PMI PMI-SP Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

PMI PMI-SP Online Questions & Answers

• Question 141:

  Nancy is the project manager of a project with 78 stakeholders. This is a high-profile project and she needs to express to her project team and to the management the importance of communication in this project. She 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. 78
  B. 156
  C. 3,003
  D. 6,084
  C. 3,003

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  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 (78 x 77)/2 for 3,003 communication channels. Answer options A, B, and D are incorrect. These numbers do not reflect the accurate number of communication channels in the project.

• Question 142:

  Beth is the project manager for her organization. Her current project has many deliverables that have been defined at a high level, but the details of the deliverables are still unknown. In her project, Beth is planning in detail only the activities that are most imminent in the project work. This approach to project management planning is known as what?

  A. Imminent activity management
  B. Rolling wave planning
  C. Predecessor-only diagramming
  D. Decomposition
  B. Rolling wave planning

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  Rolling wave planning is a technique to plan and do the most imminent project work before moving onto the details that are far off in the project schedule and project plan. Rolling wave planning is a technique for performing progressive

  elaboration planning where the work to be accomplished in the near future is planned in detail at a low level of the work breakdown structure. The work to be performed within another one or two reporting periods in the near future is planned

  in detail as work is being completed during the current period.

  Answer option D is incorrect. Decomposition is the process of breaking down work packages into the activity list.

  Answer options A and C are incorrect. These are not valid project management terms.

• Question 143:

  You have been hired as a project manager for Tech Perfect Inc. You are studying the documentation of planning of a project. The documentation states that there are twenty-five stakeholders with the project. What will be the number of communication channels for the project?

  A. 300
  B. 50
  C. 600
  D. 25
  A. 300

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  According to the question, the project has twenty-five stakeholders. 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 value of the number of stake holder in the formula will provide the number of communication channels: Number of communication channel = (n (n-1)) / 2 = (25 (25-1)) / 2 = (25 x 24) / 2 = 600 / 2 = 300 Who are project stakeholders? Project stakeholders are those entities within or without an organization, which: Sponsor a project or, Have an interest or a gain upon a successful completion of a project. Examples of project stakeholders include the customer, the user group, the project manager, the development team, the testers, etc. Stakeholders are anyone who has an interest in the project. Project stakeholders are individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be affected as a result of project execution or project completion. They may also exert influence over the project's objectives and outcomes. The project management team must identify the stakeholders, determine their requirements and expectations, and, to the extent possible, manage their influence in relation to the requirements to ensure a successful project.

• Question 144:

  Ned is the project manager of the HYQ Project. In Ned's project, the management has requested that he enforce resource leveling so that the maximum amount of hours in the project per worker will not exceed 25 hours per week. Ned's pay is based on how quickly he can complete the project work. What must Ned do to accommodate the change in the resource allotment if he has to finish the project on time?

  A. Crash the project.
  B. Add more risk mitigation.
  C. Reduce the amount of labor.
  D. Reduce the project scope.
  A. Crash the project.

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  The change in the amount of labor Ned is allowed to use will cause his project schedule to increase thereby affecting the project end date. Crashing the project will allow Ned to add more resources while still keeping each resource to a maximum of 25 hours per week. Answer option D is incorrect. Ned likely does not have control over descoping decisions. Answer option C is incorrect. Reducing the project labor is what resource leveling does. Answer option B is incorrect. Adding risk mitigation won't necessarily help Ned finish the project faster.

• Question 145:

  You work as a Project Manager for Tech Perfect Inc. Several projects are running under your supervision. Martha, a team leader of a project, informs you about the performance indexes of her project. The schedule performance index (SPI) of her project is 0.835. What does this figure indicate?

  A. The schedule performance is right on target.
  B. The schedule performance is better than expected.
  C. The cost performance is better than expected.
  D. The schedule performance is below expectation.
  D. The schedule performance is below expectation.

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  According to the question, the SPI of Martha's project is 0.835. This figure is less than 1. Hence, it shows that the schedule performance is below expectation. What is SPI? Schedule performance index (SPI) is the measure of schedule efficiency on a project. It is used in trend analysis to predict future performance. SPI is the ratio of earned value to planned value. The SPI is calculated based on the following formula: SPI = Earned Value (EV) / Planned Value (PV) If the SPI value is greater than 1, it indicates better than expected performance, whereas if the value is less than 1, it shows poor performance. The SPI value of 1 indicates that the project is right on target. Answer options B and A are incorrect. An SPI value of 1 or above indicates that the schedule performance is either right on target or better than expected. Answer option C is incorrect. SPI has nothing to do with cost performance.

• Question 146:

  You work as the project manager for BlueWell Inc. You are reviewing and regulating the progress to meet the performance objectives defined in the project management plan. Mark, a trainee, has a doubt related to the inputs of monitor and control project work. Which of the following is the input to monitor and control project work?

  A. Project document updates
  B. Expert judgment
  C. Performance report
  D. Project management plan updates
  C. Performance report

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  Performance report is an input of monitor and control project work. Reports are prepared by the project team detailing activities, milestones, and problems. A performance report is made by the project team detailing activities, milestones,

  problems, accomplishments, and identified issues. Performance reports are used to report some key information as follows: Current status Scheduled activities Significant accomplishment for the period Forecasts Issues

  Answer option B is incorrect. It is the tool and technique used for monitoring and controlling project work. Answer options A and D are incorrect. These are the outputs to monitor and control project work.

• Question 147:

  Which of the following allows activities to be done in parallel that would normally be done in sequence?

  A. Lag time
  B. Lead time
  C. Fast tracking
  D. Crashing
  C. Fast tracking

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  Fast tracking is a technique for compressing project schedule. In fast tracking, phases are overlapped that would normally be done in sequence. It is shortening the project schedule without reducing the project scope. Answer option D is incorrect. Crashing is a process in that the project manager adds more resources to effort-driven activities in an attempt to shorten their duration. Answer option A is incorrect. A lag time is a delay between the predecessor and the successor tasks. Sometimes it may be needed to schedule a delay between the predecessor and the successor tasks. For example, if two coats of paint are required to paint a car, then the final coat should be applied only when the first coat dries. This delay is known as the lag time. The lag time is entered as a positive value. The lag time can be entered as a duration or as a percentage of the predecessor's task duration. It is entered on the Predecessor tab in the Task Information dialog box. Answer option B is incorrect. A lead time is the time that overlaps between the predecessor and the successor tasks. The successor task can start before the predecessor task finishes. For example, if a task can start when its predecessor is one-fourth finished, a finish-to-start dependency with a lead time of 25 percent for the successor task can be specified. The lead time is entered as a negative value. The lead time can be entered as a duration or as a percentage of the predecessor's task duration. It is entered on the Predecessor tab in the Task Information dialog box.

• Question 148:

  Gary is the project manager of the NHF project, which is a part of a program in his organization. According to the PMBOK, how will Gary provide feedback to programs and portfolios?

  A. Status meetings
  B. Push communications
  C. Regular communications
  D. Status reports and change requests
  D. Status reports and change requests

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  According to the PMBOK, the project manager provides the feedback to programs and portfolios by means of status reports and change requests that may impact other projects, programs, or portfolios. The needs of the projects, including the resource needs, are rolled up and communicated back to the portfolio level, which in turn sets the direction for organizational planning. What is a status report? A status report is a narrative description about a subject that is relevant to an organization. Typically, a user submits a status report that was created for him by a manager. He can also create and submit his own unrequested status report at any time. It is a collaborative feature specific to PW A. Status report in PWA is a convenient way to exchange textual information with the team members about the status of a project or items in addition to task progress, which a user updates on the Tasks page. What are change requests? Change requests are requests to expand or reduce the project scope, modify policies, processes, plans, or procedures, modify costs or budgets or revise schedules. These requests for a change can be direct or indirect, externally or internally initiated, and legally or contractually imposed or optional. A Project Manager needs to ensure that only formally documented requested changes are processed and only approved change requests are implemented. Answer option C is incorrect. While regular communication is needed, this is not the best answer for the question. Answer option A is incorrect. Status meetings are a part of project communications, but do not answer the question as completely as status reports and change requests. Answer option B is incorrect. Push communications is one type of communicating mode where the project manager pushes the information to recipients. This is not the best choice for the question because there are other modes communicating as well.

• Question 149:

  You are the project manager of the NHQ Project. You are coaching Alice, a new project manager, on the relationships in a project network diagram. Which relationship type between activities are the most common?

  A. SS
  B. FS
  C. FF
  D. SF
  B. FS

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  The finish-to-start relationship type is the most common in a project network diagram. It means that the predecessor activity must finish before its successor activity can start. For example, the carpet must be installed before the painting activity can begin. What is precedence diagramming method (PDM) in sequence activities? Precedence diagramming method (PDM) is used in critical path methodology for building a project schedule network diagram that uses boxes or rectangles, referred to as nodes, to represent activities, and join each other with arrows that show the logical relationship that exists between them. This technique is also known as Activity-On-Node (AON).It includes four types of dependencies or logical relationships: Finish-to-start(FS): The initiation of the successor activity depends upon the completion of the predecessor activity. Finish-to-finish(FF): The completion of the successor activity depends upon the completion of the predecessor activity. Start-to-start(SS): The initiation of the successor activity depends upon the initiation of the predecessor activity. Start-to- finish(SF): The completion of the successor activity depends upon the initiation of the predecessor activity.

• Question 150:

  You are the project manager for the GRT Project in your organization. You have created your time duration estimates based on historical information, but the estimates are not holding true in your current project. Unfortunately, many activities are late. You have decided to create a PERT estimate with your project team for each of their activities. What is the formula used for PERT?

  A. O+M+P
  B. (O+M+P)/3
  C. (O+4M+P)/6
  D. Average of the estimates
  C. (O+4M+P)/6

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  PERT uses the formula of (O+4M+P)/6 to predict the duration of the project activities and the overall project schedule. Three-point estimate is a way to enhance the accuracy of activity duration estimates. This concept is originated with the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). PERT charts the following three estimates: Most likely (TM): The duration of activity based on realistic factors such as resources assigned, interruptions, etc. Optimistic (TO): The activity duration based on the best-case scenario Pessimistic (TP): The activity duration based on the worst-case scenario The expected (TE) activity duration is a weighted average of these three estimates: TE = (TO + 4TM + TP) / 6 Duration estimates based on the above equations (sometimes simple average of the three estimates is also used) provide more accuracy.

  Answer option A is incorrect. This is not a valid formula. Answer option D is incorrect. This almost describes the three-point estimate, but does not answer the question about PERT. Answer option B is incorrect. This is the formula for the three-point estimate. Note the PERT, while similar, uses 4M and divides the result by six factors.