Integrated Project Management Flashcards
You are a project manager for your organization. Management has asked you to help determine which projects should be selected for implementation. In a project selection model, which of the following is the most important factor?
a) Business needs b) The type of constraints c) The budget d) The schedule
a) Business Needs
Projects are selected based on business needs first.
Your project is moving ahead of schedule. Management elects to incorporate additional quality testing into the project to improve the quality and acceptability of the project deliverable. This is an example of which one of the following? a) Scope creep b) Change control c) Quality assurance d) Integrated change control
d) Integrated Change Control
Additional quality testing will require additional time and resources for the project. This is an example of integrated change control.
You are the project manager of a new website design project. There are 45 stakeholders with this project and you are anticipating change requests in the project. Which of the following is not true about change requests?
a) They happen while the project work is being done.
b) They always require additional funding.
c) They must be documented
d) They can be requested by a stakeholder.
b) They always require additional funding
Change requests do not always require more money. Approved changes may require more funds, but not always. The change request may be denied, so no additional funds are needed for the project.
You are the project manager for a pharmaceutical company. You are currently working on a project for a new drug your company is creating. A recent change in a law governing drug testing will change your project scope. Since the project must be completed within two years, what’s the first thing you should do as project manager?
a) Create a documented change request.
b) Proceed as planned, since the project will be grandfathered beyond the new change in the law.
c) Consult with the project sponsor and the stakeholders.
d) Stop all project work until the issue is resolved.
a) Create a documented change request
A formal, documented change request is the best course of action for a change request stemming from a law or regulation.
Which one of the following is not beneficial to the project manager during the project plan development process?
a) Gantt charts b) PMIS c) The project management methodology d) Stakeholder knowledge
a) Gantt charts
Gantt charts are excellent tools to measure and predict the project PROGRESS, but they are not needed during the project plan development process.
Yoli is the project manager for her company and she’s reviewing the project budget with management. Management is concerned about the capital expenses in the project and they’d like more information about when Yoli will actually spend the project budget. Which one of the following represents the vast majority of a project’s budget?
a) Project planning b) Project plan execution c) Labor d) Cost of goods and services
b) Project Plan Execution
The project plan execution represents the majority of the project budget.
Natasha is the project manager for her organization. She is meeting with her project stakeholders to review the project plan and the different elements she’ll use as part of project execution. Which of the following can best help Natasha during project execution?
a) Stakeholder analysis b) Change control boards c) PMIS d) Scope verification
c) PMIS
A PMIS can assist the project manager the most during project execution. It does not replace the role of the project manager, however.
You are the project manager for your organization. When it comes to integrated change control, you must ensure that which one of the following is present?
a) Supporting detail for the change exists
b) Approval of the change from the project team
c) Approval of the change from an SME
d) Risk assessment for each proposed change
a) Supporting detail for the change exists
Integrated change control requires detail for implementing the change. Without evidence of the need for the change, there is no reason to implement it.
Jeff is the project manager of the Bridge Construction Project for his company. This project requires strict change control because of government regulations, the cost of the project deliverables, and the approved scope. The project plan provides what with regard to project changes?
a) A methodology to approve or decline CCB changes
b) A guide to all future project decisions
c) A vision of the project deliverables
d) A fluid document that may be updated as needed based on the CCB
b) A guide to all future project decisions
The project plan serves as a guide to all future project decisions.
Baseline variances, a documented plan to management variances, and a proven methodology to offer corrective actions to the project plan are all part of which process?
a) Change management b) The change control system c) The scope change control d) Integrated change control
d) Integrated change control
Integrated change control is a system to document changes, their impact, the response to those changes, and performance deficits.
You are the project manager of the GHQ Project for your company. Management has required that you utilize earned value management as part of your project and their enterprise environmental factors. EVM is used during the _______________.
a) Controlling processes b) Executing processes c) Closing processes d) Entire project
d) Entire project
EVM (earned value management) is used throughout the project processes. It is a planning and control tool used to measure performance.
You are preparing to enter into the project execution with your project team. As part of your preparation, you’ll rely on your project management plan and several tools and techniques. Which of the following contains parts of the project plan execution?
a) PMIS, WBS, and EVM
b) General management skills, status review meetings, and EVM
c) Project management methodology and the PMIS
d) General management skills, EVM, status review meetings, and interpersonal skills
c) Project management methodology and the PMIS
A project management information system is the coherent organization of the information required for an organization to execute projects successfully. A PMIS is typically one or more software applications and a methodical process for collecting and using project information
Which one of the following is a formal document to manage and control project execution? a) WBS b) The project management plan c) The organizational management plan d) The work authorization system
b) The project management plan
One of the requirements of project management in your organization is to describe your project management approach and methodology in the project plan. You can best accomplish this requirement through which one of the following actions?
a) Establishing a project office
b) Establishing a program office
c) Compiling the management plans from each of the knowledge areas
d) Creating a PMIS and documenting its inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs
c) Compiling the management plans from each fo the knowledge areas
The management approach is best described as a compilation of the individual plans in the project plan.
You are the project manager for the DGF Project. This project is to design and implement a new application that will connect to a database server. Management of your company has requested that you create a method to document technical direction on the project and to document any changes or enhancements to the technical attributes of the project deliverable. Which one of the following would satisfy management’s request?
a) Configuration management b) Integrated change control c) Scope control d) The change management plan
a) Configuration management
Configuration management is the documentation of the project product, its attributes, and its changes to the product.
You are examining the project management plan and its components with the project team. The team doesn’t understand why so much information is needed for the project. What is the difference between a project baseline and a project plan?
a) Project plans change as needed, while baselines change only at milestones.
b) Project plans and baselines do not change—they are amended.
c) Project plans change as needed, while baselines are snapshots of the project plan.
d) Baselines are control tools, while project plans are execution tools.
d) Baselines are control tools, while project plans are execution tools.
A project baseline serves as a control tool. Project plan execution and work results are measured against the project baselines.
You are the project manager for the HALO Project. You and your project team are preparing the project plan. Of the following, which one is a project plan development constraint you and your team must consider?
a) The budget as assigned by management
b) Project plans from similar projects
c) Project plans from similar projects that have failed
d) Interviews with subject matter experts (SMEs) who have experience with the project work in your project plan
a) The budget as assigned by management
If management has assigned the project a fixed budget, the project manager and the project team must determine how the project can operate within that constraint.
During project execution activities, a project sponsor’s role in a functional organization can best be described as doing which one of the following?
a) Acting as a sounding board for the project stakeholders
b) Helping the project manager and stakeholders resolve any issues ASAP
c) Deflecting change requests for the project manager
d) Showing management the project progress and status reports
b) Helping the project manager and stakeholders resolve any issues ASAP
The project sponsor can help the project manager and the stakeholders resolve issues during project execution.
Beth is the project manager of a software development project. She and her project team are done with a phase and Beth needs to make certain the lessons-learned register is complete before moving the project onto the next phase. On any project, the lessons-learned document is created by which of the following?
a) The customers b) The project sponsor c) The project team d) The stakeholders
c) The project team
The project team contributes to the lessons-learned document. The project manager also contributes, or leads, the creation, but this is not a choice in the question.
______ is a tool that can be used to enter the coherent organization of the information required for an organization to execute projects successfully. It is typically one or more software applications and a methodical process for collecting and using project information
Project management information system (PMIS)
A project team member has asked you what project scope management is. Which of the following is a characteristic of project scope management?
a) It defines the baseline for project acceptance.
b) It defines the requirements for each project within the organization.
c) It defines the processes to ensure that the project includes all the work required—and only the work required—to complete the project successfully.
d) It defines the functional managers assigned to the project.
c) It defines the processes to ensure that the project includes all the work required—and only the work required—to complete the project successfully.
You are the project manager for a pharmaceutical company. A new government regulation will change your project scope. For the project to move forward and be in accordance with the new regulation, what should be your next action?
a) Prepare a new baseline to reflect the government changes. b) Notify management. c) Present the change to the CCB. d) Create a feasibility study.
c) Present the change to the CCB.
Recommended corrective actions, which are change requests, are outputs of change control. Poor performance leads to corrective actions to bring the project back in alignment with the project plan. Recall that a corrective action is a change request.
Question 16:
Which of the following is an output of scope control?
a) Workarounds b) Recommended corrective action c) Transference d) Risk assessment
b) Recommended corrective action
A project team member has, on his own initiative, added extra vents to an attic to increase air circulation. The project plan did not call for these extra vents, but the team member decided they were needed based on the geographic location of the house. The project team’s experts concur with this decision. This is an example of which of the following?
a) Cost control b) Ineffective change control c) Self-led teams d) Value-added change
b) Ineffective change control
The project team member did not follow the change management plan’s method of incorporating changes into the scope.
During the planning phase of your project, your project team has discovered another method to complete a portion of the project scope. This method is safer for the project team, but it may cost more for the customer. This is an example of which of the following?
a) Risk assessment b) Alternative identification c) Alternative selection d) Product analysis
b) Alternative identification
Alternative identification is a planning process to find alternatives to completing the project scope.
You are a project manager for your organization. In your role as the project manager, you are required to cross-train and coach your project team members. Sarah, a project manager in training, wants to know which project documents can stem from templates? What should be your answer?
a) Risk policies b) Organizational policies c) Scope management plans d) Historical information
c) Scope management plans
Scope management plans can be based on templates. For the record, so can the WBS and project scope change control forms.
You are the project manager of the JHG Project. This project has 32 stakeholders and will require implementation activities in North and South America. You have been requested to provide a duration estimate for the project. Of the following, which will offer the best level of detail in your estimate?
a) The resource calendar b) An order of magnitude c) A requirements document d) A stakeholder analysis
a) The resource calendar
The resource calendar is the best choice for this scenario because it is the only activity duration estimating input listed.
You are managing an interior decorating project. The walls are scheduled to be painted immediately after the primer. You have allowed 36 hours between the primer activity and the painting activity to ensure that the primer has cured. This is an example of which one of the following?
a) Lead b) Lag c) Soft logic d) Finish-to-start relationship
b) Lag
The time between the activities is lag time. The painting activity must wait 36 hours before it can begin.
You are the project manager of the HQQ Project and you’re working with your customer stakeholder. The stakeholder has asked that you find a method to reduce the overall project duration for her organization. She has promised a bonus to your company of $10,000 per day that you finish ahead of schedule. Which duration compression technique could you utilize on activities that are effort-driven?
a) Crashing b) Fast tracking c) Effort-driven activities cannot be compressed d) Resource smoothing
a) Crashing
Crashing allows you to add more labor to effort-driven activities. By adding more labor, or effort, you are reducing the duration of the activity.
You are the project manager for your organization and your organization utilizes an agile approach to project management. The development team is rating the difficulty of completing the requirements in the current sprint. What term describes rating of the requirements to determine how many requirements can be completed in a sprint?
a) Fist to five voting b) Value analysis c) Sprint backlog d) Story points
d) Story points
Requirements are written as user stories. Story points score the difficulty of the tasks needed to complete a user story in a sprint.
You are the project manager for the YKL Project. This project will affect several lines of business at completion. You have elected to schedule each milestone in the project to end so the work does not affect current business cycles. This is an example of which one of the following?
a) Constraint b) Expert judgment c) WBS scheduling d) Soft logic
d) Soft logic
Soft logic allows the project manager to make decisions based on conditions outside of the project, best practices, or guidelines.
You are the project manager for your organization. You and your project team are in conflict regarding the amount of time allotted to complete certain activities. Several of the team members want to bloat the time associated with activities to ensure they will have enough time to complete their tasks should something risk events cause the schedule to change. Instead of overestimating their project activities, the project team should use which of the following?
a) Contingency plans b) Capital reserve c) Contingency reserve d) Assumptions of plus or minus a percentage
c) Contingency reserve
Rather than bloat activities, projects should use a contingency reserve. A contingency reserve is a portion of the project schedule allotted for time overruns on activities.
Chris, a project manager for his company, is explaining the difference between a Gantt chart and a milestone chart. Which of the following best describes a Gantt chart?
a) A Gantt chart depicts what was planned against what occurred.
b) A Gantt chart compares the work in the project against the work that has been completed.
c) A Gantt chart depicts the work in the project against a calendar.
d) A Gantt chart depicts the work in the project against each resource’s calendar.
c) A Gantt chart depicts the work in the project against a calendar.
A Gantt chart is a bar chart that represents the duration of activities against a calendar. The length of the bars represents the length of activities, while the order of the bars represents the order of activities in the project.
You are the project manager for a construction project. Your foreman informs you that, due to the humidity, the concrete will need to cure for an additional 24 hours before the framing can begin. To accommodate the requirement, you add _______________ time to the framing activity.
a) Lead b) Lag c) Delay d) Slack
b) Lag
You will add lag time to the framing activity. Lag is waiting time.
You are the project manager for the GHG Project. You are about to create the cost estimates for the project. Which input to this process will help you the most?
a) Parametric modeling b) WBS c) Project scope d) Requirements document
b) WBS
The WBS is the input that can help you the most with the cost estimates.
You are the project manager for the JKH Project. You have elected to use parametric estimating in your cost estimating for the project. Which of the following is an example of parametric estimating?
a) $750 per ton
b) Historical information from a similar project
c) Estimates built bottom-up based on the WBS
d) Estimates based on top-down budgeting
a) $750 per ton
A is correct because per ton is an example of “cost per unit” which is parametric estimating.
You are the project manager for a construction project to build 17 cabins. All of the cabins will be identical in nature. The contract for the project is set at a fixed cost, the incentive being that the faster the project work is completed, the more profitable the job. Management has requested that you study the work method to determine a faster, less costly, and better method of completing the project. This is an example of which one of the following?
a) Time constraint b) Schedule constraint c) Value engineering d) Learning curve
c) Value engineering
Value engineering is a systematic approach to finding less costly ways to complete the same work.
You are the project manager for a technical implementation project. The customer has requested that you factor in the after-the-project costs, such as maintenance and service. This is an example of which one of the following?
a) Life-cycle costs b) Scope creep c) Project spin-off d) Operations
a) Life-cycle costs
The after-project costs are known as the life-cycle costs.
You are the project manager for a consulting company. Your company has two possible projects to manage, but they can choose only one. Project KJH is worth $17,000, while Project ADS is worth $22,000. Management elects to choose Project ADS. The opportunity cost of this choice is which one of the following?
a) $5000 b) $17,000 c) $22,000 d) Zero, because project ADS is worth more than Project KJH
b) $17,000
The opportunity cost is the amount of the project that was NOT chosen.
You are the project manager for the Hardware Inventory Project. You have a piece of equipment that was purchased recently for $10,000 and is expected to last five years in production. At the end of the five years, the expected worth of the equipment will be $1000. Using straight-line depreciation, what is the amount that can be written off each year?
a) Zero b) $1000 c) $1800 d) $2000
c) $1800
The straight-line depreciation takes the purchase value of the item, minus the salvage price of the item, divided by the number of time periods. In this instance, it would be $10,000 minus $1000, or $9000. The $9000 is divided by five years and equates to $1800 per year.
Your project has a budget of $130,000 and is expected to last 10 months, with the work and budget spread evenly across all months. The project is now in month three, the work is on schedule, but you have spent $65,000 of the project budget. What is your variance?
a) $65,000 b) $39,000 c) $26,000 d) $64,999
c) $26,000
$26,000 is the variance. This is calculated by subtracting the actual costs of $65,000 from the earned value of $39,000. EV is calculated by taking the 30 percent completion of the project against the BAC. The project is considered to be 30 percent complete because it’s slated for 10 months, is currently in month three, an D is on schedule.
You are the project manager for the Facility Installation Project. The project calls for 1500 units to be installed in a new baseball stadium. Your team wants to know why you have not assigned the same amount of time for the last 800 units as you assigned for the first 500 units. You tell them it is because of the learning curve. Which one of the following best describes this theory?
a) Production increases as workers become more efficient with the installation procedure.
b) Efficiency increases as workers become more familiar with the installation procedure.
c) Costs decrease as workers complete more of the installation procedure.
d) Time decreases as workers complete more of the installation procedure in the final phases of a project.
b) Efficiency increases as workers become more familiar with the installation procedure.
The learning curve allows the cost to decrease as a result of decreased installation time, because workers will complete more of the installation procedure.
Beth is a project manager for her company and she has been assigned a new project. During project planning, Beth needs to create a cost estimate for her project. Of the following, which one is the most reliable source of information for estimating project costs that Beth may use?
a) Historical information from a recently completed project
b) An SME’s opinion
c) Recollections of team members that have worked on similar projects
d) Vendors’ whitepapers
a) Historical information from a recently completed project
Of the choices presented, historical information from a recently completed project is the most reliable source of information.
