Comprehensive PMP Test Prep

You are working on building the stakeholder register for a new project that has been authorized. Which item would you expect to include in the stakeholder register?

A rating of the stakeholder's impact and influence on the project The stakeholder register is a document that is created during the Identify Stakeholders process and it is a compilation of all the relevant information gathered. While the information provided in the stakeholder register is tailored to suit the needs of your project, it should include the potential impact and influence ratings determined from stakeholder analysis.

As the acting project manager, you need to choose a balanced risk response strategy to implement for your project. Which risk response strategy is appropriate to use for both negative and positive project risks?

Accept A strategy for negative risks is simply to accept the risks and their possible consequences. Active or passive acceptance is an appropriate strategy when a risk is small, unavoidable, unknown, and cannot be transferred, shared, or mitigated. Passive acceptance involves doing nothing unless a risk event occurs and then dealing with the consequences. Active risk acceptance involves accepting a risk, but planning beforehand how to deal with the consequences if the risk occurs.In the case of a positive risk, or an opportunity, the best plan of action can be to simply accept the risk and move on with the project.

You have recently taken over a large mission critical project that has been underway for several months. Project work has begun. You are in the process of reviewing the documentation, but you are unable to locate the project charter. When you ask the project management team members where the charter is stored, they inform you that it does not exist. Which action is the BEST way to deal with this situation?

Alert the sponsor and request that the project charter be built. Since the project charter does not exist, the project manager needs to ensure that the sponsor is aware and initiate its development as soon as possible. The project charter is a document that provides critical information that identifies the basis for the project, such as the purpose of the project. It also identifies high-level requirements that need to be met by the project. Other information such as the authority level of the project manager is also contained in the charter. Furthermore, the project does not formally exist until the charter has been created and approved by the sponsor.

You are currently involved in controlling procurements on a mission critical project for your organization. A seller has been contracted to provide a high load winch system. Which input to this process should have been given special consideration by both the buyer and seller?

Approved change requests When you are dealing with a contracted company, special consideration must be given to change requests by both the buyer and seller. If changes are made, the contract must be rewritten and the deliverables could be outside the original scope. It may even lead to the seller agreeing to terms they cannot meet.

You are the project manager for your organization. You are currently meeting with the project sponsor and customer now that the completion of the project is nearing. During the meeting, formal acceptance has been attained from the customer that all deliverables were met. Over the next couple of days, you ensure that all contracts were properly closed, project documentation has been updated, and lessons learned have been gathered. Which of the following will still need to be done before the project is officially closed?

Archive knowledge gained The final step in the closing process is to archive knowledge gained. Knowledge gained can include information that can be readily expressed using numbers and words and it can also include such things as experience and know-how. Knowledge gained is stored in the lessons learned repository.

You have recently completed receiving formal acceptance of the deliverables from the customer. As the project manager for your company, you have another project scheduled to begin shortly, and you would like to have this project closed before the beginning of the next project. You have collected the lessons learned, and completed the final project report. Which final task still needs to be completed before you can officially close this project?

Archive project information Archiving project information, such as lessons learned, financial information, and the final project report is required to close the project. Once archived, this historical information can be used by project managers in your organization for managing similar future projects. This information can include helpful documents such as warranties on assets purchased or services provided. The information may also be part of a legal compliance obligation.

You are managing a mission critical project for your organization. A seller was sourced to provide a high load winch system. You leased a winch that is rated at 1,000 pounds for the project. You are satisfied with the work and product that the seller has provided and would like to use their services in the future. How might this information be documented?

As part of the organizational process asset updates Seller performance evaluation documentation will be included within the organizational process asset updates as an output to Control Procurements. Other information included in the organizational process asset updates are payment schedules and requests, and correspondence.

You must provide management with a project schedule that displays the project as a summary of the work packages only. The schedule also needs to display the progress for each work package. Which is the BEST method to use to provide this information?

Bar chart The bar chart is a widely used format for presenting schedules. Project work packages are represented by horizontal bars on a summary schedule. The length of each bar corresponds to the duration of the work package it represents. They are generally easy to read and are commonly used in management presentations.

A project manager was chosen to manage the day-to-day activities of a new project to create a new sales system and test the system for sixth months. The new sales system is to deliver an annual 15 per cent increase in revenue and 10 percent increase in sales orders. After a year working on the project, the new sales system is complete and is tested for six months before the project is closed. What should the project manager use to check to see if the system meets the required advantages?

Benefit management plan A benefit is an improvement that can be measured and is considered an advantage by the customer requesting the new system. The annual 15 per cent increase in revenue and 10 percent increase in sales orders are benefits of the new system. The benefits are documented in the benefit management plan, which can be used to check to see if the results from the trial for the system meets the required advantages.

You are required to determine the costs for a project that your company is undertaking. You want to estimate the cost of each individual activity and use that information to produce a total cost for the project. Many of these activities have not been performed before. Which is the BEST method for estimating these costs?

Bottom-up estimating Bottom-up estimating is the best method available to identify and estimate each individual activity separately and then add the results to produce an overall project estimate. It is used to estimate the resources needed to carry out complex activities. This involves breaking down an activity into its component pieces of work, estimating the resources needed for each of the pieces, and aggregating the estimates to find a total.

As the project manager in charge of a mission critical project, it is important that you identify and categorize as many potential risks as possible. Which of the following will BEST help with this?

Brainstorming Brainstorming is an information gathering technique used for identifying risks. In the brainstorming process, the project team, subject matter experts, and possibly others gather to generate ideas about project risk with a facilitator. Attempts are made to identify, define, and categorize the risks.

You are managing a construction project to build a new hotel for a customer. The budget provided is $300,000,000 with a two year completion schedule. Up to this point, $20,000,000 has been spent in planning, and project work has been in progress for a week. Already, there have been five major, unforeseen problems brought to your attention that need to be addressed. What should you do FIRST?

Bring the problems to the attention of the sponsor to have the business case re-evaluated. As there have been five major, unforeseen problems brought to your attention, the project has not been properly planned. As the project manager, you are responsible for bringing the major problems to the attention of the sponsor to have the business case re-evaluated. If it is determined that the project is no longer justified, the project will be prematurely closed.

You are the project manager for your organization. After conducting an inspection and a procurement audit to verify that all quality metrics agreed upon were achieved, it is time to close the contract. Upon receiving payment, the seller requires a formal sign-off on the contract to close the project with their organization. Which of the following BEST describes who is required to sign off on the contract?

Buyer The buyer, in this case you as project manager, is the individual who can sign off on the contract since everything has been verified. The vendor has received payment, and now requires a formal sign-off for the services provided. Much like your organization, the work they provided you is a project for their organization in which a formal acceptance is required before officially closing the project.

You are in the process of integrating and consolidating the subsidiary plans and baselines created from the various planning processes. Which of the following represents an additional component of the project management plan that was not produced from a separate process?

Change management plan. While the majority of the components of the project management plan are the result of outputs from other planning processes, there are some that are produced as part of the Develop Project Management Plan process. Some of the additional components include the change management plan, configuration management plan, performance measurement baseline, project life cycle, and the development approach.

You are the project manager overseeing the development of a new console video game and are currently involved in the Monitor and Control Project Work process. Which task would you be performing as part of this process?

Comparing the plan to the actual performance One of the tasks performed as part of the Monitor and Control Project Work process is the comparison between the actual performance and the project management plan. This process tracks, reviews, and regulates the project to meet objectives.

You are working on a project developing a new shopping center and parking lot for an important, long-time customer. The project's scope has been defined, the design and schedule have been completed, the resources have been allocated for the various activities, and the contract has been signed. The customer has brought up an issue that was not accounted for earlier in the planning stage of the project. The customer wants to install eight additional bathroom stalls for the public to meet the expected increase in customers due to the closure of an older shopping center. The customer would like the materials bought from a supplier, outside the region, at a discounted rate. The supplier, however, will not receive the materials from the manufacturer for a month due to equipment problems at the manufacturer. As the project manager for this project, you disagree that eight stalls are required. Based on previous experience, you suggest that four extra stalls would be enough and that the addition of these four stalls would not affect the schedule. You also remind the customer that purchasing the materials from the supplier outside the region will delay the project and affect the grand opening of the shopping center. You would prefer to buy the materials from a local supplier that has the necessary materials in stock. The customer, yourself, and the project management team get together to come up with a solution. The customer is unwilling to have less than eight bathroom stalls added but is flexible in the supplier used. You reluctantly agree that the eight bathroom stalls can be added with minor changes to the scope and design, budget, and contract. However, installing eight stalls as opposed to four will affect the schedule in a way that any other unforeseen delays will cause the shopping center not to open in time. The local supplier is chosen for the materials to prevent further delays. Which conflict resolution method was used in this situation?

Compromising This solution is moderately good for relationships and provides a permanent solution.In this case, the customer was able to have the eight bathroom stalls added; however, the idea of using an outside supplier to provide the materials was given up. You were able to have a local supplier provide the materials while giving up the idea of having only four bathroom stalls installed.

PMP Conflict Resolution: Compromising

Compromising occurs when both disagreeing parties sacrifice something and agree on a solution that includes aspects of both parties' positions. T When there is a willingness to give and take

You are the project manager and you are currently managing your project team. You need to understand the role of the project as it relates to the organization and its industry, and takes internal and external environmental factors into account. What type of interpersonal skill is required to achieve this?

Conceptual Conceptual skills include the skills involved in seeing the "bigger picture." A project manager with good conceptual skills understands the role of a project in the context of the organization and its industry, and takes internal and external environmental factors into account. Good conceptual skills are necessary for planning and managing large projects, and especially for motivating or influencing stakeholder decisions.

PMP Conflict Resolution: Confronting / Problem-solving

Confronting the conflict as a problem to be solved When you have confidence in the other party's ability toproblem solveWhen the relationship is importantWhen you need a win-win solution

Feedback is sought out from stakeholders for evaluating their satisfaction with the project's final result. Before a final report can be created, which additional activity should be performed as part of closing the project?

Consult the risk report for open risks The risk report is a document that provides summary information about individual risks and identifies sources of overall project risk. It is checked throughout the project to ensure that open risks are properly managed. The risk report is reviewed during project closing to ensure there are no open risks when the project ends.

You are a project manager working for the healthcare system. You have been tasked with overseeing the implementation of a new computer infrastructure at the local hospital. You are currently ensuring that all change requests are processed accordingly. In which process are you currently involved?

Control Scope The Control Scope process begins as soon as the scope baseline is created. One of the functions of this process is to ensure that all change requests are processed. It also examines the causes of scope change to ensure that they are understood so that they can be managed.

The project manager has asked you to check the performance of a process that is used for making circuit boards. Specifically, he wants to know if there are any negative trends appearing. Which tool should you use?

Control chart Control charts can be used during quality assurance to check the performance of a given process. Those processes that show negative trends should be further studied to determine corrective actions that can be applied.

The project lifecycle will vary between different projects because of the deliverables and activities that occur within the different projects. However, there is a general life cycle structure that will apply to most projects. Which statement is TRUE regarding the planning of project costs?

Cost levels are at their highest as the work is carried out. Once planning is complete and project work begins, material and staff costs are typically at their highest or ramping up to their high point.

Grace, a project manager for a multinational corporation, has chosen the people for the project team roles identified in the human resource plan for a project developing a new accounting program. The team members are geographically dispersed across multiple continents. The communications management plan identifies the technologies to be used by the team members when communicating amongst each other. Which is the GREATEST obstacle that must be overcome to build an effective team?

Cultural differences When leading and managing a global team, cultural differences pose the greatest challenge to Grace because attitudes towards authority, rank, and position vary greatly by geographic region. These challenges may be tied to a variety of items such as differences in language, religion, gender roles, business practices, or local customs. Grace should put cultural issues on the agenda early to increase team awareness of these differences and to allow team members to express their concerns.

You need to establish a list of risks that are associated with a project that you are managing. You have assembled a group of experts that will use a questionnaire to help generate ideas for identifying important project risks. The experts will work anonymously. Which of the following are you currently engaged in using?

Delphi technique The Delphi technique uses experts who participate anonymously via a questionnaire to help identify important project risks. The process usually goes through several rounds of responses, summarization, and recirculation for further comments. The end goal of the Delphi technique is to reach a consensus among the experts.

You have decided to sponsor an internal project for your organization whose goal is to provide greater flexibility when responding to service requests. The objective of the project is to create a new online application form that must be up and running by the end of the year. After the project charter has been created, which action should be performed next?

Determine roles and responsibilities of the team The creation of the resource management plan is another process that occurs during the early life cycle of the project and will generally continue to occur throughout the life of the project. This process charts the course for the other resource processes and determines the roles and responsibilities of the team. This action generally will be performed after the project charter has been created and after some work has been done to the scope and the schedule.

You are in the process of analyzing stakeholder requirements to document project scope, milestones, and deliverables for your project charter. Which activity should you perform?

Determine what requirements and deliverables are not part of the project. Determining what is not part of your project is just as important as defining what is.So when defining scope through high-level requirements and key deliverables, it is important to document any boundaries or requirements that are outside the scope of the project. This helps to reduce ambiguity and provides a clearer picture of what the project is trying to accomplish.

One of the roles as a project manager is the implementation of process improvement activities that have been approved. During which process would you perform these activities?

Direct and Manage Project Work. Requests for process improvements are submitted as change requests to the Perform Integrated Change Control process. Once requests are approved, they are input into the Direct and Manage Project Work process. The approved change requests are then scheduled to be implemented by the project team.

PMP Conflict Resolution: Smoothing

Emphasize areas of agreement To reach an overarching goalTo maintain harmony

You are the sole project manager for a small company, which means that you often manage several projects simultaneously. One of the projects that you are managing is nearing completion. After meeting with the customer and project sponsor to attain formal acceptance of the project deliverables, you can officially begin to close the project. You have completed several processes required for closing the project, including gathering lessons learned, updating and filing project documents, and releasing several staff members who will be assigned to tasks on other projects. Now that the company has received formal signoff and payment for the successful project, which of the following would be the most appropriate NEXT step to take as the project manager?

Ensure that project expense accounts are closed at the end of the project. You should avoid rushing through the closing processes, or you may overlook important details. It is important to ensure that project expense accounts are closed at the end of a project, because it ensures that no more spending is charged against a closed project.

You are looking over the high-level risks for a potential project. One of the risks is the potential impact that significant changes to inflation rates would have on the return on investment of the project. Which source would BEST identify this risk?

Enterprise environmental factors

You have identified the risks associated with a project that you are managing. You now need to perform a qualitative analysis on the risks. Which of the following will help you with this?

Enterprise environmental factors Enterprise environmental factors (EEFs) is used as an input to the Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis process. One EEF used for this process are industry studies performed on similar projects.

Bonnie has been leading project team members on a project for several months. One of her team members tells her that one of the work packages requires ten additional widgets. She wants to ensure that the work package will be completed within the scheduled time period. What should she do FIRST?

Evaluate the impact of the change. The first thing Bonnie should do is to evaluate the impact of the change. Because the additional widgets are needed, Bonnie needs to determine how this change will impact the project. For example, she will need to determine how the scope and schedule for the project will be affected as well as the costs involved for the actual widgets and procuring them.

You have been assigned to lead a project soon after it was selected by your organization's project management office. The project sponsor has provided you with a completed business case and benefits management plan, in addition to your organization's historical information on a similar project. Which tool or technique are you going to use to assess this information?

Expert judgment Once a project has been selected, a project charter needs to be created and approved before moving forward with more detailed planning.Expert judgment is one of the most common techniques used throughout the project's lifecycle. In this process, expert judgment is used to assess the inputs, including the business case and the benefits management plan, that are going to be used to create the project charter. It can be provided by an individual or a group who has been trained or who has specialized knowledge in a particular area.

You are the project manager overseeing the development of a new console video game and are currently involved in the Monitor and Control Project Work process. A working beta of the game is supposed to be available in the next two weeks to demo at an investors' conference. However, it is behind schedule due to problems that occurred when adding bonus content. You need to determine what to do to ensure that a working demo version is available for the conference. Which technique should be used?

Expert judgment is one of the main techniques used in the Monitor and Control Project Work process. During this process, you monitor and control all the work that is taking place. Your expert opinion, or the opinions of other experts, is used to analyze situations and determine the best course of action. In this example, you would study the situation and determine what to do about the upcoming conference. The decision may include removing the features that are not fully operational.

You need to assess the detailed project requirements so you can generate the project's work breakdown structure and set project baselines. You want to have an interactive discussion about the proposed product or service by consulting stakeholders that have similar perspectives. Which method would BEST achieve this?

Focus Group Focus groups provide an informal way of involving a group of stakeholders and subject matter experts. They allow you to guide an interactive discussion about the proposed product or service. Focus groups often comprise stakeholders with similar perspectives. This enables you to collect requirements that are focused on a specific aspect, such as the design of a product or the technical requirements it must meet.

You are the project manager for your organization. You are currently going through an inspection process with your customer and their IT staff regarding the project deliverables, which is a new software database solution. Once the customer verbally agrees that the database system meets the agreed upon criteria, they schedule a meeting for the next day to sign off on the project deliverables. Which of the following BEST describes the process being completed once the customer signs off on the new database system?

Formal acceptance

You are currently managing a project that you took over halfway through due to the previous project manager leaving. The project is finally nearing completion after a large amount of delays over schedule conflicts for team members and budget restraints. The customer is satisfied with the final deliverable, although they made it clear that they were not happy with all of the problems during the project lifecycle. Which of the following is a requirement to close the project when a customer has stated their acceptance with the final project deliverable?

Formal sign off from the customer. A formal sign off from the customer is still required to close the project. If the customer has stated that they are satisfied with the deliverable, this would indicate that they are ready to begin the final process of signing off on the deliverables.

Janet is a project manager for a multinational corporation. She has chosen the people for the project team roles identified in the resource management plan for a project developing a new accounting program. The team members are geographically dispersed across multiple continents. The communications management plan identifies the integrated nature of the technologies, including video and teleconferencing to be used by the team members when communicating amongst each other. What is a benefit to this type of team?

Forming project teams with resources who work different shifts One of the benefits of virtual teams is the ability to form project teams with individual members who work different shifts. This is made possible because correspondence between virtual team members is done via video and telephone conferencing.

You are one of the project managers in your organization responsible for managing several large-scale projects. You are in the process of creating the procurement management plan for one of the projects you are managing. You need to consult a subject matter expert to obtain some expert judgment. Which entity is BEST able to provide subject matter expertise related to this?

Functional manager Functional managers hold management roles within an organization, such as finance or procurement management. Since functional management roles include procurement management for the organization, they would be the best entity to consult for subject matter expertise related to the procurement process.

You have been assigned to take over a large, recently initiated project that was being managed by a close friend in your organization. Stakeholder analysis has already begun and a power/support grid has been filled out. You disagree with the placement of some stakeholders on the grid. Which action should you take?

Hold a brainstorming session with your team to reach an agreement on placements and the best strategies to use. When you take over a project from another project manager, you need to be comfortable with any project documents that were created before going forward. Since you are new to the project, the best strategy is to get input from your team to help you determine if adjustments are required. Conducting a brainstorming session with your team to reach an agreement on placements is one way of getting your team's input. Having your team participate will also help with project buy-in.

Which statement represents the PRIMARY focus of the change management plan?

How product baselines will be controlled. The change management plan is used to identify the process of how changes to the project and the product baselines will be managed and controlled. The change management plan is one of the components of the project management plan.

Motivating the project team using recognition and reward systems is essential to the successful completion of a project. Which concept is part of Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene theory?

Hygiene factors do not act as motivators by themselves. Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene theory includes the concept that Hygiene factors do not act as motivators by themselves. Hygiene factors fall into a category of factors that, if absent, will make a person unsatisfied. However, hygiene factors by themselves do not make a person satisfied. Some examples of Hygiene factors include salary, status, supervision, and personal life.

You are the project manager for the construction of a new shopping center. Which of the following are activities that you will perform when directing and managing project work?

Identifying and updating risks During directing and managing project work new risks maybe identified and risks previously identified maybe updated. These new risks and risks updated are done in the risk register.

Glen, a project manager, is working on a project to construct an apartment complex when the customer requests adding two additional floors. Glen gets together with the project management team to discuss the costs involved, how the schedule would need to be addressed, and what the possible impact to the scope would be. After discussing their findings, Glen determines that it is possible to add two additional floors and gets the change control board to sign off on the changes. A change to the scope baseline has been made and project documents have been updated. The floors are being installed. Which action is currently being performed?

Implementing a change request The customer requests that two additional floors be added. This results in a change to the scope. Installing the floors is the action of implementing the change request that has been approved. This is the action being performed.

You have been assigned as the project manager for a project that involves organizing a large video game convention and you have been asked to help develop the project charter. The sponsor for the project has identified one of the key factors for the success of the project as being able to accurately estimate the number of people attending. Since your organization organized this event the previous year, you have been reviewing some of the archived project documents. Where would you find estimated attendance in the project charter from the previous year?

In the section that lists any assumptions for the project During the initiation stage of a project, you have to make some assumptions on certain project details before planning can move forward. In this instance, you must make an assumption on the number of people attending the conference. This number can affect which venues can be used and the amount of promotional materials required, which can directly affect project cost. You will find the estimated attendance from the previous year in the project charter section that lists assumptions for the project.

You are managing a project that is developing a prototype of a new form of lowering spring for use on street cars. A change request was created to resolve an issue that involved the bump stop on the car. After the issue was resolved, the springs were reinstalled on the test vehicle. Which activity is likely to take place NEXT?

Inspection An inspection is a technique used in the Control Quality process. An inspection ensures that the product conforms to documented standards. Inspections are also used to confirm that defect repairs, such as the bump stop issue, have been resolved.

You have just finished identifying risks that are associated with a project that you are managing. You now want to associate the risks with their root cause. Which method will BEST achieve this?

Ishikawa diagram Certain diagramming techniques can be useful in identifying risks and their causes.One of the most popular diagramming techniques is the cause-and-effect diagram. It is also known as the Ishikawa diagram, after its inventor, the Japanese quality management specialist Kaoru Ishikawa. When completed, a cause-and-effect diagram looks like the skeleton of a fish, so it is also referred to as the fishbone diagram. It contains a spine with branches resembling the pattern made by fish bones. Cause-and-effect diagrams can be used to explore the root causes of an identified risk, which is simply a potential problem that may occur in the future.

It has been determined that the schedule baseline is no longer accurate and requires modification. Which action must be taken to modify the baseline?

Issue a change request

You are in the process of identifying stakeholders that you want support from on your project. You have already identified some stakeholders using the key stakeholder list. What additional source of information can be used to help identify stakeholders?

Issue log Identifying stakeholders typically occurs prior to or in parallel with creating the project charter.During this time, a limited number of documents are available. However, as the project progresses more stakeholders may be identified as additional documents become available. One such resource is the issue log. The issue log is initially created to help address project issues when directing and managing work. It contains information on who raised the issue and when. The person who raised the issue could be a previously unidentified stakeholder.

You are currently in the closing phase of the project. As the project manager, you are tasked with providing the successful completion of the project deliverable to the customer. Which option describes the MOST important purpose of receiving formal acceptance from the customer?

It identifies that the customer has accepted the deliverables. Gaining formal acceptance from a customer for a particular project identifies that the customer has accepted the project's deliverables. From this acceptance, management deems that the terms of the agreement set forth between both parties within the contract have been met.

You are managing the execution of the project work when one of the sellers provides you with a deliverable. This deliverable is needed for assembling one of the final deliverable for the customer. The deliverable does not meet all the requirements outlined in the technical specifications for the final deliverable. What is the MOST LIKELY reason for the seller's deliverable not meeting the specifications?

Lack of a work breakdown structure and work breakdown structure dictionary by the seller The most likely reason for the seller's deliverable not meeting the specifications is a lack of a work breakdown structure (WBS) and WBS dictionary by the seller. When a seller has been contracted to provide a deliverable for a project, they need to have some kind of direction for developing and maintaining a WBS and WBS dictionary to ensure that they will meet the requirements. If the seller does not properly develop the supporting contract WBS and WBS dictionary then the deliverable may not meet specifications.

You have been managing the execution of the project plan for a month when you overhear a conversation between two of the project team members. Based on what you heard, you learn that these team members are exhibiting ethnocentric views. Which action should you take?

Look into providing cultural sensitivity and diversity training for your project team members Ethnocentrism can be seen as not accepting other cultures. This can result in negative stereotypes towards other ethnic groups. To proactively handle this type of situation, you should look into providing cultural sensitivity and diversity training for your project team members.

Marianne is the project manager for a project. The project team has begun performing the activities outlined by the project plan during the week from Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Bob provides the funds for the project and resources are always available to Marianne. Meetings are scheduled every other Friday to meet with her staff of designers, network engineers, and software engineers. At the end of every month, Marianne and her staff meet with the project managers from her organization and their staff for a fun night out. Within which type of organization is Marianne working?

Marianne is working within a projectized organization. In a projectized organization, the project manager is full time, has staff that reports directly to them with no functional managers, and is one of many project managers within the organization. We know that Marianne works full-time hours during the week. We also know that she has her own staff of designers, network engineers, and software engineers. Also, because she meets with other project managers and their staff and no functional managers are described, it is clear she works in a projectized organization.

You are in the process of gathering and analyzing stakeholder requirements to finalize your project charter. Which activity would this include?

Milestone schedules High-level planning occurs during the initiating processes of your project. These activities result in information that is included in the project charter of a project. This includes analyzing stakeholder requirements to determine project scope milestones, which results in a milestone schedule.

You are the project manager overseeing the development of a new console video game.After demoing the product at a gala, the investors and product testers would like to see some changes to the product. You agree that the changes are possible and have prepared a series of change requests. You are currently involved in the process that oversees the implementation of changes as they are performed. Which process are you performing?

Monitor and Control Project Work One of the primary functions of the Monitor and Control Project Work process is to monitor the implementation of approved changes. This process ideally ensures that the work is being completed the way it should. Tracking, reviewing, and regulating the progress helps keep the process on track with the planned schedules.

You have been assigned as the project manager for a new project. A lot of the high-level planning and requirements have been completed and this information is provided to you by the project sponsor. You coordinate initiating efforts with all key stakeholders, including the customer. Together you determine the initial project organization, the milestones required, project success criteria, and how the scope is to be controlled. Which activity should be completed FIRST before proceeding with the project?

Obtain project charter approval

The initial round of project planning has completed and all the relevant stakeholders have approved the project management plan. During project execution, it comes to the project manager's attention that the contingency for one of the unplanned events may not be sufficient to reduce the impact of the event. What should the project manager do NEXT?

Perform reserve analysis and communicate the findings in a burndown chart. In this scenario, risks on the project are being tracked and evaluated to determine if they are effective. These kinds of activities occur as part of the Monitor Risks process. One of the tools and techniques of the Monitor Risks process is reserve analysis. This technique is used to compare the remaining contingency reserves against the amount of risk remaining at that point in time. This will allow the project manager to determine if there are sufficient contingency reserves for any unplanned events that may occur. This information is often communicated with a visual representation such as a burndown chart.

You are a project manager for an electric utility company. A project has been authorized to create a new substation that will supply power to a newly developed industrial park. You have been assigned to the project, which is in the process of identifying individuals and groups that may have influence over any aspect of the project. You are finding that the list is getting quite large and may be difficult to manage. Which action should you take to help organize the list so that stakeholders receive the appropriate amount of attention from you?

Perform stakeholder analysis Stakeholder analysis is a technique that is used to collect and examine information to determine how stakeholder interests are going to be taken into account throughout the project. This technique is used to organize stakeholders based on interests, expectations, and influence on the project. Not every stakeholder should be handled equally on the project, as a project manager's time is limited and will need to be used in the most efficient manner possible.

You are working on a project that has been underway for several weeks. The project entails creating and installing a new piece of software that will increase productivity for the marketing department. To ensure that the new software meets the agreed quality requirements, you have scheduled testing to be performed on the new software by programmers from your organization who have one year of programming experience. You notice that testing on part of the software is taking three times as long as it should. You determine that contracting out the testing to external programmers will ensure that the schedule set for testing will not be exceeded. As a result, you contract out the work to the external programmers to finish the software testing. What BEST describes what you are doing?

Performing a corrective action

You are currently involved in controlling procurements on a mission critical project for your organization. A seller has been sourced to provide a high load winch system. The winch that was to be supplied was rated at 1,000 pounds, but it is currently unavailable and was replaced with an 800-pound model. This has resulted in a conflict. Which item would you refer to, as the project manager, in order to determine the proper procedure to handle the dispute?

Procurement contract Procurement contracts are formal and legally binding documents that use specialized and technical language, so only qualified individuals should prepare them. An important component that should be included in each contract is a section on how to handle disputes.

You are defining the scope of a project that you are managing. You need to discover the attributes and features that the project deliverables require. Which technique would be BEST to use?

Product analysis Product analysis uses methods like product breakdown, systems analysis, systems engineering, value engineering, value analysis, and requirements analysis. These methods discover the attributes and features that the project deliverables require.

You are currently reviewing information to ensure that the project is on track and within schedule. You have identified causes of schedule variances and the corrective actions that were used. Where would you document this information?

Project Documents Updates. Project documents include a number of project documents including the assumption log, the lessons learned register, and basis of estimates. The causes of variances, corrective actions that were used, and lessons learned are going to be project document updates from the Control Schedule process. These will be helpful for future projects if a similar issue arises.

You are currently defining the work that will be required to complete a product that will be produced by a project that you are managing. Which item are you currently working on?

Project scope Project scope describes the project deliverables and the work that must be performed to create this product, service, or result for the stakeholders. This includes the work needed to fulfill any specified features and functions outlined. Once the project scope is determined, the project scope statement can be created.

Who is responsible for guiding the formalization and approval of the project?

Project sponsor

You are a project manager who has been recently hired by a large projectized organization. You have been assigned to an internal project and you are working closely with the project sponsor to develop the documentation that will formally authorize the first phase of the project. Who is responsible for providing information on the business needs?

Project sponsor In this scenario, the project manager and sponsor are in the process of developing the project charter, which will be used to formally authorize a project or an individual phase of a project. One of the key inputs to creating a project charter is the business case, which includes information on the business needs for the product or service.

As an experienced project manager, you understand the importance of attaining formal acceptance from a customer for project deliverables. There are several processes and activities that occur during the project lifecycle. Which statement BEST describes the primary activity of the Close Project or Phase process?

Provide information that will formalize the project completion. The main activity of the Close Project or Phase process is to provide information that will formalize the project completion. This includes information such as the final project report, formal acceptance of the final project deliverables, and the completion and closure of all procurements.

You need to provide a method of identifying all of the activities each team member is associated with on the project. Which of the following will BEST meet your needs?

RACI chart. RACI stands for responsible, accountable, consult, and inform. This is a type of responsibility assignment matrix that is used to illustrate the relationship between the work that needs to be completed and the team members.

Mark is a project team member currently working on a project task with medium priority. Lucy, the project manager, observes that Mark seems to be distracted and is falling behind on his work. Which action should Lucy take?

Recommend Mark take the rest of the day off and have another team member continue with the task.

You are at a critical stage in your project. You have just been informed that the parts you require are no longer available from the supplier, with whom you have signed a contract to supply those parts. What should you do FIRST?

Refer to the risk register to determine the appropriate risk response The first thing you would do in this situation is refer to the risk register to determine if an appropriate risk response is documented. Implementing the risk response as soon as possible can mitigate the potential impact.

You have identified and classified a number of potential stakeholders on your current project. You are now trying to identify strategies to manage these individuals. One of the stakeholders is moderately interested, provides high power, supports the project, and carries a number of activities on the project. Which strategy would be MOST appropriate to engage with the stakeholder?

Request that the stakeholder formally join the project team A high influence, moderately interested stakeholder who is responsible for completing activities on a project that they support is an excellent candidate for the project team. By making them part of the project team, you are able to work more closely with them and they can be more easily engaged.

You have been assigned as the project manager during the initiation phase of a project that is being performed for your organization. You have been asked to define the business and compliance requirements that are to be included in the initiation documentation of the project. Which statement BEST represents the criteria that you should meet when defining requirements?

Requirements need to meet customer expectations. All high-level business and compliance requirements that are included in your initiation documentation must meet customer expectations. If they do not meet customer expectations, the project may not be approved or may ultimately fail as a result.

You are currently working at determining the budget that will be needed for a project you are managing. You need to identify an appropriate allowance for unplanned changes resulting from risks that may be required on the project. Which technique is MOST likely to assist you in achieving your goal?

Reserve analysis A reserve analysis is an analytical technique that is used to determine an appropriate contingency and management reserve to put in place, based on the risks associated with the project. A contingency reserve is a sum of money set aside for unplanned changes that may be required on the project. Therefore, the most appropriate method to use in this scenario would be to perform a reserve analysis.

PMP Conflict Resolution: Withdrawal / Avoiding

Retreat; cool off To preserve neutrality or reputationIf the problem will go away on its own

Your organization is having a problem keeping up with the current supply demands of their customers. To help increase manufacturing capacity, your organization has approved a project whose goal is to create a more efficient order fulfillment process. The original project manager has been moved to another project, and you have inherited the project. Which action should you take FIRST?

Review the current project definition elements However, the first thing that you should do is to confirm that the elements of the project definition, which will become part of the project plan, are valid. The project definition that you have inherited may not be complete or it may be hard to understand. You need to take some time to review these elements to ensure that there are no gaps and that proper detail has been used. This will help prevent issues in the future.

You are creating the activity list for a project. You have determined that many of the activities are lacking information. Which technique can be used to save time on large projects by breaking down the WBS in stages?

Rolling-wave planning Rolling-wave planning is used to decompose the WBS in stages, based on the amount of information that is needed or available at the time. You can save time with it when working on large projects. Here, work packages that need to be completed in the near term are broken into activities that can be sequenced and added to the schedule.

Ross, who is a project coordinator, would like his project team members to attend a seminar on communication and how to work collaboratively with co-workers. Lisa, who has a number of her staff working on Ross's project, needs them to work on some tasks that she has instead of attending the seminar. Lisa tells Ross that he will need to reschedule the seminar for a later date. Ross is not very happy with the decision but decides to keep quiet. Which of the following BEST describes this situation?

Ross is working in a weak matrix organization where he has limited authority for making decisions. Explicitly stated in the question is the fact that Ross is the project coordinator, but Lisa is the one whose staff members are working on the project. Lisa is able to make the decision to have her staff members work on her tasks instead of attending the seminar. Because of this, we can safely assume that she is a functional manager with a higher level of authority than Ross has as project coordinator.

It is your first time managing this type of project and you wish to refer to a document that will detail how the project scope should be controlled. Which document would contain this information?

Scope management plan The scope management plan is one of the subsidiary plans of the project management plan. The scope management plan details how the scope should be managed and controlled.

Amy, working for an engineering firm, is leading a project with several engineers to make a number of prototypes for a customer. To make the prototypes, large quantities of adhesive is required. Amy received bids from several suppliers and chose one that has just developed a new bonding adhesive that works in conditions from +150 to -5 degrees Celsius, which is the main requirement. The contract has been awarded to the supplier, and a stipulation is in place that the supplier is responsible for any failures of the adhesive that occurs within the documented temperature range. The stipulation requires the seller to reimburse all costs associated with any damages incurred due to the adhesive. Norman, an engineer, discovers that the adhesive no longer works in conditions where the humidity is above 85%. Amy did not anticipate this risk and has no plan in place to address the issue. Which action should Amy take?

Submit a change request for a new adhesive and implement a workaround In this case, Amy should submit a change request for a new adhesive and implement a workaround. Since Amy did not anticipate this issue and no plan was in place, she needs to request a change and implement a workaround. Using a new adhesive is a workaround for this issue.

You were managing a project that was commemorating the city's 200th anniversary. The park where the ceremony took place is approximately five miles from the fireworks site. You contracted a transit company to transport people from the party to the fireworks site. The amount of people that the transit service would be able to move within a given time period The amount of people that would fit in each vehicle The amount of trips that they would need to make These focal points were all compared to the original project plan. What is this scenario an example of?

Technical performance analysis A technical performance analysis is a data analysis technique that compares the difference between targets and actual results. Weight, transaction times, and storage are all examples of technical performance measurements.

Which statement is NOT true about the configuration management system?

The configuration management system is a sub-component of the overall change management system. The configuration management system along with, but separate from, integrated change control makes up the overall change management system.

You are the project manager for Imagenie, a large organization specializing in graphic design. One of the various projects that you manage is ready to begin the processes involved in the closing of the project. Which of the following is NOT an input for the Close Project or Phase process?

The final report summarizes the project performance and is an output of the Close Project or Phase process, not an input to the process.

You have been assigned to lead a project soon after it was selected by your organization's project management office. You have been asked to assist with the creation of the initiation documentation. The project sponsor has provided you with a completed business case, a project benefits management plan, access to the lessons learned knowledge base, and a signed contract. Based on the information provided, which statement is TRUE?

The project is being completed for an external customer. In this scenario, you are in the Develop Project Charter process. A contract is only an input for the Develop Project Charter process when the project is being completed for an external customer. Not all projects are done for external customers, so the contract input is not always required.

You are the project manager for your organization. During the closing stage of your project, a team member who is training to become a project manager asks which documents are typically referenced during the closing of a project. Which of the following is the BEST answer to the team member's question?

The project management plan is the best tool to use when measuring project completion status NOT the project baseline. The project management plan contains information such as the scope statement, various baselines, and any other relevant information or documentation required to measure project completion.

You are a project manager for Inter-Swift. You are working on a project to expand the manufacturing capacity of your organization. Your organization has decided to outsource the construction of a new warehouse, to house the required facilities and infrastructure, to an external company named Docu-sentry Ltd. Who approves the project charter for the new warehouse project?

The project sponsor at Inter-Swift In this scenario, Docu-sentry Ltd. is the organization performing the project and Inter-Swift is the organization that is sponsoring the project. Docu-sentry Ltd. may help develop the project charter but it will be authorized by the Inter-Swift organization. The project sponsor or initiator is the person or organization who is external to the project and has the authority to issue the project charter.

You need to determine the monetary resources required for the completion of the project activities outlined within the project schedule. Which type of cost estimate focuses on improving accuracy by factoring in the amount of risk related to the original estimate?

The three-point estimate technique aims to improve the accuracy of the activity cost by taking into account the amount of risk in the original estimate. It does this by calculating the best case, worst case, and most likely durations for an activity. When determining a three-point estimate, you first assign weights to the costs and calculate the denominator. A three-point estimate typically assigns a weight of 1 to the optimistic and pessimistic estimates and a weight of 4 to the most likely estimate. The denominator of 6 is the sum of the weightings.

You are creating the WBS for a project. Which indicator BEST shows that you have decomposed a work package to an appropriate level?

The work can be completed within a reporting period. Criteria used to determine whether work packages are sufficiently broken down requires being able to answer the following questions: Can cost and time be estimated without further break down? Can the result be measured and verified? Can the work be completed within a reporting period? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then further decomposition is required.

You are the project manager for one of the top golf equipment producers in the world, and you are currently overseeing the development of this year's club model. The project has gotten off to a slow start and is behind schedule. In previous years, club types were worked on one at a time (for instance, the woods first and then the irons). To save time this year, they will be worked on concurrently. Which technique is this an example of?

This is a form of fast tracking the schedule Fast tracking a schedule takes place when activities that are typically performed in sequence are done in parallel. Fast tracking is a schedule compression technique that is commonly used to shorten overall project duration. One of the problems that exists with this technique is the chance of having to redo work, which heightens risks.

You want to ensure you are using an accurate method of estimating the duration of the activities contained in your WBS. You also need to be able to identify the level of uncertainty involved with the estimates. Which method will BEST achieve this?

Three-point estimate A three-point estimate provides a weighted average of an optimistic or best-case duration, the most likely duration, and a pessimistic or worst-case duration. By using a weighted average of these estimated durations, you will improve the accuracy of the estimate. Using this method will also identify the range of uncertainty of your duration estimates.

You are a project manager for a major golf club manufacturer and your team is working on developing a new line of golf clubs for the upcoming season. Based upon last year's project results, the professionals had the clubs two months before the season started. This year, the plan is to achieve the same results. Which type of forecasting is being used in this example?

Time series The time series form of forecasting uses past history to estimate project outcomes. They can include information such as earned value, trend estimation, and growth curve. In terms of the example, we are using the previous year's information to forecast this year's project performance.

You have been assigned to manage a new project and are in the process of creating the stakeholder register. While you are an experienced project manager, you do not have specialized knowledge or training in this type of project. You plan to seek advice from subject matter experts in this area. Which is the MAIN purpose of using subject matter experts at this time?

To ensure that all relevant stakeholders are identified and a comprehensive list is compiled. In this scenario, you are working on the stakeholder register. This is a main output of the Identify Stakeholders process. The main purpose of using subject matter experts (expert judgment) during the Identify Stakeholders process is to ensure that all relevant stakeholders are identified and a comprehensive list is compiled.

An organization is moving from paper to a new payroll system where clients can access pay and tax statements online. The project sponsor requests some performance information in the form of BAC versus EAC and completion dates. Which document contains this test data?

Trend analysis A trend analysis is a monitoring tool that analyzes data over a given length of time in an attempt to determine a pattern. A trend is a pattern and a trend analysis is used to reveal this information. A trend analysis can be used to show performance-to-date and compare it to future performance forecasts. This is done in the form of BAC versus EAC and completion dates.

You are currently involved in controlling procurements on a mission critical project for your organization. A seller has been contracted to provide a high load winch system. The winch that was to be supplied was rated at 1,000 pounds, but it is currently unavailable and will be replaced with the 1,200-pound model. This will result in a change to the contact. Which action will BEST resolve this change?

Using the contract change control system Although technically a part of the integrated change control system, it is specifically the contract change control system that is used to make changes to a contract. This system includes the proper procedures and resources required to make a change.

You are a project manager working for the healthcare system and have been tasked with overseeing the implementation of a new computer infrastructure at the local hospital. You are engaged with the Control Scope process. Which tool or technique is being used during this process?

Variance analysis. Data analysis techniques such as variance analysis are used in the Control Scope process. A variance analysis is used to determine the difference between the plan, and the actual result. In terms of the Control Scope process, a variance analysis is used to determine how the actual work varies compared to what was included in the scope management plan.

You are the project manager for your organization. The deliverables for the project you are currently working on have been formally accepted by the customer. Often, one of the duties of the project manager is to assist the customer with the inspection process of the deliverable before the project can be closed. Which of the following verification methods would be considered a form of assistance during this process?

Verifying the scope of the project against the deliverables Verifying the scope of the project against the deliverables is a standard method used when completing a project before a customer will formally sign off on the project. This is often carried out by the project manager alongside the customer by measuring the project completion against the project management plan.

You are in the process of creating the scope baseline for a project you are managing. What should you include in the scope baseline?

WBS dictionary The WBS dictionary is part of the scope baseline. It describes the scope of each work package in more detail than the WBS. It contains details about the required work that the WBS cannot realistically document. It also provides information that is used to measure the performance of each work package.

You are the project manager for your company. You have completed reviewing the new product with the customer and the support team that will be handling the new product after the transition is made. The verification and walkthrough was very positive. You schedule a follow-up meeting with the customer for the next morning to attain a sign-off on the new product. Which of the following BEST describes what is going to be accomplished at this follow-up meeting?

Which of the following BEST describes what is going to be accomplished at this follow-up meeting?

PMP Conflict Resolution: Collaborating

Win-win through collaboration and meeting to resolve issues When there is time and trust When the objective is to learn When you want to incorporate multiple views When there is time to come to consensus

You are a project manager for a major tire distributor, and you are monitoring your team's performance for the summer tire campaign project. You are currently involved in the Monitor Communications process. Which information is distributed as part of this process?

Work performance The Monitor Communications process deals with gathering and distributing work performance information to the required individuals. This information includes information such as forecasts, variances, and project status.

You are a project manager for a medium-sized construction company. You were recently assigned a project involving the construction of several small buildings. You have decided to contract out the creation of the foundations for each building, and you are holding a bidder conference for prospective sellers. One of the sellers approaches you and asks if she can take you out for a drink to discuss her proposal. Which action should you take?

You should decline the invitation, as accepting it would be an obvious conflict of interest. The purpose of a bidder conference is to ensure that all potential sellers have the same information and equal access to people involved with the project. This allows each potential seller a fair opportunity at getting the contract.