PgMP Practice Question
During the second quarterly governance review of a multiyear digital-banking transformation program, the program manager compiles performance reports from five constituent projects. Earned-value charts show that aggregate schedule variance (SV) has slipped from +2 percent last quarter to -3 percent, equivalent to a two-week delay against the integrated master schedule. Cost variance (CV) has deteriorated to -5 percent because of overtime charges and expedited procurement fees. Although quality metrics remain within tolerance, the overall risk-exposure index has risen as schedule pressure mounts. The steering committee warns that continued degradation could jeopardize a regulatory launch milestone scheduled six months from now. Before the committee convenes an ad-hoc session to consider extra funding or schedule compression, the sponsor asks the program manager what action she will take immediately. According to PMI program-management best practices, what should the program manager do NEXT to address the observed variances?
Escalate immediately to the steering committee and request approval to fast-track critical work packages.
Conduct a structured root-cause analysis of the schedule and cost variances across all constituent projects before proposing corrective actions.
Re-baseline the program by adding two weeks to the schedule and increasing the budget contingency to restore positive variances.
Activate the pre-approved risk response plans for schedule and cost risks without further analysis to save time.