Dervla O.Jul 5, 2026D is the move here. The stem signals a servant leadership scenario, the team is competent but waiting on you, so the fix is to revise the RACI and push decision-making down. C is the trap I see people pick because gathering feedback sounds collaborative and inclusive, but that just adds more process and delay to a team that already can handle the work. Skip the meetings, update the roles, and empower them.