PMI PMI-SP Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

PMI PMI-SP Online Questions & Answers

• Question 191:

  You are the project manager of the GHQ Project. You are working with your project team to create the project network diagram. You have created the PND and are identifying the critical path with your team using your project management information system. All of the activities on the critical path are showing in red in the software that you are using to evaluate the critical path. What are schedule activities on the critical path called?

  A. Critical activities
  B. Action items
  C. High alert activities
  D. Red rated activities
  A. Critical activities

  ---

  Schedule activities on the critical path are called critical activities. Critical activity is a specific schedule activity on the critical path that takes place within a project schedule. Critical activities are mainly determined during the execution and deployment of the critical path method. In project management terms, critical activity refers to being on the major critical path, the most important path of life of an activity. Critical activity can also be defined as the work elements that must be carefully monitored, documented, and managed to make the success of an organization, program, or project. An activity that has a total float equal to zero is believed to be a 'critical activity', which means if an interruption in the finish time of an activity occurs, then the entire project will be delayed by the same amount of time. A critical activity generally has free float equal to zero. Answer options D, C, and B are incorrect. These are not valid answers for this question.

• Question 192:

  You're a project manager and you've completed your project schedule. The schedule will take 18 months to complete the project work. Throughout the schedule there are instances that the project work will require the project team members to work more than fifty hours per week. If you must adhere to a maximum of 45 hours of project work per team member, per week, what will likely happen to your project schedule as it stands right now?

  A. Nothing, the 45 hours limit is a guideline.
  B. The project will take longer to complete.
  C. The project will take less time to complete.
  D. The project will require more resources.
  B. The project will take longer to complete.

  ---

  If a resource leveling heuristic, such as 45 hours maximum per time period, is enforced on the project, then the project schedule will take longer to complete. What is resource leveling heuristics? Resource leveling heuristics is a prioritization method that allocates inadequate resources to critical path activities first. It is a schedule network analysis technique useful to a schedule that has already been analyzed by the critical path method. It is used when shared or critical essential resources are only available at certain times, in limited quantities, or to keep resource usage at a constant level. It is a technique that resolves resource conflicts by delaying tasks within their slack allowances. Resource leveling is the process in which project teams come across problems when developing their project schedules. If a company has multiple projects running simultaneously that require the same resources, then problems can arise. It can often cause the critical path method to change. Answer option A is incorrect. The 45-hour limit is a restriction on the project. Answer option C is incorrect. The project will not take less time to complete because the project team members won't be able to complete as much work in the same amount of time. Answer option D is incorrect. The project may require more resources if the project manager and management want the project to finish by a particular date. In this question, however, the focus is on what will happen to the project schedule, not the project staffing.

• Question 193:

  Joseph works as the project manager of the NHQ Project. He has created the project network diagram as shown in the figure:

  

  Based on the network diagram, find out which path is the critical path for this project?

  A. ABEHJ
  B. ABDIJ
  C. ABDHJ
  D. ACFIJ
  D. ACFIJ

  ---

  The critical path is the path with the longest duration to complete the project. It has no float and shows the earliest completion date and the latest completion date for the project. In this example, path ACFIJ takes 27 days and is the critical path. ACFIJ= A(4)+C(8)+F(4)+I(7)+J(4)= 27 A critical path is the sequence of project 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). A project can have several, parallel, near critical paths. An additional parallel path through the network with the total durations shorter than the critical path is called a sub-critical or noncritical path. These results allow managers to prioritize activities for the effective management of project completion, and to shorten the planned critical path of a project by pruning critical path activities, by "fast tracking" (i.e., performing more activities in parallel), and/or by "crashing the critical path" (i.e., shortening the durations of critical path activities by adding resources). Answer option A is incorrect. ABEHJ takes only 22 days to complete. ABEHJ= A(4)+B(5)+E(2)+H(7)+J(4)= 22 Answer option C is incorrect. ABDHJ takes 21 days to complete. ABDHJ= A(4)+B(5)+D(1)+H(7)+J(4)= 21 Answer option B is incorrect. ABDIJ takes 21 days to complete. ABDIJ= A(4)+B(5)+D(1)+I(7)+J(4)= 21

• Question 194:

  You are working with your project team to identify the project activities within your project. Which of the following is NOT a tool and technique that will be useful in defining the project activities?

  A. Decomposition
  B. Rolling wave plan
  C. Precedence diagramming method
  D. Templates
  C. Precedence diagramming method

  ---

  The precedence diagramming method is not a tool and technique that will be used during the activity definition process. 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. The tools and techniques used in defining the activity process are as follows: Decomposition: It is used to further divide the project work package into a more smaller and convenient form called activities. Rolling Wave Planning: It is a form of progressive elaboration planning where the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail and future work is planned at a higher level of WBS. Templates: It is an activity list or a part of the activity list taken from the previous project and used in a new project. Expert Judgement: The skilled members in a project team or other experts who develop project scope statements can help provide knowledge in defining activities.

• Question 195:

  Gina is the project manager for her organization and she is working with her project team to define the project activities. In this project, the stakeholders are sensitive to the project completion date, so Gina is stressing to her project team members that while they need to provide and account for all of the project activities, they should focus on one work package in the WBS at a time. In order to start the decomposition of the project work packages into activities, Gina will need all of the following except for which one?

  A. Scope baseline
  B. Organizational process assets
  C. WBS
  D. Enterprise environmental factors
  C. WBS

  ---

  According to the PMBOK, Gina will not need the WBS directly, but will rely on the scope baseline. A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in project management is a tool that defines a project and groups the project's discrete work elements in a way that helps organize and define the total work scope of the project. A WBS element may be a product, data, a service, or any combination. WBS also provides the necessary framework for detailed cost estimating and control along with providing guidance for schedule development and control. Answer option A is incorrect. The scope baseline is an input to define the project activities. Answer option D is incorrect. Enterprise environmental factors are an input to define the project activities. Answer option B is incorrect. Organizational process assets are an input to define the project activities.

• Question 196:

  You are the project manager for the NQQ Project for your organization. You and the project team are creating the activity list for the NQQ Project. You have instructed the project team members that they should include an activity identifier

  and a scope of work description for each activity in the activity list.

  Why is this information needed?

  A. To track the work to the project requirements
  B. To maintain profit and loss statements for the project
  C. To help the project team understand what work is required to be completed
  D. To communicate the work to be completed to the project stakeholders
  C. To help the project team understand what work is required to be completed

  ---

  The primary reason for including the activity identifier and the scope of work description for each activity is to ensure the project team understands what work is required to be completed. Answer option B is incorrect. Profit and loss statements

  are not required for all projects and they are linked to actual performance against a project baseline. Answer option D is incorrect. Communicating to the stakeholders is always a good idea, but stakeholders would not usually need to know the

  activity details. Their focus is on project benefits and deliverables.

  Answer option A is incorrect. A requirements traceability matrix is the tool to link requirements to project deliverables.

• Question 197:

  You are the project manager for the NHQ project. The management has reminded you that you must not allocate any project team member for more than 25 hours per work week on your project. This policy is because your organization is in a weak matrix and the project team members are on several projects at once within the organization. The 25-hour limit per resource is an example of which one of the following?

  A. Expert judgment
  B. Enterprise environmental factor
  C. Resource limitation
  D. Organizational process asset
  B. Enterprise environmental factor

  ---

  The limit on each work is an organizational policy for each project. Policies, rules, and organizational requirements are the enterprise environmental factors.

  Answer option D is incorrect. Organizational process assets are things that have been created for the project manager, such as software, templates, guidelines, and other resources that will assist the project manager in completing the

  project.

  Answer option C is incorrect. While this could be a resource limitation, it is not a valid project management term. Resource leveling heuristics or a project constraint would have been acceptable answers. Answer option A is incorrect. Expert

  judgment happens, when the project manager relies on someone with more knowledge on a topic to help the project manager make the best project decision.

• Question 198:

  You are the project manager for your organization. You and the project team are developing the project schedule for your current project. In addition to the enterprise environment factors and the organizational process assets, you will need seven other inputs to this process. Which one of the following is NOT an input to the Develop Schedule process?

  A. Resource calendars
  B. Schedule data
  C. Activity list
  D. Project scope statement
  B. Schedule data

  ---

  Schedule data is an output of the Develop Schedule process. The nine inputs to the Develop Schedule process are: activity list, activity attributes, project schedule network diagrams, activity resource requirements, resource calendars, activity

  duration estimates, project scope statement, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets. Answer options C, A, and D are incorrect.

  These are the inputs to the Develop Schedule process.

• Question 199:

  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
  C. 1.07

  ---

  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.

• Question 200:

  Paula works as a project manager for her organization. She is working with the project team to define the activity attributes. Which of the following is NOT a valid activity attribute?

  A. Activity Name
  B. Activity ID
  C. Risk event
  D. WBS ID
  C. Risk event

  ---

  Risk events are not associated with the activity attributes, but are recorded in the project risk register. Risk events are the distinct and particular occurrence that negatively affects a decision or a plan. 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.