PMI PMI-SP Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

PMI PMI-SP Online Questions & Answers

• Question 101:

  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
  D. -$65,000

  ---

  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 102:

  The Define Activities process is the first process in the project time management knowledge are a. The Define Activities process creates just three outputs as a result of decomposition, rolling wave planning, templates, and expert judgment. Which one of the following is not an output of the Define Activities process?

  A. Activity list
  B. Milestone list
  C. Activity attributes
  D. Project document updates
  D. Project document updates

  ---

  Project document updates are not an output of the Define Activities process. Project document updates are the outputs for estimate activity resources. Project document updates include the following: Activity list Activity attributes Resource calendars Answer option A is incorrect. The activity list is an output of the define activities process. Answer option C is incorrect. The activity attributes is an output of the define activities process. Answer option B is incorrect. The milestone list is an output of the define activities process.

• Question 103:

  You are the project manager of the NHQ project. This project deals with a new technology that your company has never used before. You have petitioned the management to hire a consultant to help you and the project team to create the WBS, the activity list, and complete the duration estimates. The management is concerned about the costs of the consultant, but agrees to your request because of the nature of this new work. The consultant can best be described as what type of resource for this project?

  A. Direct expense
  B. External requirement
  C. Temporary resource
  D. Expert judgment
  D. Expert judgment

  ---

  The consultant is an example of expert judgment, as he is helping you and the project team to create the project elements. Expert judgment is a technique based on a set of criteria that has been acquired in a specific knowledge area or product area. It is obtained when the project manager or project team requires specialized knowledge that they do not possess. Expert judgment involves people most familiar with the work of creating estimates. Preferably, the project team member who will be doing the task should complete the estimates. Expert judgment is applied when performing administrative closure activities, and experts should ensure the project or phase closure is performed to the appropriate standards. Answer option A is incorrect. The consultant may be considered a direct expense because the fees can only be assigned to your project work, but this is not the best choice for the question. Answer option B is incorrect. An external requirement is not a valid choice for this question. Answer option C is incorrect. A temporary resource is not a valid project management term.

• Question 104:

  You are the project manager for your organization. You are coaching Allen, a junior project manager, on how the details of the project's critical path are calculated. Examine the figure given below:

  

  What is the critical path of this project?

  A. ABEHJ
  B. ACFGJ
  C. ADGJ
  D. ACFIJ
  B. ACFGJ

  ---

  The critical path is discovered by summing the duration of each activity node in each chain of activities in the project network diagram. In this figure, the critical path is ACFGJ, which is 26 days, the longest chain of activities in the project. Answer option A is incorrect. This path's duration is 22 days. Answer option D is incorrect. This path's duration is 23 days. Answer option C is incorrect. This path's duration is 15 days.

• Question 105:

  Tom is the project manager of the HQQ Project. His project has a schedule variance of -$34,500 due to some errors early in the project. Management would like to know how Tom will respond to these variances. What action can help Tom to manage the errors in the project and to ensure that the errors would not occur again?

  A. Lesson learned documentation
  B. Risk analysis
  C. Preventive action
  D. Corrective action
  D. Corrective action

  ---

  A corrective action is a change implemented to address a weakness identified in a management system. Normally corrective actions are implemented in response to a customer complaint, abnormal levels of internal nonconformity, nonconformities identified during an internal audit or adverse or unstable trends in product and process monitoring such as would be identified by SP C. It is method of identifying and eliminating the causes of a problem, thus preventing their reappearance. Examples of a corrective action are : Improvements to maintenance schedules Improvements to material handling or storage Answer option A is incorrect. Lessons learned is a documentation of the errors and how they were resolved, not a method to prevent the errors from occurring again. Answer option C is incorrect. Preventive action addresses any action or act in which the project management team and the team leader provide documented direction to carry out an activity that is meant to decrease the possibility of negative consequences related to project risk. Answer option B is incorrect. Risk analysis examines the risk events, its probability, and its impact on the project.

• Question 106:

  Laura is the project manager for her organization and management has requested her to create a report on her project's performance. Laura needs to analyze her current project performance and then compare it against what, in order to create a performance report?

  A. Cost variances and Cost Performance Index
  B. Scope baseline
  C. Performance measurement baseline
  D. Schedule variances, planned value, and the Schedule Performance Index
  C. Performance measurement baseline

  ---

  The performance measurement baseline, which can be comprised of cost, scope, and schedule, is the foundation for creating a performance report.

  Answer option B is incorrect. The scope baseline will only reflect the performance of the scope, whereas performance reports typically need scope, time, and cost as its foundation. Answer option A is incorrect. Cost variances and the cost

  performance index are cost values that must be considered along with the scope performance and schedule performance. Answer option D is incorrect. Only reporting performance on the schedule is not enough for a performance report.

  Laura should also report on scope and cost at a minimum.

• Question 107:

  You are the project manager for your organization. You are working with your project team to develop the project schedule. You would like to automate much of the scheduling by using Microsoft project. Microsoft project as a scheduling tool is an example of what tool and technique for the Develop Schedule Process?

  A. Organizational process asset
  B. Scheduling tool
  C. Project Management Information System
  D. Project office software
  B. Scheduling tool

  ---

  According to the PMBOK, automated scheduling tools expedite the scheduling process. 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 C is incorrect. The project management information system is the complete project management software package beyond just the scheduling portion. Answer option D is incorrect. This is not a valid answer. Answer option A is incorrect. While the software may be made available as a part of organizational process assets, the best answer is the scheduling tool.

• Question 108:

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

  ---

  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 109:

  You are the project manager of the HQQ Project. Your project is running late by ten percent of where you should be at this time. Management is concerned. Considering that the project has a BAC of $567,899, you are thirty percent complete, and you have spent $179,450. What is this project's to- complete performance index based on the current BAC?

  A. 1.02
  B. 0.010
  C. 0.75
  D. 0.95
  A. 1.02

  ---

  This project is not performing well on schedule, but moderately well on costs. The project's TCPI based on the current BAC is 1.02. 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 D is incorrect. 0.95 is the project's TCPI value based on the estimate at completion. Answer option C is incorrect. 0.75 is the project's schedule performance index. Answer option B is incorrect. 0.010 is not a valid calculation.

• Question 110:

  Fill in the blank with an appropriate phrase. The_____ allows the project team to look at the performance of the project to date, and use that data to make more accurate projections about the future.

  Schedule model

  The main function of the schedule model is to provide a useful 'road map' that can be used by the project manager and the project team to assist them in completing the project fruitfully. A well-developed schedule model is an active tool used to predict at what time the project work that remains to be completed can reasonably be completed. The schedule model allows the project team to look at the performance of the project to date, and use that data to make more accurate projections about the future.