PMP Set #2 of 5

You are in the process of estimating the activity durations for the various activities contained in the scope baseline for a large project being undertaken by your organization. You have an activity that will most likely take eight days to complete. It has been determined that the activity has a best case scenario of being completed in four days and a worst case scenario of taking 18 days. Which duration will you record for this activity using PERT?

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT), The formula used to calculate PERT is (O + 4M + P) / 6. In this formula, O represents the optimistic estimate, M represents the most likely estimate, and P represents the pessimistic estimate. PERT = (O + 4M + P) / 6 Inputing the values from scenario: PERT = (4 days + 4(8 days) + 18 days) / 6 PERT = (4 days + 32 days + 18 days) / 6 PERT = 54 days / 6 PERT = 9 days

You are the lead project manager at a large organization. As such, it is your responsibility to ensure that all project objectives have been met, and that the project is successful by having the deliverables accepted by the customer. When evaluating the completion of a project, against which document is project completion measured?

Project management plan The project management plan is used to measure the scope of the project to ensure project completion. The project management plan will contain information from previous project phases. Evaluating this information ensures that all of the project objectives have been met, and that all project work is complete.

Marianne is the project manager for a project. The project team has begun performing the activities outlined by the project plan during the week from Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Bob provides the funds for the project and resources are always available to Marianne. Meetings are scheduled every other Friday to meet with her staff of designers, network engineers, and software engineers. At the end of every month, Marianne and her staff meet with the project managers from her organization and their staff for a fun night out. Within which type of organization is Marianne working?

Projectized. Marianne is working within a projectized organization. In a projectized organization, the project manager is full time, has staff that reports directly to them with no functional managers, and is one of many project managers within the organization. We know that Marianne works full-time hours during the week. We also know that she has her own staff of designers, network engineers, and software engineers.Also, because she meets with other project managers and their staff and no functional managers are described, it is clear she works in a projectized organization.

You are discussing the various types of project stakeholders with one of the junior project managers in your organization. You are in the process of identifying the responsibilities of the different levels of management associated with projects. Which distinguishing factors can you tell them are inherent to a portfolio manager?

Provides governance for a group of projects, leads the project selection process, identifies a project's return on investment. An organization's portfolio is comprised of projects or programs that are grouped together to facilitate business objectives. Grouping the projects together allows the projects to be managed more effectively. Portfolio managers are responsible for high-level governance of the projects within their portfolios. They lead the project selection process for the organization by identifying the value of the project to the organization, and as such, identifying the projected return on investment.

You are performing a preliminary analysis of the identified risks in the risk register, which entails prioritizing the risks based on the probability of occurrence and impact to the project. Which process are you currently performing?

Qualitative analysis

You are a project manager for a company based in the Eastern U.S. that is currently accepting bids from paint contractors for a large-scale construction project. A friend of yours owns a paint contractor business, which is one of the bidding organizations. Your friend offers to pay for a summer vacation for your family if you could provide information on the other bidding organizations. Which action would be BEST for you to take?

Refuse the summer vacation offer from your friend.

You are creating the resource management plan for a project you are managing. Which item is the BEST source to consult when determining the human resource needs for the project?

Requirements documentation, NOT team charter. The requirements documentation outlines the resources, including types and quantities, that are required for the project. This documentation is used when creating the resource management plan.

You have been assigned as the project manager during the initiation phase of a project that is being performed for your organization. You have been asked to define the business and compliance requirements that are to be included in the initiation documentation of the project. Which statement BEST represents the criteria that you should meet when defining requirements?

Requirements need to meet customer expectations. All high-level business and compliance requirements that are included in your initiation documentation must meet customer expectations. If they do not meet customer expectations, the project may not be approved or may ultimately fail as a result.

Your organization is having a problem keeping up with the current supply demands of their customers. To help increase manufacturing capacity, your organization has approved a project whose goal is to create a more efficient order fulfillment process. The original project manager has been moved to another project, and you have inherited the project. Which action should you take FIRST?

Review the current project definition elements. When you are inheriting a project whose proposal has already gone through the initiation processes and has been accepted, it is tempting to go right into planning. the first thing that you should do is to confirm that the elements of the project definition, which will become part of the project plan, are valid. The project definition that you have inherited may not be complete or it may be hard to understand

You are the project manager for one of the top golf equipment producers in the world and you are currently overseeing the development of this year's club models. The project has gotten off to a slow start and is behind schedule. Employees have agreed to work overtime. Which technique is overtime an example of?f

Schedule crashing Crashing is a schedule compression technique that is commonly used to get a project back on schedule. It does this by having employees work overtime, or by adding resources to the project. Although crashing helps shorten the schedule duration, it typically increases costs at the same time.

You are currently defining how to manage team and physical resources. You are also working on a strategy to make sure that you have sufficient availability of resources to successfully complete your project. Which result of this process will include conflict resolution processes?

Team charter. In this scenario, you are in the Plan Resource Management process. One of the key outputs of this process is the team charter, which is used to establish your team's operating guidelines. This document includes information such as the conflict resolution process, team values, and meeting and communication guidelines.

Which statement is NOT true about the configuration management system?

The configuration management system is a sub-component of the overall change management system.

The project manager for the current project has received the pressure and temperature data for a process used to create one of the deliverables. He provides them to you. He also provides you with an approach to use for checking the quality requirements of the process and the status of the project. Before you can begin checking the quality of the process, what other piece of information do you require?

The data standards for the given process. The data standards, or quality metrics, for a given process are one of the inputs needed when managing quality. Quality metrics are specific measurement values.

You are creating a network diagram for the project schedule you are currently working on. You need to identify the amount of free float that is available for the activities. Refer to the exhibit. Exhibit: Network Diagram. A network diagram is presented. The diagram consists of a Start box that is connected to two activities: A and B. Activity A has a duration of 5 days, an ES of 1, and an EF of 5. Activity B has a duration of 2 days, an ES of 1, and an EF of 2. Activities A and B are connected to Activity C, which has a duration of 12 days, an ES of 6, and an EF of 17. Activity C is connected to two activities: D and E. Activity D has a duration of 9 days, an ES of 18, and an EF of 26. Activity E has a duration of 7 days, an ES of 18, and an EF of 24. Activities D and E are connected to a Finish box. How much free float is associated with Activity B?

The free float for Activity B is the duration it can be delayed before it delays the start for Activity C. The formula used to calculate the free float for an activity is the early start (ES) minus the early finish (EF) date of the current activity minus 1 (Free Float = ES - EF - 1) when the first day of the project begins on day 1. Therefore, the following calculation is used: Free Float = 6 - 2 - 1 Free Float = 3 Activities A and B are connected to Activity C, which has a duration of 12 days, an ES of 6, an EF of 17, an LS of 6, an LF of 17, and a free float of 0. Activity C is connected to two activities: D and E. Activity D has a duration of 9 days, an ES of 18, an EF of 26, an LS of 18, an LF of 26, and a free float of 0. Activity E has a duration of 7 days, an ES of 18, an EF of 24, an LS of 20, an LF of 26, and a free float of 2. Activities D and E are connected to a Finish box.

You are managing a landscaping project for the city. The project's purpose is to decorate the park to commemorate the city's 200th anniversary. The official flower that will be used on the project was supposed to be in high demand at the time of the event. However, a supplier in the neighboring community has been contracted, so this is no longer a risk. Which action is MOST likely to occur as a result of the supplier being contracted?

The information is added to the risk register Risk register updates include the outcomes of risk reassessments. If a risk is reassessed and is no longer deemed a risk, it is retired, and the risk register is updated to reflect this information.

The data standards, or quality metrics, for a given process are one of the inputs needed when managing quality. Quality metrics are specific measurement values. Work Package 1: SPI = 0.92, CPI = 0.95 Work Package 2: SPI = 0.85, CPI = 1.02 Work Package 3: SPI = 0.99, CPI = 0.99 Work Package 4: SPI = 0.88, CPI = 1.04 Which conclusions can be drawn from this work performance data?

The project is behind schedule and on budget If the schedule or cost performance index is below one, then the project is not performing as planned. If it is one or above, then the project is meeting or exceeding expectations. If you average the SPI for the work packages provided, the result is less than one (0.91). Therefore, you are behind schedule. However, when the CPI is averaged for the work packages provided, the result is one. Therefore, you are on budget.

A project manager is looking to assign resources for various project activities and has a number of candidates to choose from with experience with smartphone cameras. One resource, Mike, is the best person to work on designing a new front facing camera for the new smartphone. He has the most experience, the necessary skills, and experience. However, Mike's department manager is not willing to let Mike work on the design. What should the project manager do NEXT?

The project manager should setup a meeting with Mike's department manager to discuss the reasons why Mike is needed for the camera design. They should also discuss when he will be needed and how Mike's experience from the project can help his department's work in the future.

You are responsible for chartering a project for your organization and you want to assign a project manager to help define the high-level scope and perform other initiation activities. Which skill or knowledge would be LEAST desirable for a project manager at this point in the project?

Time management; While time management is an excellent skill for any project manager, its value is more desirable when executing the project. This would be one of the least desirable skills during initiation.

You are working on a construction project and have been keeping monthly earned value, actual cost, and cost performance index statistics, as listed below: January: EV = $27,000, AC = $19,000, CPI = 1.42 February: EV = $147,000, AC = $151,500, CPI = 0.97 March: EV = $101,000, AC = $106,900, CPI = 0.94 Which option represents the cumulative CPI for the end of the three months?

To calculate the cumulative cost performance index (CPI) you have to add up the earned values (EVs) and actual costs (ACs) for all months up to the point at which you need the cumulative CPI. So in this case, the cumulative EV would be $27,000 + $147,000 + $101, 000 = $275,000 and the cumulative AC would be $19,000 + $151,500 + $106,900 = $277,400. THEN use the following formula: cumulative CPI = cumulative EV / cumulative AC. This results in a cumulative CPI of $275,000 / $277,400 = 0.99.

You are in the process of classifying the people and groups whose interests should be considered during the project. What is the MAIN purpose of this activity?

To ensure that the effort used to manage stakeholder expectations is efficient. Classifying the people and groups whose interests should be considered during the project is a data representation technique. The purpose of classifying the stakeholders is to ensure that no effort is wasted towards communicating and managing stakeholder expectations.

You are a project manager working on a multi-year project for an organization. The project involves replacing an outdated networking environment that included mainframes with a new network using modern mainframe technologies. A vendor was contracted after a lengthy selection process to help design the new network and install any specialized hardware that is required. As a result, two network design experts from the vendor join the project team. These experts will assist the project team's mainframe hardware experts in designing and physically setting up the new hardware. The mainframe experts have no experience in designing networks. What will be the biggest challenge in this situation?

Transferring tacit knowledge; Tacit knowledge can be defined as skills, ideas, and experiences that people have in any specialized area. Since the mainframe experts do not have the skills and experience in designing networks, having the two network design experts transfer tacit knowledge will be the biggest challenge.

During a project, a piece of working software has been completed and tested. After, the project team members get together to discuss the effectiveness of unit testing. Although the unit testing was successful, they discuss how the process for unit testing can be improved in the future. What does this situation describe?

A retrospective Agile retrospectives are a powerful tool when used by agile teams. They are special meetings that take place at the end of a specific period of work, usually at the end of a sprint, or iteration, or at the end of a release. It gives the project team an opportunity to analyze results. For example, are we delivering the quality that we expect to be delivering within an iteration? It also helps to identify ways for improving processes.

You are working on a construction project and have been keeping monthly earned value, actual cost, and cost performance index statistics. Refer to the statistics for the existing system below: Statistics for the Existing System: Month 1: EV = $47,000, AC = $39,000, CPI = 1.20 Month 2: EV = $177,100, AC = $168,500, CPI = 1.05 Month 3: EV = $139,500, AC = $157,900, CPI = 0.88 Month 4: EV = $151,800, AC = $160,750, CPI = 0.96 The budget for the project was originally set at $1,100,000 for an eight month duration. The project sponsors are worried about the final cost. Which option represents the approximate estimate at completion for this project, assuming the remaining work to be performed is at the same cumulative cost performance index (CPI) as that incurred by the project to date?

An estimate at completion (EAC) is used to forecast how much money the project will cost to complete, based upon the current performance. This is derived using the following formula: EAC = budget at completion (BAC) / cumulative cost performance index (CPI). First, you must calculate the cumulative CPI. The proper way to calculate the cumulative CPI is by summing the earned values (EVs) and summing the actual costs (ACs) for all months up to the point at which you need the cumulative CPI. You then use the following formula:cumulative CPI = cumulative EV / cumulative AC.In this case, the cumulative CPI = $515,400 / $526,150 = 0.98. Since you now know the cumulative CPI and the budget, you can calculate the EAC: EAC = $1,100,000 / 0.98 = $1,122,000

During a project, you notice that a particular process is under performing. To address this issue, you and the members from the quality audit team complete a process improvement plan. The plan identifies what the existing process actually does and what the results should be. What should they do NEXT?

Analyze the problems with the process to be improved. Based on the information that was defined in the process improvement plan, the next step is to perform process analysis. Analyzing the problems with the process to be improved is part of performing process analysis. Without studying the problems with the current process, you will not be able to perform the activities to make a change to the process.

You have recently completed receiving formal acceptance of the deliverables from the customer. As the project manager for your company, you have another project scheduled to begin shortly, and you would like to have this project closed before the beginning of the next project. You have collected the lessons learned, and completed the final project report. Which final task still needs to be completed before you can officially close this project?

Archive project information. Archiving project information, such as lessons learned, financial information, and the final project report is required to close the project.Once archived, this historical information can be used by project managers in your organization for managing similar future projects. This information can include helpful documents such as warranties on assets purchased or services provided

You have decided to bring the stakeholders together to promote a bit of interaction and come up with as many ideas as possible about potential project risks. You are not dealing with solutions at this point. You have gathered the stakeholders in a meeting, and you are writing down ideas as the stakeholders shout them out. Which technique does this BEST describe?

Brainstorming; Brainstorming focuses on soliciting ideas in the hopes that they will generate as many ideas as possible about the issue. Brainstorming is typically used as a technique during the Identify Risks process. It has the added benefit of promoting interaction and collaboration among the stakeholders,

You are in the process of creating the project charter. You need to identify the scope for the project's final product. What is the BEST source of this information?

Business case NOT requirements documentation. The business case is an input to the Develop Project Charter process. It is a document used to provide the information required to help determine if the project investment is justified from a business standpoint. It includes the benefit analysis that was performed to justify the project. The business case also identifies the scope for the project's final product.

You have received formal acceptance of deliverables, and completed the performance reviews of the current phase of your project. A project review meeting has been scheduled to discuss the closing of the current project phase, and the beginning of the next phase. Which task still needs to be performed before the current project phase can be closed?

Collect lessons learned; Collecting the lessons learned as you complete project phases is a good project management practice.

Several stakeholders are in disagreement over the features that must be included within the new product, and what features may not be completely necessary. As the project manager for the project, you have convened a meeting to discuss some possible methods of resolving the problems. You would like the stakeholders to come up with a solution that will allow each party to come to a permanent agreement. The stakeholders come up with a solution that will involve each party giving something up. Which conflict resolution method does this BEST describe?

Conflict resolution of Compromising. Compromising occurs when disagreeing parties agree to give up something, and then agree to a solution including aspects of both parties' positions. This solution is moderately good for relationships and provides a permanent solution.

You are executing the project management plan and project work has been going on for five months. You need to respond to a risk that remained after risk planning. A team member asks you where the cost to cover the response will come from. Which response should you give?

Contingency reserves

You are a project manager working for the government's healthcare system. You have been tasked with overseeing the implementation of new computer infrastructure at the local hospital. As the project manager, you deal directly with the change requests. During which specific process does the project manager prevent unnecessary change requests from affecting the scope?

Control Scope. The Control Scope process begins as soon as the scope baseline is created. It is an ongoing process. During this process, the project manager ensures that the change requests are dealt with accordingly.

You are managing a project designed to create an environmentally friendly concept home. You need to identify the total funds required. Which method would BEST be used to achieve this?

Cost aggregation; Cost aggregation means adding together the activity cost estimates for each component in the WBS.You first aggregate the costs of activities in the work packages. From there, you aggregate work package costs to arrive at the costs of components above them in the WBS. By aggregating the cost estimates all the way up the WBS, you establish a cost estimate for the project as a whole.

For communication to be effective, certain actions must be taken by both the sender and receiver. Which actions must be performed by the receiver for communication to be successful?

Decoding, understanding; The receiver of a message must decode the information and acknowledge they understand it for communication to be successful. once a message has been encoded by the sender and transmitted to the receiver, the receiver must decode the message by converting it into a form that they can interpret.

Which of the following is a characteristic of the WBS? Work Breakdown Structure

Defines and organizes the total scope of the project. The Create WBS process subdivides project deliverables and the overall project work into smaller and more manageable components. The WBS represents the total scope of the project. Decomposing the WBS helps you further refine the project scope to the point where you have individual work packages.

You have been assigned to replace a project manager at the beginning of project execution. You are in the process of reviewing the activities completed by the previous project manager. You determine he has completed the schedule and budget. You also determine that the quality specifications were documented, and the communications management plan has been outlined. Based on what the project manager has completed during planning, what should you do NEXT?

Determine if project risks have been identified. After determining that the communications management plan has been outlined, you need to check to see if project risks have been identified and then analyzed.

You are in the process of analyzing stakeholder requirements to document project scope, milestones, and deliverables for your project charter. Which activity should you perform?

Determine what requirements and deliverables are not part of the project. Determining what is not part of your project is just as important as defining what is.So when defining scope through high-level requirements and key deliverables, it is important to document any boundaries or requirements that are outside the scope of the project. This helps to reduce ambiguity and provides a clearer picture of what the project is trying to accomplish.

You are putting the project management plan together for a large project that you are managing for your organization. Which activities will you need to focus on while creating the project management plan?

Determining resources and skill levels, defining configuration management levels, and developing technical and management details. You use expert judgment to accomplish the following: -tailor processes -develop technical and management details -determine resources and skill levels -define configuration management levels -specify documents subject to change control procedures -prioritize the work to ensure proper timing and resource allocation

A project team member notifies the project manager of an issue. A file for a 500-page training manual that he is working on using Microsoft Word contains numerous spelling and grammar issues. These issues were left from the previous author who wrote the majority of the manual. The project team member indicates that they have the time to make the corrections to the manual. What should the project manager do NEXT?

Document the defect and recommend a solution. Since the spelling and grammar issues are identified as the team member is working on the training manual, the project manager can request changes be made in the form of a defect repair.With a defect repair, you need to document the defect, the spelling and grammar issues in this case, and recommend a solution to correct them. The solution may be to have the project team member make the changes with the assistance of Microsoft Word.

You are the sole project manager for a small company, which means that you often manage several projects simultaneously. One of the projects that you are managing is nearing completion. After meeting with the customer and project sponsor to attain formal acceptance of the project deliverables, you can officially begin to close the project. You have completed several processes required for closing the project, including gathering lessons learned, updating and filing project documents, and releasing several staff members who will be assigned to tasks on other projects. Now that the company has received formal signoff and payment for the successful project, which of the following would be the most appropriate NEXT step to take as the project manager?

Ensure that project expense accounts are closed at the end of the project. You should avoid rushing through the closing processes, or you may overlook important details. It is important to ensure that project expense accounts are closed at the end of a project, because it ensures that no more spending is charged against a closed project.

You are managing a landscaping project for the city. Its purpose is to decorate the park to commemorate the city's 200th anniversary. You are currently involved in the Monitor Risks process to address a problem that resulted with the floral provider. Besides monitoring and controlling risk, which option is a secondary purpose of this process?

Ensures that project assumptions are still valid. This process assesses identified risks to see if they are still relevant, it checks to make sure risk management policies are being followed, and that the contingency plan is in line with the current assessments.

You need to assess the detailed project requirements so you can generate the project's work breakdown structure and set project baselines. You want to have an interactive discussion about the proposed product or service by consulting stakeholders that have similar perspectives. Which method would BEST achieve this?

Focus group; Focus groups provide an informal way of involving a group of stakeholders and subject matter experts. This enables you to collect requirements that are focused on a specific aspect, such as the design of a product or the technical requirements it must meet.

You are the project manager for a clothing design company. You have just gained formal authorization to initiate a project designed to create a new line of swimwear. What should you do NEXT?

Inform stakeholders of the approved project charter. This allows them to gain a common understanding of key milestones and project deliverables. The project charter is a document that defines the high-level requirements, assumptions, and constraints that were identified during the initiating phase of the project. Key deliverables, milestones, and roles and responsibilities are also documented in the project charter.

You are the project lead overseeing a project to create a new wireless media streaming device. The working model has been created and you are meeting with the project sponsors to ensure that it meets the requirements. Which tool or technique should be used?

Inspection In this scenario, the Validate Scope process is taking place. The main purpose of the inspection technique is to review the deliverable and ensure that it complies with the scope. Inspection can include various activities such as measuring, examining, and verification of the requirements.

It has been determined that the schedule baseline is no longer accurate and requires modification. Which action must be taken to modify the baseline?

Issue a change request. Change requests are an output to the Control Schedule process. A change request needs to be issued and approved before the baseline can be changed.

You are in the process of identifying stakeholders that you want support from on your project. You have already identified some stakeholders using the key stakeholder list. What additional source of information can be used to help identify stakeholders?

Issue log During this time, a limited number of documents are available.However, as the project progresses more stakeholders may be identified as additional documents become available. One such resource is the issue log. The issue log is initially created to help address project issues when directing and managing work. It contains information on who raised the issue and when. The person who raised the issue could be a previously unidentified stakeholder.

You are the project manager overseeing the development of a new console video game and are currently involved in the Monitor and Control Work process. Which option represents a task that would take part within this process?

Maintaining an information base detailing the video game through completion. An activity that takes place as part of the Monitor and Control Work process is maintaining an information base. This helps provide and track information related to the product being produced.

Project planning has completed and you are managing the execution of the project. One day, the customer meets with you to bring up an issue. You document the issue in the issue log and explain to the customer that you understand their concern and will address it next week. What are you currently engaged in with the customer?

Managing stakeholder expectations The issue log is used to document issues that arise as well as manage stakeholder expectations. This is managing the expectations that the customer has about when the issue will be resolved.

You are currently managing a landscaping project. Due to an unpredicted heat wave, grass seed has been ineffectual. As a contingency plan, a sod supplier has been sourced. In which process are you currently involved?

Monitor Risks; he Monitor Risks process involves executing a contingency plan in the event that an identified risk occurs. In this example, the heat wave made it so that the planned grass seed did not grow, and as a contingency a sod supplier was sourced. The main goals of this process are to implement risk response, track risks, monitor residual risks, identify new risks, and evaluate the effectiveness of the risk process. Since the heat wave caused the risk of the seed not sprouting to occur, the steps outlined in the contingency plan needed to be performed.

You are a project manager for a large construction company. Your company has an established contract with a local building supply company for the majority of the materials that you use on your projects. Your senior management has assigned you to a fairly aggressive project and has signed off on the project charter. Your first task is to begin identifying potential stakeholders for this project. Which activity should you perform?

Organize meetings. On large projects, it can be difficult to identify all the stakeholders by yourself. To ensure that you have a complete list, you will need to rely on the expert judgment of others. One tool that is commonly used when identifying stakeholders is meetings. Meetings typically consist of the project team, the project manager, and the affected or involved stakeholders.

You are a project manager for an electric utility company. A project has been authorized to create a new substation that will supply power to a newly developed industrial park. You have been assigned to the project, which is in the process of identifying individuals and groups that may have influence over any aspect of the project. You are finding that the list is getting quite large and may be difficult to manage. Which action should you take to help organize the list so that stakeholders receive the appropriate amount of attention from you?

Perform stakeholder analysis Not every stakeholder should be handled equally on the project, as a project manager's time is limited and will need to be used in the most efficient manner possible. This technique is used to organize stakeholders based on interests, expectations, and influence on the project.