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Quiz Session - Attempts With Random Questions

PMI PMP Exam Questions

Page 9 of 56

161.

Norla is coordinating a meeting to approve the project management plan. Before the meeting, she is notified the organization is undergoing a restructuring that is effective immediately. She will need to invite the rightful stakeholders to get their project management plan approved.

What is Norla's best course of action?

  • Update the stakeholder register

  • Cancel the meeting

  • Update the lessons learned

  • Update the scope baseline

Correct Answer: Update the stakeholder register

The situation dictates that the organizational restructuring will affect the list of stakeholders who will attend the meeting. The project manager will need to update the stakeholders register to reflect the changes immediately. By doing this, Norla will be able to identify the new stakeholders alongside their needs and expectations.

"Cancel the meeting" is not correct. Regardless of the attendees, the core information will remain the same. Norla might need to modify her speech to align better with the new stakeholders' expectations.

"Update the lessons learned" is not correct. The lessons learned register is updated in retrospective sessions at the end of a phase, cycle, or project.

"Update the scope baseline" is not correct. Although a restructuring could lead to a change in the project scope, Norla will need to first identify the stakeholders and their needs.

162.

Blaire is in charge of an Agile project and has been approached by the sponsor regarding their concerns. The budget for the project has been reduced significantly and unexpectedly. This will set the project back, and the project team will not complete the project backlog. What should Blaire do NEXT?

  • Coordinate a meeting with the team and product owner to prioritize the project backlog

  • Immediately terminate the project

  • Pause the project until funding is recovered

  • Reduce the scope of the project

Correct Answer: Coordinate a meeting with the team and product owner to prioritize the project backlog

The project manager will need to coordinate with the product owner, project team, and important stakeholders to determine what other value can be delivered with the decrease in budget. The project team will need to focus on business value deliverance within the constraints of time, cost, and scope.

Terminating, pausing, and reducing the scope of the project are decisions that are outside the project manager's responsibility. These decisions should always be backed up by facts and data from previous analysis.

163.

While identifying key deliverables for the project, two of the most influential stakeholders in your project disagreed about the priority of the deliverables. You facilitated a meeting to go over the benefits of each deliverable that was causing disagreement. You were able to outline the most effective priority for these deliverables and get agreement from your two key stakeholders.

What did you use in this instance to ensure you had the best key deliverables to achieve project goals?

  • Conflict resolution

  • Brainstorming

  • Decision analysis

  • Meeting management

Correct answer: Conflict resolution

Conflicts are likely to come up throughout a project, but especially early on when each stakeholder may be fighting to ensure his or her deliverables are considered high priority. Facilitation techniques such as conflict resolution can be used to ensure this does not cause a significant risk to the project and that the project manager can effectively identify key deliverables, manage stakeholder expectations, and direct the achievement of project goals.

There are five general techniques for resolving conflicts. Each technique has its unique place and use:

  1. Withdraw/avoid: Retreating from an actual or potential conflict situation; postponing the issue to be better prepared or to be resolved by others.
  2. Smooth/accommodate: Highlighting areas of agreement rather than areas of difference; conceding one's position to the needs of others to maintain harmony.
  3. Compromise/reconcile: Searching for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to all parties to temporarily or partially resolve the conflict. This is generally a lose-lose situation.
  4. Force/direct: Pushing one's viewpoint at the expense of others; offering only win-lose solutions, usually enforced through a power position. This is often a win-lose situation.
  5. Collaborate/problem solve: Incorporating multiple viewpoints and insights from differing perspectives requires a cooperative attitude and open dialogue. This approach can result in a win-win situation.

Brainstorming, decision analysis, and meeting management are not conflict resolution techniques.

164.

A project that is under the Perform Integrated Change Control process will have several outputs. Chris, a member of your team, suggests that the project management plan is an output of this process. How do you respond?

  • Disagree because the project management plan is not an output

  • Agree that the project management plan is an output

  • Disagree because only approved change requests are an output of this process

  • Disagree because a project management plan is not used in the process

Correct answer: Disagree because the project management plan is not an output

The Perform Integrated Change Control process has several outputs, among them, project management plan updates. The project management plan is an input to this process and is used by the change control board in making decisions to accept or reject changes.

The outputs of the Change Control process are:

  • Approved change requests
  • Project management plan updates to any component
  • Project documents updates in the change log.

165.

Julie reported to management that, for the first week of October, her project had an Earned Value (EV) of $7,000 and a Planned Value (PV) of $9,000. What is the status of her project?

  • Behind schedule

  • Ahead of schedule

  • On schedule

  • Status cannot be provided due to limited information

Correct answer: Behind schedule

Julie had expected to have $9,000 worth of work completed, which is the Planned Value (PV). However, she completed only $7,000 worth of work, which is the Earned Value (EV).

She can then calculate the Schedule Variance (SV) using the formula SV = EV - PV.

So, SV = 7,000 - 9,000 = -$2,000.

Positive = Ahead of Schedule

Neutral = On schedule

Negative = Behind Schedule

166.

The project manager is leading a diverse team with varying opinions and expertise. To effectively balance their authority with the need for team collaboration, what approach should they take?

  • Using their authority to facilitate a collaborative environment where team input is valued.

  • Exerting their authority to ensure adherence to the project plan at all times.

  • Completely relinquishing their authority to promote a democratic team environment.

  • Only exercising authority in situations of conflict or disagreement.

Correct answer: Using their authority to facilitate a collaborative environment where team input is valued.

While maintaining authority, the project manager should use it to create a collaborative environment. This involves valuing team input and fostering an atmosphere where team members feel empowered to share ideas and contribute to decision-making.

Exerting their authority to ensure adherence to the project plan at all times can stifle team input and reduce collaboration. 

Completely relinquishing authority to promote a democratic team environment may lead to a lack of direction and accountability. 

Only exercising authority in situations of conflict or disagreement fails to provide consistent leadership and can create uncertainty within the team​​​​.

167.

The project manager working on a telecom project left the team. Clark has been asked to take over leadership of the team. Clark discovers in his first few days that the developers are spending a lot of their time responding to unexpected requests for information coming from various project stakeholders. Interruptions like these cause the developers to lose focus on their assigned project activities because of the time and energy required to respond to the stakeholders. Which of the following is Clark's best option?

  • Review the communications management plan.

  • Instruct the developers to hold all stakeholder responses until the end of the week.

  • Ask the developers to forward all requests to Clark.

  • Ask that the developers respond immediately to requests.

Correct answer: Review the communications management plan

Reviewing the communications management plan is the right choice because the plan will detail how communication with stakeholders should be handled. Changes can be made as needed, but a review of the established parameters is the first step.

"Instruct the developers to hold all stakeholder responses until the end of the week" is incorrect because it could conflict with the stakeholder needs.

"Request that the developers respond immediately to requests" is incorrect. This would derail their assigned project activities and likely conflict with the project schedule.

"Ask the developers to forward all requests to Clark" is also incorrect. Taking on all stakeholder requests is not Clark's responsibility and would likely conflict with his assigned project activities.

168.

The project manager selects a member to track the cost of the project. The member increases the budget to make up for the rise in expenditure that occurred over the past month. How should the project manager handle the situation?

  • Perform integrated change control

  • Consult the project sponsor

  • Allow the increase to occur

  • Deny the budget increase

Correct answer: Perform integrated change control

It is not allowed to make adjustments to the project budget without authorization. Integrated change control is the process of reviewing all change requests, approving changes, and managing changes to the deliverables, organizational process assets, project documents, and the project management plan.

While it is important to involve the project sponsor in decision-making, consulting them alone will not be sufficient to handle the situation. The project manager needs to follow a formal process to evaluate the impact of the budget increase on the project and obtain approval from all relevant stakeholders.

Allowing the increase to occur without following a formal process will lead to scope creep, cost overruns, and schedule delays.

Denying the budget increase without evaluating the impact on the project will lead to stakeholder dissatisfaction and may impact the project's success.

169.

You are leading a team working on a new systems engineering project. During the stakeholder assessment, where you are collecting and documenting the various stakeholder needs so you can determine how to best meet the project objectives, a stakeholder comes to you with a suggestion. They indicate it would be helpful for them to have a visual depiction of how people and other systems will interact with the new system. It sounds like a good idea to you. Which of the following describes the BEST way to implement their suggestion?

  • Create a context diagram

  • Develop a storyboard

  • Develop an affinity diagram

  • Draft a matrix

Correct answer: Create a context diagram

Creating a context diagram is correct because the activities being performed relate to the Collect Requirements process, which is the process of determining, documenting, and managing stakeholder needs and requirements to meet project objectives. A context diagram can be used during that process. A context diagram visually depicts product scope by showing a business system and how people and other systems interact with it.

"Develop a storyboard" is incorrect because it shows a sequence of events, but not how people and systems interact.

"Develop an affinity diagram" does not apply, since the stakeholder did not ask to see large numbers of ideas classified into groups.

"Draft a matrix" is too broad and could refer to many types of matrices.

170.

Alia is reviewing the business case for the project they have just been assigned. During their evaluation, they noticed an important part that needs to be included is missing from the feasibility study. What is Alia's BEST course of action?

  • Immediately inform the project sponsor about the issue

  • Ignore the problem until the project kick-off meeting

  • The project sponsor is responsible for the information.

  • Capture the issue in the issue log

Correct answer: Immediately inform the project sponsor about the issue

The business documents include the business case and benefits management plan. The business documents are not formally considered project documents and can't be updated or modified by the project manager. The project manager may talk to the project sponsor and provide recommendations.

"Ignore the problem until the project kick-off meeting" is incorrect. The kickoff meeting needs updated information from the business documents to align with the project objectives.

"The project sponsor is responsible for the information" is incorrect. Although the project manager doesn't have the power to update the files, they can suggest changes.

"Capture the issue in the issue log" is incorrect. Although recording this issue is needed, Alia needs to act to resolve it first.

171.

You are coaching a project team on Agile methods and explaining the benefits related to being self-organized, empowered, and self-directed. Team members start complaining to you about their project manager using a directive style. What can you conclude about the team?

  • The team is at the storming stage.

  • The team is in the norming stage.

  • The team is not cooperating.

  • The team is not collaborating well enough.

Correct answer: The team is at the storming stage.

Teams that are in this stage will need a lot of support and direction. Teams in the storming stage are characterized by some conflict or struggle as they figure out how to work together.

The norming stage is when the team starts working collaboratively and challenges are resolved quickly.

The question does not explicitly say they are not cooperating or collaborating. The issue for them is on the project management side.

172.

In the middle of project execution, you evaluate the team's performance and realize they are not communicating or collaborating up to your standards.  You coordinate a team building session at the end of the month that requires team members to take the day off the following day.

Where is the best place for you to record this information?

  • Resource calendar

  • Stakeholders engagement plan

  • Quality assurance plan

  • Manage quality

Correct answer: Resource calendar

The resource calendar will identify what days the project team will need to take off. Project team members are identified as resources. Therefore, the updates to the schedule will need to be added to the resource calendar. 

"Stakeholders engagement plan" is not correct. Engagement techniques such as the building sessions are included here, but the question is about scheduling that particular session.

"Quality assurance plan" is not correct. This plan describes the policies and guidelines to achieve the quality objectives.

"Manage quality" is not correct. This is not an artifact, it is an action.

173.

"Okay, I need each of you to speak individually and tell me what is going on. Once each of you has voiced your concerns, we will work on resolving the issue." Which conflict resolution technique is being used in this scenario?

  • Collaborating

  • Compromising

  • Forcing

  • Smoothing/Accommodating

Correct answer: Collaborating

Ken Thomas and Ralph Kilmann describe six ways to address conflict by focusing on the relative power between individuals to maintain a good relationship.

  1. Confronting/Problem Solving: Confronting a conflict treats the conflict as a problem to be solved. This approach is used when the relationship between parties is important and when each person has confidence in the other party's ability to problem-solve.
  2. Collaborating: Collaborating involves incorporating multiple viewpoints and insights from differing perspectives; it requires a cooperative attitude and open dialogue. There must be trust among the participants and time to come to a consensus. A project manager may facilitate this type of conflict resolution between project team members.
  3. Compromising: Searching for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to all parties to temporarily or partially resolve the conflict. This is generally used when the parties involved have equal "power."
  4. Smoothing/Accommodating: Highlighting areas of agreement rather than areas of difference; conceding one's position to the needs of others to maintain harmony.
  5. Forcing: Forcing is used when there is not enough time to collaborate or problem-solve and involves pushing one's viewpoint at the expense of others. This is usually enforced through a power position.
  6. Withdrawal/Avoiding: Retreating from an actual or potential conflict situation; postponing the issue to be better prepared or to be resolved by others.

The conflict resolution technique being used in this scenario is collaborating.

174.

A team is working on a project with a high degree of variability. They are producing mobile applications using an emerging technology. Which of the following best describes the approach that will be used in this type of project?

  • The team will create an atmosphere of collaboration and handle changes that arise together.

  • The project manager will determine the change management methods for the team.

  • The team will maintain their established roles and add team members as needed.

  • The team will compile lessons learned at the end of the project.

Correct answer: The team will create an atmosphere of collaboration and handle changes that arise together

"The team will create an atmosphere of collaboration and handle changes that arise together" is the correct approach. Self-organizing teams are most effective in projects with high degrees of variability. They will be flexible about communications, resource management, and roles to accommodate rapid changes.

"The project manager will determine the change management methods for the team" does not apply to projects with a high degree of variability; plans for changes in environments where change is frequent must be flexible and revised as needed by the team. This option also does not apply to high-variable projects because teams should self-organize and make decisions together rather than having decisions come from a centralized place like a project manager.

"The team will maintain their established roles and add team members as needed" is incorrect because in high-variability projects teams need to fill roles as needed and be flexible in using their knowledge to get the work done.

"The team will compile lessons learned at the end of the project" is not a good strategy because lessons learned should be compiled and shared as needed during a project with a lot of change so that knowledge can be shared.

175.

Your firm's bid has been accepted for the construction of a shopping center. One of the stakeholders inquired about the materials and equipment that will be used during construction because they have expertise in cement applications, which factor largely in the exterior plan for the shopping center.

Where is that information found?

  • Physical resource assignments

  • Resource management plan

  • Resource calendar

  • Resource budget

Correct answer: Physical resource assignments

All physical resource assignments like materials and equipment are documented in the physical resource assignments. It also records information like location, supplies, and other physical resources needed for the project's performance.

While the resource management plan, resource calendar, and resource budget are also important documents for managing project resources, they do not provide the same level of detail as the physical resource assignments documentation when it comes to identifying the specific materials and equipment that will be used during construction.

176.

Emil is utilizing performance data that was gathered during project execution to determine if there are changes in project risks or if the project strategy and assumptions are still valid. What project management process BEST represents what Emil is performing?

  • Monitor risks

  • Control quality

  • Control scope

  • Performing change control

Correct answer: Monitor risks

The situation dictates that the project manager is monitoring the project status. The Monitor Risk process utilizes performance data to gather information on performance and changes within the project.

Control quality involves monitoring specific project results to determine if they comply with relevant quality standards and identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory results.

Control scope involves monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline.

Performing change control involves reviewing all change requests, approving changes, and managing changes to the deliverables, organizational process assets, project documents, and the project management plan.

177.

During a meeting with a stakeholder, Mila asks why the stakeholder isn't as involved with the project. Mila engages with some clarifying questions, takes notes, and assesses her body language. What interpersonal skill is Mila engaged in with the stakeholder?

  • Social awareness

  • Aggressive listening

  • Culture awareness

  • Passive awareness

Correct answer: Social awareness

Social awareness is empathy and understanding. It includes the ability to actively listen and read non-verbal actions. Listening intently and engaging with follow-up questions allows the project manager to capture the communication with the stakeholder more effectively.

Aggressive listening is not an interpersonal skill.

Culture awareness is not an interpersonal skill.

Passive awareness is not an interpersonal skill.

178.

Andre is a project manager for an organization that has a separate procurement department. He requests procurement documentation through the department and facilitates the bidding process with prospective vendors. Andre particularly wants a specific vendor to be chosen.

What can Andre say about the vendor regarding the bidding process?

  • Say nothing related to the bid during the document preparation

  • Tell them they are automatically invited.

  • Give the vendor additional information.

  • Choose the lowest price to save the organization money.

Correct answer: Say nothing related to the bid during the document preparation

During the procurement process related to the project, it is important to remain fair, ethical, and honest. In a buyer-seller transaction, it is best practice for all parties to be given equal treatment and opportunities. The project manager should not interfere with the bidding process. Any information should be given equally to all prospects.

Price is only one factor when selecting a vendor. Quality, compliance, market share, experience, etc. are other factors that need to be taken into account.

179.

Marsha is nearing the completion of her three-year project involving several deliverables from different vendors. As she begins the project closure phase, she reviews her task list to ensure all relevant activities are completed. Which of the following activities is NOT a necessary part of this project closure process?

  • Measure stakeholders' satisfaction

  • Evaluate project exit criteria

  • Close all procurements with vendors

  • Ensure all invoices are completed with the project

Correct answer: Measure stakeholders' satisfaction

Measuring stakeholder satisfaction is not a necessary part of the project closure process since stakeholders' satisfaction is sought and evaluated throughout the project life cycle. In successful projects, once the project manager gets the final stakeholder's acceptance, they can start the project closure process.

Actions and activities necessary to satisfy completion or exit criteria for the phase or project include, but are not limited to:

  • Make certain that all documents and deliverables are up to date and that all issues are resolved.
  • Confirm the delivery and formal acceptance of deliverables by the customer.
  • Ensure that all costs are charged to the project.
  • Close project accounts.
  • Reassign personnel.
  • Deal with the excess project material.
  • Reallocate project facilities, equipment, and other resources.
  • Tailor the final project reports as required by organizational policies.

 

180.

You are preparing for your bi-weekly status report meeting to share with your senior management which is indicated in the communications plan. The status report meeting will include a PowerPoint presentation, graphs, monthly forecasts, burndown charts, and risk summaries. What report is being presented during this meeting?

  • Work performance reports

  • Work performance metrics

  • Work performance data

  • Work performance information

Correct answer: Work performance reports

These reports are distributed to key stakeholders as noted within the communications plan. Work performance reports often contain status reports and progress reports. Earned value graphs, forecasts, reserve burndown charts, defect histograms, contract performance information, and risk summaries are often used in work performance reports.

Work performance metrics are measurements used to assess the performance of the project work. They are often used to generate work performance data, which is then analyzed to create work performance information.

Work performance data refers to the raw observations and measurements identified during activities being performed to carry out the project work. Data is often viewed as the lowest level of detail from which information is derived by other processes.

Work performance information is the performance data collected from controlling processes, and analyzed in comparison with project management plan components, project documents, and other work performance information.

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