PMP Terms & Test Prep (6th Edition)

Output - Sequence Activities

1 Project schedule network diagrams 2 Project documents updates

Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)

(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A four-stage cycle for process management, attributed to Edward Deming. Plan-Do-Check-Act is also called the Deming Cycle. Plan - design or revise processes that support the IT services; Do - implement the plan and manage the processes; Check - measure the processes and IT services, compare with objectives and produce reports; Act - plan and implement changes to improve the processes.

Which of the following is not a valid instance of Risk Transference? A. Use of a Cost Reimbursable contract B. Warranties C. Fixed Price contracts D. Performance bonds

A. Use of a Cost Reimbursable contract

What is the most commonly used type of precedence relationship? A. FF B. FS C. SF D. SS

B. FS

Given multiple alternatives, the group decision method that allows the largest block in a group to decide (even if more than 50% of the members of the group do not support the decision) is called: A. Dictatorship B. Plurality C. Unanimity D. Majority

B. Plurality

You are a PMP reviewing project files to help you write a lessons learned document on a software project you are finishing. Which of the following is not a part of a project file? A. Change management documentation B. Project calendars C. Project management plan D. Project deliverables

D. Project deliverables

Which of these precedence relationships is least commonly used in Precedence Diagramming Method? A. Start to Start B. Finish to Finish C. Finish to Start D. Start to Finish

D. Start to Finish

Salience model

Describes classes of stakeholders based on assessments of their power (level of authority or ability to influence the outcomes of the project), urgency (need for immediate attention, either time-constrained or relating to the stakeholders' high stake in the outcome), and legitimacy (their involvement is appropriate)

Outputs of Estimate Activity Durations

1 Duration estimates 2 Basis of estimates 3 Project documents updates

Outputs of Develop Schedule

1 Schedule baseline 2 Project schedule 3 Schedule data 4 Project calendars 5 Change requests 6 Project management plan updates 7 Project documents updates

Outputs of Control Schedule

1 Work performance information 2 Schedule forecasts 3 Change requests 4 Project management plan updates 5 Project documents updates

Outputs of define activities

1) Activity list 2) Activity attributes 3) Milestone list

What are the 3 areas of the PMI Talent Triangle?

1. Technical Project Management 2. Leadership 3. Strategic and business management

What are the elements of a Project Scope Statement?

1.Project scope description (progressively elaborated) 2.Project deliverables 3.Acceptance criteria 4.Project exclusions

How do you calculate Float?

2 Ways: Float = Late Start (LS) - Early Start (ES) Float = Late Finish (LF) - Early Finish (EF)

A customer asks you to Setup a Booth in August of this year for an upcoming exhibition, which opens on November 1 this year. You need 4 days to setup the booth. What is the Project Float?

56 Days If now we are in August, you have 2 full months (60 Days) to Complete this Project, but you need only 4 days. Therefore, you have a Project Float of 60-4 = 56 Days.

Deliverable

A deliverable is any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that is required to be produced to complete a process, phase, or project. Deliverables are typically the outcomes of the project and can include components of the project management plan.

Project business case

A documented economic feasibility study used to establish validity of the benefits of a selected component lacking sufficient definition and that is used as a basis for the authorization of further project management activities.

Finish to Finish (FF)

A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity has finished.

Start to Finish (SF)

A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity has started.

Finish to Start (FS)

A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has finished.

Start to Start (SS)

A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has started.

What often precedes the business case?

A needs assessment

A project manager is trying to plan for a contingency reserve as part of the cost estimates for the project. Which of these would be an incorrect way to plan for contingency reserves? A. Start the project with a zero value for contingency reserve. B. Plan for contingency reserve as a fixed number. C. Plan for contingency reserve as a percentage of the estimated cost. D. Use quantitative analysis methods to arrive at the contingency reserve.

A. Start the project with a zero value for contingency reserve.

Due to a tight project schedule, a project manager did not document lessons learned all through the project. However, at the end of the project, he finally documented the lessons learned. Your comment on this would be A. This is ok. At a minimum, lessons learned should be documented at the end of the project. B. This is not ok. Lessons learned must be documented all through the project as well as at the end of the project. C. This is not ok. Lessons learned need to be documented all through the project and must not be done at the end of the project. D. This is correct. Lessons learned are intended to be documented only at the end of the project.

A. This is ok. At a minimum, lessons learned should be documented at the end of the project.

Affinity Diagram

Affinity diagrams allow large numbers of ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis.

Project Management Office (PMO)

An organizational structure that standardizes the project-related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques. The responsibilities of a PMO can range from providing project management support functions to the direct management of one or more projects.

Which process group corresponds to the "act" component of the plan-do-check-act cycle? A. Executing B. Monitoring and Controlling C. Planning D. Initiating

B. Monitoring and Controlling

The project manager develops a process improvement plan to encourage continuous process improvement during the life of the project. Which of the following is a valid tool or technique to assist the project manager to assure the success of the process improvement plan? A. Change control system B. Process analysis C. Benchmarking D. Configuration management system

B. Process analysis

You have been asked by your project manager to help them create a chart that illustrates the project resources that will be working on each work package. What would be the best type of chart to use? A. Milestone chart B. RACI chart C. Project organization chart D. WBS

B. RACI chart

You are managing a project to design microprocessor control systems. The design work was estimated to complete in 3.5 months, with seven milestones. The sixth milestone is the prototype to be handed over to manufacturing. All milestones before prototyping have been completed ahead of schedule with 6th one being delayed for 4 months as the prototype has been sent back several times, due to conflicts between departments. You are now planning to hold a meeting to review the design specifications, and handle conflicts between design and manufacturing. Who is at fault? A. The scheduler. B. The project manager. C. The manufacturer. D. The design engineer.

B. The project manager.

Stakeholder analysis is an important technique in the Identify Stakeholders process. One of the steps involved is to identify the potential impact of each stakeholder and classify them appropriately. Which of the following is not a valid model used for this purpose? A. Salience model B. Tolerance model C. Power / interest grid D. Influence / impact grid

B. Tolerance model

Several of your resources report to another manager. You need them to participate in a series of project meetings over the next two weeks. How should you handle this? A. Send meeting invitations to the project resources. B. Provide a copy of the project charter to the other manager, showing that the resources on his team have been assigned to you for your project. C. Request in advance resource participation from the other manager and the resources and communicate information about the timing and duration of the project meetings. D. Shortly before each meeting, inform the other manager that his staff is required for your project meeting.

C. Request in advance resource participation from the other manager and the resources and communicate information about the timing and duration of the project meetings.

The project manager meets with the project team to review lessons learned from previous projects. In what activity is the team involved? A. Performance management B. Scope identification C. Risk identification D. Project team status meeting

C. Risk identification

When should change control be applied?

Change control should be applied once the first version of a deliverable has been completed.

Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs)

Conditions, not under the immediate control of the team, that influence, constrain, or direct the project, program, or portfolio.

Mind Mapping

Consolidates ideas created through individual brainstorming sessions into a single map to reflect commonality and differences in understanding and to generate new ideas.

Contingency Reserves

Contingency reserves are the budget within the cost baseline that is allocated for identified risks. Contingency reserves are often viewed as the part of the budget intended to address the known unknowns that can affect a project. The contingency reserve may be a percentage of the estimated cost, a fixed number, or may be developed by using quantitative analysis methods.

An accepted deadline for a project approaches. However, the project manager realizes only 75% percent of the work has been completed. The project manager then issues a change request. What should the change request authorize? A. Additional resources using the contingency fund B. Escalation approval to use contingency funding C. Team overtime to meet schedule D. Corrective action based on causes

D. Corrective action based on causes

A manager asked to see a list of milestones in the project. This would be available as an output from the: A. Sequence Activities phase B. Define Scope phase C. Estimate Activity Durations D. Define Activities phase

D. Define Activities phase

Acquire Resources starts in which phase?

Executing

Conduct Procurements starts in which phase?

Executing

Develop Team starts in which phase?

Executing

Direct & Manage Project Work starts in which phase?

Executing

Implement Risk Responses starts in which phase?

Executing

Manage Communications starts in which phase?

Executing

Manage Project Knowledge starts in which phase?

Executing

Manage Quality starts in which phase?

Executing

Manage Stakeholder Management starts in which phase?

Executing

Manage Team starts in which phase?

Executing

True/False: The Critical Path has a Total Float

False - The Critical Path's Total Float is Always 0

Formula for Free Float

Free Float = Lowest Early Start of successors - Early Finish

Develop Project Charter starts in which phase?

Initiating Phase

Identify Stakeholders starts in which phase?

Initiating Phase

List all 10 Project Management Knowledge Areas

Integration, Scope, Schedule, Cost, Quality, Resource, Communications, Risk, Procurement, Stakeholder

Passive Acceptance

Involves no proactive action apart from periodic review of the threat to ensure that it does not change significantly.

Control Procurements starts in which phase?

M & C

Control Quality starts in which phase?

M & C

Control Resources starts in which phase?

M & C

Control Schedule starts in which phase?

M & C

Monitor Communications starts in which phase?

M & C

Monitor Risks starts in which phase?

M & C

Monitor Stakeholder Engagement starts in which phase?

M & C

List all external EEFs

Marketplace conditions, Social/Cultural influences and issues, legal restrictions, commercial databases, academic research, gov/industry standards, financial considerations, physical environmental elements.

Control Costs Starts starts in which phase?

Monitoring & Controlling

Control Scope starts in which phase?

Monitoring & Controlling

Monitor & Control Project Work starts in which phase?

Monitoring & Controlling

Perform Integrated Change Control starts in which phase?

Monitoring & Controlling

Validate Scope starts in which phase?

Monitoring & Controlling

List all internal EEFs

Organizational Culture/Structure/Governance, Geographic distribution of Facilities/Resources, Infrastructure, IT Software, Resource Availability, and Employee Availability

Collect Requirements starts in which phase?

Planning

Create WBS starts in which phase?

Planning

Define Activities starts in which phase?

Planning

Define Scope starts in which phase?

Planning

Determine Budget starts in which phase?

Planning

Develop Schedule starts in which phase?

Planning

Estimate Activity Durations starts in which phase?

Planning

Estimate Activity Resources starts in which phase?

Planning

Estimate Costs starts in which phase?

Planning

Identify Risks starts in which phase?

Planning

Perform Qualitative/Quantitative Risk Management starts in which phase?

Planning

Sequence Activities starts in which phase?

Planning

Supportive PMO

Provide a consultative role to projects by supplying templates, best practices, training access to information, and lessons learned from other projects. Degree of control provided by PMO is low

Controlling PMO

Provide support and require compliance through various means. Compliance may involve adopting project management frameworks or methodologies, using specific templates, forms and tools or conformance to governance

RACI chart

Responsible, Accountable, Consult, Inform RACI chart is a useful tool to use to ensure clear assignment of roles and responsibilities when the team consists of internal and external resources.

Directive PMO

Take control of the projects by directly managing the projects.

Who is responsible for providing recommendations and oversight to keep the project business case, project management plan, project charter, and project benefits management plan success measures in alignment with one another and with the goals and objectives of the organization?

The Project Manager

Who is accountable for the development & maintenance of the project business case document?

The Project Sponsor

Free Float

The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any successor or violating a schedule constraint. For this to happen, you need to have 2 or more activities having a common successor.

Project Benefits

The documented explanation defining the processes for creating, maximizing, and sustaining the benefits provided by a project.

What does the final Lessons Learned Register usually include?

The final lessons learned register may include information on benefits management, accuracy of the business case, project and development life cycles, risk and issue management, stakeholder engagement, and other project management processes

Needs Assessment

The needs assessment involves understanding business goals and objectives, issues, and opportunities and recommending proposals to address them. The results of the needs assessment may be summarized in the business case document.

Organizational Process Assets

The plans, processes, policies, procedures, and knowledge bases specific to and used by the performing organization. These assets influence the management of the project.

Precedence Diagramming Method

The precedence diagramming method (PDM) is a technique used for constructing a schedule model in which activities are represented by nodes and are graphically linked by one or more logical relationships to show the sequence in which the activities are to be performed. FS, FF, SS, SF

Project benefits management plan

The project benefits management plan is the document that describes how and when the benefits of the project will be delivered, and describes the mechanisms that should be in place to measure those benefits.

Formula for Total Float

Total Float = Late Start - Early Start (it is also calculated by Late Finish - Early Finish)

True/False: It is possible for a project to be successful from a scope/schedule/budget viewpoint, and to be unsuccessful from a business viewpoint.

True

Pre-Assignment

When physical or team resources for a project are determined in advance, they are considered pre-assigned.

Bottom-Up Estimating

a method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating the estimates of the lower level components of the WBS.