PMI SH - Address and Remove Impediments, Obstacles, and Blockers

A project integrates with several systems developed by various vendors and one of these vendors has gone out of business. What should the project manager do first?

• Meet with this vendor to identify a replacement.

• Review the risk register and update the issue log.

• Calculate the delay and notify the project sponsor of the new timeline.

• Negotiate with another vendor to produce the deliverable.

Answer explanation

Solution: B. Review the risk register and update the issue log.

The risk register contains response strategies in situations like these. The project manager should review the risk register for potential action plans, and update the issue log with the issue of the absent vendor. The issue log is fundamentally about corrective actions since the project has deviated from the plan.

The other answer choices are incorrect. Calculating the delay, meeting the vendor for a replacement, and negotiating with another vendor for deliverable are the next steps after risk register and updated and risk components are performed

A project manager working on an agile project discovers that the allocated budget and resources are insufficient to cover the estimated total cost. The PMO recommended the development of requirements prioritization model.

What should the project manager take into consideration in the model?

• Cost, associated risk, and company culture.

• Associated risk and company culture.

• Cost and associated risk.

• Associated cost impediments.

Answer explanation

Solution: C. Cost and associated risk

For each feature, the project manager should identify the benefits of implementing it and the impact of skipping it, in addition to the cost and associated risk.

The other answer choices are incorrect. Company culture has the same impact on all the projects and requirements, therefore it can't be used to prioritize requirements. Cost impediments are not yet known, therefore risk should be a prioritization criterion.

As part of a temporary assignment, a project manager is leading a business project. During a daily status meeting, it was discovered that the development team had not completed a critical task. This issue is delaying the current iteration. The ability to take the actions needed to address this issue is beyond the authority of the project team.

What should the project manager do?

• Delay the current iteration and inform the stakeholders of the issue.

• Invite the project team to a swarming session to define a solution.

• Adjust the project timeline to accommodate the development delay.

• Escalate the issue to the project sponsor to define the next steps.

Answer explanation

Solution: D. Escalate the issue to the project sponsor to define the next steps.

For decisions that are beyond the authority of the project team to decide, the project team can investigate alternatives and escalate the decision to the project sponsor. The project sponsor provides decision leadership that is outside of the authority and position power of the project manager and project team.

The other options may not be appropriate or effective if the project manager does not have the authority to take the necessary actions.

Delaying the current iteration, hosting a swarming session, or adjusting the project timeline may not be feasible and do not address the issue of authority or decision-making. 

An organization decides to implement the Scrum delivery framework. The project manager is using an impediment board with the Scrum team to identify and raise impediments.

What should happen after the impediments are recorded?

• Address the highest priority impediments from the log and ensure that it is removed so that the team can continue to reach the sprint’s objective.

• Prioritize impediments based on their levels of importance and in relation to those that are already on the log.

• Publish and post the impediments log and make it visible to everyone.

• Communicate that the impediment is removed to the involved parties and update the impediments log.

Answer explanation

Solution: B. Prioritize impediments based on their levels of importance and in relation to those that are already on the log

The process used to create, monitor, and maintain the impediments log begins with the daily standup meeting. It is the best time to record impediments in the impediments log as each team member reveals them. Then, the impediments should be prioritized based on their levels of importance and in relation to those on that are already on the log.

The other answer choices are incorrect because they come after the impediments have been prioritized.

Question

A project team's performance has declined for the last three iterations. Some of the team members are disappointed, and raise their concerns during the retrospective meeting.

What should the project manager do?

• Identify potential failure points based on the iteration workload.

• Motivate the team to perform better.

• Focus on remediation, not merely on correcting symptoms.

• Compare the team's performance against other project teams.

Answer explanation

Solution: C. Focus on remediation, not merely on correcting symptoms.

Root cause analysis.

Root cause analysis is designed to identify and correct the fundamental cause of a problem. It helps focus remediation not on merely correcting symptoms but on preventing the recurrence of problems. This type of analysis is especially useful as a method to proactively forecast probable events before they occur.

A project manager is working on the development of a business case to secure funding and resources. What is needed to ensure that the right priority is assigned to the project?

• Developing the most efficient delivery plan

• Developing a clear and detailed project schedule

• Aligning the project with company’s goals and objectives

• Aligning the project with company’s roadmap

Answer explanation

Solution: C. Aligning the project with company’s goals and objectives

To ensure that the right priority is assigned to the project, it is crucial to align it with the company's goals and objectives. This ensures that the project is directly contributing to the strategic direction and priorities of the organization. By aligning the project with the company's goals, decision-makers can assess its relevance, strategic importance, and potential impact, which can help in securing funding and resources.

The other answer choices are incorrect as they focus more on the efficiency and scheduling aspects of project delivery, which are important considerations but may not directly address assigning the right priority to the project. Aligning with company goals and objectives is a broader and more fundamental consideration for assigning project priority than the roadmap.

A goal has been set at four months for a project team to distribute a product. Unfortunately, it will be difficult to adhere to that time frame due to team members having individual tasks to complete.

How should the project manager handle this situation?

• Encourage members of the team to alter their tasks in order to not impede with meeting the project deadline.

• Aid team members in prioritizing their personal tasks against the project's goals.

• Postpone the delivery date of the project to a later time so the team can complete their personal tasks.

• Request a delay to the teams’ individual tasks and offer assistance finding alternative times to complete tasks outside of work hours.

Answer explanation

Solution: B. Aid team members in prioritizing their personal tasks against the project's goals

In the case that there is limited time, the team must prioritize the delivery-related tasks to get the product distributed on time. The project manager should handle this situation by aiding team members in prioritizing their personal tasks against the project's goals.

The other answer choices do not lead to the desired outcome.

A project has the following characteristics:

• The project manager is being asked to deliver a business result in a compressed timeline; the original timeline was one month, but the new requested timeline is two weeks.

• In the resource planning activity, the project manager heard from another team member that no technical resources are available to join the team; however, the project manager knows the technical resource manager from a previous project.

What is the first action the project manager should take?

• Ensure the product owner knows that there is an issue with acquiring a technical resource.

• Escalate the technical resource issue to upper management.

• Verify the availability of resources by meeting with the previously known technical resource manager.

• Contact a third-party vendor to obtain a technical resource.

Answer explanation

Solution: C. Verify the availability of resources by meeting with the previously known technical resource manager

Per agile manifesto, it values individual and interactions over processes and tools. Thus, it is best to meet with the resource manager to understand the real situation rather than informing sponsor first which might be the false alarm.

The other answer choices are incorrect. The product owner and upper management should not be informed of an issue, nor should a third-party vendor be hired, until the project manager can confirm from the technical resource manager that there is a real shortage of technical resources.

A project manager learns that the project team will miss a milestone because team member A has not completed the task requirements needed by team member B. When meeting with team member A, what should the project manager do?

• Direct team member A to turn over the responsibilities for completing the task requirements to team member B.

• Identify any obstacles to meeting the task requirements and determine if team member A needs help completing them.

• Ask team member A to work directly with team member B to complete the requirements in order to meet the milestone.

• Ask team member A to recommend a replacement who can complete the task requirements.

Answer explanation

Solution: B. Identify any obstacles to meeting the task requirements and determine if team member A needs help completing them

The correct answer is B, Project manager's goal is to make sure the all the task gets completed. the best option is to meet with the resource and understand what is constraining the resource and provide assistance where possible. Directing a team member to hand over responsibility to another member or to replace him is not a logical step which could entail cost and approvals.

The change control board (CCB) has evaluated and approved several change requests in a timely manner in the last several weeks. However, implementation of the changes is taking more time than anticipated.

What should the project manager do?

• Revise the change control system to allow only critical changes to be raised.

• Acquire additional resources to ensure the project milestones are met.

• Perform a detailed risk analysis to determine the impact of the time required to implement the changes on the success of the project.

• Monitor implementation of the changes to ensure that change management procedures are being followed.

Answer explanation

Solution: D. Monitor implementation of the changes to ensure that change management procedures are being followed

The project manager can only follow approved procedures and should monitor the implementation to make sure the processes are being followed.

The other answer choices are incorrect. The CCB has approved all of the changes so there is no need to revise the change control system. Additional resources may not be necessary to implement changes so there is no need to acquire additional resources. A detailed risk analysis will add to the project delay.