s Flashcards
Which tool is consistently used to document the roles and responsibilities of a project?
The Role Administration Matrix
The Responsibility Assignment Matrix
The Staffing Management Plan
The Responsibility and Role Hierarchy
The Responsibility Assignment Matrix
The Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) is used to document the roles and responsibilities of project team members. A type of RAM is the RACI chart, where the letters stand for Responsible, Accountable, Consult, and Inform.
There is no tool called the Role Administration Matrix.
There is no tool called the Responsibility and Role Hierarchy.
The Staffing Management Plan is a component of the Human Resource Plan. It forecasts what types of staff will work on a project, when they will be needed, how they will be recruited, and when they will be released from the project.
A real estate developer is preparing to begin work on a subdivision that will consist of 20 single-family homes. This will be a large undertaking, requiring the expertise of architects, construction managers, marketers, financial specialists, and attorneys. The developer recruits one person from each area to provide guidance and support throughout the work.
What is this team known as?
Coordinating committee
Stakeholders
Steering committee
Stockholders
Steering committee
A steering committee is a group of people who provide guidance to the project manager, program manager, or portfolio manager.
A stakeholder is someone who is affected by a project or who affects a project. Each person is a stakeholder, but the scenario mentions nothing about them working together in a coordinated fashion.
Stockholders own shares in a company; this is an incorrect term to describe the steering committee.
Coordinating committee is not the accepted project management term.
A project manager has decided to level the resources on a project.
Which of the following is not an advantage of resource leveling?
It shows when a resource might not be fully allocated to work on the project.
It can minimize overtime charges.
It results in a maximum number of work hours each day for a resource.
It can delay the finish date of the project.
It can delay the finish date of the project.
Resource leveling can delay the finish date of a project; this is a disadvantage.
Minimizing overtime charge can be an advantage of leveling.
Having resources work the maximum numbers of work hours each day is an advantage from a time management aspect.
Showing when a resource might not be fully allocated to work on a project is a positive as this can then be addressed if it needs to be.
What step will a project manager take to help prevent cash flow problems?
Make efforts to engage the finance department to put in place a cash flow forecast
Request additional funding from project sponsors
Use the contingency reserves of other projects
Make sure that customers are financially stable
Make efforts to engage the finance department to put in place a cash flow forecast
The finance department is the ultimate source of money for a project, and it is important to keep them aware of the financial needs of the project. If the project manager creates an initial forecast of cash flow and updates it throughout the project, the finance department will be kept in-tune with project cash needs.
Using the contingency reserves of other projects is unethical.
The financial stability of customers can change during a project, and it is not possible to walk away from a project if the customer is meeting the financial obligations of the project by paying invoices in a timely manner. If this is not the case, terms in the contract might be grounds to stop work and/or to close the project.
Additional funding should not be requested simply to solve cash flow problems.
The project to replace the bridge over the Troubled Waters stream has team members from the Public Works Department and six vendors, each with their own team. The project manager needs to keep this large group of stakeholders informed about the project.
Which plan contains the methods to do this?
Project management plan
Staffing management plan
Human resource plan
Communication plan
Communication plan
The communication plan keeps the stakeholders informed about the project. It identifies the audience (who), the types of information they should receive (what), the frequency (when), and the communication method and technology (how) that will be used.
The staffing management plan is part of the human resource plan that forecasts what types of staff will work on a project, when they will be needed, how they will be recruited, and when they will be released from the project.
The project management plan details how a project will be executed to achieve the specified objectives. It contains the communication plan and the human resource plan, and the human resource plan contains the staffing management plan.
The human resource plan provides guidance on how the human resources required for a project should be defined, staffed, managed, controlled, and eventually released after the end of the project.
Which of the following is true of project archives?
Should be handed to the sponsor at the end of the project
Should be updated only at the end of the project
Should include key information such as baselines and performance data
Should never contain computerized records because they may not be retrievable in later software versions
Should include key information such as baselines and performance data
Archives should contain data that can be useful when re-visiting a project after it is closed. Baselines (original as well as changes that were made during the project) and performance data relating to schedule and cost should be included.
Computerized records should be retained, and, if possible, the software that generated them should be archived also.
The sponsor is not the recipient of the project archives. There should be a formal repository where they are kept.
Archives should be updated throughout the project.
When you created your project plan, the sponsor wanted you to focus on completing the project in three months. Now, after four weeks, the sponsor is more concerned about how much the project will cost. He asks you to cut the cost by at least 10%.
To do this, you will likely need to do which of the following?
Use lower cost resources and extend the schedule
Extend the schedule
Hire more resources to get done earlier
Use higher skilled resources to get done earlier
Use lower cost resources and extend the schedule
Using lower cost resources can decrease the cost, but it will also extend the schedule.
Using higher cost resources to get done earlier might work, but cannot be guaranteed to do so.
Hiring more resources will increase cost even if they might finish sooner.
Just extending the schedule does not reduce the cost.
You have moved into executing the project plan for the Customer Resource Management (CRM) system and management announces that it is forming a project management office (PMO) and you now report to the PMO.
Which of the following is not a way in which your project is likely to be affected?
You will need a new team.
There might be a delay in project approvals.
You will need to review and update the stakeholder register.
You will need to update the communication plan.
You will need a new team.
It is likely that your team would still report to the same functional managers they did prior to the reorganization, so the team should not be affected.
You will have new/different stakeholders, which will affect the communication plan.
The project management office (PMO) management will likely need time to become acquainted with the active projects, which would delay decision-making.
Your stakeholders have changed, which means updates to the stakeholder register.
You are working on an external contract project to update the operating system on more than 1000 computers at an organization. The contract provides a penalty for taking more than three months to finish the work.
Which of the following is an example of accepting the risk?
Right now, the schedule looks like it will take three months, so you hire three new resources.
Right now, the schedule looks like it will take three months, so you leave it at that.
You purchase completion insurance to offset the penalty amount.
Right now, the schedule looks like it will take three months, so you do market research to see who might be available to hire if the schedule starts to slip.
Right now, the schedule looks like it will take three months, so you leave it at that.
Accept for negative risk means not doing anything proactively, which is what this option does.
Hiring new resources is an avoidance strategy to be sure to be done within the three-month time frame.
Having resources ready to go if needed is a mitigation strategy. It lowers the probability of missing the deadline if the schedule starts to slip and the additional resources are needed.
Insurance is a transfer response strategy.
Which of the following are the techniques that are used to acquire a team?
Acquisition, negotiation, networking, virtual team
Negotiation, interpersonal skills, networking, pre-assignment
Acquisition, negotiation, virtual team, pre-assignment
Interpersonal skills, negotiation, virtual team, acquisition
Acquisition, negotiation, virtual team, pre-assignment
Acquisition, negotiation, virtual team, and pre-assignment are techniques used for acquiring a team.
Negotiation, interpersonal skills, networking, pre-assignment is incorrect because interpersonal skills and networking are not techniques for acquiring a team.
Acquisition, negotiation, networking, virtual team is incorrect because networking is not a technique for acquiring a team.
Interpersonal skills, negotiation, virtual team, acquisition is incorrect because interpersonal skills is not a technique for acquiring a team.
You are finalizing a contract with a vendor for development of your new website and have a few remaining questions.
When you contact the vendor representative you’ve been dealing with, which of the following would you not need to consider?
Culture
Language
Intra-organizational communication patterns
Inter-organizational communication patterns
Intra-organizational communication patterns
Intra-organizational communication patterns are a consideration when you are communicating within your organization, not with an external person.
Inter-organizational communication patterns are a consideration because the vendor works for a different company, which may communicate differently than your company.
Language is a consideration because the vendor may speak a different language.
Culture is a consideration because the vendor may be from another culture.
You have moved into executing the project plan for the Customer Resource Management (CRM) system and the vendor you selected has split its company into two organizations.
What will likely happen to your project?
It will continue with a contract with the new company.
It will be canceled.
The project will be put on hold.
You and your team will be fired.
It will continue with a contract with the new company.
It is likely that a project already in execution would have been negotiated into the new company’s contract portfolio and will continue as planned.
The de-merger of the vendor will not affect your employment.
It is likely that a project already in execution would have been negotiated into the new company’s contract portfolio and will continue as planned.
Although the conversion would be postponed if the project was just starting, if you’re already executing, it would be a chance for the new company to prove it can still complete the work in progress.
In the Monitoring and Controlling phase of a project, where does information come from?
Project management plan and expert judgment
Project management plan and work performance information
Performance reports and expert judgment
Scope baseline
Project management plan and work performance information
Information for Monitoring and Controlling will come from the project management plan and work performance information. Remember that work performance information includes any data relating to the project.
Performance reports utilize work performance information, and if a report has been written, Monitoring and Controlling have been completed for whatever was the subject of the report. Expert judgment is not the best source of information upon which to make a decision about Controlling.
The scope baseline does not contain any data about actual conditions, and hence is not a source of information regarding Monitoring and Controlling.
Expert judgment is not the best source of information upon which to make a decision about Controlling.
A manager is using a tool to help determine which projects to execute, and to ensure that they match the strategic objectives of an organization.
What is the name of this tool?
Balanced scorecard
Dashboard
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Key Performance Parameters (KPPs)
Balanced scorecard
A balanced scorecard is used in portfolio management to help determine which projects to execute, and to ensure that they match the strategic objectives of an organization.
Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) are key system capabilities that must be met for a system to meet its goals. KPPs are used in project management.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in project management consist of tools that indicate if the project is meeting specific goals.
Dashboards are graphical summaries of project measures, often a collection of multiple KPIs.
Trey Research, Inc. and TailSpin Toys are exploring a joint venture, where Trey would design a robotic cat laser toy for TailSpin to manufacture and sell. Both companies would share in the eventual profits. Executives of the two companies have written a document that outlines the purpose of the joint venture, the roles and responsibilities of each company, financial considerations of the venture, and confidentiality considerations.
What is this document called?
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Statement of Work (SOW)
Purchase Order (PO)
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is an agreement between two or more parties to form a business partnership. It is not legally binding, but is used where the parties do not wish to enter into a formal contract.
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a contract between an organization that provides a service and the user of the service. The Trey/TailSpin Toys document does not fit this definition because the two companies are forming a joint venture.
A Statement of Work (SOW) is a document that describes the products or services that the project will supply, defines the business need that it is designed to meet, and specifies the work that will be done during the project.
A purchase order is a commercial document that is sent from a buyer to a seller, indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for goods and services.
You are developing a new purchasing system for a client and want to know which constraint will have the greatest impact on the success of the project.
Which risk technique should you use?
Monte Carlo Simulation
Decision-tree analysis
Expected Monetary Value (EMV)
Sensitivity analysis
Sensitivity analysis
Sensitivity analysis looks at how sensitive various constraints (time, cost, scope) are to the success of the project.
Decision-tree analysis is used to determine best options, not to see which parameters are most important.
Monte Carlo Analysis is a special type of simulation that creates a range of, and probabilities for, potential results for time, cost, etc.
Expected Monetary Value (EMV) attaches quantifiable incomes and costs as impacts, allowing you to select the best option, not to see which parameters are most important.
The Public Works Dept. director has asked to see what the team has been working on for the past two weeks, after the charter for the new bridge over the Troubled Waters stream was approved.
What is the name of the comprehensive document that is used during project Execution, Monitoring And Controlling, and Closing?
Integration plan
Project framework
Execution plan
Project management plan
Project management plan
The project management plan contains all of the information needed to guide the project through Execution, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing.
There is no document called the execution plan.
There is no document called the integration plan.
The project framework is not a document, but a model that is used to manage projects.
You are working on moving the in-house Human Resources Management System (HRMS) to a cloud self-service provider. One of your team members submitted a change request that will increase the project budget by 15%. You are creating a back-out plan in case the change is approved and implemented but doesn’t work as intended.
What process are you performing?
Regression analysis
Identify approval authority
Obtain approval
Regression plannin
Regression planning
You perform regression planning as part of evaluating a change to determine how to back it out if it doesn’t work.
You obtain approval after you identify approval authority.
You determine the levels of authority required for approving various sizes of changes after you perform regression planning.
Regression analysis is a quality process.
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Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
These are examples of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). They represent a snapshot of how a project is doing at a point in time.
Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) are used by the U.S Department of Defense and other federal government organizations to specify critical performance goals of a system that will be acquired from outside the government.
Earned Value Management (EVM) is a common way to evaluate the performance of a project in terms of scope, schedule, and cost. EVM has a number of metrics associated with it, but they are not called Earned Value Indicators.
A wiki is a website where documents can be stored and collaboratively modified using a web browser. Links to other documents stored within and outside of the wiki can be included.
Alpine Ski House owns and operates three ski lodges in the Rocky Mountains. The company wants to expand, and the board of directors has authorized the construction of five new facilities in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California and Nevada. The directors have a strategic objective of being the preferred go-to resorts for seniors and retirees within 10 years. Projects related to this goal that are under consideration include obtaining venture-capital financing, new marketing campaigns, acquiring new land, completing facility construction, and establishing franchises; they may be completed separately for each of the five new ski resorts.
What type of project organizational structure will be involved at the corporate level?
Mega-project
Program
Portfolio
Multiple-project
Portfolio
The expansion projects will be managed as a portfolio. All the projects will be tied to the strategic objective of being the preferred go-to resorts. Within the portfolio will be programs, projects within each program, and eventually operations to manage each new lodge.
A program is a group of related projects. All of the projects are related, but the link to a strategic objective makes the new venture a portfolio.
There is no multi-project management structure within the project management framework.
There is no mega-project management structure within the project management framework.
You are working on an update to the corporate website and project execution has started.
As your team members work with one another, what is an advantage of communicating via instant messaging?
The communication is considered unofficial.
The communication cannot be saved or forwarded.
The communication is immediate.
The communication content is limited.
The communication is immediate.
Communication with instant messaging is immediate.
A disadvantage of instant messaging is that it may be viewed as unofficial/unimportant.
A disadvantage of instant messaging is that it has limited content capabilities, such as formatting, attachments, and sometimes message lengths.
Instant messages can be saved or forwarded.
In the absence of the project manager in a large project, which of the following stakeholders would make time- and resource-scheduling decisions?
Individual resources
Work package owners
Sponsor
Project coordinator
Project coordinator
The project coordinator would make decisions about time and the scheduling of work.
The sponsor does not have day-to-day project management responsibilities
Work package owners do not have responsibility for scheduling their own work. This should come from a higher level.
Individual resources do not have responsibility for scheduling their own work. This should come from a higher level.
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75 percent
The correct value is 75 percent. The Pareto chart would show that the top three problems accounted for 300 occurrences out of the 400 total occurrences, or 75 percent.
55 is incorrect because the table shows that the top three problems accounted for 300 occurrences out of the 400 total occurrences, or 75 percent.
90 is incorrect because the table shows that the top three problems accounted for 300 occurrences out of the 400 total occurrences, or 75 percent.
50 is incorrect because the table shows that the top three problems accounted for 300 occurrences out of the 400 total occurrences, or 75 percent.
Ten steps are necessary to fill a bottle of water in an automated process. These steps start with placing an empty bottle onto a moving conveyer, and end with the filled bottle being placed into a carton after it has been checked by a photocell and confirmed to be full. Bottles are being consistently underfilled by 10 percent.
What tool would the quality engineer use to look for the cause of this problem?
Process flow diagram
Scatter chart
Run chart
Histogra
Process flow diagram
A process flow diagram, or flowchart, is a diagram that shows the inputs, steps, and outputs of a process. It would be used to examine which step in the filling process is the source of the problem.
A scatter chart, or scatter diagram, is used to examine the correlation between an independent variable and a dependent variable. It will not help find the source of the problem.
A run chart is a line graph showing plotted data points in chronological order. It will show trends in a process or improvements over time, but it would not pinpoint the source of the problem.
A histogram is a bar chart that can show the frequency distribution of the amount of water in the bottles, but it will not show the source of the problem.
You are executing, monitoring, and controlling your project, so you are comparing the amount of scope that should have been done by now to what has been done.
You are conducting:
Variance analysis
Inspection
Decomposition
Quality control
Variance analysis
When you are comparing a plan to actual data and looking for differences, you are conducting variance analysis.
Quality control compares the deliverables to the requirements, not scope of work completed to that which should have been completed.
Inspection examines deliverables for defects. It does not analyze scope progress.
Decomposition is the process used to create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), not analyze progress on its tasks.
Which of the following is the best indicator of project performance?
The budget for developing the software was $150,000, and the actual amount spent was $120,000.
Three experienced project team members were replaced by inexperienced staff because they left the company.
A new regulation might be published before the project ends, and if so, the project plan will need to be revised.
There have been 15 change requests, 10 of which were approved.
The budget for developing the software was $150,000, and the actual amount spent was $120,000.
The best performance indicator of the choices given would be budgeted versus actual spending for a component of the project. It is quantitative and verifiable.
Data on the number of change requests is not a measurable indicator of how the project is progressing.
The replacement of experienced team members with inexperienced ones does not indicate anything about project performance. The inexperienced team members might have done quality work at less cost, or poor work at more cost—there is not enough information given to form any conclusions.
The new regulation might not be published; this is a risk, not an indicator of performance.
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26 Weeks
The duration of the critical path is 27 weeks. It is calculated by adding the durations of each activity on each path and selecting the path with the longest duration. The critical activities are ABCE.
ABE is 17 weeks.
ADE is 13 weeks.
ACE is 20 weeks.
