PMBOK & Job Prep

Question 1

Project Management can be categorized into five groups of processes that guide a project from beginning to end. What are the five progresses groups that represent the project management lifecycle?

Answer 1

Initiating
Planning
Executing
Monitoring and Controlling
Closing Process

Question 2

What does the initiating process of a project involve?

Answer 2

Getting the commitment to start a project. To get that commitment you start defining the project. What’s the project supposed to accomplish? What’s the scope? What’s a rough estimate of the resources needed, and the cost? You also identify the project stakeholders, and make sure they agree on what the project is. You then ask for approval to proceed.

Question 3

What does the planning process of a project involve?

Answer 3

Planning is where you figure out how you’re going to perform the project. In essence, planning answers the questions, what are we going to do? How are we going to do it? And how will we know when we’re done? When the plan is completed, it’s time to get approval to launch the project.

Question 4

What does the executing process of a project involve?

Answer 4

Executing starts with launching a project. you bring your resources on board, get them settled in, and explain the rules you’re using to run the project. After that, everyone jumps in to put the plan into action.

Question 5

What does the Monitoring and Controlling process of a project involve?

Answer 5

Monitoring and controlling a project means checking, what’s going on in the project, and how that compares to what you planned. If the project is sliding off track, you take action to get it back on course.

Question 6

What does the Closing Process of a project involve?

Answer 6

This part is short, but important. You get the client to officially accept that the project is complete. You document project performance, gather lesson learned, close contracts, and help resources move on to their next assignments.

Question 7

How do you provide regular project updates to the team members?

Answer 7

The first step is to understand the information which is important to the team and how it is going to help them understand their progress.

Question 8

Have you ever worked with a large team of specialists? How was your experience?

Answer 8

If you have worked with such a team, describe the experiences that you had dealing with different team members, how you handled resources and solved conflicts.

Question 9

What are the tools that you use to track labour and expenses of a project?

Answer 9

Describe the tools that you use for your project coordination. You must be very thorough with those tools and have hands-on experience. Do not mention any tools just for showing your knowledge unless you have used it practically.

Question 10

Have you ever disagreed with your supervisor? What was it and how did you convince him/her?

Answer 10

Generally, a majority of disagreements arise due to work priorities. If you have been pulled off from a project that you feel was more important, explain why you felt it was higher on your priority list and if you convinced your supervisor, how you did it.

Question 11

Why do some projects fail? What can you do to prevent the failure of a project?

Answer 11

Miscommunication and improper resource allocation are some of the common reasons why projects fail. Through this question, you must describe how you will plan and maintain the project so that you can prevent its failure.

Question 12

How will you plan a project?

Answer 12

There are various steps involved in planning a project. The first step is feasibility which is to determine if the project is viable, the next step is to plan how the project will progress which includes setting targets, the third step is to allocate resources and distribute responsibilities and the final step is to make plans for the deadlines to be met.

Question 13

How many phases are there in planning a project?

Answer 13

There are three phases involved in planning a project – 1) understanding project requirements, 2) planning and timeline development, and 3) implementation.

Question 14

How will you handle conflicts within the team?

Answer 14

Explain how you will define responsibilities which will mitigate risks and if any conflict arises, you will handle it with your management skills.

Question 15

Mention some of your strengths that will help you as a project coordinator?

Answer 15

You can go for strengths like an excellent team player, good interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, and good negotiation skills.

Question 16

In what ways have you helped your previous organization to reduce costs and save time?

Answer 16

If you follow the correct project coordination rules and are skilled enough to notice any shortcomings quickly, you can help in properly managing projects. This, in turn, will help you to reduce costs and save time.

Question 17

What are the top job responsibilities of a project coordinator?

Answer 17

Some of the major responsibilities of a project coordinator are – scheduling projects, monitoring expenses, implementing cost-saving actions, resolving operational problems, and identifying improvements.

Question 18

What are the common internal consulting tools that are used in project coordination?

Answer 18

Some of the popular tools are Oracle, EBS, and Salesforce.

Question 19

What is your approach to conducting productive meetings?

Answer 19

Productive meetings improve team efficiency and productivity. The main focus should be on the agenda, which defines what the meeting should be and how it is going to fill the gaps present in the team.

Question 20

If you have to report more than one person how are you going to prioritize your work?

Answer 20

Work priorities depend on the importance of the project that you are being handled but if you have to report to more than one person, you need to usually give equal priorities to all the projects.

Question 21

If a team member disagrees with how a project is being executed, how will you deal with that person?

Answer 21

Most of the disagreements are solved through proper communication and making the other person understand the benefits of your project execution plan.

Question 22

How to keep the team members motivated when there’s a tight deadline?

Answer 22

Describe what type of motivation you will offer to the team members and how it is going to help them improve their efficiency.

Question 23

If your manager asked you to redo all your hard work for a project that has been changed, what will you do?

Answer 23

If it is necessary, you will have to do it irrespective of how you feel it. However, if you think it is not required to start from scratch, explain it to your manager properly.

Question 24

How will you give bad news to a client regarding a project that did not turn out as expected?

Answer 24

Explain to the client what problems you faced and why there were shortcomings.

Question 25

Have you ever trained sub-ordinates? How do you proceed with training?

Answer 25

Yes, we have frequent training sessions as every client has different requirements based on the project. Thus, the team needs steadfast training to match the commitments. Recently, I helped my team members with Gantt charts covering topics like how to create and use these charts. We also helped freshers with the fundamentals of business writing.

Question 26

How do you manage external vendors and get the bills cleared?

Answer 26

In my previous company, there was no such policy to offer service on credit, and thus, we hardly faced any bill related issues. (You can narrate your experience of getting the bills cleared if you had any.)

Question 27

How do you manage frequent project changes? Does it affect you or your team?

Answer 27

Working as a project coordinator for the past few years, I have learned that uncertainties can drop in at any point in time. For tackling such kind of issues, I think creativity and quick decision making plays a vital role. Yes, frequent changes sometimes draw a challenging situation for the team as well, but the only way to persuade them is to show a broader picture. Clients many a time shoot their new requirements, and if it is pliable, we take it positively to maintain a long-term professional relationship with them.

Question 28

How do you go ahead with receiving all deliveries in time to meet the deadline?

Answer 28

Sending frequent reminders is one aspect of ensuring that we receive all the deliveries and match the deadlines. Apart from this, while working as a project coordinator in my previous organization, I also used to conduct a one-on-one session with the team to understand the challenges because of which we were lagging and helped them with the appropriate solutions. This motivated the team, and frequent discussions enabled us to satisfy the client’s requirements.

Question 29

What were your learnings from the previous role as a project coordinator?

Answer 29

I have learned that a project coordinator must be able to exercise and demonstrate 3 skills – patience, flexibility, and affability. At the same time, h/she should implement the right tact at the right time.

Question 30

What was a common expectation of your reporting manager from you in your organization?

Answer 30

Working as a project coordinator, my manager expected me to outshine in soft skills, which I eventually did! My command over soft skills helped me in maintaining healthy and profitable relationships with clients. At the same time, I was able to resolve operational issues and maximized the outputs.

Question 31

What is one new skill that you have learned while working as a project coordinator?

Answer 31

While working as a project coordinator, I have groomed my negotiating skills, which brought good deals for the company. I also acquired command over tools like Oracle and Salesforce.

Question 32

What is alternatives analysis?

Answer 32

A data analysis technique used to evaluate ways to meet the requirements and the objectives in the charter.