PMI PMI Certifications PMI-SP Questions & Answers

• Question 211:

  Jack works as a project manager for the NHQ project. His project has a budget of $2,208,456 and is scheduled to last for three years. His project is currently forty percent complete though it should be forty- five percent complete. In order to reach this point of the project, he has spent $725,000. Management needs a performance report regarding the NHQ project. Management is concerned that this project will be over budget upon completion. Management would like to create a report telling them how much more the project will need to complete. What value should Jack tell the management?

  A. $1,087,497.74

  B. $755,000.56

  C. $1,112,978.45

  D. $790,988.76

  Correct Answer: A

  The project will need $1,087,497.74 more to complete. This formula, the estimate to complete, is estimate at completion minus the actual costs. Here, CPI = EV/AC = (0.40*2,208,456)/725,000 = 1.21846, and ETC = EAC - AC = (BAC/CPI) - AC = (2,208,456/1.21846) - 725,000 = 1,812,497.74 - 725,000 = 1,087,497.74 The estimate to complete (ETC) is the expected cost needed to complete all the remaining work for a scheduled activity, a group of activities, or the project. ETC helps project managers predict what the final cost of the project will be upon completion. The formula for the ETC is EAC- A C. The EAC is BAC/CPI.

• Question 212:

  Which of the group creativity techniques enhances brainstorming with a voting process used to rank the most useful ideas for further brainstorming or prioritization?

  A. Idea/mind mapping

  B. Delphi technique

  C. Nominal group technique

  D. Affinity diagram

  Correct Answer: C

  The various group creativity techniques are as follows: Brainstorming: It is a technique used to generate and collect multiple ideas related to the project and product requirements. Nominal group technique: It is a technique used to enhance brainstorming with a voting process used to rank the most useful ideas for further brainstorming or prioritization. Delphi technique: It is a techniques used to identify potential risk. In this technique, the responses are gathered via a questionnaire from different experts and their inputs are organized according to their contents. Idea/mind mapping: It is a technique used to map the ideas generated by brainstorming to reflect the commonality and differences in understanding and generating new ideas. Affinity diagram: It is a technique used to allow a large number of ideas to be sorted into groups for review and analysis.

• Question 213:

  Fredrick works as a Project Manager for BlueWell Inc. A number of projects are running under his guidance. You, a team leader of a project, inform Fredrick about the performance indexes of your project. The schedule performance index (SPI) of your project is 1.325. What does this figure indicate?

  A. The schedule performance is better than expected.

  B. The schedule performance is right on target.

  C. The cost performance is better than expected.

  D. The schedule performance is below expectation.

  Correct Answer: A

  According to the question, the SPI of your project is 1.325. This figure is greater than 1. Hence, it shows that the schedule performance is better than expected. What is SPI? Schedule performance index (SPI) is the measure of schedule efficiency on a project. It is used in trend analysis to predict future performance. SPI is the ratio of earned value to planned value. The SPI is calculated based on the following formula: SPI = Earned Value (EV) / Planned Value (PV) If the SPI value is greater than 1, it indicates better than expected performance, whereas if the value is less than 1, it shows poor performance. The SPI value of 1 indicates that the project is right on target. Answer option C is incorrect. SPI has nothing to do with cost performance. Answer options B and D are incorrect. An SPI value less than 1 or 0 indicates that the schedule performance is either below expectation or is right on target.

• Question 214:

  Which of the following statements best describes an activity in a project?

  A. It is a defined set of functions a resource must complete for the project scope to be considered complete.

  B. It is the effort needed to complete a work package.

  C. It is the unit of resource utilization needed to complete a project deliverable.

  D. It is a listing of all project work that must be accomplished for the project scope to be considered complete.

  Correct Answer: B

  An activity is the effort needed to complete a work package. The activities are linked to the work packages in the WBS. An activity is the element of work performed throughout the various stages of a project. It is a group of people, communications, processes, and work items that correspond to a joint effort to achieve a goal. An activity is a way to manage the work collectively with others in any organization. The create WBS process identifies the deliverables at the lowest level in the WBS, called the work package. Project work packages are divided into smaller elements known as activities, which correspond to the work required to complete the work package. Answer option D is incorrect. This is a definition of all the work that the project team and manager must complete in order to complete the total activity list. Answer options A and C are incorrect. These are not valid definitions of an activity.

• Question 215:

  You are working as a project manager for BlueWell Inc. Which of the following tools and techniques of the Define Activity process will help you in identifying the typical schedule milestones?

  A. Expert Judgment

  B. Decomposition

  C. Rolling Wave Planning

  D. Templates

  Correct Answer: D

  Templates are used to identify the typical schedule milestones in the Define Activity process. 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 216:

  You are a project manager in a matrix environment and management is concerned about the utilization of the resources on your project team and when you'll release them. What project management plan will guide how and when project resources will be released from the project team?

  A. Project Human Resources Management Plan

  B. Project Staffing Management Plan

  C. Project Communications Management Plan

  D. Project Schedule Management Plan

  Correct Answer: B

  The Project Staffing Management Plan will define how resources are brought onto the project team, how they are managed while on the project team, and how they may be released from the project team. The staffing management plan is part of human resources plan. It is a subsidiary plan of the overall project management plan and defines when project team members will be brought onto and released from the project. It describes when and how human resource requirements will be met. Depending upon the needs of the project, it can be formal or informal, highly detailed or broadly framed. The staffing management plan may include the following items: Staff acquisition, resource calendars, staff release plan, training needs, recognition and rewards, compliance, and safety. Answer option C is incorrect. The communications management plan defines project communication requirements and expectations. Answer option A is incorrect. This is not a valid project management plan. Answer option D is incorrect. The project schedule management will define when resources are needed and scheduled, but not how resources are allowed to be released from the project.

• Question 217:

  Gary is the project manager of the NHF project, which is a part of a program in his organization. According to the PMBOK, how will Gary provide feedback to programs and portfolios?

  A. Status meetings

  B. Push communications

  C. Regular communications

  D. Status reports and change requests

  Correct Answer: D

  According to the PMBOK, the project manager provides the feedback to programs and portfolios by means of status reports and change requests that may impact other projects, programs, or portfolios. The needs of the projects, including the resource needs, are rolled up and communicated back to the portfolio level, which in turn sets the direction for organizational planning. What is a status report? A status report is a narrative description about a subject that is relevant to an organization. Typically, a user submits a status report that was created for him by a manager. He can also create and submit his own unrequested status report at any time. It is a collaborative feature specific to PW A. Status report in PWA is a convenient way to exchange textual information with the team members about the status of a project or items in addition to task progress, which a user updates on the Tasks page. What are change requests? Change requests are requests to expand or reduce the project scope, modify policies, processes, plans, or procedures, modify costs or budgets or revise schedules. These requests for a change can be direct or indirect, externally or internally initiated, and legally or contractually imposed or optional. A Project Manager needs to ensure that only formally documented requested changes are processed and only approved change requests are implemented. Answer option C is incorrect. While regular communication is needed, this is not the best answer for the question. Answer option A is incorrect. Status meetings are a part of project communications, but do not answer the question as completely as status reports and change requests. Answer option B is incorrect. Push communications is one type of communicating mode where the project manager pushes the information to recipients. This is not the best choice for the question because there are other modes communicating as well.

• Question 218:

  You are the project manager for your organization. You are working with your project team to create activity duration estimates using the PERT method. What is the formula for PERT?

  A. (O+ML+P)

  B. (O+(6M)+P)6

  C. (O+ML+P)/3

  D. (O+(4M)+P)/6

  Correct Answer: D

  PERT, which means the Program Evaluation and Review Technique, is a duration estimating technique that uses the formula (O+(4M)+P)/6 for the optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic values for each work package. A PERT chart is a project management tool used to schedule, organize, and coordinate tasks within a project. PERT stands for Program Evaluation Review Technique, a methodology developed by the U.S. Navy in the 1950s to manage the Polaris submarine missile program. A PERT chart presents a graphic illustration of a project as a network diagram consisting of numbered nodes (either circles or rectangles) representing events, or milestones in the project linked by labeled vectors (directional lines) representing tasks in the project. The direction of the arrows on the lines indicates the sequence of tasks. Answer option C is incorrect. This is the formula for the three-point estimate. Answer options A and B are incorrect. These are not the valid formulas.

• Question 219:

  You are the project manager of the NHQ Project. You have created the project network diagram as shown in the figure:

  

  Based on the project network diagram, how much float is available for Activity H if Activity B is delayed by four days and Activity D is delayed by two days?

  A. One

  B. Five

  C. Four

  D. Zero

  Correct Answer: D

  The path of ABDHJ will take 21 days to complete and cannot exceed 27 days or else the project will be late. If Activity B takes four additional days and Activity D takes two additional days, this adds (4+2=

  6) six days to the path, bringing the path's duration to exactly (21+6 = 27) twenty seven days. There is no available float left for Activity E or H. Float or total float (TF) is the total amount of time that a schedule activity may be delayed from its

  early start date without delaying the project finish date, or violating a schedule constraint. It is calculated by using the critical path method technique and determining the difference between the early finish dates and late finish dates. Answer

  options A, C, and B are incorrect. There is no float available because the path's duration has increased to 27 days.

• Question 220:

  You are the project manager for the NHQ Project. Management has asked you to create a time estimate for this project although you have only just received the project charter. They would like some idea of how long the project will take based on the information in the project charter. While you are uncomfortable giving any type of estimate at this point, you work with your assigned project to create a quick time estimate. What type of estimate have you created for management?

  A. Analogous estimate

  B. Broad estimate

  C. Rough order of magnitude

  D. Expert judgment

  Correct Answer: C

  The rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimate is used early in the project when there is not much information available to create a time estimate. Rough order of magnitude estimates can have a range of variance as large as -25% to +75 percent. While ROM is mostly used with cost estimates, it can be used with time estimates too. Rough order of magnitude (ROM), also known as ball park estimate, is a rough approximation, made with a degree of knowledge and confidence that the estimated figure falls within a reasonable range of values. ROM range can vary from half to twice (-50 to +100) the actual cost. Answer option B is incorrect. Broad estimate is not a valid time estimating type. Answer option D is incorrect. Expert judgment is what the project manager used in this scenario to create the time estimate, but it is not a time estimating type. Answer option A is incorrect. An analogous estimate is based on historical information from a similar project. For example, Project A took 8 months to complete and Project B, while similar but larger, will take 10 months to complete.