PMP Final Study Guide
12. The team is working on the development of a new product that is designed to appeal to individuals of all ages throughout the world. Because of the diversity of the stakeholder base, the team has decided to group stakeholders by category, in order to plan effective stakeholder engagement strategies. Which of the following tools will be most beneficial in this effort? A. Resource breakdown structure, prioritization, multicriteria decision analysis B. Salience model, traceability matrix, prioritization C. Power/ interest grid, stakeholder cube, salience model D. Benefits management plan, focus group, power/ interest grid
12. Answer C Explanation : The power/interest grid, stakeholder cube, and salience model are ways of representing data about stakeholder groups, enabling the team to plan how to engage and manage all of the stakeholders effectively.
13. The project manager is trying to recall a stakeholder 's preferred communication method. Where can she find that information? A. RACI chart B. Stakeholder engagement assessment matrix C. Stakeholder engagement plan D. Resource management plan
13. Answer C Explanation : Stakeholders' individual communication requirements are documented in the stakeholder engagement plan.
You work in a matrix organization when a team member comes to you to admit he is having trouble with his activity. Although not yet in serious trouble, the team member admits he is uncertain of how to perform part of the work on the activity. He suggests a training class available next week. What should you do
A. Get money from the project budget
The requirements of many stakeholders were not approved for inclusion in your project. Therefore, you had a difficult time receiving formal approval of the project management plan. The stakeholders argued and held up the project while they held meeting after meeting about their requirements. The project was finally approved and work began six months ago. All of the following would be good preventive actions to implement EXCEPT:
A. Hold meetings with the stakeholders to go over the work that will not be added to the project.
Which of the following is a benefit of an analogous project estimate?
A. It gives the project team an understanding of management's expectations.
A project manager has finished the project. He knows the project scope has been completed and is within cost and time objectives set by management. Management, however, says that the project is a failure, because the original schedule was for 27 weeks and the project was completed in 33 weeks. If the project baseline was 33 weeks, the project is a success because:
A. It was completed with the schedule baseline.
You have a project to create 450 tons of road rock for a highway resurfacing materials depot. It is your first job for this company and you want to show off your skills. The average piece of road rock should weigh less that 11 kg (1/4 lb.) and be no longer than 50 mm. (2 inches). You demand from your foreman and team a two sigma standard for the size and weight of the road rock. This means that the device they use to sift the rock must get at least ________ correct.
A. Nine thousand five hundred and forty five rocks out of ten thousand.
Assuming that the ends of a range of estimates are +/- 3 sigma from the mean, which of the following range estimates involves the LEASE risk?
A. Optimistic = 26 days, most likely = 30 days, pessimistic = 33 days
A team member from research and development tells you that her work is too creative to provide you with a fixed single estimate for the activity. You both decide to use the average labor hours per installation from past projects to predict the future. This is an example of which of the following?
A. Parametric estimating
A work breakdown structure is an input to all of the following processes EXCEPT:
A. Perform Quality Assurance
To be successful, the organization should be committed to address risk management:
A. Proactively and consistently throughout the project.
Total float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the :
A. Project completion date
The new software installation project is in progress. The project manager is working with the quality assurance department to improve stakeholders' confidence that the project will satisfy the quality standards. Which of the following MUST they have before they start this process?
A. Quality control measurements
While testing the strength of concrete poured on your project, you discover that over 35 percent of the concrete does not meet your company's quality standards. You feel certain the concrete will function as it is, and you don't think the concrete needs to meet the quality level specified. What should you do?
A. Report the lesser quality level and try to find a solution
The project has been going well, except for the number of changes being made. The project is being installed into seven different departments within the company and will greatly improve departmental performance when operational. The team has selected the appropriate processes for use on the project. The project manager is a technical expert as well as having been trained in communications and managing people. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the project problems?
A. Some stakeholders were not identified.
Which of the following BEST describes the relationship between standard deviation and risk?
A. Standard deviation tells you how uncertain the estimate is.
A project manager for the seller is told by her management that the project should do whatever possible to be awarded incentive money. The primary objective of incentive clauses in a contract is to:
A. Synchronize objectives
A resource assigned to your project contacts you, trying to get off the team. He knows an important project in his department is going to be approved and will take place at the same time as yours. He wants to work on the other project. Under the circumstances, what is the BEST thing to do?
A. Talk to the functional manager about releasing him from the team.
A project manager may use ______ to make sure the team members clearly know what work is included in each of their work packages.
A. The WBS dictionary
Estimate at completion (EAC) is a periodic evaluation of
A. The anticipated total cost at project completion.
Which of the following is included in a project charter?
A. The business case for the project
Which of the following is CORRECT? The critical path helps prove how long the project will take. B. The network diagram will change every time the end date changes. C. There can only be one critical path. D. A project can never have negative float.
A. The critical path helps prove how long the project will take.
Quality is:
A. The degree to which the project meets requirements
The difference between the cost baseline and the cost budget can be BEST described as:
A. The management reserves
You have just completed the initiating processes of a small project and are moving into project planning when a project stakeholder asks you for the project's budget and cost baseline. What should you tell her?
A. The project budget and baseline will not be finalized and accepted until the planning processes are completed.
Two poject managers have just realized that they are in a weak matrix organization and that their power as project managers is quite limited. One figures out that he is really a project expediter, and the other realizes he is really a project coordinator. How is a project expediter different from a project coordinator?
A. The project expediter cannot make decisions.
All of the following statements about work breakdown structures are true EXCEPT:
A. They are created by the project manager.
What is the BEST method of estimating the time for an activity that has not previously been done by your company?
A. Three-point estimating
To manage a project effectively, work should be broken down into small pieces. Which of the following does NOT describe how far to decompose the work?
A. Until it can be done by one person
A project manager is quantifying risk for her project. Several of her experts are offsite, but wish to be included. How can this be done?
A. Use the Delphi technique
Analogous estimating:
A. Uses top-down estimating techniques.
If a project manager wants to report on the actual project results vs. planned results, she should use a:
A. Variance report.
A detailed project schedule can be created only after creating the:
A. Work breakdown structure.
You have just joined the project management office after five years of working on projects. One of the things you want to introduce to your company is the value of creating and utilizing work breakdown structures. Some of the project managers are angry that you are asking them to do "extra work". Which of the following would be the BEST thing you could tell the project managers to convince them to use work breakdown structures?
A. Work breakdown structures will prevent work from slipping through the cracks.
A project team budgeted US $3,000 for the work performed and has spent US $4,000 to date. If they budgeted US $5,000 for the work scheduled, what is the cost variance (CV)?
D. ($1,000) negative
A project manager meets with a resource manager and asks to move resources from project A to project B. What is the MOST likely reason for this request?
D. A problem has caused delay beyond the project manager's ability to control
Which of the following statements BEST describes the rule that has been ignored when a project which was originally scheduled for completion in six months has been ongoing for two years?
D. A project is something that is temporary.
A project has seven activities: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Activities A, B, and D can start anytime. Activity A takes 3 weeks, Activity B takes 5 weeks, and Activity D takes 11 weeks. Activities A and B bust be completed before Activity C can start. Activity C requires 6 weeks to complete. Activities B, C, and D must be completed before Activity E can start. Activity E requires 2 weeks. Activity F takes 4 weeks and can start as soon as Activity C is completed. Activity E must be completed before Activity G starts. Activity G requires 3 weeks. Activities F and G must be completed for the project ot be completed. Which activities have float available?
D. Activity A has two weeks float, activity F has one week.
Early in the life of your project, you are having a discussion with the sponsor about what estimating techniques should be used. You want a form of expert judgement, but the sponsor argues for analogous estimating. It would be BEST to:
D. Agree to analogous estimating, as it is a form of expert judgement.
In dealing with conflicts, there is a higher likelihood of conflict resolution if:
D. All of the above The confrontation is directed to the real problem and away from interpersonal dynamics B. Everyone involved wins something C. Solutions are sought at the lowest level possible
A project has faced major difficulties in the quality of its deliverables. Management now states that quality is the most important project constraint. If another problem with quality were to occur, what would be the BEST thing for the project manager to do?
D. Allow cost to increase by fixing the root cause of the problem
The project charter and scope statement are documents designed to tell ____________ exactly what the project entails.
D. Anyone associated with the project
A team member is not performing well on the project becuse she is inexperienced in system development work. There is no one else available who is better qualified to do the work. What is the BEST solution for the project manager?
D. Arrange for the team member to get training.
Which estimating method tends to be MOST costly for creating a project cost estimate?
D. Bottom-up
All are outputs of Report Performance except:
D. Budget Forecasts
Cost performance measurement is BEST done through which of the following?
D. Calculating earned value and using the indexes and other calculations to report past performance and forecast future performance.
A project manager believes that modifying the scope of the project may provide added value for the customer. The project manager should:
D. Call a meeting of the change control board
A new project manager is being mentored by a more experienced PMP-certified project manager. The new project manager is having difficulty finding enough time to manage the project because the product and project scope are being progressively elaborated. The PMP-certified project manager advises that the basic tools for project management, such as a work breakdown structure can be used during project executing to assist the project manager. For which of the following can a work breakdown structure be used?
D. Communicating with the customer
The first phase of your project has come to an end. What should you ensure is done BEFORE beginning the next phase?
D. Confirm that the phase has reached its objectives, and have its deliverables formally accepted.
What is the MOST correct statement about conflict?
D. Conflict can be beneficial.
The sponsor and the project manager are discussing what type of contract the project manager plans to use on the project. The sponsor points out that the performing organization spent a lot of money hiring a design team to come up with the design. The project manager is concerned that the risk for the buyer be as small as possible. An advantage of a fixed price contract for the buyer is:
D. Cost risk is lower
The project has been challenging to manage. Everyone has been on edge due to pressure to complete the project on time. Unfortunately, the tension has grown to the point where team meetings have become shouting matches and little work is accomplished during the meetings. Meanwhile, the sponsor has expressed interest in attending future team meetins in order to better understand how the project is going and the issures involved in completing the project, and the customer has started discussions about adding scope to the project. In this situation, it would be BEST for the project manager to:
D. Create new ground rules for the meetings and introduce them to the team.
All of the following result from quality audits EXCEPT:
D. Creation of quality metrics
What schedule network analysis technique uses buffers?
D. Critical chain
Which of the following would be the MOST appropriate thing to do during the initiating process group?
D. Get familiar with the company culture and structure as it relates to the project.
Effective communications means:
D. Information is provided in the right format, at the right time, with the right impact.
Which type of communication includes meetings, phone calls, and video conferencing?
D. Interactive
Which of the following BEST describes the Verify Scope process?
D. It ensures customer acceptance, shows the deliverable meets specificatins, and provides a chance for differences of opinion to come to light.
What is the duration of a milestone?
D. It has no duration.
All of the following are characteristics of a project EXCEPT:
D. It repeats itself every month.
Senior management is complaining that they are not able to easily determine the status of ongoing projects in the organization. Which of the following types of reports would help provide summary information to senior management?
D. Milestone reports
Workarounds are determined during which risk management process?
D. Monitor and Control Risks
Which of the following methods is best suited for focusing on the most critical issues to improve quality?
D. Pareto analysis
During project executing, a project team member informs the project manager that a work package has not met the quality metric, and that she believes it is not possible to meet it. The project manager meets with all parties concerned to analyze the situation. Which part of the quality management process is the project manager involved in?
D. Perform Quality Control
All of the following are inputs to the Develop Schedule process EXCEPT:
D. Planned start and finish dates for each activity.
Which of the following conflict resolution techniques will generate the MOST lasting solution?
D. Problem solving
An output of the Close Project or Phase process is the creation of:
D. Project archives
The person who should be in control of the project during project planning is the:
D. Project manager.
Which of the following BEST describes the project manager's role as an integrator?
D. Put all the pieces of a project into a cohesive whole
A scope change has been suggested by one of the stakeholders on the project. After careful consideration and a lot of arguing, the change contrrol board has decided to reject the change. What should the project manager do?
D. Record the change request and its result.
Outputs of the Plan Risk Responses process include:
D. Residual risks, fallback plans, and contingency reserves.
All of the following are parts of the scope baseline EXCEPT the:
D. Scope management plan.
During a project team meeting, a team member suggests an enhancement to the scope that is beyond the scope of the project charter. The project manager points out that the team needs to concentrate on completing all the work and only the work required. This is an example of:
D. Scope management.
Which of the following BEST describes the major constraints on a project?
D. Scope, time, cost, quality, risk, resources, and customer satisfaction
A seller is working on a cost reimbursable (CR) contract when the buyer decides he would like to expand the scope of services and change to a fixed price (FP) contract. All of the following are the seller's options EXCEPT:
D. Starting over with a new contract
During a meeting with some of the project stakeholders, the project manager is asked to add work to the project scope. The project manager had access to correspondence about the project before the project charter was signed and remembers that the project sponsor specifically denied funding for the scope mentioned by these stakeholders. The BEST thing for the project manager to do is to:
D. Tell the stakeholders the scope cannot be added
You are having a very difficult time keeping the project schedule on track. The project is 13 months long and requires 220 people to complete. You have just fixed all the project problems to your satisfaction, but the schedule performance index (SPI) is currently 0.67, the cost performance index (CPI) is 1.26, there are over 23 activities on the critical path and the project PERT duration is 26. In the monthly status report, you should report:
D. The issues and options.
All of the following are outputs of Develop Human Resource Plan EXCEPT:
D. The number of resources needed.
During the completion of project work, the sponsor asks the project manager to report on how the project is going. In order to prepare the report, the project manager asks all the team members what percent complete their work is. There is one team member who has been hard to manage from the beginning. In response to being asked what percent complete he is, the team member asks, "Percent complete of what?" Being tired of such comments, the project manager reports to the team member's boss that the team member is not cooperating. Which of the following is MOSt likely the real problem?
D. The project manager did not assign work packages.
An experienced project manager has just begun working for a large information technology integrator. Her manager provides her with a draft project charter and immediately asks her to provide an analysis of the risks on the project. Which of the following would BEST help in this effort?
B. A conversation with a team member from a similar project that failed in the past
The Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis process assesses the priority of identified risks using all of the following EXCEPT:
B. A mathematical technique, such as expected monetary value (EMV), to create the impression of precision and accuracy.
Double declining balance is a form of:
B. Accelerated depreciation
Managing the relationship with the seller is the primary goal of which of the major procurement management processes:
B. Administer Procurements
A barrier to effective team building is (are);
B. All of the above Communication problems C. Project personnel selection D. Lack of upper level management support E. Project manager credibility
All technical work is completed on the project. Which of the following remains to be done?
B. Complete lessons learned
What type of contract do you NOT want to use if you do not have enough labor to audit invoices?
B. Cost plus fixed fee (CPFF)
To control the schedule, a project manager is reanalyzing the project to predict project duration. She does this by analyzing the sequence of activities with the least amount of scheduling flexibility. What technique is she using?
B. Critical path method
Which of the following personality attributes is not desired in a project manager?
B. Dislike of trouble
Free float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the:
B. Early start of its successor.
Of the following tools and techniques for performance reporting, which one integrates cost and schedule information as a key element of its approach?
B. Earned value analysis
Your cost forecast shows that you will have a cost overrun at the end of the project. Which of the following should you do?
B. Eliminate risks in estimates and reestimate.
Which of the following BEST describes product analysis?
B. Gaining a better understanding of the product of the project in order to create the project scope statement
A work breakdown structure numbering system allows the project team to:
B. Identify the level at which individual elements are found.
A project manager has a problem with a team member's performance. What is BEST form of communication for addressing this problem?
B. Informal verbal communications
The Risk Rating:
B. Is calculated by multiplying the probability of the occurrence of a risk times its impact (relative scale) on an objective (e.g., cost, time, scope, or quality) if it were to occur.
A seller is awarded a contract to build a pipeline. The contract terms and conditions require a work plan to be issued for the buyer's approval prior to commencing work, but the seller fails to provide one. Which of the following is the BEST thing for the buyer's project manager to do?
B. Issue a default letter.
A project manager is trying to convince management to use more formal project management procedures and has decided to start improving the company's project management by obtaining a project charter for each of his projects. Which of the following BEST describes why a project charter would help the project manager?
B. It gives the project manager authority.
Which of the following regarding performance reporting is CORRECT?
B. It is done during project monitoring and controlling and project closure.
Once signed, a contract is legally binding unless:
B. It is in violation of applicable law
To what does the following definition refer? "The point where the benefits or revenue to be received from improving quality equals the incremental cost to achieve that quality."
B. Marginal analysis
Your customer has asked for a 2,000-call capacity for the new call center project. However, one of your company's technical experts believes a 3,000-call capacity can be reached. Another thinks that based on the technical needs of the customer, the capacity needs of the customer, the capacity needs to be only 1,500 calls.What is the BEST thing to do?
B. Meet with the customer to better understand the reasons behind the 2,000-call capacity.
Near the end of your last project, additional requirements were demanded by a group of stakeholders when they learned they would be affected by your project. This became a problem because you had not included the time or cost in the project management plan for these requirements. What is the BEST thing you can do to prevent such a problem on future projects?
B. Pay more attention to stakeholder management.
Which of the following BEST describes stakeholders?
B. People who may have a positive or negative influence on a project
What is the order of the four steps in Deming's Cycle for Improvement?
B. Plan, Do, Check, Act
Project managers are expected to understand human behavior, possibly even more than functional managers, because;
B. Project managers must continually motivate the team toward project objectives
It is important to communicate clearly the project's objective among project personnel and all managers, in order to:
B. Reduce conflicts caused by different interpretations of the project's ginal goal
Changes to some project deliverables have been documented in the project management plan. These changes, and other project information, have been distributed according to the communications management plan. One stakeholder expressed surprise to the project manager upon hearing of a documented change to a project deliverable. All stakeholders received the communication containing notification of the change. What should the project manager do?
B. Review the communications management plan and make revisions if necessary.
The main output of the identify Risks process is:
B. Risk register
The difference between EV and the PV is referred to as the:
B. Schedule variance
Which of the following is the highest point of Maslow's hierarchy?
B. Self-fulfillment
Which of the following is the MOST beneficial result of the project manager knowing the crititcal path?
B. She knows what activities she needs to focus on while managing the project.
A control chart indicates the last 12 weights produced were outside the upper control limit. What should the project manager do FIRST?
B. Stop production
Organizational Process Assets are best described as:
B. The Existing company processes, procedures, and historical information.
A project may end for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
B. The project manager has left the company.
Which of the following BEST describes the role of the project management office (PMO)?
B. Their role can vary from an advisory capacity to full authority over projects.
The cost performance index (CPI) of a project is 0.6 and the schedule performance index (SPI) is 0.71. The project has 625 work packages and is being completed over a four-year period. The team members are very inexperienced, and the project received little support for proper planning. Which of the following is the BEST thing to do?
B. Update risk identification and analysis
A project manager is assigned to a new project and is supplied with a preselected team. What is the FIRST thing the project manager should find out about the team?
B. What each team member wants to get out of the project.
What percentage of the total distribution is 3 sigma from the mean equal to?
C. 99.73 percent
The sponsor is worried about the seller deriving extra profit on the cost plus fixed fee (CPFF) contract. Each month he requires the project manager to submit CPI calculations and an analysis of the cost to complete. The project manager explains to the sponsor that extra profits should NOT be a worry on this project because:
C. All costs invoiced are being audited
Which of the following is the BEST thing for a project manager to do in the Conduct Procurements process?
C. Answer sellers' questions about the procurement documents
When do stakeholders have the MOST influence on a project?
C. At the beginning of the project
Which estimating method tends to be MOST costly for creating a project cost estimate?
C. Botton-up
The make or buy decision is input to which of the major project procurement processes:
C. Conduct Procurement
The project team is arguing about the prospective sellers who have submitted proposals. One team member argues for a certain seller while another team member wants the project awarded to a different seller. What part of the procurement process is the team in?
C. Conduct Procurements
All of the following are tools of Perform Quality Control EXCEPT:
C. Cost of quality
There have been many work packages completed successfully on the project, and the sponsor has made some recommendations for improvements. The project is on schedule to meet and aggressive deadline when the successor activity to a critical path activity suffers a major setback. The activity has 14 days of float and is beign completed by four people. There are two other team members with the skill set to assist the troubled activity, if needed.The project manager receives a call that three other team members are attempting to be removed from the project because they do not feel the project can be successful. When the project manager pursues this, he discovers that those team members have issues that have not been addressed. Which of the following is the BEST thing to do to improve the project?
C. Create an issue log.
A project manager is working with quality professionals in the Perform Quality Assurance process of the project. Which of the following activities is being performed?
C. Determining if the right processes are being used
A new employee of the company is assigned to work on a project that is in the early planning processes. She has to decide today if she will accept the assignment to the project or whether she wants to be assigned to a different project. However, the project manager is not at work and is not reachable. Where can the team member look to help her determine what work she is given on the project?
C. Responsibility assignment matrix
You have created the project charter, but could not get it approved. Your manager and his boss have asked that the project begin immediately. Which of the bollowing is the BEST thing to do?
C. Show your manager the impact of proceeding without approval.
The project sponsor has just signed the project charter. What is the NEXT thing to do?
C. Start to create management plans.
A project manager has completed a detailed WBS and cost estimates for each work package. To create a cost baseline from this data, the project manager would:
C. Sum up the work package and risk contingency reserve estimates.
A project manager is leading an effort to analyze waste and non-value-added activity on the project. One team member reports that two processes in use require work he believes is unnecessary. Another team member reports that a process is not well understood. The project manager must be leading which of the following?
C. The Perform Quality Assurance process
A new project manager is about to begin creating the procurement statement of work. One stakeholder wants to add many items to the procurement statement of work. Another stakeholder only wants to describe the functional requirements. The project is important for the project manager's company, but a seller will do the work. How would you advise the project manager?
C. The procurement statement of work should be as detailed as necessary for the type of project.
You are a project manager working on a project that requires 100 items to be tested, spaced evenly over five weeks. You have just begun week three, with an overall budget of US $10,000. To date, you have spent US $2,000 with 40 items tested successfully. What does the cost variance (CV) tell you in this circumstance?
C. The project is $2,000 under budget.
Which of the following is TRUE about the development of a project charter?
C. The project manager creates the project charter, and the sponsor approves it.
The management theory which states that people can direct their own efforts is:
C. Theory Y
The construction phase of a new software product is near completion. The next phases are testing and implementation. The project is two weeks ahead of schedule. Which of the following processes should the project manager be MOST concerned with before moving on to the final phase?
C. Verfy Scope
In which process group does Close Procurements occur?
Closing
A conflict between the requirements is BEST resolved in favor of the:
Customer
In today's view of quality, who defines quality?
Customers
PERT formulas
exp time = (opt + 4*likely + pess)/6 stddev = (pess-opt)/6
To sit for the PMI - "CAPM" exam you must have experience managing a real-world project.
false
A new project manager has just been assigned a project that is in progress and is two weeks behind schedule. The team members are about to be distributed to another project based on the original time estimates by the functional manager. What type of organization is the new project manager in?
functional
Which of the following is the MOST likely outcome of crashing a project?
increased cost
Which of the following types of cost are revelant to making project financial decisions:
labor, material, opportunity
A newly formed project team typically exhibits which of the following characteristic(s)?
power struggles and mistrust
There are several executing activities underway on your project. You are beginning to get concerned about the accuracy of the progress reporting your team members are doing. How could you verify whether there is a problem?
quality audits
All of the following are examples of the cost of nonconformance EXCEPT:
quality training
A heuristic is BEST described as a:
rule of thumb
The Conduct Procurement process outputs are:
select sellers and conduct award
A change log is used to document changes that occur during a project. These changes and their impact to the project in terms of ________ must be communicated to appropriate stakeholders.
time cost and risk
PMBOK/PMI-ism suggests that the project management plan is realistic, and everyone believes it can be achieved.
true
The management of organizational relationships in a project is:
upward horizontal and diagonal
What conflict resolution technique is a project manager using when he says, "I can't deal with this issue now!"
withdrawal
Project Managers must be...
wonderful, great, and skilled
The project cost performance index (CPI) is 1.02, the benefit cost ration (BCR) is 1.7, and the latest round of performance reviews identified few needed adjustments. The project team was co-located into a new building when the project started. Everyone commented on how excited they were to have all new facilities. The sponsor is providing adequate support for the project, and few unidentified risks have occurred. In an attempt to improve performance, the project manager spends part of the project budget on new chairs for the team members and adds the term "senior" to each team member's job tiltle.Which of the following is the MOST correct thing that can be said of this project or the project manager?
D. The project manager has misunderstood Herzberg's theory.
Based on the chart below, some of the identified risks do not occur and therefore activity B gets done in 3. What is the effect on the project?
D. The project will complete sooner if activity F starts immediately.
A project team is working on manufacturing a new product, but they are having difficulty creating a project charter. What is the BEST description of the real problem?
D. They are working on a process and not a project.
Which of the following is a KEY way to improve activity cost estimates?
D. Use historical data
During project executing, a team member comes to the project manager because he is not sure what work he needs to accomplish on the project. Which of the following documents contain detailed descriptions of work packages?
D. WBS dictionary
In a projectized organization, the project team:
D. Will not always have a "home"
Which of the following BEST describes when the baseline can be changed?
D. With approved changes
A technique/tool used in Conduct Procurement to ensure that all prospective sellers have a clear, common understanding of the procurement is:
E. Bidders conference
The statement of work is the output of which of the major procurement processes:
E. Plan Procurement
Using the table above, which WBS element is over budget and behind schedule?
Element B - 2k 1.8k 2.1k
In which process group is the product scope completed?
Executing
All of the following are forms of power derived from the project manager's position EXCEPT:
Expert
final seller fee
Final Fee=((Target cost-Actual Cost) * Seller ratio) + Target fee
You are a project manager in a large organization that uses a matrix structure. You have been asked to investigate what organizational structures your cometitors use and how the choice affects their ability to manage projects successfully. Which type of organizational structure gives the LEAST amount of authority to project managers?
Functional
Company ABC is evaluating three consulting companies to find a consultant to perform professional services. They request information on how the three consulting companies allocate fringe benefits to their clients. What type of cost is Company ABC asking about?
Indirect
The project charter is created in which project management process group?
Initiating
Which of the following is NOT part of the Define Scope process?
Inspection
A project manager is using weighted average duration estimates to perform schedule network analysis. Which type of mathematical analysis is being used?
PERT
You have a project to build a new fence. The fence is four sided as shown. Each side is to take 3 days to build and is budgeted for $600 per side. The sides are planned to be completed one after another. Today is the end of day six. You have completed 2 of the sides, and 1/3 of the next side. You have spent $1600 at this point.
PV 1200EV 1400AC 1600BAC 2400CV -200CPI 0.88SV 200SPI 1.17EAC (based on CPI) 2727.27
In a fixed price (FP) contract, the fee or profit is:
Unknown
Which of the following quality gurus believe "zero-defects" is achievable?
crosby
PTA Point of total assumption
difference between the ceiling and target prices, divided by the buyer's portion of the share ratio for that price range, plus the target cost. PTA = ((2,450,000 - 2,200,000)/ 0.80) + 2,000,000 = 2,312,500.
The executing process group corresponds to what part of the start-plan-do-check-act cycle?
do
Which of the following is an output of the Collect Requiremnts process?
C. Requirements traceability matrix
If the optimistic estimate for an activity is 12 days, and the pessimistic estimate is 18 days, what is the standard deviation of this activity?
1
1. The product of your project is a human resource application that will help the company with hiring and onboarding new employees. The team will be working on requirements affecting the needs of some of the stakeholders throughout the project. The requirements of other stakeholders will only come into play during a small part of toward the end of the project. When do stakeholders have the most influence on a project? A. At the beginning of the project B. In the middle of the project C. At the end of the project D. Throughout The project
1. Answer A Explanation : Stakeholders have an impact throughout the project, but they must be identified and involved at the beginning of the project in order to determine their requirements and expectations. This means that even stakeholders who play a smaller role or whose requirements are addressed later in the project are included early. If this effort is not done early, the results may be expensive changes and/or dissatisfaction later in the project.
11. You are managing a project to update an existing payroll application. You have identified and analyzed your stakeholders and taken measures to ensure positive stakeholder engagement and to ensure that requirements will meet project objectives. The stakeholder register has been an important part of much of this effort. What is a stakeholder register? A. A process of systematically gathering and analyzing quantitative and qualitative information to determine whose interests must be taken into account throughout the project B. A project document containing assessment and classification information regarding identified stakeholders C. An approach to increase the support and minimize negative impacts of stakeholders D. A table that links requirements to project objectives
11. Answer B Explanation : Gathering and analyzing information to determine whose interests must be considered is part of stakeholder identification and analysis. Increasing support and minimizing negative impacts of stakeholders is a part of stakeholder management. Linking requirements to project objectives is included in a requirement traceability matrix. A stakeholder register is a document that includes assessment and classification information related to identified stakeholders.
14. You are planning a project to develop a website for a large medical center. The site will be used by patients, medical professionals, support staff, and insurance company representatives. Which tools will best help you determine the current a1ttitudes of stakeholders toward the project and the level of engagement you will need from each of these groups? A. Stakeholder register and stakeholder engagement assessment matrix B. Trend analysis and requirements traceability matrix C. Data analysis and resource management plan D. Assumption and constraint analysis
14. Answer A Explanation : The stakeholder register contains information including the stakeholders' requirements and expectations, as well as their levels of interest and influence. The stakeholder engagement assessment matrix graphically illustrates the current and desired levels of stakeholder engagement. This information can be used to determine actions required to dose gaps between those levels.
17. A stakeholders belief about or mental picture of the future is a(n): A. Requirement B. Heuristic C. Expectation D. Constraint
17. Answer C Explanation : Expectations are not as direct or straightforward as requirements. Nonetheless, they are important to recognize and address to ensure stakeholder satisfaction with the project. 'Therefore, the project manager must do additional work to uncover the expectations of stakeholders.
When it comes to changes, the project manager's attention is BEST focused on:
C. Preventing unnecessary changes
15. The key objective of stakeholder management is: A. Communication B. Coordination C. Satisfaction D. Relationships
15. Answer C Explanation : While communication, coordination, and development of relationships are parts of stakeholder management, collectively they contribute to the main objective of this process stakeholder satisfaction.
16. As project manager, you are unable to allocate as much time as you would like to interact with your stakeholders. Which of the following stakeholders will you make it a priority to get to know? A. The stakeholder who is an expert on the product of the project, but is not interested in implementing it in his department B. The manager of the department that will use the product of the project, who is known to be resistant to change C. The project sponsor, with whom you have successfully worked on many projects D. The department employee who is unfamiliar with the product of the project, but open to the positive impacts he believes the product will have on his work environment
16. Answer B Explanation : As the department manager, this person is a key stakeholder, and wields a lot of influence over other stakeholders in her department. The fact that she is resistant to change indicates she will need some personal reassurance from the project manager, or she may exert her influence to derail the project.
The ongoing definition of a project as more information becomes available to the team.
C. Progressive elaboration
18. The degree to which a particular stakeholder may be able to positively or negatively affect a project is their: A. Level of engagement B. Level of interest C. Level of commitment D. Level of influence
18. Answer D Explanation : This question is referring to levels of influence. Each stakeholder's level of influence may be based on status within the organization, seniority, or other factors. The level of influence of each stakeholder should be identified and managed throughout the project.
19. In an effort to identify stakeholders who may be affected by your project, you're looking over the organizational structure of your client's company. As you identify stakeholders on the organizational chart, you request meetings with each stakeholder. You'll document the information you learn about each stakeholder in the stakeholder register. This register can then be used as an input to which of the following processes? A. Plan Risk Management and Collect Requirements B. Perform integrated Change Control and Plan Communications Management C. Plan Quality Management and Manage Quality D. Identify Risks and Develop Project Charter
19. Answer A Explanation : Of the choices listed, the stakeholder register is an input to Collect Requirements, Plan Quality Management, Plan Communications Management, Plan Risk Management, and Identify Risks. Be sure you understand why it is important in each of these processes.
20. A project manager on a multinational website implementation project is at a party and talks to friends who will be heavy users of this new website when the project is complete and the site is rolled out. They describe some annoying aspects of the current website. The project manager takes this feedback to the sponsor, and encourages design and scope changes. Which of the following best describes what the project manager has done? A. Scope validation B. Integrated change control C. Stakeholder analysis D. Scope planning
20. Answer C Explanation : The project manager has performed stakeholder analysis by learning stakeholder requirements, and making recommendations to fulfill those requirements. Scope validation is a control function related to gaining customer acceptance of deliverables. Integrated change control relates to looking for multiple impacts of changes. Scope planning creates a scope management plan.
10. A primary goal of your project is to decrease the amount of time it takes for service technicians to help customers resolve issues via an online chat function. The current process includes correctly verifying client authentication information, assessing the problem, and then solving it. The team thinks a technical fix is needed to improve the chat functionality to support the goal of decreasing the time required to resolve customer problems. The customer service representatives think the process is at fault. A few team members have also expressed concern that the customer service representatives are interfering with their work by trying to take on a larger role than is appropriate for the project. The tension among stakeholders is escalating, and leadership is concerned. There has been discussion about who should assign roles for the project. The role of each stakeholder is determined by: A. The stakeholder and the sponsor B. The project manager and the sponsor C. The team and the project manager D. The project manager and the stakeholder
1O. Answer D Explanation : The role of each stakeholder is determined by the project manager and the stakeholder. It is important that stakeholders have input into what they will be contributing to the project. The role of the project manager is not to tell people what to do!
2. The project has been going well, except for the number of changes being made. The product of the project is being installed into seven different departments within the company and will greatly improve departmental performance when operational. The team has selected the appropriate processes for use on the project. The project manager is a technical expert and has been trained in communication and managing people. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the project changes? A. The project manager was not trained in understanding the company environment. B. The project should have more management oversight since it will result in such great benefits to the company. C. The project should have used more of the project management processes. D. Some stakeholders were not identified.
2. Answer D Explanation : 1t is important to look for the choice that would solve the real problem. The most likely root cause is that stakeholders were missed and, as a result, their requirements were not identified. Those stakeholders are now requesting changes to accommodate their needs. There is no reason to think that training, management oversight, or a need for more processes are factors contributing to the number of changes.
3. You have been tentatively assigned to a project that has not yet received final approval. Several stakeholders who will likely be involved or impacted by the project have already been identified. Stakeholders can be identified during which project management process groups? A. Initiating, planning, executing, and monitoring and controlling B. Initiating and planning C. Planning and monitoring and controlling D. Monitoring and controllil1g and closing
3. Answer A Explanation : Stakeholders can be identified throughout the project. However, the earlier stakeholders are identified, the better for the project. If all the stakeholders' needs and requirements are taken into account before plans are finalized and project work is begun, fewer changes will be needed later in the project, when they will be more costly.
4. A particular stakeholder has a reputation for requesting many change on projects. You'll be working with this stakeholder, as you've just been assigned as project manager of a project with which he'll also be involved. The newly approved project will create a website that has a couple of features the stakeholder's clients will use. However, the clients in this business unit will use the site only occasionally. what is the best approach you can take at the beginning of the project to manage this situation? A. Say no to the stakeholder a few time. to dissuade him from submitting more changes. B. Get the stakeholder involved in the project as early as possible. C. Talk to the stakeholder's manager to find ways of directing the stake holder's activities to another project. D. Ask that the stakeholder be changed to one who will better represent those using the core functionality of the new website
4. Answer B Explanation : By definition, stakeholders can impact or be impacted by the project. The project manager may not choose who to recognize as a stakeholder. Although this particular individual may be difficult, the project manager cannot avoid him, because he has a stake in the project. The project manager can say no, but this does not solve the root cause of the problem. There may be some good ideas within those change requests. The only choice that deals with the problem is getting the stakeholder involved in the project as soon as possible. Changes generally arise due to lack of input at the beginning of the project. If the project manager begins effective communication with this stakeholder early, there is a much better chance his changes will be discovered during the planning process, when they will have less of an impact on the project.
What is the duration of the near-critical path based on the Chart below:
43
5. Which of the following statements best describe, bow stakeholders are involved on a project? A. They help to determine the project schedule, deliverables, and requirements. B. They help to determine the project constraints and product deliverable. C. They help to determine the resource needs and resource constraints on the project. D. They approve the project charter, help provide assumptions, and create the management plans.
5. Answer B Explanation : The project manager determines the project schedule through schedule development. The team and other stakeholders provide the inputs. Since it is also the project manager's role to determine resource needs and create management plans, the choices including those roles cannot be best. The project sponsor approves the project charter, not the stakeholders. Stakeholders do, however, help determine project constraints and product deliverables. Notice how tricky questions can be if you do not read them correctly! Watch for this in other questions, and pay close attention to the wording.
6. You know that some groups within your organization are going to provide input to requirements that may impact your ability to develop a realistic schedule. Managing stakeholder expectations is always important, but achieving stakeholder satisfaction will be more critical with some groups than with others. All the following are parts of the team's stakeholder management effort except: A. Determining stakeholders' needs B. Identifying stakeholders C. Giving stakeholders added value D. Managing stakeholders' expectations
6. Answer C Explanation : Identifying all the stakeholders, determining their needs, and managing their expectations are all parts of good stakeholder management. Giving stakeholders added value (including extras not documented in the requirements) is known as gold plating. This is not effective stakeholder or quality management.
If the optimistic estimate is 1, the pessimistic estimate is 9, and the most likely estimate is 8...What is the PERT estimate?
7
7. You are managing a project to develop an organization's new website.The site will be highly complex and interactive, and neither your project team nor the client has much experience with this type of website development. The timeline is extremely aggressive. Any delay will be costly for both your firm and the client. You and the project sponsor have achieved agreement and sign-off on both the project charter and the project management plan. Client personnel have been kept fully informed of the project's progress through status reports and regular meetings. The project is on schedule and within budget, and a final perfunctory review has been scheduled. Suddenly you hear that the entire effort may be cancelled because the product being developed is totally unacceptable. What is the most likely cause of this situation? A. A key stakeholder was not adequately engaged in the project. B. The project charter and project management plan were not thoroughly explained to or adequately reviewed by the client. C. Communications arrangements were inadequate and did not provide the required information to interested parties. D. The project sponsor failed to provide adequate support for the project.
7. Answer A Explanation : A single high-level executive can end an entire project if they are not satisfied with the results, even if that person has, by choice, been only tangentially involved in the project. It is critical to ensure that all the final decision makers are identified and engaged early in a project in order to ensure that their concerns are addressed.
8. A project manager wants to more extensively involve the stakeholders on the project. The project team is colocated, so face-to-face communication with these stakeholders is usually possible, although not all external stakeholders are available to meet in person. Which of the following would be the best way for the project manager to involve the stakeholders more extensively? A. Have the stakeholders periodically review the list of project requirements. B. Invite the stakeholders to attend project status meetings. C. Send status reports to the stakeholders. D. Update the stakeholders on the status of all project changes.
8. Answer A Explanation : It seems like all of these are good ideas, but having the stakeholders review the list of project requirements helps discover errors and changes, and would therefore be considered the best choice.
9. You are working on a project that requires the use of a stakeholder engagement assessment matrix. This tool can be used to identify: A. Additional stakeholders B. Variances from anticipated stakeholder involvement C. Key relationships between stakeholders D. Skill levels of stakeholders
9. Answer B Explanation : The stakeholder engagement assessment matrix can be used to compare the actual engagement levels (involvement) of individual stakeholders versus the desired levels of engagement needed to optimize the plan. Any discrepancies can be analyzed, and efforts to adjust the engagement levels can be implemented.
If a project has a 60 percent chance of a US $100,000 profit and a 40 percent chance of a US $100,000 loss, the expected monetary value (EMV) for the project is:
A. $20,000 profit
The difference between a project, program and portfolio is:
A. A project is a temporary endeavor with a beginning and an end, a program is a group of related projects; a portfolio is a group of projects and programs related to a specific strategic objective.
You need to shorten the project by exactly four months, spending no more than $22,000 to do it. Based on the information in the chart below, you would include activity A as part of the solution. However, during planning, the resource completing activity A strongly argued for a particular method of completing the scope in order to agree to be on the team. His scope was accepted because his expertise was needed on the project. The BEST way to crash this project would be to crash which activity(s)?
A. Activity D 23 19 4
The cost contingency reserve should be:
A. Added to the base costs of the project to account for risks.
The process of ensuring that the sellers performance meets contractual requirement is:
A. Administer Procurement
The customer requests a change to the project that would increase the project risk. Which of the following should you do before all the others?
A. Analyze the impacts of the change with the team.
The project budget is proving to be inaccurate. The SPI is 1.1. The team has had negative deviation from the activity attributes, and the sponsor has inserted herself on the change control board. What is the BEST thing for the project manager to do?
A. Calculate the cost performance index.
Of all decisions that executive sponsors have to consider at an end-of-phase review meeting, the most difficult one would be:
A. Canceling the project
Which of the following is the BEST thing to do when a project activity will take longer than planned and the project can no longer be completed on time?
A. Compress the schedule.
The procurement management process that involves the receipt of bids or proposals and the application of the evaluation criteria to select a provider is:
A. Conduct Procurement
A project manager must publish a project schedule. Activities, start/end times, and resources are identified. What should the project manager do NEXT?
A. Confirm the availability of the resources.
A company is making an effort to improve its project performance and create historical records of past projects. What is the BEST way to accomplish this?
A. Create lessons learned.
Which of the following is a KEY output of the Verify Scope process?
A. Customer acceptance of project deliverables
The project team has just completed the initial project schedule and budget. The NEXT thing to do is to:
A. Determine communications requirements.
During a walk-through of a work package, you discover a team member is completing the work differently than stated in the WBS dictionary. How should you deal with this?
A. Determine if the changes also change the scope of the work package.
Which of the following factors is NOT considered to be a project constraint?
Appearance
The To-Complete Performance Index is:
B. (BAC-EV)/(BAC-AC)
A system development project is nearing project closing when a previously unidentified risk is discovered. The could potentially affect the project's overall ability to deliver. What should be done NEXT?
C. Qualify the risk.
The engineering department has uncovered a problem with the cost accounting system and has asked the systems department to analyyze what is wrong and fix the problem. You are a project manager working with the cost accounting programs on another project. Management has issued a change request to the change control board to add the new work to your project.Your existing project has a cost performance index (CPI) of 1.2 and a schedule performance index (SPI) of 1.3, so you have some room to add work without delaying your existing project or going over budget. However, you cannot see how the new work fits within the project charter for your existig project. After some analysis, you determine that the new work and existing work do not overlap and can be done concurrently. They also require different skill sets. Which of the following is the BEST thing to do?
C. Develop a project charter
Approved corrective actions are an input to which of the following processes?
C. Direct and Manage Project Execution
Expected monetary value (EMV) analysis has all of the following characteristics EXCEPT:
C. EMV analysis cannot be used effectively in decision tree analysis unless a risk-averse assumption is made
Which of the following represents the estimated value of the work actually accomplished?
C. Earned Value (EV)
You are a project manager for a large elecrical system implementation. One of your key people has started to miss deadlines and work quality is beginning to suffer as well. This person has participated in project planning, fine-tuning the earned value estimating, and developing the reward system for the project. You are confident this person is well aware of the work deadlines and required quality specifications. What action should you take?
C. Escalate the situation to the employee's functional manager and ask for assistance.
The approximate resource costs necessary for completing project activities are compiled during which project management process?
C. Estimate Costs
You are in the middle of executing a major modification to an existing product when you learn that the resources promised at the beginning of the project are not available. The BEST thing to do is to:
C. Explain the impact if the promised resources are not made available.
Negotiations between two parties are becoming complex, sa Party A makes some notes that both parties sign. However, when the work is being done, Party B claims they are not required to provide an item they both agreed to during negotiations, because it was not included in the subsequest contract. In this case, party B is:
C. Generally correct, because both parties are only required to perform what is in the contract.
You provide a project cost estimate for the project to the project sponsor. He is unhappy wiht the estimate, because he thinks the price should be lower. He asks you to cut 15 percent off the project estimate. What should you do?
C. Inform the sponsor of the activities to be cut.
Which process groups must be included in every project?
C. Initiating, planninng, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing
A project has three critical paths. Which of the following BEST describes how this affects the project?
C. It increases the project risk.
The Delphi technique has all of the following characteristics EXCEPT:
C. It is based on an ancient Greek technique to ensure that actions of subordinates are aligned with the vision of senior executives.
All of the following are advantages of testing a sample instead of a population except
C. It is very thorough
Work on a project is ongoing when the project manager overhears two workers arguing over what a set of instructions means. The project manager investigates and discovers that the instructions for the construction of the concrete footings currently being poured were poorly translated between the different languages in use on the project. Which of the folling is the BEST thing for the project manager to do FIRST?
C. Look for quality impacts of the poor translation of the instructions for the footings.
You are assigned as the project manager in the middle of the project. The project is within the baselines, but the customer is not happy with the performance of the project. What is the FIRST thing you should do?
C. Meet with the customer.
A project manager gets a call from a team member notifying him that there is a variance between the speed of a system on the project and the desired or planned speed. The project manager is surprised because that performance measurement was not identified in planning. If the project manager then evaluates whether the variance warrants a response, he is in which part of the project management process?
C. Monitoring and controlliing
During which project management process group are budget forecasts created?
C. Monitoring and controlling
The project has had a major defect, and the project manager has involved the project team and process engineers in analyzing the situation. One of the group says that the real fault is the age of the equipment. Another says the material is not of the correct quality. To address the root of the problem, the project manager decides to use an Ishikawa diagram. Which of the following BEST describes the part of the quality management process in which the group is involved in this situation?
C. Perform Quality Control
A fundamental tenet of modern quality managment holds that quality is most likely to be achieved by:
C. Planning it into the project
During which part of the project management process is the project scope statement created?
Planning
In which project management process group is the detailed project budget created?
Planning
The MOST common causes of conflict on a project are schedules, project priorities, and :
Resources
Which of the following is/are internal failure cost(s)?
Rework
A major construction project has been having a lot of schedule changes due to unanticipated weather problems. Who is it BEST to notify of these changes?
Stakeholders
final buyers price
actual cost + final sellers fee
Contract documentation includes, but is not limited to:
all the above A. The contract B. Seller performance reports C. Payment records D. Requested and approved contract changes
