Skip to content
PMPMedium

PMP Practice: Assess consolidated project plans for dependencies, gaps, and continued business value

Question 2 of 5 in Integrate Project Planning Activities

River Petersen is managing a government contract to upgrade the air traffic control system across twelve regional airports. The contract specifies detailed acceptance criteria, requires fixed-price milestones tied to regulatory compliance gates, and mandates extensive documentation at each phase for federal auditors. During planning, a team member who previously worked at an agile software company suggests adopting two-week sprints and a product backlog approach to 'increase flexibility and speed up delivery.' The regulatory agency has made clear that any deviation from the approved technical specifications will trigger a full re-certification process adding six months to the timeline. What approach should River take for planning this project?
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: Use a predictive planning approach with detailed phase-by-phase planning, comprehensive documentation, and formal change control aligned to contract requirements

Explanation

This project has every characteristic that demands a predictive approach: fixed-price contract with defined milestones, extensive regulatory compliance requirements, mandatory detailed documentation, and severe penalties for specification deviation. The regulatory agency's explicit warning about re-certification delays makes flexibility a liability rather than an asset. Integrated project planning here means aligning the planning approach to the project's constraints and success criteria. A predictive lifecycle with comprehensive upfront planning, detailed schedules, and rigorous change control processes directly supports the contract terms and regulatory framework. The team member's suggestion, while well-intentioned, fails to account for the project's context where requirements are fixed by regulation and contract law, not subject to iterative discovery.

**Why not A:** Implementing agile sprints with extra documentation ceremonies contradicts the project's fundamental constraints. Fixed-price milestones, regulatory compliance gates, and the threat of a six-month re-certification process all require predictable, plan-driven execution. Adding documentation to agile ceremonies does not address the structural incompatibility.

**Why not B:** Starting with predictive planning and then evaluating an agile transition introduces unnecessary risk. The project has clear, fixed requirements, regulatory constraints, and contractual obligations that make predictive planning appropriate throughout. Switching methodology mid-project could trigger the re-certification process the regulatory agency warned about.

**Why not C:** A hybrid approach with sprints for development and phase gates for regulatory reviews still introduces iterative scope changes into a project where any deviation triggers a six-month re-certification delay. The regulatory agency has explicitly stated that specification deviations are unacceptable, making iterative development inappropriate regardless of the governance overlay.

Key Concept

This question covers Assess consolidated project plans for dependencies, gaps, and continued business value under Integrate Project Planning Activities (Process).

Share:

This is 1 of 100 free PMP questions

Unlock 6,300+ PMP practice questions with detailed explanations, progress tracking, and exam readiness prediction.

Unlock All Questions