Project Management

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The project control process starts with establishing a baseline plan that shows how the project scope will be accomplished on schedule and over budget.

False

The project manager establishes the parameters and guidelines for what needs to be done, and then tells the project team members how to get it done.

False

The project manager must be careful to create situations that cause individuals to become discouraged.

False

The project manager must foster motivation through criticism of the project team as a whole and of individual members. Criticism should be carried out as soon as possible after the action that is being criticized.

False

When evaluating work packages that have a negative cost variance, you should focus on taking corrective actions to reduce the costs of:

activities that have a large cost estimate.

An activity in a network diagram cannot start until

all of the preceding activities that are linked to it by arrows are finished.

A financial related activity that must be performed during the closing phase is assuring that

all payments have been collected from the customer.

The stakeholder register is a convenient tool to keep

all stakeholder information consolidated and up-to-date.

The process of closing the project involves various actions, including

conducting a post-project evaluation.

If resources are to be considered in planning, it is necessary to

indicate the amounts and types of resources needed to perform each activity.

The outcome of a project is a tangible end product.

True

The total project cost is often estimated during the_______ phase of the project or when the project charter or a proposal is prepared

initiating

Project prices and budgets should include________ to pay for additional costs associated with implementing response plans.

a contingency or management reserve

Throughout the performance of the project, some activities will take longer than their estimated duration, others will be done in less time than their estimated duration, and

a few may conform to the estimated duration exactly.

Track and document which risks _______ and the impact of those risks.

actually occurred

Select which of the following does not describe how the sequence of activities can be drawn to reflect the availability of a limited quantity of resources.

The activities using the limited resources are shown in a loop relationship as they are available.

The project manager needs to be sure that ________ won't casually agree to changes that may require additional person-hours.

team members

Use the 3-T approach in your presentation which includes all the following except

thank them for coming to the presentation.

All projects require a project charter to start the project.

False

Committed costs are also known as discharged or postponed costs.

False

Employees who participate in ethics training are more likely to engage in unethical behavior.

False

Find a meeting room and select visual aids as the meeting is about to start.

False

Globalization changes the dynamics of a project and adds a layer of complexity that can reduce the risks of accomplishing the project outcome.

False

Good project managers spend more time talking than listening.

False

An updated project schedule can be generated regularly that forecasts whether the project will finish ahead of or behind its required completion time.

True

Just as important as having the internal post-project meetings within the project organization is having a post-project evaluation meeting with the customer or sponsor.

True

Know your closing lines.

True

Local travel is usually not included in the project costs.

True

Negotiating with customers or subcontractors involved in global projects can be particularly challenging.

True

Projects also can be terminated by the sponsor or customer for financial situations.

True

All branches of the WBS have to be broken down to the same level.

False

Although the __________ approach may make a conflict situation livable, it does not resolve the issue.

Accommodating or Smoothing

In the __________ approach, topics that may cause hurt feelings are not discussed.

Accommodating or Smoothing

_________, to some extent, even provide features that provide team members with greater access and flexibility for using various interactive telecommunication technologies and collaboration tools such as email, internet access, document management, etc.

Cell phones

_______ implies more than just assigning tasks to specific members of the project team. It includes giving team members the responsibility to accomplish job objectives and the authority to make decisions and take actions to achieve the expected results, as well as accountability for accomplishing those results.

Delegation

Which of the following is not an example of a project?

Emptying the recycling everyday

A project has an unlimited time frame.

False

The RFP should list any customer-supplied items.

_________ contains the steps for how to mitigate the risk if it should occur during the project.

The response plan

At the beginning of the project it might not be possible to define all of the requirements, work elements, and deliverables at a detailed level.

True

In _______, one of the team members is designated as the project leader or manager.

a functional organizational structure

An assumption for a construction project could be

a grant will be secured to help fund the project.

Contractors seriously consider the bid/no-bid decision process in responding to RFPs and submit fewer proposals but attempt to have

a high win ratio.

There _____ to develop the skills necessary to be an effective project manager.

are various ways

Earliest finish time (EF) is the earliest time by which a specific activity can be completed, calculated

by adding the activity's estimated duration to the activity's earliest start time: EF = ES + Estimated Duration.

If an organization or subcontractor has performed similar projects in the past and has kept records of how long specific activities actually took, these historical data

can be used as a guide in estimating the durations of similar activities for future projects.

A bidders meeting may be held to

clarify the RFP and answer any questions from potential bidders.

Projects documents are organized and archived in the

closing phase.

During the _____, the project team or contractor should ensure that copies of appropriate project documentation are properly organized, filed, and archived so that they can be readily retrieved for future use.

closing the project phase.

The process of closing the project involves various actions, including

collecting and making final payments.

In a __________________, the customer agrees to pay the contractor for all actual costs (labor, materials, and so forth), regardless of amount, plus some agreed-upon profit.

cost reimbursement contract

Costs for resources on a project could include all the following except

costs for equipment that extends beyond the project time

The ________ for the entire project or each work package provides a baseline against which actual cost and work performance can be compared at any time during the project.

cumulative budgeted cost (CBC)

Calculate the earliest finish for Task B if its predecessor, Task A, finishes on day 3 and the duration of Task B is 2 days.

day 5

Acceptance criteria for all project deliverables must be ________________ than what is stated in the project charter or request for proposal.

described in greater detail

The first step in project selection is to

develop a set of criteria against which a project will be evaluated.

Resource leveling, or smoothing, is a method for

developing a schedule that attempts to minimize the fluctuations in requirements for resources.

If the _______ are not valued as a strength, they can lead to low morale, diminished trust, reduced productivity, greater tension, and suspicion and become a serious impediment to team performance.

differences within the project team

A project objective such as "complete the project" is too ambiguous because the customer and the contractor may have ______________of what is meant by "complete."

different views

Arrows linking the activity boxes in a network diagram show the _______ of the dependent relationship.

direction

Once a total budgeted cost has been established for each work package, the second step in the project budgeting process is to

distribute each TBC over the duration of its work package.

The win ratio approach gives

equal weight to all proposals.

The WBS establishes the framework for

further planning to create a baseline plan for performing the project work

Whenever a customer requests changes, the project manager should

have the appropriate project team members estimate the effects on the project cost and schedule.

The purpose of identifying and documenting lessons learned is to capitalize on the knowledge and experience gained on the project in order to

improve performance on future projects.

The contractor should state its understanding of the customer's need

in its own words with description of the customer's current condition.

The new employees are expected to receive $13 million of Fast Start training that will be provided by a state workforce development grant. This is an example of the ________________ in a project charter.

key assumptions

Customers and partner organizations prefer to work with people they

know and trust.

Generally, the _______ in the project that changes are identified, the _______ their effect on accomplishing the project objective.

later , greater

A project progress report might include the following except

list of activities completed by each of the project team members.

The start of noncritical activities are delayed beyond their earliest start times (but not beyond their latest start times) in order to

maintain a uniform level of required resources.

The most effective way to build a relationship is to

meet face-to-face.

Total dollar value approach gives

more weight to proposals with larger dollar amounts.

In the _______ stage of team development, a feeling of camaraderie emerges.

norming

Resource utilization charts based on each activity's earliest start time are said to be based

on an as-soon-as-possible (ASAP) schedule.

Risks_____ should be given higher priority because if the risk occurs, it would have a greater impact on the schedule than if it was associated with activities on a path that has a large positive value of total slack.

on the critical path

Proposal preparation is completed by

one or more people depending upon the requirements of the proposal.

In the _______stage of team development, the team is highly committed and eager to achieve the project objective.

performing

Resources are identified and selected in the

planning phase.

Addressing risks ________ will increase the chances of accomplishing the project objective.

proactively

The project team member also referred to as the customer representative and responsible for defining the customer requirements and product features and for ensuring that the development team delivers an end product with the required features is the

product owner.

Possible elements of a _______ include documents, author or originator or person responsible for creating the documents, required date or frequency for document completion and distribution, recipients for documents in distribution list, actions required, and comments related to each document.

project communication plan

The _______ needs to be updated as stakeholders or their information needs change, or if new people or new documents are identifie

project communication plan

The ______________ needs to provide opportunities for regular two-way communication with each _________, not just when an issue or concern is identified.

project manager, stakeholder

It is important to document the detailed requirements in the___________ in order to establish a clear understanding with the sponsor or customer.

project scope document

The ____________ may include a high-level WBS in a graphic chart format or as an indentured list of the work elements and associated deliverables.

project scope document

Successful projects should end with some type of

recognition and celebration.

The process of closing the project involves various actions, including

recognizing and evaluating Staff.

Sleeping on a contradictory issue and providing a thoughtful answer the next day

reinforces your thoughtfulness and builds a positive perception of you by the customer.

A ______________ plan must be developed that identifies and assesses potential risks, determines the likelihood of occurrence and potential impacts of risks, and delineates responses for dealing with risks

risk management

It is advisable to build relationship with _________________ in a client or partner organization.

several key people

For each deliverable, the quantitative measures or references to __________________ that will be used should be stated, as the criteria will be the basis for the customer agreeing that a deliverable is acceptable.

specifications, standards, and codes

Regular and open communication, trust, respect, open-mindedness, and a positive win-win attitude are keys to successful

stakeholder engagement.

The project acceptance criteria should

state the quantitative criteria expected for the products to be accomplished.

The second stage of team development is known as

storming

Total slack is calculated for each of the activities by finding the difference between

the EF of the activity and the LF of the activity or the difference between the ES and LS of the activity.

Corrective action must be take for a project when

the actual progress is less than the planned progress.

A potential conflict on projects is Work Scope where the conflict can arise from differences of opinion on all the following except

the cost of the work to be done.

As the project progresses, the actual finish times (AFs) of completed activities will determine

the earliest start and earliest finish times for the remaining activities in the network diagram, as well as the total slack.

A resource requirements plan illustrates

the expected utilization of resources by time period during the time span of the project.

With respect to the project schedule, changes can result in any of the following except

the initial planning and sequencing of activities.

A project charter summarizes

the key conditions and parameters of the project.

Resource leveling, or smoothing, levels the resources so that

they are applied as uniformly as possible without extending the project schedule beyond the required completion time.

During project closing, the project team or contractor should ensure that copies of appropriate project documentation are properly organized, filed, and archived so that

they can be readily retrieved for future use.

Determining the earned value involves collecting data on the percent complete for each work package and then converting this percentage to a dollar amount by multiplying the _______ of the work package by the percent complete.

total budgeted cost (TBC)

The project manager coordinates the activities of the _________ to ensure that they perform the right tasks at the proper time, as a cohesive group.

various team members

As a part of the Scrum technique in agile project management, a sprint is usually one to four

weeks.

Proposals are often organized

with technical, management, and cost sections that may not be labeled.

The major work elements defined in the statement of work section along with the detailed list of deliverables provide the basis for creating a

work breakdown structure

A clear description of the acceptance criteria with quantitative measures will help to avoid understanding.

False

A contract might be for a fixed price; the customer will pay the contractor whatever the actual costs are for the materials and the time.

False

A contractor should bid on RFPs where there is little or no competition and avoid ones where they might have a competitor bid on the project.

False

A contractor should only respond to RFPs if they have the required resources already on their staff.

False

A disadvantage of a functional organizational structure is that teamwork is emphasized, with much cross fertilization of ideas among functions.

False

A network diagram is a hierarchical decomposition of the project scope into work elements to be executed to produce the project deliverables.

False

A project is completed through a number of repetitive tasks.

False

A project is initiated when a need is identified by a contractor.

False

A project scope statement defines the sequence of how the activities will get done.

False

A request for proposals is used to initiate all projects by communicating that a project is needed.

False

Activities define more generally than work packages how the work will get done.

False

Ask all participants to leave their cell phones, iPods, and other electronic communication devices on because they are not a distraction.

False

Changes requested early in the project always have less impact on schedule and budget than if they are requested later in the project.

False

Inclusion of an organization chart or assigned responsibility is helpful for the customer to evaluate the expertise of the project staff.

False

It is unfair to receive a noncompetitive contract with a customer that was thinking about developing an RFP.

False

Leadership is getting things done through others; the project manager achieves results by not trusting the project team.

False

Making sure the visual aids are readable from the most front seat in the room where the presentation will be given because the most important people will sit in the front.

False

Other participants are allowed to make comments, supportive or judgmental.

False

Projects also can be terminated by the sponsor or customer due to satisfaction with the project progress.

False

Quality expectations are only defined at the start of the project.

False

Resource-limited scheduling will not extend the project completion time if necessary in order to keep within the resource limits.

False

Risk identification is determining which risks may adversely affect the development of the project work breakdown structure and what the impact of each risk might be if it occurs.

False

Team members need to be careful to jump to the first solution suggested or the most obvious solution.

False

The estimated duration should be aggressive, yet unrealistic.

False

The open-ended question post-project evaluation meeting should contain an opportunity to talk about possible additional projects and assume permission to use the customer as a reference with potential customers.

False

The percent complete estimate for a work package is subjective and requires an underestimated guess compared to the scope of the work package.

False

The post-project evaluation meeting with the project sponsor should contain an opportunity to ask closed-ended questions about possible additional projects and obtain permission to use the customer as a reference with potential customers.

False

The project manager should schedule the meeting immediately following the delivery of the final report rather than waiting for a time when the customer is in a position to really determine whether the project met expectations and achieved the anticipated benefits.

False

The project manager, and not each member of the project team, needs to help create and foster a positive and effective project environment.

False

The project team should not change the estimated impacts of previously identified risks as the project progresses.

False

The project team should wait until the end of the project to capture and document lessons learned.

False

The purpose of preparing a request for proposal is to state, comprehensively and in detail, what is required, from the contractor's point of view, to address the identified need.

False

The risks should be those that are somewhat likely to occur and/or can have a significant positive impact on accomplishing the project objective.

False

The system should organize information so that it has complex commands to retrieve information by category or subject of lesson learned or by key words.

False

The work breakdown structure is the same thing as the project organization chart or structure.

False

Waiting for favorable events to occur and then reacting to them can result in panic and costly responses.

False

Why are activities drawn in a serial relationship in a network diagram?

From a technical standpoint, the activities must be performed in that sequence.

Gain experience is one of the ways to develop the skills necessary to be an effective project manager. Which of the following statements is false?

Limit project experiences to only those tasks that you can do well.

_________ includes taking action to prevent or minimize the likelihood of occurrence or the impact of such unfavorable events.

Managing risk

A consistent time base, such as hours or days or weeks, should be used for all the estimated durations of activities in a network diagram.

True

A contractor that is entering a similar but new field should plan a smaller profit to increase chances of winning the project.

True

A desired profit is added after calculating all the direct and indirect costs for a project.

True

A disadvantage of a functional organizational structure is that there is a lack of customer focus.

True

A disadvantage of a matrix organizational structure is that conflicts will arise between project managers and functional managers regarding priorities.

True

A disadvantage of a matrix organizational structure is that members of a project team in a matrix organization structure have a dual reporting relationship, which can cause anxiety and conflict over work priorities.

True

A disadvantage of an autonomous project organizational structure is that at the end of a project, people may be laid off if there is not a new project to which they can be assigned leading to team members experiencing high anxiety about reassignment.

True

A disadvantage of an autonomous project organizational structure is that individuals are dedicated to working on one project.

True

A disadvantage of an autonomous project organizational structure is that it can be cost-inefficient because of underutilization of resources.

True

A disadvantage of an autonomous project organizational structure is that project team members do not have a functional "home."

True

A disadvantage of an autonomous project organizational structure is that there is a potential for duplication of activities on several concurrent projects.

True

A disadvantage of an autonomous project organizational structure is that when things are slow, individuals have a tendency to stretch out their work to fill up the time available or if they do not have any tasks to do for temporary periods, their unapplied time is still a cost to the company.

True

A project has a sponsor or customer.

True

During the project life cycle, project managers encounter many occasions to employ their negotiating skills in interactions with the sponsor or customer, the project organization's management, subcontractors, vendors, and end users of the project's end product.The subject of negotiations can be contract terms and conditions, obtaining specific resources to staff the project, subcontractor prices, vendor delivery schedules, payment for damages, the cost or schedule impact of changes, customer approval of designs, the need for rework if quality standards were not met, the best approach to resolve a technical performance issue, interpretation of acceptance criteria or test results, approaches to get the project back on track if it is behind schedule and/or over budget, and so forth.

True

Establishing and building trust is key to developing effective and successful relationships with clients and partners.

True

Expect a bit of nervousness; all speakers experience it.

True

Expected benefits and outcomes may be included in the project objective.

True

Good pre-RFP marketing helps a contractor to know if funds will be available for a project in an RFP.

True

Having the contractor or project team review the statement of work with the sponsor or customer provides an opportunity to make sure everything that the customer expects is included.

True

Historical data can be used as a guide on the current project.

True

Historical information from past projects is another source that can be helpful in identifying possible risks.

True

If the total slack is zero, the activities on the path do not need to be accelerated but cannot be delayed.

True

If wrongdoing is reported, the project organization must thoroughly investigate the allegations for the facts versus hearsay to determine if any disciplinary action should be taken.

True

In many cases, there will be a tradeoff—reducing cost variances will involve a reduction in project scope or a delay in the project schedule.

True

In many projects, large dollar amounts are expended for materials or services (subcontractors, consultants) that are used over a period of time longer than one cost reporting period.

True

It is good practice to have the person who will be responsible for the costs associated with the work make the cost estimates.

True

It is illegal for the contractor to overstate the hours or costs.

True

It is important to keep in mind that reports must be written to address what is of interest to the readers, not what is of interest to the person writing the report.

True

One way of encouraging project team development is to talk about the importance of self-development at project team meetings.

True

One way to determine which activities make up the critical path is to find which ones have the least slack.

True

Results orientation is a characteristic associated with effective project teams.

True

Some changes are trivial; others are major, affecting the project work scope, cost, and schedule.

True

Some level of risk planning should be done during the initiating phase of the project life cycle to make sure that a contractor understands the risks involved with bidding on a proposed project.

True

Team members should not exclude or have lower expectations of certain diverse groups.

True

The RFP should indicate the due date by which the customer expects potential contractors to submit proposals.

True

The amount of slack should determine the priority with which these concentrated efforts are applied.

True

The contractor may not want to commit to completing the project by a specific date until the customer has approved the contract.

True

The customer can terminate the contract according to requirements in the contract.

True

The inclusion of specifications or standards will help assure quality of the deliverable.

True

The key to effective cost control is to analyze cost performance on a regular and timely basis.

True

The key to managing cash flow is to ensure that cash comes in faster than it goes out.

True

The latest finish time for a specific activity must be the same as or earlier than the earliest of all the latest start times of all the activities emerging directly from that specific activity.

True

The project budget includes costs for each activity plus other project costs such as administrative costs and overhead costs.

True

The project manager needs to set the tone for encouraging open and timely discussion of risks among the project team.

True

The project manager should turn off his or her cell phone and other distractions.

True

The project objective is usually defined in terms of end product, schedule, and budget.

True

The project objective requires completing the project work scope on time and within budget.

True

The project scope document should include a list of deliverables and associated acceptance criteria.

True

The project team can progressively elaborate and identify new risks as more information is known or becomes clear.

True

The quality plan may also state that suppliers must provide documentation certifying that the materials they supply meet certain required specifications.

True

The schedule can include times for major tasks and key milestones to show sequence and interdependencies of the tasks.

True

The worst scenario from the contractor's point of view is to have the customer make only one payment at the end of the project.

True

To control the project, the project manager must track actual progress and compare it with planned progress.

True

To revise the project plan to implement the best solution to a problem, specific tasks need to be identified, along with their estimated costs and durations.

True

When communicating verbally, a person must be careful not to use remarks, words, or phrases that can be construed to be sexist, racist, prejudicial, or offensive.

True

With knowledge of potential risks, the contractor can include contingency or management reserve amounts in the bid price.

True

With the quality plan in place including procedures for the application of appropriate quality tools and techniques, quality can then be monitored and controlled.

True

________, where each participant is connected using their own personal computer and webcam, is another tool used to conduct live meetings over the Internet.

Web videoconferencing

In _______, the objective is to maximize the number of functional person-hours applied to work on projects and minimize the unapplied time.