Business Skills for Technical Professionals, Chapter 7
False
Simply capturing data actually can prevent incidents and make it possible for companies to monitor improve their services.
D
Skills that are unique to the profession that the service desk supports, such as accounting or banking skills, are called _______. a field expertise b. service knowledge c. subject matter knowledge d. industry knowledge
False
The period of time over which the benefits of an investment are received is known as the investment period.
False
The project charter serves as an agreement between the customer of the project and the supplier about the project's end product.
A
Who has ultimate authority over a project? a. project sponsor b. project owner c. project stakeholder d. project manager
True
Acceptance criteria are the conditions that must be met before the project deliverable are accepted.
False
Typically, people with strong technical skills are assigned the role of project manager, because they also have strong managerial skills.
True
Calculating ROI has many benefits, including greater credibility for IT and better alignment with the business. ROI can be complex and time-consuming calculation; therefore, it is typically reserved for larger technology investments.
A
Comparing the service desk's performance metrics and practices to those of another service desk in an effort to identify improvement opportunities is called __________. a. bench-marking b. baselining c. cost-benefit analysis d. trend analysis
D
Comparing the service desk's performance metrics and practices to those of another service desk in an effort to identify improvement opportunities is called ___________. a. phone call b. email c. chat d. walk-up
True
Cost per contact is the total cost of operating a service desk for a given time period divided by the total number of contacts received during that time period.
D
Data collected by service desk analysts is used to ____________. a. track outstanding incidents and service requests b. measure analysts' performance c. measure customer satisfaction with the company d. All of the above
True
During your presentation, if answering questions and throwing off your timing is a concern, ask your audience to please hold their questions until the end. If you do answer questions as they are asked, remember to answer the question asked and only the question asked. Resist the temptation to go off on a tangent.
False
Typically, service trends are negative
False
IT and business unification is a process aimed at ensuring that information technologies support corporate goals and objectives.
False
In its simplest form, a cost benefit analysis uses financial costs and intangible benefits.
A
If a prospective service desk candidate doesn't have service experience, which prior job experience would most likely be considered relevant? a. teaching b. accounting c. financial analysis d. general contracting
C
Justifying improvement initiatives typically involves stating the expected benefits in the form of goals or objectives and expressing those goals as what? a. benchmarks b. baselines c. metrics d. tangibles
A
Knowledge of what would be considered service industry knowledge? a. customer service and support industry b. financial practices c. engineering d. software development
C
Labor and benefits usually represent how much of a service desk's overall costs? a. 20% to 30% b. 40% to 60% c. 60% to 80% d. 70% to 90%
True
Many companies use top 10 reports to determine the types of incidents that require immediate action or warrant root cause analysis.
False
One of the best ways to design a presentation is to begin with a flowchart.
False
To minimize scope deviation, many companies have a project change control process in place for reviewing and approving scope changes.
True
Today's technical professionals are being challenged to ensure that a company's tehnology enables its employees and customers to achive their business goals.
False
Trend and root cause analysis are most effective when done separately.
True
Trend reports make it possible to determine the most common problems and also make it possible for analysts to identify anomalies, or deviations or departures from the average or the norm.
D
When an improvement project begins, you should capture a _____________, or starting point, that can be used to demonstrate the success of your improvement efforts. a. benchmark b. zero point c. metric d. baseline
D
When designing a presentation, which is correct? a. For some audiences, visual aids may be the only content you need to present. b. It is better not to anticipate questions that your audience may ask, as your answers may appear rehearsed. c. Preparing a timeline ensures that the presentation you design can be completed within the allotted time frame. d. Both B and C.
False
When making a presentation, the "one size fits all" approach applies. Your presentation should be designed so that it applies to all types of audiences; technical and non-technical, management and non-management.
D
When rehearsing your presentation, what is important to remember? a. If you are an experienced speaker, there is no need to rehearse your presentation. b. It is better to have your presentation run a little bit long than a little short. Typically you speak faster when actually presenting , so you will make up the time. c. Memorizing a presentation is often key to enabling inexperienced speakers deliver a perfect presentation. d. When rehearsing, note where you should be at the halfway point of your allotted time. That way, if you are ahead, you can add another example or two, or if you are behind, you can pick up the pace.
D
Which is a report that describes the business reasons that a change is being considered, along with its associated costs, benefits, and risks? a. an ROI report b. a cost-benefits analysis report c. a project d. a business case
D
Which is an intangible characteristic? a. customer satisfaction b. employee satisfaction c. efficiency d. Both A and B
C
Which is true about a presentation's objective? a. Objectives are typically 5-10 sentences long. b. Presentations are preferred over memos to meet your objective. c. Objectives enable you to set and manage your audience's expectations d. Both B and C.
D
Which is true about projects? a. All projects require a team. b. The project overview is a summary document that describes the project, its objectives, and how the objectives are to be achieved. c. The project stakeholder is responsible for ensuring that the project is aligned with the organization's business goals. d. One of the project manager's most important responsibilities is developing and maintaining the project plan.
A
Which would be best to show how parts relate to the whole? a. pie chart b. line chart c. bar chart d. Gantt chart
B
Which is true? a. CIOs and hiring managers do not expect technical professionals to possess business skills. b. Some business skills can be acquired by observing and inquiring about the activities that occur where you work. c. CIOs and hiring managers do not expect technical professionals to think like business people. d. All of the above.
B
Which is true? a. Root cause analysis is an important step in the incident management process. b. Until the root cause of incidents is identified and eliminated, it is likely that the customer will continue to experience incidents.
A
Which is true? a. Service desks that use trend and root cause analysis proactively are able to justify and acquire the resources they need, when they need them. b. Trend analysis is more difficult than root cause analysis, so not all companies evaluate trends. c. Service desks that use trend and root cause analysis only reactively are typically very successful at handling incidents efficiently and effectively.
D
Which may be considered a project? a. installing a new computer b. moving an office c. creating a set of new FAQs d. All of the above.
B
Which process is performed to determine why incidents are occurring so steps can be taken to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future? a. trend analysis b. root cause analysis c. symptom analysis d. cost benefit analysis
B
_______________ are the rules and standards that govern the conduct of a person or group of people. a. Moral codes b. Ethics c. Governing policies d. Mores
False
As most companies have process owners and managers, it is not important for technical professionals to be able to develop, document, or improve processes.
A
As technical professionals advance to team leader or supervisory positions, they should be able to use techniques such as ________, to compare two or more potential solutions to determine an optimum solution. a. cost benefit analyses b. return on investment calculations c. feasibility studies d. business cases
True
As technical professionals are often involved in projects such as hardware or software releases, an understanding of project management concepts makes them effective team members.
C
For large projects, you should create a _____________, which is a task-oriented breakdown of the work to be done. a. project plan b. task list c. work breakdown structure d. milestone chart
True
Gantt charts are often used to illustrate project schedules.
True
Good budgeting ensures that the money allocated for a particular project does not run out before the project is completed.
False
If you want to justify replacing a desktop computer with a laptop, you should perform a return on investment analysis.
False
The business skills required to work for a nonprofit company are different than those required for a non-profit company.
False
Typically, companies strive to place most of the emphasis on tangible, rather than intangible, goals.
