PMP Practice Exams: Set One Part 2

Question 1

You are the project manager for your organization and your project is to remodel a condo for a client. The client has selected all the items to be included with the remodeling and you and the team are working on implementing the plan. As the project nears the end of the timeline, the customer requests that you change out some of the fixtures for some new fixtures she has found in Paris. You really don’t want to do this as you’re almost done with all the project, but the customer is willing to pay for the cost of the installation. What should you do next?

1. Ask the project team if they have enough time to install the fixtures
2. Install the fixtures
3. Submit a change request
4. Refuse to install the fixtures

Answer 1

Answer: Submit a change request

Explanation
Even though you may not want to install the fixtures, it’s best to submit a change request to your change control process to determine the whole effect the change may have. A change request would examine the change and its effect on the whole project and then a decision to make the change can happen.

Question 2

Holly is a project manager in her organization and she is leading a project in an adaptive project life cycle. She and the project team are working with Grace, the product owner for the project, throughout the project to identify, prioritize, and delivery the requirements of the project. In this approach, what two project management processes must be repeated in each iteration for Grace?

1. Stakeholder identification and identify risk
2. Project planning and project execution
3. Validate scope and control scope
4. Quality assurance and quality control

Answer 2

Answer: Validate scope and control scope

Explanation
In an adaptive or agile life cycle, the sponsor and customer representatives should be continuously engaged with the project to provide feedback on deliverables as they are created and to ensure that the product backlog reflects their current needs. Two processes (Validate Scope and Control Scope) are repeated for each iteration. On the contrary, in a predictive project, Validate Scope occurs with each deliverable or phase review and Control Scope is an ongoing process. The other processes are called on as needed in the project, but likely not in each iteration.

Question 3

Ben is the project manager of BBB Project for his organization and he’s working with the project team to identify the stakeholders’ interests, concerns, threats, and perceptions of threats. Where should Ben document the project team’s findings in this exercise?

1. Stakeholder Register
2. Stakeholder log
3. Risk register
4. Risk log

Answer 3

Answer: Stakeholder register

Explanation
The stakeholder register is the document where the project manager should define all characteristics and concerns of the project stakeholders.

Question 4

Karen is the project manager of a high-profile project in her organization. She is meeting with the key project stakeholders to identify the risks of this project and she wants to consider several factors in this meeting to get a comprehensive collection of risks to manage in the project. Karen informs the group that they’ll be using the PESTLE approach to risk identification based on the size of the project. What is PESTLE?

Answer 4

Answer: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Enviromental domains

Explanation
PESTLE is a prompt list to identify risks in the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental domains.

Question 5

Wendy is a project manager in her organization and she’s working with the project team to define the work activities over the next month. Items beyond this month, Wendy reports, will be defined in more detail later in the project. What type of planning is Wendy using in this scenario?

1. Expressive planning
2. High- level planning
3. Rolling wave planning
4. Deductive planning

Answer 5

Answer: Rolling wave planning

Explanation
Wendy is using rolling wave planning. Rolling wave planning is an iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail, while work in the future is planned at a higher level. It is a form of progressive elaboration applicable to work packages, planning packages, and release planning when using an agile or waterfall approach. Therefore, work can exist at various levels of detail depending on where it is in the project life cycle.

Question 6

You are the project manager of the GHB Project for your organization. This project is an agile project and is expected to last for 14 months. Your project team has created a charter that identifies their team rules, values, communication guidelines and other agreements that all project team members agree to. Lisa, one of the project team members, has been late on her assignments, has skipped some status meetings, and hasn’t been communicating effectively with the project team and stakeholders. In this instance, who should speak to Lisa about her behavior on the project team?

1. Project sponsor
2. Lisa’s manager
3. Project team
4. Project manager

Answer 6

Answer: Project Team

Explanation
When the project team establishes the project ground rules it is up to everyone to enforce the ground rules from the project team, not just the project manager.

Question 7

You are the project manager of the NKL Project for your organization and you’re working with the project team on some quality control issues. You suspect that the maintenance on a piece of equipment is affecting the accuracy of the items the equipment creates. You’d like to track the possible correlation between the maintenance and the number of defects on the piece of equipment. Which chart would best show this possible relationship?

1. Flowchart
2. Scatter diagram
3. Pareto diagram
4. Control chart

Answer 7

Answer: Scatter diagram

Explanation
A scatter diagram is the best choice presented as it can show the possible correlation between two variables, such as the defects and the maintenance of the equipment, to show a correlation.

Question 8

Jeffrey is the project manager of the OPO Project for his organization and a portion of his project will be contracted with a vendor. Kelly, the project sponsor of the OPO Project, tells Jeffrey to utilize a screening system for the vendors to help sort out unqualified vendors. Which one of the following is the best example of a screening system?

1. Vendors must attend the bidders conference
2. Bids must be under $250, 00
3. Bids must accompany a detailed proposal with timeline
4. Vendors must be licensed and bonded in the US state where the work will take place

Answer 8

Answer: Vendors must be licensed and bonded in the US state where the work will take place

Explanation
Of all the choices the requirement of vendors to be licensed and bonded in a specific US state is the best example of a screening system. While the other answers could be a screening system, they are not as restrictive as the bonded and licensing requirement.

Question 9

Monica is a project manager for a construction project. In this project, she needs to purchase 1,345 doors and she knows the cost of each door, including the cost of labor, is $476. If she uses that amount in a parametric estimate what is the likely cost of the door installation for the project?

1. $1, 345
2. $640, 220
3. $640, 220 +/- 20 percent
4. $476

Answer 9

Answer: $640, 220

Explanation
A parametric estimate uses the parameters of the cost of each door times the total number of doors. In this example, it’s 1,345 door times the cost of $476 per door, for a total of $640,220.

Question 10

John is the project manager of the YOM Project for his organization and he’s working with the project team record all of the requirements needed to satisfy the project scope. Management has asked John and the team to create a table that will show each requirement and its status as it moves through the project timeline. What type of chart is management asking John to provide?

1. Work breakdown structure
2. Affinity diagram
3. Project network diagram
4. Requirements traceability matrix

Answer 10

Answer: Requirements traceability matrix

Explanation
Management has asked John and the team to create a requirements traceability matrix. This chart is a table that tracks each requirement through all the associated phases of the project until each requirement is considered done.

Question 11

You are the project manager for your organization and your project team has identified a risk that has a 40 percent chance of happening and will cost your project $245,000 if it occurs. You present the risk to the project sponsor as it’s a significant risk event in your project. Your project sponsor wants to know what the expected monetary value of the risk is. What’s the best response in this scenario?

1. You cant know as the risk event has not yet occurred
2. ($245,000)
3. ($98,000)
4. ($245, 000)

Answer 11

Answer: ($98,000)

Explanation
The expected monetary value is found by taking the probability times the impact. In this instance, it’s 40 percent of $245,000 for an expected monetary value of -$98,000.

Question 12

Jonathan is a project manager for the JG Corporation and he’s leading a project team in a strong matrix environment. Jonathan knows that the project team is pressed for time, but quality is paramount in his project. Jonathan offers the team a four-day weekend if the team can complete the next project milestone on time. The offer will mean the team will need to work on a Saturday, but the team is excited to reach the project milestone and have a few days off. What human resource theory is Jonathan demonstrating in this scenario?

1. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
2. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
3. Halo Effect
4. McClellands Theory of Needs

Answer 12

Answer: Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

Explanation
This is an example of Vroom’s Expectancy Theory which states that people’s behavior reflects what they believe their behavior will bring them. The project team is willing to work additional hours now to reach the milestone but to also receive a few days off as a reward.

Question 13

Benji is the project manager of the BBB Project for his organization. The planned value for the project work at this point is $450,000, but his actual costs for the project is ten percent more than what was planned. The project’s earned value is $417,000. Management is considering canceling this project due to performance. Based on this information, what is the sunk cost of the project?

1. $450,000
2. $417,000
3. Not enough information to know for certain
4. $495,000

Answer 13

Answer: $495,000

Explanation
Sunk costs describe the total amount of funds invested into the project. In this example, the actual costs are the sunk costs. The project’s planned value is $450,000 and the actual costs are ten percent more than that value, or $495,000.

Question 14

You are a project manager for the JHKL Organization, and you are leading an adaptive project. In an adaptive project, who has control of the detailed planning of the product?

1. Product Owner
2. Project team
3. Project sponsor
4. Project manager

Answer 14

Answer: Project team

Explanation
The control of the detailed product planning and delivery is delegated to the team. The project manager’s focus is on building a collaborative decision-making environment and ensuring the team can respond to changes. The product owner is responsible for prioritizing the product backlog, not the detailed planning. The project sponsor will authorize the project, but won’t be involved in the detailed product planning.

Question 15

As a project manager, you need to recognize several human resource theories for your PMI exam. One theory is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In this theory, there are five needs that we all have. Which one of the following items is not one of the Maslow needs?

1. Social
2. Affiliation
3. Safety
4. Esteem

Answer 15

Answer: Affiliation

Question 16

Terry is a functional manager in your organization and a stakeholder on your project. Your project is operating in a strong matrix and you have 16 people on your project team. Your team reports that Terry is not happy about the project and is challenging their work and decisions made for the requirements which have been approved by the project sponsor. Terry is challenging the project and doesn’t want it to move forward as it may disrupt her line of business. What type of stakeholder is Terry?

1. Negative
2. Confronting
3. Challenging
4. Pessimistic

Answer 16

Answer: Negative

Explanation
When a stakeholder doesn’t want the project to exist they are considered a negative stakeholder and steps need to be taken via the stakeholder engagement plan to manage their perspective and concerns for the project. Terry could also be considered a resistant stakeholder if that were an option.

Question 17

Jane reports that a project she’d like to implement will be worth $160,000 in five years. Considering the rate of return to be six percent, what’s the minimum amount that should be invested in Jane’s project?

1. $13,200
2. $119,561
3. $154,000
4. $160,000

Answer 17

Answer: $119,561

Explanation
$119,561 is the present value of $160,000. This formula is $160,000/1.338226 and is found by taking the future value and dividing by 1 plus the interest rate, to the power of five time periods.

Question 18

Gary is a project team member and he’s gathered requirements for your project. Currently, Gary is following a stakeholder and observing the work the stakeholder does to get a clear understanding of the needs and to better define the problems that your project aims to solve. Gary is observing the stakeholder and is not interrupting the work. What type of requirements gathering is Gary doing in this scenario?

1. Elicitation
2. Peer review
3. Cross training
4. Passive observation

Answer 18

Answer: Passive observation

Explanation
Gary is doing passive observation as he is only observing, not interrupting, asking questions, or interacting with the stakeholder doing the work. If Gary were interacting or even trying to experience the work, he’d be performing active observation.

Question 19

Management has asked you, the project manager, to create a chart for all the defects in your project. They would like the chart to show the largest quantity of defects by category to the smallest category of defects in your project. This chart will help you attack the largest defects through rounds of improvement in the project work. What type of chart is management asking you to create?

1. Cause- and- effect chart
2. Pareto chart
3. Histogram
4. Control chart

Answer 19

Answer: Pareto chart

Explanation
A Pareto chart is a bar chart that shows categories of failure from largest to smallest. A cause-and-effect chart is also known as a fishbone diagram and helps to facilitate a conversation on root cause analysis. A histogram is a bar chart. A control chart tracks the results of processes to see trends and if the processes are within control.

Question 20

Nancy is a project manager for her organization and she’s leading a recently launched project. Her project team has 12 people, some of which have worked together before and others have not. The team has created the project scope statement and the WBS and they are now working to develop the project schedule based on the activity list with the project manager. Some of the project team members are in a conflict about the sequencing of the activities, who’ll do what on the project, and how the work should be done. Based on this information, which one of the following terms best describes this scenario?

1. Norming
2. Performing
3. Forming
4. Storming

Answer 20

Answer: Storming

Explanation
This is an example of storming. Storming is when the team experiences some initial conflicts about project decisions and is a natural part of team development. Forming is when the team first comes together and they learn about one another – which has likely already happened. Norming is when things settle and performing is when the team goes about getting the work done and the team becomes reliant on each other, something that hasn’t yet happened in this scenario.

Question 21

Ned is presenting a proposal to senior management at his organization. Management is asking Ned questions about the costs, feasibility, the likelihood of success, and other in-depth items before making a Go/No-Go Decision about chartering this proposed project. What type of meeting is Ned participating in?

1. Business analysis
2. Murder board
3. Project steering group
4. Technical review board

Answer 21

Answer: Murder board

Explanation
Ned is in a murder board meeting. This is a pre-initiation meeting that allows senior management and other decision makers to determine if the project should be launched or not. A technical review board is often used when a change request is made to an existing project, not a pre-launch project as in this case.

Question 22

A project has just launched in your organization. The project manager has been working with the project team to define the activity list and the attributes of each activity in the activity list. These activity attributes are likely to include all of the following except for which one?

1. Predecessor activities
2. Activity name
3. WBS ID
4. Activity identifier

Answer 22

Answer: Predecessor activities

Explanation
Because this project has just recently launched, the initial information defined in the activity attributes would likely not include predecessor activities. The initial information would likely include activity identifiers, WBS IDs, and activity names.

Question 23

Anna has sent a SOW to 23 vendors for a portion of a construction project. The SOW describes the work in the project, but she has also invited the 23 vendors to a meeting to discuss the SOW and to answer any questions about the project work before the vendors will submit their proposals. What is the name of the meeting that vendors will participate in?

1. SOW meeting
2. Meeting-and -Greet Conference
3. SOW Clarity Meeting
4. Bidders conference

Answer 23

Answer: Bidders conference

Explanation
When the vendors come to ask questions about the SOW for clarity this is a bidders’ conference. This is a pre-proposal meeting where the vendors will ask for clarity about the details of the SOW. Anna will answer questions, then update the SOW, and distribute it back to the vendors that participated in the meeting.

Question 24

You are the project manager for your organization and your project is to remodel a condo for a client. The client has selected all the items to be included with the remodeling and you and the team are working on implementing the plan. As the project nears the end of the timeline, the customer requests that you change out some of the fixtures for some new fixtures she has found in Paris. You really don’t want to do this as you’re almost done with all the project, but the customer is willing to pay for the cost of the installation. What should you do next?

1. Submit a change request
2. Install the fixtures
3. Ask the project team if they have enough time to install the fixtures
4. Refuse to install the fixtures

Answer 24

Answer: Submit a change request

Explanation
Even though you may not want to install the fixtures, it’s best to submit a change request to your change control process to determine the whole effect the change may have. A change request would examine the change and its effect on the whole project and then a decision to make the change can happen.

Question 25

Holly is a project manager in her organization and she is leading a project in an adaptive project life cycle. She and the project team are working with Grace, the product owner for the project, throughout the project to identify, prioritize, and delivery the requirements of the project. In this approach, what two project management processes must be repeated in each iteration for Grace?

1. Stakeholder identification and identify risk
2. Quality assurance and quality control
3. Project planning and project execution
4. Validate scope and control scope

Answer 25

Answer: Validate scope and control scope

Explanation
In an adaptive or agile life cycle, the sponsor and customer representatives should be continuously engaged with the project to provide feedback on deliverables as they are created and to ensure that the product backlog reflects their current needs. Two processes (Validate Scope and Control Scope) are repeated for each iteration. On the contrary, in a predictive project, Validate Scope occurs with each deliverable or phase review and Control Scope is an ongoing process. The other processes are called on as needed in the project, but likely not in each iteration.

Question 26

You are the project manager of the GHY Project, and you are examining a control chart for your project’s production. In the control chart, there are seven consecutive measurements all on the lower side of the mean. Your project sponsor is concerned about these seven measurements. Why?

1. These seven measurements show the project is failing
2. These seven measurements show that the mean is too high
3. These seven measurements show failing quality
4. These seven measurements show a trend

Answer 26

Answer: These seven measurements show a trend

Explanation
In a control chart, seven measurements in a row on one side of the mean is called the Rule of Seven and is an assignable cause. This assignable cause is a trend that represents something happening in the project which is affecting the quality of what’s being measured.