Resources Flashcards
Earned Schedule (ES) is an extension to the theory and practice of EVM. Earned schedule theory replaces the schedule variance measures used in traditional EVM with ES and actual time (AT). Using the alternate equation for calculating schedule variance:
EV – PV
PV – EV
ES – AT
AT – ES
The alternate equation for calculating schedule variance is SV = ES – AT.
You are forming a virtual project team that includes members from four different countries around the world. What is NOT an obstacle you must overcome to build an effective team?
Members wanting to work from home
Cultural differences
Communication issues
Different time zones
Members wanting to work from home
Virtual teams share a common project goal but share little time in a traditional, face-to-face business environment. The virtual team concept is made possible with electronic communication; one of the benefits of such teams is the ability of members to work from home. The other choices are potential issues that can occur as a result of forming a virtual team.
A project was awarded based on a competitive proposal. Management made a commitment that a few key team members would work on the project. When such assignments happen, they are:
Bargaining agreements Assignment risk Pre-assignments Schedule constraints
Pre-assignments
When team members are assigned to projects in advance of the start of the project, they are termed as pre-assignments. Such assignments can happen when resources are promised as part of a competitive proposal, when projects are dependent on critical resources, or if some staff assignments have been defined in the project charter.
A project has been initiated to search a large area for debris from an explosion of a failed prototype. The project is now in planning, and there is a debate among the team members on the type and quantity of resources needed to complete this activity. What should the project manager do first?
Utilize a PMIS to manage resource pools and allocate resources Request the team to vote and make a decision based on majority Research various levels of resource capability and skills, types, and sizes Select any resource and quantity to complete the task by the due date
The question implies the team is carrying out the Estimate Activity Resources process. This process uses many tools and techniques. One technique to understand the resource needs and the best potential solutions for the activity resources is data analysis. Data analysis can be conducted in many forms and formats. The objective is to evaluate possible options or approaches or values to determine the best activity resource estimates. Once a value or a narrowing of values have been determined as reasonable, estimates can be set or decisions that are most suitable for the participants made. Therefore, of the choices provided, before making any decision, researching various resources levels, types, and methods is what the project manager should do first.
As part of your resource management plan, you have created a chart indicating the number of hours (Y-axis) that a senior programmer will be working over the months (X-axis) of the project. This is an example of a:
Ishikawa Diagram Resource Histogram Staff Acquisition Chart Pareto Chart
Resource Histogram
Resource histogram is a bar chart showing the amount of time that a resource is scheduled to work over a series of time periods.
All team members have not yet been hired for a project. However, the project manager went ahead with estimating activity durations, budgeting, and other activities. What could likely happen to the activity durations?
The activity durations are likely to increase.
The activity durations are likely to change.
The activity durations are likely to decrease.
The activity durations will remain the same.
Project team assignments are an input to the estimate activity durations process. Estimating activity durations without this input is risky. When estimating of activity durations is done when all team members have not been acquired, it is possible that the competency levels of the newer team members will be different from those planned. Therefore, it can only be said that the activity durations will likely change. Whether they will remain the same, increase, or decrease, will depend on the competency levels of the new team members.
Which of the following documents the formal or informal assessments of the project team’s effectiveness?
Observations
Team Performance Assessments
Conversations
Project Performance Appraisals
Team Performance Assessments
Team performance assessments document the formal or informal assessments of the project team’s effectiveness.
Which tool is BEST used to display how a company structures itself departmentally?
WBS BOM RBS OBS
OBS
The organizational breakdown structure (OBS) is a hierarchical organization chart that includes employees, department structures, and associated responsibilities. It is organized by the company’s teams or department breakdown.
In a project that was yet to begin, many of the project team members were known in advance. This is:
Staffing assignment Skill matching Pre-assignment Proactive planning
Pre-assignment
This is known as pre-assignment. This situation can occur if the project is the result of specific persons being promised as part of a competitive proposal, if the project is dependent on the expertise of particular persons, or if some staff assignments are defined within the project charter.
Late in the project cycle, it was discovered that some of the project’s human resources should have trained in a specific methodology. Where should these training strategies have first been documented?
Resource management plan In the company HR policy In the project scope statement In the procurement contract
Training needs and strategies are captured and documented in the project’s resource management plan.
A project manager would like to resolve conflicts by a give-and-take attitude rather than by a one-sided approach. Which of these approaches is he likely to use?
Directing Problem-solving Withdrawing Forcing
Problem-solving
Problem solving involves treating conflict as a problem to be solved by examining alternatives. This requires a give-and-take attitude. In contrast, the other alternatives listed—directing, forcing and withdrawing —are more one-sided.
A project employs a virtual team with team members located in different offices in the same city as well as across different cities. The project manager wishes to build trust and good working relationships. One of the best ways to do this is:
To use team-building strategies Write a memo to the team detailing the need for good working relationships Plan for job-rotation on a weekly basis To encourage the use of telephonic conversations as much as possible
To use team-building strategies
Use of team-building activities helps in building trust and establishing good working relationships. As for the other choices: encouraging the use of telephone calls can also help in building relationships, especially in distributed teams. However, this cannot be an alternative to email communication. Job-rotation within the team may also help team morale; however, doing it on a weekly basis may be counterproductive and inefficient.
Which of the following statements is incorrect?
High team performance can be achieved using open and effective communications.
Developing a project team is the responsibility of the project manager.
A project manager must not acquire resources needed to develop effective project teams.
Teamwork is a critical success factor for a project.
A project manager must not acquire resources needed to develop effective project teams.
Although project team development is the responsibility of the project manager, the project manager may acquire experts needed to develop effective project teams.
A project manager wishes to illustrate the connections between the work that needs to be done and the project team members. According to the PMBOK, the resulting document is a:
Resource Assignment Chart (RAC) Resource Planning Chart (RPC) Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) Task Assignment Model (TAM)
Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)
The correct response is responsibility assignment matrix (ram). This illustrates the connections between the work that needs to be done and the various team members. On larger projects, rams can be developed at various levels.
As a project manager, you are developing a resource management plan for your software development project, and you need to find a way to document and communicate the detailed descriptions of the team members’ roles and responsibilities. What tool will best meet your needs?
Hierarchical chart Resource breakdown structure Role-responsibility-authority form RACI chart
The question implies that the Plan Resource Management process is underway. Data representation techniques that may be used for this process include charts. Various formats exist to document and communicate team member roles and responsibilities, but most fall into hierarchical, matrix, or text-oriented formats. A hierarchical format may be used to represent high-level roles, while a text-based format may be better suited to document the detailed team member responsibilities. Text-oriented documents provide detailed information such as responsibilities, authority, competencies, and qualifications. These documents are known by various names including position descriptions and role-responsibility-authority forms. Since the question is asking to find a way to document and communicate the ‘detailed’ descriptions of the team members’ roles and responsibilities, using a role-responsibility-authority form is the best answer to the question asked.
A team member in your project is constantly providing incomplete deliverables and not performing well. What should you do first?
Discuss the issue with the team member in the presence of the project sponsor Discuss the issue with the team member in private Discuss the issue with the team member in the presence of other team members Discuss the issue with the team member in the presence of the company's HR manager
Discuss the issue with the team member in private
Discuss the issue with the team member in private. Conflicts should be first addressed in private, using a direct and collaborative approach.
A RACI chart is an example of a _________________.
Network Responsibility assignment matrix Hierarchical-type organization chart Flowchart
Responsibility assignment matrix
A RACI chart outlines in matrix form, the project tasks and for each task, who is responsible, who is accountable, whom to consult, and whom to inform.
A project manager had scheduled a number of training programs for his team. However, he was aware that apart from planned training, unplanned training also took place in a number of ways. Which of these is not one of the ways in which unplanned training can take place?
Classroom Project performance appraisals Conversation Observation
Scheduled training occurs as stated in the human resource plan and can include online, classroom, on-the-job, etc. Unplanned training can take place through conversation, observation, and project performance appraisals.
Which of these is not an Enterprise environmental factor that can influence the Plan Resource Management process?
Lessons learned on organizational structures Marketplace conditions Organizational culture Facilities and resources
Lessons learned are important inputs to the plan resource management process. However, these are organizational process assets and not enterprise environmental factors.
Lesley is managing a software development project for the World Climate Control Organization. Since her team members are dispersed across the globe, she would like to set up online conferences in the next two months to let everyone in her project know what is going on and what their roles are within the project. She wants to use these conferences as team development activities to learn and exchange information in the project. To schedule such activities, which of the following should she use to keep track of the availability of team members?
Project charter Project staff assignments Responsibility assignment matrix Resource calendars
Resource calendars track the availability of team members for team development activities. The responsibility assignment matrix describes the responsibilities assigned to various team members. Project staff assignments give details of individual assignments, and project organization charts display team members and their reporting relationships. The project charter does not supply any of that information. Hence, lesley must use resource calendars to know that information.
The morale of the team members of a project is very low. The team members feel they were not given opportunities to participate in the organizational team development activities due to over-allocation to project tasks, and so, they missed opportunities to develop. Which of the following is the most likely cause of this situation?
Use of zero-sum rewards in the project Too many senior team members Poor interpersonal skills in the team A poorly defined resource calendar
Resource calendars identify times when the project team members can participate in team development activities. If the team members are unable to find time for such activities because they are over allocated, it is likely that the calendar has been poorly planned.
A company has been awarded a software development project which requires the development team to work at the client’s office. The client has assigned each developer a cubicle from which to perform their work. During a daily standup meeting, a developer states that the team members are too isolated and colocating the team in a war room would increase productivity and quality. What should the project manager do first?
Explain to the team that a war room was not specified in the contract Capture a description of the developer's concern in the issue log Negotiate with the client to make a war room available to the team Explain to the team that colocation would impede productivity due to the inevitable distractions
The question describes a situation where a project team member has raised a concern which is affecting productivity and quality. The proposed solution is to make a meeting room available to the project team to be used as a war room. The request for a meeting room seems reasonable and would likely enhance the developers’ ability to perform as a team. In addition to the project team, the client also has a vested interest in the success of the project and should be receptive to any reasonable requests that might improve productivity and quality. Thus, the project manager should negotiate with the client for access to a meeting room for the team to use as a war room. However, the question is asking what the project manager should do ‘first’ in this situation. The concern raised by the developer is an issue that should first be captured in the issue log where the issue can be tracked and monitored to ensure a timely resolution. Therefore, of the available options, capturing a description of the developer’s concern in the issue log is the best answer to the question asked.
The RACI chart is an example of a responsibility assignment matrix (RAM). The letters R and C in “RACI” stand for:
Resource and consult
Resource and consultant
Responsible and consult
Responsible and categorize
Responsible and consult
The Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) describes the relationship between resources and work packages. An RACI chart is an example of a RAM. The letters in “raci” stand for Responsible, Accountable, Consult, and Inform.
Skills such as empathy, influence, creativity, and group encouragement are valuable assets when managing the project team. These skills are often referred to as ______________.
Effort-based management Ad hoc skills Soft skills Feedback-based skills
Soft skills
Interpersonal skills, sometimes known as “soft skills,” are particularly important to team development. By understanding the sentiments of project team members, anticipating their actions, acknowledging their concerns, and following up on their issues, the project management team can significantly reduce problems and increase cooperation.