Exam Part 3

Question 1

When you are tasked with “project knowledge management,” what type of project knowledge is it that you are managing?

1. Tacit Knowledge
2. Knowledge of the project’s requirements
3. Both Tacit and Explicit Knowledge
4. Explicit Knowledge

Answer 1

Answer: Both Tacit and Explicit Knowledge

Overall explanation

Project knowledge management through the lens of the Project Management Institute, involves the management of both objective information (explicit) and subjective information (tacit). While explicit knowledge is structured and fixed (e.g. “the facts”), tacit knowledge is personal and context specific (e.g. feeling or judgment). Knowledge of the project’s requirements is handled via the documentation of requirements, which is one example of explicit knowledge, but isn’t the only knowledge you are tasked with managing on a project.

Question 2

Susan is putting together three agile teams to address the project she’s just been assigned to. Of the following, which fits into the ideal number of people that she should have on each team?

1. 11
2. 2
3. 10
4. 5

Answer 2

Answer: 5

Overall explanation

Agile teams focus on rapid product development so they can obtain feedback. In practice, the most effective agile teams tend to range in size from three to nine members. Ideally, agile teams are colocated in a team space. Team members are 100% dedicated to the teams. Agile encourages self-managing teams, where team members decide who will perform the work within the next period’s defined scope. Agile teams thrive with servant leadership. The leaders support the teams’ approach to their work.

Question 3

Which of the following is not a baseline that should be included in the project management plan?

1. Schedule
2. Scope
3. Management Reviews
4. Cost

Answer 3

Answer: Management Reviews

Overall explanation

While a management review could theoretically be baselined by comparing subsequent reviews to the first one done, the three baselines that should be included in every project management plan are the scope baseline, the schedule baseline and the cost baseline.

Question 4

Brad has been decomposing work packages to develop the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for his new underground railroad (subway/tube) station project. When he shows the first draft to his project owner, he advises that it’s missing such deliverables as Project Scope Statement, Assumptions Log and Risk Register. Which role’s work package did Brad neglect to include in his WBS?

1. Business Analyst
2. Business Process Owner
3. Project Manager
4. Project Sponsor

Answer 4

Answer: Project Manager

Overall explanation

The WBS represents all product and project work, including the project management work. The total of the work at the lowest levels should roll up to the higher levels so that nothing is left out and no extra work is performed. This is sometimes called the 100 percent rule.

Question 5

After closing a project out, the deliverables go to the end users. What happens to the project records?

1. They become part of the Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs)
2. They become part of the Organizational Process Assests (OPAs)
3. They’re taken by an auditing team
4. You hand them off to the next project manager

Answer 5

Answer: They become part of the Organizational Process Assests (OPAs)

Overall explanation

They become part of the Organizational Process Assests (OPAs). Things like Lessons Learned and Close Reports may provide valuable insights to everything from forensic audits of the project to other project managers. But you don’t ever just give the project assets to other teams or departments; you ensure they become part of the organization’s core knowledge so that anyone in future may access and benefit from it.

Question 6

While writing his Risk Management Plan, Steve’s been interviewing project stakeholders and recording various of their responses to his questions regarding how much variance from what’s planned they’ll accept. For example, the project sponsor is okay if the budget is never more exact than plus or minus 25% of its current forecast, while an Information Systems stakeholder will not accept any deviation from the technical requirements that she provided to the RFP process the project undertook. In the meantime, the portfolio steering committee has made it clear they will be tolerant of a 4% change in budget from what’s forecasted. Which output of the Risk Management Plan is being described here?

1. Risk Management Plan
2. Stakeholder risk appetite
3. Reporting Formats
4. Definitions of risk probability and impacts

Answer 6

Answer: Stakeholder risk appetite

Overall explanation

Stakeholder risk appetite. The risk appetites of key stakeholders on the project are recorded in the risk management plan, as they inform the details of the Plan Risk Management process. In particular, stakeholder risk appetite should be expressed as measurable risk thresholds around each project objective. These thresholds will determine the acceptable level of overall project risk exposure, and they are also used to inform the definitions of probability and impacts to be used when assessing and prioritizing individual project risks.

Question 7

Jake’s just received word from two project stakeholders that there are changes needed to the project scope or the widget they’re making won’t meet customers’ needs. Jake now must follow the perform integrated change control process to handle the scope change requests. Which project document is he definitely going to need to update as part of this process?

1. Milestone List
2. Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM)
3. Change Log
4. Quality Metrics

Answer 7

Answer: Change Log

Overall explanation

Any formally controlled project document may be changed as a result of this process. A project document that is normally updated as a result of this process is the change log. The change log is used to document changes that occur during a project. While it’s true that if the scope changes are approved that Jake may need to come up with different use cases for his RTM, or different quality metrics to account for the new scope or new milestones to add to his existing milestone list, none of those documents are to be updated as part of performing integrated change control processes. The purpose of these processes is simply to shepherd the requested change through to its conclusion.

Question 8

Which of the following is not an Interpersonal and Team Skill used to Develop a Project Charter?

1. Facilitation
2. Conflict Management
3. Focus Groups
4. Meeting Management

Answer 8

Answer: Focus Groups

Overall explanation

Facilitation: the ability to effectively guide a group event to a successful decision, solution, or conclusion. Conflict Management can be used to help bring stakeholders into alignment on the objectives, success criteria, high-level requirements, project description, summary milestones, and other elements of the charter. Meeting Management: includes preparing the agenda, ensuring that a representative for each key stakeholder group is invited, and preparing and sending the follow-up minutes and actions. On the other hand, Focus Groups are a way to gather data for the project charter, during which you may use any of the other three - the interpersonal and team skills - to elicit what you need from the focus group.

Question 9

Holding’s Holdings is a land development firm currently negotiating a contract with an electrical contractor to do all of the cabling work for all of the houses in a new subdivision it’s building. In the past, Holding’s Holdings has experienced problems with vendors they contract with farming the work out to other companies, and not getting the results they had expected. So this time around, they make it clear to the new electrical contractor that they are to perform all the cabling work that’s in the contract themselves. Which professional services delivery method is this an example of?

1. buyer/ services provider with subcontracting allowed
2. joint venture between buyer and services provider
3. buyer/ services provider acts as the representative
4. buyer/services provider with no subcontracting

Answer 9

Answer: buyer/services provider with no subcontracting

Overall explanation

Once the make-or-buy analysis is complete and the decision is made to acquire from outside the project, a procurement strategy should be identified. The objective of the procurement strategy is to determine the project delivery method, the type of legally binding agreement(s), and how the procurement will advance through the procurement phases. For professional services, delivery methods include: buyer/services provider with no subcontracting, buyer/services provider with subcontracting allowed, joint venture between buyer and services provider, and buyer/services provider acts as the representative. In the case of this question, the correct answer is buyer/services provide with no subcontracting, because Holding’s Holdings doesn’t want any of the work “farmed out.”

Question 10

Kelly is identifying which of her assigned project team members has the most experience with her organization’s financial software, as she’s been tasked with a project to replace it with a newer product. Her company holds a training on the software every three months and keeps note of who’s taken the training in personnel files. Which type of OPA can Kelly use to identify the resource she needs?

1. Organizational standard policies, processes, and procedures
2. Formal knowledge-sharing and information-sharing procedures
3. Personnel administration
4. Organizational communication requirements

Answer 10

Answer: Personnel administration

Overall explanation

One of the Organizational Process Assets (OPAs) available to Kelly as undertakes the management of project knowledge is Personnel administration. These types of OPAs include, for example, employee development and training records, and competency frameworks that refer to knowledge-sharing behaviors.

Question 11

It’s Ruth’s next task to perform quantitative risk analysis on the various critical tasks and activities within the project she’s managing, and she feels the best way for her to do so is to provide and explain a tornado diagram at next week’s steering committee meeting. What type of analysis is Ruth planning to undertake?

1. Decision tree
2. Simulation
3. Sensitivity
4. Monte Carlo

Answer 11

Answer: Sensitivity

Overall explanation

The Monte Carlo analysis is one type of a Simulation analysis and the decision tree involves alternate project paths drawn like tree branches. One typical display of sensitivity analysis is the tornado diagram, which presents the calculated correlation coefficient for each element of the quantitative risk analysis model that can influence the project outcome. This can include individual project risks, project activities with high degrees of variability, or specific sources of ambiguity. Items are ordered by descending strength of correlation, giving the typical tornado appearance.

Question 12

All of the following statements are true of a project charter EXCEPT:

1. It documents business needs, assumptions and constraints.
2. It formally authorizes the project or phase and authorizes project manager.
3. It documents high-level requirements to satisfy stakeholder needs.
4. A document that contains a detailed plan and guidance for training required as part of the project.

Answer 12

Answer: A document that contains a detailed plan and guidance for training required as part of the project.

Overall explanation
This defintion is for a training plan. At the point at which you’re writing a project charter - before the project’s even begun - you don’t have a firm enough grasp on the solution you’ll be implementing to project what kind of training will be required.

Question 13

All of the following are outputs of the Control Quality process EXCEPT:

1. Change requests
2. Work performance information
3. Organizational process assets updates
4. Quality control measurements

Answer 13

Answer: Organizational process assets updates

Overall explanation

Organizational process assets updates is an output of controlling risks. The outputs of controlling quality are: Quality control measurements, Verified deliverables, Work performance information, Change requests, Project management plan updates and Project documents updates.

Question 14

How many processes are there mapped to the Process Groups and Knowledge Areas?

1. 49
2. 50
3. 40
4. 45

Answer 14

Answer: 49

Overall explanation

Refer to the matrix displayed in this module for a complete review of the processes and how they are mapped to all Process Groups and Knowledge Areas.

Question 15

The very first of a Project Manager’s 7 responsibilities is to develop the project charter. What is the next major milestone that you as a Project Manager are expected to deliver?

1. Project Change Request
2. Risk Management Plan
3. Work Breakdown Structure
4. Project Management Plan

Answer 15

Answer: Project Management Plan

Overall explanation

While all of these are indeed project deliverables required at one point or another in the project life cycle, they are not all authored by the project manager, nor are they all major milestones. The Project Management Plan is both, as well as being the very next focus point of the Project Manager, whose Work Breakdown Structure, project schedule and other related artifacts will all become necessary components of said plan.

Question 16

Lucius is writing a benefits management plan and one of the biggest reasons his company wants to undertake the project to redesign their customer-facing website is the first target benefit he includes: to provide their customers with an enhanced user experience that results in a 20% increase in positive customer feedback from their next customer satisfaction survey. This is an example of which type of target benefit?

1. Tangible
2. Cost-Based
3. ROI
4. Intangible

Answer 16

Answer: Tangible

Overall explanation

Target benefits are the expected tangible and intangible business value to be gained by the implementation of the product, service, or result. ROI the calculation of Return On Investment and Cost-Based is not a valid measure of a target benefit.

Question 17

The project manager may serve as an informal _____________ by educating the organization as to the advantages of project management with regard to timeliness, quality, innovation, and resource management.

1. teacher
2. ambassador
3. liaison
4. trainer

Answer 17

Answer: ambassador

Overall explanation

A professional project manager may choose to orient and educate other professionals regarding the value of a project management approach to the organization. The project manager may serve as an informal ambassador by educating the organization as to the advantages of project management with regard to timeliness, quality, innovation and resource management.

Question 18

In which of the project management processes will you find stakeholders engaging with the project for the first time?

1. Plan Scope Management
2. Develop Project Charter
3. Develop Project Management Plan
4. Identify Risks

Answer 18

Answer: Develop Project Charter

Overall explanation

While stakeholders are engaged throughout every phase of the project, and can be involved in all of the project management processes, inputs and outputs, the first time a stakeholder engages with the project is during the Initiation process of Develop Project Charter.

Question 19

Your project has undergone two change orders and you need to gain an understand of how those together have impacted the original baselined project budget solidified during Planning. Which of the following variance analysis formulas would you use?

1. VAC = BAC - EAC
2. CPI = EV/AC
3. CV = EV - AC
4. SV = EV - PV

Answer 19

Answer: CV = EV - AC

Overall explanation

SV = EV - PV Schedule Variance = Earned Value - Planned Value VAC = BAC - EAC Variance at Completion = Budget at Completion - Estimate at Completion CPI = EV/AC Cost Performance Index = Earned Value - Actual Cost CV = EV - AC Cost Variance = Earned Value - Actual Cost

Question 20

For which project management process can the Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) be both an Input and an Output?

1. Identify Stakeholders
2. Create WBS
3. Plan Procurement Management
4. Determine Budget

Answer 20

Answer: Plan Procurement Management

Overall explanation

As an input, you are potentially using the RTM to inform your Procurement Management Plan, whereas the results of decisions that are made within the Plan Procurement Management process may require you to update your RTM with new information. The RTM is not typically created yet at the time you’re identifying stakeholders, and while it may help inform the processes required to create a WBS and determine a budget, the RTM is not an output of either of those procesess.

Question 21

Organizational process assets (OPAs) and Enterprise environmental factors (EEFs) can both have influences on your organization’s project management. What are other possible influences?

1. Organizational structures
2. All of these
3. Organizational cultures and styles
4. Organizational communications

Answer 21

Answer: All of these

Overall explanation

Any organization, while not necessarily always to the negative, is influenced by all five of these factors to some degree, both operationally and in the management and execution of projects.

Question 22

The project life cycle is organized into four phases that are typically sequential. How do the costs and staffing levels of a project change from the beginning to the middle to the end of the project throughout the life cycle?

1. The staffing is higher at the very end of a project because of what had to be done to complete it, so costs are higher, too.
2. Both costs and staffing levels start low and stay low until the end of Executing a project and then remain high through completion.
3. Both costs and staffing levels start low, increase rapidly, and decrease.
4. Costs and staffing are both higher at the beginning of a project because of unknowns.

Answer 22

Answer: Both costs and staffing levels start low, increase rapidly, and decrease.

Overall explanation

Project trends show that the highest output of cost and staffing occur in Executing, though the ramp-up to get there is slow. In addition, changing the project scope or project outcome costs a lot more over time.

Question 23

Estuardo’s project team is evaluating risks during a facilitated workshop. As the Project Manager, he’s concerned that everyone is calling out the risks they’re naming as high impact but they don’t seem to be able to determine how likely it is that each will occur. He speaks with the facilitator and they agree that the stakeholders need a visual representation of this risk probability and impact assessment to get everyone on the same page regarding the risks they’ve called out. What Project Management Process are Estuardo and his team engaged in?

1. Implement Risk Responses
2. Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis
3. Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis
4. Plan Risk Responses

Answer 23

Answer: Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis

Overall explanation

Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis is the process of prioritizing individual project risks for further analysis or action by assessing their probability of occurrence and impact as well as other characteristics. In contrast, Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis is the process of numerically analyzing the combined effect of identified individual project risks and other sources of uncertainty on overall project objectives. And finally, Estuardo’s team cannot plan or implement responses to risks when they have not yet agreed upon what those are or the likelihood and impact of them.

Question 25

There are four types of risk, and within each of those types are sub-categories. All of the following are examples, or sub-categories, of external risks EXCEPT:

1. Competitors
2. Suppliers
3. Acts of God
4. Technology

Answer 25

Answer: Technology

Overall explanation

External risks are: Regulatory, Competitors, Suppliers, Customer and Acts of God. Technology is one of the sub-categories under the Technical type of risk.

Question 26

Rosa is very good at tailoring both traditional and agile tools, techniques and methods for each project she’s engaged to manage, and she takes the time needed to plan and prioritize diligently even if it sometimes puts her at odds with teammates or sponsors who want to do work first and ask questions later. Which of the three project manager competencies from the Talent Triangle does Rosa demonstrate?

1. Strategic and Business Management
2. Technical Project Management
3. Leadership
4. Agile Project Management

Answer 26

Answer: Technical Project Management

Overall explanation

According to research. the top project managers consistently demonstrated several key technical project management skills including, but not limited to, the ability to: Focus on the critical technical project management elements for each project they manage. This focus is as simple as having the right artifacts readily available. At the top of the list were the following: Critical success factors for the project, Schedule, Selected financial reports, and Issue log. Tailor both traditional and agile tools, techniques, and methods for each project. Make time to plan thoroughly and prioritize diligently. Manage project elements, including, but not limited to, schedule, cost, resources, and risks.

Question 27

Katsu really wants the risk workshop he’s scheduled to be successful, because he knows there are a lot of risks inherent in the project he’s managing. Add to that the fact that the project’s two most impacted stakeholders have historically not gotten along well and he’s understandably nervous about the outcome. What is the one factor mentioned in the Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis process section in the PMBOK, that Katsu could add to his risk workshop to increase effectiveness of the meeting?

1. Risk Owner
2. Business Analyst
3. Skilled Facilitator
4. Project Sponsor

Answer 27

Answer: Skilled Facilitator

Overall explanation

To undertake qualitative risk analysis, the project team may conduct a specialized meeting (often called a risk workshop) dedicated to the discussion of identified individual project risks. The goals of this meeting include the review of previously identified risks, assessment of probability and impacts (and possibly other risk parameters), categorization, and prioritization. A risk owner, who will be responsible for planning an appropriate risk response and for reporting progress on managing the risk, will be allocated to each individual project risk as part of the Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis process. The meeting may start by reviewing and confirming the probability and impact scales to be used for the analysis. The meeting may also identify additional risks during the discussion, and these should be recorded for analysis. Use of a skilled facilitator will increase the effectiveness of the meeting.

Question 28

Philippe is asked to complete a Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix. He discovers that all of the identified stakeholders he can label as Neutral, as they are neither supportive nor unsupportive of the project. However, there is one stakeholder who, when he sits down to meet with them, isn’t even aware of the project or its impacts. How should Philippe label that particular stakeholder in his matrix?

1. unaware
2. resistant
3. leading
4. supportive

Answer 28

Answer: unaware

Overall explanation

A stakeholder engagement assessment matrix supports comparison between the current engagement levels of stakeholders and the desired engagement levels required for successful project delivery. The engagement level of stakeholders can be classified as follows: -Unaware. Unaware of the project and potential impacts. -Resistant. Aware of the project and potential impacts but resistant to any changes that may occur as a result of the work or outcomes of the project. These stakeholders will be unsupportive of the work or outcomes of the project. -Neutral. Aware of the project, but neither supportive nor unsupportive. -Supportive. Aware of the project and potential impacts and supportive of the work and its outcomes. -Leading. Aware of the project and potential impacts and actively engaged in ensuring that the project is a success.

Question 29

As you and your team assess project risks, you learn that there are two vulnerabilities in the current version of a piece of software you have already selected as your chosen solution. Because the software vendor is already aware of these vulnerabilities, they agree to to manage the risk and to bear the impact if your company is affected by these risks before they release security patches to address them. What is this strategy for handling threats called?

1. accept
2. avoid
3. transfer
4. escalate

Answer 29

Answer: transfer

Overall explanation

Transfer involves shifting ownership of a threat to a third party to manage the risk and to bear the impact if the threat occurs. Risk transfer often involves payment of a risk premium to the party taking on the threat. Transfer can be achieved by a range of actions, which include but are not limited to the use of insurance, performance bonds, warranties, guarantees, etc. Agreements may be used to transfer ownership and liability for specified risks to another party.

Question 30

Tammy is so focused on managing the 98 members of her project team that when Accounting advises that she left the resource cost estimate out of her submitted project budget, she realizes that she never created this type of plan, within which all of those estimated resource hours and amounts would have been documented.

1. Scope Management
2. Schedule Management
3. Resource Management
4. Budget Management

Answer 30

Answer: Resource Management

Overall explanation

The resource management plan provides information on rates (personnel and other resources), estimation of travel costs, and other foreseen costs that are necessary to estimate the overall project budget.

Question 31

As Ginger prepares her construction project team for an in-depth analysis of the feasability of using the existing concrete slab and embedded plumbing for the new retail store they’re going to build in the site of a previous owner whose company went out of buisness, a report comes in from an on-site inspector indicating that while the concrete slab is in good enough shape to support another structure, the sewage and water pipes embedded in the concrete are in the early stages of disintegrating. Which of the following types of internal EEFs is now going to result in Ginger’s project having to replace all of the pipes before they can begin building the new store?

1. Employee capability
2. Resource availability
3. Infrastructure
4. Geographic distribution of facilities and resources

Answer 31

Answer: Infrastructure

Overall explanation

The Enterprise Environmental Factor Ginger’s dealing with is Infrastructure. Examples include existing facilities, equipment, organizational telecommunications channels, information technology hardware, availability, and capacity.

Question 32

Esther’s project is tasked with changing the material her company uses to manufacture outdoor welcome mats, so that each mat costs $1.85 apiece to manufacture. In addition, the project sponsor wants the new manufacturing techniques to start in February of the new year, which means all of the research has to be completed during the winter holiday season when many employees take time off. What are these two paramters (cost and timing) Esther’s project has to manage within, called?

1. requirements
2. constraints
3. deadlines
4. scope

Answer 32

Answer: constraints

Overall explanation

Tailoring is necessary because each project is unique; not every process, tool, technique, input, or output identified in the PMBOK® Guide is required on every project. Tailoring should address the competing constraints of scope, schedule, cost, resources, quality, and risk. The importance of each constraint is different for each project, and the project manager tailors the approach for managing these constraints based on the project environment, organizational culture, stakeholder needs, and other variables. The cost limitation and the schedule limitation are both constraints for Esther’s project.

Question 33

Magnus has inherited a project that was handled from inception as a predictive life cycle project. However, he quickly discovers through trial and error that the stakeholders don’t exactly know what they want until they see it, and decides it would be better to provide them with the first part of the new toy car they’re building, then add the next bit of functionality (remote control) to it, followed by the ability for it to climb over obstacles in its path, then to spread hidden wings out from its sides and finally to launch itself into the air and fly. The team agrees that each milestone can be met in 3 months. What type of project life cycle is Magnus switching to?

1. Adaptive
2. Hybrid
3. Iterative
4. Incremental

Answer 33

Answer: Incremental

Overall explanation

In a predictive life cycle, the project scope, time, and cost are determined in the early phases of the life cycle. Any changes to the scope are carefully managed. Predictive life cycles may also be referred to as waterfall life cycles. -In an iterative life cycle, the project scope is generally determined early in the project life cycle, but time and cost estimates are routinely modified as the project team’s understanding of the product increases. -Iterations develop the product through a series of repeated cycles, while increments successively add to the functionality of the product. -In an incremental life cycle, the deliverable is produced through a series of iterations that successively add functionality within a predetermined time frame. The deliverable contains the necessary and sufficient capability to be considered complete only after the final iteration. -Adaptive life cycles are agile, iterative, or incremental. The detailed scope is defined and approved before the start of an iteration. Adaptive life cycles are also referred to as agile or change-driven life cycles. -A hybrid life cycle is a combination of a predictive and an adaptive life cycle. Those elements of the project that are well known or have fixed requirements follow a predictive development life cycle, and those elements that are still evolving follow an adaptive development life cycle.

Question 34

How many Data Gathering techniques are there?

1. 15
2. 3
3. 5
4. 9

Answer 34

Answer: 9

Overall explanation

There are 9. Benchmarking, Branstorming, check sheets, checklists, forcus groups, interviews, market research, questionnaires & surveys and statistical sampling.

Question 35

The Initiating process group contains components from which two knowledge areas?

1. Communications Management and Quality Management.
2. Integration Management and Stakeholder Management.
3. Integration Management and Communications Management.
4. Scope Management and Schedule Management.

Answer 35

Answer: Integration Management and Stakeholder Management.

Overall explanation

There are two deliverables produced within the Initiating phase. The project charter is the component that falls under Integration Management. The Stakeholder Register falls under the Stakeholder Management knowledge area. The other knowledge areas listed do not have components in the Initiating phase.

Question 36

Nigel has just taken over as the third project manager assigned to a project that has seen considerable delays and cost overruns, caused by difficulties in getting the vendor to deliver what’s in the contract. He gathers vendor representatives and his company’s stakeholders together for a face-to-face meeting to bring everyone back to the same page. While they’re taking a break he overhears a conversation in which someone who works for the vendor admits that the only reason they got the contract is because their president is an old college buddy of Nigel’s company’s Vice President of Finance, not because they could actually produce what their customer needed. What should Nigel do?
Correct answer

1. Notify his project’s stakeholders immediately
2. Nothing. It doesn’t matter how they got the contract. The fact is that Nigel’s there to manage what exists no matter how it happened to come about.
3. Report an ethics violation to the Project Management Institute immediately
4. Confront the vendor immediately

Answer 36

Answer: Notify his project’s stakeholders immediately

Overall explanation

Nigel has to notify his project’s stakeholders immediately, as it is up to them to decide whether or not to take action based on this new information. They may confront the vendor openly, they may confront their own VP of Finance or they may decide to just let it go and try to force the vendor to perform according to the contract terms. But that’s their decision to make, not Nigel’s. However, if Nigel had chosen NOT to report this new knowlege then he would’ve been in violation of the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and someone could have reported HIM to the PMI for that lapse in professional responsibility.

Question 37

When you work to Acquire Resources, which of the following are you NOT working to acquire?

1. Money
2. Project Team Members
3. Materials
4. Facilities

Answer 37

Answer: Money

Overall explanation

Project Resources are considered to be: team members, facilities, equipment, materials, supplies and other resources necessary to complete project work. Money falls under the defintion of a project budget, and in most cases this is not something a project manager tries to acquire this far into the project.

Question 38

As Charlene’s project team is working through the Plan Procurement Management process, they realize that the supplier of nanotechnology they need to execute their product to current specifications, is so backlogged on orders that they won’t be able to make the date the team had outlined in their project schedule. What input to the Plan Procurement Management Process is this an example of?

1. Business documents
2. Project documents
3. Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs)
4. Organizational Process Assets (OPAs)

Answer 38

Answer: Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs)

Overall explanation

The first three EEFs (one of the inputs, together with OPAs (Organizational Process Assets) given for most processes within the PMBOK) listed for the Plan Procurement Management process are 1) Marketplace conditions, 2) Products, services, and results that are available in the marketplace and 3) Sellers, including their past performance or reputation. Since Charlene’s project is now impacted by an EEF - something they cannot control - she has to undergo whatever her planned mitigation strategies were if the risk of a supplier not having what they needed, arose.

Question 39

When you are planning Quality Management for your project, there are different techniques for data representation. Which of the four following techniques includes model known as a SIPOC, an acronym which stands for: suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, and customers?

1. Flowcharts
2. Mind Mapping
3. Matrix Diagrams
4. Logical Data Model

Answer 39

Answer: Flowcharts

Overall explanation

Flowcharts are also referred to as process maps because they display the sequence of steps and the branching possibilities that exist for a process that transforms one or more inputs into one or more outputs. Flowcharts show the activities, decision points, branching loops, parallel paths, and the overall order of processing by mapping the operational details of procedures that exist within a horizontal value chain. One version of a value chain is the SIPOC. You can see a sample of this model in Figure 8-6 on page 285 of the PMBOK.

Question 40

Project governance refers to the framework, functions, and ___________ that guide project management activities in order to create a unique product

1. Templates
2. Structure
3. Processes
4. Phases

Answer 40

Answer: Processes

Overall explanation

The correct answer is processes, as project governance requires them in order to provide benchmarks against which performance can be measured. Phases are how projects are structured and templates can be provided to create documents, but even if required by governance they are all capable of being referenced by processes as the overarching mechanism under the framework, to carry out the functions.

Question 41

Victoria schedules a workshop to gether her project team members together to work on a team charter. She begins by explaining to them that the goal is establish team values, agreements and operating guidelines they will all abide by in order to decrease misunderstandings and increase productivity. Which of the following items might the team charter they develop include?

1. Recognition Plan
2. Meeting Guidelines
3. Training Strategies
4. Project Organization Chart

Answer 41

Answer: Meeting Guidelines

Overall explanation

The team charter is a document that establishes the team values, agreements, and operating guidelines for the team. The team charter may include but is not limited to: Team values, Communication guidelines, Decision-making criteria and process, Conflict resolution process, Meeting guidelines, and Team agreements. The team charter establishes clear expectations regarding acceptable behavior by project team members. Early commitment to clear guidelines decreases misunderstandings and increases productivity.

Question 42

There are 7 individuals or groups that comprise a project team. What is the group who will be in charge of providing project artifacts or completing specific tasks toward a certain end called?

1. Deliverable Resources
2. Deliverable Owners
3. Executive Sponsor
4. Key Stakeholders

Answer 42

Answer: Deliverable Owners

Overall explanation

Artifacts such as the project charter, business requirements document and Training Plan are all deliverables. So, too, are outputs of the project itself such as new process flows if you’re improving processes, new policies and procedures and a new customer experience. Those responsible for delivering these items throughout the life of the project are the deliverable owners and should be called out in a responsibility matrix (more on that to come).

Question 43

There are five process groups in the project management process. Which number is Executing?

1. 3
2. 1
3. 4
4. 2

Answer 43

Answer: 3

Overall explanation

The five processes, in order: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, Closing. Executing is third.

Question 44

As the director of her organization’s Project Management Office, Lisa is heavily involved in working with department managers as they work out their project budgets for upcoming fiscal years. She also works closely with the management team at her organization as they hammer out their rolling three- and five-year business plans annually. In this way Lisa is proactively ensuring that the organization’s strategy, mission, goals and objectives align with the projects they’re choosing to execute in the coming months and years. Which of the three project manager competencies from the Talent Triangle does she demonstrate?

1. Leadership
2. Strategic and Project Management
3. Technical Project Management
4. Strategic and Business Management

Answer 44

Answer: Strategic and Business Management

Overall explanation

In order to make the best decisions regarding the successful delivery of their projects, project managers should seek out and consider the expertise of the operational managers who run the business in their organization. These managers should know the work performed in their organization and how project plans will affect that work. The more the project manager is able to know about the project’s subject matter, the better. The project manager should apply the following knowledge and information about the organization to the project to ensure alignment: Strategy, Mission, Goals and objectives, Priority, Tactics, and Products or services (e.g., deliverables).

Question 45

In iterative life cycle projects, a high-level vision will be developed for the overall project, but the detailed scope is determined one iteration at a time, and the detailed ______________ for the next iteration is carried out as work progresses on the current project scope and deliverables.

1. planning
2. analysis
3. budget
4. requirements gathering

Answer 45

Answer: planning

Overall explanation

The preparation of a detailed project scope statement builds upon the major deliverables, assumptions, and constraints that are documented during project initiation. During project planning, the project scope is defined and described with greater specificity as more information about the project is known. Existing risks, assumptions, and constraints are analyzed for completeness and added or updated as necessary. The Define Scope process can be highly iterative. In iterative life cycle projects, a high-level vision will be developed for the overall project, but the detailed scope is determined one iteration at a time, and the detailed planning for the next iteration is carried out as work progresses on the current project scope and deliverables.

Question 46

One possible input that a project manager may use to help them write a project charter are Organizational Process Assets, or OPAs. Which of the following are NOT OPAs?

1. Your company’s phase gating process (by which the organization approves a project to proceed to the next phase)
2. Laws that the local government has just passed regarding the manner in which your company is allowed to do business
3. Your organization’s Project Management templates
4. Your IT department’s change control process for software implementations

Answer 46

Answer: Laws that the local government has just passed regarding the manner in which your company is allowed to do business

Overall explanation

If laws are passed which impact how your organization does business, those fall under the category of Enterprise Environmental Factors or EEFs. The other three examples are indeed OPAs: templates are often enforced or desired by an organization, for everything from forms that’re filled out to project artifacts such as the charter. Change control processes may need to be factored into a project’s schedule simply because it’s an internal control standard which must be met regardless of why. And finally, if your company controls how a project moves from one phase to the next then that is yet another internal hurdle you must sail over in order to proceed with the project. None of those are caused by forces external to your organization, but instead are caused by internal mechanisms and decisions.

Question 47

The time has come for Devon to decide which tools he’s going to use to manage configuration change control on his software development project. Which of the following is NOT a potential tool he could choose for this specific purpose?

1. Record and report configuration item status
2. Identify configuration item
3. Perform configuration item verification and audit
4. Requirements Traceability Matrix

Answer 47

Answer: Requirements Traceability Matrix

Overall explanation

Of the options presented, the only one that is not a tool for configuration change control is the requirements traceability matrix, which is a grid that links product requirements from their origin to the deliverables that satisfy them. In order to facilitate configuration and change management, manual or automated tools may be used. Configuration control is focused on the specification of both the deliverables and the processes, while change control is focused on identifying, documenting, and approving or rejecting changes to the project documents, deliverables, or baselines. Tool selection should be based on the needs of the project stakeholders including organizational and environmental considerations and/or constraints. Tools should support the following configuration management activities: -Identify configuration item. Identification and selection of a configuration item to provide the basis for which the product configuration is defined and verified, products and documents are labeled, changes are managed, and accountability is maintained. -Record and report configuration item status. Information recording and reporting about each configuration item. -Perform configuration item verification and audit. Configuration verification and configuration audits ensure that the composition of a project’s configuration items is correct and that corresponding changes are registered, assessed, approved, tracked, and correctly implemented. This ensures that the functional requirements defined in the configuration documentation are met.

Question 48

Information such as objectives, success criteria, high level requirements and preapproved financial resources are to be found in which process’s outputs?

1. Define Activities
2. Create WBS
3. Develop Project Management Plan
4. Develop Project Charter

Answer 48

Answer: Develop Project Charter

Overall explanation

The project charter is the document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. It documents the high-level information on the project and on the product, service, or result the project is intended to satisfy, such as: Project purpose; Measurable project objectives and related success criteria; High-level requirements; High-level project description, boundaries, and key deliverables; Overall project risk; Summary milestone schedule; uu Preapproved financial resources; Key stakeholder list; Project approval requirements (i.e., what constitutes project success, who decides the project is successful, and who signs off on the project); Project exit criteria (i.e., what are the conditions to be met in order to close or to cancel the project or phase); Assigned project manager, responsibility, and authority level; and Name and authority of the sponsor or other person(s) authorizing the project charter.

Question 49

Hilda is a project manager for a local farm that’s in the midst of adding new vegetable crops to their crop rotation. To be certain that these new crops meet their quality guidelines for taste and appearance, Hilda’s team is going to randomly select 5 out of every 50 beets, radishes and onions to be tested, analyzed and inspected from the very first harvest. What form of sampling is this method an example of?

1. Population Parameter
2. Non-Probability
3. Statistical
4. Stratified

Answer 49

Answer: Statistical

Overall explanation

Statistical sampling involves choosing part of a population of interest for inspection. The sample is taken to measure controls and verify quality.

Question 50

As Kaya is speaking with the people who will be performing various tasks on her project, one of her resources, a newer employee named Annika, reveals that it will take longer than the estimated 2 days to provision a new physical server for the software they have to install. Annika estimates it’ll take closer to three full days until she becomes more familiar with the company’s server image. Which process that Kaya is performing is going to be affected by Annika’s information?

1. Plan Schedule Management
2. Sequence Activities
3. Define Activities
4. Estimate Activity Durations

Answer 50

Answer: Estimate Activity Durations

Overall explanation

Estimating activity durations uses information from the scope of work, required resource types or skill levels, estimated resource quantities, and resource calendars. Other factors that may influence the duration estimates include constraints imposed on the duration, effort involved, or type of resources (e.g., fixed duration, fixed effort or work, fixed number of resources), as well as the schedule network analysis technique used.

Question 51

The PMBOK clearly defines differences between documents produced as part of, and for, the project itself versus documents created during the life of a project which are business documents. How many total project documents is it possible to create during the life of your project?

1. 15
2. 20
3. 33
4. 27

Answer 51

Answer: 33

Overall explanation

Table 1-2. Project Management Plan and Project Documents on page 559 of PMBOK 6th Edition lists 33 possible project documents that are created by, from and for the project itself. These are not to be confused with business documents such as Organizational Process Asseets (OPAs).