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People Domain

Performance Management PMP Practice Questions

Test yourself with 6 free, scenario-based PMP practice questions on performance management, 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 team member consistently delivers technically excellent work but misses agreed deadlines, impacting downstream tasks. You have mentioned this verbally twice without lasting improvement. What is the MOST appropriate next step?

  1. A.Document the performance issue formally, set specific measurable expectations with a timeline, and schedule follow-up check-ins.
  2. B.Reassign the team member to a role with flexible deadlines that better fits their work style — forcing someone into a deadline-driven role they consistently cannot meet creates ongoing performance risk.
  3. C.Accept the pattern as long as the work quality remains high — tardiness on deadlines is a minor issue compared to the value of their technical contributions to the team.
  4. D.Immediately escalate to HR for a formal disciplinary process — consistent missed deadlines are a performance issue that falls within HR's mandate to manage.
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: A

When verbal feedback has not produced lasting improvement, the next step is formal documentation with clear, measurable expectations and follow-up. This is fair, transparent, and gives the team member a clear path to improvement. Reassignment avoids the issue and may not be feasible. Accepting the pattern harms the team and project. Immediate escalation to HR skips intermediate steps and is disproportionate.

Question 2 of 6

You have just completed a performance review for a team member and provided mostly positive feedback with one area for improvement. The team member pushes back, saying the criticism is unfair. How should you handle this?

  1. A.Stand firm and explain that performance reviews reflect documented observations — inconsistency in applying review standards would undermine the credibility of the assessment process for the entire team.
  2. B.Listen actively to their perspective, provide specific documented examples to support your assessment, and remain open to adjusting if their points have merit.
  3. C.Retract the specific criticisms the team member objects to most strongly — maintaining the relationship is more important than defending assessments that cannot be supported with specific documented examples.
  4. D.Tell the team member to direct their disagreement to HR — the formal grievance process exists precisely for situations where a manager and employee cannot resolve a performance assessment dispute.
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B

Effective performance management is a dialogue, not a monologue. Listening to the team member's perspective while grounding your feedback in specific evidence is fair, respectful, and credible. Standing firm without discussion is dismissive. Retracting to avoid conflict is dishonest and undermines the value of feedback. Deflecting to HR escalates unnecessarily and damages trust.

Question 3 of 6

You are conducting a mid-project performance review for a team member. They are meeting deadlines and quality targets but their interpersonal behavior — interrupting colleagues and dismissing ideas publicly — is negatively affecting team morale. How should you address this?

  1. A.Focus the review only on task performance since that is what the project needs
  2. B.Address the interpersonal behavior directly and specifically, explain the impact on team morale and collaboration.
  3. C.Wait until the project ends to address the behavioral issue in the final performance review
  4. D.Ask other team members to give the person feedback directly
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B

Effective performance management addresses both task performance and behavior, since behavior affects team dynamics and ultimately deliverables. Providing specific, behavioral feedback with clear expectations is timely and fair. Ignoring behavior allows harm to the team to continue. Waiting until project end delays necessary correction and is unfair to both the team and the individual. Delegating feedback to peers without PM involvement is inappropriate and can create conflict.

Question 4 of 6

Your agile team has been delivering at a consistent velocity, but you observe that the team is avoiding any user stories that require learning new technical skills. The backlog has several high-value stories that need these skills. What should you do?

  1. A.Accept the current velocity pattern — the team knows its capacity best
  2. B.Force the team to take the high-value stories in the next sprint regardless of readiness
  3. C.Have an open conversation with the team about the pattern, understand the barriers to skill development
  4. D.Hire specialist contractors to handle all new-skill stories to maintain velocity
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C

Velocity comfort zones can mask a failure to grow. An open, collaborative conversation that surfaces barriers and builds a shared development plan respects the team while addressing the performance gap. Passive acceptance sacrifices long-term value delivery. Forcing skill stories without support sets the team up to fail. Contracting out all new-skill stories relieves pressure temporarily but prevents the team from developing capabilities that deliver long-term value.

Question 5 of 6

You give a team member positive feedback for their excellent work on a risk register. The team member dismisses the feedback, saying 'It was nothing — anyone could have done it.' What is the MOST effective response to ensure the feedback lands?

  1. A.Drop the recognition since the team member is clearly uncomfortable with praise — forcing acknowledgment on someone who does not want it creates more discomfort than the recognition is worth.
  2. B.Disagree publicly with their self-deprecation to reinforce the compliment — gently challenging an underestimation in front of the team ensures the recognition lands with full impact.
  3. C.Include the praise in a group email to ensure the team member cannot dismiss it privately — public acknowledgment in writing creates a record that others can also validate and reinforce.
  4. D.Be specific about what exactly they did well and why it mattered to the project, so they understand the feedback is substantive.
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: D

Effective positive feedback is specific and impact-focused. Generic praise is easy to dismiss; specific behavioral feedback ('You identified three risks we had missed and framed them in a way that made prioritization easy') is much harder to deflect. Dropping the feedback misses a motivation opportunity. Public disagreement is awkward and not the intent. A group email may feel embarrassing and does not address the self-dismissal behavior.

Question 6 of 6

At the end of a sprint, a team member's story is incomplete due to technical complexity that emerged during the sprint — complexity that was not visible during planning. How should the project manager handle this?

  1. A.Conduct a blameless review to understand the complexity that emerged and update estimation practices to prevent similar surprises.
  2. B.Record it as a performance issue since the team member committed to completing the story and failed to deliver — unmet sprint commitments have a direct impact on team velocity and stakeholder trust.
  3. C.Require the team member to work overtime during the next sprint to complete the overestimated story — the commitment was made and the team member is responsible for fulfilling it.
  4. D.Decline to accept any incomplete stories and cancel the sprint review — presenting unfinished work to stakeholders undermines the integrity of the sprint review process.
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: A

Agile acknowledges that complexity is often discovered during execution, not just planning. A blameless retrospective approach treats this as a system and estimation learning opportunity rather than individual failure. Recording it as a performance issue creates a blame culture that destroys psychological safety. Mandatory overtime violates sustainable pace principles. Canceling the sprint review is disproportionate and removes the team's opportunity to showcase completed work.

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