Project Planning C3

Once you sign a contract with a vendor, you audit each task, execute quality control, and approve invoices. These are examples of what project manager duty?

Assurance

Imagine you are creating a budget for an upcoming project. You determine the dollar amount to measure against which will conclude whether the budget is on track. This action will measure the success of your project. What is this dollar amount called?

Baseline

As a project manager, you are the main supporter of your project plan. You explain to teammates why it benefits them to stay on top of the project plan. You hope that this persuades the team to support the plan and update it regularly. What project plan best practice does this represent?

Championing your plan

Fill in the blank: Creating a _____ establishes a cost estimate for your project budget and ensures that you calculate the correct expenses for a set period of time.

forecast

Fill in the blank: The main difference between effort estimation and time estimation is that time estimation includes _____.

inactive time

Kim, a producer at a mobile gaming company, is excited to launch the company's first mobile game in February. Kim clearly maps out the tasks and schedule for each of the team's developers. She considers working days and her commitments on other projects. Kim realizes that in mid-December she did not account for the company's mandatory two-week holiday shutdown in her schedule. It is too late to do anything, so she flags it to her manager and waits for the shutdown to happen. Did this project manager implement effective risk management and most likely stay under budget?

no

Fill in the blank: For tasks that are difficult to complete or have an element of unpredictability, a project manager should add a(n) _____.

task buffer

As a project manager, you create a project plan. In the plan are documents that help keep a project organized and on track, particularly if a risk arises or a change occurs. In which section of the project plan are these documents linked?

Management plans

A project manager writes a budget for an upcoming project. They break down the project by important points in the schedule like the completion of a phase. What are these important points known as?

Milestones

A document that keeps confidential information within the organization is known as what?

Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)

Which of the following may impact ethics in procurement? Select all that apply.

-Bribery or corruption; -Interaction with state-owned entities; -Union contract negotiations;

What are some potential ethical risks project managers need to be aware of? Select all that apply.

-Bribery or corruption; -Sole-supplier sourcing; -Interaction with state owned entities;

Which of the following are steps in the procurement process? Select all that apply.

-Controlling; -Initiating; -Analyzing;

Which strategies can help your team get a realistic sense of how long the project will take? Select all that apply.

-Effort estimation; -Capacity planning

As a project manager, what three things should you do to control costs and reduce changes to the budget? Select all that apply.

-Ensure budget changes are within scope; -Establish a sign-off plan and inform stakeholders of any expense changes that occur; -Request stakeholder approval on additional costs only after they are incurred;

Which of the following is a best practice when estimating the project timeline? Select all that apply.

-Escalate any timeline concerns to stakeholders; -Be thorough during the planning process;

What are the benefits of a Gantt chart? Select all that apply.

-It is a highly visual representation of the project's tasks; -It shows when tasks are due for a project; -It has a clear breakdown of who is responsible for what work;

Why do people working in project management find a Gantt chart useful? Select all that apply.

-It presents clear breakdowns of who is responsible for work and when those tasks are due; -It offers a highly visual representation of project tasks;

A project manager is leading an initiative that includes changing an organization's logo and slogan. What mandatory tasks should be part of the critical path? Select all that apply.

-Set a budget; -Receive sponsor approval; -Determine a new slogan;

As a project manager, you're interested in working with vendors in a way that is collaborative and places an emphasis on relationships. What procurement management process should you choose?

Agile

What should a project manager account for when project budgeting? Select all that apply.

-Surprise expenses; -Reforecasting throughout the project; -Stakeholder needs;

As a project manager, what does going under budget on a project indicate about your approach to budget management? Select all that apply.

-That your initial estimates were inaccurate; -That you could have spent more on the project to provide extra resources;

When creating a critical path, what does a network diagram help visualize? Select all that apply.

-The path of work from the start to the end of the project; -The tasks that can be performed in parallel;

Getting started with a project plan

-They are a compilation of a project's documents that the project team uses to carry out project activities; -Their central component is a project schedule; -They are a living artifact that serves as a roadmap for your team throughout the project.

Which of the following strategies should you consider when creating your budget? Select all that apply.

-Time-phase your budget; -Document all costs; -Baseline your budget;

When creating cards for a Kanban board, which items should go on the front of the card? Select all that apply.

-Title and unique identifier; -Description of work; -Who is assigned to the task;

Which three of the following items are examples of direct costs for your project?

-Wages and salaries of employees and contractors; -Staff training; -Material costs;

Which example below demonstrates a project manager asking an open-ended question? Select all that apply.

-What are the steps in your customer feedback review process, and what factors do you include in your report of this review?; -What are the issues I need to be aware of regarding the current project timeline?;

Fill in the blank: Capacity planning can ensure your team has enough _____ to complete your project on time. Select all that apply.

-resources -people

Which project management tool uses cards to track and visualize task progress?

A Kanban board

As a project manager, you are about to hire a new vendor; however, there are terms in the contract you are unfamiliar with. Who should you contact to better understand the contract?

A member of the legal team

Imagine you are working on a project. It progresses as expected, but you would like to assess the budget to identify whether any budget items need to be revisited. When should you take this budgeting action?

A project milestone

As a project manager selecting a vendor, you first need to outline the details and requirements of your project in order to solicit bids. Which procurement document helps with this task?

A request for proposal (RFP)

You are a project manager working to build a new house. You consider the upcoming storm forecast in your construction plan. How can you mitigate the storm disruption in the project planning stage?

Add task buffers for the tasks that occur during the storm

As a project manager setting a budget, you factor in unexpected costs that may arise during the project. What budgeting strategy does this refer to?

Adding a buffer and reserves

When is a good time to review the project budget and identify if you need to make any changes?

After you meet a milestone

As a project manager, you host weekly meetings to periodically review vendor performance and work quality. Which procurement process step does this represent?

Controlling

At what phase in the procurement process would a project manager review a vendor's performance and determine if they are meeting milestones?

Controlling

Gantt charts give project teams a visual representation of project tasks. What else do Gantt charts include?

Due dates, durations, and milestones

At what point in the project life cycle does the project manager create the project budget?

Initiation phase

Which of the following is a visual tool a project manager can use to manage tasks and workflows?

Kanban board

Which of the following should a project manager do to ensure an ethical procurement?

Make sure that various stakeholders adhere to governmental policies and adequate corporate social responsibility.

To create a well-organized budget, a project manager includes different types of expenses. Which type of budget expense includes costs for day-to-day tasks within a company?

Operating expenses (OPEX)

As a project manager, the project sponsor gives you cost estimates with a set amount of money to spend. What challenge for effective budgeting does this represent?

Pre-allocated budget

Who creates estimates for the project budget?

Project manager

As a project manager, you determine the cost for items such as software, tools, labor, and equipment. What budgeting term refers to these types of costs?

Resource cost rates

Imagine you are in charge of the budget for a project. You understand the stakeholder needs and have budgeted for surprise expenses. Which of the following is a budgeting task you need to do over the course of the project?

Review and reforecast

What budgeting challenge arises when changes or growth cause additional work the project manager hadn't planned for?

Scope creep

If Task A is a dependency for Task B, the two tasks should happen:

Sequentially

As a project manager creating a statement of work (SOW), who do you ask for input and technical knowledge?

Subject matter expert (SME)

As a project manager, you notice that some of your inventory is arriving damaged, and it isn't the vendor's fault. What is this known as in budget planning?

Surprise expense

Which of the following accurately describes total cost of ownership (TCO)?

TCO factors in expenses associated with a product or service over its lifetime.

You create a new project plan for your company's staff training program. Which component of the project plan tracks team member activities?

Tasks

What are the basic elements that make up a project plan?

Tasks, milestones, people, documentation, and time

What does the bottom-up approach entail?

Think about all the parts of a project from the beginning to the end that have an associated cost, and add all of that together.

As a project manager creating a budget, you're thinking about all the parts of a project from beginning to end—making a list of every material, resource, and contract worker. What do you call this type of budgeting?

Top-down approach

As a project manager, you create a project plan. In the plan are tasks with clear descriptions, owners, and due dates. In which section of the project plan do these tasks reside?

Work breakdown structure (WBS)

What tool can a project manager use for organizing all aspects of a complex project?

Work management software