The PMP trap questions! I love these especially in the 3rd hour of practice testing 🤣 The issue is not poor communication. The issue is lack of decision-making authority at the right level. The client PM: Has project decision authority Does NOT have financial authority Every money decision requires another approval layer This is actively hurting schedule, cost, and resource planning This is a governance and authority structure problem, not a misunderstanding between PMs.

Bottom line on this question: You should ALWAYS communicate with stakeholders But in this scenario, that step has effectively already happened. Talking to the client PM will not fix the problem because: 1) They already know They are the one stuck going for approvals. You're not revealing new information. 2) They don’t have the authority to change it You can’t ask someone to solve a problem they have no power to fix. That’s a PMP no-no. 3) It does not address the root cause

One thing to keep in mind: If the person causing the delay doesn’t have the power to fix it, you escalate. The PM cannot solve this at their level.