PMP Exam Preparation - 2

Planning is underway for a project to develop a new online collaboration tool. The team will use scrum to develop the tool, while the deployment to customers will be managed using a waterfall approach. The agile coach would like to gather early customer feedback to ensure the new tool is aligned with the product vision. What is the best course of action?

• A. Develop the complete set of features and showcase it at developer’s conference

• B. Create a wireframe for the public to use and provide feedback

• C. Plan for the development of an MVP for release to a subset customers

• D. Perform decomposition to create the WBS

Answer explanation

[C] In Agile approach the general requirement can define in early to make product vision, when kick off the project the project manager can present the plan of release of MVP

For an agile project, changes are an important part of the process, allowing the product owner to maximize value delivery. As the manager of an agile project, how should you approach managing changes?

• A. Changes can implement when iteration still running

• B. Changes will be implemented when approved by Change Control Board

• C. The number of change will be accommodated in next iteration

• D. There is no difference in the basis for managing change on agile project compare to plan driven project

Answer explanation

[C] On Agile project, the change of scope following the rule of agile, when change request is happened will be accommodate in next iteration

You are leading a project that was supposed to be managed using agile methods. Every week, however, the product owner holds a five-hour backlog refinement meeting with the project team where she presents the project scope broken down to the work package level. After three iterations, the project team’s velocity is slower than expected. What is your best course of action?

• A.  Ask the project owner to decompose the scope down to the task level and assign tasks to the team members

• B. Advise the product owner to hold two-five hour backlog refinement meetings per week to gain further clarity on the scope

• C. Coach the product owner on presenting the overall story concept with one-hour weekly backlog refinement meeting

• D. Hold a team building exercise with the team members and product owner to improve the communication between them

Answer explanation

[C] Agile best practices recommend that teams allocate no more than one hpur per week for backlog refinement. That allow the team to maximize the rime spent developing the product increment rather than creating a detailed plan. Instead of attempting to present an updated WBS every week, the product owner should just present the overall story concept to the team and then spend no more  than an hour refining the stories. This approach will free up time for the team thus improving velocity.

A project manager invited several vendors to a pre-bid conference. After a private conversation with one of the vendors who had an inquiry about a new mandatory government requirement, the project manager sent an email to the vendor to address the question. The project manager realizes that the requirement should have been included in the project scope baseline and the statement of work (SOW).

What should the project manager do in this situation?

• A.  No further action is needed as the vendor's question have been addressed

• B. Update the statement of work and the scope baseline, and communicate the changes to all vendors

• C. Update the statement of work and the scope baseline, and hold another pre-bid conference

• D. Update the SOW, submit a change request to update the scope baseline, and communicate the changes to all vendors

Answer explanation

[D] Update the SOW, submit a change request to update the scope baseline, and communicate the changes to all vendors

Correct. Changes to the baseline must undergo the Perform Integrated Change Control process. A change to thestatement of work should be clearly communicated to all vendors.

The performance measurement baseline has been approved, and project execution has begun. According to the project management plan, the scope should be incrementally developed by the team over the course of 12 iterations that are planned to be completed in 6 months.

What should the project manager do to determine if any changes to the project scope, schedule, or execution processes are necessary as the project progresses?

• A. Conduct iteration review and iteration retrospective meetings

• B. Request that the team report project status during daily standups

• C. Submit a change request at the beginning of each iteration

• D. Conduct individual and team assessments at the end of each iteration

Answer explanation

[A] Iterations are typically used on agile and/or hybrid projects to incrementally develop deliverables. At the end of an iteration, the team demonstrates the product increment. Another meeting, retrospective, is held to review the process used by the team. Demonstrations help determine if any changes to the project scope or schedule are required; retrospectives identify what works well and what should be improved in the executing processes used by the team

A project manager has developed a comprehensive project management plan, including a fully elaborated WBS and detailed project schedule. Despite these efforts, the project is running behind schedule because the change control board (CCB) is unable to cope with the high volume of changes, even though most of them have been approved by the product owner. What is the project manager's best course of action?

• A. Request the termination of the existing project and seek approval to initiate a new project that will utilize agile methodologies

• B. Submit a change request to update the project schedule to reflect the delays caused by the CCB's long process times

• C. Seek approval to bypass the change control process and have the project team collaborate directly with the product owner

• D. Instruct the product owner that the project is using a predictive model, which means most of the changes should be rejected

Answer explanation

[C] Seek approval to bypass the change control process and have the project team collaborate directly with the product owner

Correct. The core problem in this scenario is that the high rate of changes combined with a formal change control process is causing the project to run behind schedule. Incorporating some agile practices within the existing framework will allow the product to evolve unencumbered.

You are the project manager for Fun Days’ Vacation Resorts. Your new project assignment is to head up the Fun Days resort opening in Austin, Texas. First, you estimate the duration of the project management plan activities. When that activity is complete, you start devising the project schedule, and once the work has started, you will follow the process involved with monitoring and controlling deviations from the schedule. Which of the following is true regarding this question? (Choose two)

• A.      This describes the Project Integration Management Knowledge Area.

• B. This describes a predictive project management methodology.

• C. This describes the Project Scope Management Knowledge Area

• D. This describes the Project Schedule Management Knowledge Area.

Answer explanation

[B, D] This describes the Project Schedule Management Knowledge Area, which involves the following processes: Plan Schedule Management, Define Activities, Sequence Activities, Estimate Activity Durations, Develop Schedule, and Control Schedule. The question also describes a predictive methodology. The question describes a step-by-step approach by finishing the first activity (estimating) before creating a schedule. In agile, these activities are performed together

Due to some issues, your project is behind schedule and over budget, therefore management is very concerned about the future of your project. To show the exact picture of your project you calculate the TCPI, and you go to management. What does this TCPI show the management?

• A. The required cost performance to complete the project within the approved budget

• B. The required schedule performance to complete the project within the approved time

• C. The new projected cost to complete the project within the approved time

• D. The new projected time to complete the project within the approved budget

Answer explanation

[A] The full form of TCPI is To Complete Performance Index. This is the cost

performance which you must maintain if you want to complete the project within a

given budget. (PMBOK 6 page 266)

Your project is ahead of schedule but over budget. Therefore, you ask your team member to collect data and compare it with the cost baseline. Which of the following is not included in the cost baseline?

• A. Contingency reserve

• B. Activity cost estimation

• C. Management reserve

• D. Activity contingency reserve

Answer explanation

[C] The Management Reserve is not a part of the cost baseline. Once you add the management reserve to the cost baseline, it becomes the project budget. (PMBOK 6 page 255)

Which of the following cumulative measures indicates that your project is about 9% under budget?

• A. The cumulative AC was 100, and the cumulative EV was 110.

• B. The cumulative PV was 100, and the cumulative AC was 110.

• C. The cumulative AC was 110, and the cumulative EV was 100

• D. The cumulative EV was 100, and the cumulative PV was 110.

Answer explanation

[C] The cost performance index (CPI) is a measure of the cost efficiency of budgeted resources, expressed as a ratio of earned value to actual cost. It is considered the most critical EVM metric and measures the cost efficiency for the work completed. A CPI value of less than 1.0 indicates a cost overrun for work completed. A CPI value greater than 1.0 indicates a cost underrun of performance to date. The CPI is equal to the ratio of the EV to the AC. The indices are useful for determining project status and providing a basis for estimating project cost and schedule outcome. Equation: CPI = EV/AC (PMBOK 6 page 263)