Project Management Foundations (LL) Flashcards
(350 cards)
1
Q
Which technique would you most likely use to gather valid requirements and get buy-in from various departments?
A
focus groups
2
Q
Project objectives help you flesh out a project by _____.
A
defining project scope
Project objectives help identify the items you include in project scope.
3
Q
Your client has asked for a project that will fix productivity concerns with the customer service department. After asking “why” several times, you are able to determine the cause and create a _____.
A
problem statement
This is what clearly defines the problem or opportunity that the project will address.
4
Q
Ramesh is creating objectives for his project. Which SMART step will help him identify actual progress?
A
Measurable
This SMART step refers to the objectives that make it easy to determine whether or not they have been achieved.
5
Q
The sponsor of Project T5 assigned you as the project manager, and the project has already been approved. What is the first thing you need to do as the project manager?
A
Review what has been done and complete any tasks not addressed.
6
Q
Krisha is gathering information on her stakeholders, such as department names, factors that motivate them, who they listen to, and their contributions on the project. What is this document called?
A
a stakeholder analysis
This document includes much of the information Krisha needs to effectively communicate with each stakeholder.
7
Q
You are managing a project that is implementing a new financial system. You need to include some of the finance department’s resources on the team. Which stakeholder should you approach?
A
a functional or line manager
This stakeholder is most accountable for the resources that are needed for a project.
8
Q
Several stakeholders for a project disagree on the priorities of many project objectives. Who would you ask first for help resolving this issue?
A
the project sponsor
The project sponsor wants the project to succeed and has enough authority to help you resolve issues, particularly with other stakeholders.
9
Q
You are the project manager for a healthcare system implementation project. The sponsor has asked you to create a project definition. What will the sponsor use this document for?
A
to decide whether to approve the project
By defining the project, the customer or sponsor can make an informed decision whether the project makes sense for the organization.
10
Q
Your project seems to be going off track, so you take action to resolve the problem. In which project management phase are you working?
A
Monitoring and Controlling
This phase checks on the status of the project and compares it to what was planned.
11
Q
The boss has asked you to research project management tools that will help with building and planning tasks on a timeline. Which type of tool would you most likely consider?
A
a scheduling program
Project managers typically use this tool to build and manage a project schedule.
12
Q
During which waterfall phase does the project manager bring the full team on board and orient them to the project and expectations?
A
executing
At the beginning of the executing phase, you kick off the project, get resources on board, and explain the rules for the project.
13
Q
Your organization runs numerous projects and wants to choose the most appropriate resources for each project team. Which of the following is the best tool for identifying project resources?
A
enterprise project management software
Enterprise project management software offers tools to find resources with the right skills and availability.
14
Q
You are hiring a new project manager to take over a project with several teams that often disagree on what they are supposed to do. Which competency would you feel is most important in a candidate for this situation?
A
strong leadership skills
This skill is needed to help guide and inspire the team to do the right things and work together.
15
Q
Which organizational factor is most important when you need to make a difficult decision?
A
the organization’s mission
When a project supports the organization’s mission, the project will likely get more support and resources, so the mission helps determine the best thing to do.
16
Q
Which of the following skills is not crucial for a project manager to possess?
A
accounting
Although project managers do need to understand aspects of finance, accounting skills can be provided by others.
17
Q
Camille wants to use the Agile approach on the project she will be managing. What significant benefit does the agile methodology provide?
A
The customer receives value from the project sooner.
One of the key benefits to an agile methodology is that the customer receives value sooner, because partial solutions are delivered on a regular schedule.
18
Q
A project that you manage is behind schedule. You have identified an approach that would get the project back on track, but it would require you to break one of your organization’s policies. What is the best course of action?
A
Determine if the rule is one that can be broken and come up with an alternative plan of action if your approach doesn’t work.
19
Q
Rosanne’s boss asks her to manage a project. Which question requires understanding of objectives, requirements, deliverables, and success criteria to answer?
A
How will you know when you are done?
20
Q
James is managing a project in which he has some authority to make decisions. In which type of organizational structure is James most likely managing this project?
A
a matrix organization
This organizational structure can be weak or strong, but does allow the project manager to have some authority to make decisions.
21
Q
What are the components that differentiate a project from operational work?
A
a unique goal, a temporary endeavor, and usually a budget
The definition of a project is “a temporary endeavor that has a unique goal and usually a budget.”
22
Q
What is not a required part of creating a project schedule?
A
Set a deadline for the project.
23
Q
Raghbir has done all the project planning and is ready to obtain stakeholders’ approval. However, the stakeholders are not co-located. What is the best possible approach for getting their approval?
A
Have a video conference with all stakeholders.
24
Q
Jivan is preparing an agenda for the project plan approval meeting. Which item should she not include in her agenda?
A
schedule the project definition meeting
The project definition meeting is held during the initiation phase of the project before the plan is created.
25
Angela is about to start the project plan for a financial system migration project. What information should she identify first because it drives most of the plan?
the work that must be done
26
Chloe is developing her risk management plan and wants to make sure that she can get early warning that a risk might occur. What is the key item she should document in her risk information forms?
the events that might trigger the risk
27
Candace is a new project manager and has asked for your help with the project budget. Which type of cost typically represents the largest portion of a project budget?
labor
28
You are building your project schedule. You have the tasks in the right sequence. What is the next step you should take?
Add the time that you estimate for each task.
29
Turkan is developing a resource management plan for his project. Which part of this plan articulates who makes decisions, who performs work, and who needs to receive status on the project?
responsibility matrix
30
Mei has obtained a graph showing duration data for past projects that follows a normal distribution. Which duration estimate provides the best chance for a project being selected and completed successfully?
the average of the worst-case value and the 50% probability value on the normal distribution
31
The IT department says that there are several products that do what the project needs. What is the most important thing that will help you choose the right product?
understanding your project needs
32
Madhukant's project includes testing software functions. Which part of the quality management plan would address the processes that will be used to ensure the software is meeting the standards?
quality assurance plan
33
Your coworker has to develop a cost estimate but is unsure which is the best one based on a bell curve of costs for past projects. What is a general practice for choosing the best estimate?
Choose a point halfway between the average and worst-case values.
34
Linde has a tight budget for her project. She needs to potentially seek outside sources. Which plan should she consult to understand the products or services that are available?
the procurement plan
35
Your boss is asking you to take on a reengineering project. The company hasn't run reengineering projects before, but has hired several project managers with reengineering experience. Which technique is best to use in this situation to estimate time and cost?
Delphi technique
36
This technique is best with large projects, in which major components are estimated and then broken down until reaching individual tasks.
top-down estimating
37
This technique refers to estimating each task and then adding them all until the estimate is determined for the entire project.
bottom-up estimating
38
Your client has just asked you to make changes to some features in the project. What would you do first?
Ask the client to document and submit a change request form.
39
The change review board can't get through all the change requests that are submitted. They want to focus on requests with significant impact. What process change would you propose to allow the review board to focus on significant changes?
Set thresholds so you or team leads can decide what to do with small change requests.
40
When would you create a work package document that describes the work to be done in explicit detail?
the assigned resource is inexperienced
41
The development team has encountered a problem with a software feature. They need to handle this problem quickly, but they can't make a face-to-face brainstorming session because they aren't local. Which alternative solution is best?
videoconferencing
42
Which factor is a test you can use to determine whether you have broken down the work to the right level?
The work package is between 8 and 80 hours to complete.
43
You have created a risk management plan for your project. Which type of response would you use if the scope was changed to remove a risky section of the project?
avoidance
44
George is building his work breakdown structure (WBS) to organize and distribute the project work to various departments. Which type of tasks would he use to represent a department's responsibility?
summary tasks
45
One risk to your schedule is that a hard drive with customized software fails and you lose the work that was done. Resources on the project team regularly back up their work so they can resume work quickly after a hard drive failure. What type of risk management strategy do backups represent?
risk mitigation
46
Which of the following skills is not crucial for a project manager to possess?
identifying deliverables
47
Izzy has finished identifying risks for her big project, but is unsure how to account for unknown risks from a time and cost perspective. What is the general practice most companies use for projects?
Set aside a percentage of the budget and project duration based on past projects. If you don't have past experience, use 15%.
48
Kendra has a project team of varying skills and experience. Since the WBS task names are short and may not be enough for the team members to know what to do, what should Kendra do?
Kendra should have her team leaders create work package documents.
49
The project customer and other stakeholders have approved your project plan. After you save the project baseline, those documents will be under the control of the _____.
change management process
50
Which type of dependency is most common in project schedules?
finish-to-start
This type of dependency is best here because it means the finish of one task controls the start of the next task.
51
Milestones can be used in many ways. What is not something that milestones do?
summarize schedule and cost performance
Milestones don't have duration or assigned resources, so they can't summarize cost. However, looking at only milestones does provide one type of high-level summary of the schedule.
52
A stakeholder project review meeting is estimated for a one-day duration. There are eight stakeholders. How many work hours do the stakeholders spend in this meeting?
64
53
What is not a required part of creating a project schedule?
what time people start working each day
54
You have quite the diversified team in experience, skills, and hours they work. Which best practice should you follow to help ensure your schedule is as realistic as possible?
Add notes to your schedule to document resource changes and the reasons for the changes.
55
Now that your project is underway, all resource assignments are running late. What is the likely cause?
not taking into account the hours that resources spend on non-project work each day
56
Which activity is not part of the Adapt stage?
Review what has been completed and what is still on the backlog to choose the features for the next iteration.
57
The Agile team is building and implementing features. The team lead runs a daily meeting to review the status on completed and incomplete work. Which Agile stage is the team in?
explore
This is the stage in which the team is working on the features assigned to the current iteration.
58
The customer has identified several new features since the original backlog was built. What do you do to address them?
At the beginning of the next iteration, re-estimate, reevaluate, and re-prioritize the backlog features to decide which ones to include in the iteration.
59
The Agile project management lifecycle _____.
includes activities similar to a Waterfall approach but performed in a different order and with different emphasis
60
What are the names for the stages in an Agile iteration?
speculate, explore, adapt
61
How can using an Agile approach help a company improve delivery?
by using an iterative approach to deliver value sooner
62
Which choice is not a characteristic of Agile project management?
no documentation
Agile projects produce less documentation than a traditional Waterfall approach. They do not totally eliminate documentation.
63
You need to resolve a serious disagreement over requirements between the project customer and another key stakeholder. What is the key communication technique to choose for this situation?
Hold a face-to-face meeting or videoconference.
64
Callahan just completed the planning phase. Now he needs to have a kickoff meeting with the team. What is not something covered in the kickoff meeting?
a detailed review of the project plan
65
Your project meetings run longer than planned and you're determined to start and finish them on time in the future. What technique would you implement to accomplish this?
Create an agenda with topics and time estimates so you can move topics that exceed their time to the parking lot to be handled later.
66
You have a project committee meeting with all stakeholders. What is the key step you need to take to make the meeting effective for the stakeholders?
Identify the purpose of the meeting and results you need from the stakeholders.
67
Your team asks a lot of questions about their assignments. Although they turn to you to make decisions, they sometimes test the boundaries of what they can do. What stage of team building are they in?
forming
A forming team isn't comfortable with what their goal is, so they ask a lot of questions. They need answers and direction. As they become more comfortable in their roles, they may challenge the project manager.
68
You are project managing a team of 10 people. Lately, one of your team members is not performing up to par. What is the least likely approach you should use to handle this situation?
Quickly find another team member to take over.
69
There's a conflict on Mack's virtual project team. Which approach is best to address the conflict?
a video or phone conference
70
A change request submitted by the project sponsor has an effect on several other projects within the organization. If the change request appears to be a positive addition to the project, who should you ask to approve the change request?
the organization's executive board
71
Camille receives a change request that will probably affect the project's business case. How should she manage this change?
She should have the customer approve the change request.
72
Pam owns several risks in a project. What is Pam's first action as a risk owner?
Proactively implement risk responses before the risks become issues.
73
What is a reason that you might not be able to tailor your project in some ways?
The project is in a highly regulated industry that has specific project management requirements.
74
What is not something you would tailor in a project?
the project objectives
75
Who applies the principles for effective project management?
anyone who works on projects
76
Which factor could directly affect the strategy and portfolio changes that the leadership team makes?
the value realized from project-related work
77
What is the initial driver for what the value delivery system does within an organization?
the organizational vision of senior leadership
78
Estimating a project using the Delphi technique is an example of which type of tool?
method
79
While each performance domain places on a specific topic, what is the overarching focus of all performance domains?
delivering outcomes, benefits, and value
80
What do you use to specify what will be tested in project acceptance tests?
Deliverables and success criteria
81
What is the core of the fairness value?
Act impartially and objectively.
82
PMI’s definition of the Respect Value is to do what for ourselves, others, and the resources entrusted to us?
Hold in high regard.
83
What are PMI's four ethical values?
responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty
84
To satisfy the responsibility requirement, what do you need to do?
Own what you do or don't do it.
85
According to PMI, what personal characteristics depend upon you always being honest?
your reputation and credibility
86
When a conflict surfaces, what do you need to do to demonstrate aspirational respect?
Directly approach the person with whom you have a conflict.
87
PMI's aspirational standards establish _____.
expectations we have of ourselves as individuals
88
What is a key aspirational fairness behavior when making decisions?
transparency about your decision making process
89
Aspirational honesty involves courageously sharing _____ even when it may be poorly received.
bad news
90
To fulfill the aspirational standard for responsibility, you should only accept assignments that _____.
are appropriate for your skills
91
What are the three major ethical concerns with using AI to help your research and writing?
lack of original thinking, accurate sharing of facts, and potential plagiarism
92
What should you do first if your organization has a practice that could compromise your ethical standing?
Share your concerns with management.
93
Does the law provide adequate guidance for our moral behavior as project managers?
No, there is inadequate case law for new technology, so we must follow our ethical values.
94
What are five steps of PMI's Ethical Decision Making Model?
assess the facts, consider alternatives, make an initial decision, apply PMI's ethics, decide
95
Which of these activities fall short of executing on the respect value?
Use your position to influence others for personal gain at their expense.
96
Travis is using a chatbot to create a report for a proposed project. What should he avoid when implementing AI?
Using the AI output presented
97
In order to achieve PMI's aspirational standards for respect, which approach should a project manager refrain from using?
Look the other way
98
Is it appropriate to place one ethical standard over another?
Yes, when supporting one ethical standard compromises upholding another standard
99
Imani is a project manager and applying the PMI ethical decision-making model. Which action should she take after making and evaluating an initial decision?
Apply PMI's ethics.
100
While Margo is leading a project, she is faced with an ethical and moral situation. What does PMI require managers to do in these cases?
Take ownership, make a decision, and accept the outcome.
101
A coworker is confronted with a situation that could affect their personal integrity. Which PMI aspirational standard for responsibility would you recommend they follow?
Always do what you say you will do
102
Which approach does not align with PMI's aspirational standards for honesty?
Take credit for a team's achievements
103
Which example goes against PMI's honesty value?
Provide information out of context
104
What prevents a project manager from overcoming the perspective-taking that is required with the fairness value?
acting subjectively
105
Soo-ah was just promoted to project manager. Which area should she focus on, as it relates to ethical behavior and social media?
What is shared in the work setting and on personal accounts
106
Project managers can treat aspirational standards from PMI as _.
Not optional
107
To manage requirements effectively, you’ll need to be prepared to answer the following questions:
Who are the stakeholders?
What do our stakeholders need?
How important is each requirement?
How will we deal with issues?
108
What are the steps involved in project requirements (10)?
Identify standards
Develop an elicitation plan
Identify stakeholders
Gather project requirements
Analyze requirements
Prioritize requirements
Create use cases
Document project requirements
Approve project requirements
Manage changes to requirements
109
Requirements are the key to justifying what part of a project?
Goals, budgets, and resources
110
As you develop project requirements, what will you need to do?
Define stakeholder needs, identify stakeholders, and resolve conflicts.
111
We _____ requirements by determining how important they are.
prioritize
112
Maintaining version numbers can help everyone ensure that they are using the _____ requirements document.
current
113
If you have a large project, how should you prioritize project requirements?
by a ranking system
A one-to-ten ranking by importance is better for large projects than a necessary/optional binary system effective with small projects.
114
Your project involves developing a new software. Which formal standard for requirements management must you comply with?
ISO, IEC, and IEEE 29148-2018
115
The two steps in the requirements approval process are to _____ and to get management approval.
validate requirements with stakeholders
116
What will you do first when the time comes to have your project requirements approved?
Provide the documentation to your stakeholders.
117
The requirements document formalizes the _____ for a project.
goals
118
_____ is focused on figuring out who will be involved, and how they will be affected, by a project.
Stakeholder analysis
119
When you are creating a requirements report, also known as a scope document, what is the second step you will take?
including background information
120
When you are creating a requirements report, also known as a scope document, what is the first step you will take?
creating an executive summary
121
Elicitation is another word for _____.
Gathering
122
Which attribute of project requirements deals with requirements that need to be modified or reviewed if they are not well defined?
Stability
123
When you are gathering project requirements from stakeholders, why is it important that you capture the exact words your stakeholders use?
to avoid biasing the requirements
124
What is the primary purpose of having project requirements?
They link the needs of your business to your customer as well as the project work you need to do.
125
Which choice is an effective way to elicit requirements?
Analyzing business data, observing and documenting how people work, asking questions in group sessions
126
Which organizations publish standards for project requirements?
ISO, IEEE, DLA
127
Why should you always incorporate versioning when changes are requested?
To ensure you have the latest version of the requirements report
128
When you are analyzing your stakeholders for influence and impact, which two factors are you measuring?
Influence is support for a project, and impact involves the project making a major change to the stakeholder's work or life
129
How can you achieve success in managing project requirements?
Be thorough and consistent
130
What do use cases help you illustrate?
How a process should work
131
You have properly identified your stakeholders. Which two plans will the analysis of these stakeholders help you create?
Elicitation and communication plans
132
What does a good requirements management process help to do?
Justify project resources, manage stakeholder expectations, and focus team efforts
133
How do you best describe a "use case"?
A story of how the solution should work when complete
134
The characteristics of project requirements are also called _____.
Attributes
135
Rafael has built an activity list for his project. What must he estimate in order to build his project schedule?
types and quantities of resources
136
You are developing a schedule management plan for your project. Which part of the plan determines when you will take action if the schedule goes off track?
variances from the approved schedule
137
Because milestones don't represent _____, you can add as many as you need to your schedule.
work effort
138
Felix needs to define a delay from the finish of one activity to the start of another and the delay does not represent work. What is the best way to model this situation?
Add lag from the dependency predecessor to the successor.
Lag defines a mandatory period of time between the completion of the predecessor and the start of the successor.
139
Maneet is building her project schedule by creating dependencies between activities. Which of the following must she define for each dependency?
predecessors and successors
The activities that control others are called predecessors. The controlled activities are called successors.
140
What is not an example of crashing a project?
replacing resources with less expensive alternatives
141
Which choice is not a best practice for sequencing activities?
Every task in a schedule, including the first and last task, should have at least one predecessor and one successor.
142
Kavita develops more accurate estimates as she learns more about her project. What is this approach called?
Rolling wave planning
143
Instead of a single tester, you have been given a team of three testers. What adjustment should you make to the activities that the testers will work on?
Increase your estimate to account for overhead.
144
Paulo's manager has requested a resource plan for his current project. What information should Paulo include in that plan?
all resources required, when they are needed, and a high-level estimate for when major sections of the project will occur
145
Getting to know your organization's procurement processes, planning for the time procurement takes, and _____ will help you get the best resources within your organization.
building relationships with your organization's resource managers
146
Which resource assignment variable most often remains the same when you create a resource assignment?
work
147
Work resources are best described as _____.
resources that you assign to activities by allocating their time
148
How does a baseline help you manage your project?
It provides a "line in the sand" compared to predicted costs.
149
How does compressing tasks shorten your project duration?
It allows for more than one person to complete a task.
150
What does budget accuracy refer to?
the correctness of the estimate
151
What will not help you refine your project estimate?
your project sponsor
152
Most debates around stakeholder expectations involve _______.
competing constraints
153
It is important to understand how your organization categorizes capital versus ________ costs.
operating
154
What is management reserve?
funding to address unexpected issues not identified in risk mitigation
155
What is variance?
when what you spend varies from your budget plan
156
What is earned value?
the costs you allocated to tasks delivered at any point
157
You need to understand data sources and analyze cost information to produce what project artifact?
budget reports
158
Why is it important to understand the timing of payments when purchasing equipment?
If a purchase varies from when you planned to spend that money, you can appear to be over or under budget.
159
What is the formula for calculating the cost performance index?
earned value divided by the actual cost (EV/AC)
160
What PMI call brief chart quickly conveys your budget status?
Information radiators
161
What are the four elements of quality?
Prevention, Appraisal, Internal Failure, External Failure
162
What potential problem can surface when using accounting months to track costs?
Accounting months don’t always align with calendar months, so statistics can be skewed.
163
Using frameworks and assessments for teams can help you be a better _____.
communicator, leader, and project manager
164
According to the Tuckman model, successful teams go through the stages of Forming, Storming, Norming and ____.
Performing
165
In a weak matrix organization, members of a project team have their performance reviews and compensation decisions made by a ______.
functional manager
166
The Bridge’s Model describes the emotional response to a change as the ________ .
transition
167
The four main domains of Clifton’s strengths are Strategic Thinking, Relationship Building, Influencing, and ______.
Executing
168
A "D" personality type in the DISC profile is a ______.
Dominant
169
There's a residential building that adjoins a construction site you're managing. Into which communication category do the residents of that building fit?
spectators
Unless there is a legally authorized oversight role, the neighbors are spectators.
170
Why is a stakeholder communication plan simpler to lay out than an event communication plan?
Stakeholder plans can be anticipated more easily than events.
Stakeholders are free to change their communication preferences, but their preferences can be updated. New events can occur without any warning.
171
Why is informal communication necessary?
Formal communication often omits crucial details.
172
Which situation requires formal, written communication?
a payment request to an infrequent client
173
Why is one-way communication susceptible to misinterpretation?
There is no feedback.
174
After vowing to remain calm, which action should be your first when confronting a stakeholder with a grievance?
Ask the stakeholder for illustrative examples.
175
Why is it important to be concise with executive stakeholders?
Details can obscure the primary message.
176
What is the maximum number of participants who should be in a meeting to solve the excess solvent problem in a manufacturing plant?
5
Three-to-five participants are optimal for a work-group meeting.
177
What should be your first step in writing a document?
List ideas.
178
What are the advantages of a sketch or diagram over text?
A sketch can be more engaging and concise than text.
179
Which stakeholder register entry is inadequate?
consultant, data manager, document specialist, marketing leader
consultant
180
When Tom presents a complex and convoluted message to you, you should _____.
rephrase the message and ask Tom to elaborate on the rephrased version
181
What is the purpose of every item in the SHARKS mnemonic?
to execute an agenda efficiently
182
What is the most common impediment to communication in cross-functional teams?
specialized jargon
183
Which method of communication should you use for an emotionally charged and complex topic?
face-to-face
184
Which quadrant receives the most careful, yet frequent communication?
high power, high interest
185
What is meant by "noise" in the message?
ambiguity or imprecision
186
The four main elements of emotional intelligence are self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and _____.
relationship management
187
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classifies people into how many different categories?
sixteen
188
Lencioni describes the "absence of trust" as one of the _____ of a team.
dysfunctions
189
According to the Situational Leadership model, a high task and high relationship style is called _____.
coaching
190
According to Tates' Work Styles Assessment, what category of people are most focused on the sequential steps in a process?
Planners
191
Which statement about the critical path is not accurate?
The critical path is the sequence of activities that are most important to the project customer.
192
What is the critical path?
The critical path is the longest continuous sequence of activities with zero total float from project start to project finish.
193
The critical path is most helpful when you are trying to _____.
shorten the project schedule
The critical path is most helpful when you are trying to shorten the project schedule, because any change you make to complete a critical activity earlier will make the project finish earlier as well.
194
Which approach helps you model people's workloads more accurately?
work contours
Contours represent how work levels can vary over the duration of assignments, such as starting slow and ramping up to full time. Using contours more closely matches how people work on an assignment than assuming someone is always fully allocated.
195
Drew needs to balance a person's workload and has located another person with the skills to do some of the work. What advantage does replacing the resource on some activities have over other methods for balancing workloads?
The schedule often doesn't lengthen.
When the replacement has the right skills and is available when work is scheduled, this approach often allows the affected activities to occur when originally scheduled, which means the project schedule would not lengthen.
196
If an activity sequence extends beyond its buffer, then you can start using the _____ buffers in the same way to protect the project finish date.
phase
The purpose of a phase buffer is to provide contingency at points in a project when multiple activity sequences merge.
197
Anika is managing a project that shows signs of drifting off schedule. Which project factor would she typically not adjust to get the project schedule back on track?
quality
Quality is the factor that is rarely adjusted because it can cause other problems that endanger the project.
198
Santino regularly watches for early signs of schedule issues. What is the most important reason for performing this project management activity?
He can take corrective action before the issue gets out of control.
Taking corrective action early is the most effective way to keep a schedule on track with the least amount of effort and resources.
199
Kevin is managing a project in which the finish date is crucial and the budget is set in stone. What can he adjust to make all the project factors balance?
project scope
Scope, time, and cost are the triple constraints that can be a manipulated on a project.
200
What are the triple constraints that can be manipulated on a project?
Scope, time, and cost
201
Zoey asks resource managers for less expensive resources for her project. She makes this choice because _____ is more important than the _____ for this project.
cost; schedule
Less expensive resources will reduce cost and could prolong the schedule.
202
What is the most effective way to improve the quality and integrity of project schedules?
conduct schedule quality reviews
Quality reviews of the schedule provide an excellent way to identify issues that decrease the quality and integrity of your schedules, so you can correct not only the current schedule, but also build better schedules in the future.
203
Kumar adds a "finish no later than" date constraint to his schedule. Two activities now show that they will finish later than the project complete milestone. How can he address this negative slack?
Change the critical threshold setting to the lowest total slack value in the schedule.
204
Maurice creates a baseline for his project schedule in order to _____.
compare actual progress to what you planned
205
What does it mean if an activity's total float is greater than zero?
The activity can delay without delaying the project finish.
206
Rajesh notices that the developer on his project has worked 25 fewer hours than planned. What should he do?
Determine the problem to resolve the issue.
207
If the predecessor in a start-to-start dependency ends very late, what problem arises?
The successor may be scheduled to finish before the predecessor.
208
What is the advantage of applying contours to activities in project schedules?
Attempted correct option
It more accurately reflects how work gets done.
209
If you're willing to accept some additional risk, _____ is an easy way to shorten the project schedule.
fast-tracking
210
As Kat works on her project schedule, she asks colleagues to provide optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely estimates for some of the activities. Which estimating method is she using?
PERT
211
When Hal is estimating timing for his project activities, which approach would he begin with?
iterative
212
Which variables will Annika use when assigning resources to activities on her project schedule?
duration, work, and resource availability
213
Alex needs to break down his project into work packages. What do these represent in a work breakdown structure?
lowest-level deliverables
214
In the project Brook is managing, a short and very important activity is scheduled to occur midway through a long activity. The same resource is assigned to both. Which type of adjustment works best to resolve the overallocation in this situation?
splitting
215
Fiona's project team includes a part-time programmer who works mornings. Due to others' availability, she has a status meeting for the entire team scheduled in the afternoon. What should she do?
Ask the part-time programmer whether they can work when the meeting is scheduled.
216
Haley determines that when the course outline is complete, the online template can be created. How should she define the dependency type between these two activities for her project schedule?
finish-to-start
217
Jamal's project team is not yet in place, but he is working on his project schedule. How can he show the project's resource requirements?
List generic resources.
218
Why might Maria decide to add milestones to each reporting period in her project?
to see progress
219
Sylvia is developing several schedules for a large, complicated project. Which type of schedule would she share with stakeholders to provide them an overview of the work?
a summary schedule
220
Nyala has several tasks for project meetings in her schedule. Which resource assignment variable should she specify as fixed?
duration
221
Jiaying's stakeholders indicate that their project must finish one week earlier than scheduled. Which tasks should she focus on crashing in order to shorten the schedule?
tasks on the critical path
222
Geoffrey is told to bring down the cost of the project, even if it takes longer to complete. What is one way he can do this?
Eliminate overtime.
223
What is the benefit to Jorge when he defines activities for his project schedule?
It is easy to estimate, schedule, and manage work.
224
Trina's company uses accounting months rather than the calendar months by which she tracks projects. How can this affect her budget, and what should she do?
The numbers may not match up, so she needs to align her numbers with Accounting.
225
Ganesha knows that there are unexpected costs relating to quality that arise during a project. Given this fact, what should he focus on most?
external failure
226
Levon is creating his initial estimate. To correctly produce a budgetary estimate, what must he clarify besides scope, requirements, availability of resources, and material costs?
costs to address risks
227
If Haruto wants to track unexpected costs as his project is being executed, then what should he use?
time-based cost allocation
228
Sarai is creating a budget for a project that has four activities. How should she approach this as a first step in her Work Breakdown Structure?
the number of hours required to complete the activity and the skill level of the individuals doing each activity
229
Thuy is an experienced construction project manager. What has she learned over the years about budgetary estimates?
An accurate estimate cannot be made until unknown costs are known.
230
Nadia included a 10% risk contingency in her estimate for the ABC Corp project. The labor strike for which she added the contingency did not occur. What should she do with the 10% contingency funds?
Keep them in the project budget in case some other unexpected risk arises.
231
Four weeks into Bea's ten-week project, 30% of the project's duration has passed and 30% of the budget has been spent. However, only 15% of the work has been completed. What does this mean to Bea?
She must complete 85% of the work with only 70% of the budget.
232
Mason is receiving emails from two investors in a serious disagreement over quality furnishings versus price on a hotel project. What is the first step that Mason should take to ease their tension?
Engage the assistance of the project sponsor.
233
As project manager, why would Elena utilize metrics with all facets of her project?
It is how she can understand variances in her project's progress.
234
What is the primary purpose of a Project Management Risk Plan?
It provides stakeholders an understanding of the risk management activities to be performed, along with the purpose or desired outcomes of your risk related activities.
235
Cacia is preparing a risk management plan. What should she use to communicate and set expectations for each team member's responsibilities?
Cacia will use a matrix tool to document the roles, responsibilities, and risk-related activities for each team member.
236
How does conceptual ambiguity create issues for your project?
This is when a sentence can be interpreted more than one way such that, without clarification, your project could head the wrong way.
237
Why do we manage the uncertainty that generates risks?
Because uncertainty leads to issues, and uncontrolled, they can kill your project.
238
Laetitia is preparing to lead a risk identification workshop for her small project. What should she do once the team has identified all the risks?
The next step in the workshop is for Laetitia's team to classify the risks into groups for further analysis and response actions.
239
In what circumstances would you accept a threat risk?
for risks that have a low probability of occurring or won't impact your project very much
240
What is the primary way to understand your stakeholder's risk appetite?
by asking specific questions
Specific questions to stakeholders reveal the risk tolerance you can manage.
241
Why is it important to tell your sponsor when you dip into contingency reserves?
It is important to let your sponsor know when you dip into contingency so your sponsor is aware of what’s happening with the project.
242
Marvin does not have enough time or funds to mitigate every risk, so he needs to analyze only the most important risks on his project. What are the two key parameters to consider for analyzing a risk?
the impact on the project if the risk occurs and the probability that it will occur
243
Why is it considered a risk trigger when a stakeholder group submits frequent change requests?
This is an indicator of changing business conditions, or that stakeholders didn’t devote adequate focus on compiling their requirements.
244
Aanihyn determines that her project has estimation optimism. What type of risk trigger is this, and what must she do?
It is a current risk trigger, and she needs to replan with updated task efforts.
245
Why is it important to understand any audit activities or compliance requirements pertinent to your business?
Because it is possible that products from your project may require a compliance review or will need to be tested against audit requirements.
246
Why does the project manager have to own every risk that exists for the project?
The project manager does not typically own every risk. Each risk should be assigned to an owner who would be best at identifying when the risk might be evolving into an issue.
247
If you're using new technology or are dealing with a stakeholder set that doesn't provide detailed requirements, why do you want to address those areas early in your project lifecycle?
Waiting to address areas of uncertainty is risky. As you progress, technology could prove to be inappropriate, or agreements on requirements may never happen.
248
Why do you want to maintain an up to date one page project purpose and status summary document?
It makes it easier to deal with new stakeholders, and the quicker you get to them and discuss the project, the fewer changes you'll have to deal with.
249
Your coworker is leading a project in which the requirements are unclear. What tip would you suggest they follow to reduce uncertainty and risk?
Take the time to ask questions.
250
In what circumstances would you deploy an exploit strategy for an opportunity risk?
when you can take advantage of an opportunity by ensuring it happens
251
How is it possible for the project manager to manage unknown unknowns?
The project manager can focus on impacts. While an unknown unknown means the event won't be anticipated, the impacts on the project are not a mystery. Cost, schedule, or scope will be affected.
252
Why do you apply systems based complexity reduction processes on a project?
It allows you to simplify technical approaches by individually dealing with smaller component functions.
253
Atticus is responsible for managing the risk appetite and tolerances for his project. What will help Atticus be more effective with risk mitigation?
Determine the ranking of risk appetite.
254
Lagan has chosen to change the scope of a project and remove the obstacle. What strategy is he using to manage the threat?
eliminate
255
How can task level risks become project level risks?
Task level risks can become project risks if they go unmanaged or undetected.
256
Caleb is managing a project and wants to specifically examine what opportunities and threats there might be with one of the deliverables. What approach would he most likely use?
Consider various outcomes.
257
What is required for an optimal risk response?
It should be appropriate for the risk's significance, cost-effective, and realistic.
258
Why don't project managers try to mitigate all risks on a project?
Because you don't have enough time or money to mitigate all risks.
259
For a project to have success, who must engage in the project work and outcomes?
the project stakeholders
260
You are creating a list of people who are stakeholders for your project. Who would be the key stakeholder?
a project sponsor
261
Which type of stakeholder mapping technique would best be used for managing change and communication?
direction of influence
262
You have a stakeholder who shows up to meetings, but does not provide any input. Which type of stakeholder is this?
neutral
263
Gordon is leading a project software implementation for his company. Halfway through the project, the company merges with another company. How can Gordon be a supportive leader in this situation?
by looking at the bigger picture
264
Your project sponsor wants to understand why some of the stakeholders are upset that certain requirements may not be implemented. Which document will help you explain the situation in more detail?
a requirements traceability matrix
265
Taraj interviewed her stakeholders concerning requirements for a project. What is important for her to understand?
the business need and the reason behind the requirements for the project
266
Yaneek is working on her stakeholder engagement process. What is the first step she needs to take in this process?
Use the stakeholder engagement assessment matrix.
267
There are many reasons that a project can fail. But what is the primary reason for project failure?
inadequate sponsor support
268
You have been working on a long, challenging project, but you sense some stakeholder resistance. What approach should you start with to address the situation?
Use your emotional intelligence to evaluate the resistance.
269
Daniel is putting together a spreadsheet with data that includes stakeholder names, titles, departments, main requirements, underlying business needs, level of authority or influence, level of interest, and communication preferences. What is this spreadsheet called?
a stakeholder register
270
What aspect of a small project can actually make a small project more difficult than a larger project?
there are fewer members on a small team to do what might be the same amount of work
271
272
What are deliverables?
The tangible results from a project.
273
When you create a Statement of Work to be approved by your customer what are you creating?
The Statement of Work, also called the Scope Statement, is a formal description of the project's deliverables and the project's scope.
274
Why would a project manager build contingency time into a project schedule?
to provide a buffer because estimates are not always accurate
275
What is the role of a customer in the ideal kick-off meeting?
talking about the goal and why the project is important
276
A task in your project schedule took a week longer than estimated. If you have set up four weeks of contingency time how will you deal with the delay?
remove one week from the contingency time
277
A team member has requested a change to the project to add a feature to the machine you are building. What is the first question you will ask yourself in evaluating the change request?
Does the change support the overall objective of the project?
278
When asking your team for status updates, what are two key measures you should be tracking?
the finish date and the cost
279
A stakeholder has requested a new feature and you have determined that the change is an appropriate addition to the project. What must you estimate for the request?
the hours it will take to implement, how it impacts the project schedule, the cost of implementing the change
280
When it is time to send off your deliverables for sign-off, and the project has specific specifications, what is the first step in seeking sign-off?
making sure the acceptance tests have been run
281
When a project manager provides tangible results to a customer the project manager is providing _____.
deliverables
282
Among the various things a project manager does as he or she moves a project along, what would be a recurring task?
holding status meetings
283
In a normal distribution, 90% probability of success lies halfway between the _____ and _____ duration.
most likely; worst case
284
What is the most compelling reason to regularly evaluate progress against the project plan?
so you can respond to any issues that arise
285
How should you schedule tasks for the work required on a small project?
Divide the work into small tasks.
286
When you are managing a small project what should you always do when seeking status updates from your team members?
make the update process as easy as possible
287
The _____ is a formal description of a project's deliverables and scope.
Statement of Work
288
What is the "balancing act", also known as the "triple constraint", in managing a small project?
scope, time, and cost
289
The customer has signed-off on the project and you are setting your "lessons learned" meeting. Why might your team members be less than enthusiastic about attending the "lessons learned" meeting?
your team members are ready to move on to the next project
290
When you prioritize responses to problem, what items must you still respond to but you can add the problem to your schedule to be worked on later?
not urgent and important
291
The three legs of the PMI Talent Triangle are Technical Project Management, _____, and Strategic & Business Management.
Leadership
292
Project managers need to mitigate every possible risk.
FALSE
293
Strategy is primarily concerned with day-to-day business issues.
FALSE
294
What three perspectives can be used to justify the need for a project?
Operational, strategic, tactical
295
The Triple Constraints are _.
Scope, time, and cost
296
Reducing turnover leads to _____.
higher retention
297
Three common process improvement approaches are Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints, and _____.
Lean
298
Projects are how businesses implement _____.
changes
299
Six Sigma is a process improvement method that focuses on eliminating _____.
variation
300
What can good customer service reduce?
customer acquisition costs
301
The _____ describes why a customer would benefit from buying your product or service.
value proposition
302
Project managers can calculate a risk index using the probability and _____ of a risk.
impact
303
Project goals should always be _____.
specific
304
What is another name for an income statement?
P&L statement
305
SMART project goals should try to be _____.
realistic
306
An NPV Analysis can show the expected amount of money that a project will _____.
generate
307
What is the difference between scope and requirements?
Scope describes all the project work, but requirements describe the final product.
308
What are the essential elements of a scope baseline?
key deliverables, assumptions, constraints, and work breakdown structure
309
Which activity is an example of gold plating?
adding unnecessary product capabilities
310
What are the best ways to anticipate change and guarantee success?
to monitor progress and keep communicating with the customer
311
A project manager is presented with vague and inadequate project requirements. What should be the project manager's first step?
Ask for clarification and details of the requirements.
312
How could a project manager best practice strong project management in the presence of expanding stakeholder demands?
by listening to all stakeholders, but not necessarily complying with their requests
313
Which role does a Change Agent play in a change initiative?
Plan how the change will be effectively delivered.
314
Carlo has bought in to the change. How can you motivate Carlo to further acceptance and problem solving?
Encourage Carlo to forward his suggestions to the rest of the team.
315
A project your team has been working on for two months is about to undergo a major change. Using the Kubler-Ross Model, what can you anticipate after the team goes through confusion and depression?
Acceptance
316
LiJean is disappointed by a new process that would make her last month's work obsolete. How should you approach LiJean to get past her denial and gain her commitment in making the change work?
Acknowledge her concerns, confirm that the change is going to proceed, tell her she is valuable, and then ask for her commitment.
317
Huan is so overwhelmed by a change she is considering resigning. Which step should you take to help Huan deal with her confusion and depression?
Offer the assistance and support of the Change Agent.
318
Tyree is resistant to a planned change because he feels he does not have the new skills needed.
Provide training opportunities that he can take advantage.
319
Magda is personally resistant to a coming change that will reduce her leadership role on the team. How can you best encourage her to become an active and willing participant?
Make sure she understands the value she has to the team.
320
Which process would touch upon all four of Kolb's learning styles if you were introducing a new software package for your project team?
Offer a choice of hands-on training, a lecture based on a manual, and computer-based simulation.
321
When you communicate a change to your stakeholders, what is meant by channel and frequency?
Channel is providing information the way a stakeholder prefers. Frequency is the type of information you need to share, such as updates.
322
In which change management approach do you have the early realization of benefits?
the pilot study component of the Agile approach
323
ABC Corp. is implementing a change to its project delivery process. Which factor would most likely lead stakeholders to be skeptical about the change being rolled out effectively?
organizational history
324
During a team meeting about a new process, Ramon wants to talk about his reduced role as task leader. Which technique is likely to complicate rather than resolve Ramon's resistance to the change?
letting him continue talking about his reduced role
325
Anton is still in denial about a change based on a previous experience. He expresses his negativity in front of the team during a workshop. How should you deal with Anton?
Let him know you appreciate his concerns. Then, provide him a couple days to coalesce his input and hold a follow-up meeting.
326
You are leading a facilitate workshop. When you validate an attendee's perspective, you are _____.
being empathetic
327
What is likely to occur in the Storming stage of Tuckman's Model of Team Development? And as a leader, what will you have to do?
There will be conflict brewing, so you have to build harmony between the team members.
328
How does resolving conflict in the Norming stage differ from resolving conflict in the Storming stage in Tuckman's Model of Team Development?
A leader allows the team to work through it in the Norming stage, while the leader helps the team work through the Storming stage.
329
Why should a leader adopt an almost completely hands-off approach at the Performing stage of Tuckman's Model of Team Development?
The team is competent and cohesive by this stage.
330
Which is the final step in the negotiation process regarding a change?
reviewing execution of any agreements
331
In which stage of Tuckman's Model of Team Development does a leader need to take on an affiliative approach?
Storming
332
Which is the most important takeaway from Herzberg's Hygiene Factors regarding motivation with a project team?
Provide recognition for individual achievement and offer additional responsibilities.
333
Sofia had been demoted from her position as team leader through no fault of her own. In light of the theories of motivation, how can you best motivate Sofia to continue working on the team?
Recognize Sofia's contributions, and provide her with an opportunity to take on a new role.
334
A project has just received a change order from the customer that management approved. How will you inform your stakeholders of the change?
Pass the information on in the way the stakeholder communication plans intend for the information communicated.
335
As far as internal stakeholders are concerned, which is the most important thing a project manager must do before disbanding the project team?
Communicate to the stakeholders that the project is complete and the team is being disbanded.
336
At which point in a change is the highest risk to business units?
delivery
337
During a facilitated workshop, you see a team member arguing loudly with the facilitator about roles. Which action can you take as project manager to ease the conflict?
Provide information you have in your role, that the facilitator would not have to address the member's concerns.
338
Team building takes place in the _____ stage of the Project Lifecycle.
Definition
339
Who is most likely to encounter operational resistance?
Project Managers and Department Heads
340
You consider yourself an activist. Which learning style most aligns with being an activist?
Concrete Experience
341
The acronym CPIG, as applied to segmenting your stakeholders into categories, stands for what?
Customers, Providers, Influencers, Governance
342
Your team has worked for three months only to see a change that will make all their work moot. How can you deal with the obvious ensuing demotivation of your team?
Remind the team that they have your trust, and that you appreciate their abilities to handle the change.
343
If you are using a scoring system for the driving forces of change, which are you scoring?
the pressure exerted by stakeholders driving the change and resisting the change
344
You are leading a new project team. You have studied the Tuckman Model of Team Development, so what can you anticipate from the team members in the Forming stage?
There will be little challenge from the team.
345
There will always be resistance to change. At which stage in the Project Lifecycle will resistance be fully overcome?
Delivery
346
There is a new leadership structure on your team that you know will shock the team members. Which is the most effective way to deal with the shock when you deliver the news?
Deliver the news to each member face-to-face.
347
If you encounter a team member expressing anger over a change, how should you respond?
Remove blame and clarify the reason for the change.
348
Cy is offering counter suggestions to the change that is coming. How should you deal with this Bargaining stage?
Let him know his concerns are welcome, and have a manager meet with him.
349
At which point in the change lifecycle do you need to gain the commitment of team members for a new process?
when you are preparing for the change
350
