PMP Daily Exam Flashcards
PASS EXAM
Which one of the following expresses the difference between management and leadership best?
A. Leadership and management are synonymous
B. Leaders ask how and when, focus on near-term goals, do things right whereas managers do the right things, focus on the horizon and ask what and why
C. Leaders guide, innovate, and inspire trust. Managers administrate, direct, and focus on bottom line
D. Leaders develop, focus on long-range vision while managers focus on inspiration, innovation and development
C. Leaders guide, innovate, and inspire trust. Managers administrate, direct, and focus on bottom line
You have been chartered to build a bridge on Saskatchewan River connecting two large cities. The project has taken a long time to get approved since the negative stakeholders were concerned with the structural integrity, environmental damage, and increase in traffic in both cities. Your reputation in leading projects of similar nature is well known. 50% into the project, the project status is healthy. In this situation, stakeholder risk tolerance was first considered during:
A. Develop Project Charter
B. Plan Quality Management
C. Decomposing work to manageable components
D. Develop Project Management Plan
A. Develop Project Charter
Jim enthusiastically told his director that the state agency has selected their company for outsourcing the staff augmentation of about 30 consultants. His director was happy but advised Jim to get an agreement from the agency to formally start the work. The agreement provided by the agency can be referred to as any of the following except:
A. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
B. Work Authorization System (WAS)
C. Service Level Agreement (SLA)
D. Letter of Intent (LOI)
B
PMTI Blue Book: Page 51, 52 A work authorization system or WAS is a sub-system of the project management system. It is a collection of procedures to ensure work is done at the right time in the proper sequence. An agreement may be called an MoU, SLA, LOI, or a contract
Sara is a project manager who is concerned about uncontrolled expansion of project or product scope. What document and process will help Sara ensure all requested changes and recommended corrective actions to scope are integrated with integrated change control and scope baseline?
A. Requirements traceability matrix, control scope
B. Collect requirements, define scope
C. Integrated change control, control scope
D. Requirements traceability matrix, control quality
A
PMTI Blue Book: Page 60, 177 The requirements traceability matrix is a document generated in collect requirements. It provides the means to trace requirements from requirements origin to testing. This document links requirements to the project goals, origin, deliverables, WBS, product design, and test scenarios. The control scope process then manages any changes to the product scope to see this objective is achieved.
A management consulting firm puts Grant, a low-key project manager in charge of a 10-million-dollar project. To get the project successfully completed, Grant decides to outsource most of the work on the project to single source vendors. The project manager is busy administering and managing the interfaces among the various providers. To properly document project success, Grant recognizes he would need to go through the entire project management life cycle which involves:
A. Initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and close procurements
B. Feasibility study, design, development, control, and closure
C. Concept, planning, executing, controlling, and closing
D. Feasibility study, design, development, and implementation
C
PMTI Blue Book: Page 23, 200, 209 Project management life cycle is another term for project management process groups. Concept is an alternate term for initiating. A includes close procurements which is only a part of the close project or phase process. A is an incorrect statement whereas C uses a synonym for initiation but is not wrong.
In iterative life cycle projects such as Agile projects, a high-level vision will be developed for the overall project (product backlog), but the detailed scope is determined one iteration at a time (sprint backlog), and the detailed planning for the next iteration is carried out as work progresses on the current project scope. What process is being described? A. Iteration breakdown B. Work breakdown structure C. Define scope D. Collect requirements
C
PMTI Blue Book: Page 64 Define Scope is the process of developing a detailed description of the project and product. 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.
The project team is implementing the project management plan and wants to be certain they are maximizing benefits from quality audits. Which of the following would not be a goal of the quality audit effort?
A. Identify nonconformity, gaps, and shortcomings
B. Reduce cost of quality and increase customer acceptance
C. Verified deliverables
D. Confirm implementation of approved change requests
C
PMTI Blue Book: Page 165, 188 “Quality Audits” is a tool and technique of Manage Quality. Verifying changes & deliverables is not a part of a quality audit but is an output of Control Quality. Any changed or repaired items are inspected and will be either accepted or rejected before notification of the decision is provided. Objectives of a quality audit are to identify good/best practices being implemented, identify gaps/shortcomings and identify ineffective and inefficient processes. It also adds to the lesson learned database, and confirms implementation of approved change requests, corrective actions, defect repairs, and preventive actions.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ lists the objectives and reasons for project initiation, helps to measure the project success at the end of the project and may result in a go/no-go decision for the project. A. Project charter B. Needs assessment C. Benefits management plan D. Business case
D
Task A is worth $400, is 95% complete and costs $395 so far. Task B is worth $350, is 90% complete, and
actually cost $330. Task C is worth $275, is 100% complete, and has cost $310 so far. The total budget is
$2500. What is the Cost Variance for the project?
A. -$65.00
B. -$550.00
C. 0.937
D. 0.946
A
To calculate this, the Earned Value (EV) and Actual Cost (AC) need to be calculated first. To do this,
multiply the percent complete of each task by its Planned Value (PV); that will provide the EV for each
task. Sum the Earned Value to determine the total Earned Value. Then sum the Actual Costs for each
task. Then subtract the Actual Costs from the Earned Value and that will determine the Cost Variance
($970-$1035= -$65). The last sentence is telling us what the question is looking for. The last sentence
asks what the cost variance for the project is. We look at our formula sheet and we see that the formula
for cost variance is EV minus AC. This question is a long-winded question asking us if we understand the
concept of EV. EV is the dollar value of work completed. What we must figure out is the EV for each task
and then sum them to calculate the earned value of the project. Task A is worth $400 meaning it has a
PV of $400 and is 95% complete. Task A has an earned value of $380. Task B is worth $350 and is 90%
complete meaning it has an earned value of $315. Task C is worth $275 meaning it has a planned value
of $275 and is 100% complete meaning it has an earned value of $275. When you sum up the earned
values of the individual tasks, you have the earned value of the project which in this project would be
$380 plus $315 plus $275 for a total earned value of $970. Since the question tells me the actual cost so
far is $1035 which the sum of the actual cost of the 3 tasks is simply ($395 plus $330 plus $310). Now
you can apply the formula of CV = EV minus AC. CV = $970 minus $1035 which is minus $65 making
answer A the correct answer. EASY WAY (TRICK): Eliminate C & D since they cannot be CV. Between A &
B, B is too big a number for the minor variances in each task!! .
A project’s cumulative EVM measures are as follows: BAC = $400,000, AC = $230,000, EV = $172,500 and
CPI = 0.75. Which one of the following is a forecast at completion (EAC) under the assumption that the
project performance to date can be expected to continue in future?
C
PMTI Blue Book: Page 180, 181 If project performance experienced to date can be expected to continue
in the future, the formula to apply is EAC = BAC/CPIc. By applying this formula, EAC = 400,000/0.75 =
533,333.
You are the project manager for a large project. You and your project team are trying to determine if a
portion of the project should be contracted out, and if so, how, how much, and when. Which process
are you in?
A. Control Procurements
B. Conduct Procurements
C. Make or Buy Procurements
D. Plan Procurement Management
D
PMTI Blue Book: Page 135 The question is describing the process of Plan Procurement Management.
Plan Procurement Management is the process of documenting project procurement decisions,
specifying the approach and identifying potential sellers. The key benefit of this process is that it
determines whether to acquire goods and services from outside the project and, if so, what to acquire
as well as how and when to acquire it. Goods and services may be procured from other parts of the
performing organization or from external sources. This process is performed once or at predefined
points in the project. C is a made-up term.
Jessica Smith is an exceptional management consultant. She bills at $175 per hour. She would use this
compensation measure in what type of contract:
A. Cost plus fixed fee
B. Lump-sum contract
C. Unit price contract
D. Purchase order
C
PMTI Blue Book: Page 136, 137 Time & Material contracts also known as unit price contracts are a
hybrid type of contractual arrangement that contain aspects of both cost-reimbursable and fixed-price
contracts. Examples are hourly billing of consultants (ex: $175/hour), or unit pricing of materials
($30/yard)
Plan Communications Management is the process of developing an appropriate approach and plan for
project communications activities based on the information needs of each stakeholder or group,
available organizational assets, and the needs of the project. It does not include:
A. Organization charts
B. Number of persons involved and their locations
C. Stakeholder analysis
D. Stakeholder information
C
PMTI Blue Book: Page 117, 51 Communications requirements analysis involves determining project
communications requirements as part of Plan Communications Management. It needs A, B, and D to
determine communications requirements. Stakeholder analysis is a tool and technique of the identify
stakeholders process and is not an information artifact. TIP: Most inputs are nouns or names of artifacts,
and most tools and techniques are verbs or action words. The term “Analysis” should stand out as an
exception since it refers to an action and must be a tool and technique and not information or
document or input.
A project manager is conducting product analysis using product breakdown, requirements analysis,
systems analysis, systems engineering, value analysis, and value engineering. What does the PM do
next?
A. Identify ways to provide the lowest cost of product
B. Generate a scope statement
C. Create a work breakdown structure
D. Create a product breakdown structure
B
PMTI Blue Book: Page 65, 66 The tools described are those of define scope which outputs a scope
statement.
Which of the following organizational process assets influences Close Project or Phase?
A. Project/phase closure guidelines
B. Procurement audit guidelines
C. Quality audit guidelines
D. Risk audit guidelines
A
PMTI Blue Book: Page 210 The organizational process assets that can influence the Close Project or
Phase process include but are not limited to: project or phase closure guidelines or requirements (e.g.,
lessons learned, final project audits, project evaluations, product validations, acceptance criteria,
contract closure, resource reassignment, team performance appraisals, and knowledge transfer),
configuration management knowledge base containing the versions and baselines of all official
organizational standards, policies, procedures, and any project documents.
Holland Technology Partners (HTP) summer picnic is the best annual party in the area. HTP invites all of
their customers, clients, partners, investors, and employees to this event. As the HR director, you must
make sure that the picnic goes smoothly, so you have decided to give the picnic contract to a third party.
This decision is an example of risk transference and is completed during:
A. Identify Risks
B. Plan Risk Responses
C. Plan Risk Management
D. Perform Risk Analysis
B
PMTI Blue Book: Page 132, 133 Plan Risk Responses involve process of developing options, selecting
strategies, and agreeing on actions to address overall project risk exposure, as well as to treat individual
project risks as in the above example. The risk has already been identified. Remember, in Plan Risk
Management, no risks or responses are identified; only an approach to risk management is developed.
When there are uncertainties about characteristics such as productivity may be below or above target or errors may be more or less, it is referred to as:
A. Ambiguity risk
B. Emergent risk
C. Variability risk
D. Overall risk
A
PMTI Blue Book: Page 120 Variability risk is uncertainty about characteristics and is addressed with
Monte Carlo E.g.: productivity may be be low or above target; errors may be more/less. Ambiguity risk is
uncertainty about what might happen in future. It is addressed through incremental development,
prototyping, simulation E.g.: elements of technical solution, future regulations, inherent systemic
complexity. Emergent risk is one that is recognized only after they have occurred. Overall project risk is
the uncertainty on the whole project from all sources of uncertainty.
You are two months into a six-month construction project and, as project manager, you have been
bombarded with problems with the local labor union. The workers don’t come in on time and they refuse to work with the rest of the team. You review the project risk register document that was put together at the beginning of the project and find that there was no mention of labor union issues or their work schedule. In this very typical scenario, a lack of which one of the following project management processes has caused this issue?
A. The project team failed to identify some risks in the project
B. The project team did not plan risk management properly
C. Risk qualitative and quantitative analysis regarding local labor union issues were not addressed in
the assumptions/constraints documents
D. The project management team did a poor job of identifying and documenting local labor union
issues in the project charter document
A
PMTI Blue Book: Page 123, 121 Because the team failed to identify some risks in the project, it has now
become an issue. Plan risk management describes how to approach, plan and execute risk management
activities, it does not identify a risk. Qualitative and quantitative analysis deal with prioritizing and
analyzing identified risks. The charter identifies high-level risks, not all risks. As the project progresses, it
is the project team’s responsibility to identify new risks, adding them to the list of existing risks, and
managing them as they occur. Identifying risks is an iterative process, not an event.
Which of the following artifacts describes the type and quantities of resources required for each
schedule activity in a work package?
A. Work breakdown structure
B. Resource breakdown structure
C. Activity resource requirements
D. Activity attributes
C
PMTI Blue Book: Page 111 Definition of activity resource requirements, an output of Estimate Activity
Resources.
You are the new Project Manager on a large Information Management Project that is 52% complete. Senior Management is looking for an immediate cost forecast. The BAC is $7.2M. The cumulative SPI is 1.00. Cumulative Earned Value is 80% of the cumulative Actual Cost. What can you immediately suspect about the forecast?
A. EAC is estimated to come in under $7.2M
B. ETC is greater than EAC
C. EAC equals BAC less ETC
D. EAC is greater than BAC
D
PMTI Blue Book: Page 180-181 EAC is greater than BAC. If EV is less than AC that means the CPI is less than 1.00 and the project is running over budget. The question is telling us that EV is less than AC because it says EV is 80% of AC or EV=0.8 x AC or EV/AC = CPI = 0.8 (< 1 not good). This means the project is currently running over budget. Answer A would be incorrect. Answer B can never happen because EAC = AC + ETC. Here is the key: If the project is running over budget than EAC must be greater than the original budget (BAC).
Ensuring physical resources are assigned, monitoring planned vs. actual resource expenditures, and managing actual changes as they occur is addressed in:
A. Manage Team
B. Manage Stakeholder Engagement
C. Estimate Activity Resources
D. Control ResourcesD
PMTI Blue Book: Page 195 Control Resources is the process of ensuring that the physical resources assigned and allocated to the project are available as planned, as well as monitoring the planned versus actual utilization of resources and performing corrective action as necessary. The Control Resources process is concerned with physical resources such as equipment, materials, facilities, and infrastructure. Team members are addressed in the Manage Team process.
Control Procurements includes application of the appropriate project management processes to the contractual relationship(s) and integration of the outputs from these processes into the overall management of the project. This integration often occurs at multiple levels when there are multiple sellers and multiple products, services, or results involved. This could include all of the following except:
A. Inspections and audits by the buyer to verify compliance
B. Develop legal relationship with the seller
C. Monitoring the procurement environment
D. Payment of invoices
B
PMTI Blue Book: Page 199, 200 Control Procurements includes application of the appropriate project management processes to the contractual relationship(s) and integration of the outputs from these processes into the overall management of the project. This integration often occurs at multiple levels when there are multiple sellers and multiple products, services, or results involved. Administrative activities may include:(1) Collection of data and managing project records, including maintenance of detailed records of physical and financial performance and establishment of measurable procurement performance indicators; (2) Refinement of procurement plans and schedules; (3) Set up for gathering, analyzing, and reporting procurement-related project data and preparation of periodic reports to the organization; (4) Monitoring the procurement environment so that implementation can be facilitated or adjustments made; and (5)Payment of invoices.
A team member has missed a deliverable, yet the status report shows the project is on schedule and within budget. The project management team determined that this error occurred because a work package leader added significant time to a related work package. The most appropriate action for the project manager is to:
A. Plan for communications among multiple work package leaders
B. Manage quality and manage communications
C. Establish quality standards and guidelines for team members to follow
D. Archive the project records and release the team members to their organizations
B
PMTI Blue Book: Page 164, 163 The project is in executing and is simultaneously being monitored and controlled. A and C are part of planning and should have been completed before executing began. D is part of close project. B would identify the faulty process (unauthorized person updating the schedule), recommend a defect repair and send out a corrected status report.
A team member has missed a deliverable, yet the status report shows the project is on schedule and within budget. The project management team determined that this error occurred because a work package leader added significant time to a related work package. The most appropriate action for the project manager is to:
A. Plan for communications among multiple work package leaders
B. Manage quality and manage communications
C. Establish quality standards and guidelines for team members to follow
D. Archive the project records and release the team members to their organizations
B
PMTI Blue Book: Page 164, 163 The project is in executing and is simultaneously being monitored and controlled. A and C are part of planning and should have been completed before executing began. D is part of close project. B would identify the faulty process (unauthorized person updating the schedule), recommend a defect repair and send out a corrected status report.
