PMI PMI Certification PMI-SP Questions & Answers

• Question 281:

  Winnie is the project manager for her company. She has been recording the actual durations of the project work to determine the actual progress of her project. Winnie needs to generate an updated project schedule based on project performance. She is using the supporting schedule data, manual scheduling methods, and her project management software to perform schedule network analysis. What other tool Winnie can use to help and generate an updated project schedule?

  A. Critical path method

  B. Schedule management plan

  C. Scheduling tool

  D. Critical chain method

  Correct Answer: C

  The scheduling tool is the only other tool that can help Winnie to create an updated project schedule. The scheduling tool is used in combination with manual methods or further project management software to carry out the schedule network analysis to produce an updated project schedule. Answer option A is incorrect. The critical path method can be analyzed, but it is a part of the project management information system. In addition, the critical path is not better or worse than the critical chain method so by having both answers among the choices both answers are cancelled. Answer option D is incorrect. The critical chain method can be analyzed, but it is the part of the project management information system. In addition, the critical path is not better or worse than the critical path method so by having both answers among the choices both answers are cancelled. Answer option B is incorrect. The schedule management plan may need to be referenced to create a new project schedule, but it is not a tool that Winnie can use.

• Question 282:

  Examine the figure given below: Which path is considered the critical path?

  A. ACDFJ

  B. ACGIJ

  C. ABEFJ

  D. ABDFJ

  Correct Answer: B

  The critical path is the path in the project network diagram with the longest duration. In project management, a critical path is the sequence of project network activities which add up to the longest overall duration. This determines the shortest time possible to complete the project. Any delay of an activity on the critical path directly impacts the planned project completion date (i.e. there is no float on the critical path). In this instance path ACGIJ is the longest as it takes 23 days. Answer options C and D are incorrect. These paths take 13 days. Answer option A is incorrect. This path only takes 19 days.

• Question 283:

  Holly is the project manager of her project. She has chosen to crash the project due to time constraints that have been imposed on her project. When Holly crashes the project what project document must be updated to reflect this change to the approach?

  A. Develop schedule process

  B. Risk register

  C. Project risk management plan

  D. Activity attributes

  Correct Answer: D

  When Holly adds resources to the project, as in this instance, she will need to update the activity attributes to reflect the new labor. Activity attributes are an output of the Define Activity process. These attributes refer to the multiple components that frame up an activity. The components for each activity during the early stages of the project are the Activity ID, WBS ID, and Activity name. At the later stages, the activity attributes include Activity codes, Predecessor activity, activity description, logical relationship, successor activity, leads and lags, imposed dates, and constraints and assumptions. Activity attributes are used for schedule development and for ordering, selecting, and sorting the planned schedule activities in a number of ways within reports. In project document updates, activity attributes are updated to include any revised resource requirements and other revision generated by the develop schedule process.

• Question 284:

  You work as a project manager for BlueWell Inc. There have been changes to the project scope in your project. These changes will cause the project schedule to change as well, so you will need to update the schedule and the schedule baseline. The schedule baseline is a component of what?

  A. Project calendar

  B. Project constraints

  C. Project objectives

  D. Project management plan

  Correct Answer: D

  The schedule baseline is a required component of the project management plan. Project management plan is a formal, agreed document that defines how the project is executed, monitored and controlled. It may be summary or detailed and may be composed of one or more subsidiary management plans and other planning documents. The objective of a project management plan is to define the approach to be used by the project team to deliver the intended project management scope of the project. The project manager creates the project management plan with the inputs from the project team and key stakeholders. The plan should be agreed and approved by at least the project team and its key stakeholders. Answer option C is incorrect. The schedule baseline is not a project objective. Answer option A is incorrect. The project calendar defines when the project will take place. Answer option B is incorrect. Project constraints are restrictions imposed on the project, such as time, cost, and scope.

• Question 285:

  John works as a project manager for BlueWell Inc. He is working on a high-profile project with 80 stakeholders and he needs to express to his project team and to the management the importance of communication in the project. He would like to show the number of stakeholder communication channels in the project. Based on this information how many communication channels exist within this project?

  A. 3000

  B. 79

  C. 80

  D. 3160

  Correct Answer: D

  Communication channels are paths of communication with stakeholders in a project. The number of communication channels shows the complexity of a project's communication and can be derived through the formula shown below: Total Number of Communication Channels = n (n-1)/2 where, n is the number of stakeholders. Hence, a project having five stakeholders will have ten communication channels. Putting the number of stakeholders in the formula we can get the required communication channel for the project. It is (80 x 79)/2 for 3,160 communication channels.

• Question 286:

  You work as a project manager for ABC Inc. You are currently overseeing a project on a high-rise building site. Your prime concern is to ensure that cranes are used effectively for moving materials. You also have to ensure that delivery trucks do not have to wait in a queue and that workers on the upper floors are able to get their deliveries on time. Which type of scheduling would be required in such a scenario?

  A. Critical path scheduling

  B. Time-oriented scheduling

  C. Resource-oriented scheduling

  D. Network scheduling

  Correct Answer: C

  Resource-oriented scheduling focuses on using and scheduling particular resources in an effective manner. This type of scheduling should be used whenever there are limited resources available for a project and the struggle for these resources between the project activities is intense. As a result, delays are likely to arise in such cases, as actions must wait until general resources become available. Resource- oriented scheduling is also suitable in cases where unique resources are to be used, such as when there is only one excavator available in an excavation operation. Answer option B is incorrect. Time-oriented scheduling is a time-scheduling method that focuses on determining the finishing time of a project. It also specifies the crucial precedence relationships among the activities involved in the project. In time-oriented scheduling, the appropriate time is allocated for the whole project through the successive stages of the project life cycle. Answer option A is incorrect. Critical path scheduling is a technique that calculates the minimum completion time for a project along with the possible start and finish times for the project activities. Answer option D is incorrect. Network scheduling provides a basis for obtaining facts for decision making.

• Question 287:

  Jim is the project manager for his project. He and his project team are creating their duration estimates for the work packages in the WBS. For each activity, Jim is adding a few hours to the duration estimate in case something goes wrong during the completion of the work activity. Sarah, the project sponsor, does not approve of this and warns Jim of Parkinson's Law. What is Parkinson's Law?

  A. People will behave based on what their behavior brings them.

  B. As employees do repetitive tasks, duration should decrease.

  C. Work expands to fill the amount of time allotted to it.

  D. An exponential increase labor does not correlate to an exponential decrease in duration.

  Correct Answer: C

  Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the amount of time allotted to complete the work. If Jim allows 25 hours for a project team member to complete a 20-hour task, it will likely take the team member 25 hours to do the work. Answer option A is incorrect. This is a description of the Expectancy Theory. Answer option B is incorrect. This is a description of the learning curve. Answer option D is incorrect. This is a description of a portion of the Law of Diminishing Returns.

• Question 288:

  Your project is forty percent complete though it was scheduled to be fifty percent complete as of today. Management has asked that you report on the schedule variance for your project. If your project has a BAC of $650,000 and you've spent $385,000 to date, what is the schedule variance value?

  A. -$75,500

  B. -$390,000

  C. -$487,500

  D. -$65,000

  Correct Answer: D

  The schedule variance is found by subtracting the planned value from the earned value. The earned value is the percentage of the project completeness multiplied by the BAC. Planned value is the percentage of where the project should be

  at this time multiplied by the BAC. In this example, EV = 40% of BAC = 260,000, and PV = 50% of BAC = 325,000 SV = 260,000 - 325,000 = -65,000 Schedule variance (SV) is a measure of schedule performance on a project. The variance

  notifies that the schedule is ahead or behind what was planned for this period in time. The schedule variance is calculated based on the following formula:

  SV = Earned Value (EV) - Planned Value (PV)

  If the resulting schedule is negative, it indicates that the project is behind schedule. A value greater than 0 shows that the project is ahead of the planned schedule. A value of 0 indicates that the project is right on target.

  Answer options B, C, and A are incorrect. These are not valid calculations of the schedule variance.

• Question 289:

  You are the project manager of the NHT Project. This project has 12,345 office doors to install throughout a campus. Each of the doors costs the project $456 and requires special hardware to electronically lock and open the doors. You've gathered the project team before they begin the installation for a hands-on training. As a group you and the project team install 50 doors following a checklist of instructions so that every door will be installed exactly the same throughout the campus and with minimal waste. This is an example of what project execution technique?

  A. Preventive action

  B. Defect repair validation

  C. Implemented corrective action

  D. Quality control

  Correct Answer: A

  This is an example of a preventive action as you're working with the team before they install the doors to train them on the installation. The checklist is a quality control tool but the question was asking for a project execution activity. Preventive and corrective actions are part of project execution. Answer option D is incorrect. Quality control is a controlling and monitoring process, not an executing process. Answer option B is incorrect. The defect repair validation comes after the project team has corrected an error - something that has not occurred in this instance. Answer option C is incorrect. Corrective action is a response to something that needs to be corrected in the project.

• Question 290:

  Your project has a BAC of $750,000 and is 75 percent complete. According to your plan, however, your project should actually be 80 percent complete. You have spent $575,000 of your project budget to reach this point and you are worried about the project not being able to complete based on your current project budget. What is the to-complete performance index for this project?

  A. 0.98

  B. -$16,677

  C. 1.07

  D. 0.94

  Correct Answer: C

  The to-complete performance index can be found by using the formula (BAC-EV)/(BAC-AC) for a value of 1.07. The higher the value is from 1, the less likely the project will meet the BAC. To-complete Performance Index (TCPI) is the

  measured projection of the anticipated performance required to achieve either the BAC or the EAC.

  TCPI indicates the future required cost efficiency needed to achieve a target EAC (Estimate At Complete).Once approved, the EAC supersedes the BAC as the cost performance goal. Any significant difference between TCPI and the CPI

  needed to meet the EAC should be accounted for by management in their forecast of the final cost. The formula for TCPI is as follows:

  TCPI = {(BAC-EV)/(BAC-AC)}

  Answer option A is incorrect. 0.98 is the project's cost performance index. Answer option D is incorrect. This is the project's schedule performance index. Answer option B is incorrect. -$16,667 is the project's variance at completion.