PMP Practice: Evaluate demonstration of task accountability

The root cause of this situation is the absence of clearly defined decision-making authority. The team members are capable but unwilling to act autonomously because they experienced negative consequences on a previous project when their authority boundaries were unclear. To empower team members effectively, the project manager must explicitly define and communicate what decisions team members can make independently and what requires escalation. This includes establishing decision thresholds, delegation levels, and providing psychological safety that team members will be supported when they exercise their delegated authority. By establishing these boundaries early and documenting them as part of team agreements or the project management plan, Kenji would have given the team the confidence to act within their expertise without fear of being second-guessed. The scenario's closing fact—that Amara specifically mentions not knowing what decisions she was allowed to make and references being criticized for exercising judgment—makes clear that authority definition was the missing preventive measure.

**Why not A:** Conducting one-on-one meetings to build trust is a good general practice but does not directly address the root cause. The scenario reveals the team already knows why they are hesitant—they explicitly cite unclear decision-making authority and a negative past experience. Understanding their concerns is already evident; what was missing was proactive authority definition.

**Why not B:** Scheduling weekly governance meetings with functional managers adds oversight but does not define what decisions the team can make independently. More governance without clear delegation would likely reinforce the team's reluctance to act autonomously and further slow project velocity.

**Why not C:** Creating a RACI matrix identifies stakeholder roles and responsibilities at a high level but does not define the granular decision-making authority levels that the team needs. The engineers' complaint is specifically about not knowing which technical decisions they can make without PM approval, which requires explicit delegation thresholds, not a general accountability chart.