PMP 7th edition, Part 3

Control charts are used in the process of Control Quality, and help us determine the effectiveness of our processes by analyzing the quality measurements of our deliverables. A process is determined to be out of control if one of two conditions is met. What are the 2 conditions?

1) There are seven consecutive data points above or below the mean; or, 2) There is a data point that is above or below the control limits. (UCL/LCL).

A project manager has multiple projects. One project has new team members and is in its early stages. Unfortunately, the project manager will be very busy executing other projects over the next few weeks. How can the project manager develop the new project team over the next few weeks? A)Help the team create a social contract that will encourage team cohesion. B)Suggest that the team engage in multiple team-building events to normalize the team. C)Keep the team informed by sending short daily project status updates. D)Engage in face-to-face personal conversations with each team member to build relationships.

A) Help the team create a social contract that will encourage team cohesion.

Certain key stakeholders are dissatisfied with how a key feature of a project has been developed. They express their dissatisfaction during an iteration review meeting. What should the project manager do first to resolve this issue? A) Gather the project team for a brainstorming session and identify a solution. B) Identify the reasons why there are issues with the feature, then address the issue. C)Create a list of the pros and cons of the situation to define the impact of the conflict. D)Add a neutral party, such as the project sponsor, to function as a negotiator with stakeholders.

B) Identify the reasons why there are issues with the feature, then address the issue.

A project manager receives complaints from a project sponsor because of a delay in developing a prototype. The project manager responded that the delay was due to a lack of knowledge of a specific skill that was needed by the cross-functional project team. How could the project manager avoid this type of situation in the future? This question displayed answers in random order during the test. A)Create training sessions at the start of the project, so all necessary skills are learned. B) List the required skills for the project and organize the project team based on those skills. C) Consult with the project sponsor to add training once the lack of a specific skill becomes apparent. D) Empower team members to problem solve where skills may be lacking, using the skill

B) List the required skills for the project and organize the project team based on those skills.

Without considering all the implications, a project sponsor requires that the project team be composed of resources located in three locations in three different time zones. This is expected to save costs and provide the optimal project team. Where should this be reflected in the project charter? A) High-level requirements B) Overall project risks C)Resource Management Plan D)Key Stakeholder List

B) Overall project risks

Due to time constraints, a project manager omits the review of previous lessons learned. What is the potential impact of this decision? This question displayed answers in random order during the test. A)The cost of the project will be greater. B)Project issues could reoccur because of the missed opportunity to identify preventive actions. C)Management of the project will be more difficult. D)The project management office (PMO) may not recognize the project as officially started.

B) Project issues could reoccur because of the missed opportunity to identify preventive actions.

A deliverable does not meet the agreed-upon quality specifications and is rejected by the customer. After investigation, the project team finds that there is a fault with the vendor-provided parts, and this fault caused the issue. The vendor says that they cannot correct the situation. What should be reviewed before deciding on next steps? A) The service level agreement (SLA) established with the vendor B) The procurement management plan and contract agreements C)The internal quality assurance reports D)The resource management plan

B) The procurement management plan and contract agreements

A project has the following characteristics: -It is in the execution phase. -500 products have been developed based on the originally-approved blueprint. -The project team randomly selected 50 products to evaluate against the quality plan. What is occurring in this scenario? A)The project team is performing inspections. B) The project team is utilizing statistical sampling. C) The project team is conducting audits. D) The project team is undertaking a quality control measure.

B) The project team is utilizing statistical sampling.

A project manager is uncertain about the duration of a new product development project and consults several groups of subject matter experts (SMEs). The first group advises that development can be finished in 14 days. The second group identifies some risks that could make the duration up to 32 days. The third group proposes a new development method that can shorten the time to 8 days. What is the estimated development duration for the new product? A)12 B)16 C)18 D)20

B)16 PERT Estimate = (Optimistic + (4 X Most Likely) + Pessimistic)/6 = (8 + (4*14) + 32)/6 = 16 days

During project execution, the project manager determines that communications fail to comply with the communications management plan. What should the project manager do? A) Inform stakeholders that all information received is not part of the communications management plan. B) Practice structured informal communications as part of the key project milestones. C)Refer team members to the communications management plan. D)Have team members review the project management plan.

C)Refer team members to the communications management plan.

The project manager of a life cycle replacement project has identified stakeholders. One stakeholder is someone with whom it is difficult to work, and their behavior is causing project delays. What should the project manager do? A) Develop and implement a change management plan to add or remove stakeholders from the project. B) Vary the format and increase the frequency of communications to the difficult stakeholders so that timely decisions may be made. C)Review the stakeholder engagement plan to assess how difficult stakeholders should be engaged. D) Ask the sponsor to select a stakeholder who is less difficult so that project delays can be avoided.

C)Review the stakeholder engagement plan to assess how difficult stakeholders should be engaged.

A customer continually submits new feature requests for an existing product. A project manager just communicated the completed scope definition for the product's next version release to the stakeholders. What should the project manager do next? A) Immediately define project boundaries with the sponsor B) Meet with the stakeholders to align expectations. C)Meet with the product manager to ask that the number of new requests be reduced. D)Review the scope management plan and iterate it through the scope definition process.

D)Review the scope management plan and iterate it through the scope definition process

A team member has taken an unplanned leave during the execution phase of a project. In response, the project team rescheduled some tasks. The result is that critical activities are now occurring at the same time. What is the first thing that the project manager should do? A) Assess the newly introduced risks with the project team B) Mitigate risks by reverting to the original schedule. C)Revise the risk register and then rank the project's risks. D)Identify suitable responses for the newly introduced risks.

A) Assess the newly introduced risks with the project team

A project manager with limited experience managing globally distributed team members receives a project that has team members from five countries, spanning three continents. To successfully manage this project, the project manager needs to develop cultural sensitivity. What should the project manager do? A) Be flexible when working with team members, recognize that culture is learned, and be aware of local customs. B) Seek guidance from the human resource department, and request to be certified in this topic. C)Request for another project manager to lead the project and follow behind this person to gain the necessary skills. D)Gather requisite learning material to better understand every detail of each team member's culture to be sensitive to their needs.

A) Be flexible when working with team members, recognize that culture is learned, and be aware of local customs.

A project has the following characteristics: -A functional manager is also a project stakeholder. -The functional manager has time constraints and delegates project responsibilities to someone else on the functional team. -The new stakeholder is not attending meetings. The project manager needs to engage this new stakeholder. What should the project manager do? A) Examine the project charter with the new stakeholder and assess their level of engagement. B) Present the project schedule and the specific, assigned tasks to the new stakeholder. C)Request that the functional manager briefs this new stakeholder and ask that they send them to all relevant meetings. D)Ask the new stakeholder to pair with a more experienced stakeholder to learn responsibilities.

A) Examine the project charter with the new stakeholder and assess their level of engagement.

A project manager has the following situation: -A very long project management plan is drafted. -Stakeholders on the project are spread across three continents. -The project manager needs the stakeholders to approve the plan in as short of time as possible. What is an appropriate course of action for the project manager to take? A) Option A 1. Arrange a meeting with all stakeholders. 2. Have the stakeholders review the plan before the meeting. B) Option B 1. Send the plan to each stakeholder individually. 2. Ask them to add their comments and return it for updating. C)Option C 1. Divide the plan into sections. 2. Based on their areas of expertise, ask select stakeholders to review particular portions. D)Option D 1. Schedule individual meetings. 2. Invite only the key stakeholders and walk them through the plan.

A) Option A 1. Arrange a meeting with all stakeholders. 2. Have the stakeholders review the plan before the meeting.

A week prior to the project kick-off call, a project manager meets with a key project resource to gain a deeper understanding of how complex the project deliverables are. The resource expresses concern and worry regarding the deliverables. What should the project manager do to ensure that the deliverables are realistic? A) Perform a feasibility study, and then assess the results. B)Discuss the resource's concerns with the sponsor, and modify the project charter. C)Note the concerns in the issue log to review at a later date. D)Identify threats and preventive actions by conducting a risk assessment.

A) Perform a feasibility study, and then assess the results.

In response to slippage on some scheduled tasks, the project manager reprioritized a number of subsequent tasks in order to fix the problem. The reprioritization did not put the project back on track, and now the project manager needs to escalate the issue to project stakeholders. To escalate the issue, what should the project manager do first? A)Refer to the communications management plan. B)Review the stakeholder engagement plan. C)Refer to the change management plan. D)Review the risk management plan.

A) Refer to the communications management plan.

A project's single sponsor has been replaced by a steering committee due to a significant increase in project size. How should the project manager approach this change? A) Tailor communications to the new steering committee, recognizing that there has been a change in stakeholder structure. B) Follow the initial project plan, recognizing that the stakeholder group now includes the steering committee members. C)Schedule a low-key introductory meeting with the new steering committee and the team, while continuing to follow the initial project plan. D)Ensure that the new steering committee members receive the project's current status report.

A) Tailor communications to the new steering committee, recognizing that there has been a change in stakeholder structure.

What role is often referred to as the "servant" or "host" leader on Disciplined Agile teams? A) Team Lead B) Product Owner C)Architect Owner D)Sponsor

A) Team Lead

A project that should have been 90 percent complete by now is only 65 percent complete. The total project budget is US$120,000 and the actual cost of work performed (ACWP) is US$ 80,000. What are the scheduled performance index (SPI) and cost performance index (CPI) of this project? A) The SPI is 0.72, and the CPI is 0.98. B)The SPI is 1.38, and the CPI is 1.2. C)The SPI is 0.94, and the CPI is 1.04. D)The SPI is 0.80, and the CPI is 0.91.

A) The SPI is 0.72, and the CPI is 0.98.

Three project teams are working on parts of a single project. The parts are highly dependent on each other. The leader of the team indicates that this might create conflicts when the outputs from the three teams are combined. The project manager needs to provide guidance to the team lead. What guidance should be offered? A) The team lead should identify potential conflicts and arrange for a weekly joint meeting with the members of the three teams to monitor each other's work. B) The team lead should decide which team's work should be prioritized, then delay the work from the other two teams to ensure there are no conflicts. C)The team lead should document conflicts as they occur and take action to remedy any problems that arise. D)The team lead should tell all three teams to continue to work simultaneously, recognizing that conflicts can be addressed at the testing phase.

A) The team lead should identify potential conflicts and arrange for a weekly joint meeting with the members of the three teams to monitor each other's work.

True or False? A project can be closed when the objectives are no longer required. A) True B) False

A) True

A company has a goal of increasing customer satisfaction within 4 months. A project has been initiated to meet this goal. The project manager needs to identify best practices. What should the project manager utilize to accomplish this? A)Benchmarking B)Focus groups C)Facilitation D)Affinity diagram

A)Benchmarking

Which type of control tool identifies whether or not a process has a predictable performance? A)Control Charts B)Histogram C)Pareto Chart D)Cause and Effect Diagram

A)Control Charts

A customer is contemplating adding new features to the project deliverable. Before a project team member starts working on these new features, what is a mandatory step? A) Gain approval from the project manager. B) Ensure the change control board (CCB) approves. C) Gain approval from the project sponsor. D) Ensure key subject matter experts (SMEs) approve.

B) Ensure the change control board (CCB) approves

The Project manager shifts to an agile approach for a project with an aggressive go-to-market timeline. The project manager needs to revise the stakeholder plan so that it follows agile principles. What should the project manager do to meet this need? A. Increase the number of formal training workshops to cover all relevant issues for all stakeholders, including the project sponsor and client. B. Remove the unnecessary layers of management to promote direct communication between the project team and the stakeholders. C. Modify templates to include product backlog progression and the burndown rate and require standup attendance. D. Design a digital communications system that allows for virtual submission, logging, reviewing, and escalation of issues.

B. Remove the unnecessary layers of management to promote direct communication between the project team and the stakeholders.

A skincare company reports that customers are increasingly complaining that a product is underweight. A project manager needs to determine if something needs to be changed in the production line. Which tool or technique can the project manager use for this task? A)Scatter diagram B)Affinity diagram C)Control chart D)Histogram

C)Control chart

A new team member joins a project. The project manager is highly disciplined and expects timely participation in weekly meetings. The new member comes from an organization with a liberal culture and, out of habit, is continually late for meetings. When asked, the team member responds that they are busy working on deliverables, which they believe have priority. What should the project manager do? A)Meet with the team member again to explain that punctuality is crucial. B)Suspend the team member and explain that this behavior is not permitted. C)Highlight ground rules and influence the team so that these rules are understood by all. D)Ignore the behavior, as this team member is ensuring that work is not affected.

C)Highlight ground rules and influence the team so that these rules are understood by all.