PMI PMI-SP Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

PMI PMI-SP Online Questions & Answers

• Question 261:

  You are the project manager for the GHB Organization. Management has asked that you review your recent SPI to determine why there was a schedule variance. They'd also like you to explain what approach you'll do to counteract the SPI going forward in the project. You complete the variance analysis and report to management that you'll be fast tracking a portion of your project work. What will be the management's concern with, when it comes to fast tracking the project?

  A. Added costs for the additional project labor
  B. Added risk
  C. Continued variances in the SPI
  D. Slippage in the project quality
  B. Added risk

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  When the project manager elects to use fast tracking the project manager is allowing phases of the project to overlap. When phases overlap there is added risk to the project. 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 C is incorrect. Management's greatest concern is about the added risks of fast tracking and not about the SPI. Answer option A is incorrect. Costs are added when the project manager elects to crash a project. Answer option D is incorrect. Quality may suffer, but the most prominent concern is the added risks to the project work.

• Question 262:

  You work as a project manager for BlueWell Inc. You are calculating the performance indexes of your project. The cost variance (CV) of your project is 30. What does this figure depict?

  A. Project is behind the schedule.
  B. Costs are higher than planned.
  C. Costs are right on target.
  D. Costs are lower than planned.
  D. Costs are lower than planned.

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  According to the question, the cost variance of the project is 30, which is a positive figure. A positive value means that cost is less than planned. What is CV? Cost variance (CV) is a measure of cost performance on a project. The variance

  notifies if costs are higher than budgeted or lower than budgeted. The cost variance is calculated based on the following formula: CV = Earned Value (EV) - Actual Cost (AC) A positive value means that spending is less than budgeted,

  whereas a negative value indicates that costs are higher than originally planned for the project. Answer option C is incorrect. If the CV is zero, it shows that cost is right on target. Answer option A is incorrect. This result is depicted by viewing

  the schedule variance (SV), not the CV.

  Answer option B is incorrect. If the CV is a negative value, it depicts that the costs are higher than planned.

• Question 263:

  You are working with your project team to control the project schedule. You will need five inputs to this process throughout your project. Which one of the following is an output of the project schedule control, and NOT an input?

  A. Work performance information
  B. Project schedule
  C. Project management plan
  D. Work performance measurements
  D. Work performance measurements

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  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 A is incorrect. Work performance information is an input to the control schedule process and includes information on project progress and activity start and finish information. Answer option C is incorrect. The project management plan is an input to the control schedule process. Answer option B is incorrect. The project schedule is an input to the control schedule process.

• Question 264:

  Donna's project has a budget at completion of $1,987,560 and she is currently 40 percent complete. Her project schedule called for her to be 45 percent complete but there have been some complications in the project. These complications have caused Donna to spend $125,000 more than what the work she has completed is worth. Based on this information what is the cost performance index (CPI) for Donna's project?

  A. 86
  B. $920,024
  C. .90
  D. .86
  D. .86

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  Cost performance index (CPI) is used to calculate performance efficiencies. It is used in trend analysis to predict future performance. CPI is the ratio of earned value to actual cost. The CPI is calculated based on the following formula: CPI =

  Earned Value (EV) / Actual Cost (AC) If the CPI value is greater than 1, it indicates better than expected performance, whereas if the value is less than 1, it shows poor performance. The CPI value of 1 indicates that the project is right on

  target. In this instance, the actual costs are $125,000 more than what the work is worth, which means you'll need to find the earned value, $795,024 and add $125,000 to find the actual costs of the project, which are $920,024. Answer option

  A is incorrect. This is a trick as 86 is not the same value as .86. On your PMP exam pay attention to these little details.

  Answer option C is incorrect. .90 is slightly more than the Schedule Performance Index of this project. Answer option B is incorrect. This value represents the actual cost of the project.

• Question 265:

  You are the project manager for your organization. You are working with your virtual team to create activity duration estimates for your current project. This virtual team is comprised of team members from around the world. Much of this process will be completed by geographical locations though some conferences will require all the team members to participate and to coordinate the activities that will interact between the different sites. The project manager must consider all of the following when creating the activity duration estimates except for which one?

  A. Project calendar
  B. Critical path
  C. Resource calendar
  D. Time zone differences
  B. Critical path

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  When it comes to creating the project's activity duration estimating, the critical path is not yet a concern. The critical path will be determined by the duration of the project activities and the sequencing of the project events. 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 non-critical 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 C is incorrect. The resource calendar must be considered for the availability of the project resource.

  Answer option A is incorrect. The project calendar must be considered to determine when the project work is allowed to take place in the different sites.

  Answer option D is incorrect. Time zone differences must be considered for communication demands and coordination of events between the geographical sites.

• Question 266:

  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 and they'd like to know what your schedule variance is. Considering that the project has a BAC of $567,899, you are thirty percent complete, and you have spent $179,450. What is the schedule variance for this project?

  A. -$45,789
  B. -$56,790
  C. There is not enough information to know.
  D. -$30,268
  B. -$56,790

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  The schedule variance can be found by subtracting the planned value from the earned value. In this instance, it is $170,370 minus $227,160. SV = 170,370 - 227,160 = -56,790 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 option A is incorrect. $45,789 is not a valid calculation. Answer option D is incorrect. -$30,268 is the expected variance at completion. Answer option C is incorrect. There is enough information to know.

• Question 267:

  Frank is the project manager in BlueWell Inc. He is working with his project to subdivide the project work packages into smaller, more manageable components. He and the project team are planning in detail all of the things the team will need to create, purchase, or do in order to satisfy the project scope. Management is concerned with the activity which Frank is using in this scenario, as they believe that Frank is taking too long to complete this pre-execution activity. Which of the following techniques of the activity process is Frank using in this example?

  A. Rolling wave planning
  B. Expert judgment
  C. Creating a project template
  D. Decomposition
  D. Decomposition

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  This is an example of decomposition. Frank and the project team are subdividing the work packages into smaller, more manageable units called activities. 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 268:

  You are the project manager of the OOI Project and you're forty percent complete with this project. The project has a BAC of $2,345,650 and you have spent $950,000 to date. Based on your aggressive scheduling you should at the 45

  percent milestone today, but due to some early delays you're running late.

  What is the schedule variance of your project?

  A. -$29,350
  B. -$117,282
  C. -$938,260
  D. -$11,740
  B. -$117,282

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  The schedule variance is the earned value minus the planned value. In this instance, it is $938,260- $1,055,543 = -$117,282. 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 option D is incorrect. This is the cost variance for the project. Answer option A is incorrect. This is the variance at completion. Answer option C is incorrect. This is the inverse of the earned value.

• Question 269:

  Which one of the following estimate types is a form of expert judgment?

  A. Parametric estimate
  B. Analogous estimate
  C. Bottom-up estimate
  D. Definitive estimate
  B. Analogous estimate

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  An analogous estimate is a form of expert judgment because it relies on historical information. The historical information, assuming that it is accurate, serves as the conduit to the expert that created the historical information.

  Answer option C is incorrect. A bottom-up estimate creates an activity duration estimate for each work package in the WBS.

  Answer option A is incorrect. Parametric estimating uses a parameter, such as 10 hours per fixture installation, as a base to predict the duration of the project. Answer option D is incorrect. A definitive estimate, also known as a bottom-up

  estimate, accounts for the cost of each work package.

• Question 270:

  Frank is the project manager of a construction project. In this project, Frank has elected to allow the interior design phase of the project to overlap with the pool construction phase of the project. Normally, Frank would not allow these two phases to overlap, but for this project, he has elected to do so in order to compress the project schedule. What is this schedule compression technique called?

  A. Resource leveling heuristic
  B. Lead time
  C. Fast tracking
  D. Crashing
  C. Fast tracking

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  This is an example of fast tracking. Fast tracking allows phases to overlap in order to compress the project schedule.

  Answer option D is incorrect. Crashing adds labor to the project in order to complete effort-driven activities in less time.

  Answer option B is incorrect. The lead time allows individual activities to overlap, not entire phases. Answer option A is incorrect. Resource leveling heuristics are rules that limit the amount of time a labor resource may contribute to the project

  in a given time period.