PMP-RMC Super Exam-2 Failed questions and answers

(1)* Question ID: 200 Your project team has identified dependencies on six related projects that are providing major deliverables to your project. Some of these projects have a very similar scope and may overlap with your deliverables. In light of this, which of the following processes should you be most concerned about? A. Validate Scope B. Plan Risk Responses C. Plan Communications Management D. Control Scope The correct answer is B. The biggest concern must be the risks other projects may cause to yours. It would be better to prevent those problems in the Plan Risk Responses process than to just spend effort controlling scope. Knowledge Area: Risk Process Group: Planning Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 465 (4)* Question ID: 1041 You are a project manager for a major telecommunications network upgrade with a net present value (NPV) of US $10,000,000. - You are heavily dependent on a third-party seller for your project and your procurement office informs you there is a 30 percent chance the seller will go out of business at the end of the quarter. If that occurs, your project will incur a US $3,000,000 cost overrun due to rework. - There is also a 30 percent chance new legislation will pass that will decrease government oversight of your team's work. If this legislation passes, you estimate your project will save US $1,600,000 in time delays. - Lastly, your technical lead indicates that there is 20 percent chance a new software package will be available by month end that could save US $1,800,000 in testing time. If available, it will cost US $500,000 to procure and install the software and train the users. What is the total expected monetary value of these three risk events? A. $160,000 B. $1,640,000 C. $60,000 D. $5,900,000 The correct answer is A. The expected monetary value of the first risk is: 0.3 x $3,000,000 = $900,000. The expected monetary value of the second event is: 0.3 x -$1,600,000 = -$480,000. The expected monetary value of the third risk is: 0.2 x - ($1,800,000 - $500,000) = -$260,000. The total of all three potential risk events is: $900,000 - $480,000 - $260,000 = $160,000. Knowledge Area: Risk Process Group: Planning Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 461 (7)* Question ID: 1319 The project management team was instrumental in planning the corporate headquarters renovation project. The project is part of the organization's celebration of its 10-year anniversary and the planned announcement of new industry-leading work by the R&D division. The planned announcement is a closely guarded secret, as the organization does not want the competition to attempt to steal secrets or deflect media attention. The stakeholders have expressed concerns that they don't understand why some of the work is happening and that the work will not be complete before the celebration. Some have expressed concerns about the fact that alternative plans had to be used for some of the efforts. Your sponsors have asked you to review the communications plan. The project is over budget to date. Which of the following is not a reason this could have occurred? A. There was a cost increase from the supplier. B. Work was delayed. C. Work was done inefficiently. D. More work than planned was accomplished. The correct answer is B. A, C & D. Completing more work than planned, an unexpected cost increase from a supplier, and inefficient performance of work are all reasons a project could be over budget. B. If work was planned but not done at the time it was scheduled to be completed, funds allocated for that cost would remain unspent, making the project under budget until that work is completed and paid for. It is possible that making up for the work not being done on time could result in the need to crash the project or work overtime, in which case the project could later end up over budget for the activity. Knowledge Area: Cost Process Group: Monitoring & Controlling Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 292 (10)* Question ID: 330 A project manager receives a deliverable from one of the team members to provide to the customer. While looking at the deliverable, the project manager notes that the document is smaller than what he expected and does not contain what he thought it should. The project manager should first: A. Discuss it with the team member. B. Audit the development process. C. Contact the team member's manager to get that person additional training. D. Validate scope. The correct answer is D. Such a review compares the deliverable to the requirements and then gets acceptance. The project manager might have misunderstood the requirements, and it would be best to check before talking to the team member or presenting the deliverable to the customer. Knowledge Area: Scope Process Group: Monitoring & Controlling Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 206 (14) Question ID: 1 The engineering department wants the project objective to be a 10 percent improvement in throughput. The information technology department wants no more than 5 percent of its resources to be used on the project. Management, who is also your sponsor, wants the project team to decrease tax liability. The best thing you can do is: A. Include the engineering and information technology objectives, but hold further meetings regarding management's objective. B. Include only management's objective. C. Have these people get together and agree on one objective. D. Put a plan together that meets all the objectives. The correct answer is A. Did this one catch you? All the objectives should be met, but they must be quantifiable. Management's objective cannot be measured and, therefore, needs more work. You need to have more discussions with management so you can make their objective quantifiable. Then you will be able to create a plan that meets all the objectives. Knowledge Area: Integration Process Group: Planning Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 140 (59)! Question ID: 83 You are managing a two-year project involving staff from several departments. The project is on schedule and within budget. A key team member leaves for a four-week vacation without completing a highly technical and specialized activity assigned to him (activity A). The project team cannot begin activity B or activity E (a critical path activity) until activity A is completed. Activity A has three days float and is not on the critical path. A team member, a seller, and a non-team member work overtime to complete activity A within its float time. You need to reimburse the non-team member's department and pay the seller at an overtime rate. What action should you take? A. Thank the others for filling in, but tell them not to waste time on non-critical path activities. B. Send a complaint letter to the key team member's manager, and ask him to fund the extra cost expended. C. Pay the cost out of your project reserves. D. Reevaluate your communications management plan. The correct answer is D. Notice that the issue of the key team member leaving has already occurred. Although the activity was not on the critical path, it would have impacted a critical path activity if it was not completed within its three-day float. Therefore, advising the participants not to waste time on non-critical path activities is not correct. The best choice is to discover why the problem happened so you can prevent similar situations in the future. Only a reevaluation of the communications management plan looks at the cause of the problem. Knowledge Area: Communications Process Group: Monitoring & Controlling Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 428 (78) Question ID: 1160 You are the seller's project manager. You discover you are performing work requested by the customer but not included in the contract. During previous meetings, the customer already spoke of being upset about the cost of several items she claims your company left out of the contract. No one in your company wants to discuss the change with the customer for fear of losing the contract. What is the best long-term course of action for the company? A. Have a meeting with the customer to identify all the items she thinks were left out of the contract. B. Renegotiate a new procurement statement of work and a new contract. C. Contact your senior management and procurement department to determine the options. Then schedule a meeting with management and the customer to discuss these options. D. Look for ways to save time on other work packages so the new work can be done. The correct answer is B. The key to answering this question is to understand that this is a severe situation with many problems; so many problems that it is clear the contract is not serving either party. Meeting with the customer has already been done. Meeting with management is not a long-term solution, and finding ways of saving time on other work packages does not address the problem of unclear scope. This is why it is best to start all over (yes, this happens in the real world) rather than the other choices. When a contract no longer serves the needs it was intended to serve, it can be renegotiated if the appropriate parties agree to do so. Knowledge Area: Procurement Process Group: Monitoring & Controlling Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 550 (96) Question ID: 78 When checking the calendar of a team member to schedule a meeting, you see she has scheduled a meeting with a key stakeholder that you were not informed of. This stakeholder has been vocal in her concern that her requirements for the project have been ignored and that she doesn't think you are a good project manager. You know that the stakeholder and the team member are friends outside of the organization and their children are in school together. There is a PMO policy in the organization that the project manager is to be informed of, and invited to, all project-related meetings. This is a functional organization that has struggled with communications and stakeholder participation. You have heard that the team member thinks the PMO policy regarding notifying and inviting the project manager is intrusive and slows down the interaction with stakeholders, and that project managers are not available because of multiple projects and too many meetings. She doesn't feel trusted, and is frustrated. Her complaints have been reported to other departmental leaders, and the PMO has been asked to review the policy. The best approach would be to: A. Avoid mentioning it to the team member but continue to watch her activities. B. Address the concern with the team member. C. Address the concern with the team member's manager. D. Notify the PMO about the problem. The correct answer is B. Not mentioning the issue to the team member is withdrawal. Notifying the PMO or the team member's manager would not be appropriate until you learn the root cause of the problem. Always look for the choice that deals with and solves the problem. In this case, the best course of action is to address your concern with the team member directly. Knowledge Area: Resource Process Group: Executing Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 396 (104)* Question ID: 437 When the project manager completes the detailed project schedule model, it is most important to get it approved by the: A. Project sponsor B. Functional managers C. Customer D. Team The correct answer is B. The customer does not need to approve the detailed project schedule, just the end date and any milestones they might impose. Assuming the project manager is meeting the project objectives and constraints, the sponsor's approval of a detailed schedule is not as critical as the approval of functional managers. Getting functional managers to approve will also, indirectly get team members' approval. When functional managers know what work each of their people is assigned, the timeframe, and whether their activities are on the critical path, resource problems are less frequent. Approval of the schedule by functional managers provides the most benefits. Knowledge Area: Schedule Process Group: Planning Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 238 (116)* Question ID: 971 You have assumed responsibility for a complex, business-critical project involving new technology and approaches. All of the project stakeholders have emphasized to you that this is a high-risk effort, and you are responsible for effectively identifying and addressing the project's risks. There are a number of risk management tools and approaches you have been encouraged to use, but there is no agreement from the stakeholders as to which is the superior approach. The organization sponsoring the project has risk management methodologies and templates, but does not consistently or effectively use them. In addressing risk management planning for this project, what is the most important consideration you should keep in mind? A. Create a high-quality risk management plan and risk response plan. B. Complete at least a moderately thorough examination of available risk management tools and methodologies to select the best ones for the project. C. Ensure risks have been identified and mitigation strategies have been developed for the most important ones. D. Tailor the level, type, and visibility of risk management to match the risks associated with the project and the project's importance. The correct answer is D. Frequently, risk management is portrayed as such a complicated area people don't even know where to begin. A simple spreadsheet listing risks and who is responsible for addressing them is far more beneficial to a project than a complex tool or methodology that no one uses. Risk identification and response planning are standard procedures, expected to be done on all projects. An examination of management tools and methodologies for the project has already been done. It is most important to tailor the level, type, and visibility of risk management to match the risks associated with the project and the project's importance. This choice encompasses performance of the risk management planning processes. Knowledge Area: Risk Process Group: Planning Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 451 (119)* Question ID: 357 A project manager is assigned to a new, high priority project. There are only five available resources because other resources are already committed to projects. The time available to complete the project is less than half the time needed, and the project manager cannot convince management to change the end date. The project manager should: A. Coordinate with team members the overtime necessary to complete the work. B. Provide the team with opportunities to produce acceptable quality on the work that can be accomplished. C. Use more experienced resources to complete the work faster. D. Look for any scope that can be cut from the project. The correct answer is D. The question does not indicate that the project work has begun. The project manager is looking at options as part of planning. A. Requiring overtime is never the first resort to solve such problems because it causes the project manager to lose credibility and performance. This would likely create a cost impact on the project, or impact other projects or other work. B. Helping the team produce quality work is a good idea, but it does not address the time problem. C. Using more experienced resources is not viable, as other resources are not available. D. The best choice in this situation is to consider cutting the scope. Knowledge Area: Integration Process Group: Planning Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 135 (124)* Question ID: 71 While preparing your risk responses, you realize you need to make adjustments to the project to compensate for unknown risk events. These adjustments are based on your past project experience when unknown risk events occurred and knocked the project off track. What should you do? A. With the stakeholders, determine a percentage of the known risk budget to allocate to a management reserve budget. B. Include a management reserve in the budget to compensate for the unknown risks, and notify management to expect unknown risks to occur. C. Determine the unknown risk events and the associated costs; then add the costs to the project budget as reserves. D. Document the unknown risk items, and calculate the expected monetary value based on probability and impact that may result from the occurrences. The correct answer is B. This question is asking how unknown risks are handled. It should be a reminder that, although the risk management process is designed to identify risks, not all risks can be identified. Some will inevitably remain unknown; thus, they cannot be identified or assessed. A management reserve is not calculated based on a percentage of known risks. The amount of known risk reserves will have no impact on the number of unknown risks. Past history of what projects have needed is a better indicator. A management reserve is used for unknown risks, and it is wise to inform management that unknown risks can occur. Knowledge Area: Risk Process Group: Planning Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 471 (132) Question ID: 1134 You have selected a particular seller to assist in the development project for a new product, which has already been promised to several test customers within a certain timeframe. The decision to go with this seller was, in large part, based on their declared ability to provide difficult-to-find technical resources. In the middle of the project, the seller tells you they cannot get the resources to complete the project. Generally, what is the best thing to do? A. Try to help uncover more resources, but continue the project. B. Begin procurement closure C. The contract has been breached. Contact your lawyer. D. Remind the seller of the penalties for not meeting the next deliverable due date. The correct answer is A. This is a question that looks for your understanding of the term breach, and its impact on your project. In this situation, the seller has not breached the contract; he has not yet failed to meet a deliverable due date. It says he is having trouble meeting it. Until a breach occurs, you do not need to take legal action. Reminding the seller of penalties is not correct because it does not deal with the problem. It simply says, "You must find the resources." Moving into procurement closure will not provide the required deliverable. Since the contract has not been breached, the best thing to do is to prevent the breach. You could help the seller find other resources. They may be found internally, or you may have a better understanding of the availability of resources in your area. Knowledge Area: Procurement Process Group: Monitoring & Controlling Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 544 (135)* Question ID: 1524 Objectives documented in the project charter should: A. Be free from risk B. Relate to the project scope C. Be broad enough to ensure all the stakeholders are satisfied D. Be measurable The correct answer is D. It is unlikely that all stakeholders will be completely satisfied with the outcome of the project, as all of their requirements may not be supported by the project objectives. Project objectives deal with both project and product scope. There are risks involved in achieving project objectives, which will be analyzed in project planning. Project objectives included in the project charter must be measurable. Knowledge Area: Integration Process Group: Initiating Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 137 (140) Question ID: 534 Management wants the project completed in 40 days. The cost performance index (CPI) is 1.1, the project critical path duration is 38 days with a standard deviation of two days. What is the maximum project float? A. Zero days B. One day C. Two days D. Four days The correct answer is D. Standard deviation is a range that an estimate can vary +/- from the mean. The project needs to be done in 40 days, and the schedule calls for 38 days, so the project float is 2 days. With a standard deviation of two days, the project will take 38 +/- 2 days, or 36 to 40 days. Therefore, project float could be 0 to 4 days. Knowledge Area: Schedule Process Group: Monitoring & Controlling Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 245 (152)*! Question ID: 686 In a meeting to gain approval of the quality management plan, a stakeholder points out what he believes to be an error in the plan. He notes that the plan includes using some of the same techniques in more than one of the quality processes. Which of the following quality management techniques can frequently be used in two of the three quality management processes? A. Logical data models B. Cause-and-effect diagrams C. Check sheets D. Interviews The correct answer is B. D. Interviews are used in Plan Quality Management to identify existing standards, processes, and metrics—or to create new ones. A. A logical data model is also used in Plan Quality Management. Its purpose is to help the team understand the requirements, and define the appropriate quality management processes. C. Check sheets are used in Control Quality to track data such as the type and frequency of quality problems uncovered during inspections. B. Cause-and-effect diagrams are used in Manage Quality to confirm that the policies, procedures, and metrics are adequate to produce the required level of quality in project deliverables. In Control Quality, cause-and-effect diagrams can be used to uncover the root cause of a variation in the quality of deliverables. Knowledge Area: Quality Process Group: Planning Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 333, 342 (153)* Question ID: 1073 You are a project manager for a US $3,000,000 product development project. You are well into project executing and the project remains on time, on budget, and on specification. This morning, a project team member alerts you to a newspaper article detailing unusually high defect rates in materials your team has been using to develop your product prototype. You had no reason to suspect quality issues in these materials before now. What should you do first in response to this concern? A. Quantify the risk. B. Develop a risk mitigation plan. C. Determine a workaround. D. Stop work on the prototype. The correct answer is A. At this point, you don't have enough information to stop work on the prototype and you can't decide to mitigate a risk until you quantify it. A workaround is not appropriate because you have not been impacted by the risk yet. As new risks are identified, it is important to update your risk management plan, including qualifying and quantifying risks and developing planned responses as appropriate. Knowledge Area: Risk Process Group: Monitoring & Controlling Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 458 (157)* Question ID: 1360 The project manager is reviewing the resource management plan and activity resource estimates for the amphitheater construction project, and planning negotiation activities he will perform to acquire the needed resources. He is not concerned about where the building materials will come from because: A. The source of those materials was identified in the project charter. B. The organization uses a just-in-time approach. C. Securing those resources is a separate project; he is only responsible for acquiring team resources. D. The procurement department is responsible for those. The correct answer is A. Specific physical or team resources may be designated in the project charter. This is referred to as preassignment. This may be through a master service agreement, in which case the project manager does not have to do the work to find a supplier. He will use the existing contract to get the needed materials and equipment per the schedule. There is likely a pre-negotiated price list as part of the master service agreement. Knowledge Area: Resource Process Group: Planning Source: PMP® Exam Prep Page: 381