General Q's

Question 1

Who authorises work packages within the ‘controlling a stage process?

Answer 1

Project Manager

Question 2

Who should authorise the stage plan before the project manager authorises their work package?

Answer 2

Project board

Question 3

Who is responsible for the business case?

Answer 3

Executive

Question 4

What is the difference between ‘products’ and ‘activities’?

Answer 4

Product = noun or an outcome. (e.g. Album Launch)
Activity = noun + verb (e.g. dig hole, review tender)

Question 5

What is the purpose of the busniess case?

Answer 5

provides a justifiable reason for starting a project and must be recorded.

Question 6

What is the principle of “manage by stages” in PRINCE2?

Answer 6

ensures that key decisions are made before the detailed work needed to implement them.

Question 7

Who is responsible for the supplier’s business case in a project?

Answer 7

The senior supplier is responsible for the supplier’s business case

Question 8

Who is responsible for providing statements of actual benefit achievements compared to forecast benefits at benefit reviews in a project?

Answer 8

The senior user is responsible for providing statements of actual benefit achievements compared to forecast benefits at benefit reviews in a project.

Question 9

Who is responsible for specifying the benefits in a project?

Answer 9

Senior User

Question 10

Who is the right person to undertake the user assurance role in a project?

Answer 10

Someone who can assess whether a product meets the user’s needs

Question 11

Can the project manager always choose to be the team manager in a project?

Answer 11

The project manager can choose to be the team manager, but the supplier’s staff may also fulfill this role. However, this is not mandatory and can introduce a conflict of interest.

Question 12

How is the sequence in which the products of a plan will be developed identified in PRINCE2?

Answer 12

A product flow diagram is created to identify the sequence in which the products of the plan will be developed.

Question 13

What roles can be combined within PRINCE2, and what are the constraints?

Answer 13

The roles of executive and project manager cannot be combined.
There cannot be more than one executive or project manager.
The executive’s accountability for project success cannot be delegated.
The project board should not assign any project assurance roles to the project manager, team manager, or project support.

Question 14

What should be considered when combining roles in PRINCE2?

Answer 14

Conflicts of responsibilities.
Whether one person has the capacity to undertake the combined responsibilities.
Wether any bottlenecks might be created as a result.

Question 15

Is it recommended to combine the roles of senior user and senior supplier in PRINCE2?

Answer 15

No, it is not recommended as it can create conflicts of interest for an individual.

Question 16

Who should be able to represent both the business and supplier interests?

Answer 16

The executive

Question 17

Why is it not suitable to use project management approaches from previous projects?

Answer 17

Because the approaches are unlikely to meet the needs of the current project.

Question 18

What is the role of business assurance?

Answer 18

To assess the impact of the risk of low sales on the business case.

Question 19

Who makes important checks throughout the project?

Answer 19

The delegated business assurance

Question 20

When a project becomes part of a larger program, what needs to be done with the program and project management team structures and roles?

Answer 20

They need to be integrated so that there are clear lines of responsibility from top to bottom.

Question 21

Who is a stakeholder in a project?

Answer 21

Any individual or group that has an interest in the project, and may affect or be affected by it. They can be internal or external.

Question 22

What is the communication management approach used for?

Answer 22

To document how stakeholder engagement will be carried out.

Question 23

Who approves product descriptions for key user products?

Answer 23

Senior User

Question 24

Who prepares and maintains product descriptions?

Answer 24

PM

Question 25

Who should provide resources to undertake user quality activities and product approval?

Answer 25

Senior User

Question 26

Is it appropriate to change the change budget remaining mid-stage?

Answer 26

Yes, it is appropriate as this information will be of value when making decisions regarding requests for change in the future.

Question 27

What is an off-specification in a project?

Answer 27

Something that should be provided by the project, but currently is not (or is forecast not to be) provided. This might be a missing product or a product not meeting its specification. It could be better or worse.

Question 28

Who makes decisions on stage tolerances and exception plans if there is a forecast of exceeding stage-level tolerances?

Answer 28

The executive

Question 29

What does the activity “prepare the outline business case” involve?

Answer 29

Assembling any relevant background information, such as contracts, feasibility reports, and service-level agreements.

Question 30

What does project assurance do as part of the “authorize the project” activities?

Answer 30

Reviews the tolerances for the project provided by corporate, program management, or the customer to ensure that they are appropriate and realistic.