Project Management Professional (PMP) — Question 438

A project manager for a large multiyear industrial project has a project with diversified stakeholders from various geographical areas. Recently, the project manager encountered an issue with stakeholder engagement.
Which two tools should the project manager use to determine the underlying reason for why engagement is not having the planned effect? (Choose two.)

Answer options

• A. Five whys
• B. Communications management plan
• C. Ishikawa diagrams
• D. Issue log
• E. Open-space meetings

Correct answer: A, C

Explanation

The 'Five whys' technique helps to drill down to the root cause of a problem by asking 'why' repeatedly, making it effective for understanding engagement issues. Similarly, 'Ishikawa diagrams' (or fishbone diagrams) are used to visually map out the causes of problems, which can also clarify why stakeholder engagement is lacking. The other options, while useful in project management, do not specifically focus on identifying root causes for engagement problems.