PMP TEST 4 Flashcards
1A project manager managing a video project was informed by a team member about a complex problem that can have a drastic negative impact on the project. The project manager immediately defined the cause of problem by analyzing the problem using a fishbone diagram, identified a solution, and implemented the solution. The project manager recently received a call from the same team member and was informed that the same problem has resurfaced. What did the project manager most likely forget to do?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Validate the solution to the sponsors
Confirm that the solution solved the problem
Use a Pareto chart
Identify why the problem occurred
Correct Option:B
EXPLANATION
Even though the project manager spends a great deal of energy and time preventing problems, there are still problems that need to be resolved. Here are the steps of the problem-solving technique: - Define the cause of the problem (not just symptoms) - Analyze the problem (cause and effect diagram) - Identify solutions - Implement the selected solution - Review the solution
2You are overseeing the implementation of a new computer structure at the local hospital. You are currently identifying all the internal and external stakeholders who have an interest in your project and can positively or negatively impact your project. While identifying the stakeholders, you realize that stakeholder identification:
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Is the responsibility of the project sponsor
Must be carried out throughout the project life cycle
Must be completed in the initial stage of the project life cycle
Must be focused only on stakeholders who will contribute positively to your project
Correct Option:B
EXPLANATION
Stakeholder identification will continue throughout the project life cycle. As the project proceeds through each phase, additional stakeholders will be involved while others will be released. Stakeholder identification is conducted primarily by the project management team, but some stakeholders may be identified in the project charter. Stakeholders may include people and organizations that may be affected either negatively or positively by the project outcome.
3Stakeholders have to be identified early in the project, and the needs of stakeholders have to be documented. While the project progresses, changes could occur to the list of project stakeholders. What should the project manager should do to remain updated about stakeholders and their needs?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Once identified, stakeholders remain throughout the project, and the project manager must engage with them.
The list of stakeholders is absolute and will not change.
The list of identified stakeholders must be reviewed to identify and update changes.
Stakeholders’ needs must be understood and fulfilled.
Correct Option:C
EXPLANATION
The stakeholders keep changing throughout the project, and the list needs to be regularly reviewed and updated
4A project manager is evaluating options to set expectations to the team clearly so that the team complies to the code of conduct. What is the project manager trying to establish?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Project Charter
Ground Rules
Project Plan
Resource Management Plan
Correct Option:B
EXPLANATION
Ground rules are established to set clear expectations relating to the code of conduct
5Which of the following financial metrics measures the loss or gain based on the money invested and returns?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Internal rate of return
Profit and loss
Return on investment (ROI)
Benefit - cost ratio
Correct Option:C
EXPLANATION
ROI is the financial metric that measures the loss or gain based on the money invested and returns.
6Organizational culture plays a vital role in the success of projects and is an important consideration. Which of the following factors does NOT shape culture?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Shared Vision, Mission, Values
Stakeholder analysis
Risk Tolerance
Motivation and reward system
Correct Option:B
EXPLANATION
Stakeholder analysis is performed to understand the stakeholders and their influence.
7You have recently been assigned as a project manager for a new and highly complex project to send a satellite into space. There are several stakeholders in the project, and you are working on a communications plan to identify the information and communication needs of the people involved. You do this by determining what needs to be communicated, when, to whom, with what method, in which format, and how frequently. It is extremely important that you develop your communications plan _____.
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Throughout the project life cycle
At the earliest stage of the project
On completion of the project plan
During execution of the project
Correct Option:B
EXPLANATION
Plan communications is included in the planning process, which is generally completed prior to executing the project. Updates to the project plan, including the communications management plan, will occur during the entire project life cycle.
8You are working for a healthcare facility and are overseeing the implementation of a new computer infrastructure and office automation project at the local hospital. You have made efforts to ensure that a rigorous test was done and scope was validated prior to any major release in the project. Recently, you made the final delivery to the customer and communicated news of the success to all relevant members of the project. You were surprised when the customer called to inform you that he was not happy with the release as it did not support one of his key functionalities and demanded that the feature be added as soon as possible. What should you do first in this kind of situation?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Estimate the time, cost, and resources required to add the feature specified by the customer
Have an urgent meeting with the sponsor to discuss the customer’s concern
Inform the customer that the project has been delivered and closed, and that any addition will be treated as a new project
Perform root cause analysis on how the scope validation and testing procedures missed the key requirement
Correct Option:C
EXPLANATION
Once the project scope has been completed and validated and final delivery has been made, the project is considered completed. Any kind of dispute should be resolved in favor of the customer, but the project manager should also be aware that customers are not always right and should resist in this sort of situation. Once the project is completed, any addition to the project should be considered a new project, and detailed impact analysis should be carried out.
9A software company created a base package that must be implemented for each customer. Which of the following will be used to ensure that the new base functionality does not break existing custom features and that the changes are evaluated across all relevant versions of the product?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Configuration management system
Process improvement plan
Perform integrated change control
Work authorization system
Correct Option:A
EXPLANATION
A configuration management system is the subset of the project management information system (PMIS) that describes the different versions and characteristics of the product, service, or result of the project and ensures accuracy and completeness of the description. It is all about managing different configurations of a product. At some point in time, a product will be baselined and different configurations, versions, and branches are managed from that point. The process improvement plan looks at processes and outlines the activities and steps that will enhance their value. Perform Integrated Change Control is the process necessary for reviewing change requests, approving or disapproving, and managing changes to the deliverables, project management plan, and the organizational process assets. A work authorization system is a formal, documented procedure to describe how to authorize and initiate work in the correct sequence at the appropriate time.
10Which of the following techniques translates project objectives into tangible deliverables and requirements by improving the project team’s understanding of the product?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Product analysis
Alternative generation
Inspection
Decompositio
Correct Option:A
EXPLANATION
Product analysis techniques, such as product breakdown, systems analysis, system engineering, value engineering, value analysis, functional analysis, and others, may be used to perform a detailed analysis of the product, service, or result. This technique translates project objectives into tangible deliverables and requirements by improving the project team’s understanding of the product.
11To ensure that the project deliverables meet requirements, it is essential to understand the team’s strengths. Which of the following tools is useful to assess the team’s strengths?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Team Charter
Resource Analysis
SWOT Analysis
RACI Chart
Correct Option:C
EXPLANATION
SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity & Threat) analysis tool is the best option to evaluate the Strengths and Weaknesses of the team.
12Regular assessment and training is essential for project team members so that they will have the skills required to deliver the task assigned to them. What would be best course of action to confirm the effectiveness of the training?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Pre-Training Assessments
Training Review
Training Retrospective
Post-Training Assessments
Correct Option:D
EXPLANATION
Post-assessments have to be conducted after the training. This will measure the success of the training and it’s outcomes, which enables further improvements.
13The project manager of a global project engages with the team virtually and spends significant amount of time and energy to ensure effective team collaboration. Which of the following can be the best alternative to team reviews in virtual environments?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Team meeting
Videoconferencing
Team engagement
Video communication
Correct Option:B
EXPLANATION
Videoconferencing enables effective team review as team members can see each other while conducting review and are actively present.
14Which of the following statements is FALSE concerning a project management office (PMO)?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
It can be responsible for the direct management of projects and programs.
It is an organizational body responsible for establishing and maintaining templates, policies, procedures, best practices, and standards for project management methodologies.
In order to be managed together, the various projects supported by a PMO should be related.
It conducts periodic project audits to monitor compliance with project management standards.
Correct Option:C
EXPLANATION
The nature and structure of a PMO depends on the needs of the organization it supports. The projects supported by a PMO may not be related other than being managed together.
15You are managing a large IT project. A severe cost overrun causes major concern to the key stakeholders and sponsor. You schedule an urgent meeting to discuss the root cause of the concern and illustrate the corrective and preventive actions you are planning to take. You are also planning to inform the audience in the meeting that the project is ahead of schedule and that most of the major deliverables are already completed and accepted by the stakeholders. What kind of communication does this meeting represent?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Informal verbal
Formal written
Informal written
Formal verbal
Correct Option:D
EXPLANATION
The subject matter and topics discussed in the meeting are important, and the meeting is considered formal verbal.
16Which of the following is NOT true about Motivator-Hygiene theory?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Hygiene factors are not sufficient to motivate people, and motivating agents provide the best positive reinforcement.
Hygiene factors can destroy motivation, but improving them under most circumstances will not improve motivation.
Motivating people is best done by rewarding people and letting them grow.
Improving hygiene factors will certainly improve motivation.
Correct Option:D
EXPLANATION
As per Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene theory, hygiene factors are not sufficient to motivate people, and motivating agents provide the best positive reinforcement. Hygiene factors can destroy motivation but improving them will not improve motivation under most circumstances.
17Ashley, a senior project manager, recently took over a project to produce a safe and effective drug from another project manager who just left the company. Ashley was surprised to find there was no change control board or change control process established for the project. Why is it important to have robust change control for any project to be successful?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
It will ensure that only stakeholders with significant authority can submit change requests.
It will minimize the number of changes in the project.
It will ensure that only necessary changes are considered and implemented.
It will maintain the record of all changes for budget tracking purposes.
Correct Option:C
EXPLANATION
A robust change control process will ensure that only the necessary changes are considered and implemented. A change control process cannot help with the number of changes that will be requested in the project as the number of changes depend on how well defined the scope of the project is. Again, all stakeholders, regardless of their authority, should be able to submit change requests.
18Which of the following is NOT a typical external factor that influences a project?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Political
Emotional
Commercial
Social
Correct Option:B
EXPLANATION
The external factors that influence the project are political, economical, social, technological, legal, and environmental.
19You were given a budget of $3000, and you spent $2000. However, you only completed $1200 worth of work. What do you currently expect the TOTAL project to cost, considering your situation?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Not possible to estimate
5000
6000
6200
Correct Option:B
EXPLANATION
Estimate at completion (EAC) =BAC/CPI. Here, we have BAC=$3,000, AC=$2,000, and EV=$1,200. CPI=EV/AC=1200/2000=.6. So, EAC=3000/.6 =5,000.
20During a team meeting, there are disagreements among the team members regarding a few stories. What is helpful in specifying how the team handles such disagreements?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Project Charter
Team meeting guidelines
Team Charter
Project meeting guideline
Correct Option:C
EXPLANATION
The team charter is helpful in specifying how the team handles such disagreements.
21Which of the following is not a tool used for pre-assessment?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Ability Test
Structured Interview
Focus Group
Testing
Correct Option:D
EXPLANATION
Attitudinal Surveys, Specific Assessments, Ability Tests, Structured Interviews, and Focus Groups are used as pre-assessment tools.
22While reviewing your project schedule, you realize that you have two pending activities that you need to complete as soon as possible. You must set up the development server in the lab and then start coding. Upon further investigation, you find out that you must run the server for three days without failure before the coding starts. This is an example of:
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Lead
Crash
Critical chain
Lag
Correct Option:D
EXPLANATION
Lag is an inserted waiting time between activities. In this case, there is a three-day delay before you can start coding.
23You are utilizing a technique of reconciling the expenditure of funds with the funding limits set for the project. As per the variance between expenditure of funds and planned limit, you are trying to reschedule activities to level out the rates of expenditures. This technique is known as:
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Funding limit reconciliation
Cost aggregation
Reserve analysis
Forecasting
Correct Option:A
EXPLANATION
Funding limit reconciliation is a technique of reconciling the expenditure of funds with the funding limits set for the project. As per the variance between the expenditure of funds and planned limit, the activities can be rescheduled to level out the rates of expenditures.
24You are overseeing a project to implement an online travel package reservation system that has 6 sponsors and 13 stakeholders. You want to make sure that your project stakeholders will receive the correct version of the product. Which of the following plans will you use to specify how versioning information will be tracked?
SELECT THE CORRECT ANSWER
Quality management plan
Scope management plan
Change management plan
Configuration management plan
Correct Option:D
EXPLANATION
Configuration management plan is a subset of the project management information system (PMIS) that describes the different versions and characteristics of the product, service, or result of the project and ensures accuracy and completeness of the description.