Mini Exam 13: Predictive

Question 1

After comparing actual results to the performance measurement baseline, the project manager discovers that the project’s work and cost performance measures are better than expected. The project manager doubts that these positive variances can continue until the end of the project.

What should the project manager do?

A. Conduct performance reviews with the team members.
B. Update the risk register.
C. Notify the stakeholders.
D. Review the project management plan.

Answer 1

B. Update the risk register.

The first action to take is to update the risk register. The project manager is perceiving a risk that project performance may deteriorate in the future, and will record it in the register, potentially with a response plan.

There is no indication that team member performance reviews are warranted, nor that project processes need to be reviewed in the management plan. The stakeholders may or may not need to be notified, but even if they are, the risk register would be updated first.

Question 2

A project manager is committed to the success of a multinational project with tight deadlines. A new team member is continually late or misses status meetings. In a one-on-one with the project manager, the team member expresses the belief that working on deliverables is more important than attending status meetings.

What should the project manager do?

A. Reassign the team member to another project with more flexible deadlines.
B. Document this behavior in the team member’s personnel file.
C. Encourage this team member’s attendance, but be flexible if critical work is not affected.
D. Meet with the team to ensure they understand that attendance at status meetings is required.

Answer 2

D. Meet with the team to ensure they understand that attendance at status meetings is required.

Meet with the Team is the correct answer. It speaks to the setting of expectations and communication with the project team members. By being open and transparent, the PM ensures the message has been clarified with the team members.

Reassign and document options may be steps the PM may take if the behavior continues after the expectations have been clarified with the team
Encourage contradicts what the PM is observing and needing to communicate to the team.

Question 3

As a predictive project enters the execution phase, a functional manager discovers that one of the materials to be used in the product will have a detrimental effect on the environment and urges the project manager to switch to a more environmentally friendly material. What should the project manager’s initial response be?

A. Develop a proof of concept plan to assess the feasibility and impact of the change and present it to the project sponsor.
B. Immediately authorize the change in materials and initiate the transition to an environmentally friendly material.
C. Inform the functional manager that material changes are not permitted during the execution phase of the project.
D. Instruct the functional manager to submit a formal change request through the established change management process.

Answer 3

A. Develop a proof of concept plan to assess the feasibility and impact of the change and present it to the project sponsor.
Predictive projects typically have a fixed scope, schedule, and budget. Changing any of these elements can have a significant impact on the project. Predictive projects may use proof-of-concept developments to explore options. A proof of concept is a small-scale experiment that can be used to test the feasibility of a proposed change. It ensures that any alterations to the project align with its objectives, scope, and timeline. Presenting the plan to the project sponsor for approval maintains proper project governance and change control processes.

Question 4

A manufacturing project is in the implementation phase. During a status meeting, a team member tells the project manager that a solution has been found for a persistent failure on equipment used in the implementation; however, this solution is temporary, and the equipment could fail again in the future.

Which document should the project manager update?

A. Issue log
B. Risk management plan
C. Assumption log
D. Stakeholder register

Answer 4

A. Issue log

The issue log should be updated. This document helps the project manager track and manage issues throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring that they are investigated and resolved. In this case, the project has new information on an issue that should be captured on the issue log.

Question 5

After receiving the project charter, a project manager starts to prepare the project management plan. Although there is a limited amount of detailed activity information in the project management office (PMO), the project manager needs to calculate the expected duration of the project.

What should the project manager use to determine this?

A. Analogous estimating
B. Bottom-up estimating
C. Kick-off meeting feedback
D. Input from the project sponsor

Answer 5

A. Analogous estimating

Analogous estimating is a technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity or a project using historical data from a similar activity or project. Analogous estimating uses parameters from a previous, similar project, such as duration, budget, size, weight, and complexity, as the basis for estimating the same parameter or measure for a future project.

Question 6

A construction project is in the execution phase when several new team members from different countries are assigned to the project.

Which document should the project manager update first?

A. Procurement management plan
B. Risk management plan
C. Project charter
D. Communications management plan

Answer 6

D. Communications management plan

It is important that the project manager update the communications management plan when new team members are assigned to the project, especially if they are from different countries, to ensure that everyone is able to communicate effectively.

Question 7

A project is showing a negative schedule variance. The project manager sees that one team is causing the delays.

What should the project manager do?

A. Meet with the team to identify strategies to resolve the delays.
B. Meet with the project sponsor to determine an approach to getting back on schedule.
C. Run a risk analysis to determine the impact of the delays on project success.
D. Meet with human resources to discuss possible actions to get project back on schedule.

Answer 7

A. Meet with the team to identify strategies to resolve the delays.

The project manager needs to be proactive and review the activities with the team and to identify resolution strategies. Meet with the team to identify strategies to resolve the delays is the right choice.

Question 8

A complex project is in the planning stage when the sponsor identifies a need for a specialist who is a citizen of a foreign country. The project manager knows that the budget does not allow for this specialist’s travel expenses.

What should the project manager do?

A. Train a resource on the existing team in the special skills.
B. Submit a change request for additional budget.
C. Find a local replacement.
D. Assign the specialist to a virtual team.

Answer 8

D. Assign the specialist to a virtual team.

Assign the specialist to a virtual team is the correct answer. The use of virtual teams creates new possibilities when acquiring project team members. Virtual teams can be defined as groups of people with a shared goal who fulfill their roles with little or no time spent meeting face to face. The availability of communication technology such as email, audio conferencing, social media, web-based meetings, and video conferencing has made virtual teams feasible.

Question 9

A key project needs to be completed on time and exceed all established quality levels. Throughout the project, the project manager takes coffee breaks with the team and asks if they have ideas on how to improve their way of working.

The project manager’s approach is in line with which theory?

A. Theory X
B. Theory Q
C. Theory Y
D. Theory T

Answer 9

C. Theory Y

Theory Y is the correct answer. Theory Y assumes that the team members want to contribute and reinforces team motivation by seeking input and assistance to obtain the best results.

Theory X believe that the team members dislike their work and have little motivation, and an authoritarian style of management should be implemented.

Theory Q and Theory T are distractors. There is no Theory Q or T.

Question 10

A customer has informed the project manager that they do not accept the project deliverables. What should the project manager do to gain approval?

A. Review the acceptance criteria with the customer to address deliverable requirements.
B. Review the project charter and stakeholder engagement plan with the customer.
C. Examine the quality management plan with the customer.
D. Ascertain the customer’s objections and perform a risk analysis.

Answer 10

A. Review the acceptance criteria with the customer to address deliverable requirements.

To close a project, the PM needs to obtain customer acceptance of deliverable.

Review project charter and stakeholder engagement plan: Neither document would have acceptance criteria.

Examine the quality management plan: This document does not address deliverable acceptance, and would not contain acceptance criteria.

Risk analysis: This situation is one of scope verification (customer acceptance) and does not involve risk management.

Question 11

A looming fuel price increase was identified as a risk during the planning stages of a large construction project. The identified risk was assigned high probability with low impact; the price increase would not be more than 2%. The project begins and a 20% fuel price increase goes into effect.

What should the project manager do?

A. Update the risk register.
B. Update the assumption log.
C. Update the issue log.
D. Update the lessons learned register.

Answer 11

C. Update the issue log.

The correct answer is to update the issue log.
An issue log is a project document where information about issues is recorded and monitored. The risk of a 2% price increase was identified, however, the realized price increase was 20%. Since the price increase has occurred, it is no longer a risk, it is an issue. An issue is a current condition or situation that may have an impact on the project objectives. Whereas a risk is an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on one or more project objectives. The potential 2% price increase was a risk, when the 20% price increase occurred, it became an issue.

Question 12

A customer identifies performance issues on a newly implemented product. Why should the project manager estimate the cost of quality (COQ) for this project?

A. To find the optimal cost to prevent failures in future iterations of this product.
B. To assess the conformance and non-conformance cost during the life of this product.
C. To assess the quality of the product to minimize future appraisal costs.
D. To minimize rework and scrap associated with failure costs during project execution.

Answer 12

B. To assess the conformance and non-conformance cost during the life of this product.

Cost of Quality (COQ) helps identify and quantify the financial impact of quality-related activities throughout the project lifecycle. In this scenario, estimating COQ provides valuable insights to identify savings.

The other answer choices are incorrect. While COQ might inform future prevention strategies, the primary focus is analyzing costs associated with the current product. COQ analysis helps understand both prevention and appraisal costs, but cost minimization isn’t the sole objective. It’s about finding the optimal balance. COQ analysis considers all quality costs throughout the product lifecycle, not just project execution

Question 13

A project sponsor assigns a project manager to a new, critical project. This project has tight budget and time constraints.

What should the project manager do first?

A. Meet with functional managers to schedule team resources.
B. Meet with stakeholders to obtain their buy-in and support.
C. Meet with the project sponsor to understand the project’s purpose and high level requirements.
D. Update the requirements management plan to reflect the budget and time constraints.

Answer 13

C. Meet with the project sponsor to understand the project’s purpose and high level requirements.

The first steps in initiating a project are to understand the goal, the requirements and to create a charter. So meeting the project sponsor to understand the project’s purpose and high level requirements is the first step.

If the requirements and goal of the project are not yet known, the skill set of resources is not known, so it is too early to meet with functional managers or with stakeholders. The requirements documentation and charter must be completed before a requirements management plan can be drafted.

Question 14

A project manager in a global organization is responsible for a project involving six different companies. Midway through the project, one stakeholder moves from one company to another.

Which document should the project manager update?

A. Stakeholder engagement plan
B. Project charter
C. Stakeholder register
D. Project management plan

Answer 14

C. Stakeholder register

The stakeholder register should be updated, as it contains a list of project stakeholders and their organizations and contact information.

The stakeholder engagement and project management plans consist mainly of processes and procedures, which are not affected here, and thus are not the correct choices. Likewise, the moving of a stakeholder from one organization to another does not impact the project charter.

Question 15

A project is in development when a functional manager leaves the company and is no longer involved with the project.

What should the project manager do first?

A. Update the change log.
B. Update the risk register.
C. Update the stakeholder register.
D. Update the assumption log.

Answer 15

C. Update the stakeholder register.

The project manager should update the stakeholder register first when a functional manager leaves the company and is no longer involved with a project in development. By updating the stakeholder register first, the project manager can ensure that all stakeholders are informed and engaged in the project.