Mini Exam 6: Predictive

Question 1

A project manager identifies a risk during the implementation phase of a project which was not anticipated during planning. How would facilitating a brainstorming session allow the project manager to mitigate the risk while keeping the project on schedule?

A. Brainstorming would enable the project manager to apply qualitative data analysis techniques.
B. Brainstorming with the project team can identify multiple ideas in a short amount of time.
C. Brainstorming with project stakeholders can result in new assumptions regarding risk tolerance.
D. Brainstorming ways to add funding can help mitigate the risk and compress the schedule.

Answer 1

B. Brainstorming with the project team can identify multiple ideas in a short amount of time

Brainstorming with the project team will allow the team to generate a lot of ideas in a short period of time. This is the most effective and efficient approach.

Question 2

A team for a project is composed of individuals from different backgrounds, ages, and interests. The team is struggling to work together.

How would meeting with the team to develop mutual values and a shared vision enable the project manager to facilitate better teamwork?

A. An official team meeting to discuss the importance of teamwork would motivate the team and improve project performance.
B. A better understanding of team members’ priorities would create a common language that would foster cooperation.
C. Understanding each team member’s viewpoint would pinpoint areas where education and training was necessary.
D. By developing its own understanding of the goals and objectives of the project, the team would gain confidence.

Answer 2

B. A better understanding of team members’ priorities would create a common language that would foster cooperation

The question is asking how meeting with the team will enable the project manager to facilitate better teamwork.

Question 3

During a project status meeting, the project manager discovers that stakeholders have different expectations that are not aligned. None of these expectations have been met, which has created tension in the meeting.

What should the project manager do to keep things moving on the project?

A. Update the risk register to reflect the difference in expectations as a high risk.
B. Ask stakeholders to send their expectations by email to ensure that they are included in the project plan.
C. Meet with stakeholders privately and update the responsibility matrix.
D. Show stakeholders that the current status is aligned with the work breakdown structure (WBS).

Answer 3

C. Meet with stakeholders privately and update the responsibility matrix.

The project manager should first meet with the stakeholders privately to understand their expectations and why they are not aligned. This will help the project manager to identify the root cause of the problem. Once the project manager understands the root cause of the problem, they can update the responsibility matrix to ensure that the right stakeholders are responsible for meeting the different expectations. This will help to clarify roles and responsibilities and to prevent future misunderstandings.

Question 4

A new project is about to start and is subject to strict time and budget constraints. When reviewing the lessons learned repository, the project manager learns that constant scope creep caused a similar project to fail.
What should the project manager do now to avoid project failure?

A. Refuse to accept out-of-scope change requests that would increase project duration and budget.
B. Manage stakeholder expectations to exclude the possibility of changes in order to meet project goals.
C. Adjust the project scope and schedule to stay within constraints and avoid potential changes.
D. Establish formal change approval processes to guide teams to deliver essential features first.

Answer 4

D. Establish formal change approval processes to guide teams to deliver essential features first

Having formal change approval processes is the best way to ensure compliance with the project plan and minimize scope creep. The key benefit of this process is that the scope baseline is maintained throughout the project and any changes are formally recognized along with impact on the budget and schedule.

Question 5

A complex manufacturing project has multiple stakeholders in multiple locations. The project is entering a high-activity phase and the project manager needs to ensure that all stakeholders are kept informed with timely updates.

What should the project manager do first?

A. Schedule training sessions on effective communications with all stakeholders.
B. Determine the most appropriate technology to use to communicate with all stakeholders.
C. Schedule regular status reports to be sent to all stakeholders.
D. Revise the communications management plan to have a more frequent update schedule.

Answer 5

D. Revise the communications management plan to have a more frequent update schedule.

The project manager should revise the communications management plan to have a more frequent update schedule because the project is entering a high-activity phase. The project manager needs to ensure that all stakeholders are kept informed with timely updates and information needed to make informed decisions to contribute to the success of the project.

Question 6

A functional manager wants to use resources already allocated to a project. What should the project manager of that project do?

A. Escalate the issue to the project sponsor.
B. Ask the functional manager to delay their project.
C. Accept the project delay due to reassignment of resources.
D. Negotiate the resource requirement with the functional manager.

Answer 6

D. Negotiate the resource requirement with the functional manager

Negotiate… (Correct alternative) Resources report to functional managers who manage resource allocation to various tasks

Question 7

A project manager has been assigned to a newly approved multi-national project. The successful implementation of the project relies on deliverables from a variety of departments.

What is the most important thing the project manager can do to ensure the successful implementation of the project?

A. Work with the project team members to create ground rules for communications and develop a project plan.
B. Facilitate sessions with key stakeholders to gather relevant information and define detailed product requirements.
C. Meet with the functional managers of the relevant departments to ensure alignment with project objectives.
D. Develop a resource management plan to define the resources required from each department.

Answer 7

C. Meet with the functional managers of the relevant departments to ensure alignment with project objectives.

Meeting with functional managers of relevant departments is the most important action that the project manager can take to ensure the successful implementation of the project because it will help to ensure that all of the departments involved in the project are working towards the same goals. In a multi-national project with deliverables from various departments, coordination among these departments is vital. When functional managers are on the same page, it reduces the likelihood of conflicting priorities, ensures that all departments are working towards the same goals, and allows the project manager to understand their concerns, constraints, and capabilities.

Question 8

While reviewing the quality of deliverables with the team, the project manager determines that several quality issues could have been avoided by using a checklist. The project manager implements a checklist to ensure future deliverables would align with the project management plan.

What did the project manager do in this situation?

A. Defined new quality metrics.
B. Used corrective action.
C. Facilitated a retrospective.
D. Conducted a lessons learned meeting.

Answer 8

B. Used corrective action

Corrective Action is an intentional activity that realigns the performance of the project work with the project management plan.

Question 9

A project manager learns that a stakeholder thinks that only certain stakeholders are getting all the project updates and feels left out of the information loop. What should the project manager do?

A. Prepare a status update report and send it to all stakeholders.
B. Meet with all stakeholders together and ask them to compare information.
C. Review the communications management plan to ensure that all stakeholders are included.
D. Revise the project communications strategy to ensure more frequent distribution of status reports.

Answer 9

C. Review the communications management plan to ensure that all stakeholders are included

It is important to insure that all stakeholders are being included in the communication management plan, not just the stakeholder who raised the issue.

Preparing and sending a new status update to all stakeholders, or more frequent updates, will not resolve the issue if the stakeholder that raised the issue is not included in the communication management plan

Question 10

During the planning phase for the expansion of a services company, stakeholders conducted a feasibility study to establish the type of new service the company should provide. During an alternatives analysis, another type of service was determined to be more effective. The change control board (CCB) has approved the change request for the alternative service.

What should the project manager do?

A. Implement the change as approved.
B. Modify the change to reduce the impact on the schedule and budget.
C. Request justification from the CCB for the change.
D. Conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the alternative service.

Answer 10

A. Implement the change as approved

“Implement the change…” (Correct option). This is the only viable option as in approving the change the CCB board would have taken all possible implications into consideration

Question 11

A stakeholder requests more frequent and detailed project status reports than a previous agreement. The stakeholder also expresses interest in getting more involved with the project.

How should the project manager address this situation?

A. Provide the stakeholder with an update on the project’s status and send detailed status reports as soon as possible.
B. Revise the stakeholder engagement assessment matrix to show the stakeholder’s engagement level as supportive.
C. Update the stakeholder communication plan and ensure that the team is aligned on the new reporting requirements.
D. Develop a stakeholder cube that defines the relationship between the stakeholder and the project.

Answer 11

C. Update the stakeholder communication plan and ensure that the team is aligned on the new reporting requirements.

Updating the stakeholder communication plan and ensuring that the team is aligned on the new reporting requirements is the most comprehensive and effective way to address the stakeholder’s request. By updating the stakeholder communication plan, the project manager can ensure that the stakeholder is receiving the communication frequency and level of detail that they requested. The project manager should also ensure that the project team is aware of the new reporting requirements and can provide the stakeholder with the information they need in a timely and efficient manner.

Question 12

A project is entering the user acceptance testing phase. After several business end users raised questions and concerns, the project manager discovered that critical business requirements were omitted from the business requirements analysis.

What should the project manager do to resolve this issue?

A. Interview the team that conducted the analysis to learn why these business requirements were omitted.
B. Modify the requirements management plan and communicate to the stakeholders that the project schedule might be impacted.
C. Schedule a meeting with the project sponsor to report end users’ concerns.
D. Meet with the change control board (CCB) to review change requests.

Answer 12

D. Meet with the change control board (CCB) to review change requests

The correct answer is “Meet…”. If there are critical business requirements that failed to be included, a change request must be submitted to begin the process of review to see if they need to be.

Question 13

A complex project is in the planning phase. The sponsor assigns a newly certified project manager to the project. Upon review of the project charter, the project manager uncovers several factors that could impact the project in unpredictable ways.

What should the project manager do?

A. Update the project plan with details about schedule and budget forecasts.
B. Inform the project sponsor about the possible impacts these factors may have on the project.
C. Develop a risk management plan with details about the various factors.
D. Extend the issue log to include a what-if scenario analysis.

Answer 13

C. Develop a risk management plan with details about the various factors

“Develop a risk management plan…” (Correct option) A risk management plan is designed to identify and manage possible uncertain events on a project.

Question 14

While developing the initial schedule baseline, the project manager learns that a functional manager reassigned two resources needed for a critical task to another strategic project. What should the project manager do?

A. Perform a quantitative risk analysis to determine the impact of the change on the project.
B. Request a review of the reassignment by the change control board (CCB).
C. Meet with the functional manager to negotiate allocation of replacement resources.
D. Escalate the issue to the project sponsor.

Answer 14

C. Meet with the functional manager to negotiate allocation of replacement resources

Since the functional manager controls the resources for this type of work, they will be the person who will be able to provide suitable replacements.

Question 15

A project manager has been assigned to a new project that revisits a previously completed project. Why should the project manager refer to the previous project lessons learned knowledge base and historic information first?

A. To identify resources who worked on the previous project
B. To define the project requirements and finalize the scope
C. To determine a baseline for the project budget
D. To understand issues in the previous project

Answer 15

D. To understand issues in the previous project

To understand- Before planning a revisited project, the project manager should understand what happened on the prior project. The lessons learned report focuses on those activities, tasks or deliverables that didn’t go as planned and the resolution. Historical information and Lessons Learned knowledge base will give primary inputs to start planning the new project.