PMI PMI-SP Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

PMI PMI-SP Online Questions & Answers

• Question 151:

  You work as a project manager for BlueWell Inc. Your project is falling behind though the project team reports that the actual durations of their work is what they estimated. You investigate the cause and determine that the project team is not starting their assignments early enough to finish their work on time. While the duration of the assignments may be in synchronization with the duration estimates, the completion time is causing the project schedule to slip from the baseline. What can you do to rectify this problem?

  A. Increase the duration estimates for each activity.
  B. Discipline the project team.
  C. Add management reserve.
  D. Corrective actions.
  D. Corrective actions.

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  Corrective actions should be taken to move the results of the project work back into alignment with the project scope. The project team must start their activities on time and finish on time. 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 schedulesImprovements to material handling or storage Answer option C is incorrect. Management reserve is time and funds allotted for unforeseen issues and risks within the project.

  Answer option A is incorrect. Padding each estimate may cause the project to succumb to Parkinson's Law: work expands to fill the amount of time allotted to it. In addition, the project team may still delay the start time of their project

  assignments.

  Answer option B is incorrect. Disciplining the project team may be a good option if the problem continues.

  The best option is to first apply corrective actions.

• Question 152:

  You work as a project manager for BlueWell Inc. Which of the following plans will you use to define how resources are brought onto the project team, how they are managed while on the project team, and how they may be released from the project team?

  A. Project Schedule Management Plan
  B. Project Staffing Management Plan
  C. Project Human Resources Management Plan
  D. Project Communications Management Plan
  B. Project Staffing Management Plan

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  The project staffing management plan will define how resources are brought onto the project team, how they are managed while on the project team, and how they may be released from the project team. The staffing management plan is part of human resources plan. It is a subsidiary plan of the overall project management plan and defines when project team members will be brought onto and released from the project. It describes when and how human resource requirements will be met. Depending upon the needs of the project, it can be formal or informal, highly detailed or broadly framed. The staffing management plan may include the following items: Staff acquisition, resource calendars, staff release plan, training needs, recognition and rewards, compliance, and safety. Answer option D is incorrect. The communications management plan defines project communication requirements and expectations. Answer option C is incorrect. This is not a valid project management plan. Answer option A is incorrect. The project schedule management will define when resources are needed and scheduled. But it will not define how resources are allowed to be released from the project.

• Question 153:

  Holly is the project manager for her organization. Her current project is running late and her project customer has asked Holly to find a method to apply corrective actions to the project schedule. Holly is exploring the concept of crashing the project. Which of the following statements is true about crashing the activities in Holly's project?

  A. The activities to be crashed must have additional quality control metrics associated with them.
  B. The activities to be crashed cannot be of fixed duration.
  C. The activities to be crashed cannot have risks associated with them greater than 0.80.
  D. The activities cannot be on the critical path in order to be crashed.
  B. The activities to be crashed cannot be of fixed duration.

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  Crashing adds effort to the project activities. Activities that are of fixed duration, for example software testing, would not finish faster with added resources. Crashing is a schedule compression technique to obtain the greatest amount of compression for the least incremental cost. Crashing works for activities where additional resources will shorten the duration. Approving overtime, bringing in additional resources, paying to expedite delivery to activities on the critical path are examples of crashing. Answer option D is incorrect. Activities on the critical path can be crashed. Answer option C is incorrect. Activities with risks can be crashed. Answer option A is incorrect. Additional quality control metrics are not necessary just because Holly elects to crash her project.

• Question 154:

  You are the project manager of the NHQ project. You are working with your project team to create the project schedule and the project network diagram. In order to start the sequencing of the project activities, you will need a document to identify the result of project phases, key project deliverables, and significant, timeless events in the project. Which of the following documents will you need to help sequence the project work?

  A. Activity attributes
  B. Activity list
  C. Project scope statement
  D. Milestone list
  D. Milestone list

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  The milestone list is needed as an input to the sequence activities process. Milestones are timeless events in the project schedule that are generally created as a result of phase completion. What is a milestone list? A milestone list provides a

  sequence of indicators about project progress to date and achievements or goals, which are to be achieved. The milestone list is used in project management as an indication of progress through the achievement of a major project

  accomplishment. It is a project document that is not part of the project management plan. The list contains all the project milestones along with information indicating whether they are mandatory to achieve or not. Answer option B is incorrect.

  While the activity list is an input to activity sequencing, it is not a document that shows timeless events or the results of activity phases. Answer option A is incorrect. Activity attributes describe the work, nature of the activity, and required

  resources for the activity.

  Answer option C is incorrect. The project scope statement is an input to the activity sequence, but it does not define the end result of activity phases.

• Question 155:

  You work as a project manager for BlueWell Inc. You have to identify the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables. For this, you have to explain the three inputs for the define activities process to your project team. Which of the following is NOT a valid input?

  A. Work Breakdown Structure
  B. Enterprise Environmental Factors
  C. Scope baseline
  D. Organizational Process Assets
  A. Work Breakdown Structure

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  Of all the choices, the WBS is the best choice. The entire scope baseline is needed as an input, not just the WBS. The inputs to the Define Activities process are as follows: Scope Baseline: The project constraints, assumptions documented, and deliverables in the project scope baseline are considered while defining activities. Enterprise Environmental Factors: One of the factors that affect the Define Activities process is the project management information system (PMIS). Organizational Process Assets: The assets that can affect the Define Activities process are as follows: 1.The existing proper and unofficial scheduling strategies, procedures, and related policies that are measured in developing the activity definitions 2.The lessons-learned knowledge base containing the past information about activity lists used by similar earlier projects

• Question 156:

  You are the project manager for GGY Project. You are working with your project team to record the actual durations for the activities they have completed in the project schedule. Mary, one of your project team members, wants to know why you need to know how long it actually took the project team to complete their assignments as long as the project work is completed. Which of the following is the best response for Mary's query?

  A. Actual durations need to be recorded to track process improvement.
  B. Actual durations need to be recorded to create the schedule baseline.
  C. Actual durations need to be recorded to measure the actual progress of the project.
  D. Actual durations need to be recorded to perform quality control on the project management processes.
  C. Actual durations need to be recorded to measure the actual progress of the project.

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  The best answer is to track actual durations to measure the actual progress of the project. Actual duration is the time, in the calendar units, between the actual start date of the schedule activity and either the data date of the project schedule

  if the schedule activity is in development or the actual finish date if the schedule activity is complete.

  Answer option B is incorrect. The schedule baseline is not created based on actual durations. Answer option A is incorrect. Process improvement is part of the quality management knowledge area, but it is not a reason to track actual

  durations.

  Answer option D is incorrect. Quality control is the inspection of the project deliverables. It is not concerned with the actual durations of project work. The improvement of the project processes is defined in the Process Improvement Plan.

• Question 157:

  Amy works as a project manager for BlueWell Inc. She is working on the SDI project, which has a BAC of $2,816,000. She is currently 20 percent complete with this project, though she should be 25 percent complete with the project work. The project has consumed $495,000 of the project budget to date. Management has asked her the project's Estimate To Complete (ETC) based on the current project performance. What is the ETC for this project?

  A. $1,312,504
  B. $1,979,952
  C. $1,541,544
  D. $2,474,952
  B. $1,979,952

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  The estimate to complete is about knowing how much more money the project will need to complete its objectives. The estimate to complete (ETC) is the expected cost needed to complete all the remaining work for a scheduled activity, a group of activities, or the project. ETC helps project managers predict what the final cost of the project will be upon completion. The formula for the ETC is EAC- AC. The EAC is BAC/ CPI. Here it is, CPI = EV/AC = (0.20*2,816,000)/495,000 = 563200/495,000 = 1.1378 EAC = BAC/ CPI = 2,816,000/1.1378 = 2,474,952 (Approx) ETC = EAC - AC = 2,474,952 - 495,000 = 1,979,952 Answer options C and A are incorrect. These are not the valid answers for this question. Answer option D is incorrect. This is the estimate at completion based on the current project performance.

• Question 158:

  Robert is the project manager for his organization. Management has asked Robert to provide them with the metric he uses to measure deliverables status, costs incurred, and especially how he measures the schedule progress for schedule adherence. What project component could Robert provide for management?

  A. Milestone list
  B. Cost management and the project schedule
  C. Work performance measurements
  D. Project management plan
  C. Work performance measurements

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  Work performance measurements are metrics that are defined to collect performance and progress of the project. Typical metrics are deliverables, schedule, and costs, though additional metrics, such as quality, can be added. Work performance measurements are created from the work performance information. WPMs are an output of Control schedule, Control cost, and Control scope processes, which are monitoring and controlling processes. WPMs consist of planned versus actual performance indicators with respect to scope, schedule, and cost. They are documented and communicated to the stakeholders and are used to make project activity metrics, such as the following: Planned vs. Actual Technical performance and Scope performance Planned vs. Actual Schedule performance Planned vs. Actual Cost performance Answer option D is incorrect. The project management plan is too broad and is not the best choice. Answer option B is incorrect. The cost management plan and the project schedule would not provide all the information that management has requested. Answer option A is incorrect. The milestone list does not include performance metrics.

• Question 159:

  A company hires a scheduler for one of its projects. What skills should he possess to efficiently work with the project team? Each correct answer represents a complete solution. Choose three.

  A. Performance control
  B. Execution scheduling
  C. Leadership
  D. Feasibility planning
  A. Performance control
  B. Execution scheduling
  D. Feasibility planning

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  A scheduler schedules the constraints for the project into phases with respect to the time and resources available. He can be hired from outside a company, or from within a company. The basic roles of a scheduler are as follows: Feasibility

  Planning: A scheduler is the time management expert who paints a picture of the project. He develops a strategy for delivery and to gain consensus. Execution Schedule:

  A scheduler works with the project team to optimize and refine the schedule until an agreed schedule has been developed. Performance Control: A schedule is maintained by the scheduler who optimizes outcomes and instructs the project

  team on their presentation. It is important that the scheduler be aware of the changes and trends related to the project delivery. Answer option C is incorrect. This is the skill possessed by the project manager.

• Question 160:

  Which of the following processes fall under the Project Integration Management knowledge area? Each correct answer represents a complete solution. Choose all that apply.

  A. Quality Assurance
  B. Project Plan Development
  C. Integrated Change Control
  D. Project Plan Execution
  B. Project Plan Development
  C. Integrated Change Control
  D. Project Plan Execution

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  Project Integration Management is one of the nine Project Management Knowledge areas. It comprises the following processes:

  Develop Project Charter

  Develop Preliminary Project Scope Statement

  Develop Project Management Plan

  Direct and Manage Project Execution

  Monitor and Control Project Work

  Integrated Change Control

  Close Project

  These processes occur throughout the project and are repeated quite often during the working of the project. They ensure that the various elements of the project are properly coordinated. What are the Project Management Knowledge Areas? The Project Management Knowledge Areas are groupings that bring together processes that have things in common. For example, Resource Planning, Cost Estimating, Cost Budgeting, etc., are part of the Project Cost Management knowledge group. These processes may or may not be part of different or same process groups. Guide to the PMBOK identifies forty- two processes that are arranged in nine knowledge areas. The knowledge areas are as follows:

  Project Integration Management

  Project Scope Management

  Project Time Management

  Project Cost Management

  Project Quality Management

  Project Human Resource Management

  Project Communications Management

  Project Risk Management

  Project Procurement Management

  Answer option A is incorrect. Quality Assurance is a part of the Project Quality Management knowledge area.