MG 585 Module 2

What is the Agile Manifesto?

1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools 2. Working software over comprehensive documentation 3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation 4. Responding to change over following a plan

A principal idea in Agile is that the length of daily stand-up meetings should be ___________.

15 minutes or less

milestone

A significant point or event in a project, program, or portfolio.

agile

A term used to describe a mindset of values and principles as set forth n the Agile Manifesto.

The project life cycle where project teams plan in short bursts (generally of one to four weeks), often called sprints or iterations, is referred to as _________:

Adaptive, change-driven project life cycle

functional organization

An organizational structure in which staff is grouped by areas of specialization and the project manager has limited authority to assign work and apply resources.

Projectized Organization

An organizational structure in which the project manager has full authority to assign work and apply resources.

matric organization

An organizational structure in which the project manager shares authority with the functional manager temporarily to assign work and apply resources.

Agile teams require motivated members with a higher level of commitment. Agile teams have all of the following desirable traits EXCEPT:

Argue about everything

What does the term "tailoring" mean in a project management context?

Choose a development approach and then tailor everything we do first for the organization and then for the project itself.

Once the project is underway, the project manager and team need to manage communications by doing all of the following activities EXCEPT:

Communicate thoroughly, copying all stakeholders on all e-mails and team status reports.

Which of these is NOT one of the five types of Agile meetings (often called events or ceremonies)?

Contractor meetings

Which of the following is an advantage associated with the matrix organization?

Increased knowledge transfer between projects.

Which of these is NOT an issue for the project manager regarding the use of subject matter experts (SMEs) on a project?

Infighting

Project managers are entrusted with delivering project results. As such they must possess integrity, competency, and requisite skills. Below is a list of behaviors that should be exhibited by the project manager in four of the ten knowledge areas. Which of these behaviors is associated with the quality knowledge area?

Learns customer expectations and how they relate to organizational objectives, insists project decisions be based upon facts, ensures effective work processes are used.

________ is the process of the project team communicating and working with stakeholders to satisfy their needs (and additional desires, when possible), handle issues quickly and encourage active stakeholder participation throughout.

Manage Stakeholder Engagement

Project manager, functional manager, and facilitator are all what level of traditional project management roles?

Manager-level roles

Which of these is NOT one of the desirable behaviors and temperaments for a project sponsor?

Promotes a role culture

Idea generation, idea screening, concept development, validation, and transition are all phases in what type of life cycle model?

Research and development (R&D) project life cycle

Which two project team success factors have shown the strongest correlation to successful project performance as perceived by senior managers?

Stimulating work environment and opportunity for team and individual recognition

All of the following represent common decision-making methods by contemporary project teams EXCEPT:

The steering team reviews the project data and makes the decision. not: a. The project manager or sponsor makes the decision. b. One or two team members recommend or make the decision. c. The project team votes to make the decision.

All of the following are leadership approaches that are common and effective on Agile projects EXCEPT:

Traditional leadership

A variety of organizational culture themes make project success more likely. All but one of the answers below reflect organizational culture themes that are helpful in achieving project success. Which of these is NOT one of those culture themes?

Unity of command

Which of the following is an advantage associated with managing projects in a functional organization?

Unity of command - all workers understand clearly what they need to do because only one "boss" is giving them instructions.

The stakeholder register information can be used to evaluate the interests of different stakeholder groups by performing a ________analysis to identify where there may be common areas of interest between the groups.

WIIFT (what's-in-it-for-them)

All of the following are advantages associated with managing projects in a projectized organization EXCEPT:

Workers know they will still have a job when they finish work on a project.

hybrid

a combination of two or more agile and non-agile elements, having a non-agile result

proven approach

a known-successful method to solving a problem or advancing the work performed

Which of the following statements accurately describes a communications management plan?

a living document that considers stakeholders' information desires and guides the project communications.

duration

a period of time or other measure (iteration, timebox, increment).

experimentation

a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis for testing

stakeholder vision

a statement that the product owner and stakeholders all agree on what product is being produced or what problem is being solved

Which organization structure is often used for small projects that require most of their work from a single department?

a. Functional organization

Why should a project manager show courage to create an ethical project culture where others are encouraged to make the right decisions?

a. When a spirit of mutual trust prevails and people know how to act, they will produce better ideas and partner more effectively within the team and with other stakeholders.

lean

an agile method inspired by the original Kanban inventory control system used specifically for knowledge work

The chief projects officer (CPO) ensures that the steering team does all of these EXCEPT:

approves the project charter.

According to PMI's "Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct", project managers should exhibit all of the following behaviors EXCEPT:

authority - exert economic and political power

Who is responsible for ensuring that the organization's steering team completes its tasks to identify, select, prioritize, resource, charter, and monitor & control the implementation of projects?

b. Chief projects officer (CPO)

PMBOK 7e emphasizes the need for project leaders and team members to have a high degree of emotional intelligence. Listed below are three of the four domains of emotional intelligence. Which of these is NOT one of the emotional intelligence domains?

b. Strategic business management

Which of these is NOT an advantage of a projectized organization?

c. Clear career path for professionals

Project planning teams use project life cycle models because various types of projects have differing demands. Which of the following sequences of stages is most appropriate for a life cycle model for construction projects?

c. pre-planning - design - procurement - construction - start up

Projectized organizations often adopt which of the following techniques to physically place project team members close to one another in order to improve communications and working relationships?

co-location

A project communications plan generally includes all of the following information EXCEPT:

communication cost

Project planning teams use project life cycle models because various types of projects have differing demands. Between the two extremes of a traditional, plan-driven life cycle and an Agile life cycle is a range of other, alternative life cycle approaches. Which of these is NOT an alternative life cycle approach?

construction

_______ are the small group of people who are on the project from start to finish, and who jointly, with the project manager, make many decisions and carry out many project activities.

core team members

Which of the four values in the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct is modeled by the behavior described as "make decisions and act impartially?"

d. Fairness

Which of these activities is NOT the responsibility of the steering team?

d. Select and mentor project manager, charter project

What does it mean to be a "servant leader," and how does it apply to project management?

d. The project manager removes obstacles and shields the team.

Which of the following styles of handling conflict is most appropriate whenever there is enough time, trust can be established, the issue is important to both sides and buy-in is needed?

d. collaborating / problem solving

Which of these is NOT among the common task-related sources of project conflict?

different personalities not schedule, priorities, technical approach

Project team ground rules address which of the following relationship topics?

discuss openly and protect confidentiality

Through shared values, organizational cultures can informally do all the following EXCEPT:

eliminate politics in the workplace

PMBOK 7e emphasizes the need for project leaders—and, ideally, all project team members—to have a high degree of _________. This is comprised of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness (i.e., empathy), and social skills.

emotional intelligence (EQ)

6. A communications management plan is a repository of information regarding all project stakeholders, and is often in the format of a matrix.

false

A project manager's referent power is described as enticing people to perform well so they can be assigned to something more interesting, challenging, or that furthers their career.

false

All project teams progress uniformly through the five stages of team development.

false

Contemporary project communications typically include both push methods such as blogs, and pull methods such as e-mail.

false

Hallmarks of "personal cultures" are skill-based assignments, self-motivated workers, and more deference paid to knowledge than to formal authority.

false

In a projectized organization the functional manager has complete, or very close to complete, power over the project team.

false

On an Agile project the steering team is often responsible for ensuring that the needs and wants of the various constituents in the customer organization are identified and prioritized and that project progress and decisions continually support the customer's desires.

false

One common feature of Agile projects is the "daily walk-around meeting".

false

Projectized organizations are especially effective at helping team members to maintain their discipline-specific competencies.

false

Stakeholders include users of the project results but not those affected by the project outcomes.

false

The "relationship" topics within team ground rules, such as "discuss openly and protect confidentiality" and "avoid misunderstandings," should eliminate the need for the team to address how to handle conflict.

false

The communications management plan is finalized during project planning, and should only be changed through a formal change control process.

false

The primary output of the "Identify Stakeholders" process is the project communications plan.

false

The standard approach to making decisions on a project is to clearly and consistently vest decision making authority in the sponsor and project manager.

false

While differing in details, all of the major types of project life cycle models have a series of exactly four phases with activities that need to be completed, and approvals that must be received, before the project can proceed to the next phase.

false

It is argued that project teams progress through five stages of team development. Which of the following sequences best represents this progression?

forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning

empiricism

knowledge comes from experience and decisions should be based on what is known

Some organizational culture characteristics make project success more likely. These characteristics include all of the following EXCEPT:

lack of appreciation for project management

Project team ground rules address which of the following process topics?

manage meetings

In which type of organizational structure do members of the project team have two bosses?

matrix

In a matrix organization, the project manager or project lead shares responsibility and accountability for the project with functional managers. A strong project matrix is different from a weak matrix in that:

not sure d. in a strong matrix "staff is grouped by areas of specialization and the project manager has limited authority to assign work and apply resources."

The "act" part of the PDCA cycle for project meetings is:

perform in-between meeting tasks

co-location

placing multiple resources in a single location.

The final item to be recorded on the project meeting minutes is an evaluation of both good and poor points from the meeting. An easy way to capture this information is with an evaluation called the ______:

plus-delta process

Which of these is NOT a managerial role in an Agile project?

project management/scrum office

This type of power is when a project team member works for the project manager out of respect and personal desire.

referent power not positional, coercive,conection

In Agile projects, the individual who leads in a collaborative manner by guiding teams and removing obstacles to their progress is called the:

scrum master

During which stage of team development do team members attempt to jockey for power, ask many questions and establish dubious goals?

storming

During iteration planning in an Agile project, agreement is reached regarding:

the "definition of done."

velocity

the forecasted number of story points a team can do in one iteration

production-ready

the practice of ensuring that your product or service is continuously in a state where it could be shipped at a moment's notice

In an Agile project, the scrum master is _______.

the project manager who serves and leads in a collaborative, facilitating manner

product increment

the sum of all the product backlog items completed during a sprint and the value of the increments of all previous sprints

small releases

to deliver a small working increment in a short period of time

5. The ideal time to bring team members and even a few SMEs on board is when the project charter is being written.

true

A functional organization is an organization structure in which people are grouped on the basis of specialization/function and the project manager has limited authority to assign work and apply resources.

true

A key process topic that should be part of early discussions regarding ground rules is appropriate decision making, ensuring that the project manager and core team understand who makes each type of decision and how those decisions are made.

true

A matrix organization is an organization in which the project manager or project team lead shares responsibility and accountability for the project with functional managers.

true

A project manager understands the importance of understanding personal motives of each team member, and takes the time to describe their project's purpose in ways that appeal to each individual worker's desires.

true

A project manager, using open and transparent communications, develops trust with their core team and other stakeholders.

true

A scrum master is an Agile project manager who serves and leads in a facilitating, collaborative manner, emphasizing the need to add value and remove obstacles.

true

Common purposes for project communications include status reporting and efforts to obtain approval of project outputs.

true

Conflict over ideas on how to proceed with a project can lead to more creative approaches.

true

During the initial Forming stage, where new team members are excited yet concerned that the project work might be difficult, the project manager can help the team develop team-operating methods early - when they construct the project charter.

true

Establishing a positive relationship with all key stakeholders early in the project helps to create a desire among those stakeholders to give positive support to the project, and serves as the communications foundation for the project.

true

If the project scope is hard to define early in the project and/or much change is expected, an Agile project management approach often works better.

true

In a functional organization, workers have an opportunity to interact frequently and can learn readily from each other in to keep and enhance their technical skills.

true

In a projectized organization most people are assigned to a project and report upward through the project manager.

true

Legitimacy and urgency are among the aspects that project managers should consider in prioritizing stakeholders.

true

Members of high-performing project teams will typically realize and increase their potential, solve problems, and move beyond their official role.

true

Organizational culture consists of values, social rituals, symbols, work ethics, organizational behavior, beliefs, and practices that are shared among members of the organization.

true

Project managers should purposefully plan and carry out relationship-building activities with stakeholders that lead to respect and trust.

true

Project relationship building activities include encouraging open communications and using shared learning.

true

The adoption of specific ground rules that specify acceptable behaviors by project team members can improve working relationships, effectiveness, and communication.

true

The project sponsor usually picks the project manager and core team (sometimes with the help of the project manager and/or others).

true

The value of engaging a subject matter expert early in a project should be balanced against the potentially significant cost of paying for their expertise over a longer period of time.

true

To help the team attain their goals, project managers need to understand the stages of development that project teams typically progress through.

true

When the project sponsor and manager are determining how to create the project culture, ethics should be an important consideration.

true

All of the following are among the steps of the negotiation process EXCEPT:

use "good cop / bad cop" technique

________ serve(s) as a moral compass to guide us and provide a frame of reference to set priorities and determine right and wrong.

values

continued viability

variation in output sustained over a period of measurement

Which of these is NOT one of the three methods of communication that will be documented in a communication plan?

virtual methods