Stakeholders

Question 1

1. You are efficaciously managing a business automation project, and most of the
   deliverables were delivered on time by the team members. This project is extremely
   critical as it will drastically cut down the time and cost of regular business activities for
   several departments. Stakeholders and customers have articulated their satisfaction
   with the project, but you were also criticized for the number of changes made in the
   project. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the project problem?
   A. You failed to identify some of the key stakeholders in your project.
   B. You should have more project management training and experience.
   C. Change Control Board (CCB) members approved almost all of the change requests.
   D. The project should have had a better change control system.

Answer 1

1. A: The root cause of the significant number of changes in the project is that some of the key stakeholders were not identified and their requirements were not captured. These missing stakeholders have submitted several change requests to accommodate their needs. Nothing in this scenario advocates that the project manager does not have the required project management training and experience. A vigorous change control board will be efficiently evaluating the change requests to approve or reject them, but they cannot really help with the number of changes a project will have.

Question 2

2. You are in the Monitor Stakeholder Engagement process of evaluating and monitoring
   overall stakeholder relationships and ensuring stakeholders’ appropriate engagement in
   the project by adjusting plans and strategies as required. Which one of the following is
   an important input to the Monitor Stakeholder Engagement process?
   A. Customer register
   B. Project charter
   C. Change control log
   D. Issue log

Answer 2

2. D: The issue log is an important input to the Monitor Stakeholder Management process as a project document. An issue is an obstacle that threatens project progress and can block the team from achieving its goals. An issue log is a written log document to record issues that require solutions.

Question 3

3. You are in the Plan Stakeholder Management process of defining an approach to
   manage stakeholders throughout the entire project life cycle as per their interest,
   impact, importance, and influence over the project. Which of the following is an input to this Plan Stakeholder Management process?
   A. Impact/power grid
   B. Stakeholder register
   C. Stakeholder engagement assessment matrix
   D. Conflict log

Answer 3

3. B: The stakeholder register is an input to the Plan Stakeholder Management process as a project document.

Question 4

4. You are in the Manage Stakeholder Engagement process and are focused on meeting and exceeding the stakeholders’ expectations by continuously communicating with them, clarifying and resolving their issues, addressing their concerns, and improving project performance by implementing their change requests. Which of the following is a
tool & technique used in this process?
A. Interpersonal skills
B. Change log
C. Issue log
D. Stakeholder management plan

Answer 4

4. A: An interpersonal skill is a crucial tool & technique used in the Manage Stakeholder
   Engagement process.

Question 5

5. You are assigned as a project manager for one of the most imperative and strategic
   projects in your organization. As the stakeholders will play a vital role in the success of
   your project, you are trying to identify all your internal and external stakeholders. In
   which project management process group will you identify stakeholders in your project?
   A. Initiating
   B. Initiating and planning
   C. All process groups
   D. Planning and monitoring & controlling

Answer 5

5. C: Stakeholders can be identified throughout the project management process groups of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring & controlling, and closing. In order to determine the requirements and expectations of the stakeholders, they should be
   identified and should be involved at the beginning of the project as much as possible.
   If all the stakeholders’ needs and requirements are not taken into consideration prior to plan finalization, the results may be very expensive changes or dissatisfaction later in the
   project.

Question 6

6. You have been managing a government railway project and dealing with several
   stakeholders. You have spent a considerable amount of time identifying all your internal and external stakeholders and their interest, influence level in your project, and their key
   expectations. Managing stakeholder expectations is the responsibility of which party?
   A. Since the project manager alone cannot manage all the stakeholders on a complex,
   large project, the project manager and project team together are responsible for
   managing stakeholders’ expectations.
   B. Project sponsor, as this individual funds the project and has greater control over the
   stakeholders.
   C. Stakeholders should make sure that their expectations are managed appropriately
   and that they receive the required information on the project as needed.
   D. This is the responsibility of the project manager alone.

Answer 6

6. D: The project manager is responsible for managing stakeholder expectations.

Question 7

7. You have thirteen stakeholders in the construction project that you are overseeing.
   Your initial study about these stakeholders tells you that most of them will actively
   support your project to be successful, but you have a couple of stakeholders who may
   deleteriously impact your project. There is one specific stakeholder you are particularly concerned about as he is known to be exceptionally critical about the way the project managers in the organization manage projects. He also has the reputation for requesting many changes in projects and antagonistically pursuing his demands. You realized that you need to be meticulous in dealing with this stakeholder and plan to take which of the following approaches:
   A. Carefully eradicate the need of this stakeholder and remove him from the
   stakeholder list.
   B. Have a discussion with the stakeholder’s boss and find a way to make the
   stakeholder support the project positively by not being too critical and aggressive.
   C. Simply deal with the stakeholder and refuse his requests for changes.
   D. Involve this stakeholder in the project as early as possible and work closely with him
   throughout the project.

Answer 7

7. D: The project manager simply cannot remove the stakeholder from the stakeholder list since he has a stake in the project. It will be best to involve this stakeholder in the project as early as possible and work closely with him throughout the project to understand his requirements and expectations and gain his constructive support.

Question 8

8. A trustworthy, senior team member informs you that two of the stakeholders are very apprehensive about the ERP project you are overseeing. The first stakeholder is very panicky that once the ERP is implemented in his department a lot of people will lose their jobs. The second stakeholder is skeptical about the capability of the team to
   implement such large, multifaceted project. As the project manager, what should you do
   in this kind of situation?
   A. Set up a meeting with these two stakeholders and discuss their concerns.
   B. Report to the sponsor about these two stakeholders.
   C. Set up a question-and-answer session about the project and invite all the
   stakeholders.
   D. You should send an official e-mail to the stakeholders asking them to direct any
   queries about the project in writing to you.

Answer 8

8. A: An informal verbal communication by setting up a meeting with these two stakeholders and discussing their concerns should be the best approach here. Reporting to the sponsor without much detail about these two stakeholders will not solve any real problem. Since not all stakeholders have concerns, setting up a question-and-answer session about the project with all the stakeholders will not be appropriate. Sending an official e-mail to the stakeholders asking them to direct any query on the project in writing to the project manager will most probably estrange them.

Question 9

9. While analyzing stakeholders in your project, you identified one stakeholder who is
   so formidable and influential that he forced the team to implement many of his last
   minutes change requests in one of the previous projects. There is also a common
   understanding that he used his influence to dismiss a very important project during
   executing in the past. What will be your BEST course of action with such a persuasive
   stakeholder?
   A. Involve this stakeholder as little as possible in the project.
   B. Involve this stakeholder from the very beginning and closely manage him.
   C. Give highest priority to his expectations, concerns, and issues.
   D. Get approval from the sponsor to remove this stakeholder from the project.

Answer 9

9. B: The project manager simply cannot remove the stakeholder from the stakeholder list since he has a stake in the project. It will be best to involve this stakeholder in the project as early as possible and work closely with him throughout the project to understand his requirements and gain his constructive support

Question 10

10. You are assigned as a project manager to implement an ERP solution for one of the
    retailers in your area. Currently, you are working on identifying stakeholders and their
    level of involvement, roles, and responsibilities. Who will be able to help the team the
    MOST to identify what roles the stakeholders will play and how and what they will
    contribute to the project?
    A. The sponsor
    B. Senior management
    C. Functional managers
    D. Stakeholders

Answer 10

10. D: Stakeholders will be able to help the project manager and team members the most in identifying what roles they will play in the project. The project manager will decide how and what kind of contributions stakeholders will make in the project by discussing with team members, the sponsor, and stakeholders. The project manager should evaluate the knowledge and skill sets of stakeholders in order to identify stakeholders’ roles and have a discussion with them to make sure that they approve the roles.

Question 11

11. Due to time and budget constraints, senior management decided not to include
    the requirements of several stakeholders in a project. The project manager finalized
    the project management plan, but encountered significant challenges in receiving
    formal acceptance. The stakeholders were extremely upset and tried every possible
    way to include their requirements in the project as it would take several years for the
    organization to initiate another project to implement their desired functionalities. After
    several attempts, the project was finally approved and initiated a couple of months ago. Which of the following preventive actions should the project manager NOT consider in this case?
    A. Make sure that the stakeholders will not use the change control process as a mean to add their requirements.
    B. Document what is out of scope and in scope in the project.
    C. Review and confirm the requirements that will be out of scope in the project with
    the stakeholders.
    D. Develop a stakeholder register and stakeholder management strategy.

Answer 11

11. C: As the project was approved and work was begun, the issue should not be a concern anymore. Having further meetings with the stakeholders will be excessive and will not add any real value.

Question 12

12. Steve is trying to figure out whether a stakeholder is at an “unaware” state or not so
    that he can identify required actions and communication needed to minimize the
    gap between the desired and actual level of engagement of this stakeholder. Which
    of the following is a tool to assess the current and desired state of engagement of a
    stakeholder on the project?
    A. Stakeholder analysis
    B. Issue log
    C. Stakeholder register
    D. Stakeholder management plan

Answer 12

12. A: Stakeholder analysis is a tool used to identify and document any actions needed to manage stakeholders.

Question 13

13. You are reviewing the stakeholder management plan and communications
    management plan and focusing on meeting and exceeding the stakeholders’
    expectations by continuously communicating with them, elucidating and resolving
    their issues, addressing their apprehensions, and improving project performance by
    implementing their change requests. Which stakeholder management process are you
    in at this time?
    A. Monitor Stakeholder Engagement
    B. Manage Stakeholder Engagement
    C. Plan Stakeholder Management
    D. Identify Stakeholders

Answer 13

13. B: All these activities typically belong to the Manage Stakeholder Engagement process.

Question 14

14. You are overseeing a web-based application project to automate the business process of one of your clients. You are working on identifying all the internal and external stakeholders who have interest in your project and can positively or negatively
    impact your project. While identifying the stakeholders, you realize that stakeholder
    identification is:
    A. To be focused only on stakeholders who will contribute positively to your project:
    B. To be completed in the initial stage of the project life cycle
    C. A responsibility of the project sponsor
    D. To be carried out throughout the project life cycle

Answer 14

14. D: Stakeholder identification will persist throughout the project life cycle. As the project proceeds through each phase, additional stakeholders may become involved while others will be released from the project. Some stakeholders will be identified during the initiating phase in the project charter, while other stakeholders may only be interested in the end product and will be involved only at the closing phase.

Question 15

15. Stakeholder management necessitates all of the following EXCEPT:
    A. Giving stakeholder extras if needed to meet and exceed their expectations
    B. Identifying both internal and external stakeholders
    C. Assessing stakeholders’ skills, knowledge, and expertise
    D. Identifying stakeholders’ influence-controlling strategies

Answer 15

15. A: Giving stakeholder extras or gold plating should always be avoided. Gold plating is not the preferred way of meeting and exceeding stakeholders’ expectations.

Question 16

16. You are overseeing a project to build a plant for a semiconductor company. You have completed your internal and external stakeholder identification and have come up with
    a list of thirteen stakeholders for the project. You expect that most of the stakeholders
    will play an affirmative role in the project and will contribute significantly. While working
    on your project management plan, you were notified by one of the team members that
    a stakeholder from the automation department is missing in the published stakeholder
    list. What will be your best course of action in this situation?
    A. Add the stakeholder in your stakeholder list immediately and update everyone.
    B. It is too late to add any more stakeholders and consider their requirements, so ignore
    the stakeholder.
    C. Validate the information received from the team member.
    D. Set up a meeting with the stakeholder and the team member.

Answer 16

16. C: Before you take any other step, you should validate the information received from the team member.

Question 17

17. You identified all people who would be impacted by the project and documented
    relevant information regarding their interests, expectations, involvement, and influence on the project success in a stakeholder register. The stakeholder register will NOT be used as an input to which of the following processes?
    A. Collect Requirements and Plan Scope Management
    B. Plan Risk Management and Identify Risks
    C. Plan Quality Management and Plan Communications Management
    D. Develop Project Charter and Perform Integrated Change Control

Answer 17

17. D: The stakeholder register will be used as an input to the Collect Requirements, Plan Scope Management, Plan Risk Management, Identify Risks, Plan Quality Management, and Plan Communications Management processes. It is not an input to the Develop Project Charter, and Perform Integrated Change Control processes.

Question 18

18. Your company, ITPro Consultancy, has assigned you as the project manager to upgrade the call center in your organization. The number of calls the customer support agents have to answer each month has increased drastically in the last five months, and the phone system is approaching the maximum load limit. While identifying the stakeholders, you realize that there are more than 180 potential stakeholders, 19 team members, and 6 different vendors that you will need to deal with. What will be your BEST course of action?
    A. Have an urgent meeting with the sponsor and request him not to include some of
    the stakeholders.
    B. Identify an effective approach to determine the needs of all stakeholders.
    C. Identify the key stakeholders and concentrate only on their needs.
    D. Report to the management that the project is too large to manage by one person.

Answer 18

18. B: In order to minimize numerous changes later in the project, you need to identify all stakeholders and their needs as early as possible. Stakeholder analysis will be a more complicated task if there are numerous stakeholders and an effective way to determine their needs must be identified.

Question 19

19. Project stakeholder management consists of processes to identify the internal and
    external stakeholders, determine their expectations and influence over the project,
    develop strategies to manage them, and effectively engage them in project execution
    and decision. Which one of the following is the key objective of the stakeholder
    management?
    A. Keeping the stakeholders happy and satisfied
    B. Maintaining a robust communication with all stakeholders
    C. Keeping a positive relationship with all stakeholders
    D. Establishing a good coordination among stakeholders

Answer 19

19. A: Keeping stakeholders happy and satisfied is the main objective of the stakeholder management. Maintaining a robust communication, keeping a positive relationship, and establishing a good coordination will collectively contribute to achieve stakeholder satisfaction.

Question 20

20. You are in the process of evaluating and monitoring overall stakeholder relationships and ensuring stakeholders’ appropriate engagement in the project by adjusting plans and strategies as required. The work performance data that is an input to this Control Stakeholder Engagement process usually comes from:
A. Validate Scope
B. Perform Integrated Change Control
C. Monitor and Control Project Work
D. Direct and Manage Project Work

Answer 20

20. D: All work performance data comes from executing process group. In this case, work performance data comes as an output of the Direct and Manage Project Work, an executing process.

Question 21

21. A stakeholder register includes all of the following items EXCEPT:
    A. Stakeholder classification: Internal/external, neutral/resistor/supporter, and others.
    B. Identification information: Name, title, location, organization, role in the project,
    position, and contact information.
    C. Assessment information: Key requirements and expectations, potential impact,
    importance, and influence on the project.
    D. Strategies: The strategies to interact with stakeholders.

Answer 21

21. D: The strategies to interact with the stakeholders are included in the stakeholder management plan, not in the stakeholder register.