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PMP Practice QuestionsCoaching and Mentoring
People Domain

Coaching and Mentoring PMP Practice Questions

Test yourself with 6 free, scenario-based PMP practice questions on coaching and mentoring, drawn from the People domain of the exam and aligned to PMBOK 8. Work through each scenario before revealing the answer — every question includes an explanation of why the correct choice is right. For randomized, interactive practice across all topics, use the practice question tool.

Question 1 of 6

A junior developer on your agile team is capable but often hesitates to speak up in sprint planning. They frequently wait for senior members to define all the tasks before adding their own. You want to build their confidence and contribution. What is the BEST coaching approach?

  1. A.Assign them more tasks in sprint planning to force participation
  2. B.Ask them direct, open-ended questions during planning sessions and acknowledge their contributions publicly
  3. C.Pair them exclusively with senior developers so they can learn through observation
  4. D.Give them a private written guide on how to participate in meetings
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B

Coaching builds confidence through guided participation. Asking open-ended questions and publicly acknowledging their input creates a safe environment for contribution and positive reinforcement. Task assignment applies pressure without building self-efficacy. Observation alone is passive. A written guide is theoretical and doesn't address the behavioral confidence gap.

Question 2 of 6

A project manager is coaching a junior PM who is managing a small project for the first time. The junior PM frequently comes to you with questions about what to do next. You want to build their problem-solving capability rather than create dependence. Which coaching approach is BEST?

  1. A.Answer their questions directly and thoroughly each time so they learn the correct approach
  2. B.Refuse to answer questions and tell them to figure it out on their own
  3. C.Assign them a PM textbook to read and return when they have reviewed it
  4. D.Ask powerful questions that guide them to think through the problem themselves, then affirm or redirect their reasoning.
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: D

Coaching builds capability through guided reflection, not dependency on answers. Asking powerful questions — 'What options have you considered?' 'What would happen if...?' — activates the learner's own thinking and builds confidence and judgment. Providing all the answers creates dependence. Refusing any guidance is abandonment, not coaching. A textbook assignment is training, not coaching, and doesn't address in-the-moment development.

Question 3 of 6

A high-performing team lead approaches you asking for career advice. They want to move into program management but are unsure how to develop the necessary skills. What is the difference between mentoring and coaching in how you should respond?

  1. A.Mentoring provides guidance and advice drawn from your own experience; coaching asks questions to help the person develop their own thinking and action plan.
  2. B.Coaching provides guidance from personal experience; mentoring uses open questions to help the individual discover their own thinking and develop their own action plan.
  3. C.Both mentoring and coaching use the same core practices — the distinction is a matter of organizational terminology and personal preference rather than a meaningful methodological difference.
  4. D.Coaching is reserved for team members with performance gaps; mentoring is an investment in high-potential individuals being developed for future leadership roles.
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: A

Mentoring involves drawing on personal experience to provide guidance, advice, and perspective — the mentor shares what they know. Coaching involves powerful questioning and active listening to help the individual discover their own solutions and build self-direction. Both are valuable but serve different needs. The descriptions in are reversed. ignores a meaningful distinction. is a misconception — coaching is effective for people at all performance levels.

Question 4 of 6

As an agile coach, you have been working with a team for three months to improve their retrospectives. The team's retrospectives are now consistently effective and the team facilitates them with minimal support. What should you do NEXT?

  1. A.Continue attending every retrospective to maintain quality standards
  2. B.Move to a less frequent involvement model, celebrating the team's capability and shifting your focus to their next development area.
  3. C.Introduce more complexity to the retrospective format to keep the team learning
  4. D.Transfer to a different team that needs more help and leave this team to manage on their own indefinitely
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B

Effective coaching builds independence, not dependency. When a team has internalized a capability, the coach should step back, acknowledge the achievement, and redirect energy to the next growth edge. Continuing to attend regularly creates dependency and wastes the coach's capacity. Introducing complexity gratuitously is not learner-centered. Completely abandoning the team skips the transition and fails to sustain the growth appropriately.

Question 5 of 6

You are mentoring a new project manager who is technically brilliant but struggles to influence stakeholders without formal authority. They want to know how to build influence more effectively. As their mentor, what is the MOST useful guidance?

  1. A.Advise the junior PM to escalate through formal authority chains whenever stakeholders do not cooperate — formal escalation is the most reliable mechanism when influence without authority is insufficient.
  2. B.Tell the junior PM to pursue additional certifications to improve their credibility — recognized credentials signal competence to stakeholders and provide a foundation for exercising influence.
  3. C.Share from your own experience how you built trust-based relationships, adapted your communication style, and found common ground with stakeholders over time.
  4. D.Suggest the junior PM avoid assignments requiring influence without authority until they reach a more senior level — attempting to influence without positional power is ineffective for early-career PMs.
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C

Mentoring provides advice from personal experience. Sharing how you navigated the same challenge — building trust, adapting communication, finding common ground — is exactly what a mentor offers that a coach or trainer cannot. Escalating through authority avoids developing the influence skill. More certifications may improve credibility but don't address the interpersonal skill gap directly. Avoiding the challenge stunts development.

Question 6 of 6

A functional manager notices that one of their most technically skilled team members keeps getting bypassed for project leadership roles because of poor communication skills. The functional manager wants to address this. What combination of interventions is MOST appropriate?

  1. A.Enroll the team member in a public speaking course and inform them their promotion depends on improvement
  2. B.Reassign the team member to a role where communication is not required
  3. C.Mentor the team member by sharing experiences of developing communication skills
  4. D.Document the skill gap in their HR record and wait for them to address it on their own
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C

A combined mentoring and coaching approach is most powerful for development. Mentoring provides relevant experience and perspective; coaching provides in-the-moment skill-building and feedback. Training alone is theoretical and the conditional framing may feel threatening. Reassignment avoids the development need entirely. Passive documentation fails the team member who deserves active development investment.

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