PMI PMI-SP Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

PMI PMI-SP Online Questions & Answers

• Question 71:

  Andy is the project manager for his project. Andy and his project team are identifying stakeholders who can significantly impact the project, what the level of participation for each identified stakeholder may be, and classifying the stakeholders by common characteristics, concerns, and their perception of the project. Andy and his project team want to define an approach as a result of this information to gain support from the stakeholders for their project. What should Andy and his project team create in this scenario?

  A. Stakeholder assessment information
  B. Stakeholder register
  C. Communications management plan
  D. Stakeholder management strategy
  D. Stakeholder management strategy

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  Andy and his project team are creating the stakeholder management strategy. The goal is to identify a method to gain support through communications for the project. The stakeholder management strategy is an approach to raise the support and decrease negative impacts of stakeholders during the complete project life cycle. It consists of the following essential elements: Key stakeholders who can significantly impact the project Level of participation in the project desired for each identified stakeholder Stakeholder groups and their management Answer option B is incorrect. The stakeholder register contains the stakeholder's identification information, assessment information, and stakeholder classification, but not the management strategy. Answer option A is incorrect. Stakeholder assessment information is part of the stakeholder register. Answer option C is incorrect. The communications management plan defines how and when communication will happen.

• Question 72:

  A construction company is about to start a new project. It requires hiring a project manager for this project. Which of the following are the most important skills that a person must have to be selected as a project manager?

  A. Problem solving
  B. Team building and human resources
  C. Leading
  D. Communication
  E. Negotiation and influential
  D. Communication

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  A good project manager must have all of the above mentioned skills. Out of these, the communication skills are the most important skills for a project manager. Communications skills are part of general management skills and are used to exchange information. Communication has many dimensions: Written and oral, listening, and speaking Internal (within the project) and external (customer, the media, the public) Formal (reports, briefings) and informal (memos, ad hoc conversations) Vertical (up and down the organization) and horizontal (with peers) Communication is the most important skill that a project manager must posses. It is the single most important characteristics of a top-class project manager. Project managers must communicate well in order to integrate and maximize the performance of team members. Oral and written communications are the backbone of every successful project. During different phases of a project, a project manager requires to communicate through different manners (for example, documentation, meeting updates, etc.) and he must ensure that the information communicated is explicit, clear, and complete. Answer options E, C, A, and B are incorrect. All these mentioned skills make a person a good project manager. Communication skills top the list. What are organizational skills? Organizational skills are part of management skills to organize various aspects of a project in order to complete it successfully. A good project manager uses these skills to successfully organize his meetings, as well as to keep documentations, quotes, contracts, etc., which can be fetched at any given moment. Organizational skills also include planning and time management skills. What are budgeting skills? Budgeting skills include the knowledge of finance and accounting principles. A project manager must possess these skills in order to perform cost estimates for project budgeting. Reading and understanding quotes, preparing purchase orders, and reconciling purchase invoices are all part of budgeting skills. In order to make the budget of a project, the project manager must have excellent budgeting skills. What are problem solving skills? Problem solving skills include the ability to define and analyze problems, and to take decisions in order to solve the problems by implementing those decisions. Every project manager must possess strong problem solving skills. Problem solving is a two-fold process: Defining the problem Taking a decision and then implementing it A project manager is responsible for determining the best course of action to take in order to resolve the problem. What are negotiating and influencing skills? Negotiating skills includes demanding and convincing others for the rightful thing or act. A project manager needs this skill to negotiate on projects in almost every area such as scope definitions, budgets, contracts, resource assignments, schedules, etc. Influencing skills include the convincing power of a person. It is an ability to change minds and the course of events. A good project manager requires these skills to utilize them in all areas of project management.

• Question 73:

  You work as the project manager for BlueWell Inc. You are recording the activity status for your project team's performance in the project. Based on the current performance your project is likely to be three months late. What type of communication should be generated based on this performance issue?

  A. Issue report
  B. Exceptions report
  C. Variance analysis
  D. Performance report
  D. Performance report

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  A performance report is needed to communicate the variance between planned work and actual work. 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 A is incorrect. An issue report is not the best answer for this scenario. Issues are recorded in the issue log and an issue owner is assigned. Answer option B is incorrect. An exceptions report is a tempting answer as this is an exception to the project. PMI does not use this terminology. Answer option C is incorrect. Variance analysis is the activity of reviewing the variance to determine why it exists.

• Question 74:

  In which of the following process groups does Integration Change Control Process fall?

  A. Execution
  B. Initiating
  C. Planning
  D. Monitoring and Controlling
  D. Monitoring and Controlling

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  The Integration Change Control process is a part of Project Integration Management knowledge area group. It falls under the Monitoring and Controlling process group. Monitoring and controlling is a process group or stage that starts when the project is in the executing stage. This process overlaps the executing stage. Monitoring and controlling consists of those processes performed to observe project execution so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken, when necessary, to control the execution of the project. The key benefit is that project performance is observed and measured regularly to identify variances from the project management plan. Monitoring and controlling includes: Measuring the ongoing project activities (where we are). Monitoring the project variables (cost, effort, ...) against the project management plan and the project performance baseline (where we should be). Identify corrective actions to properly address issues and risks (How can we get on track again). Influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control so only approved changes are implemented. In multi-phase projects, the monitoring and controlling process also provides feedback between project phases, in order to implement corrective or preventive actions to bring the project into compliance with the project management plan. What is Project Integration Management? 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.

• Question 75:

  Adrian is the project manager for her project. This new project needs to identify all the stakeholders that will be affected by the project's outcome. How stakeholders are usually identified?

  A. Stakeholders are usually identified through a stakeholder register.
  B. Stakeholders are identified by the project team, project sponsor, and management.
  C. Stakeholders are identified through the project customers.
  D. Stakeholders are usually identified by interviewing identified stakeholders and expanding the list until all potential stakeholders are included.
  D. Stakeholders are usually identified by interviewing identified stakeholders and expanding the list until all potential stakeholders are included.

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  Stakeholders are interviewed and can help identify other stakeholders that should be included in the project communications.

  Answer option B is incorrect. According to the PMBOK, this is not the best answer. Answer option A is incorrect. Stakeholders are entered into a stakeholder register, not identified by it. Answer option C is incorrect. Project customers are

  stakeholders.

• Question 76:

  You work as a project manager for BlueWell Inc. Your project requires the project team to paint 1,500 hotel rooms. Your project team reports that it will take them approximately 4 hours to paint each hotel room. You reason, then, that it will take 6,000 hours to paint all of the hotel rooms. What type of an estimate are you creating in this scenario?

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

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  This is an example of a parametric estimate. This estimate type uses a parameter, such as four hours of painting per hotel room, and multiplies this value across the total number of units, such as 1,500 rooms. A parametric estimate is an

  estimate that uses a parameter to predict the costs of the project, such as cost per network drop or cost per software license. Parametric estimating technique utilizes the statistical relationship that exists between a series of historical data and

  a particular delineated list of other variables. Answer option C is incorrect. An analogous estimate type uses a similar project's duration as a basis for the current project's estimate duration.

  Answer option B is incorrect. A definitive estimate type accounts for the duration or costs of each work package in the WBS.

  Answer option D is incorrect. A bottom-up estimate, also known as a definitive estimate, accounts for the duration or costs of each work package in the WBS.

• Question 77:

  You work as a Project Manager for Dreams Unlimited Inc. You are looking for performance efficiencies of a project. The related key values are provided in the table below: MeasurementsValues BCWP (or EV)325 BCWS (or PV) 300 ACWP (or AC)410 What is the schedule variance (SV) of the project at the current point of time?

  A. +110
  B. -25
  C. -110
  D. +25
  D. +25

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  According to the question, you are required to find out the schedule variance (SV) of the project. 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. Now, putting the provided values on the formula: SV = EV - PV = 325 - 300 = 25 As the value of SV (which is 25) is a positive number, it means that the project is ahead of the planned schedule. What is BCWP (or EV)? Budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP) or Earned Value (EV) is the value of completed work. It is the budgeted amount for the work actually completed on the schedule activity during a given time period. What is BCWS (or PV)? Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) or Planned Value (PV) is the authorized budget assigned to the scheduled work to be accomplished for a schedule activity or Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) component. What is ACWP (or AC)? Actual cost of work performed (ACWP) or Actual Cost (AC) is the total costs actually incurred and recorded in accomplishing work performed during a given time period for a schedule activity. It is the cost of the work to date, including direct and indirect costs. AC is money that has actually been expended to date.

• Question 78:

  You work as a project manager for BlueWell Inc. You are in the process of identifying all the people and organization impacted by the project. Mark, a project team member, has some doubts about the inputs of the Identify Stakeholder process. What is referred to as an input to the identify stakeholder process in project communication management?

  A. Expert judgment
  B. Project charter
  C. Stakeholder analysis
  D. Stakeholder register
  B. Project charter

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  The project charter is an input to the identify stakeholder process. It provides information about the internal and external parties concerned and is affected by the project. The project charter is the document that formally authorizes a project. The project charter provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. According to PMBOK Guide, the project charter should address the following information: Requirements that satisfy customer, sponsor, and other stakeholder needs, wants and expectations Business needs, high-level project description, or product requirements that the project is undertaken to address Project purpose or justification Assigned Project Manager and authority level Summary milestone schedule Stakeholder influences Functional organizations and their participation Organizational, environmental and external assumptions Organizational, environmental and external constraints Business case justifying the project, including return on investment Summary budget If required, it also authorizes the next project phase, and updates the charter. The project manager should always be assigned prior to the start of planning, and preferably while the project charter is being developed. Answer option A is incorrect. 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 C is incorrect. Stakeholder analysis is the identification of stakeholder needs, wants and expectations. It involves the documentation, prioritization, and quantification of the needs to help define the project scope. Stakeholders' interests may be positively or negatively affected by execution or completion of the project and they may also exert influence over the project and its deliverables. Answer option D is incorrect. The stakeholder register is a project management document that contains a list of the stakeholders associated with the project. It assesses how they are involved in the project and identifies what role they play in the organization. The information in this document can be very perceptive and is

  meant for limited exchange only. It also contains relevant information about the stakeholders, such as their requirements, expectations, and influence on the project.

• Question 79:

  Mary is the project manager of the H1QZ Project. This project is a subproject of the HQZ Project and the project schedule is fixed and cannot vary. Stephen, a project team member, reports that he's having trouble completing his project assignment and will likely be at least two days late. Examine the figure given below:

  

  If Stephen's assignment is Activity B, what impact will his two days of lateness have on the project end date?

  A. The project will complete on time.
  B. The project will be late by one day.
  C. The project will be late by two days.
  D. The project will be early by two days.
  B. The project will be late by one day.

• Question 80:

  Anna is the project manager of the NHQ project. Her project has 1,500 stakeholders, some of which are external to her organization. In this project, Anna wants to create a method to classify the stakeholders based on their level of authority

  and their level of concern regarding the project outcomes. This model will help Anna determine the communication demands and when information should be distributed.

  What does Anna want to create in this instance?

  A. Power/interest grid
  B. Salience model
  C. Power/influence grid
  D. Communications matrix
  A. Power/interest grid

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  Anna needs to create a power/interest grid. This grid groups the stakeholders based on their level of authority and level of concern regarding the project outcomes. The power/interest grid forms a group of the stakeholders based on their level of authority (power) and their level of interest in the project. Interest accounts to what degree the stakeholders are affected by examining the project or policy change, and to what degree of interest or concern they have about it. Power accounts for the influence the stakeholders have over the project or policy, and to what degree they can help to accomplish, or block, the preferred change. Stakeholders, who have high power and interests associated with the project, are the people or organizations that are fully engaged with the project. When trying to generate strategic change, this community is the target of any operation. Answer option B is incorrect. A salience model classifies stakeholders based on their power, urgency, and legitimacy. Answer option C is incorrect. A power/influence grid groups the stakeholders based on their power and influence. Answer option D is incorrect. A communications matrix simply maps which stakeholder need to communicate with other stakeholders.