PMI PMI Certifications PMI-SP Questions & Answers

• Question 221:

  You are the project manager of the JKM Project for your organization. Your project is supposed to be 60 percent complete but you are only 45 percent complete. The project has an assigned budget of $765,000 but you have already spent $365,000 to reach this point in the project due to some errors and rework. Management is pressing you on when you'll complete the project and how much the project will likely cost based on the current performance. You need to tell management what the project's current cost performance index (CPI) is. What value should you report to management based on your project's performance?

  A. $306,000

  B. .94

  C. $344,250

  D. .75

  Correct Answer: B

  Management wants to know the cost performance index (CPI). You can find the CPI by first finding the earned value (EV) and then dividing it by the actual costs (AC) spent to date on the project. You find EV by multiplying percent complete by the project's budget; in this instance that's $344,250. The actual costs are reported as $365,000. The formula for the CPI on this project is $344,250 / $365,000 for a value of .94. What is CPI? Cost performance index (CPI) is used to calculate performance efficiencies. It is used in trend analysis to predict future performance. CPI is the ratio of earned value to actual cost. The CPI is calculated based on the following formula: CPI = Earned Value (EV) / Actual Cost (AC) If the CPI value is greater than 1, it indicates better than expected performance, whereas if the value is less than 1, it shows poor performance. The CPI value of 1 indicates that the project is right on target. 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. Answer options C, A, and D are incorrect. These do not reflect an accurate value for the project's cost performance index. The project is performing moderately well on cost as the closer the CPI is to 1 the better the project's performance.

• Question 222:

  Holly is the project manager of the NDS project and she is 85 percent complete with her project though she should be 95 percent complete. Her project has a BAC of $9,850,400 and she has spent $8,011,221 to date. What is Holly's schedule performance index for this project?

  A. 1.07

  B. 0.98

  C. 0.89

  D. Ten percent

  Correct Answer: C

  The schedule performance index is found by dividing the earned value by the planned value. For Holly's project, it would be as follows:

  SPI = EV/PV

  = (0.85*9,850,400)/(0.95*9,850,400)

  =8,372,840/9,357,880

  =0.89

  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 D is incorrect. Ten

  percent is not a valid calculation for this question. Answer option B is incorrect. 0.98 is the cost performance index. Answer option A is incorrect. 1.07 is the to-complete performance index based on the BAC.

• Question 223:

  You are the project manager for your organization. You are meeting with your customers to discuss the project performance. In this meeting, you will have eight project customers, the project sponsor, and ten members of your project team. What type of communication method are you using in this instance?

  A. Interactive communication

  B. Active communication

  C. Pull technique

  D. Push technique

  Correct Answer: A

  Any meetings, phone calls with multiple participants, or conferences are examples of the interactive communications.

  Answer option B is incorrect. Active communication is not a PMBOK term for project management. Answer option D is incorrect. A push technique describes a distribution from the project manager out to the message recipients, such as

  email.

  Answer option C is incorrect. A pull technique describes a distribution method where the recipients of the message pull the message from a source, such as a Web server.

• Question 224:

  Which of the following components of the change control system includes the documentation, tracking systems, and defined approval levels necessary for authorizing and controlling changes?

  A. Scope Verification

  B. Configuration Management System

  C. Project Management Information System

  D. Integrated Change Control

  Correct Answer: B

  The change management system comprises several components that guide the change request through the process. When a change request is made, it will affect the project scope. The Configuration Management System evaluates the change request, and documents the features and functions of the change on the project scope. What is Configuration Management System? Configuration Management System is a subsystem of the overall project management system. It is a collection of formal documented procedures used to identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of a product, result, service, or component of the project. It also controls any changes to such characteristics, and records and reports each change and its implementation status. It includes the documentation, tracking systems, and defined approval levels necessary for authorizing and controlling changes. Audits are performed as part of configuration management to determine if the requirements have been met. Answer option D is incorrect. Integrated Change Control, part of the change control system, does not document changes to the features and functions of the project scope. It evaluates the change's impact on eight knowledge areas: scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, and procurement. What is Perform Integrated Change Control? Perform Integrated Change Control is the process of reviewing all change requests, approving changes, and controlling changes to the deliverables and organizational process assets in a project. Perform Integrated Change Control has to do with influencing the things that cause change, determining that the change is required or has happened, and managing the change. Answer option A is incorrect. Verify scope is a process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables. It is an inspection- driven process the stakeholders will complete to inspect the project scope deliverables. It is typically performed at the end of the phase and at the end of the project. Answer option C is incorrect. The Project Management Information System (PMIS) is an information system consisting of the tools and techniques used to gather, integrate, and disseminate the outputs of project management processes. It is used to support all aspects of the project from initiating through closing, and can include both manual and automated systems. It is the parent of the change control process. It is a system that includes all of the change control processes for scope, time, cost, and procurement. Configuration management is part of the PMIS.

• Question 225:

  Tom is the project manager of the GHQ Project for his organization. He is working on recovering the project schedule. As Tom examines his schedule he is especially aware of project activities with soft logic. What is soft logic?

  A. Soft logic describes activities that do not have particular resources assigned to them.

  B. Soft logic describes activities that can be completed in any order.

  C. Soft logic describes activities that can have lead time added to them.

  D. Soft logic describes activities that can be crashed because they are effort-driven.

  Correct Answer: B

  Soft logic can be completed in any order without affecting the outcome of the deliverables. Soft logic is also known as preferential logic, preferred logic, and discretionary dependency. It is defined on the basis of knowledge of best practices and standard procedures for the particular application area. Soft logic is defined by the project management team based on well- known practices in a specific desired sequence. Answer options A, D, and C are incorrect. These are not valid definitions of soft logic.

• Question 226:

  You work as a project manager for BlueWell Inc. Your project is falling behind though the project team reports that the actual durations of their work is what they estimated. You investigate the cause and determine that the project team is not starting their assignments early enough to finish their work on time. While the duration of the assignments may be in synchronization with the duration estimates, the completion time is causing the project schedule to slip from the baseline. What can you do to rectify this problem?

  A. Increase the duration estimates for each activity.

  B. Discipline the project team.

  C. Add management reserve.

  D. Corrective actions.

  Correct Answer: D

  Corrective actions should be taken to move the results of the project work back into alignment with the project scope. The project team must start their activities on time and finish on time. A corrective action is a change implemented to

  address a weakness identified in a management system. Normally corrective actions are implemented in response to a customer complaint, abnormal levels of internal nonconformity, nonconformities identified during an internal audit or

  adverse or unstable trends in product and process monitoring such as would be identified by SP C. It is method of identifying and eliminating the causes of a problem, thus preventing their reappearance. Examples of a corrective action are

  :Improvements to maintenance schedulesImprovements to material handling or storage Answer option C is incorrect. Management reserve is time and funds allotted for unforeseen issues and risks within the project.

  Answer option A is incorrect. Padding each estimate may cause the project to succumb to Parkinson's Law: work expands to fill the amount of time allotted to it. In addition, the project team may still delay the start time of their project

  assignments.

  Answer option B is incorrect. Disciplining the project team may be a good option if the problem continues.

  The best option is to first apply corrective actions.

• Question 227:

  You work as a project manager for BlueWell Inc. You want to increase the overall duration of the project. If the management elects to use resource leveling, then what will happen to the project duration?

  A. The duration will increase, but the labor will stay the same.

  B. The duration will decrease as new team members are brought onto the project.

  C. Nothing, new resources will be incorporated into the project team.

  D. The duration will increase, but the labor will decrease.

  Correct Answer: A

  Resource leveling usually increases the overall duration of the project because management restricts the amount of labor which can be utilized in a given time period. Resource leveling heuristics is a prioritization method that allocates inadequate resources to critical path activities first. It is a schedule network analysis technique useful to a schedule that has already been analyzed by the critical path method. It is used when shared or critical essential resources are only available at certain times, in limited quantities, or to keep resource usage at a constant level. It is a technique that resolves resource conflicts by delaying tasks within their slack allowances. Resource leveling is the process in which project teams come across problems when developing their project schedules. If a company has multiple projects running simultaneously that require the same resources, then problems can arise. It can often cause the critical path method to change. Answer option C is incorrect. New resources are not added as part of resource leveling. Answer option D is incorrect. Labor remains the same in resource leveling, but their availability decreases. Answer option B is incorrect. New resources are not added as part of resource leveling.

• Question 228:

  Management is concerned about your project. They want to know how the project is performing specifically the schedule performance index. What formula do you use to find the schedule performance index?

  A. PV/EV

  B. EV-AC

  C. EV-PV

  D. EV/PV

  Correct Answer: D

  The schedule performance index is earned value divided by planned value. The close the result is to 1, the better the project is performing.

  Answer option B is incorrect. This is the cost variance formula. Answer option C is incorrect. This is the formula to find schedule variance. Answer option A is incorrect. This is not a valid formula.

• Question 229:

  You are the project manager for your organization. Management has asked you to document the holidays, weekends, and other corporate working hours, which will supersede the project timings for your schedule. Which calendar will communicate to the project stakeholders, when the project work will take place within the organization?

  A. Project calendar

  B. Resource calendar

  C. Organizational calendar

  D. Company calendar

  Correct Answer: A

  The project calendar defines the working hours for the project, including any days that project work will not happen due to the organizational calendar.

  Answer option D is incorrect. The company calendar is not the correct choice for this question. Answer option C is incorrect. The organizational calendar is not the correct choice for this question. Answer option B is incorrect. The resource

  calendar defines whether resources the project needs will be available. The resources include people, facilities, equipment, and other things that project needs to be completed.

• Question 230:

  Tom works as the project manager for BlueWell Inc. He is working with his project to ensure timely and appropriate generation, retrieval, distribution, collection, storage, and ultimate disposition of project information. What is the process in which Tom is working?

  A. Work performance measurement

  B. Stakeholder expectation management

  C. Project communication management

  D. Stakeholder analysis

  Correct Answer: C

  Tom is working with the project communication management process, as it is required to ensure the timely disposition of project information. Project Communications Management is one of the nine Knowledge Areas. It employs the

  processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, distribution, storage, retrieval, and ultimate disposition of project information. The following processes are part of Project Communications Management:

  Identify Stakeholders

  Plan Communications

  Distribute information

  Manage Stakeholder Expectations

  Report Performance

  The Project Communications Management processes provide the critical links among people and information that are necessary for successful communications. These processes interact with each other and with the processes in the other Knowledge Areas as well. Answer option B is incorrect. Managing stakeholder expectation is the process of working and communicating with the stakeholders to meet their requirements. Answer option A is incorrect. Work performance measurement uses the information to create project activity metrics to evaluate actual progress compared to planned progress. Answer option D is incorrect. Stakeholder analysis is the process of gathering and analyzing quantitative and qualitative information to determine the interest of the stakeholders. You are the project manager for your organization. Management has asked you to document the holidays, weekends, and other corporate working hours, which will supersede the project timings for your schedule. Which calendar will communicate to the project stakeholders, when the project work will take place within the organization?