04-Integration Management Flashcards
The need for is one of the major driving forces for communication in a project. A. Optimization B. Integrity C. Integration D. Differentiation
Answer C
Explanation The project manager is an integrator. This is a question about your role as an integrator and communicator
The customer has accepted the completed project scope. However, the lessons learned required by the project management office have not been completed. What is the status of the project?
A. The project is incomplete because it needs to be replanned.
B. The project is incomplete until all project and product deliverables are complete and accepted.
C. The project is complete because the customer has accepted the deliverables.
D. The project is complete because it has reached its due date.
Answer B
Explanation Replanning is uncalled for by the situation described. Reaching the planned completion date does not mean the project is necessarily finished. A project is complete when all work, including all project management work, is complete and the product of the project and all project deliverables are accepted. The lessons learned are project management deliverables, and therefore must be completed for the project to be complete.
When it comes to changes, the project manager's attention is BEST focused on: A. Making changes. B. Tracking and recording changes. C. Informing the sponsor of changes. D. Preventing unnecessary changes.
Answer D
Explanation Project managers should be proactive. The only proactive answer here is preventing unnecessary changes
The customer on a project tells the project manager they have run out of money to pay for the project. What should the project manager do FIRST?
A. Shift more of the work to later in the schedule to allow time for the customer to get the funds.
B. Close Project or Phase.
C. Stop work.
D. Release part of the project team.
Answer B
Explanation Every project must be closed, as closure provides benefit to the performing organization. This means simply stopping work is not the best choice. Shifting work and releasing team members do not solve the problem—they just postpone dealing with it. The best thing for the project manager to do is begin the Close Project or Phase process
All of the following are parts of an effective change management plan EXCEPT: A. Procedures. B. Standards for reports. C. Meetings. D. Lessons learned.
Answer D
Explanation A change management plan includes the processes and procedures that allow smooth evaluation and tracking of changes. Lessons learned are reviews of the processes and procedures after the fact, to improve them on future projects.
A work authorization system can be used to:
A. Manage who does each activity.
B. Manage when and in what sequence work is done.
C. Manage when each activity is done.
D. Manage who does each activity and when it is done
Answer B
Explanation Who does each activity is managed with the responsibility assignment matrix. When each activity is done is managed with the project schedule. A work authorization system is used to coordinate when and in what order the work is performed so that work and people may properly interface with other work and other people.
7. A project is plagued by changes to the project charter. Who has the primary responsibility to decide if these changes are necessary? A. The project manager B. The project team C. The sponsor D. The stakeholders
Answer C
Explanation The sponsor issues the project charter and so he or she should help the project manager control changes to the charter. The primary responsibility lies with the sponsor.
Effective project integration usually requires an emphasis on:
A. The personal careers of the team members.
B. Timely updates to the project management plan.
C. Effective communication at key interface points.
D. Product control.
Answer C
Explanation This question is asking for the most important of the choices. Think about what is involved in integration: project management plan development, project management plan execution, and integrated change control. Updates and product control are parts of project monitoring and controlling, while integration includes more than control. Advancing the careers of team members falls under project executing (the Develop Project Team process). In order to integrate the project components into a cohesive whole, communication is key whenever one activity will interface with another or one team member will interface with another, and when any other form of interfacing will occur.
Integration is done by the: A. Project manager. B. Team. C. Sponsor. D. Stakeholders.
Answer A
Explanation Integration is a key responsibility of the project manager.
Which of the following BEST describes the project manager’s role as an integrator?
A. Help team members become familiar with the project.
B. Put all the pieces of a project into a cohesive whole.
C. Put all the pieces of a project into a program.
D. Get all team members together into a cohesive whole.
Answer B
Explanation Integration refers to combining activities, not team members.
Approved corrective actions are an input to which of the following processes? A. Validate Scope B. Direct and Manage Project Work C. Develop Project Charter D. Develop Schedule
Answer B
Explanation Direct and Manage Project Work is the only correct response.
Double declining balance is a form of: A. Decelerated depreciation. B. Straight line depreciation. C. Accelerated depreciation. D. Life cycle costing.
Answer C
Explanation Double declining balance is a form of depreciation. That eliminates the choice of life cycle costing. The choices of decelerated depreciation and straight line depreciation are also incorrect because double declining balance is a form of accelerated depreciation.
Which of the following BEST describes what a project charter may be used for when the work is being completed?
A. To make sure all the team members are rewarded
B. To help determine if a scope change should be approved
C. To assess the effectiveness of the change control system
D. To make sure that all the documentation on the project is completed
Answer B
Explanation One of the ways to decide if a change should be approved is to determine whether the work falls within the project charter. If not, it should be rejected, assigned to a more appropriate project, or addressed as a project of its own
Which of the following BEST describes a project management plan?
A. A printout from project management software
B. A bar chart
C. Risk, human resource, process improvement, and other management plans
D. The project scope
Answer C
Explanation The project management plan includes more than just a bar chart and the project manager’s plan for completing the work. It includes all the management plans for the project.
Which of the following is TRUE about the development of a project charter?
A. The sponsor creates the project charter, and the project manager approves it.
B. The project team creates the project charter, and the PMO approves it.
C. The executive manager creates the project charter, and the functional manager approves it.
D. The project manager creates the project charter, and the sponsor approves it.
Answer D
Explanation The project manager may create the project charter, but it is approved and authorized by the project sponsor, giving the project manager authority to proceed with the project.
A project management plan should be realistic in order to be used to manage the project. Which of the following is the BEST method to achieve a realistic project management plan?
A. The sponsor creates the project management plan based on input from the project manager.
B. The functional manager creates the project management plan based on input from the project manager.
C. The project manager creates the project management plan based on input from senior management.
D. The project manager creates the project management plan based on input from the team.
Answer D
Explanation If we were to rephrase the question, it would be asking, “Who creates the project management plan?” The best answer is that the project management plan is created by the project manager but requires input from the team.
You are taking over a project during project planning and discover that six individuals have signed the project charter. Which of the following should MOST concern you?
A. Who will be a member of the change control board
B. Spending more time on configuration management
C. Getting a single project sponsor
D. Determining the reporting structure
Answer B
Explanation Determining who will be on the change control board and determining the reporting structure may have already been done. In any case, these choices are not directly impacted by the number of sponsors who have signed the charter. Having a single project sponsor is not necessary. This situation implies that there are six areas concerned with this project. In addition to added communications requirements, you should be concerned with competing needs and requirements impacting your efforts on configuration management.
The project manager is working to clearly describe the level of involvement expected from everyone on the project in order to prevent rework, conflict, and coordination problems. Which of the following BEST describes the project manager’s efforts?
A. Develop Project Management Plan and Plan Quality Management
B. Manage Stakeholder Engagement and Direct and Manage Project Work
C. Validate Scope and Control Quality
D. Identify Risks and Develop Project Team
Answer A
Explanation Notice that this question uses the words “working to clearly describe” and “prevent!’ Taken together, they should tell you the project is in project planning. This eliminates all choices except Develop Project Management Plan and Plan Quality Management. Coordination and conflict prevention relate to Develop Project Management Plan, and preventing rework is part of Plan Quality Management.
All of the following are parts of the Direct and Manage Project Work process EXCEPT: A. Identifying changes. B. Using a work breakdown structure. C. Implementing corrective actions. D. Setting up a project control system.
Answer D
Explanation A WBS is created in project planning, but can be used to help manage the project during project executing. The wording here was not “creating a WBS,” but “using a WBS.” A project control system is set up during project planning, not during project executing, and therefore is the exception
A project manager is appointed to head a highly technical project in an area with which this person has limited familiarity. The project manager delegates the processes of Develop Schedule, Estimate Costs, Define Activities, and Estimate Activity Resources to various project team members, and basically serves as an occasional referee and coordinator of activities. The results of this approach are likely to be:
A. A team functioning throughout the project at a very high level, demonstrating creativity and commitment.
B. A team that initially experiences some amounts of confusion, but that after a period of time becomes a cohesive and effective unit.
C. A team that is not highly productive, but that stays together because of the work environment created by the project manager.
D. A team that is characterized by poor performance, low morale, high levels of conflict, and high turnover.
- Answer D
Explanation A project manager must manage and integrate all aspects of a project. If all activities are delegated, chaos ensues and team members will spend more time jockeying for position than completing activities.
You are in the middle of executing a major modification to an existing product when you learn that the resources promised at the beginning of the project are not available. The BEST thing to do is to:
A. Show how the resources were originally promised to your project.
B. Replan the project without the resources.
C. Explain the impact if the promised resources are not made available.
D. Crash the project.
Answer C
Explanation Crashing and replanning are essentially delaying the situation. Instead, the project manager should try to prevent the situation by showing the consequences if the resources are not available. This is a more effective strategy than saying, “But you gave them to me.”