PMP Udemy Exam Prep Test

Question 1

While working on a complex software development project, the team is having a difficult time understanding a process used to code a particular report. They find the process to have many different paths and if/then scenarios. They have asked the project manager for a tool that can help them see the process on a large white board or on paper. What’s the best tool the project manager can recommend for the team to help visualize the process?

Answer 1

Flowchart

Explanation
A flowchart is a tool that is used to help visually display a process. It can show decision points, loops, or paths. A scatter diagram is used to show a relation between two variables. A fishbone diagram is used to help identify potential causes for defects, and a histogram is a bar chart that shows the frequency of things, such as a Pareto chart.

Question 2

When an organization is considering a project, what are some of the factors that can influence why a project should get done?

Answer 2

Meeting regulatory, legal, or social requirements.

Explanation
Reasons a project should get done include meeting regulatory, legal, or social requirements, satisfying stakeholders’ needs, and implementing business changes. The other choices pertain to operational work, which is more day-to-day and ongoing.

Question 3

A project manager wants to ensure that the new cell phone the project is creating will beat or match the performance of new cell projects by other companies. What tool would be the best for the project?

Answer 3

Benchmark

Explanation
Benchmarking is a tool in plan quality that is used to compare best practices to other projects, either within or outside of the organization. Plan quality is a process, not a tool. Meetings are tools used by the project manager to interact with the project team and solve problems. Collecting requirements is a process, not a tool.

Question 4

The project team is having a very difficult time deciding what method they should use when programming the new functions in the application. They can choose between four different methods, and the team is evenly split regarding which method to choose. The project manager has decided that he will choose the method for them and will take the responsibility in case it is not the best way to program functions. What best describes this technique?

Answer 4

Autocratic

Explanation
In autocratic decision making, an individual makes the decision for the team and takes responsibility for the decision. Voting is when the team votes on a potential decision, and multi-criteria decision is when they use a different criteria are used to evaluate a decision. Leadership refers to skills for managing the team.

Question 5

Your company has just started a project to allow remote workers to join the network using a virtual private network (VPN). During the execution of the project, one of the VPN servers completely fails, and the team will need to replace it as soon as possible. Fortunately, the project team anticipated that this might happen and has a plan for replacing the server. What should the project manager do next?

Answer 5

Implement Risk Response

Explanation
Implement risk response is a process in the executing process group, where the project manager implements the preplanned responses to any risks that may have taken place. Plan risk responses is done to determine the team’s response if a risk happens, perform qualitative risk analysis is used to rank risks, and conduct risk response is not a PMBOK process.

Question 6

The project manager and team are currently working to create a list of activities needed to complete the project. They have come to one particular work package that they cannot decompose because they do not know enough about the work yet. They have decided that midway through the project, they will decompose this particular work package. What tool or technique are they using?

Answer 6

Rolling Wave Planning

Explanation
Rolling wave planning is a tool used in the process of define activities to break work down in the future. Forward planning and requirements future planning are not real tools used in the process of define activities. Decomposition is a tool used to break down the current activities.

Question 7

The project manager is currently analyzing the requirements for the project. He has noticed that the stakeholders will be very disappointed if there are defects in the deliverables. He decides to ensure that the project team receives the right training and the best equipment available to build the deliverables correctly. This will in turn increase the overall cost of the project, but stakeholders do not mind the increase in cost. What best describes this increase in cost?

Answer 7

Cost of Quality

Explanation
The cost of quality includes the cost of conformance, which includes funds spent to ensure the project meets the quality requirements. This generally includes the cost of better materials, more expert team members, and better equipment. Cost of resource requirements and activity costs are not valid elements. Expert judgement involves hiring subject matter experts to help plan a particular process.

Question 8

Which of the following is a method that will be used to conduct frequent verification and validation that can be done every second on the project?

Answer 8

Pair Programming

Explanation
Pair programming is defined as when one programmer writes the code another inspects the code as it’s been written. This leads to the codes being inspected in seconds.

Question 9

The project manager has to present the risk assessment to the senior management and has decided to take the most graphical representation of the probability and impact assessment. What tool should the project manager use?

Answer 9

Bubble Chart

Explanation
Bubble charts are tools in the perform quantitative risk analysis process and can show the probability, impact, and ranking of risk. The risk register is not graphical. Pareto charts are used for quality and not risk. Risk summary charts is a made-up term.

Question 10

A project manager decided to ensure that all team members on the project do not work on more than one activity at a time. This way, the team doesn’t get burned out and can work at a steady pace. The schedule may increase due to this policy, which is okay with the sponsor. What technique best describes this action?

Answer 10

Resource Leveling

Explanation
Resource leveling is done when resources on a project are over-allocated; it removes resources that are working on two activities at the same time.

Question 11

The project manager has released the project team, completed the final lesson learned, and then completed the final report. The PMO has informed the project manager that it is not happy with this approach. What has the project manager done wrong?

Answer 11

Releasing the Team and then doing the Lessons Learned.

Explanation
Lessons learned should be done with the team and not just by the project manager. The steps in closing usually involve conducting the lesson learned, releasing the team, and then writing the final report.

Question 12

The project team is working with the customers to write the user stories. The customers have refused as they claim this would add no value to the project. What would be the best step to resolve this?

Answer 12

Educate the users on why the user stories are valuable.

Explanation
When managing an agile project user stories will produce a lot of value to both the team members and the customers, as such it would be best to educate them on the value of the user stories.

Question 13

While working with the project team and conducting a brainstorming session, the project manager noticed that a lot of the ideas the team was coming up with were not organized. What tool can best be used by the team to visually organize their ideas?

Answer 13

Mind Mapping

Explanation
Mind mapping is a way to visually organize data. A matrix diagram is used to show the relationship between two or more groups. A flowchart shows a graphical representation of a process. A Pareto diagram displays Pareto’s 80/20, rule usually in a histogram.

Question 14

While working on a project, you realize that you will not be able to install the server and the workstations at the same time. In fact, the team has alerted you that after the server installation is done, you should wait an additional 4 days before installing the workstations. This is due to the updates the server will need, which is an automated process. What do you need to add to the schedule in order to account for this delay?

Answer 14

Lag

Explanation
A lag is a delay between activities. A lead is an overlap between activities. Slack and floats refer to the same thing: the amount of time you can delay an activity without delaying the project.

Question 15

While planning the risk responses for a construction project, the project manager and project team have decided they will have to choose a new electrical contractor due to the fact that the recommended contractor has legal issues with the local building department. The legal issues could cause the project to be delayed. What risk response does this represent?

Answer 15

Avoid

Explanation
Avoidance is when you go down a different path all together. The risk is eliminated and cannot happen. Since they choose another contractor, they cannot get delayed by that particular contractor. Acceptance is taking no action against the risk and accepting the outcome. Mitigation is done to reduce the risk probability and/or impact. Exploit is for a positive risk that will ensure the risk takes place.

Question 16

The project team has been working very hard over the last 4 months to program the financial application and has completed it. The project manager has informed the team that the quality control team will be inspecting it next. What process group best describes what the team has done so far?

Answer 16

Executing

Explanation
In the executing process group, the team completes the deliverables. During the monitoring and controlling processes, the deliverables are accepted by the stakeholders. During the planning process, the project management plan is created. During the closing process, the project or phase is brought to formal closure.

Question 17

What is the main difference between the product scope and the project scope?

Answer 17

The product scope describes the features and functionality of a product, whereas the product scope describes how to get the features and functionality from the product.

Explanation
The product scope describes the features and functionality of the product, whereas the project scope describes how to get the features and functionality from that product.

Question 18

While working with the system administrator, the project manager identifies many different types of resources required for the project to be completed successfully. The project manager classifies them as HR, material, equipment, and consumable resources. Where can the project manager best document these resources?

Answer 18

Resource Breakdown Structure

Explanation
The resource breakdown structure is a breakdown of the resources by categories or types. The resource register and resource category matrix are made-up terms. The resource requirements describe all the resources needed to complete an activity.

Question 19

While conducting procurement on a project, the project manager has received many different bids with a wide variance of estimated cost for the work. What can the project manager use to best determine which vendor has given a realistic price?

Answer 19

Independent Estimate

Explanation
An independent estimate is usually done by an outside entity to help give the project manager a more independent understanding of what certain project work will cost. Inspections and audits are done after the seller is selected to ensure the work stays on contract. Screening and weighing systems are done to help select sellers.

Question 20

While managing the project team the agile project manager is having a very difficult time understanding why team members are always frustrated when communicating with him. What critical soft skills does this project manager lack?

Answer 20

Emotional Intelligence

Explanation
Emotional intelligence is defined as the skill to identify, assess, and influence emotions of ourselves and others around us.

Question 21

You’re currently working on a large new building development project. The project team is currently breaking down the deliverables listed in the project scope statement into work that is more manageable. What process best describes this scenario?

Answer 21

Create WBS

Explanation
During the create WBS process the project team will use the tool of decomposition to break down the project deliverables into work packages. These work packages will then be used to help estimate the time and cost of the project. Define activities is a process of decomposing the work packages into activities, not the deliverables. Define scope is used to create the scope statement which will have a list of the deliverables. Define WBS is not a process.

Question 22

Over the last three weeks the project team has finally been able to establish a shared vision of what the product would look like when it is complete. This is an example of?

Answer 22

Progressive Elaboration

Explanation
Progressive elaboration occurs when more information in detail emerges over time.

Question 23

What is the difference between the product backlog and the iteration backlog?

Answer 23

Product backlog contains all the work needed to be completed on the project and iteration backlog will contain all the work that will get done in the next iteration.

Explanation
The product backlog will contain all the work needed to complete the project, while the iteration backlog will contain the work that will get done in the next iteration.

Question 24

The project was executed about 3 weeks ago, and the project team seems to be having a lot of difficulties getting along with each other. They are always having conflicts about how to proceed on certain activities, and the project manager has to step in in order to solve these conflicts. What process is the project manager performing?

Answer 24

Manage Team

Explanation
In the process of manage team, the project manager has to resolve issues and conflicts among the project team. This is done using the tool interpersonal and team skills, particularly conflict management. Acquire team is not a process in the PMBOK. Control resources is a process that involves physical resources, not human resources. Control scope is about preventing scope creep and ensuring the project meets the scope.

Question 25

While monitoring and controlling a project, the project manager has been comparing the work performance data to the project management plan to see if there are any variance. What process did the project manager finish to get the work performance data?

Answer 25

Direct and manage project work. Explanation Work performance data is an output of the integration process of direct and manage project work.

Question 26

A change request has been requested by a senior stakeholder to add a new reporting function to the current financial software development project. The change was assessed by the project team and approved by the sponsor. What process should the project manager do next?

Answer 26

Direct and manage project work. Explanation Once a change has been approved, it is time to execute the change, which is done in the executing process of direct and manage project work. Control quality is done to check the deliverables to ensure they meet the quality requirements. Validate scope is done to get formal acceptance from the stakeholders. Perform integrated change control is done to assess and approve a change request.

Question 27

The project manager has taken all the work performance information that has been created so far on the project. He has started to create the overall project status report to present to the project stakeholders. What process is the project manager conducting?

Answer 27

Monitor and control project work. Explanation Monitor and control project work process has an input of work performance information and an output of work performance report. No other choice has the output of work performance report.

Question 28

Project manager Mary was informed by the team that the constant conflicts in the project have slowed down the team so that they are now behind in the work. Mary is not sure what she did wrong while planning the project. She used a RACI chart to assign roles to each team member. She has assigned each activity to at least two people who will be held accountable for the work. What best explains the conflicts in the project?

Answer 28

Only one person should be accountable for an activity when using a RACI Chart. Explanation When using a RACI chart, only one person should be held accountable per task on the chart, which applies to using a kind of tool to assign resources. When more than one person is held accountable, the team members will blame each other for work that was done incorrectly or not at all.

Question 29

The project team has just started to code the redesigned accounting application when a key stakeholder asks for the application in order to include a very specific report to the company’s expenses. The stakeholder has submitted a change request to the project manager. What would be the most important input to consider for this change request?

Answer 29

Work performance reports Explanation Work performance reports is an input to the process of performing integrated change control, as it will show the overall status of the project. The other choices are not inputs to this process.

Question 30

While working on a project schedule, the project manager notices that activities A, B, and C all have a duration of 4 days. The project manager also notices that activities F and G have a duration of 7 days. Activities A, C, F, and G have a slack of 1 day. Activity B is the only one on the critical path. What is the slack on activity B?

Answer 30

O days Explanation If an activity is on the critical path, it will have zero slack. Non-critical path activities will have a slack of at least 1 day.

Question 31

The project team is currently working on a project to upgrade all the servers across the organization. Before they are able to get the financial server, the vendor calls and says the server delivery has been delayed 2 weeks. What documents should the project manager update immediately?

Answer 31

Issue Log Explanation The issue log is used to keep track of all issues in the project. The delay of a server will mean the project might be delayed, so it should be entered into the issue log immediately. After that the project manager might implement a change request to extend the schedule baseline and update the project management plan. The work breakdown structure does not show work by time.

Question 32

A company has completed building a new datacenter. The project has many changes that were submitted to the change control board. Most changes were approved, and some were not. Which of the following is not a purpose of the change control board?

Answer 32

Deny changes whenever possible. Explanation The change control board’s purpose is to manage changes to the project, which include assessing changes and stopping unnecessary changes. The change control board is not there to deny changes unless it has been assessed and deemed unnecessary in the project.

Question 33

The project manager has calculated the SPI of the project to be .7 and the CPI is .9. When reporting the progress of the project to the company stakeholders, what should the project manager say about the project to the stakeholders?

Answer 33

The project is delayed and over budget Explanation A CPI and SPI of under 1 are bad. A CPI of under 1 represents a project that is over budget. An SPI of under 1 represents a project that is behind schedule.

Question 34

The project manager has acquired the project team members and is starting to work with them to complete the project work. During this process the project manager has utilized a variety of rewards and recognition theories to keep the team motivated. What is the output of this process?

Answer 34

Team performance assessments Explanations The process being completed in this question is develop team. The output is team performance assessments. All other choices are tools in this process.

Question 35

The deliverables for the office relocation project were accepted by the company stakeholders, and all office staff were very happy with the work of the movers. The office manager requested to close the project immediately due to year-end budgetary closeouts. The movers filed a claim for an additional $300 for moving a copier that was not part of the plan. What should the project manager do next?

Answer 35

Keep the project open and inform claims administration. Explanations A project can only be closed once all claims have been settled. Claims should be sent to claims administration, where negotiation would be the preferred way to resolve them.

Question 36

While building the agile space for new agile team which of the following tools should the project manager insurer is available to all of them?

Answer 36

A whiteboard Explanation The use of high touch low-tech tools such as a whiteboard is vital in an agile environment to ensure collaboration and engagement of all team members.

Question 37

While analyzing the budget of a project, the project manager notices that the current CPI of the project is .93 and the SPI is 1.1. What best describes what is taking place on this project?

Answer 37

Crashing Explanation Crashing involves adding more resources to a project to decrease the schedule. In this scenario, the project is 7% over budget but is 10% ahead of schedule. Fast tracking and resource leveling generally do not increase costs. Best tracking is a made-up term.

Question 38

While developing complex software for an organization, the project team creates a computer-generated model of what it will look like when it is done. This model is given to the customers for their feedback. What best describes this model?

Answer 38

Prototypes Explanation A prototype is generally a mock-up or functional product that is given to the customers for feedback. Data representation and data analysis are tools used to analyze data and present them in various forms, such as graphs or charts. Screenshots are pictures taken from a screen of an application, not a model of how the application will work.

Question 39

There have been many disputes on the project with the current contractor. The contractor claims the project team is always asking that work not be listed in the contract, and the team claims that the contractor has not been doing the work listed in the contract. What should the project manager do first?

Answer 39

Review the contract Explanation The first step would be to review the contract to ensure he understands what the original agreement was, and then he should meet with the team and contractor. If needed, he should then contact the claims administration.

Question 40

While conducting a risk assessment on a project, the project manager has identified a new regulatory risk. If the project is not completed by July 31, the company will have to scrap the project. What best describes this?

Answer 40

Project constraint Explanation There are 6 constraints on a project,: scope, cost, time, resources, risk, and quality. This project is constrained by time. The other choices are project requirements, not constraints.

Question 41

When using different prioritization technique what is the most important aspect that the agile project manager should communicate to the customers?

Answer 41

Do not worry too much about the specifics, it is more important to get the relative prioritization correct. Explanation When using any prioritization technique is important to ensure the customer understands not to worry too much about the specifics of the technique but to understand that it is done prioritize the features based on relative value.

Question 42

Your company has decided to roll out a new Wi-Fi network for the staff. The sponsor has informed you that encryption on the network is mandatory. Where will the project manager document that the encryption was mandated by the sponsor?

Answer 42

Requirements traceability matrix Explanation The requirements traceability matrix will trace the requirements back to their origins. The project scope statement, scope baseline, and requirements documentation will not include where requirements came from.

Question 43

The project sponsor has signed off on the project charter and has spoken to the project manager, who then has to keep the cost down on the project. The project manager agrees to try his best to keep cost down and to finish the project under budget. What should the project manager do next?

Answer 43

Meet with stakeholders to gather their requirements. Explanation Once the project charter is created, the next step would be to collect the requirements and then create the scope statement and the WBS. You cannot meet with the team to reduce cost if you don’t know the requirements. There is no such thing as a cost reduction program in PMBOK.

Question 44

The project team has completed the server deployment project. They have tested the server to ensure that it works according to the requirements given to them, and it seems to be functioning correctly. What process group has the team just completed?

Answer 44

Executing Explanation The outputs of all the executed processes combined, including directly executing the process and managing project work, are the project deliverables. The output for planning would be the project management plan. The output for closing would be the final product service or result transition and the final report. The output for monitoring and controlling would be the accepted deliverables and the work performance reports.

Question 45

While managing the stakeholders’ engagement, the project manager notices that some of the team members are not respectful to other team members. This has led to a few conflicts between the members. What can the project manager best do about this?

Answer 45

Implement ground rules Explanation Ground rules are usually set within the team charter and are the general rules that the team will follow in order to effectively work with each other. These generally include behavioral rules. Before releasing the team, the project manager should try to resolve the problem. Conflicts within a project team should not be a reason to stop a project. If you were to inform the sponsor, they would generally tell you to solve this problem.

Question 46

The product owner has requested to be showing how much work there remains to be done on the project. What would be the best agile tool to display this?

Answer 46

Burndown Chart Explanation A burn down chart displays work that remains to be done.

Question 47

While working on a project with a budget of $5,000, the project manager determines that the earned value on the project so far is $1,750. So far, the project team has spent $2,900. What should the project manager report as the status of the budget?

Answer 47

The project is over budget by 40%. Explanation In this situation, you would need to find out the CPI of the project, which is EV/AC. That would equal 1750/2900 = .6. A CPI of .6 represents that the project is 40% over budget. Remember that if the CPI is 1, then the project is on budget. Anything under 1 represents being over budget, and anything over 1 represents being under budget.

Question 48

The project manager is having a difficult time keeping the project on plan. There are many changes regarding the project scope, which has led to an increase in the project budget. Management would like a reason why there have been so many scope changes on this project. What would most likely cause many scope changes on a project?

Answer 48

Did not gather detailed requirements. Explanation Generally, if a project manager finds themselves with many scope changes when the project is executed, it’s most likely that they did not gather the requirements adequately from the customers. The other choices cannot be selected because the question does not give enough information regarding them.

Question 49

During a new smartphone development project, the customers are given a prototype of the smartphone for them to try. They inform you that the phone constantly reboots, and sometimes the touch screen does not work. What tool can the project team use to find the reasons for these defects?

Answer 49

Ishikawa (Fishbone) Diagram An Ishikawa diagram, also known as a cause-and-effect diagram, is used to list the many different probabilities for a project’s defect. Assumptions analysis involves analyzing assumptions, histograms are used to show the frequency of defects, and inspections are used to see if a deliverable has met its requirements.

Question 50

A project manager is having difficulties communicating with the project team; there always seem to be misunderstandings and conflicts. What interpersonal and team skills should the project manager improve on?

Answer 50

Active Listening Explanation Active listening helps to reduce misunderstandings and improves communications and knowledge sharing. Selective listening and passive listening are not terms used in PMBOK. The lessons learned register is not an interpersonal and team skills tool.

Question 51

Senior management has requested an update to the current product upgrade project. The project manager knows she has to keep the information high level and as short as possible. Which resource would be the best to show senior management?

Answer 51

Milestone Chart Explanation A milestone chart shows only the major start and end of the major deliverables. All other choices such as the WBS, WBS dictionary, and the network diagram are very detailed.

Question 52

While working on a project, the sponsor makes it clear that he does not want any of the team members to be overworked. This means that no team member is allowed to work overtime. The sponsor is okay with the project being delayed due to this. What technique can the project manager best implement to ensure that no team member is overworked?

Answer 52

Resource Leveling Explanation Resource leveling is a technique used when resources are limited or over-allocated. Resource leveling ensures that no resource is assigned to more than one activity at a time, ensuring that no resource is overworked. Resource smoothing may accomplish the same task, but it only works if there is slack available on the activities. Free float is the amount of time you can delay an activity without delaying the next activity. Lag is the amount of time you need to delay an activity before the next activity starts.

Question 53

Which of the following is not a principle of agile planning?

Answer 53

Conduct most of the planning at the beginning. Explanation On the traditional project most of the planning is done on the beginning, while agile projects are planned throughout the project with the help of all stakeholders.

Question 54

While managing a product development project, the project manager met with the team to determine some of the key tasks that will ensure they produce a high-quality product. What should they consider the most important concept in quality?

Answer 54

Quality is about prevention Explanation Quality management is about preventing defects from getting into the hands of the customers. It’s more important to have high quality than high grade. More prevention will lead to less inspection. The cost of quality includes all prevention and inspection costs.

Question 55

After a project manager is assigned to the project with the project charter, he continues to identify the stakeholders on the project. In this process, he creates the stakeholder register. Which of the following statement is false about the stakeholder register?

Answer 55

It is only updated in the initiating phase of the project. Explanation The stakeholder register is updated throughout the project, not just during the initiation phase of the project. All other choices are true.

Question 56

The agile project team has determined that many of its processes has a lot of waiting and would like to remove all of the waste in the processes. What would be the best tool the agile team can use to improve their processes?

Answer 56

Value stream map. Explanation A value stream map is a visual representation of the flow of information through a process in which you can identify waste such as waiting time and optimize the process.

Question 57

The project manager is having a very difficult time collecting the requirements from the customers. The customers are having a difficult time putting the requirements into logical groupings. What tool can best help them group the requirements?

Answer 57

Affinity Diagram Explanation An affinity diagram is used to group large numbers of ideas to be analyzed. A prototype is a functional model of a product given to customers for their feedback. Decomposition is a tool used to break work down into more detailed activities. The requirements documentation would be the output of the process of collect requirements, not a tool.

Question 58

A project manager working in a large multinational corporation has been assigned to upgrade the company’s website. This project will require inputs for many functional managers across the organization from different countries. Each functional manager would like one of their representatives to be present on the project team. What would be the best tool or technique for handling this scenario in a cost-effective way?

Answer 58

Using Virtual Teams Explanation Virtual teams are used in the acquire resources process. Virtual teams are a cost-effective way to build multinational teams. Collocation is when you bring everyone into a single space to accomplish work. Although this may sound like a good solution, it is not cost-effective to have everyone fly to one location. If you were to visit each functional manager, this would not solve the problem of having the functional managers’ representatives on your project.

Question 59

The project manager has met with the project team and has informed them that his team performance assessments are done, and he would like to speak with each of them individually about the results. What process group is this?

Answer 59

Executing Explanation During the executing process group, the project manager will assess the team’s performance and try to improve it through the executing process of developing and managing the team.

Question 60

While working on a new server upgrade project, the project manager calculates the SPI of the project to be 1.3. The project sponsor would like an explanation for why the SPI is that high. What would be the project manager’s best response?

Answer 60

The project team where able to finish the work faster than anticipiated and this is what led to the project being ahead of schedule. Explanation An SPI of 1.3 shows that the project is ahead of schedule by 30%. This could be because the project team is finishing the work faster than originally scheduled. The other choices involve the project being either behind schedule or on schedule, but in this situation, the project is ahead of schedule.

Question 61

Senior management in the organization would like your project to have as few risks as possible. Which of the following contracts best meet their criteria?

Answer 61

Fixed Price Explanation A fixed price contract will have the lowest risk for the project, since the costs of the labor and material are known up front. All other contracts, such as cost reimbursable and time and material will have more risks for the buyers than the sellers. A cost plus fixed fee contract is a type of cost reimbursable contract.

Question 62

A major portion of a large construction development project was completed by a contractor. The contractor has completed all the work listed in the agreement but also completed other work the contractor felt had to be done. The contractor is asking for more money that was not listed in the agreement, and the project manager feels that what they’re asking for is too much for the additional work that was completed. What should the project manager do next?

Answer 62

Contact claims administration Explanation When there is a dispute between a buyer and a seller for additional funds, the dispute should be resolved by going to the claims administration, who can then facilitate the dispute. The other choices will not resolve the dispute between the buyer and the seller.

Question 63

While working on an agile project, a customer has requested for the team to deploy the software as soon as the iteration is done. The customer has already checked the completed part of the software and has accepted it. The team has refused to deploy the software. What work best explains the team’s refusal?

Answer 63

The iteration is part of the release. Explanation Iterations are part of a product that is inspected by the customers. An iteration may not be something that can be released to users since it only represents a few weeks’ worth of work. A release usually includes multiple iterations that are releasable to the customers. In this question the customer has already accepted the iteration, which means there are no errors in it.

Question 64

The project team has been brought together for the first time to work on the network upgrade project. They were able to learn about the functions they will doing on the project and what their roles will be. What will the team do next, according to Tuckman’s ladder?

Answer 64

Storming Explanation The team is currently in the forming stage and will move next to the storming stage. The stages are forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning.

Question 65

A project manager is having a very difficult time negotiating with a functional manager. The project manager would like to have Peter, the system administrator, work on the project full time, but the functional manager needs Peter full time to work on the servers throughout the day in case one goes down. After a few days of negotiating, the project manager has determined that he will have Peter from Monday to Wednesday, and the functional manager can have Peter on Thursday and Friday. Although this solution is not the most ideal scenario for the project manager and functional manager, it will have to work for now. What conflict resolution technique was used?

Answer 65

Compromising Explanation Compromising is when both sides in a conflict give up something to come up with a solution. Smoothing is when the problem is pushed aside, and forcing is when one side completely wins and the other side completely loses. Problem-solving is the best way, but that would require both sides to come up with a solution in which they both win.

Question 66

While constructing a new office space, the sponsor has requested the project manager complete the project sooner. While analyzing the work, the project manager has noticed that some of the work can start before the predecessor work is done. What can the project manager do in this scenario to complete the project sooner?

Answer 66

Add lead times between project activities. Explanation A lead is an overlap between project activities. This means that work will start before the predecessor work is done. Lag time will add a delay between activities. Slack is the amount of time you can delay an activity without delaying the project. Reserves are the additional time added to the activities for risk.

Question 67

The project team has finished 60% of the deliverables when management informs the project manager that the project will be canceled immediately and the team will be reassigned to work on a new project that management feels is more important. What should the project manager do right away?

Answer 67

Inform project team, conduct a lessons learned session, and formally release the team from the project. Explanation If a project is terminated before completion, the project manager should immediately move to the close project or phase process and formally close the project. The other choices do not involve the activities in the close project or phase process.

Question 68

When managing risks on a project, the project manager should be aware of the individual project risks and which other project risks?

Answer 68

Overall project risks. Explanation Risk generally falls into two levels on a project: individual project risks and overall project risks. All other terms are not different types of risks.

Question 69

While working on a project, the CEO of the company has informed you that he would like to terminate the project and have you work on a few others projects. What kind of influence does this best represent?

Answer 69

Upwards Explanation Upwards influence is for stakeholders above you such as senior management. Downward influence is for those below you such as team members. Sideways influence is for those who are your peers such as other project managers. Outwards influence is for those who are external, such as vendors.

Question 70

The risk management plan generally outlines the steps the project will take to conduct risk management processes on the project. Which of the following will the risk management plan not include?

Answer 70

Positive risks that could affect the project. Explanation The risk register lists both positive and negative risks, not the risk management plan. The risk management plan includes the risk breakdown structure that categorizes risks, roles, and responsibilities for the team members and the methodology they would use to perform the risk processes on the project.

Question 71

While working on a network upgrade project, a team member installed the network connection and is now configuring the router in order to work with the network connection. The network connection must be done before the router can be configured. This is an example of what kind of dependency?

Answer 71

Mandatory dependency Mandatory dependency is when activities must be done in a certain order. For example, you must complete A then complete B. Internal dependencies are things that are under the control of the project team, and external dependencies are things that are outside the control of the project team, such as getting a permit. Discretionary dependency is when two activities can be done in any order and they’re not dependent upon each other.

Question 72

The project manager and the team have worked endless hours to calculate the amount of time it will take to conduct each activity. They would like to document some of the assumptions they made and the constraints they may face when the project is executed. What document will they use for this?

Answer 72

Basis of estimates Explanation The basis of estimates documents what they used estimate the activities, such as assumptions, constraints, range of estimates, and the confidence level of the estimates. The duration and cost estimates will not have these components. The project schedule will outline how long the project will take, which includes a network diagram, Gantt chart, and the milestone chart.

Question 73

The project manager has noticed that a few team members are having a difficult time following the process to inspect the quality of new software. What is the best tool to help them see the process, making it easier to follow?

Answer 73

Flowchart Explanation A flowchart is used to visually follow the steps in a process or multiple processes. A control chart will show if a process is in “control” by illustrating the rule of 7. A histogram is a bar chart that usually shows frequency of something. A process design chart is a made-up term.

Question 74

The team is concerned with the quality of the product about to be created by the project. What statement about quality management is true?

Answer 74

Low grade, high quality is ok. Explanation A low-grade, high-quality project is acceptable. The grade just represents the number of features a project had. Low quality is never okay. Prevention leads to less inspection.

Question 75

Which of the following would be considered a waste on a project?

Answer 75

Waiting Explanation Waiting is considered waste on a project, as it represents time when no work is getting done.

Question 76

The datacenter redesign project is currently 30% complete. The project manager is not happy with the way processes are being followed by the team in ensuring that the network wiring will meet its quality requirements. What process should the project manager do to improve the processes so as to meet the quality requirements with the network wiring?

Answer 76

Manage quality Explanation Manage quality is an executing process where you will improve processes by conducting audits and process analysis. All other choices are monitoring and controlling processes that will be used to measure the work against the project management plan.

Question 77

While monitoring and controlling the project, the project manager and the team have consistently received broken equipment from a particular vendor. They have spoken with the vendor and implemented a new process that will ensure the equipment does not show up broken. This seems to have solved the problem. What is the next step the project manager should take?

Answer 77

Check the solution Explanation When encountering any problem on a project, the project manager should first identify the problem, define the problem, investigate, analyze, solve, and then check the solution. In this situation, the problem has already been solved, so the next step would be to check the solution to ensure the problem has actually been solved.

Question 78

After the iteration has completed where will the team inspect the methods, they used to build that increments?

Answer 78

Retrospective Explanation A retrospective is done after each iteration for the team to inspect and create a plan for improvements to be done in the next iteration.

Question 79

The sponsor would like a report about the resources that are being used on the project. He would like to see them broken down by different categories to make them easier to understand. What process will the project manager use to create this?

Answer 79

Estimate Activity Resources Explanation The process of estimate activity resources will output the resource breakdown structure, which is a hierarchical breakdown of resources by their categories and types. No other choice will output this project document.

Question 80

Managing a project can be a very complex task that involves identifying and managing all the stakeholders on the project. The project manager spends 90% of their time doing what important task?

Answer 80

Communications Explanation Communications generally take up 90% of the project manager’s time. This generally includes various types of meetings, discussions, negotiation, and problem solving. A project manager does not determine how much an activity will cost or how long it will take; that is generally done by a subject matter expert.

Question 81

The project manager is currently reviewing all of the meetings that took place over the past few weeks to ensure that it was done according to the communication management plan. What process is the project manager currently conducting?

Answer 81

Monitor communications Explanation Monitor Communications is where the project manager analyzes the project communications with the project management plan to ensure the communications are done according to the plan. Plan communication management is done to create the communication management plan. Manage Communications is where a project manager actually communicates with the stakeholders according to the plan. Conduct Communications is not an actual process.

Question 82

A large development company has just initiated a project to build a 60-story building. The project will take approximately 3 years to complete with a cost of $550 million. The development company has started to facilitate funding for the project by asking private equity firms and banks. What tools does this best represent?

Answer 82

Financing Explanation Financing is a tool used in the process of determine budget. This is when a company looks at external sources to fund the project. Funding limit reconciliation is done when there are limited funds to spend on the project and work may need to be rescheduled. Parametric estimates are a type of mathematical estimates done to estimate the cost of each activity. Analogous estimates are based on historical information to estimate the cost of each activity.

Question 83

Which of the following is an XP practice that helps to create a shared vision between the developers and the customers?

Answer 83

Metaphors Explanation A metaphor is using XP to explain designs and create a shared vision between customers and the development team.

Question 84

The project team is currently working on an advertising project. They have completed a few of the activities, which includes writing the script for the commercial. Once the team completes an activity, what should they do next?

Answer 84

Update work performance data? Explanation Once work is done on a project, the team should update the work performance data. This will include the status on the work such as when it was completed or started. The project manager will take the work performance data and create the work performance information and report, which will then be given to all the other stakeholders. You should not close the project or phase until all work has been completed and accepted.

Question 85

While developing very complex software, the project manager met with some of the industry’s top subject matter experts to understand their perspectives about solving some of the problems in the software. What tool best describes these meetings?

Answer 85

Focus groups Explanation A focus group brings together subject matter experts to understand their perspectives and how they would go about solving problems. A brainstorming session is done by a group of stakeholders to gather ideas. A checklist can be created by an organization and then given to potential stakeholders, usually to identify factors they may want on a project. Questionnaires and surveys function almost the same as a checklist, which is used to gather stakeholders’ requirements.

Question 86

The project manager is currently estimating how much programmers will need to complete the financial software upgrade project. What document can the project manager use to determine who is available to work on the project?

Answer 86

Resources Calendar Explanation The resource calendar shows the availability of resources, both physical and team. The lessons learned register is used to keep track of all lesson learned in the project. Project team calendar and availability calendar are made-up terms.

Question 87

The project manager, Peter, has been informed by the sponsor that the project needs to be completed 2 weeks earlier than the scheduled time. Peter goes to the team and informs them that they will need to work overtime to complete the project sooner. What is Peter doing to shorten the schedule?

Answer 87

Crashing Crashing adds resources to the project and will generally increase the cost. Since the team will be working overtime, this will result in additional costs to the project. Fast tracking is when you run activities in parallel. Adding leads to activities will overlap activities, which is not mentioned in the question. The sponsor has not authorized a scope change on the project.

Question 88

The project manager is working on a new electrical wiring upgrade project for the entire office. Due to safety issues, the project manager cannot move forward with many parts of the project without inspections and permits from the local Buildings Department. Most permits take approximately 6 weeks to get. Where would the project manager document the opportunity the project should take if a permit comes within 2 weeks instead of the 6 weeks?

Answer 88

Risk Register Explanation This question describes a positive risk, which is known as an opportunity, and this is added to the risk register. The assumption log will only document assumptions that are made on a project, and the issue log will have a list of issues that are currently taking place on a project. A change request is only issued when parts of the project management plan or document must be updated.

Question 89

When deciding what user stories should get done in the next iteration what should the project team consider?

Answer 89

How much points the team completed in the past iterations. Explanation When determining how much stories can get done in an iteration the team should look at its velocity which is based on how much points they were able to get done in previous iterations.

Question 90

While installing the new virtual server, the team discovers a new method that they can use on this project and future projects that can get the installation done in about half the time. This new method involves prepping the server image and cloning the machines. What is the best project document for the team to update?

Answer 90

Lessons learned register Explanation Any time new knowledge is gained on a project, it should be added to the lessons learned register to be used throughout the project and on future projects. The risk register is used to list all the risks that can affect the project and how the project team would respond to them. Opportunity and knowledge management registers are made-up terms.

Question 91

After many years of following the agile principles the project team has implemented a few new methods in addition to the agile methods in order to increase the efficiency of the project. This will be known as?

Answer 91

Process Tailoring Explanation Process tailoring is done to amend the agile methodology to better fit the project environment.

Question 92

Agile project conduct planning at multiple points in time as the scope is refined and change over the project lifecycle. This is known as?

Answer 92

Rolling Wave Planning. Explanation Rolling wave planning is when planning is done at multiple points in time as data becomes available.

Question 93

The project team has completed a major deliverable on the game development project. The deliverable was given to the project manager. What action should the project manager take next?

Answer 93

Check the deliverable for quality requirements. Explanation Once a deliverable is complete in the process of direct and managed project work, the next process would be to control quality; the deliverable would be checked for quality requirements so it can be accepted by a customer or sponsor. The project should not be closed until the deliverable has been accepted. There is no need to have the project team review the deliverable since they have deemed it completed and handed it to the project manager.

Question 94

The project manager is working on a top-secret company project and would like to ensure all the correct security measures are in place for communications regarding the project. What tool would the project manager use?

Answer 94

Communication Technology Explanation Communication technology factors include sensitivity and confidentiality of the information on the project, which will require the project manager to assess the security needs of the project information. Communication models are used when looking at the communication processes. Encryption is not a tool in the PMBOK.

Question 95

The product owner has informed the project manager that all items in the product backlog are valuable and they should all get done. How should the agile project manager respond?

Answer 95

He should educate the product owner on the benefits of prioritizing the product backlog. Explanation Part of being an agile project manager is to be an advocate for agile processes. This includes educating and teaching stakeholders on the benefits of agile. Agile principles state only the product owner can prioritize the product backlog.

Question 96

The project manager and the project team are reviewing the completed deliverables to see if they meet the performance requirements outlined in the requirements documentation. This is done so that when the customers are invited to inspect the deliverable, there will be no issues. What is the best output of this process?

Answer 96

Verified Deliverables. The process of quality control is when the deliverables are inspected to see if they meet the quality requirements. The output of this process is verified deliverables. Control quality is generally done before the process of validate scope, where the deliverables will be inspected by the customers for a formal acceptance. The project management plan, accepted deliverables, and requirements documentation are not outputs of the control quality process.

Question 97

One of the customers would like to add a new component to the project that would likely increase the functionality of the software. What steps should the customer take when adding this new component on an Agile project?

Answer 97

Add it to the product backlog. Explanation When a customer would like to add a change to an agile project, they simply added to the product backlog. That new feature will then be prioritized based on his value in the product backlog.

Question 98

Team members Mark and Bill are currently experiencing conflict in the office move project. Mark believes that it would be best if they moved the furniture first and then the computers, whereas Bill believes it’s best to move the computers and then the furniture. This conflict is causing a serious delay to the project, and both Mark and Bill have decided they will make a decision on what to move first at a later date. What conflict resolution technique best describes this scenario?

Answer 98

Withdrawal. Explanation The conflict resolution technique Illustrated in this question is withdrawal, which is when they postpone the issue to a later date to be better prepared. Compromise is when the two sides reach an agreement but both sides have to give up something. Postponing is a made-up term.

Question 99

The project manager has just spoken to one of the software developers, Bill, about the project and has asked for an estimate of how long it will take to code a specific function. Bill said that it would take a maximum of 10 days, but that most likely it will be 6 days. The project manager has calculated the PERT estimated duration of this activity to be 6 days. What is the least amount of days it will take to complete this activity?

Answer 99

2 Explanation In this question, you have to use the PERT formula, which is (O+4*R+P)/6 to find the optimistic number. The question gives you the answer to the formula—6 days—and you will need to figure out the other components. In the question, the pessimistic number given is 10, the realistic number is 6, and you have to find out the optimistic number. Plug the numbers into the formula like this: (O+4*6+10)/6=6 based on this equation, equals to 2.

Question 100

The agile project team has completed the Sprint planning meeting. What would be the output of this meeting?

Answer 100

Sprint backlog Explanation The output of the Sprint planning meeting is the Sprint backlog which will outline all work to be done in the next Sprint.

Question 101

The agile project team has decided to do one of the features from the product backlog. The single feature will take six weeks to complete and will be reviewed by the customer. What actions should the agile project manager take next?

Answer 101

Informed the team six weeks is too long and they will need to decomposed that feature into smaller increments. Explanation In agile iterations should be no more than one to four weeks. Features the takes longer than should be decomposed into smaller features that can fit within a time box of one to four weeks.

Question 102

The project manager and sponsor are consulting with banks and other lending institutions in order to obtain funds for the project. What process this describes these actions?

Answer 102

Determine Budget Explanation In the process of determine budget is where the tool of financing is used to seek funding for the project. Develop project Charter is used to get the project authorized. Plan cost management is used to create the cost management plan. Determine project financing is made-up process.

Question 103

While working on an agile project, the project manager has met with the project team members to discuss what they had done the day before and what they plan to do today. What is the name of this meeting?

Answer 103

Daily stand-up meeting Explanation A daily stand-up meeting is done on a daily basis to answer the 3 questions: What have you done since yesterday, what will you do today, and are there any roadblocks? A sprint planning meeting is done to determine what work will be done in a sprint. A sprint review is where the customers review the work that was done in the sprint. There is no such meeting as a project review meeting.

Question 104

After the project manager has collected the requirements and received approval for the scope statement, what process should the project manager do next?

Answer 104

Create WBS Explanation The create WBS process is generally done after the scope statement has been created, as it will decompose the deliverables in the scope statement. You cannot define activities or sequence activities until the WBS is complete, as you will need to know work packages to create the activities. Create scope baseline is a made-up term.

Question 105

The project manager has been informed that the company’s senior management would like a meeting about the status of the project. What should the project manager take to display the current schedule of the project?

Answer 105

Milestone Chart Explanation A milestone chart is a high-level view of major accomplishments on a project. These are best used when presenting a quick view of data and the project schedule to management personnel. All other choices would give you a detailed view of the project schedule and work.

Question 106

While working on the network upgrade project, the project manager receives many ideas about what to include in the project. The ideas seem to be very scattered and not logically grouped. What tool can best help the project manager group these ideas?

Answer 106

Affinity Diagrams Explanation An affinity diagram is used to group large number of ideas to review and analyze. A histogram is used to show frequencies over time. A flowchart is used to visually view a process for improvements. An ideas matrix is a made-up term.

Question 107

While attempting to determine the schedule for the project, the project manager has been informed from the team that each line of code will take about 15-45 minutes to write and debug. There will be about 1 million lines of code in the application. What schedule-estimating technique best describes this estimate?

Answer 107

Parametric Explanation Parametric estimates are based on a data set such as cost per feet or time per task. Top-down and analogous are the same and are high-level estimates based on historical data. Bottom-up involves breaking the work and then adding it back up.

Question 108

You have just been appointed the new project manager on a product upgrade project. One person in particular at the company feels like the project may cause them to lose their job. This person has expert knowledge of the current product and does not feel that it needs an upgrade. What would you consider this person on your project?

Answer 108

Stakeholder Explanation A stakeholder is someone who is positively or negatively impacted by a project. In this situation, the person is negatively impacted. Team members do the work on the project. Subject matter experts are generally team members, and employees work for a business.

Question 109

The project team has just assigned costs to each of the activities on the project. They will now use these costs to find the overall budget of the project. What tool can the project team use to complete this task?

Answer 109

Cost aggregation Explanation If the activities have been assigned costs, then the process of estimate costs has been completed. The next process would be to determine budget and use the cost aggregation tool to integrate all the activities into the overall budget of the project. The tools of bottom-up estimation and parametric estimation are not used to determine a budget. You do not need an expert in order to aggregate costs; maybe to help determine the costs, but not to aggregate them.

Question 110

During a new workstation rollout project, a stakeholder asked for a change to some of the software being installed. The change was submitted to the Change Control Board but was rejected due to the high increase in cost of the software being requested. What should the project manager do next?

Answer 110

Update the change log Explanation Once a change has been denied, the next step is to update the change log with the status of the change. That can include whether it was approved or denied. Because this change was denied, it is not considered an issue on the project. The Change Control Board has already denied the change, so there is no need to perform additional analyses or resubmit it.

Question 111

While working on a project, the project team has encountered a problem that has halted the project work. The team is unable to come up with a solution and would like to have an outside company come in and finish the rest of the project. What should the project team do next?

Answer 111

Create a request for proposal. Explanation A request for proposal is used when there’s a problem on the project, and this solution is not easy to determine. This is generally a formal request made by project vendors to understand how they would rewrite the scope statement. Conducting a bidder conference will not come up with solutions to the problem with the project. A request for quotation is made to understand how a vendor develops satisfied requirements and how much it will cost.

Question 112

While working on a complex web design project, the manager has received a change request from a senior stakeholder to fix a problem with the current intranet server. The project manager has determined that this change is outside the scope of the project and is not covered by the work listed in the project charter. What should the project manager do next?

Answer 112

Inform the stakeholder that this change request should considered as a new project. Explanation Although all change requests should be considered by the project manager, they should be related to the project work. No change should be approved if it is outside the scope of the project charter, since that would not be considered work within the current project.

Question 113

Project manager Mark is currently working on a new office automation project and is consistently being asked for updates and meetings with the project sponsor. Mark informs the sponsor that the constant meetings disrupt his work, and his project is starting to fall behind schedule. The sponsor responds by saying that that is his management style. What best describes the sponsor’s management style?

Answer 113

Theory X Explanation Theory X is a management theory in which the manager does not trust his or her workers and will micromanage them. This theory generally leads to the team being unhappy. Theory Y refers to when a manager believes people want to do the work and trusts them. Theory Z refers to when employees are committed to a business and will generally stay with that business for a long period of time. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs specifies what a company must have in order for employees to stay motivated.

Question 114

A project has completed 60% of all the work. The team has spent 55% of the project budget. The budget is currently set at $180,000. The sponsor has requested to know the project’s CPI. The project manager should inform the sponsor that the CPI is the following:

Answer 114

1.1 Explanation CPI is equal to EV/AC. To find the CPI, you must first find EV and AC. EV is equal to the percentage of actual work completed x BAC (budget at completion), which is 60% x $180,000 = $108,000. AC (actual cost) is just the amount of money already spent on the project, which is 55% x $180,000 = $99,000. So, CPI is $108,000/$90,000 = 1.1.

Question 115

The project manager and the project team were able to identify a number of risks that could affect the website upgrade project. They listed all of the risks on the risk register. They will now conduct a qualitative risk analysis to prioritize the risks. What will the team look at when prioritizing the risks?

Answer 115

Probability and Impact Explanation While conducting the qualitative risk analysis, the team will rank the risks based on their probability of occurrence and impact on the project.

Question 116

In what process does a project manager determine the approach they will use to involve the stakeholders to meet their expectations?

Answer 116

Plan stakeholders expectations Explanation During the process of plan stakeholder engagement, the project manager will develop an approach to involve the stakeholders to meet their expectations, interest, and potential impact on the project. Identify stakeholders is establishing who the stakeholders are on the project and what their interests will be their interest. Plan communications is to create a plan to ensure that all stakeholders are receiving the correct communications. Manage stakeholders engagements is done to communicate with the stakeholders to meet their needs.

Question 117

While monitoring the status of an agile project what numerical analysis can the project team use to help determine if the project is on schedule?

Answer 117

Earned Value Management Explanation Earned value management are series of formulas that monitor the value of the project as it’s progressing and generally track cost and schedule.

Question 118

While monitoring a large construction project, the project manager has calculated the SPI of the project to be 1.2. A contractor has informed the project manager that a delivery will be 1 week late. The 1-week delay is 10% of the project schedule. What would mostly likely happen to this project?

Answer 118

The project will finish ahead of schedule Explanation The current SPI is 1.2, which means the project is 20% ahead of schedule. A 10% delay should not cause this project to finish behind schedule. You cannot determine the project’s budget from the information in this question.

Question 119

While working on a project, the project manager notices that most of the time is spent resolving conflicts between members of the project team. What is the best tool the project manager can use to resolve the problems amongst the team members?

Answer 119

Interpersonal team skills Explanation Resolving team conflicts is done through the manage team process. This particular process includes interpersonal and team skills tools of which conflict management is a subset. Expert judgement, training, and collocation are not tools used in the manage team process.

Question 120

When managing a small construction project, the project manager has informed the project team members that they are using too many materials to complete the project work. The project manager feels the team members could utilize a lot less materials to accomplish the work they’re currently doing. What process describes this scenario?

Answer 120

Control Resources Explanation Control resources is a process that ensures the physical resources are being utilized correctly. Manage team and develop team are used to manage the project team and not the physical resources. Monitor resources is a made-up process.

Question 121

Mark is currently working on the workstation upgrade project. He has noticed there are three activities on the critical path, which are activity A, C, and D. Activity B has a slack of 2 and a duration of 4 days. Activity C has a duration of 3 days, and activity D has a duration of 6 days. What is the slack on activity A?

Answer 121

O Days Explanation Activities on a critical path have zero slack. The question is trying to mislead you into drawing a network diagram that is not needed to determine the slack.

Question 122

The project sponsors have informed the project manager that they would like to be included in the weekly meetings along with the team members. What should the project manager update to include the sponsors in the weekly meetings?

Answer 122

Communications Management Plan Explanation The communication management plan outlines who will be receiving what type of communications, how often they will receive them, and who will provide them. The project manager should update this plan to specify who will be attending the weekly meetings. The scope and risk management plans do not contain any information about project meetings. Project communications refer to actually communicating on a project.

Question 123

The project team has completed the scope baseline and has started to break down each of the work packages in into individual activities. What process should the team do next?

Answer 123

Sequence Activity After the team has created the activity list in the process of define activity, the next process should be sequencing the activities. This should be done before the team develops a schedule. Creating WBS and defining scope will come before defining activities.

Question 124

As an agile project manager, you have encountered many issues with the product owner. The product owner has refused to prioritize the product backlog stating that all items are equally important. After educating the product owner about the value of prioritization he still refuses. What should the agile project manager do?

Answer 124

Continue to educate the product owner. Explanation One of the core task of being an agile project manager is to educate and promote the values of agile practices even when stakeholders are reluctant to follow the principles.

Question 125

The datacenter redesign project has been executed and is currently 50% complete. One of the project’s key stakeholders has submitted a change request to change the building’s wiring from copper cables to fiber cables. The project manager has contacted a wiring contractor, who said it will take about 2 months to install the fiber at a cost of $2 million. What should the project manager do next?

Answer 125

Submit the change to the change control board. Explanation Once a change has been assessed, the next step would be to get the change approved or rejected by the change control board. The project manager should not approve and deny changes without the change control board. Once a change is approved, you can update the project management plan.

Question 126

The project manager has decided that most of the stakeholders on the project would like to reference the status reports for the project on the company’s internal website on their own time. This would make it easier for them, as it is very difficult to schedule a meeting with all of them at once. What type of communication best describes this?

Answer 126

Pull Communication Explanation Pull communication is done when stakeholders access the communications on their own time, usually through a web portal. Push communication is when communication is given to the stakeholders such as in an email. Interactive is when stakeholders are communicating in real time such as through a phone call. Technical communication is a made-up term.

Question 127

While working on a large utility project for a major metropolitan area, the project manager has noticed that there is no change control board to approve changes for the project. What would be the best step for the project manager to take in this scenario?

Answer 127

Establish a change control board for the project. Explanation Since this is a large project that will affect a large population, it would be best to establish a change control board for the project to have the changes reviewed and approved. On a very small project, the project manager may ask the sponsor to approve or deny changes. The project manager’s main job is to document and assess changes to the project.

Question 128

While working on a tablet redesign project for large technology company, the project manager received a change request from a key stakeholder. The change request would change the position of the power button from the top to the side of the tablet. After an assessment of the change, the change control board declined the change due to concerns about redesigning the motherboard. What should the project manager do next?

Answer 128

Update the change log. Explanation Once a change is approved or denied, the project manager should update the change log to list the status of the change. If a change is approved, the project management should be updated.

Question 129

While working on a large project, the project manager originally counted 12 stakeholders. A new requirement and six more stakeholders were added to the project. How many communication channels are on this project?

Answer 129

153 Explanation To get this answer correct, you will have to use the communications channels formula, which is N(N-1)/2. Since there are 18 stakeholders, the formula is 18(18-1)/2 = 153.

Question 130

The project manager, Mark, overheard that the project team is not satisfied with the way the budget was created. They strongly believe the project will be over budget at the end. What is the next best step for Mark?

Answer 130

Bring the team together and attempt to understand why they feel this way. Explanation A project manager should not take action on issues they overhear without first finding out why stakeholders feel a certain way. This ensures that the project manager has a detailed understanding of the issues.

Question 131

The project manager and team have decided to hire a contractor to complete building out the remaining section of the datacenter. They have the requirements listed in detail and would like to use a contract that would present the smallest amount of risk to the project. The project team members would like to purchase the materials themselves since there are very familiar with the work. What contract is best for this project?

Answer 131

Cost plus fixed fee Explanation A cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is where the buyer pays all the work expenses and then pays a fixed price for the work. A time and materials contract is where the buyer pays all the work expenses and then pays the sellers for the time they spent doing the work, and this contract has the highest risk to the buyers. All other choices are made-up terms.

Question 132

During the datacenter development project, the project manager has noticed that some of the work being done on the project is not in the baseline scope. The project manager has analyzed the work completed by the project team and then compared that to the project management plan to see where the differences are. What process best describes the work of the project manager?

Answer 132

Control Scope Explanation Control scope is a process where you compare the work that has been completed to the project management plan to see if they line up. If there is a variance, the project manager should initiate actions to fix the variance. Validate scope is a process where stakeholders formally accept the project deliverables. Monitor and manage scope are made-up processes.

Question 133

Two team members were having a conflict over what programming method should be used on the new application. They have resolved the conflict. What would be their next step?

Answer 133

Implement the new method and verify that it solves the actual problem. Explanation When a problem has been solved, the next step would be to confirm that the solution has actually solved the problem after it has been implemented.

Question 134

While building an agile space the project manager would like to implement a tool that will allow the team to keep track of the flow of work while limiting the work in progress. What tool best meets these requirements?

Answer 134

Kanban Development Explanation The Kanban development is the use of a signboard that is used to help track the work in progress and limit the work in progress.

Question 135

The project manager has been informed that the cost of building a new room in the office will be $15,000, +/- 65%. The project manager wants to know why there is such a large variance in the estimate. The builder said they have not seen the space and it’s just a high-level estimate. What kind of estimate does this best represent?

Answer 135

Rough order of magnitude estimate Explanation A rough order of magnitude estimate has a variance of -25% to +75%. It is usually done in the early phases of the project. Definitive estimates are between -5% to +10%. Detail estimate and materials estimate are made-up terms.

Question 136

While working on the workstation upgrade project, the project sponsor informs the team that they have to stop the project immediately and start working on a router upgrade project. The sponsor wants the router upgrade project to start in as little as 2 days. What should the project manager do next?

Answer 136

Conduct the close project or phase process for the current project and write the final report. Explanation When a project is terminated, the project manager will need to formally close the project. This usually involves paying all the project bills, releasing the team, documenting the lessons learned and recording what was completed in the project’s final report.

Question 137

The project planning has been completed for the office renovation project. The project management plan has been approved by the sponsor and senior management. What would the project manager do next?

Answer 137

Hold a kick off meeting Explanation A project kickoff meeting is generally done after planning a large project to bring the team together and inform them of the project requirements. There is no need to inform senior management, as they approved the plan.

Question 138

The project manager and the project team are currently assessing various ways of responding to a particular risk. The project involves reconstructing part of their current office building, and they’re worried about a hurricane hitting and damaging the materials or parts of the unfinished building. The best response they came up with was to purchase insurance in case a hurricane does hit. What kind of strategy is this?

Answer 138

Transfer Explanation When a risk is transferred, it is usually transferred to another company, such as by purchasing insurance or hiring a consultant. Avoidance is used to eliminate a risk by going down a different path. Mitigation is used to reduce the probability and/or impact of a risk. Risk acceptance means doing nothing about the risk.

Question 139

While planning a major network upgrade project, one stakeholder has given a requirement to upgrade the switches. The project manager has determined that this would be too costly to be included in the project and has decided to exclude it. What process will the project manager use to document this exclusion?

Answer 139

Define Scope Explanation The project scope statement would have a list of deliverables and include things such as acceptance criteria, exclusions, constraints, and assumptions. The scope statement is created in the process of define the scope. All other choices will not output the scope statement.

Question 140

The project manager is working on a project for which the scope, time, and cost are known during the early parts of the project planning. What life cycle will the project manager consider on this project?

Answer 140

Predictive Life Cycle. Explanation A predictive life cycle is used when the scope, time, and cost are generally determined in the early phases of the project. In this life cycle, changes to the scope must be managed correctly; if not, there may be scope creep. In an iterative life cycle, the scope is generally known in the early parts of the project, but the cost is updated as the project progresses.

Question 141

You are having an issue with the software crashing consistently on the project. What should you use to identify the cause of this issue and the effect it may have on your project?

Answer 141

Ishikawa (Fishbone) Diagram Explanation Ishikawa diagrams, or cause-and-effect diagrams, are used to identify probable causes and sub-causes of a particular problem. A histogram is a bar chart and a flowchart is used to represent a process graphically. Continuous improvement is a theory that is used to continuously improve a product over its life cycle.

Question 142

A project manager is currently working with the team to complete the office redesign project when a sponsor tells him to finish it 2 weeks sooner. The project manager will need 4 new people to join the team to complete the work sooner. What technique is best described in this scenario?

Answer 142

Crashing Explanation Crashing is a scheduled compression method where you add more resources to complete the project sooner. Fast tracking is about running activities in parallel. The critical path method is about creating a network diagram and finding the critical path.

Question 143

While managing a datacenter project, a few customers requested a feature be added to the project that will enhance the security system in the datacenter. The change was submitted to the change control board and was denied due to the high cost of the security system. A few months later another customer submitted the same change back to the project manager. What is the best step the project manager can take in this scenario?

Answer 143

Inform the customers to change cannot be done. Explanation The best thing to do in this scenario would be to inform the customer that the change cannot be added due to the fact that it was already rejected by the change control board. You should not add changes to a project management plan without it being first approved, and there is no need to inform the change control board again since its members have already denied it.

Question 144

The project has just been initiated, and the project sponsor calls the project manager and asks approximately when he thinks the project will be completed. The project manager replies that they have been unable to thoroughly analyze the work needed to complete the project and that he is not very knowledgeable about this kind of work. The sponsor insists on receiving a high-level estimate. The project manager responds that it will take approximately 3 months to complete the work based on his experience working on a project very similar to this one. What technique best represents this estimate?

Answer 144

Analogous Estimates Explanation Analogous estimation, also known as a top-down estimate, is usually a high-level estimate that is based on previous projects. These estimates are done very quickly, but they’re generally less accurate than others. Bottom-up estimates, parametric estimates, and expert judgments will need a lot more planning and understanding of the work to be completed, as they are considered very accurate.

Question 145

While working on a large multinational project, you identify some of the positive and negative stakeholders. What process group are you currently engaged in?

Answer 145

Initiating Explanation The process of identifying stakeholders is part of the initiating process group.

Question 146

While measuring quality on a project, the project team decided to just measure the quality as pass/fail. The team has determined that this is the best method because the deliverables are mostly functions that will need to produce a correct result. What best describes this measurement?

Answer 146

Attribute sampling. Explanation An attribute sample is a measurement that is usually pass/fail or good/bad. Statistical sampling is a measurement that is not just pass/fail; it also has a middle ground, such as good, very good, bad, or very bad. Statistical independence means that an outcome of two events cannot affect each other, and mutually exclusive is a term that is used when two events cannot happen at the same time.

Question 147

While working on a project, the project manager asks to incorporate more of the user feedback into the deliverables. In an agile project, where do the customers give the team feedback on the product?

Answer 147

Sprint Review Explanation During a sprint review, the customers review the partially finished product and give the team their feedback. A sprint planning meeting is held to determine what requirements will be met in the next sprint. A retrospective is conducted to capture the lessons learned from the sprint. Feedback release is a made-up term.

Question 148

What activity can the agile team do to list the reasons for why a particular process was failing during iteration?

Answer 148

Fishbone Analysis Explanation A Fishbone analysis is done during the step of generate insight in a retrospective to show the reasons for why something would have failed.

Question 149

The project manager is informed that a manager in the finance department has requested to be included in the weekly status updates on the project. What document should the project manager update immediately?

Answer 149

Stakeholder Register Explanation The stakeholder register can be updated at any point during the project. The register contains a list of all stakeholders and their contact information, communication requirements, and impact on the project. Once this is done, then the project manager can update the communication management plan to add the new stakeholder. This is a change, not an issue on a project, so there is no need to update the issue log. The risk register keeps track of the risk on the project. Project communications are the actual communications taking place during the project.

Question 150

While working on the web design project, the change control board approved a change to the layout of the menu. What process should the project manager conduct next to ensure the change is implemented?

Answer 150

Direct and manage project work Explanation Once a change has been approved, it is then moved to the direct and manage project work process for implementation. Verify scope is done when all the deliverables are completed and require stakeholders’ acceptance. Update project management plan and change log are not processes.

Question 151

The project team and the project manager held a meeting to discuss a few issues related to the project. The meeting was very productive and led to most of the issues being resolved. A few weeks later, one team member brought up one of the issues that was resolved in the previous meeting as being unresolved. The project manager reviewed the meeting documentation and determined that the issue was resolved, but the team member may not have known about the resolution. What could the project manager have done differently to prevent this miscommunication?

Answer 151

Distributed detailed meeting minutes Explanation While all the choices should be done for meetings, in this scenario, the project manager may have failed to distribute the meeting minutes. That would explain why a team member didn’t think an issue was resolved during the meeting.

Question 152

While working on a project, the project manager has been inspiring the team members to do the best they can. Also, the project manager has been regularly communicating the project’s vision to the team. What skill does this best describe?

Answer 152

Leadership. Explanation Leadership skill is part of interpersonal and team skills. It is used to inspire people and to communicate the project’s vision.

Question 153

You are currently managing a business process reengineering project and have identified all the risks that can affect the project. You would like to put the risks in order from most impact to least impact on the project. What is the best process for doing so?

Answer 153

Perform qualitative risk analysis Explanation Perform qualitative risk analysis is a process used to rank risks according to probability and/or impact. Perform quantitative analysis is done in order to assign values to the risk. Plan risk response describes the strategies that would be used if a risk were to materialize. Rank risks is not a valid process.

Question 154

What is considered the single most important skill a project manager should have?

Answer 154

Communication Explanation Communication skills are the most important skills a project manager should have. Projects are done by people, not technology.

Question 155

A project manager has completed the project status report. The report states the CPI is 1.1 and the SPI is 1.14. The report was given to the project sponsor, who has become very upset about the project’s progress and has requested an immediate meeting with the project manager. What should the project manager report in the meeting?

Answer 155

The project is progressing on schedule and budget. Explanation A SPI and CPI of 1 and greater tell us that the project is actually under budget and ahead of schedule. All other choices are reporting wrong information.

Question 156

The project manager has brought the project team together to explain what the project will be about and what their roles will be. The team members introduce themselves to each other and learn about the different skill sets each of them brings to the project. What stage on Tuckman’s ladder best represents this?

Answer 156

Forming Explanation In the forming stage of Tuckman’s ladder, the team is formed and learns about each other. In the norming phase, they stop storming and come to an agreement on how to conduct the work. Performing is when the team actually builds the deliverables. Storming is when they disagree on how to conduct the work.

Question 157

Project manager Mark is working to create the project scope statement for a sales management software. Many stakeholders have requested that a feature be added to enable automated call -backs to leads that come through the website. Mark realizes this feature would not be possible due to the fact that the company’s current network lacks the required hardware. What is the best approach for Mark to take?

Answer 157

Add the feature as an exclusion to the scope statement. Explanation A project scope statement not only contains the project’s deliverables but also the exclusions, which are features the project will not accomplish. Mark should not add the feature due to the company’s inability to install it.

Question 158

The project manager and team have decided to hire a contractor to complete the installation of the servers for the system’s upgrade project. The terms of agreement have the contractor being paid on a monthly basis until the work is done. What process will the contractor payments be made in?

Answer 158

Control Procurement Explanation Control procurement is when the agreement has already been signed and the contractor is completing the work, and the contractor should be paid according to the terms in the contract. Plan procurement management is done to select what needs to be procured and how to conduct the procurement. Conduct procurement is done to select a seller and award a contract. Manage procurement is not a PMBOK process.

Question 159

The product owner has added three new changes to the product backlog. The agile project manager has met with the team and they have decided immediately how to implement these new changes, although these changes will be implemented in three iterations from now. The product owner informs the agile project manager that he is not happy about this. What should the agile project manager do?

Answer 159

Tell the team they should not have committed to doing these changes until they were ready to implement them. Explanation One of the core principles of agile is to defer decisions. What this means is to make decisions about potential changes or features until the very last minute.

Question 160

The project has managed to build about half of the deliverables needed to complete the project. The project has spent $50,000 on materials and labor. This money that has already been spent is generally referred to as what?

Answer 160

Sunk Cost. Explanation Sunk cost is the money that has already been spent on the project. The project budget includes the cost baseline and the management reserves. Opportunity cost is the cost of all lost opportunities when selecting a project. Spent cost is a made-up term.

Question 161

The project team has identified a number of risks that could affect the project. One risk in particular is that the permit to build the foundation has shown up late. They have ranked this risk as the most important in the project since it will cause the largest delay. What process best describes this ranking?

Answer 161

Qualitative Risk Analysis Explanation A qualitative risk process is done to rank the risk that has been identified in the identify risk process. Quantitative risk analysis is done to assign a value to the risk. Plan risk management is done to create the risk management plan, which will document how to conduct all the risk management processes.

Question 162

The project manager is currently working on a large building renovation project. The project team is almost done with planning when the project sponsor informs the project manager that due to new regulations, the project will need to be completed within 6 months; if not, they will not be able to open the building to the public. What best represents this?

Answer 162

Constraints Explanation A constraint is something that limits a project, which can include time or cost. In this question, the constraint is a limitation on the time needed to get the project done. Deliverables, assumptions, and work packages are not constraints on a project.

Question 163

While developing a new smartphone, the project team has identified a specific set of performance measurements that the phone should meet when it is complete. The measurement looks at how fast the phone can boot up and how fast it can shut down. Where should the project team document these measurements?

Answer 163

Quality Metrics. Explanation Quality metrics are used to measure the project deliverables. The quality checklist will inform the project team what to look for when inspecting the project deliverables. The quality management plan will outline how to conduct the quality processes such as manage quality and control quality. The requirements traceability matrix will track the requirements back to their origin.

Question 164

Which of the following statements is true about projects?

Answer 164

Project are temporary endeavors to create a unique product, service, or results. Explanation Per the PMBOK definition, a project is a temporary endeavor to create a unique product, service, or result. Projects are not ongoing and are not only done to improve a business.

Question 165

The project team is currently having disagreements about the program and methods they would use to implement a few of the features in the product backlog. What role should the agile project manager be doing during this scenario?

Answer 165

Coach them to a resolution. Explanation During the storming phase of the Tuckman’s letter, the agile project manager should be coaching the team to support constructive disagreement. Let the team find the best methods to resolve their issues.

Question 166

While compiling all the work performance information into the work performance report, a project manager notices that the SPI of the project is .6 and the CPI is .7. What action should the project manager take next on this project?

Answer 166

Create a change request to correct the project. Explanation In this scenario, an SPI of .6 and a CPI of .7 indicate that the project is behind schedule and over budget. The project manager should initiate change requests to correct the budget and schedule of the project. Informing the sponsor of only a delay or being over budget is just half of what’s wrong with the project.

Question 167

The project manager is conducting a presentation with a few of the senior stakeholders, and they are not happy with the progress of the project. The project manager has informed them that the delay is due to a contractor that was affected by a major flood a few weeks ago. What process does this best describe?

Answer 167

Manage Communication Explanation Manage communication is done in the executing section of the project to update the stakeholders on the project’s progress. Plan communication management is used to create the communication management plan that describes how communication will take place on the project. Control and conduct communication are made-up processes.

Question 168

A project manager has just taken over an agile project that is about 50% complete. The project manager is currently reviewing the product backlog and notices the requirements are not in an order he understands. How is the product backlog prioritized?

Answer 168

By Value Explanation The product backlog is prioritized by the product owner based on value. The requirements with the most value will be at the top of the list and will be completed in the next iteration.

Question 169

While discussing the benefits of agile with three of the organization’s key stakeholders what would be seeing as the main benefit for conducting the project using agile methodology versus traditional methodology?

Answer 169

Agile delivers value incrementally. Explanation One of the main benefits of using agile over traditional project management, is that agile delivers value incrementally versus getting value only at the end of the project.

Question 170

The project manager has just identified a new regulation that can possibly delay the project significantly. The project manager has added this new regulation to the risk register. What should the project manager do next with this risk?

Answer 170

Conduct a qualitative and quantitative assessment. Explanation When a risk has been added to the risk register, the project manager should conduct both a qualitative and quantitative assessment before coming up with a risk response. If the response requires adding more money, the project manager should initiate a change request requesting more funds for the project. The project manager should assess the risk before informing the sponsor of the risk.

Question 171

While constructing a roof for a large building, the project team has identified the risk of a snowstorm. Due to the region in the country and the time of the year, the team has decided to take no action or preparations for the snowstorm. What risk response strategy is the team using?

Answer 171

Acceptance Explanation Acceptance is a risk response where you will take no action against the risk. All other choices involve taking some kind of action.

Question 172

The project manager is currently assigning costs to each individual activity on the project. A team member has informed the project manager that he should include additional cost just in case the software will need more testing. What best describes this additional cost?

Answer 172

Contingency Reserve Explanation Contingency reserve is what a project manager adds to the project cost baseline due to risk. Management reserve is what the company management adds to the project budget due to risk. Project and testing reserve are made-up terms .

Question 173

While working on an agile project, the sponsor would like to know how much work remains to be completed in the project. The project manager has scheduled a meeting with the sponsor for the next day. What tool would be best for the project manager to take to the meeting?

Answer 173

Burndown Chart Explanation A burndown chart is used on agile projects to show work that remains to be completed. A project calendar is an input, not a tool. A Pareto chart is used in quality management to show what things might be causing the most defects in a project. It displays the 80/20 rule. Earned value charts is a made-up term.

Question 174

While planning a project, the project manager is given many requirements that the customers would like to add to the project. Upon further investigation, the project manager decides that a few of the requirements will not be feasible within the limited time and cost allocated to the project. What document would best list the requirements that will not be added to this project?

Answer 174

Project Scope Statement Explanation The project scope statement includes a list of all the project deliverables as well as any requirements that should be excluded from the scope. Work listed in the work breakdown structure will need to get done on the project. The project charter has a high-level list of requirements. The requirements documentation lists requirements provided by customers that they would like to be done.

Question 175

If the work of the project will contain and the velocity of the team is currently at 14 points. What is the total size of the project in terms of story points?

Answer 175

140 Explanation Total size of the project will be 10 iterations x 14 points = 140 Points.

Question 176

A team member is working on upgrading the network server while another team member is painting the server room. The outcomes of these two events will not affect each other. What best describes the relationship between these two events?

Answer 176

They are statistically independent. Explanation Statistical independence is a term used in probability that means one event cannot affect the other event. Mutually exclusive is a term used when two events cannot happen at the same time; in this question, these two events are happening at the same time.

Question 177

While managing a datacenter development project, the project manager has noticed there are many conflicts between the team members on the project. When managing a conflict in a project, what would be the best role for the project manager?

Answer 177

Facilitator Explanation When managing conflicts in a project, the project manager should facilitate a satisfactory resolution for the conflict. The other roles are made-up terms.

Question 178

You are currently working on a large building demolition project. There are many requirements for the potential vendors on the project, and you would like to ensure that they all receive the same information. What is the best tool or technique to ensure all vendors receive the same information about the project?

Answer 178

Bidder Conference Explanation A bidder conference is held by inviting all the potential sellers and reviewing the requirements for the project with them. This will ensure that no vendor receives more or less information than the others. The scope statement, requirements traceability matrix, and requirements documentation are generally written before vendors are invited to learn about the project.

Question 179

The project team has completed a bidder conference for the office renovation project. Over 15 different construction companies came to the conference. Directly after the conference, all the companies submitted their bids immediately. What is the next step the project team should take?

Answer 179

Select the seller. Explanation A bidder conference is a tool used for conduct procurement, and the output of this process is to select the seller and receive an agreement. Rewriting the scope statement or updating the scope baseline may come after you have selected the seller.

Question 180

When selecting a project, the company looks at different factors that could impact their selection. What document best identifies the need for a project?

Answer 180

Business Case Explanation The business case is used to show the benefits of the project. The project charter is used to authorize the project. The project management plan outlines how to execute, monitor and control, and close the project. The project benefits report is a made-up term.