PMP - Free for All Questions Flashcards
Random Nuggets of Test Information
1
Q
Gulf of Evaluation
A
- The way I describe it may not be how you hear it ( Telephone Game)
- Misunderstanding can breed conflict, rework
2
Q
Where are the team ground rules defined?
A
Team Charter
- Define expectations and ground rules as early as possible
- Confirm approaches for Knowledge Transfer (lessons learned registry, osmosis learning, etc.)
- Violations to ground rules must be addresses
3
Q
What is emotional intelligence and how is it best used?
A
- Assessing of behavior through the use of personality indicators (know you own feelings and how they will impact others)
- Promote team performance through the use of emotional intelligence
-Adjust emotional intelligence and how you communicate to stakeholders
4
Q
What is MVP
A
Minimal Viable Product -
Functional, viable, minimal level of functionality while focusing on breaking project down into smaller deliverables/increments
- Quick way to obtain feedback and confirm understanding from Stakeholders
5
Q
Communication Channels Formula
A
n * (n -1) / 2
6
Q
What is the Risk Register
A
Where risks are captured and identified
7
Q
How prioritizes the Product Backlog
A
The Product Owner prioritizes the backlog based on perceived value
- In Agile iterations, the most valuable work is done first
8
Q
Define the (2) Types of Risk
A
1 - Negative Risk == Threat/Issues
2 - Positive Risk == Opportunities
- Engage team and stakeholders to remediate issues
9
Q
Name several external business environmental impacts to a project
A
- Regulations
- Politics
- Technology
- Market
- Assess and prioritize the impact on project scope / product backlog based on changes in the external business environment
10
Q
What must happen before a traditional project can be formally closed?
A
- all bills and paid off, the lessons learned register updated, and the resources released
- This holds true for projects terminated early
11
Q
When selecting a contract to use on a project with a potential seller it is important to do what?
A
Always use a contract that is mutually beneficial to both the seller and the buyer and satisfies the overall project value and business objectives
12
Q
What is being a servant leader?
A
- Be a servant leader to the team at all times.
- Impower the team and remove impediments
- Providing the tools for the team to succeed while staying out of their way
13
Q
What is PERT (Project Evaluation and Review Technique)?
A
- A scheduling tools that uses a weighted average formula to predict length of a project
14
Q
What is Analogous Estimating
A
- Top-Down Estimating
- Using historical Information to predict estimates
- Used when limited information is available; not very accurate
15
Q
What is Bottom-Up Estimation ?
A
- A detailed estimation based on the separate estimate / break-down of each task from the WBS and aggregated up to a summary mode
- Very detailed & accurate; extremely time consuming & labor intensive / costly
16
Q
What is Parametric Estimation
A
- An estimate based on statistical relationship between historical data and other variables (always includes a divisor)
17
Q
What is 3-Point Estimation
A
An estimate that calculates an expected duration using a weighted average of 3: Optimistic, Pessimistic, Most Likely
18
Q
What is the formula for Beta Distribution in 3-Point Estimation?
A
(Optimistic Estimate + (4 x Realistic Estimate) + Pessimistic Estimate) / 6
19
Q
What is the formula for Standard Deviation in 3-Point Estimation?
A
(Pessimistic Estimate - Optimistic Estimate) / 6
20
Q
What is the formula for Triangular Distribution in 3-Point Estimation?
A
(Optimistic Estimate + Realistic Estimate + Pessimistic Estimate) / 3
21
Q
What is Reserve Analysis?
A
- Money set aside for risks
- Slack Time, Contingency Reserves, or Time Reserves
22
Q
What is Critical Path Method (CPM)?
A
- Calculated the Early Start (ES), Early Finish (EF), Late Start (LS), and Late Finish (LF) dates to help determine leads/lags, activity relationships and schedule constraints
23
Q
What does the relationship of “Start to Start” mean in CPM (Critical Path Method)
A
- Relationship of “Start to Start” is when a successor activity cannot start until the predecessor activity has started
- This means that they both generally start at the same time, but may not finish at the same time
24
Q
What is “crashing” in project scheduling?
A
- Schedule compression by adding more resources to a project activity
- always adds more cost
- may add additional risk
25
What is "fast-tracking" in project scheduling?
- Performing activities in parallel
- may add more costs
- may increase risks
26
What are the (3) types of Estimate Costs?
- Definitive Estimates (-5 to +10%)
- Budget Estimates (-10 to 25%)
- Rough Order of Magnitude Estimates (-25 to 75%)
27
What is the project budget made of?
The project budget is the cost baseline + management reserves
28
What is the Cost Baseline in a Traditional Project?
- The cost of all activities aggregated into a work package plus contingency reserves
29
What is Student Syndrome?
Planned procrastination
- Applying oneself to an assignment at the last possible moment
- eliminates potential safety margins
30
What is Parkinson's Law?
Work expands as to fill the time available for completion
31
What is Self-Protection?
- People protecting themselves in a task of conflict
- Saying/doing things that will damage/hurt them in the future
32
What is Sand-Bagging?
An act of under-performing and over-delivering
33
What is a "dropped baton"?
- Happens when work is handed over to the next team. One team finishes early and the other team is not ready to accept it
- Leads to the wasting of time
34
What are the (4) core values of Agile?
- Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools
- Working software over Comprehensive Documentation
- Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiations
- Responding to change over following a plan
35
What is Kanban
- A Japanese word meaning "signboard"
- An "information radiator", ensures efficient dissemination of information
- (5) core principles: Visualize the workflow, Limit WIP, Manage Flow, Make process policies explicit, Improve Collaboration
36
What is Little's Law?
- Cycle times are proportional to the queue lengths (we can predict completion times based on queue size)
- Related to Kanban principle of Limiting WIP
37
What is the Basis of estimates
- Describes how schedule, cost and resource estimates were developed. - Includes the confidence level and ranges
38
What is MoSCoW Prioritization?
- Prioritization technique for defining business value:
Must Have
Should Have
Could Have
Wolud Like To Have
39
What is Kano Analysis
Used in Agile Estimation to help customers understand satisfaction using a 4-quadarent graph:
- Delighters/Exciters
- Satisfiers
- Dissatisfiers
- Indifferent
40
What is "Money for nothing and change for free" contracting?
Fixed cost based on most needed features as the projects progresses
41
What is a "Graduated Fixed Price" contract?
- Buyer/Seller share in risks and rewards
- Different hourly rates based on: Finish Early, Finish on Time, and Finish Late
42
What is the advantage of a "Fixed Price" work package estimation?
- Mitigates the risk of under/over estimating
43
What is the "Definition of Done"?
- Creating a shared vision with the Product Owner of what done looks like
- Should be done for: User Stories, Releases, Final Project Deliverables
44
What is a "Project Tweet" in Agile?
- Describes a project goal in 140 characters or less
45
What are the (5) levels of conflict?
Level 1: Problem to solve - sharing of information
Level 2: Disagreement - Personal Protection
Level 3: Contest - Must Win
Level 4: Crusade: Protecting one's group
Level 5: World Ware, Must destroy the other
46
What is "Shu-Ha-Ri" in team development?
- Model of Skill Mastery:
SHU - Obey
HA - Moving Away
RI - Finding Individual Paths
47
What are the (5) stages of Tuckman's Team Development?`
1. Forming - Team comes together and starts to get to know one another
2. Storming - Team members start to have conflict with each other; Learn of each other's ideas and may not agree with them. Most conflict occurs at this stage
3. Norming - Team members begin to agree with each other on the best methods to build deliverables (General Consensus)
4. Performing - Team is performing well and is working out conflict (doing the work)
5. Adjourning - the project is completed and the team is reassigned
48
What is adaptive leadership in Tuckman's (5) Stages of Team Development?
Forming --> Directing
Storming --> Coaching
Norming --> Supporting
Performing --> Delegating
Adjourning
49
What is a "burn-up" chart in Agile?
Work that has been done
50
What is a "burn-down" chart in Agile?
Work that remains to be done
51
What is a "velocity" chart in Agile?
A chart that shows how the team is performing
52
What is "rolling wave" planning in Agile?
Planning at multiple points in time as data becomes available
53
What are the (4) Decomposing Elements of Requirements in Agile?
Epics
Features
Stories
Tasks
54
What is "HIPPO" in Agile?
"Highest Paid Person's Opinion" in agile estimation
55
What is an "architectural spike" in Agile?
- A period of time dedicated to a POC for an iteration
- Used to clarify requirements, certify viability of an approach
56
What is a "Risk-based" Spike in Agile?
- A period of time dedicated in an iteration for team investigation to reduce/eliminate risk
57
What is "Lead Time" in Agile?
How long something takes to go through the entire process
58
What is "Cycle Time" in Agile?
- How long something takes to go through part of the process. It's a part of Lead Time.
- Cycle Time = WIP / Throughput
59
What are "escaped defects" in Agile
- Defects that make it to the customer
60
What are "lagging metrics" in Agile?
- Trend analysis that provides information on something that has already happened
61
What are "lead metrics" in Agile?
- Trend analysis that provide information on something that is or is about to occur
62
What is the formula for "Expected Monetary Value"?
= Impact ($) x Probability(%)
63
What is the formula for "Risk Severity"?
= Risk Probability(%) x Risk Impact ($)
64
What are the (4) steps of Kaizen?
Plan
Do
Check
Act
65
What is the definition of a Project?
- A temporary endeavor that produces a unique product, service or result
- must be temporary
- must have a start/end date
- can be part of a large program or portfolio
66
What is the definition of Program Management
A group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually
- must add value by managing them together
- a Project may or may not be part of a program
67
What is a Portfolio?
A collection of projects, programs, subsidiary portfolios and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives
68
What is the definition of a PMO (Project Management Office)?
An organizational structure that standardizes the processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools and techniques for a project or program
69
What is a "supportive" PMO?
Supports the project manager by providing templates, training or lessons learned from other projects
70
What is a "Controlling" PMO?
Determines the framework or methodology and use of specific forms in a project or program
71
What is a "Directive" PMO
Controls the project. A PM will be assigned and report to the PMO
72
What is a "Project Lifecycle"?
The number of phases that a project typically goes through from start to finish
73
What is "Project Governance"?
- A set of rules/framework within which project decisions are made.
- 3 pillars: Structure, People, Information
74
What is a "Project Milestone"?
- A significant event or achievement in a project that marks a key point or completion of a major deliverable
- a task with a zero duration
75
What are some project constraints?
- Scope
- Schedule/Time
- Cost
- Risk
- Quality
- Resources
76
What are the (4) values in the PMI Ethics & Code of Conduct for PMs?
1. Responsibility
2. Respect
3. Fairness
4. Honesty
77
What is "Slack" in a project?
- The amount of time that you can burn/waster without impact to the project timeline (delays)
- AKA: Float, or Total Float
- Calculation: (Early Start - Late Start) or (Early Finish -Late Finish)
78
What is the formula for "Forward Path" in Critical Path Modeling?
- Early Start to Early Finish:
Early Start + Duration - 1 = Early Finish
(it's the same as critical path value)
79
What is the formula for "Backward Path" in Critical Path Modeling?
- Late Finish to Late Start:
Late Finish - Duration + 1 = Late Start
80
What is "gold plating" with regards to project scope?
Providing extra work that is not included in the original scope
81
What is "resource leveling"?
- The flattening of the schedule when resources are over-allocated
- Ensures that workers are not overextended
82
What is a "Monte Carlo Simulation"?
A "What if" scenario used during the development of a project schedule to aide in project estimations.
83
What is Cost of Quality (COQ) for a product?
All cost incurred over the life of the product ensuring that it meets quality standards
- Conformance: Prevention Costs, Appraisal Costs
- Non-Conformance: Internal/External failure costs
84
What is "SWOT Analysis"?
Analyzing based on: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
85
What are the strategies for Negative Risks or Threats?
- Escalate
- Avoid
- Transfer
- Mitigate
- Accept
86
What are the strategies for Positive Risks or Opportunities?
- Escalate
- Exploit
- Share
- Enhance
- Accept
87
What are the (3) types of "Fixed Priced" contracts (Lump Sum)?
- Firm Fixed Price (FFP)
- Fixed Price Incentive Fee (FPIF)
- Fixed Price Economic Price Adjustment (FP-EPA)
88
What are the (3) types of "Cost-Reimbursable" contracts?
- Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF)
- Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF)
- Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF)
89
What is a "Procurement Statement of Work"
Allows potential sellers to know if they qualify to bid on a contract
90
What are the (5) levels of the Stakeholder Engagement Matrix?
- Unaware
- Resistant
- Neutral
- Supportive
- Leading
91
What is a "Salience Model"?
a model used to describe stakeholders based on their power level, influence, urgency or legetimacy
92
What is "Work Performance Data"?
- Information/status of the project deliverables during the execution project phase
- Tracks positive/negative against the plan/baseline (costs/duration)
- Work completed (start/end dates), # of change requests, # of defects, etc.
93
What are the (3) types of Change Requests?
- Corrective Actions
- Preventative Actions
- Defect Repairs
94
What is an "affinity diagram"?
- a diagram that is used to group ideas together
95
What is a "Ishikawa" diagram?
A "Cause - and - Effect" diagram; a fishbone diagram
96
What is a "Pareto" Chart?
-A chart that is used in quality management to shows what issues might be causing the most defects in a project
- It follows the principle of the 80/20 rule
97
How might a "Scatter" diagram be used
To show trends in relation to different variables
98
What are Maslow's Hierarchy of needs?
1. Physiological: air, water, food, clothing, shelter
2. Safety
3. Social
4. Esteem
5. Self-Actualization
99
What is Herberg's Theory of Motivation?
Hygiene Agents - Factors to influence satisfaction at work
100
What is McGregor's Theory of X
Micromanagers; distrust in people
101
What is McGregor's Theory of Y
"Good" people are self-motivated
102
What is the Theory of Z
Increased loyalty at the workplace, emphasizes the well-being of the employee; encourages steady employment
103
What is the Expectancy Theory
People behave on what they expect as a result of behavior
104
What are the (3) needs of the McClelland Theory
1. Achievement
2. Power
3. Affiliation
105
What are the (5) forms of Power?
1. Reward of Power - ability to give rewards
2. Expert Power - SME
3. Legitimate Power (Formal Power)
4. Referment - Respect/Personality of the manager
5. Punishment - To punish associates when they fail
106
What is the "OSCAR" Model when managing a team?
Outcome - Identify outcome
Situation - assess skills/knowledge
Choices/Consequences - identify all the avenues to attain the desired outcome
Actions - Action plan to obtain goals
Review - Retrospective to keep on task and motivate the team
107
What are the (7) levels of the Drexler/Sibbet Team Performance Model?
1. Orientation - Why
2. Trust Building - Who
3. Goal Clarification - What
4. Commitment - How, define the plan
5. Implementation - Work Begins
6. High Performance - Reach a high level
7. Renewal - Working through change
108
What is
"Problem-Solving" in conflict resolution?
**Confronting (win-win)
- the greatest project conflict is between the PM and the Function Manager (schedules, priorities, resources)
109
What is "Forcing" in conflict resolution
Win-Lose
110
What is "Compromising" in conflict resoultion?
Lose-Lose
111
What is "Withdraw" in conflict resolution?
Lost-Win
112
Who are the "Change Control Board"?
A group responsible for reviewing all change requests, evaluating, approving or rejecting, the changes for a project
113
What is the "Rule of Seven"?
Quality Control measure where one charts 7 points in the same plane
- results in a change control as the process is out of control
114
What is Claims Administration?
How disputed charges can be settled; negotiation is preferred
115
What is "Expert Judgement"?
- People with specialized knowledge or training
- Always use the help of others by hiring an expert or SME to help plan a process or conduct a process
116
What is a "Sprint Planning Meeting"?
A meeting done by the agile project team to determine what features will be done in the next Sprint
117
What is a "Sprint"
A short iteration where the project teams work to complete work in the sprint backlog (usually 1-4 weeks)
118
What are the (3) questions to be answered in a Sprint Stand-up?
1. What did you do yesterday?
2. What did you do today?
3. Do you have any blockers/impediments?
119
What is a "Retrospective" in Agile?
A meeting to determine what went wrong during the sprint, what went right, lessons learned for the next sprint
120
What is a "Release" in Agile?
- A deliverable from several sprints worth of work directed to operations to possible rollout and testing
- Releases are determined by the Product Owner
121
What is refactoring?
To remove redundancy, eliminate un-used functionality and rejuvenate obsolete designs
- Good to refactor through the entire project/product lifecycle
- Keeping code clean and concise so that it's easier to understand, modify and extend
122
What are the principles of Lean?
- Eliminate Waste
- Empower the Team
- Deliver Fast
- Optimize the whole
- Build Quality in
- Defer Decisions
- Amplify Learning
123
What are the (7) "Wastes of Lean"?
1. Partially done work
2. Extra Processes
3. Extra Features
4. Task Switching
5. Waiting
6. Motion
7. Defects
124
What is "Return on Investment" (ROI)?
The ratio of benefits received from an investment to the money invested; usually a percentage
125
What is Internal Rate of Return (IRR)?
The interest rate you will need to get in today's money to receive a certain amount of money in the future.
126
What is "Percentage Value / Net Present Value" (NPV)?
Value of future money in today's terms (inflation rate considerations)
126
What is "Earned Value Management"?
Formulas that monitor the value of a project and how it is progressing
127
What is a "Rate of Progress" KPI?
A way to measure project progress by how many story points have been completed
128
What is a "Remaining Work" KPI?
How much work is yet to be done from the backlog
129
What is the "Likely Completion Date" KPI?
The estimated date/time to completion
130
What is the "Likely Cost Remaining" KPI?
How much $$ do we still have to spend?
131
What is a "Cumulative Flow Diagram"?
A stack graph that should how work is progressing
132
What is "Tacit Knowledge"?
Information that is not written down, but is known and supported though collective group knowledge
133
What is "ideal time"?
The time it would take to complete a task, assuming zero interruptions or unplanned problems
134
What is "wide-band delphi" estimiating?
- A group based estimation approach
- Used to prevent: Bandwagon effect, HIPPO (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) decision making, Group Think
135
What does "slicing the stories" mean in Agile?
Breaking down user stories that are too large to be completed in 1 iteration
136
What is "Technical Debt" in Agile projects?
- The backlog of work caused by no doing regular clean-up of old/bad code
- If not done, will lead to the increased cost of development and make it harder to implement change (Refactoring is the solution)
137
What is a "Pre-Mortem" in Agile?
A team meeting that looks at possible things that can cause failure during a project before they take place
138
If an activity is on the critical path, how much slack will it have?
Zero.
- If an activity is on the critical path, it will have zero slack
139
If an activity is not on the critical path, how much slack will it have?
Non-critical path activities will have a slack of at least 1 day.
140
What does the term "mutually exclusive" mean?
2 events cannot happen at the same time, they are separate from one another
141
What does the term "Statistically Independent" mean?
Statistical independence is a term that is used in probability when one event cannot affect the other event.
142
What is "Free Float"?
- Free Float is the amount of time you can delay an activity without delaying the next activity
143
What is "Lag"
Lag is the amount of time you need to delay an activity before the next activity starts
144
What is a "mandatory dependency"?
When activities must be done in a certain order
145
What is "Paired Programming"?
- When one programmer writes the code and another inspects the code as it's being written.
- This leads to the code being inspected in minutes
- Part of XP
146
What is a "Lead" in project scheduling?
A lead is an overlap between project activities. This means that work will start before the predecessor work is complete.
147
What are "focus groups" used for?
Focus groups bring together SMEs to understand their perspectives and how they would go about solving a problem
148
What is an " affinity diagram"?
Affinity diagrams are used to group a larger number of ideas together to be analyzed.
149
What is "Qualitative Risk Analysis"?
Qualitative risk analysis is a process done to rank the identified risk according to probability and/or impact
150
What is "Quantitative Risk Analysis"
Quantitative Risk Analysis is a process done in order to assign values to the risk.
151
What is "Progressive elaboration"?
Progressive elaboration occurs when more detailed information emerges over time
152
What is a "Bubble Chart"?
Bubble charts are tools in the perform quantitative risk analysis process and can show the probability, impact, and ranking of risk.
153
