PMI PMI Certifications PMI-SP Questions & Answers

• Question 81:

  If you are the project manager of the BNQ Project and you add "waiting time" between two activities, then what have you added in the project?

  A. You have added lag time to the project activities.

  B. You have added management reserve to the project activities.

  C. You have added lead time to the project activities.

  D. You have added float to the project activities.

  Correct Answer: A

  Lag time is positive time that requires the successor activity to wait for a defined amount of time, such as three days, before it can begin. Lag time does not change the task relationship, but requires a "waiting time" before the starting of the activity can begin. A lag time is a delay between the predecessor and the successor tasks. Sometimes it may be needed to schedule a delay between the predecessor and the successor tasks. For example, if two coats of paint are required to paint a car, then the final coat should be applied only when the first coat dries. This delay is known as the lag time. The lag time is entered as a positive value. The lag time can be entered as a duration or as a percentage of the predecessor's task duration. It is entered on the Predecessor tab in the Task Information dialog box. Answer option D is incorrect. Float is a natural event that is discovered through the forward pass when using the critical path method. Float cannot be arbitrarily added as lag. Answer option C is incorrect. Lead time actually brings activities closer together and causes them, in some cases, to overlap. Answer option B is incorrect. Management reserve is a pool of time allotted for unscheduled changes and events that affect the project duration.

• Question 82:

  You are the project manager of the NHQ Project. You are coaching Alice, a new project manager, on the relationships in a project network diagram. Which relationship type between activities are the most common?

  A. SS

  B. FS

  C. FF

  D. SF

  Correct Answer: B

  The finish-to-start relationship type is the most common in a project network diagram. It means that the predecessor activity must finish before its successor activity can start. For example, the carpet must be installed before the painting activity can begin. What is precedence diagramming method (PDM) in sequence activities? Precedence diagramming method (PDM) is used in critical path methodology for building a project schedule network diagram that uses boxes or rectangles, referred to as nodes, to represent activities, and join each other with arrows that show the logical relationship that exists between them. This technique is also known as Activity-On-Node (AON).It includes four types of dependencies or logical relationships: Finish-to-start(FS): The initiation of the successor activity depends upon the completion of the predecessor activity. Finish-to-finish(FF): The completion of the successor activity depends upon the completion of the predecessor activity. Start-to-start(SS): The initiation of the successor activity depends upon the initiation of the predecessor activity. Start-to- finish(SF): The completion of the successor activity depends upon the initiation of the predecessor activity.

• Question 83:

  Complete this sentence:

  _________________________ is the process of collecting and distributing performance information including status reports, progress measurements, and forecasts.

  A. Corrective action

  B. Report performance

  C. Earned value management

  D. Monitor and control project performance

  Correct Answer: B

  Report performance is a project process that collects and distributes information on the project work. Answer option C is incorrect. Earned value management may be used as the tool and technique for determining project performance.

  Answer option D is incorrect. Monitor and control project performance is not a project process so this choice is not valid.

  Answer option A is incorrect. Corrective action is a response to project performance to bring the project back into alignment with expectations.

• Question 84:

  Your organization wants to start a new project. The study shows that the new project will save organization approximately $200,000 per year. Now it is required to move forward with the project. Which of the following documents will define the project justification?

  A. Feasibility study

  B. Project charter

  C. Work breakdown structure

  D. Project scope

  Correct Answer: B

  The project charter defines the business needs, the project justification, the current requirements, and the new warehouse your organization wants to create. The project charter is the document that formally authorizes a project. The project charter provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. According to PMBOK Guide, the project charter should address the following information: Requirements that satisfy customer, sponsor, and other stakeholder needs, wants and expectations Business needs, high-level project description, or product requirements that the project is undertaken to address Project purpose or justification Assigned Project Manager and authority level Summary milestone schedule Stakeholder influences Functional organizations and their participation Organizational, environmental and external assumptions Organizational, environmental and external constraints Business case justifying the project, including return on investment Summary budget If required, it also authorizes the next project phase, and updates the charter. The project manager should always be assigned prior to the start of planning, and preferably while the project charter is being developed. Answer option C is incorrect. The decomposition of the project scope results in the project's Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). The work packages of the WBS will help the project manager and team create accurate time and cost estimates. Answer option A is incorrect. The feasibility study is usually created before the project scope, though not always. This document defines the likelihood of the project being able to reach its objectives. Answer option D is incorrect. The project scope defines all that the project should complete.

• Question 85:

  You are the project manager for your organization. You have worked with the project team to create the project scope statement. The key stakeholders have signed off on the project scope and they are eager for you and the project team to begin creating the deliverables identified within the project scope. What process must you and the project team complete next in this scenario?

  A. Create the activity list.

  B. Create the WBS.

  C. Create the risk assessment.

  D. Determine the project budget.

  Correct Answer: B

  Once the project scope statement has been approved, the project manager and the project team should decompose the project scope statement into the WBS.

  Answer option A is incorrect. Before the activity list may be created, the WBS is needed. The activity list is based on the work packages identified in the WBS. Answer option C is incorrect. Creating the risk assessment for the project is part of

  project planning, but it is not the most appropriate process to complete at this time. Answer option D is incorrect. Determining the project budget is the process of aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work packages to

  establish an authorized cost baseline. Determining the project budget is a part of project cost management.

• Question 86:

  John is a scheduler in ABC Company. He has to plan an activity for the schedule models. Which of the following activities will he use to make the schedule models? . Each correct answer represents a complete solution. Choose all that apply.

  A. Hammocks

  B. Critical path scheduling

  C. Flags

  D. Tasks

  Correct Answer: ACD

  An activity is an individual component of work that is logically linked to other activities to outline the schedule. Its key characteristics include an overall duration based upon the resources applied to it (manpower, material, and equipment), a start and completion date that is tied to a work calendar, and an association with other activities (predecessor and successors). Following are the various types of activities in schedule creation: Tasks: A task is an activity that needs to be accomplished within a defined period of time. Milestones: A milestone is the end of a stage that marks the completion of a work package or phase, typically marked by a high level event such as completion, endorsement or signing of a deliverable, document or a high level review meeting. Flags: Flags shall occur at appropriate intervals of approximately each month. The flags shall be located on the critical path and be incorporated into the baseline, all targets, and the current schedule. Hammocks: Hammocks are a summary pseudo "activity" representing a group of related activities that collectively cover some portion of a project. Answer option B is incorrect. The Critical Path scheduling, or Critical Path Analysis, is a mathematically based algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities.

• Question 87:

  Holly is the project manager for her organization. Her current project is running late and her project customer has asked Holly to find a method to apply corrective actions to the project schedule. Holly is exploring the concept of crashing the project. Which of the following statements is true about crashing the activities in Holly's project?

  A. The activities to be crashed must have additional quality control metrics associated with them.

  B. The activities to be crashed cannot be of fixed duration.

  C. The activities to be crashed cannot have risks associated with them greater than 0.80.

  D. The activities cannot be on the critical path in order to be crashed.

  Correct Answer: B

  Crashing adds effort to the project activities. Activities that are of fixed duration, for example software testing, would not finish faster with added resources. Crashing is a schedule compression technique to obtain the greatest amount of compression for the least incremental cost. Crashing works for activities where additional resources will shorten the duration. Approving overtime, bringing in additional resources, paying to expedite delivery to activities on the critical path are examples of crashing. Answer option D is incorrect. Activities on the critical path can be crashed. Answer option C is incorrect. Activities with risks can be crashed. Answer option A is incorrect. Additional quality control metrics are not necessary just because Holly elects to crash her project.

• Question 88:

  Yolanda is the project manager for her organization. She is creating a performance report for her sponsor. Typically, the performance report includes all of the following factors except for which one?

  A. Current status of risk and issues

  B. Quality control activities

  C. Analysis of past performance

  D. Work to be completed next

  Correct Answer: B

  Quality control activities are not included in the performance report, but are documented in the quality management plan. A performance report is made by the project team detailing activities, milestones, problems, accomplishments, and

  identified issues. Performance reports are used to report some key information as follows: Current status Scheduled activities Significant accomplishment for the period Forecasts Issues

  Answer option C is incorrect. Analysis of past performance can be included in the performance report to make the report more elaborate.

  Answer option A is incorrect. Current status of risk and issues can be included in the performance report. Answer option D is incorrect. Work to be completed next can be included in the performance report.

• Question 89:

  John works as a project manager for BlueWell Inc. His project has a budget of $795,000 and he has spent $325,000 on the project. But, he has completed only 40 percent of the project work till now. Management wants to know what the project's cost performance index is. What value will John report?

  A. 0.76

  B. 0.85

  C. 0.80

  D. 0.92

  Correct Answer: D

  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. In this instance, it's EV = 0.40 * 750,000 = 300,000 CPI = EV/AC = 300,000/325,000 = 0.92

• Question 90:

  You are the project manager of the NGG Project. This project will be using a new material that the project team has never worked with before. You'd like to use some preventive action to ensure that the installation of the new materials is successful in the project. Which one of the following project actions is an example of the best preventive action for this project?

  A. Hire a subject matter expert to train the project team how to install the materials.

  B. Purchase additional materials so in case the team wastes materials during their installation.

  C. Hire a subject matter expert to install the new materials.

  D. Create incentive by rewarding the project team if they don't waste the materials.

  Correct Answer: A

  In order to ensure that the installation of the new materials is successful in the project, you should hire a subject matter expert to train the project team how to install the materials. This is the best preventive action that you can take in case the project team has never worked on the material. Answer option C is incorrect as while this approach may work it's not the best corrective action as the project team isn't learning how to use the new materials. Answer option B is incorrect as this approach practically encourages the team to waste materials without training them how to install the materials properly. Answer option D is incorrect as the incentive program is flawed if the team doesn't understand how to install the new materials to begin with.