Project Integration Management

Question 1

1. Jared is in the execution phase of a residential housing construction project. He has been informed of major scope changes from stakeholders in the middle of the project. These changes involve regulatory requirements from local authorities that may affect not only the scope but also the cost and duration of the project. What is the first step that Jared should take in considering these changes?

Answer 1

Create a report detailing the impact of scope changes on project parameters such as cost, quality, and schedule

Explanation: Any scope changes in a project must go through the Integrated Change Control process to determine the impact on project parameters such as cost, quality and schedule. The changes must then be presented to the Change Control Board for their review. Then, all approved changes must be planned, and resources must be allocated. Therefore, the first step for Jared is to create a report detailing the impact of scope changes on project parameters such as cost, quality and schedule. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Page 115]

Question 2

2. You are auditing a project that has recently delivered a new capability to the business. The purpose of the audit is not only to review the efficiency of the applied project management processes but also revaluating the delivered business value. You are looking for a summary milestone schedule for the project. Which of the following documents can provide you this?

Answer 2

Project charter

Explanation: The summary milestone schedule is normally included as part of the project charter, which documents the business need, understanding of customer’s needs, and other high-level items. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Page 81]

Question 3

3. One of the project team members had a teleconference with a customer representative who reviewed some of the deliverables and discussed some changes in the product requirements. Your project team member discusses the changes with you and states that these are necessary for the project. You agree with the team member’s view. As a project manager, you should ensure that:

Answer 3

The changes are documented and they follow the change management process to obtain an Approved Change request.

Explanation: All changes should be formally documented in writing. Any changes that are verbally discussed but undocumented should not be processed or implemented. [PMBOK® Guide 6th Edition, Page 113]

Question 4

4. An internal subject matter expert resigns in the middle of a technology upgrade project. The subject matter expert was playing an anchor role in the requirements collection and prioritization process. Since this SME was part of this organization for many years, he not only had great relationships with the project stakeholders, he also had in-depth knowledge of the processes involved with the project. You, as the project manager on this project, are worried about the impact of this on the project. You cannot hire another subject matter expert with similar expertise from the market and there is no suitable replacement available within the organization. What should you do now?

Answer 4

Divide the tasks the SME was performing into smaller components and see how these smaller components can now be delivered to the project.

Explanation: The problem at hand is that we are losing a SME that was performing multiple tasks for the project, and now we are unable to find a replacement. The best strategy at this stage is to divide the tasks the SME was performing into smaller components and see how these smaller components can now be delivered to the project (alternatives analysis). For example, you may acquire an experienced stakeholder from the user group for user relationship management and a senior business analyst from the market with sufficient technical knowledge to help collect and validate system requirements in collaboration with the acquired experienced stakeholder. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, page 111]

Question 5

5. You have been asked to audit the performance of a project that has been struggling to keep up with the baseline cost and schedule estimates. You want to start by auditing the project scope and see if any uncontrolled project changes are the real culprit. Analysis of the project scope performance itself resulted in a change request to the scope baseline. Change requests can include all the following except:

Answer 5

Supportive action

Explanation:
Change requests can include preventive or corrective actions and defect repairs. Supportive action is not a valid choice. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Page 96]

Question 6

6. Andy has just become the project manager of a multi-million-dollar construction project. Andy also has an approved project charter that authorizes him to apply organizational resources to the project. Now, Andy wants to take all key stakeholders onboard with the project charter. Where can Andy find a preliminary list of all key stakeholders?

Answer 6

Project charter

Explanation:
The project has just been approved and all Andy has at the moment is the project charter itself. The project charter has a preliminary list of project stakeholders. Andy can use this list as a starting point. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Page 81]

Question 7

7. Julia is managing a software development project. Recently, an unexpected event delayed the project by 15 days. Julia has called a team meeting to identify measures to take to bring the project back on schedule. A measure that is taken to bring future results back in line with the project plan is best described as?

Answer 7

Corrective action

Explanation:
A corrective action is anything that needs to be done to bring the project back on track. Care must be taken not to confuse corrective action with preventive action. Corrective action is taken to correct the results of a non-conformance event that happened in the past. Whereas, preventive action is taken to avoid or mitigate any potential non-conformance event that may occur in the future. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Page 96]

Question 8

8. Joe has been managing a project for Exton Oil Corp. This project involves redesigning filling stations across the state. The redesign involves new gas pumps, security cameras, convenience stores, and use of environmentally friendly materials in the construction. While the redesigning work proceeds, Joe’s design engineer suggests a secondary alarm system for gas pumps to alert the attendant in case of a spill. Although this suggestion is not in the project requirements, Joe is impressed with the engineer’s recommendation. What should be the next step for Joe with regard to the engineer’s suggestion?

Answer 8

Initiate the formal change control process to find the impact of his recommendation

Explanation: Change requests should always be recorded in written form and entered in the change management system to determine the impact of the change on the scope, budget, schedule and quality. Thus, Joe must initiate the formal change control process. After approval from the change control board, Joe can allocate resources and funds to implementing the change. Hence, Joe must initiate the change first. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Page 113]

Question 9

9. You are managing an enterprise system development project that is expected to run for a couple of years. The organization is suffering from high employee turnover and there is a risk that you will face this issue on your project as well. The root cause of the employee turnover is some organizational practices that you don’t have any control over. Given this constraint, what is the best thing you can do to mitigate this risk?

Answer 9

Stress on documentation

The problem at hand is high employee turnover. If you have no control over this issue, long-term contracts and virtual teams are not going to help. One of the issues with high employee turnover is loss of undocumented project knowledge with each departing employee. This issue can be mitigated by stressing on maintaining project documentation. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, page 107]

Question 10

10. You have managed a federal highway construction project, which is intended to improve transportation between north and south regions of the country. In the execution phase, you received many complaints from stakeholders, including the highway transportation agency. At least half these complaints were regarding the quality of the micro texture of the road, and the nonconformance to the quality levels incorporated in the project quality management plan. So far, you have successfully fixed all the reported issues, but you are concerned by this recurrent event. What should you do to avoid future similar issues?

Answer 10

Initiate a preventive action to reduce the probability of negative consequences associated with the poor quality of the road

Explanation: There is no need to update the quality management plan since the problem is with the workmanship and not with the quality management plan. The scenario is asking for an action that will ensure future compliance, i.e. a preventive action. Note that since all of the reported defects have been fixed, there is no need for any corrective action or defect repair at this stage. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Page 96]