CPL Team Building & Development 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A CPL is managing a cross-functional team where members have competing departmental loyalties. The BEST strategy to align the team is:
- Focus each member only on their own department's goals
- Create a shared program vision and tie individual contributions to it (Correct answer)
- Assign a single department as the team lead
- Limit cross-department communication to reduce tension
Correct answer: Create a shared program vision and tie individual contributions to it
A unifying program vision helps members see beyond departmental silos and align their efforts toward common outcomes.
Question 2: Which technique is MOST useful for identifying hidden strengths and blind spots within a team?
- Gantt chart review
- Johari Window exercise (Correct answer)
- Risk register update
- PERT analysis
Correct answer: Johari Window exercise
The Johari Window helps team members understand self-perception versus how others perceive them, revealing blind spots and strengths.
Question 3: A newly formed program team is experiencing high anxiety about unclear roles. The CPL's IMMEDIATE priority should be:
- Launch team-building social activities
- Clarify roles, responsibilities, and expectations through a structured kickoff (Correct answer)
- Allow the team to self-organize without intervention
- Begin the first deliverable immediately to create momentum
Correct answer: Clarify roles, responsibilities, and expectations through a structured kickoff
Role clarity reduces anxiety and is a foundational need in the Forming stage before productivity can increase.
Question 4: What is the PRIMARY purpose of a retrospective in program team development?
- To assign blame for missed deadlines
- To reflect on what worked, what didn't, and how to improve going forward (Correct answer)
- To report team metrics to senior management
- To plan the next sprint's deliverables
Correct answer: To reflect on what worked, what didn't, and how to improve going forward
Retrospectives are structured reflection sessions that drive continuous improvement by examining team processes and interactions.
Question 5: A team member from a collectivist culture avoids direct disagreement in meetings. A CPL can BEST accommodate this by:
- Requiring all members to speak in turn during debates
- Offering anonymous feedback channels and small-group discussions (Correct answer)
- Skipping the member's input to avoid discomfort
- Assigning the member a devil's advocate role publicly
Correct answer: Offering anonymous feedback channels and small-group discussions
Anonymous or small-group formats allow members from collectivist cultures to share input without the discomfort of public disagreement.
Question 6: According to Maslow's Hierarchy, a team that has job security and good working conditions but lacks a sense of belonging is operating at which unmet level?
- Physiological needs
- Safety needs
- Social/love and belonging needs (Correct answer)
- Esteem needs
Correct answer: Social/love and belonging needs
Social belonging (teamwork, friendship, camaraderie) is the third tier in Maslow's hierarchy, above safety but below esteem.
Question 7: A CPL uses 360-degree feedback with their team. The PRIMARY benefit of this approach is:
- It replaces the need for formal performance evaluations
- It provides multi-source perspectives that create a fuller picture of individual performance (Correct answer)
- It eliminates subjectivity entirely from the feedback process
- It reduces the time required to conduct performance reviews
Correct answer: It provides multi-source perspectives that create a fuller picture of individual performance
360-degree feedback gathers input from peers, subordinates, and supervisors, providing a holistic and more accurate view of performance.
CPL Team Building & Development 3
A CPL is managing a cross-functional team where members have competing departmental loyalties.
The BEST strategy to align the team is: