Initiation
A project team is working on a project to manufacture a new product for market, but they are having difficulty creating a project charter. What is the BEST description of the real problem?
A. They have not identified the project objectives. B. They are working on a process and not a project. C. The end date has not been set.
D. They have not identified the product of the project. Answer is B
In order to complete initiation, a project manager needs the project charter and: A: constraints.
B: work breakdown structure. C: scope statement.
D: scope management plan.
Answer: A Output of Initiation: Project charter, project manger assigned, constrains and assumptions
Which of the following does NOT assess the value project management brings to an organization?
A: Benefit/cost analysis B: Net present value C: Value analysis D: Needs assessment
Answer: C Value Analysis--- Find a less costly way to do the same scope of work The CEO of the company has assigned a project manager to a project that the CEO has wanted to do for a long time. What should the project manager do?
A: Assist the CEO in putting together a benefit/cost analysis to show the need for the project
B: Work with the CEO to get buy-in from the other stakeholders
C: Produce a ranking of all feasible projects, including the assigned project, in a weighted scoring of decision variables
D: Guide the creation of a project charter A: D Not all process is needed on all projects?
Identifying project performance criteria, defining project strategy and determining product description are all part of WHICH project management phase?
A: Initiation B: Planning C: Control D: Execution
A: A
Your customer has asked for a 2000 call capacity for the new call center project. However, one of your company's technical experts believes a 3000 call capacity can be reached. Another thinks that based on the technical needs of the customer, the capacity needs to be only 1500 calls. What is the BEST thing to do?
A: Meet with the customer to better understand the reasons behind the 2000 call capacity B: Set the goal at 3000 calls
C: Meet with the technical experts and help them to agree on a goal D: Set the goal at 2000 calls
A: A The fact that such a discussion is occurring indicates a lack of clarity as to why the customer requested the 2000 call capacity. Generally, a difference in objectives is resolved in favor of the customer. However, it is the PM’s responsibility to inform the customer of other options.
What does a Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) of 2.6 indicate? A: Payback is 2.6 times the cost of the project
B: Profit is 2.6 times the cost of the project. C: Cost is 2.6 times the payback.
D: Cost is 2.6 times the profit.
A: A It compares the payback to cost, NOT jut the smaller figure of profit!!! A market demand, a business need and/or legal requirements are examples of: A: reasons to hire a project manager.
B: reasons projects are authorized.
C: reasons people or businesses become stakeholders. D: reasons to sponsor a project.
A: B Project should meet company objectives; these are the reasons to begin a project A project manager in a predominantly hierarchical organization has been assigned a major project with aggressive timelines. The BEST approach for developing an initial project charter in this environment is to:
A: create a charter using brainstorming sessions with potential team members and stakeholders.
B: create and present a draft project charter to potential team members and stakeholders to solicit their input.
C: create a project charter jointly with management for distribution to potential team members and stakeholders.
D: create a charter with the functional managers and present it to the sponsor for signature.
A: C The organization has a direct influence on the project. A participative approach will probably not as effective in a hierarchical organization.
Which of the following statements BEST describes the reason that a project which was originally scheduled for completion in six months has been ongoing for two years? A: Too many tasks can mean the project never is completed.
B: The project needs only one project sponsor.
C: The WBS is a good way to determine project tasks. D: A project is something that is temporary.
A: D Choice C is correct but does not relate to the question presented. There is no reason to suspect there were too many tasks or more that one sponsor, but letting project
continue to expand violates choice D.
Who determines the requirements of a new project? A: Customer
B: Stakeholders C: PM
D: Senior Management
A: B The stakeholders determine the project requirements and decide whether the project was a success.
Which of the following statements BEST describes why stakeholders are necessary on a project?
A: They determine the project schedule, deliverables and requirements. B: They help to determine the project constraints and product deliverables. C: They supply the resources and resource constraints on the project. D: They help provide assumptions, the WBS and the management plan.
A: B The stakeholders do not determine the schedule, nor do they help create the management plan. These are the project manager's responsibilities. In choice C, stakeholders do not supply ALL the resources.
Which statement about project deliverables is correct? A: They are determined after the work is completely defined
B: They are described during project planning and improved over time C: They are defined at project onset with the input of project stakeholders D: They are determined by the project sponsor
A: C
The role of each stakeholder is determined by: A: the stakeholder and the sponsor.
C: the team and the project manager. D: the project manager and the stakeholder.
A: D Notice that the stakeholders have input into what they will be contributing to the project. The role of PM is NOT to tell people what to do.
The policies, methodologies and templates for managing projects within the organization should be supplied by the:
A: project sponsor. B: management C: PM
D: Project office A: D
Which of the following techniques is the BEST way to determine project objectives? A: Delphi
B: Earned value C: Expert interviews D: Pareto
A: A Pareto is a quality tool, and earned value is a progress reporting tool. Expert interviews provide information while Delphi leads to consensus.
The previous project manager for your project managed it without much project organization. There is a lack of management control and no clearly defined project deliverables. Which of the following would be the BEST choice for getting your project better organized?
A: Adopt a life cycle approach to the project B: Develop lessons learned for each phase
C: Develop specific work plans for each phase of the project D: Develop a description of the product of the project
A:A Choice D will help, but not help both control and deliverable for each phase. Choice C would help control each phase but would not control the integration of the phases into a cohesive whole. Choice B would help improve subsequent phases but would do nothing for control the deliverables. Effective project management requires a life cycle approach to running the project. Choice A is the only answer that covers both control and
deliverables.
All the following must be performed in initiation EXCEPT: A: identify and document business needs.
B: create a scope statement.
C: define the phases of the project life cycle.
A: B A scope statement is generally created after initiation, after the project charter is created. The charter contains a brief description of the project, not the full scope statement.
Your boss, the vice president of research at your electronic system development firm, defines success on the project as providing "state-of-the-art" development. The vice president of marketing defines it as "world-class practices." The vice president of engineering, who is the customer for this project, is primarily concerned with new features. Which of the following BEST describes what you should do?
A: Make sure the requirements are defined in measurable terms.
Requirement must be measurable to ensure they are understood and reachable. This is even more important than resolving a difference of requirements in favor of the customer, because you can not meet the customer’s needs if the requirements are ambiguous.
You are the CEO of a large publishing house and desire to improve project management practices in your company. What is the BEST thing to do in order to manage the
publication of each issue?
A: Clearly define the work to be supplied by other companies B: Retain the functional organizational structure
C: Set up a project office
D: Identify all the stakeholders for this project
A: B A project is temporary and unique. This is an example of a business process that is ongoing and repeatable. Such processes are best managed in a functional organization.
Framwork
The customer responsible for overseeing your project asks you to provide a written cost estimate that is 30% higher than your estimate of the project's cost. He explains that the budgeting process requires managers to estimate pessimistically to ensure enough money is allocated for projects. What is the BEST way to handle this?
A: Add the 30% as a lump sum contingency fund to handle project risks
B: Add the 30% to your cost estimate by spreading it evenly across all project tasks C: Create one cost baseline for budget allocation and a second one for the actual project plan
D: Ask for information on risks that would cause your estimate to be too small A: D
Presenting anything besides your original estimate to allocate more to the budget is inaccurate and calls into question your competence and integrity as a project manager. The customer should list potential changes and risks to your estimate. If the costs and risks are justified, you can increase the budget.
Which of the following is NOT a measure that determines whether a business practice used by another country is an unfair business practice?
A: It hurts the right to physical movement. B: t is a common practice in the other country.
C: It does not supply a decent wage for the country and the type of work. D: It discriminates against women.
A:B
A common practice in another country does not make it a fair practice.
A project manager has a problem with a team member's performance. What is BEST form of communication for addressing this problem?
A: Formal written communication B: Formal verbal communication C: Informal written communication D: Informal verbal communication
A:D The best choice is D. If informal verbal communication does not solve the problem, choice A is the next best choice. This does not mean that you do not keep records of the problem, but this question is asking about communication between two parties.
Your company wants to open a plant in a country where the law stipulates that women can earn only 50% of what men earn. Under these circumstances, what should you recommend to your company?
A: Do not open the plant.
B: Your company should meet with government officials and try to get a waiver that equalizes the rate between men and women.
D: Provide the women you hire with extra work to increase their salary. A: A
Working under these rules would be a clear violation of the fundamental right to nondiscriminating treatment. You should not open the plant in that location. You are working on the new oil purification project in a foreign country. A person informs you that you will have to pay him a "transfer fee" for the permit to move heavy equipment through the city. What is the FIRST thing you should do?
A: Pay the fee but only to the city B: Do not pay the fee
C: Make sure the person is really a government official D: Negotiate openly with the city officials
A:C
Only government officials can collect routine government fees.
While working on a project in another country, you are asked to make a "facilitating" payment so the country officials will issue a work order. What should you do? A: Make the payment
B: Ask the person for proof the payment is required C: Seek legal advice on whether such a payment is a bribe D: Do not pay and see what happens
A:C
Whenever you are uncertain whether a payment is a bribe, you should discuss the situation with legal counsel.
You are making another trip to a country and have been invited to a holiday celebration. During the celebration, you discover that all of the subcontracted work for the project has been given to one of the team member's brothers. What should you do?
A: Do nothing if the project is progressing on schedule. B: Evaluate the cost of the subcontracted work.
C: Determine what the common practices are in that country. D: Tell the team member that such actions are not allowed.
A:C This is not a case of doing nothing (choice A). But neither can you jump in and start looking at cost or determine that the practice is not allowed without first identifying the common practices in that country.
A project has a tight budget when you begin negotiating with a seller for a piece of equipment. The seller has told you that the equipment price is fixed. Your manager has told you to negotiate the cost with the seller. What is your BEST course of action? A: Make a good faith effort to find a way to decrease the cost
B: Postpone negotiations until you can convince your manager to change their mind C: Hold the negotiations but only negotiate other aspects of the project
D: Cancel the negotiations
A: A There is always a way to decrease costs in the project. How about offering to feature the seller in your next television ad? Therefore, the best choice is A.
A project manager is assigned to an environmental engineering project in Oregon chartered to build a reverse flow fish ladder on the Columbia River. An environmental group is performing the project. This type of project has never been done before. The project manager has decided to build a basic project schedule and to detail the work of each phase as the current phase nears completion. What BEST describes what the project manager is doing?
A: The controlling process of ensuring that project objectives are met by taking corrective action when necessary
B: The process of planning change control
C: The progressive process of rolling wave planning
D: The core planning process of reiterating a plan in the same order from project to project
A: C The progressive detailing of a project plan is often called rolling wave planning, indicating that planning is an interactive and ongoing process.
You have designed an improved system for a consumer product that could decrease repair cost for the consumer. Management has been impressed with your idea but has decided to wait until next year to implement it. What is the BEST thing to do?
A: Advise government officials that there is a better alternative that could save the public money
B: Wait until next year
C: Go to one of your competitors with the idea in order to save consumers cost D: Tell everyone you come in contact with that you have a better design A:B You need to wait until management approves the effort.
During project execution, one of the electrical engineers informs the project manager that the life cycle cost of the new heating and air conditioning system is higher than the life cycle cost of another heating and air conditioning system. What should the project manager do?
A: Determine if there is room in the project budget for the additional cost B: Select the product with the lower life cycle cost
C: Select the product with the best life cycle cost to earned value ratio
D: Select the product with the lowest maintenance cost to life cycle cost ratio
A: B Generally, the lower life cycle cost should be selected. The ratios in choices C and D are fictitious. Choice A is not the answer because the concept of life cycle cost looks at project costs and operation and maintenance (O & M) costs. If the overall cost is lower, there is justification for increasing the project budget and decreasing the O & M costs.
You are a public executive working on your fourth project to order new buses for a transportation route between two cities. You include a government official as a
stakeholder and plan to include meetings with him in the WBS. Your manager objects to such activities as unnecessary. The BEST response is to inform your manager that: A: the government official can negatively impact the project.
B: the government official knows the end-users better than either of us.
C: the government official is a stakeholder since the buses will be used in his city. D: the government official is a stakeholder because he will be using the buses. A:A This question tests two areas: 1) your knowledge of stakeholders; and 2) your understanding of the level of stakeholder involvement that would justify including him in meetings. The government official could be a stakeholder, but that is not a definitive reason to include him in meetings. Only choice A justifies the time necessary for such meetings.
You have just been assigned to take over a project that your management has told you is "out of control." When you asked your management what the problems were, they had no specifics, but said that the project was behind schedule, over budget and the client was dissatisfied. Which of the following should be of the MOST concern to you?
A: The project is over budget and behind schedule.
B: There is very little documentation related to the project. C: The client is very dissatisfied with the project's progress.
D: Your management is looking for rapid and visible action on this project to rectify the problems.
A: B Without adequate documentation, it is impossible to know what was agreed upon and the status of the project.
A company puts a new product into the marketplace without any reports of problems. However, your internal research indicated that there is a possibility of two serious injuries per year and would cost US $20,000,000 to fix. What should you do?
A: Make the modifications necessary in current products B: Recall all existing product
C: Wait until an injury to verify the impact
D: Obtain insurance to cover the anticipated damages
A: B Although insurance would cover the risk, it is best to recall the product and fix the problem in all instances.
You signed an agreement with your client that the integration plan and other documents they provided would remain confidential. You needed these documents to complete the project. Another company contacts you because you're an expert in the field. They ask you for samples of integration plans, which they want to include in a book they are writing. They promise you a "thank you" fee of 300 British Pounds, but they need the information today. What should you do?
A: Say no
B: Try to get permission from the customer
C: Use the material provided by the customer, but remove all company specific references
D: Create new material based on the confidential material
A: B hese professional responsibility questions are getting tough, aren't they? Think about what you should be doing. Choice B is the most ethical.
An employee approaches you and asks if he can tell you something in confidence. He advises you that he has been performing illegal activities within the company for the last year. He is feeling guilty about it and is telling you to receive advice as to what he should do. What should you do?
A: Ask for full details
B: Confirm that the activity is really illegal C: Inform your manager of the illegal activity D: Tell the employee to inform their boss A:C You must report the activities.
A seller has withdrawn from a project midway though execution and another seller is taking over. The project manager meets with the replacement seller and his crew. In this meeting, what should the project manager do FIRST?
A: Introduce team members
B: Communicate the objectives of the project C: Assert authority
D: Create a communications plan
A:A It is important that the new seller understands who is who on the project.
You are doing business in a foreign country and you are advised by your local contact that it will be necessary to make payments to certain officials in order to get the contract. Such payments are expected in the other country, but are illegal for people from your country. What should you do?
A: Have the local contact make payments
B: Refuse to make the payment and hope to get the contract solely based on your company's abilities
C: Call your government officials and ask for direction
D: Amend your price increasing the cost to reflect the payments to be made to local officials
A: B Since it is illegal for you to do it, ethically you must refuse to make the payment. A manager has been given responsibility for a project that has the support of senior management. From the beginning, you have disagreed with the manager as to how the project should proceed and what the deliverables should be. You and she have disagreed
over many issues in the past. Your department has been tasked with providing some key tasks for the project. What should you do?
A: Provide the manager with what she needs
B: Inform your manager of your concerns to get her support
C: Sit down with the manager at the beginning of the project and attempt to describe why you object to the project and discover a way to solve the problem
D: Ask to be removed from the project
A: A We assume that proper project management was followed and your opinion was considered during project initiation. Therefore, the best choice would be choice A. You need to provide the work as approved by management.
Important aspects of a product include the maintenance and on-going operations. They should:
A: be included as activities in the project WBS. B: not be viewed as part of a project.
C: be undertaken as separate projects under a mutual program. D: not be broken out as separate phases in the project life cycle.
A: B he definition of a project is temporary and unique. O&M are considered on-going activities, not temporary. Therefore they are not considered a project.
You take over a project that is in a lot of trouble. There are apparently problems with the team dynamics, scope, sponsor and timeline. The project has a CPI of 0.75 and SPI of 1.2. The FIRST step you should take is to:
A: meet with the project sponsor. B: review all the project deliverables. C: meet with the team.
D: meet with each team member individually.
A:B Look again at this question. It does not provide details of what is wrong. A project manager must understand what led to problems with team dynamics, scope, etc., in order to decide what to do and with whom to meet to resolve the problem. Only choice B deals with evaluation. If you got this one wrong, you should
understand this for two reasons. First, many project managers jump to action without evaluating first. Second, you will see other questions you get wrong for the same reason.
You are a new project manager for company B. You previously worked for company A that had an extensive project management practice. Company B has its own procedures, but you are more familiar with those from company A. You should:
A: use the practices from company A but include any forms from company B.
B: use the forms from company B and begin to instruct them on ways to upgrade their own.
D: interact with others in an ethical way by sharing the good aspects of company A's procedures.
A: B You need to follow company B's procedures while you try to influence the improvement via the change management processes.
You are a project manager working on a multimillion-dollar project. As the project has progressed, you have become friends with the general contractor. You are working on a US $100,000 change request. She has offered to let you use her boat on Lake Superior this weekend while she is away in Mexico. What should you do?
A: Accept the offer with thanks B: Decline the offer
C: Decline the offer and report it to your supervisor D: Ask your boss to approve your use of the boat
A:C Here you should decline the offer. You would also want to report the offer to your boss to avoid any indication of impropriety. Choice C is the best answer.
Over lunch with another project manager, you discuss ways to identify risks on your project. The next day the other project manager sends you risk identification software created by her company with a copyright date of 1998. What should you do?
A: Find out if using an old format would be acceptabl B: Obtain approval from your legal department
C: Share some of your templates with her to improve her company's abilities D: Send the software back
A:D You cannot adapt copyrighted software to your use without the permission of the owners.
Your company has just presented its new five-year strategic plan. You have received a new product request from a customer that is in line with the previous five-year strategic plan, but it does not meet the objectives of the new plan. The product description seems to have a valid business driver and to be a straightforward development effort. As project manager, what is the BEST course of action?
A: Do a benefit/cost analysis of the project and submit it for management approval B: Submit the product to management for review and approval before proceeding C: Inform the customer of the change in corporate direction and ask him/her to take another look at the project
D: Request a project charter from management and begin a WBS
A: B Management determines if a product meets company objectives and can authorize exceptions to projects not linked to the strategic plan.
While staffing a project in another country, the project leader from that country comes to you with a suggested team consisting of members of the project leader's family. Your FIRST course of action should be to:
A: inquire if hiring only through family lines is common practice for the project leader's country.
B: review the resumes of the individuals to see if they are qualified.
C: ask the project leader to provide additional names of people unrelated to him/her. D: use a different project leader to prevent problems later in the project.
A:A All other actions are predicated on determining if this is a common practice in the country. If it is, you would handle the situation differently than if it is not.
Your project team has been informally meeting with sellers to discuss the sellers' "best practices" relative to upcoming potential work from your company. During one of these sessions, a seller offers to give you tickets to a sporting event if you will tell him the names of other companies you have been meeting with. What is the BEST response? A: Ignore the question and refuse to meet with him again
B: Answer the question, but respectfully refuse the offe C: Ask him why he needs to know
D: Refuse to answer the question and remove the company from consideration for future work
A:D You need to protect your company's interests and limit sellers from gaining information that can be used to their advantage in subsequent negotiations. You might also wonder what other confidential information the company may try to acquire if you were to work with them.
During project closure, a stakeholder complains that the project did not increase the department's knowledge of Java programming and therefore, the project is not complete. The customer has accepted the project. The project manager determines that all stated objectives and deliverables have been met. He does not find evidence that Java
programming was an objective. A review of project correspondence shows no mention of the deliverable. The project manager should:
A: begin project closure.
B: re-plan the project to include the new objective.
C: meet with the team to discuss the issue and find a resolution. D: get the project stakeholders involved to help resolve the issue
A:A Anything not specifically included in the deliverables is excluded. The full and satisfactory delivery of project deliverables marks the end of the work and the beginning of closure.
A good friend at work tells you that when his wife was diagnosed with cancer, he stole items from work and sold them, using the money for her treatment. He since paid back the money taken in ways that kept his theft secret. Ethically, what should you do? A: Advise your friend to tell his company and do nothing
B: Report him to his manager
C: Talk with a lawyer to see if this can be justified
A:B All theft must be reported.
The stakeholders' role and when they will be involved on the project is included in the: A: staffing management plan.
B: quality plan.
C: resource histogram. D: communication plan.
A:A Most project managers never engage all the stakeholders in the project, let alone create a plan for their involvement.
A project manager is completing the WBS with the project team, but the session is hard to manage. There are 200 people in the room representing four different departments. Some of the people who will be working on the project later are talking about other things while earlier work is discussed. Which of the following BEST describes the real problem?
A: The project sponsor should be leading this kind of meeting. B: They are not following the project communication plan. C: There are too many departments involved in the project. D: The project manager is really managing a program.
A:D The project sponsor should not be in charge of the WBS creation (choice A), and there is no indication that there are problems with the charter or that there are too many departments (choice C). Because there are so many people on the team and because the work is apparently broken up into major components that have little to do with each other, this project is most likely a program (choice D).
Which of the following rules should apply to international dealings on your project? A: You have your way, I have mine.
B: Do not violate any basic fundamental human rights. C: Always apply the business practices of your own country. D: Do whatever it takes to manage the project successfully. A:B
You are a project manager for a large installation project when you realize that there are over 200 potential stakeholders on the project. Which of the following would be the BEST course of action for you to take?
A: Eliminate some stakeholders
B: Contact your manager and ask which ones are more important C: Gather the needs of all the most influential stakeholders D: Find an effective way to gather the needs of all stakeholders A:D
You are considering creating a project office (PO) at your firm and have solicited the opinions of some of the senior management in your company. The first representative recommends that the PO should manage all projects in the firm. The second believes that the PO should handle large projects budgeted over a defined dollar amount. The third thinks a PO should simply provide support to the department project managers. What should the project manager do?
A: Go with the first representative's opinion because a project office is intended to be a central repository for all project information and management of all projects
B: Go with the second representative's opinion because it is not practical for the project office to manage all projects. The most important projects should be managed by a focused group of trained project professionals
C: Get other opinions from the representatives' employees
D: Begin the process of gaining authority and formal approval for implementing all three choices
A:D The project office can be established to offer services ranging from basic support to total management of all projects.
Your company has just presented its new five-year strategic plan. You have received a new product request from a customer that is in line with the previous five-year strategic plan, but it does not meet the objectives of the new plan. The product description seems to have a valid business driver and to be a straightforward development effort. As project manager, what is the BEST course of action?
A: Do a benefit/cost analysis of the project and submit it for management approval B: Submit the product to management for review and approval before proceeding C: Inform the customer of the change in corporate direction and ask him/her to take another look at the project
D: Request a project charter from management and begin a WBS
A:B Management determine if a product meets company objectives and can authorize exceptions to projects not linked to the strategic plan.
A team member comes to you (the project manager) privately and informs you that an employee of your customer is making unwelcome advances. The team member has repeatedly requested that this person stop, but the advances continue. What is the BEST course of action?
A: Privately confront the customer employee and threaten legal action if the advances do not stop
B: Suggest that the team member avoid contact with the customer employee C: Contact the employee's manager to arrange a meeting to discuss the matter
D: Facilitate a meeting with the team member, the customer employee and yourself, to allow the two to work it out amicably
A:C Contacting the employee’s manager and arranging a meeting is the best way to handle this discreetly and effectively. This does not consist of project related activities so is not within the jurisdiction of the PM
Your company has a policy that only a certain hotel chain may be used for business travel. You discover that a more expensive hotel is offering a discount on the days you need to be in town. What should you do?
A: Ask your manager for permission to use the other hotel chain B: Contact the hotel chain to negotiate a better rate
C: Use the company's hotel chain
D: Provide justification on your expense report for using the other hotel chain A:C
Integration Management
All of the following are part of an effective change control system EXCEPT? A: Procedures
B: Standards for reports C: Meetings
D: Lessons learned
A:D A change control system consists of the processes and procedures that allow smooth evaluation and tracking of changes. Lessons learned are reviews of the processes and procedures to improve them; they are not part of the system.
You are a project manager who was just assigned to take over a project from another project manager who is leaving the company. The old project manager tells you that the project is on schedule, but only because he has constantly pushed the team to perform. What is the FIRST thing you should do as the new project manager?
A: Check risk status
B: Check cost performance
C: Determine a management strategy D: Tell the team your objectives
A:C Before you can do anything else, you have to know what YOU are going to do. Developing the management strategy will provide the framework for all the rest of the choices presented and the other activities that need to be done.
Corrective action is an input to: A: scope control.
B: project plan execution. C: integrated change control. D: project plan development.
A: B Corrective action is an output, not an input of most of the control functions (choices A and C). It cannot occur before the project plan is developed (choice D). As an input to project plan execution, it completes the feedback loop needed to ensure effective PM
The primary customer of a project has requested an application change during user testing. As project manager, how should you address this issue?
A: The primary customer of a project has requested an application change during user testing. As project manager, how should you address this issue?
B: Through a formal change request
C: Inform the project sponsor of changes to scope, cost and schedule
D: Ensure that scope change complies with all relevant contractual provisions
A: B The first step would be to formally document the requirements and then follow the project change control process.
All of following should be done by the project manager during project control EXCEPT? A: Determine that a change has occurred
B: Ensure that a change is beneficial
C: Make sure all changes are approved by management D: Manage changes as they occur
A:C Management does not need to approve all changes. That is why they hired you as the project manager.
The project charter for a project was approved for planning, and you have just been assigned as project manager. Realizing that planning is an ongoing effort throughout the project life cycle, which processes are you MOST likely to combine?
A: Scope definition and activity definition
B: Activity duration estimating and schedule development C: Resource planning and cost estimating
D: Cost estimating and cost budgeting
A:A Scope definition consists of subdividing major project deliverables (scope) into smaller, more manageable activities. Activity definition defines the activities that must take place to produce those deliverables.
There have been numerous changes on your project. All approved changes should be reflected in the:
A: There have been numerous changes on your project. All approved changes should be reflected in the:
B: change management plan. C: quality assurance plan. D: project plan.
A:D Changes via the change control system will be documented in some part of the project plan. The change management plan outlines how changes are going to be handled, but it doesn't list project changes.
The customer wants to expand the project scope after the performance measurement baseline has been established. The customer will need to follow which procedures?
A: Scope control
B: Configuration management C: Time management
D: Cost control
A: B Configuration management procedures document the physical characteristics of formal project documents and steps required to control changes to them.
A project has just begun when one of the stakeholders asks the project manager about making a change to the format of the deliverable for task Y. She wants to know how to go about submitting the change for review. The project manager should direct her to: A: the change control board.
B: the communication plan. C: the sponsor.
D: the change control plan.
A:D The change control plan should already have methods of making changes described. What do project planning documents help to establish?
A: Project charter
B: Framework for performance measurement C: Project budget
D: Personnel pay scale
A:B The planning documents establish a baseline from which to track the performance of the project.
At a critical milestone in a development project, it is determined that implementation is two months behind schedule. The project manager is also concerned about conformance to requirements in the design of the new billing system. It is suggested that an audit be performed to verify conformance of the items included in the billing system. The proposed audit will require an additional one week delay and is:
A: a luxury to be avoided at this stage.
B: a legitimate application of configuration management. C: an example of benefit/cost analysis.
D: an example of performance measurement.
A: B Configuration management includes auditing the items and system to verify conformance to requirements.
You have accepted a position at a company where you will manage a group of projects in a coordinated way. This organization specifically hired you to help it develop a more structured approach to project management. What should you do FIRST?
A: Study the history of the organization B: Study the organization's strategic plan
D: Focus on communications with your boss and other senior managers
A: C As with any project, you need to focus on the needs of the stakeholders. By
understanding their needs, you will be far ahead in developing a structured approach that fits their needs.
You are taking over a project during the planning phase and discover that six individuals have signed the project charter. Which of the following should MOST concern you? A: The charter was created during planning
B: Spending more time on configuration management C: Getting a single project sponsor
D: Determining the reporting structure
A: B This situation implies that there are six areas concerned with this project. In addition to added communications requirements, you should be concerned with competing needs and requirements impacting your efforts on configuration management.
When should the project baseline be changed? A: It should not be changed
B: Only for changes that have been approved by the change control board C: At each project team meeting
D: For all implemented changes
A: D Sometimes certain classifications of changes get automatic approval on a project and do not need a change control board's approval.
Closure includes all the of the following EXCEPT: A: determining performance measures.
B: appraisal reviews of team members.
C: documenting the degree to which each project phase was properly closed after its completion.
D: documenting the final project scope.
A:A Performance measures are determined earlier in the project so they can be used to measure progress during the project.
During the execution of a project, many changes are made to the project. What should the project manager do now?
A: Wait until all changes are known, print out a new schedule and revise the baseline
B: Make changes as needed, but maintain a schedule baseline C: Make only the changes approved by management
A:B The baseline is there for you to determine how the project is progressing. Follow your change management process and continue to track against your baseline.
As part of integrated change control, a project manager wants to involve the stakeholders. Which of the following would be the BEST way accomplish this?
A: Have the stakeholders periodically review the list of project requirements B: Invite the stakeholders to attend project status meetings
C: Send the status report to the stakeholders
D: Constantly update the stakeholders on the status of all project changes
A:A It seems like all of these are good ideas, but the first one discovers changes earlier. You have taken over a project from another manager who left the firm. This is a
functional organization and the different units are often rather hostile to each other. The project is a large one involving activities that the organization has never done before. You find that the project has what appears to be adequate documentation, including an agreed-to project charter, project plan, WBS, etc. The project is on schedule and within budget. However, the atmosphere in meetings with the project members often seems tense, and offhand comments made by participants seem to indicate a high level of dissatisfaction with the project. You review all of the major project documents with the key stakeholders and get agreement they are still accurate, but this does not seem to solve the problem. What is the MOST likely explanation of this situation?
A: There are personality conflicts among the project team members that you need to uncover and resolve.
B: The project does not have an effective executive advocate and thus is not viewed as a high priority.
C: Stakeholders have very different expectations about what the project is supposed to accomplish.
D: The organizational structure and dynamics prevent people from working together effectively.
A:C Expectations are unspoken requirements, and are often more critical to a project's stakeholders than the stated ones. Unless these expectations are identified and recorded, there is likely to be a high level of dissatisfaction with the project.
A project manager learned that corrective action was taken by a team member and was not documented. What should the project manager do next?
A: Report the violation to the functional manager
B: Clarify the reasoning behind the team member's actio C: Add the corrective action to the historical record D: Find out who caused the problem
A:C Such actions should be documented. Since such documents become part of the historical database, choice C is correct.
Your project team has identified dependencies on six related projects that are providing major deliverables to your project. Some of these projects have a very similar scope and may overlap with your deliverables. In light of this, which of the following should you be MOST concerned about?
A: Scope change control B: Scope verification C: Risk response planning D: Communications planning
A:C The biggest concern must be the risks that other projects may cause to yours. It would be better to prevent those problems in risk response planning (choice C) than to just spend effort controlling scope (choice A).
When is integration performed? A: Project planning
B: Project execution C: At key interface points
D: At the end of each project management phase
A:C When you reach key interface points in the project, you must orchestrate(to compose or arrange (music) for an orchestra) the coming together of the results.
A lessons learned is BEST completed by: A: Project manager
B: Team
C: Management D: Stakeholders
A:D The best answer is stakeholders, as their input is critical for collecting all the lessons learned on each project. Stakeholders include all the other groups.
Scope Which of the following is an output of scope planning? A: Scope management plan
B: Constraints
C: Work breakdown structure D: Scope changes
A:A The scope needs to be planned before you can create a plan for managing it. The WBS is an output of scope definition, scope changes an output of scope change control and constraints an output of initiation.
During a walk-through of a task, you discover that a team member is completing the work differently than stated in the WBS dictionary. How should you deal with this? A: Replace the team member
C: Ask the team member if the changes are necessary
D: Determine if the changes also change the scope of the work package
A: D A team member should have flexibility at the task level to make some changes as long as they are within the overall scope of the WBS dictionary.
Product verification is different than scope verification in that product verification: A: occurs during the execution phase.
B: verifies that the correct products have been used. C: obtains customer sign-off.
D: makes sure all work is completed.
A:D Scope verification focuses on customer acceptance while product verification is focused on making sure all the work is completed.
A project manager is in the process of scope verification of a deliverable with the customer. What is the MOST important thing the project manager should ensure? A: Accuracy
B: Timeliness C: Acceptance D: Completeness
A:C The key aspect of scope verification is acceptance of the deliverable.
A project manager receives a deliverable from one of the team members to provide to the customer. While looking at the deliverable, the project manager notices the document is smaller than what he expected and does not contain what he thought it should. The project manager should FIRST:
A: discuss it with the team member.
B: contact the team member's manager to get that person additional training. C: audit the development process.
D: complete product verification.
A:D Such a review compares the deliverable to the requirements. The project manager might have misunderstood and it would be best to check before talking to the team member.
Which of the following is done during scope verification? A: Verify product correctness
B: Create work breakdown structure C: Inspection
D: Performance measurement
A:C Correctness is quality control while performance measurement is a tool used in scope change control.
A team member notifies the project manager after the fact that certain project
deliverables have been attained without performing all the associated work packages in the WBS. What should the project manager do?
A: Immediately communicate the changes to all team members and stakeholders B: Change the project plan
C: Change the project performance measurement baselines D: Change the reporting process to get information sooner
A:B The project performance measurement baselines should generally change only in response to a scope or deliverable change.
A project manager on a multinational website implementation project is at a party and talks to friends who will be heavy users of this new website when the project is complete and the site is rolled out. They describe some annoying aspects of the current web site. She takes this feedback back to management, and encourages design and scope changes. Which of the following BEST describes what the project manager has done?
A: Scope containment B: Management
C: Configuration management D: Stakeholder management
A:D The project manager must identify the stakeholders, determine their needs and expectations, then manage and influence expectations to ensure project success.
Halfway through the project, the client considers cancelling the remaining work and the contract. It would be BEST to look at which of the following to determine the purpose for the project?
A: The goals, objectives and business case in the charter B: The WBS dictionary to verify that the scope is correct C: The risk response plan to evaluate alternatives
D: The chart of accounts to determine the estimate at completion
A:A The project charter documents the goals, objectives and business case or value to the client
A project manager discovers that two team members discussed what was needed to complete an activity on the project and made many scope changes. The deliverable is now completed and the team members are planning to go on to the next task. In looking at what was done, the project manager determines that the work does NOT meet the requirements of the project. What is the BEST course of action for the project manager? A: Add another task, formatted with the correct scope, to the project
B: Refuse the submittal of the task
C: Have the team begin the task again and include the incident in their performance review
A:B A submittal that does not meet the requirements should not be accepted.
During the execution phase of the project, you realize the subcontractors are working with incomplete and different scope statements. As the project manager, what should you do FIRST?
A: Check the work completed against the correct scope statements B: Review the scope of work with the stakeholders
C: Document the inconsistencies to management, calculating the cost of nonconformance D: Stop all activities until the scope of work is complete
A:B This is a question about problem solving which begins with defining the causes of the problem. Only choice B relates to defining the causes of the scope problem.
Management has provided you with a project charter, and you are in the process of creating a scope statement. You have asked the team for input to ensure that the scope statement is complete. However, the team is struggling with defining the scope. Which of the following BEST describes the problem?
A: A WBS was not completed before the scope statement was begun.
B: The team is working on the scope statement without the benefit of product analysis and stakeholder agreement on what the project will deliver.
C: The team is in the scope definition process and needs the scope statement as an input. D: The project objectives were not identified before the scope statement was begun. A:B In scope planning, the charter, product analysis and benefit/cost analysis are required before the scope statement can be completed.
A project manager is concerned about the amount of gold plating that has occurred on past projects. All the following would not be of use in controlling gold plating EXCEPT: A: a staffing management plan.
B: a project charter.
C: a work breakdown structure dictionary D: a risk management plan.
A:C If you picked project charter, remember that the charter is a high-level document. Because the WBS dictionary is much more detailed, it would provide more help with gold plating.
Where should a new project manager look to determine resource requirements? A: Resource leveling chart
B: Resource Gantt chart C: Work breakdown structure D: Project schedule
A:C Choices A and B make use of already determined resource requirements. Resources are determined based on the needs of the project and those needs are in the WBS.
What is the major aspect of scope verification?
A: It ensures the project deliverable is completed on time.
B: It makes sure the project is on track by ensuring the customer's acceptance of the deliverable.
C: It shows the deliverable meets specifications.
D: It provides a chance for differences of opinion to come to light.
A:B The key aspect of scope verification is customer acceptance of project deliverables. All of the following are outputs of scope change control EXCEPT?
A: Scope changes B: Adjusted baseline C: Corrective action D: Formal acceptance
A:D Formal acceptance is an output of scope verification.
A new project manager is planning a complex hardware installation project. The team consists of 13 people who are experts in their fields. The project manager does not want to micromanage the project. How far should he decompose the work? A: As small as possible because the work is complex
B: As large as possible because he is dealing with experts C: To 1000-hour tasks because he is dealing with experts
D: To about 80-hour tasks because it will make the work less complex
A:D he heuristic (rule of thumb) we use in project decomposition is 80 hours. It doesn't matter how experienced the team members are. You need this level of reporting to manage the project effectively.
You have been assigned to manage a portion of a larger project that is supposed to be finished within a two-week period. You have met with the leadership of the area to gather requirements, and you have a project charter, scope statement and project plan that have been approved by these individuals. You are told to meet with the actual user of the results of the project to demonstrate how the system will work. When you give the demonstration, it is clear that the user's requirements are very different from the ones you were initially given and to which both you and the client agreed. What is the BEST thing for you to do now?
A: Generate a change request for the user's requirements
B: Convene another meeting with the leadership of the area and the user to generate a revised set of requirements
C: Attempt to meet as many of the user's requirements as possible within the project's established budget and schedule
D: Complete the work as originally specified and formulate a new project to meet the user's requirements
A:A A change request is the most effective way of handling the disconnect between what users actually want and what management thinks they want.
The preparation of the scope baseline involves the: A: functional managers.
B: project team. C: all the stakeholders. D: project expeditor.
A:B After the customer's input to the SOW, the performing organization's project team is responsible for scope baseline preparation.
Your project is approximately 66% complete and has progressed according to plan. There are nine teams working on implementation and testing activities. You receive notification that two teams are falling behind relative to the others. The MOST likely reason for this is:
A: the scope of work has changed. B: a weak matrix project organization. C: unidentified risks.
D: low morale due to compensation issues.
A:B Choice B (a weak matrix project organization) is the most likely reason the two teams are falling behind because functional managers are pulling resources away to perform nonproject- related tasks.
The product manager for the product your project is developing notifies you that she has decided the product should be able to be used by an additional market. You should: A: immediately notify the project sponsor that there is a project scope change. B: notify the project change control board that the project scope will have to change. C: inform the product manager that you will review the potential impact to the project scope.
D: do nothing as this is an example of progressive elaboration.
A:C This is an example of progressive elaboration and usually implies a change in product scope, not in project scope. But it should still be investigated for the specific project.
All the following are needed to create the WBS EXCEPT? A: Historical information
B: Project charter C: Assumptions D: Scope statement
Your project no longer ties into the company's objectives. What would be the BEST thing to do?
A: Decrease the cost B: Extend the schedule C: Change the CP
D: Change the target opportunity cost
A:B No, this answer is not incorrect! Be very careful, as this simple question may
uncover many gaps in your knowledge. Did you assume that the project should no longer be done? The question says that it no longer meets objectives, implying a lower priority only, it does not say do not do the project. You still have a project charter. To deal with this situation, the best choice of those available is to increase the project schedule. Why not cut costs, as in choice A? Nothing in the question says that the project would not be needed and that the scope has changed. It really just says that the project is less
important. Choice D is a made up term. One cannot change the CPI, as in choice C; if you improve the performance of the project you would thereby change the CPI.
During execution, you find that the customer has changed the scope of work even though it was previously approved. There are no objections to the cost of the change. What should you do FIRST?
A: Follow the change control process B: Discuss the change with the customer C: Meet with the team and plan alternatives
D: Evaluate and document the risks that might result from this change
A:A In this case, all the choices are "correct." You would need to evalute the change (choice D). Depending on the change, you may need to meet with the team (choice C). There is not enough information provided about the change to do the other choices so meeting with the customer to obtain more information (choice B) is also a good choice. Since all these actions should be part of the change control process, the best anwer is choice A.
A design scope of work contains the: A: detailed project requirements. B: functional requirements. C: performance requirements. D: summary requirements.
A:A A design scope of work is used for fixed price contracts. You need detailed definition or the cost will increase because there is increased risk for the seller. All of the following are outputs of scope change control EXCEPT?
A: Change requests B: Scope changes C: Corrective action D: Lessons learned
A:A Change requests are the input not output of the change control
Your project team is spending so much time reviewing potential changes to a project that you do not have time to complete project work. Which of the following is the LEAST likely reason for this problem?
A: No change control board
B: Not enough of an effort to determine who are the stakeholders C: A poor communication management plan
D: Unclear project charter
A:C A poor communication management plan is not likely to cause the volume of changes in this instance.
Which of the following is an output of scope planning? A: Scope management plan
B: Constraints
C: Work breakdown structure D: Scope changes
A:A The scope needs to be planned before you can create a plan for managing it. The WBS is an output of scope definition, scope changes an output of scope change control and constraints an output of initiation.
If a project team is subdividing project work packages into smaller, more manageable components, they are:
A: creating a WBS. B: decomposing.
C: network diagramming. D: activity sequencing.
A:B The important words here are "project work packages." If it said "project deliverables," the answer would have been choice A.
Commuciation
If a project manager wants to report on the actual project results planned, he would use a: A: trend report.
B: forecasting report. C: status report. D: variance report.
A:D The situation describes the need to “compare”. A trend report shows performance over time, A status report is generally static (relating to a moment in time). A forecasting report looks only to the future. The only choice that compares project results is a
A major stakeholder has requested that the project manager issue reports on the amount of testing done throughout the life of the project. However testing is only a minor aspect of the quality control plan. It would be best for the project manager to:
A: issue the report as this is a major stakeholder. Their needs would have been included in the staffing management plan.
B: not issue the report. Project resources should be expended on communicating information that contributes to success.
C: request details of the information the stakeholder needs in the report. Provide that information to those handling the quality control function on the project.
D: have the stakeholder meet with the project sponsor to get the sponsor's agreement that project fund should be expended on this effort.
A:B The overriding measurement of what information to accumulate and communicate on a project is whether that information contributes to the success of the project. The requested information would take time away from the project and not provide added value.
You have just been assigned as project manager for a large manufacturing project. This one-year project is about halfway done. It involves five different sellers and twenty members of your company on the project team. You want to quickly review where the project now stands. Which of the following reports would be the MOST helpful in finding such information?
A: Task status B: Progress C: Forecast
D: Communications
A:B The key word is quickly. The progress report will summarize project status. The task status (A) is too detailed for a quick look. A forecast report (C) only looks into the future.
Which of the following is a common problem in administrative closure? A: Retaining resources to complete the project
B: Completing the quality assurance plan C: Obtaining scope verification
D: Completing a project charter A:A
Administrative closure is different than contract closeout in that:
A: administrative closure occurs at project end while contract closeout occurs during execution.
B: contract closeout involves updating employee skills in their records while administrative closure does not deal with resources.
C: administrative closure involves analyzing success while contract closeout involves the gaining of formal acceptance.
D: contract closeout includes an audit while administrative closure does not. A:D Choice C is realy saying that admistrative closure does not involve formal acceptance and contract closeout does not analyzing success. This is not true. Only contract closeout involves an audit, so the answer must be D.
A project team has members in five different locations with varying information systems. The project manager works with the project team to determine how stakeholders should be managed. These methods are detailed in which document? A: Overall project plan
B: Scope statement
C: Communications management plan D: Staffing management plan
A:D A concerted effort must be made to determine how to best use stakeholders on the project. The management of this asset is defined in the staffing management plan. The staffing management plan becomes part of the project plan.
In their pure state, project reports are a method to: A: plan communications.
B: distribute information. C: report performance. D: manage resources.
A:B Reports help distribute information, not just report on progress.
All technical work is completed on the project. Which of the following remains to be done?
A: Scope verification B: Risk response plan C: Staff management plan D: Lessons learned
A:D Scope verification (A) was done during control. The other plans (B&C) were created earlier in the project. But the lessons learned (D) needs the input of the team and can only be completed after the work is completed.
A project is not completed until? A: The work is completed
B: Formal acceptance is received C: The customer is satisfied D: Lessons learned are completed
A:B A project is not completed until administrative closure is completed and formal acceptance is received. The best choice is B.
When is the earliest time administrative closure should be completed? A: At the end of each project phase
B: At the end of the project
C: Whenever a deliverable is complete
D: Whenever a new project manager takes over a project
A:A This question tests whether you realize that project closure can occur at the end of each project phase ( if you have them) as well as at end of the project.
All of the following are part of administrative closure EXCEPT? A: Update employee skills
B: Record the reasons for termination
C: Transfer information from one phase to the next phase D: Scope verification
A:D Scope verification occurs during the control phase of the project, not at the end. A similar activity during closure is product verification.
The project team has just completed the initial project schedule and budget. The NEXT thing to do is:
A: Begin risk identification B: Begin iterations
C: Determine communications requirements D: Create a Gantt chart
A: C A Gantt chart (choice D) would have been done during the creation of the schedule so it cannot be the next thing. Iterations (choice B) cannot begin until the risks are identified, qualified, quantified and responses developed. These then create the need to revise the WBS and other parts of the project plan. Communication requirements (choice C) and quality standards are needed before risk (especially risks relating to communications and quality) can be determined (choice A).
When is it BEST to perform administrative closure? A: At the end of project planning
B: During project closure
C: At the end of each project phase
D: At the beginning of the project with verification throughout the project
A:C You want to capture data at the end of each phase of a project. If you wait till the end, you may forget importanct information.
Documents that serve as historical records for future projects are archived: A: throughout the project.
B: before the end of planning. C: before the end of execution. D: during closure.
A:D They are collected throughout the project but are only archived during closure. You are project manager leading a US $3,000,000 chemical engineering project. To date, you've been leading the other 11 people who comprise the overall project team. Lately you've noticed that you are spread too thin and the schedule is being negatively impacted. Because the project is date constrained, you convinced senior management to accept a cost variance and add a senior quality assurance analyst to the project team. This new resource will work directly with the three project team members who comprise the testing sub-team. How many more communication channels will there be on the project team? A:12
B: C: D:
A:A The fact that the analyst will be working directly with the testing sub-team does not reduce the number of communication channels.
Which of the following regarding performance reporting is correct? A: It is done during planning and execution.
B: It is done during planning and control. C: It is done during control and closure. D: It is done during execution and control.
A:C Performance reporting is a control feature and is alos done during closure to report the final performance of the project.
Inputs to communications planning include all the following EXCEPT: A: communications requirements.
B: technology available to transfer information. C: constraints.
D: description of information to be distributed.
A:D You will need to consider the communication requirements of all the stakeholders and how you can distribute the information. The description is an output of the planning process.
You are a project manager for a US $3,000,000 product development project. Your project is well into the execution phase and remains on time, on budget and on
specification. This morning, your project sponsor called to express concern about the project. Based on the schedule baseline, the project should be nearing implementation, but the sponsor does not know the current status of the project. You remind the sponsor that your team produces a detailed status report weekly and distributes it via e-mail. The sponsor indicates that e-mail is too impersonal and verbal updates are preferred. This situation suggests problems with which of the following project management processes? A: Communications planningB:
C:
D: Stakeholder management
A:A Communication planning involves identifying communication requirements and stakehoulder analysis, including identification of any communication preferences. In the situration, the information is bening communicated according to the plan, but the plan does not reflect the needs of this stakeholder.
The project manager is working to clearly describe the level of involvement expected from everyone involved in the project in order to prevent rework, conflict and
coordination problems. Which of the following BEST describes the project manager's efforts?
A: Integration management, control, communications planning B: Smoothing, control, goodwill, gold plating
C: Scope verification, quality control, execution
D: Risk assessment, scheduling, lessons learned, stakeholder management
A:A Coordination equals integration. Prenventing rework is part of control. Conflict related to communication plans.C
HR
Which motivational theory says that what motivates people is the work itself including such things as responsibility, self-actualization and professional growth?
A: Maslow B: Deming C:McGregor D:Herzberg
A: D This is the essence of Herberg/s hygiene facotrs Conflict on projects is usually caused by:
A: schedules, priorities, technical opinions and resources. B: schedules, personalities, priorities and resources.
C: schedules, personalities, priorities and technical opinions. D: schedules, cost, priorities and resources.
A:A PMP Exam prep 199 Personalities are the least common source of conflict so choices B and C are not correct. See the PMP® Exam Prep book for a discussion on the major sources of conflict.
Which of the following is the BEST method to make reward systems MOST effective? A: Pay a large salary increase to the best workers
B: Give the team a choice of rewards
C: Make the link between performance and reward clear D: Present notification of rewards within the company