Learning Materials Quiz Questions Flashcards
What are the 5 elements of PRINCE2?
Principles, People, Practices, Process and Project Context
Which element provides information on different project management topics you should be aware when managing a project?
Practices - they provide knowledge on Risk, Quality, Planning etc
What guides those involved in projects to make better decisions?
Principles - they help shape the PRINCE2 methodology
A project success largely depends on the [?] involved
People - working well with people is key to any project
What is seen as a road map through a project that takes you from the beginning all the way to the end?
Processes - see the process as the path you can follow through a project.
What is the first role appointed to a project?
the project executive is appointed by the business level
What role is first appointed by the project executive to assist with the pre-project activities?
The project executive role appoints the project manager
What are some good questions to ask about a new project to see if the project is worth doing?
Some good questions are: how much money, how long it takes, what type of people we need, how we can produce it, how risky it is, and what is the expected return on that investment?
Which document provides a brief overview of the project at the end of the pre-project phase?
The project brief provides an overview of what we know about the project.
Who decides to continue to the Initiation Stage or not?
The project board reviews the ‘project brief’ and checks whether the project makes sense. If the idea seems OK, the project board will permit the project manager to proceed.
Is creating a detailed project plan for the whole project in the initiation (planning) stage recommended?
Creating a detailed project plan is not recommended as we usually can’t plan the far future in detail. Instead, it is best to create a high-level project plan for the whole project, and more detail can be added in the following stages.
What is the name of the document created at the end of the initiation stage where we add the information gathered during the initiation stage?
This information from the initiation stage is packaged in the “Project Initiation Documentation” (PID).
Why is breaking the project into stages a good idea?
Breaking the project into stages makes it easier to focus and manage. Each stage will have a stage plan which details the deliverables to focus on.
When is an excellent time to create the stage plans?
The project should create a relatively detailed plan for each stage before it starts.
Who hands out work to the team managers?
The project manager will contact team managers to arrange and monitor the work in defined packages.
What is usually done at the end of each stage in the ‘managing a stage boundary’ process?
The project manager will report on the performance of the current state and plan the next stage, as well as update the project plan and business case with time and cost information.
Which role prepares the project for closure and decides to close the project?
The project manager prepares for the project closure, and the project board decides to close the project.
What happens to the products created by the project during the closing a project activities?
The products created by the project (project output) will be handed over to the customer.
Can PRINCE2 be used for operations (business as usual)?
PRINCE2 cannot be used for operations. It is helpful for projects.
What does the word temporary mean in the definition of a project?
Each project has a definite start and end, so it is temporary.
What does the term project organization refer to?
The word organization refers to the project team, the people in the project, and how they relate to each other.
Are projects a way to introduce change, and why?
Projects are a way to introduce change. A project creates something new, e.g., a new building or application. These give changes to the world.
Why do projects introduce uncertainty?
An exact project has not been done before; there are some unknowns, and this brings uncertainty.
Why do we need project management?
Our resources are limited (time, costs, people), and we must optimize our limited resources to get the best result from the project. This requires preparation, planning, monitoring, controlling, facilitation, problem-solving, etc.
Can PRINCE2 work with any type of project regardless of size, industry, etc.
PRINCE2 claims to be used with any type of project, no matter its size, industry, etc., but PRINCE2 is not used much as it is hard to tailor.
Why is time one of the variables monitored in a project?
The end date of the project is essential for a few reasons:
Know when the final project output will be available.
Know when resources can be released for another project
Why is cost one of the variables monitored in a project?
The cost of the project should be continually monitored:
I need to know the cost of the project.
The cost value is essential for checking the business justification.
What are benefits?
Benefits are the desirable return of the project, and they should be quantified and measurable.
E.g., a 20% reduction in cost for the next three years.
What is the scope, and why is it monitored?
Scope is the sum of the products delivered by the project. Some projects can start with a clear overview of what the project will deliver but can expand due to a lack of control. It is a good idea to clarify what is within and outside scope at the start of the project.
Why is quality monitored?
Projects produce products that users use. Quality is about meeting user needs so the products can be used as expected.
Why do we need these variables in a project?
The seven project variables are used to monitor and report the project status.
How are the seven project variables used when discovering a new issue?
While analyzing an issue, the project manager can ask: What impact does the issue have on time, cost, benefits, quality, etc? The answer to this question helps the project manager understand how sensitive the issue is for the project.
PRINCE2 likes to have three different interests in a project. What are these interests?
Business, User and Supplier
Which of the three project interests is more focused on the value for money?
Business
Which of the three project interests is in specifying the requirements?
The user role will specify and use the desired outputs (requirements).
Can a project be part of a portfolio, or is it always standalone?
Projects can exist on their own or under portfolios and programs.
How would you define a programme?
A programme is a temporary, flexible organization structure that is created to coordinate a set of related projects.
Which delivery method consists of delivery steps to deliver products in sequence?
Linear-sequential approach
Which approach is often referred to as an agile approach?
Iterative-incremental approach: You repeat the same steps in each stage.
Can some roles be combined when scaling PRINCE2 for small projects?
For small projects, it is recommended to simplify how decisions are made, combine roles if necessary, and simplify documents and reports.
What is business justification?
It is the reason to do something. It answers the “Why” question for the project.
Is this an excellent example of a business justification for a project? A storage company invests £84,000 on solar panels and has a 12% ROI for ten years.
Yes, this project has business justification. The project will deliver £248,467 in 10 years.
What does “continued” mean in the principle: Ensure continued business justification?
“Continued” means continuously monitoring this justification during the project.
Why does a project wish to track benefits?
Benefits demonstrate the actual value of the project. Whether the project was done within time and cost is not the way to measure a project. A better question is: what the long-term benefits of the investment are.
In which document is the business justification first added in a PRINCE2 project?
The outline business case is created during the pre-project process, and the project mandate may already contain some business justification information.
When does the project board check the project’s business justification?
The project checks the business justification at each point: End of pre-project, end of initiation, end of each stage and at the end of the project.
Which document (management product does PRINCE2 use to track benefits?
Benefits Management Approach
What is a stakeholder?
A project stakeholder is someone or a group interested in a project. They can be affected by a project or jeopardize a project.
Can stakeholders be internal and external to the project?
Stakeholders can be internal and external to the project
Why is it a good idea to notify stakeholders about the project near the beginning of the project?
Different stakeholders can have different feedback for the project manager, and they will not know to give this feedback if they are unaware of the project.
What do stakeholder analysis and communication have in common?
At the start of the project, we can create a mind map that gives an overview of stakeholder groups and then decide how best to communicate with them during the project.
Which PRINCE2 role is responsible for the project?
The project executive is responsible for the project and the business case.
Which role represents the interests of the people with the skills and knowledge to deliver the project products?
The senior supplier
What are shared attitudes, values, and goals?
Culture is the set of shared attitudes, values, and goals.
What is the ability of a PM to inspire and guide a project team and set a clear vision and direction?
Leadership
What makes up communication?
Active listening, facilitation, problem-solving, conflict resolution, planning, and reporting are all part of communication.
Why is planning considered part of communication?
The project manager will facilitate meetings with users’ technical staff and document requirements used to communicate.
Does PRINCE2 suggest the layout for reports, and why?
PRINCE2 does not suggest the report layout, as a project can have many different kinds of reports.
Give some examples of how a project manager may give a status (highlight) report to the project board during the project.
A highlight report can be in any format: email, stand-up meeting, presentation slides, Word document, formal meeting, or physical information board.
What is the name of the report created by the project manager at the end of each stage and given to the project board?
End stage report
In which document may you find the following information:
Overview of stakeholders
Frequency and type of communication
Aim of communication to stakeholders
Communication management approach
Which PRINCE2 documents are used for communication?
All PRINCE2 documents (management products) are used for communication.
What is the principle name linked to gathering lessons?
Learn from Experience
Who should actively seek and record lessons
Project team members (including the project manager) should actively seek and record lessons, and the project manager should remind them.
When are lessons first gathered in a PRINCE2 project?
Lessons should start to be gathered as soon as the project starts up. For example, the project manager will review the lesson reports from recent projects.
Should lessons be gathered as the project continues?
Yes, the project team should continually identify and record lessons
What should happen to the valuable lessons at the end of the project?
These lessons can be added to a lesson report so they are available for future projects.
What is the checking where the project is compared to the plan (monitoring or controlling)?
Monitoring is checking where we are compared to the plan
What does PRINCE2 say that needs to be monitored in a project?
Benefits, costs, quality, risk, scope, sustainability, and time.
Where are targets for the seven project variables mostly defined?
The seven variables are mostly defined in the project plan and stage plan, and the project manager will monitor these during the stages.
Which report documents are used by the project manager to report on the status of the project variables during the project?
The project manager will use the “highlight report” to report during a stage, and they will use the “end stage report” at the end of the stage.
Which role keeps a watchful eye on the project variables during the project?
Project Manager
Why do projects bother with quality?
Projects produce products that users will use, and they need to be able to use these products as expected. For example, a simple pen that leaks ink cannot be used as expected.
What helps to ensure quality?
We can say that testing helps to ensure quality.
What is the name of the management product that acts as a guideline on how quality will be done in a project?
Quality management approach
Where are user quality expectations gathered in a project?
During the ‘starting up a project’ process, the project manager creates the project product description, which describes the project’s significant products, including the user’s quality expectations and acceptance.
Are quality requirements added to product description documents?
The product descriptions (requirements documents) include quality specifications, quality tests, and skills information.
Who delivers the products to meet the quality specifications?
The team members (delivery layer) deliver the products and must meet the product specifications, including the quality specifications.
Which register file is used to identify all the quality control activities that are planned or have occurred?
Quality register
What is an uncertain event or set of events that, should it occur, will affect the project?
Risk
Can a risk positively impact a project, or does a risk have to be negative?
A risk can have either a positive or negative impact on the project.
Can excellent risk management ensure project success?
No, there can be lots of reasons why projects do not succeed. Good risk management helps to increase the chances of project success.
Which document is a guideline on how risk management should be done during the project?
Risk management approach
Which are new risks likely to be captured during a project?
Risks can be captured at any time during a project and added to the “risk register.”
Which are new risks likely to be captured during a project?
Risks can be captured at any time during a project and added to the “risk register.”
Which document is mainly used to capture risks?
Risk register
Can a project be stopped due to a high level of risk?
Yes, i.e., At the start of the project, there was a 10% chance that government funding would not be provided. During the 2nd stage, it jumped to 80%, so the project should be stopped.
What is a request to change an approved “management product”?
We consider this a ‘request for change’ or ‘change request’
Can a change request also be for a new product a not just a change to an approved product description?
Yes. At the end of the initiation stage, the project plan will be approved, and the users can request new products during the project, and unique product descriptions will be created.
The first step for a project manager when they discover a new issue is to capture it in the issue register. What is the 2nd step?
The steps are capture, assess, recommend, decide, and implement. Assessing the issue is about evaluating the impact of the issue on the project.
Can the project board allow the project manager to make small decisions regarding issues, or is it better that the project board make all decisions regarding extra costs for the project?
The project board can give some authority to the project manager: e.g., They can make decisions if the cost is less than € 10,000. If the impact of the issues is higher, then the project manager must escalate to the project board.
Who should facilitate the issue management steps (capture, assess, recommend, etc.)?
Project manager
What typically happens to open issues at the end of the project?
The project manager will generally go over the open issues with the people who will take ownership of the project output at the end of the project.
In which document are issues that need to be assessed and added?
Issues register
Is it correct to say that Agile projects do not do planning?
No, agile projects have a different type of planning, but they still have to be planned.
Is it best to start a project by defining a detailed project plan?
It’s best to start with a high-level project plan that overviews the project’s scope.
If the project manager can predict in detail how the project will work, how will this affect planning at the start of the project?
The project manager can then create a more detailed project plan if they wish to, as they can predict from experience how the project will work.
Predictive projects are also known as “Waterfall” projects. What is another name for “Adaptive” projects?
Agile
Which is better: Predictive or Adaptive (Agile)?
This is a trick question: For more projects, it is better to use the predictive approach, and for some projects, it is better to use the adaptive approach.
Planning horizon refers to how far the project can be planned in detail.
What is ‘planning horizon’?
Planning horizon refers to how far the project can be planned in detail. Depending on the project, it can range from just one week to three months.
Why is it a good idea to plan in stages?
Breaking a project up into chunks makes it much more manageable. It makes the project easier to plan and less overwhelming.
Who facilitates the project planning?
Project manager: They can organize lots of workshops. They invite users to give an overview of the requirements.
In PRINCE2, what is a baseline document?
A baseline document (management product) is agreed upon and cannot be changed without approval by the same people. The document is usually dated and given a version number.
Is a stage plan a baseline document?
Yes. The project board approves the stage plan, and the project manager cannot change this during the stage. The stage plan is an agreement between the project board and the project manager on what will be done in the stage.
Can product descriptions be baselined?
Yes, product descriptions can be and should be baseline. Once a product description is agreed, it should be dated, versioned, and locked.
What should happen to the project’s management products at the end?
Management products are used to manage the project; the majority should be archived at the project’s end. They should be stored in a secure central place and be accessible to authorized people in the future.
Does PRINCE2 suggest a guideline for managing documents and data during the project?
Yes, this is the ‘digital and data management approach.’ It covers how
data and information will be created, used, and managed
digital technology will be used to support project management.
In PRINCE2, what is tailoring?
Tailoring refers to the process of customizing PRINCE2 to suit a particular project’s specific needs and characteristics.
Must products use specific document names as specified by PRINCE2?
No, organizations can tailor PRINCE2 and use their name. For example, some organizations may wish to name the ‘project brief’ the ‘project description.’
Can PRINCE2 be used in any project size, business area, or simple or complex projects?
According to PRINCE2, it can be used for any project. In practice, this is not so easy.
What are some of the tailoring suggestions for small projects?
For small projects, you can,
Combine documents, e.g., Approach documents.
Combine some roles, e.g., Senior user and project executive.
Simplify reporting.
When should the project manager normally decide how to do tailoring?
The project manager will decide on training at the start of the initiation stage. They will continue to check how the tailoring works during the project and make adjustments if necessary.
What are the three people-focused activities?
Leading change, Leading teams and Communication
PRINCE2 has listed two ecosystems: what are they?
Organizational ecosystem: Overview of the people in the broader organization.
Project ecosystem: The people involved or directly impacted by the project.
What is change management (organization change management)?
Change management is how an organization transitions from the current state to the target state. Keywords are ‘current state’ to ‘new state.’
Does the project manager have the authority to manage organizational change?
No, organizational change management must be done at the programme level. It is suitable for the project manager to be aware of the change management initiatives related to the project.
Can a project succeed if delivered on time and within cost?
No, the project should not be considered a success unless it delivers the expected benefits for the organization. The project will deliver the necessary products, the user will use these products (organization change management), and the organization will receive the expected benefits.
What do you need to enable an organization to get from the current state to the target state?
Senior Leadership. Leaders present a vision of the future state and bring people in the direction.
According to PRINCE2, what is the document’s name that describes how to get the project from the current state to the future state?
The ‘change management approach’ aims to document the target organizational state and describe how the business will get to this future state.
What is any individual, group, or organization that can affect or be affected by the project?
Stakeholder
Why must the project manager have a good overview of the project stakeholders
The project manager needs an overview of the stakeholders to see how best to engage and communicate with them during the project.
PRINCE2 mentions the term ‘key stakeholder.’ What is a key stakeholder?
Key stakeholders are key people who must be assigned to the project.
Senior executives, as they have authority and influence
Key people from the user side (they can prioritize)
Key people from the supplier side (tech experts)
Other domain experts
People who help champion the project (influencers)
Other key people that the project team needs advice from are legal, unions, auditors, finance, marketing, etc.
Can project stakeholders change during a project?
Project stakeholders can change over time as the project evolves, and the project manager will keep an eye on this and then figure out how best to communicate with them.
Can some project stakeholders be negatively impacted by a project?
Yes, for example, A manufacturing plant is installing a new robot welder, and the people doing that job will have to find a unique role in the organization.
What is project culture?
Project culture is the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and working methods that characterize a group of people.
From where does a new project inherit its culture from?
The project culture will be inherited from the organization’s culture at first, and then it can and should evolve for the better over the project.
What can help to improve the culture of the project?
Having an explicit, common (shared) understanding of the project is an excellent place to start, as this will help the project members move towards the same destination.
Do team members only report to one project manager during a project?
Team members usually report to their line manager and may be involved in multiple projects, so they work for more than one project manager.
What are some tips for a project manager to lead team members?
A PM can do the following:
Remind team members of the business reason for the project.
Watch for conflicts with other projects for resources.
Look for ways to motivate some people (job feedback, training, thanks, etc.).
Listen to team members and encourage them to speak up.
What is motivating people to achieve a project’s objectives? (Leadership or Management)
Leadership is best done through collaboration, co-creating, communication, and seeking regular feedback.
What is Collaboration?
Collaboration is people working together to achieve the project’s objectives.
What term is used to mean instructing the execution of tasks in line with agreed ways of working?
Management
What is a form of collaboration involving users and key influencers in the design of products and agreed ways of working to ensure the project and organization adopt them?
Co-Creation
Is this sentence correct? An effective team will require a diverse set of capabilities and competencies.
Yes, an effective team will require a diverse set of capabilities, competencies, and perspectives that match the project’s requirements.
Which planning-related documents does PRINCE2 use to build effective teams?
These planning documents help communication and project vision.
Project plan (Contains the scope, when, and who)
PMT structure and the role descriptions
Communication management approach
Project initiation documentation
Which planning-related technique does PRINCE2 use to build effective teams?
Product-based planning: This approach emphasizes getting agreement on what will meet user needs (product description) and clarifying the dependencies and sequencing of crucial outputs (products).
As a project manager, three things may you do to help manage remote teams?
Here are some suggestions:
Regular meetings that have a good purpose.
Use a virtual project space.
Use an anonymous questionnaire to detect issues.
Have a budget for Thank You’s.
Show appreciation to team members.
What will poor communication do to a project?
This is an excellent way to kill a project. Good, effective communication is necessary.
What is the purpose of the communication management approach?
The communication management approach aims to define and describe the means and frequency of communication and how feedback will be received from the project ecosystem.
When is the communication management approach created?
The communication management approach is created near the start of the initiation process.
What information would you expect from a communication management approach?
A communication management approach should typically contain the following:
An overview of the project stakeholder groups.
Type of information for each stakeholder group.
Frequency and format of communication during the project.
