PMBOK Ch. 1 - Introduction
c
All of the following are competing constraints except? a) Scope b) Budget c) Enterprise environmental factor d) Risk
c
All of the following are components of a PMO except? a) The projects may not be related b) A project management office is a management structure that standardizes the project-related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques. c) The PMO is a standard of project management processes, tools, and techniques used to manage a project toward a successful outcome d) A PMO may have the authority to act as an integral stakeholder and a key decision maker throughout the life of each project.
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EXAM TIP: A tight matrix has nothing to do with a matrix organization. It simply refers to "colocation," or locating the work spaces for the project team in the same room. Because it sounds similar to the other forms of organization, it has often been used as a 4th choice for these questions on the exam.
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EXAM TIP: The exam typically does not identify the form of organization being discussed. When it does not specify a form, assume MATRIX.
project charter
A _____ _____ is a document that describes a project's requirements and high-level schedule, assigns a project manager, and authorizes the project.
temporary, unique, progressively
A project gathers a team together to do work that's _____, creates a _____ result, and is _____ elaborated.
a
When you sit down to do risk planning for your project, you go to this type of PM office to find a good example of a risk plan that's been useful on other projects: a) Supportive b) Controlling c) Directive
a In a weak matrix, power rests with the functional manager, and the power of the project manager is comparable to that of a coordinator or expediter.
A project expediter or project coordinator is generally found in which type of organization? a. Weak matrix b. Strong matrix c. Weak functional d. Strong functional
b
All of the following are key skills needed by every project manager except? a) Negotiation b) Finance c) Team Building d) Leadership
incremental, iterative NOTE: The Data Patterns development team uses an iterative life cycle. They basically get a broad idea of what the functionality should be and then build as they go until alas they hopefully deliver what the product team envisioned.
An (incremental, iterative) life cycle delivers a complete, usable portion of the product for each iteration whereas an (incremental, iterative) life cycle would deliver a complete, fully functioning site upon delivery.
Project manager; functional manager
In a strong matrix organization, power rests with the (project manager, functional manager). In a weak matrix, power rests with the (project manager, functional manager).
plan-driven to change-driven
Project life cycles range from _____-driven to _____-driven.
True
T or F. An organization's project management information system is part of its enterprise environmental factors.
True
T or F. Historical information is considered an organizational process asset.
b
This team audits your project work at regular intervals to confirm the status reports you're giving and guide you when you run into trouble: a) Supportive b) Controlling c) Directive
b
Which of the following is NOT a type of project management office? a) Directive b) Value-driven c) Supportive d) Controlling
a
Which type of project management office provides process documents and templates for projects? a) Supportive b) Controlling c) Directive
Change
_____-driven projects use iterative, incremental, or adaptive (agile) life cycles.
c
"I get everybody on the team to understand the goals of the project so that they can get behind them." What type of interpersonal skill is this? a) Motivation b) Influencing c) Leadership d) Political and cultural awareness
d
"I help everybody on the team feel like they can rely on one another." What type of interpersonal skill is this? a) Trust building b) Coaching c) Conflict resolution d) Team building
b
"I help team members get better at doing project work." What type of interpersonal skill is this? a) Trust building b) Coaching c) Conflict resolution d) Team building
b
"I share power with other people in order to get some shared benefit." What type of interpersonal skill is this? a) Motivation b) Influencing c) Leadership d) Political and cultural awareness
a
"I try to figure out what each team member wants out of the project and then I help him or her get it." What type of interpersonal skill is this? a) Motivation b) Influencing c) Leadership d) Political and cultural awareness
d
"I work to maintain an open and inclusive environment by paying attention to the things that team members might be sensitive to." What type of interpersonal skill is this? a) Motivation b) Influencing c) Leadership d) Political and cultural awareness
a
"I'm transparent with all of the stakeholders in my project so that everyone has all of the information they need to make good decisions." What type of interpersonal skill is this? a) Trust building b) Coaching c) Conflict resolution d) Team building
c
"When arguments or disagreements happen, I try to solve them in a way that benefits the team as much as possible." What type of interpersonal skill is this? a) Trust building b) Coaching c) Conflict resolution d) Team building
Portfolio
A _____ is a group of projects or programs that are linked together by a business goal.
Program
A _____ is a group of projects that are closely linked, to the point where managing them together provides some benefit.
Project
A _____ is any work that produces a specific result and is temporary.
Charter
A _____ lists any known constraints and goals and gives the manager the authority to get the work started.
c
A company wanted to build a better reporting interface so that it could have more accurate data on year-end goals. Which one of the following does this story describe? a) portfolio b) program c) project
b
A company wanted to switch from a paper-based Human Resources group to a software-based one. It spent some time looking into the best software packages for the job, and decided to manage all of the HR functions together since it needed the same people to help with all of the work. Which one of the following does this story describe? a) portfolio b) program c) project
c
A construction company bid on several parking garage projects at the same time. It won one of the bids, and built the garage a month under schedule and $5,000 under budget. Which one of the following does this story describe? a) portfolio b) program c) project
a
A consulting company wanted to increase the amount of billable time for each consultant, so it started several company-wide programs to help consultants to get more productivity out of each year. Which one of the following does this story describe? a) portfolio b) program c) project
c
A project manager is having trouble with his project because one of his team members is not performing which is causing him to miss an important date he promised to a stakeholder. He discovers that the team member knew about the project problem, but didn't tell him because the team members are all afraid of his bad temper. Which BEST describes how the project manager can avoid the situation in the future? a) Increasing his knowledge of the PMBOK Guide b) Measuring personal performance c) Improving his personal skill d) Managing stakeholder expectations
a
A software game company wanted to build up its online presence. It started several marketing and sales initiatives, created some new games, and rewrote some old ones in order to reach more gamers online. Which one of the following does this story describe? a) portfolio b) program c) project
b
A university wanted to build admissions websites for all of its departments. It realized that all of the sites would be feeding into the same registration interface and decided to manage all of them together in order to save time. Which one of the following does this story describe? a) portfolio b) program c) project
a
All of the following are representative of project management except? a) Centralized management of one or more portfolios b) Project management is accomplished through the appropriate application and integration of the 47 logically grouped project management processes which are categorized into 5 process groups. c) Addressing the various needs, concerns, and expectations of the stakeholders. d) Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.
operation (or process)
An _____ (or _____) is work that's done in a way that's repeatable and ongoing, but is not a project.
a
An energy company is investing in a series of initiatives to look for alternative energy sources so that the company can be competitive in 10 years. The initiatives are tracked and managed together because this goal is vital to the success of the company. This is an example of: a) A portfolio b) A program c) A project d) An enterprise environmental factor
c
At the beginning of a project, a software team project manager is given a schedule with everyone's vacations on it. She realizes that because the software will be delivered to be the QA team exactly when they have overlapping vacations, there is a serious risk of quality problems, because there won't be anyone to test the software before it goes into production. What BEST describes the constraint this places on the project? a) Quality constraint b) Time constraint c) Resource constraint d) Risk constraint
Scope Time Cost Quality Resources Risk Customer Satisfaction Hint: iSTCQHcRCsat
List the 7 project constraints. Hint: iSTCQHcRCsat
Enterprise environmental factors
Since the beginning of time, PMs have had to deal with and make use of company culture and existing systems. The PMBOK Guide calls these, "_____ _____ _____." They can also be thought of as the company "baggage" that comes with the project and is outside the control of the project team.
Organizational process assets
Since the beginning of time, project managers have also been dealing with existing processes, procedures, and historical information. The PMBOK Guide calls these "_____ _____ _____."
True
T or F. Projects can be part of programs or portfoliios, but portfolios and programs cannot be part of a project.
True
T or F. The project life cycle varies on the industry, the organization, and the type of product, service, or result being developed.
True
T or F. There is only one project management process, regardless of the life cycle used.
a
Understanding the culture, policies, and procedures of the organization in which the project is being performed is MOST challenging in: a. global organizations b. manufacturing organizations c. small organizations d. agile organizations
Activities Lessons Learned WBSs Benchmarks Reports Risks and risk response plans Estimates Resources used Project management plans Correspondence
What are some examples of the organizational process asset, historical information?
Project-based organization A PBO puts in place temporary frameworks for projects that allow them to circumvent any obstacles (e.g. bureaucracy) inherent in their existing organizational structure.
What does PBO stand for? What is the function of a PBO?
b
When a project gets started, this group makes sure that the team has followed all of the initiating processes and have the right approvals to start working: a) Supportive b) Controlling c) Directive
b
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a project? a) Temporary b) Strategic c) Specific result d) Progressively elaborated
d
Which of the following is NOT a responsibility of a project manager? a) Managing stakeholder expectations b) Managing project constraints c) Gathering product requirements d) Sponsoring the project
b
Which of the following is NOT an interpersonal skill? a) Motivation b) Brainstorming c) Team Building d) Coaching
a
Which of the following is NOT true about interpersonal skills? a) Coaching means helping your team to get more exercise. b) Motivation means helping team members get what they want out of the project. c) Influencing means sharing power with people to get something done. d) Conflict management means finding positive solutions to conflicts during the project.
d
Which of the following is NOT true about portfolio management? a) The portfolio manager judges the success of the portfolio by combining the data from all of its programs and projects. b) A portfolio can contain projects and programs c) A portfolio is organized around a business goal. d) A portfolio is always a group of programs.
d
Which of the following is not a part of a project? a) The end is reached when the project's objectives have been achieved or when the project is terminated because its objectives will not or can not be met, or when the need for the project no longer exists. b) A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. The temporary nature of projects indicates a definite beginning and end. c) A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. The temporary nature of projects indicates a definite beginning and end. d) A group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually.
d
Which of the following is not a role of a project manager? a) The role of the project manager is distinct from a functional manager or operations manager. b) The role of the project manager is distinct from a functional manager or operations manager. c) Knowledge - What you know about project management d) Provides financial resources for the project.
c
Which of the following is not a strategic consideration for authorizing a project? a) Market demand b) Legal requirement c) Public demands d) Technological advance
d. An organization's PMIS is part of its enterprise environmental factors. The PMIS includes automated tools, such as scheduling software, a configuration management system, shared workspaces for file storage or distribution, work authorization software, time-tracking software, and procurement management software, plus repositories for historical information.
Which of the following is not an organizational process asset? a. Processes, procedures, and policies b. Corporate Knowledge Base c. Historical Information d. Project Management Information System
a
Which of the following is not part of Portfolio Management? a) A group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually. b) Portfolio management ensures that projects and programs are reviewed to prioritize resource allocation, and that the management of the portfolio is consistent with and aligned to organizational strategies. c) The projects or programs may not be interdependent or related. d) Portfolio management refers to the centralized management of one or more portfolios.
b
Which of the following is not part of the relationship among portfolio management, program management, project management, and organizational project management? a) Portfolio, program, and project management are aligned with or driven by organizational strategies. b) Managing the expectations of stakeholders. c) Portfolio, program, and project management differ in the way each contributes to the achievement of strategic goals. d) Project management develops and implements plans to achieve a specific scope that is driven by the objectives of the program or portfolio it is subjected to and, ultimately, to organizational strategies
b
Which of the following statements does *not* represent the purpose of the PMBOK? a) The PMBOK® Guide contains the standard for managing most projects most of the time across many types of industries. b) The PMBOK® Guide contains the standard for managing all projects all of the time across many types of industries c) It has interrelationships to other project management disciplines such as program management and portfolio management. d) This standard is limited to individual projects and the project management processes that are generally recognized as good practice.
a
Which type of project management office provides a knowledge base of common project problems and lessons learned for you to use? a) Supportive b) Controlling c) Directive
c
Which type of project management office staffs project managers and assigns PMs to projects? a) Supportive b) Controlling c) Directive
b
Which type of project management office would a PM meet with once a month to go over project docs and make sure the right process(es) is being followed? a) Supportive b) Controlling c) Directive
Charter
While there are many differences in the documents that are used in portfolio and program management, all three use a _____ to define their objectives.
a
You're managing a project to remodel a kitchen. You use earned value calculations to figure out that you're going to run $500 over budget if your project continues at the current rate. Which of the following core characteristics of a project manager are you using to find the problem? a) Knowledge b) Performance c) Personal d) None of the above
Knowledge, performance, personal skills
_____, _____, and _____ _____ are the three areas that project managers focus on to get better at their jobs.
Plan-driven
_____-driven projects have predictive life cycles (sometimes referred to as waterfall or traditional life cycles) that require scope, schedule, and cost to be determined in detail early in the life of the project.