PMP Practice Questions #45
Rebecca, a project manager, is at the midpoint of a crucial infrastructure project. She observes that a significant portion of the project’s essential information and expertise resides with a few senior team members. Considering the project’s stringent timeline and her observations, what should Rebecca prioritize FIRST?
A) Leverage the senior members’ expertise by allocating them the majority of the critical tasks to expedite project progress.
B) Organize knowledge transfer sessions, enabling senior team members to impart their insights and pivotal project details to the broader team.
C) Ensure that senior members diligently document their work so that others can subsequently benefit from their insights.
D) Delegate the responsibility of documenting all project processes to junior team members, ensuring comprehensive information capture.
Analysis
The question presents a scenario where Rebecca, a project manager, is managing a crucial infrastructure project and notices that essential information and expertise are concentrated with a few senior team members. The challenge is to address this knowledge centralization while adhering to the project’s strict timeline. Rebecca must decide the best course of action to ensure effective knowledge distribution without hindering project progress.
Analysis of Options:
Option A: Leverage the senior members’ expertise by allocating them the majority of the critical tasks to expedite project progress. This option prioritizes immediate project progress by heavily relying on senior team members. While it addresses the stringent timeline, it exacerbates the risk of knowledge centralization and creates potential bottlenecks. This approach could lead to challenges if senior members become unavailable or overburdened.
Option B: Organize knowledge transfer sessions, enabling senior team members to impart their insights and pivotal project details to the broader team. It involves organizing sessions where senior members share their expertise with the rest of the team. It directly addresses the issue of knowledge centralization by fostering a collaborative environment for knowledge sharing. This option not only aids in immediate knowledge distribution but also builds a stronger, more versatile team for long-term project health.
Option C: Ensure that senior members diligently document their work so that others can subsequently benefit from their insights. This option focuses on documentation as a method of knowledge transfer. While documentation is important for future reference, it may not be as immediately effective in transferring tacit knowledge as interactive sessions. The process could be slower and less engaging, potentially missing the nuances of experiential knowledge.
Option D: Delegate the responsibility of documenting all project processes to junior team members, ensuring comprehensive information capture. Assigning documentation tasks to junior members might seem like a practical approach to engage them in the project’s critical aspects. However, without adequate understanding or guidance, this could lead to suboptimal or inaccurate capturing of information. It risks missing the depth and context that senior members could provide.
Conclusion: Considering the analysis of the options, Option B, organizing knowledge transfer sessions, is the most effective choice for Rebecca’s situation. This approach best addresses the dual needs of mitigating knowledge centralization and adhering to the project timeline. It fosters a collaborative learning environment, ensuring that the entire team gains from the expertise of senior members, thereby enhancing team capability and reducing dependency on a few individuals. This method effectively balances immediate knowledge sharing with long-term team development, aligning well with the project’s goals.
PMP Exam Content Outline Mapping
| Domain | Task |
|---|---|
| People | Task 6: Build a team |
| People | Task 16: Ensure knowledge transfer for project continuity |
Topics Covered:
- Avoid Single Point of Failure
- Enhancing Team Knowledge Sharing and Transfer
- Develop Team Members
- Promoting Multi-Skilling and T-Shaped Skill Development
