1. | Of the following, which is one of the dangers a project manager encounters as a project finishes?
|
|
2. | What method should a project manager use to ensure that a project maintains momentum in the final stages?
|
|
3. | Of the following, which is a reflection of the project manager s ability to lead?
|
|
4. | Of the following, which method is a likely solution to successfully finish a project that is near to completion, but may be lagging?
|
|
5. | Of the following, which is not a suggestion to quickly and accurately complete a project on schedule?
|
|
6. | What information can an IT project manager learn from completed tasks in the project?
|
|
7. | Why should management reserve be examined near the end of a project?
|
|
8. | True or False: Time left in management reserve will always be applicable to any project in the final stages of the work.
|
|
9. | What must the project manager do before the customer accepts the project deliverables?
|
|
10. | What method can an IT project manager invoke to ensure that third parties will reach 100 percent completion on a project?
|
|
11. | When should a project manager inspect the project for quality?
|
|
12. | What should a project manager do when evaluating the finished deliverables of a project and she encounters a flaw?
|
|
13. | What is the purpose of calculating a project s worth?
|
|
14. | What is the Law of Diminishing Returns?
|
|
15. | What is the purpose of having a third party review the completed project?
|
|
Answers
1. | B. Some project managers make the mistake of easing off a project as it concludes. The inverse is what is really needed, as project team members have a tendency to ease off the project as well. The project scope rarely changes at this point of the project. A surplus in the budget shows that the project manager did not accurately predict the cost of the goods in the project. Management most likely will not allow the project manager to spend the surplus. |
2. | D. A project manager should always be available to the project team, but getting in the trenches and helping the project team as much as possible to complete the project inspires a team to work harder and commit to the conclusion of a project. |
3. | C. A project manager who sits behind a desk and manages the team through memos is not as effective as a project manager who gets involved with the team members and helps them succeed. Leading by example is never a bad idea. |
4. | C. When a project is lagging behind on tasks in the final stages of a project, a project manager may need to ask the project team to work extra hours to complete the project on time. Additional funds to hire outside help may be attractive, but the time to ramp up the additional help may be counterproductive. |
5. | D. Asking team members to work an excessive number of hours without rest can be wasteful . Team members need a break from the project to be productive and useful. |
6. | A. History of performance is a good indicator of what future tasks may bring. If the project manager can see that prior tasks have been lagging, he can predict that the remaining tasks may also lag. This can allow the project manager to stress the urgency that these final tasks must be completed on time. The project manager may also elect to reassign resources, add resources, or join the effort himself. |
7. | C. A project manager should evaluate the remaining time in management reserve near the end of the project to determine the whole amount of time available for the project. Just because there is additional time in reserve does not mean that the project manager should assign the time to remaining tasks; it means the project manager can calculate the room for error. |
8. | B. False. Management reserve should not be immediately assigned to the remaining tasks at the end of the project. In some instances, such as when the project must end on a specific date, time in the management reserve will not help lagging tasks. |
9. | A. Before the customers accept the deliverables of the project, the project manager must inspect the final product for quality. This inspection keeps mistakes out of the hands of the customers. |
10. | B. A project manager can withhold payment until she has approved all of the work that the vendor was assigned to complete. The project manager should, however, take time to review the work as soon as the vendor reports that the work is done. It is unprofessional to use this leverage and then take weeks to review the submitted work. |
11. | A. A project manager should not wait until the end of the project to determine the quality of the work. A project manager should work throughout the project to ensure quality in each phase of the implementation. |
12. | C. When a project manager discovers a flaw in the implementation during the review, that flaw must be addressed immediately to rectify the problem. |
13. | D. The project manager and management should calculate the ROI of the project to determine if the budgeted cost and the actual cost outweigh the benefits of the project s deliverables. Hopefully, if everyone has done the proper research and preproject calculations, the ROI will be excellent . |
14. | D. The Law of Diminishing Returns predicts if one area of production increases, but the other areas remain the same, the overall returns will eventually diminish. For an IT project manager, that means the productivity and the profitability gained by the implementation will eventually reach a plateau because the remaining factors in production have not been improved. |
15. | C. In some instances, an organization should hire a third-party consultant to review the work of the project to determine the deliverables are of quality and in alignment with the project scope. Third parties that are to review the completed project don t need to analyze the budget and worth of the project unless they are to examine the process of creating the deliverables, rather than the actual deliverables the project produced. |