Review Questions

1.	There are numerous reasons why a particular project task may not be progressing as planned. Of the following reasons for a task delay, which one is most likely to require a change to the project team composition? Team member is spending time on another assignment. Team member is ill or takes a vacation day. Team member does not have the skill set to complete the work. Team member does not understand what is expected.
2.	Which of the following project manager responsibilities is not part of the project execution phase? Setting the schedule baseline Identifying, assigning, and tracking resolution of project issues Obtaining sign-off as required on major deliverables Reporting project status
3.	Which of the following are components of vendor contract administration? Select the best answer. Request for proposal, statement of work, and vendor solicitation Progress reporting, vendor disputes, and vendor delays Bidders' conferences, vendor selection criteria, and progress reporting Statement of work, progress reporting, and payment process
4.	Which of the following is the most effective method to provide a weekly status report to your client and other executive stakeholders? The more information that you send to stakeholders, the better. Distribute detailed minutes from your weekly project team meeting to all the stakeholders. Stakeholders outside of the project team members are not concerned with the project status unless things are going wrong. You can contact them if there is an issue requiring their input. Stakeholders should be able to analyze the updates from your project management software package. A copy of the current project schedule should be sent to all the stakeholders. A status report template provides a consistency for stakeholders to quickly identify the information they need. You should include a summary of project progress, the completion of any major deliverables or milestones, and a status of any outstanding issues.
5.	During a review of unit test results, two of your programmers disagree on the correctness of the deliverable from one of the units of code. How should you resolve this dispute? The programmers should take the issue to the test manager. You should ask clarifying questions to determine the specific issue surrounding the deliverable. Ask the team member disputing the deliverable to reference a specific requirement that is not being met. A separate meeting should be scheduled to conduct a detailed analysis of the code in question. The programming team and the test team should both be involved in this session. The project team members should decide who is correct. This item can be added to the agenda for the next regularly scheduled team meeting.
6.	6. When comparing the actual schedule progress to the schedule baseline, which of the following should receive the most attention? The tasks on the critical path are the most important, as any delay in these tasks can delay the project end date. The tasks assigned to the technical team members are the most important. The marketing plan and the end- user training do not impact the development and delivery of your system. The tasks assigned to inexperienced resources are the most likely to get off track and should be closely monitored . All tasks are equally important, and you should request a detailed explanation and recovery plan for any task that is not 100 percent on track.
7.	A functional manager has put you on notice that your lead tester is being pulled from the project to do a special assignment. You have asked around, but no one knows of another qualified person currently available. The timing could not be worse , as your integration testing is scheduled to begin next week. You have requested a meeting with the functional manager to discuss alternatives, but all of your voicemails and emails have been ignored. When you stopped by the functional manager's office, the only response you received was a lecture on the organizational reporting structure. Which of the following would be the best next step? The functional manager has ultimate say over the resources, so the best you can do is request a replacement resource and move forward. You don't want to raise an alarm prematurely, so don't make an issue out of this unless the integration testing runs into problems. You should immediately write a letter to the functional manager's department head demanding an explanation for this deliberate attempt to sabotage your project. Based on the steps you have taken and the responses you have received, resolution of this issue requires escalation. You should meet with your project sponsor to request assistance in resolving this impasse. You have done everything you can, but you need to make sure all of your attempts are thoroughly documented. When the project falls apart, you can easily put the blame on the functional manager.
8.	Just prior to the weekly project team meeting you compare the latest schedule update with the schedule baseline. Based on current progress, the development phase will be completed a month later than planned. What is the best action to take at this point? You should call an emergency meeting with the sponsor and the client to advise them that the project end date has been delayed by 4 weeks. The schedule issue should be covered during the team meeting, but this is not the time to solve the problem. You should isolate the critical path tasks that are off track and identify the team member(s) accountable for these tasks. You can work separately with the responsible team member(s) to determine the root cause of the delay and develop a strategy for corrective action. This issue needs to be resolved immediately by the project team. You should discard the planned team meeting agenda and advise the team how disappointed you are that they have caused a schedule delay. You may need to extend the length of the meeting. The potential schedule delay should not be communicated to anyone ; it will just cause the team to panic. You should email the people responsible for the delayed task(s) and advise them you are confident they will find a way to meet the target end date.
9.	Your system engineer has started making negative comments during your weekly team meeting. He has had a heated argument with the marketing manager and you have heard from various team members that he has become difficult to work with. What is the best course of action for you to take? You should write a memo to the system engineer's functional manager and request a replacement as soon as possible. The system engineer is critical to the project, so you should give him some slack . You should confront the system engineer openly at the next team meeting. Let him know that his performance is unacceptable and that he will be replaced if there is not an immediate change. You should schedule an individual meeting with the system engineer to determine if he has issues with the project that need to be resolved. Get his perspective on how the project is progressing and how he feels about his role.
10.	You are preparing for a formal monthly project review session with your sponsor and client. Which of the following is the best approach for making this an effective review? The project manager creates an agenda giving each team member an equal amount of time to provide task status. The preparation for a formal review takes valuable time that the project manager could put to better use. Assign one of the team members the task of putting together a summary of the meeting minutes from project team meetings for the last month. The project manager, with input from the project team, prepares a formal presentation that covers the following: previous months' key achievements, the current month planned deliverables, actual spending compared to budget estimate, overall schedule status, and any issues that could delay the project. The team determines in advance which team member will present each aspect. The project manager creates a presentation to put the project in the best possible light. Any delays, overruns, or other issues should be downplayed, to avoid making the sponsor look bad in front of the client.
11.	Choose the project component that's most important to individual team effectiveness. Project cost Project size Project schedule Project value Project budget
12.	You're the project manager for a large IT project that's going to take a year and require input from a vast array of IT technicians. Recently you've discovered that some fighting is going on between the person who's developing and implementing your security policies and a senior developer. You've found both to be highly credible, valuable players on your team. What's the best way to handle this situation? Call both to a meeting. Specify exactly what you're seeing happening between them. Ask for a plan from both to work out the differences. Stress the importance each of them contributes to the project. Ask the HR office to put together a meeting between you and the two fighting team members. Ask HR to work out the differences between the team members. Stress the importance each of them contributes to the project. Call both to a meeting with you and the project sponsor. Specify to the sponsor exactly what you're seeing happening between the two. Allow the sponsor to lead the group toward an amicable solution. Stress the importance each of them contributes to the project. Replace the security specialist with someone else.
13.	You're the project manager for a large IT project that's going to take a year and require input from a vast array of IT technicians. Recently you've discovered that some fighting is going on between the person who's developing and implementing your security policies and a senior developer. The senior developer argues that the security specialist has no idea what she's doing and that she's not following good quality security guidelines. He produces some documentation to back up his claims. In researching the work that each is doing, along with his documentation, you find that the claims of the senior developer, while exaggerated, are not without merit. What's the best way to handle this situation? Call both to a meeting. Specify exactly what you're seeing happening between them. Ask for a plan from both to work out the differences. Stress the importance each of them contributes to the project. Call the security specialist into a meeting. Tell her that you've been looking at her work and that you'd like some input as to why she made the decisions she made. Without including the fact that the developer brought it up, ask her why the decisions that she made didn't follow the decisions the developer might have made, were he to be in her place. If you find the rationale to be reasonable and proper, tell the senior developer that you're behind the actions of the security specialist. If not, ask her to begin meeting the standard security guidelines and illustrate with your documentation what you're talking about. Ask if there are ways that you can assist her with her work. Stress the importance of her contributions to the project. Call both to a meeting with you and the project sponsor. Specify to the sponsor exactly what you're seeing happening between the two. Illustrate the developer's point with the documentation he has provided. Put the security specialist on a 30-day action plan to improve her processes. Stress the importance each of them contributes to the project. Replace the security specialist with someone else.
14.	You've recently acquired $20,000 worth of hardware from a server vendor for an activity in your project with a promise from the vendor that he will supply some additional software modules that are required at no cost. Where are these additional software modules noted? Project charter Project budget SOW WBS
15.	You're well into the project execution/controlling phases of your project. After a 'here's where we're at' overview of the current work, business experts have come back to you to complain that the product they see being built right now does not address their needs. Yet you have in hand a design document that was signed off by key stakeholders and the sponsor and denotes exactly what the vendor has delivered so far. The vendor says that to go back and make the changes recommended by the business experts will require additional funding, as the vendor sees himself on time, on budget, and within the constraints of the SOW. What do you do? After performing an investigation, present your findings to the sponsor. After performing an investigation, authorize the expenditure of the additional funds to meet the business expert's needs. Do nothing-the business experts agreed to the initial design and the vendor is working according to the agreed-to SOW. Instruct the vendor that he must implement the changes at no cost.
16.	Of these communication situations, which would be best suited to team-building efforts? (Select all that apply.) Schedule changes Resource loss Personality clashes Budget changes Low morale Organizational changes Project phase completion
17.	Of these communication situations, which would you immediately communicate to the project sponsor? (Select all that apply.) Schedule changes Resource loss Personality clashes Budget changes Low morale Organizational changes Project phase completion
18.	You are a project manager for an IT project that's in the executing phases. A vendor has notified you that a server you require for a given task in the project, a task that's on the critical path, will not be able to ship for 2 weeks. What is your course of action? Set up a meeting with stakeholders. Explain the situation; ask for an extension to the project deadline. Meet with the vendor; see if you can shorten the delay. Set up a meeting with stakeholders. Explain the situation; ask for an extension to the project deadline. Meet with the vendor; see if you can shorten the delay. Set up a meeting with stakeholders. Explain the situation; ask for an extension to the project deadline. Get extension approved through project sponsor. Meet with the vendor; see if you can shorten the delay. Set up a meeting with stakeholders. Explain the situation; ask for an extension to the project deadline. Get extension approved through project sponsor. Revise project plan.
19.	Your project has taken a serious turn for the worse. While your project team is working its heart out to meet deadlines, it appears that the executive project sponsor has lost all enthusiasm for the project. You're not sure why. The project is near death, and if you cannot clear up this problem, you're close to the point where you're going to have to kill the project. What steps should you take? Set up a meeting with the executive project sponsor. See if you can determine why the problem exists. Set up a meeting with the executive project sponsor. See if you can determine why the problem exists. If you can't get anywhere with the executive project sponsor, try to get an ally or someone with influence on the sponsor to get at the heart of the matter. Meet with the stakeholders to apprise them of the situation-maybe you can get a new sponsor appointed. If you can't get anywhere , you're better off killing the project. Set up a meeting with the executive project sponsor. See if you can determine why the problem exists. If you can't get anywhere with the executive project sponsor, try to get an ally or someone with influence on the sponsor to get at the heart of the matter. Set up a meeting with the executive project sponsor. See if you can determine why the problem exists. If you can't get anywhere with the executive project sponsor, try to get an ally or someone with influence on the sponsor to get at the heart of the matter. If you can't get anywhere, you're better off killing the project.
20.	One of your senior network engineers, Marty, is absolutely insistent that the vendor who's supplying your routers is 'all wet' when it comes to a facet of a router that he's been tasked to install. However, when you consult with the systems engineers who work for the vendor, they tell you that Marty has misunderstood the way the product works and that it works the way they've advertised it. How do you handle this problem? Call the vendor and Marty to a meeting. Sit back and watch them hash it out. Call the vendor and Marty to a meeting. Act as arbitrator in an effort to get at the root of what the problem might be. Arrange to have some of the vendor's engineers meet Marty on site to work through a sample configuration on one of the routers. That way if he's right, they can see what he's talking about; if he's wrong, he'll see why. Tell Marty to listen to what the vendor has to say-after all, they invented it.

Answers

1.	C. A team member lacking the required skill set is almost always doomed to fail. Whatever the reason, be it a communication breakdown on the skill set required or a functional manager who simply assigned the next person in line, if you determine that a team member does not know how to complete assigned tasks, you need to consider requesting a replacement. Unless there is a lot of slack time associated with the task, it is not possible to train the person so he or she can do the work. If a team member is spending time on another assignment, you need to confirm with the functional manager the amount of time committed to your project. Confusion over project expectations can normally be clarified with a one-on-one meeting. Illness or unplanned days off are a part of project life.
2.	A. The schedule baseline is set during project planning before the project work begins. This provides a method to track project progress during execution against what was planned.
3.	B. During contract administration, the project manager needs to review regular progress reports from the vendor as defined in the statement of work. Disputes between the vendor and team members must be investigated and resolved. Delays to vendor deliverables need to be analyzed for impacts on the project baseline and communicated to the project stakeholders. The other components listed in this question are part of procurement planning.
4.	D. A weekly status report should be distributed in a consistent format and provide the stakeholders with a snapshot of progress on major deliverables and resolution of issues. Stakeholders do not have time to read through team minutes to obtain information, and many of them may not be familiar with how to interpret a project schedule.
5.	5. B. Disputes over project deliverables should always be resolved by referring to the data in the project plan. If a deliverable does not meet the documented project requirements, you have an issue that needs resolution. If you are dealing with a matter of personal preference, the person or group responsible for delivery chooses how to complete the tasks.
6.	A. The critical path tasks will impact the project end date, and you should focus on these tasks regardless of whether they are technical or business focused. The experience level of a resource does not guarantee that the task will be completed as scheduled. Tasks not on the critical path have built-in slack, but don't forget that if these tasks slip they may become critical path. Your project management software will automatically compute critical path as progress updates are made.
7.	C. A project manager should always attempt to resolve staffing disputes with the appropriate functional manager providing the resource, but sometimes you reach an impasse. If you are dealing with a resource critical to the success of the project and all your attempts have failed, it is time to escalate the issue to the project sponsor. Writing a letter to the department head will not only alienate the functional manager, it could cause repercussions for your project sponsor. Ignoring the issue will not solve anything.
8.	B. The people accountable for the work need to identify the problem and work with the project manager on a solution. Involving the entire team in an issue where many members may have no expertise is a waste of valuable time. The worst thing you can do is avoid the issue; chances are it will only get worse. You should meet with the sponsor and the client only after you have more information regarding the cause of the delay and potential solutions.
9.	D. In order to address the issue, you need to understand what is behind the system engineer's current behavior. He may have been given additional work that you are not aware of or he may misunderstand the project goals, to name just a couple of possibilities. The situation cannot be ignored, no matter how valuable the person is, and it should be handled in private.
10.	C. The purpose of a formal project review is to communicate to key executives current progress, planned progress, and any roadblocks the project may be facing . This is the group of people that can make the hard decisions as to what the priority is between your constraints.
11.	D. The project's value-that is, how important it's perceived by management, stakeholders, and perhaps even the corporate body at large-contributes to the team's effectiveness, simply because team members feel like they're working toward something that's held in high esteem. No one wants to work on a project that doesn't mean much to anybody. That being said, picture yourself as a project manager for a project that's going to update the internal piping in a sewage treatment plant. Chances are the overall corporate body isn't going to recognize the importance of your work, but stakeholders certainly are aware of what you're getting done.
12.	A. These are always tough situations to arbitrate. Your primary goal is to bring the two together to try to air the differences in a way that's constructive. If possible, don't meet with them in your office; instead, choose a place that's neutral to all of you. Point out that you notice some friction going on and that you're wondering what the elements of that friction might be, because it's having an effect, or will have shortly, on the outcome of the project. Stress how valuable each of them is to the efforts of the project. Ask questions that don't give either other person an opportunity to blame the other. Try to find creative solutions to the problems. If this fails, the next step might be to consider asking HR to take a more active role, either through a team-building exercise (which could only occur on larger longer projects where team members work full-time on the project) or in individual counseling .
13.	B. The developer should not be a part of the conversation. He has his own work to do and is her peer, not her supervisor. Point out that you've researched some security methodologies and illustrate where you find her work to be different than the standards you've discovered. Ask her why and try to get her rationale behind the decision. If you find the rationale to be wanting, then tell her you need for her to begin to work toward the standards you're talking about. Otherwise, let it go. Speak with the developer to tell him that you've investigated the situation and dealt with it. Ask him to try to work more harmoniously with the security specialist. Be sure you tell both what an important part they play in the project.
14.	C. Tacit vendor agreements such as this need to be noted somewhere and agreed to by both parties so that you save yourself embarrassment and expense when you actually call for the promised items. The SOW would be the most logical place to insert the statements that stipulated the promised modules.
15.	A. First you must get both sides of the story. You must make sure that the changes being asked for are actually really required and that they were somehow missed at requirements-gathering time. Also you need to determine that the functionality being asked for is a 'need to have' versus a 'nice to have.' You also need to talk to the vendor to get their impression of the situation. Finally, you prepare a report and go to the sponsor for final instructions on how to handle the situation. If the sponsor says that no additional funds are authorized, then the business experts will have to deal with the system as-is (though you may have a 'this project stinks' issue on your hands). If the sponsor says that the changes must be made, then she has to authorize the expenses required to make those changes. You cannot simply stipulate that a vendor make changes just because it's the right thing to do, and you cannot operate outside the boundaries of a jointly agreed-to SOW.
16.	C, E, F. Personality clashes and low morale can be urgent situations, but not necessarily of the type that require outside intervention. Your team-building skills would be useful in solving problems in these areas. Organizational changes require quick communication from the project manager. As a rule, most people are generally sensitive to change and are asking this question: 'What does this mean for me?' This has a tendency to disrupt working patterns, decrease efficiencies, and requires that you act as a change agent-getting people through the change, while continuing the work of your project. Additionally, it's quite possible that an organizational change may directly affect your project in which case you, too, need to ask: 'What does this mean for the project?'
17.	A, B. Probably, the project sponsor will communicate to you any budget or organizational changes. Project phase completion isn't something you immediately need to communicate. Personality clashes and low morale should first be treated with team-building efforts before escalating any further.
18.	D. First, you should meet with the vendor to see whether you can negotiate a shorter delay. Working with tasks on the critical path allows for very little room for finagling other tasks without consulting with the project sponsor and stakeholders. Next, you should meet with the stakeholders to apprise them of the delay. If they're okay with the deadline extension, you should modify the project plan and obtain formal sign-off from the project sponsor.
19.	B. You start by going directly to the executive project sponsor to try to get at the heart of what's going on. Careful communication techniques are required so that you don't make the problem worse than it already is. If you can't get anywhere, you should seek out an ally or an influence that might be able to find out what's going on. Barring that, it may be worth your while to take the matter to the stakeholders, though they'll probably have little power to change the sponsor of the project. Finally, if things continue to deteriorate, you'll have to pull the plug on the project.
20.	C. Getting vendor SEs in a room with your engineer and letting them work through a sample configuration is the best way to handle the situation. You don't have enough information to know who is right. If the vendor is wrong, you'll be able to address it. Otherwise, you've provided your engineer with a great lesson about configuring this particular router. You should be there with them to make sure that the fisticuffs and name calling are kept to a minimum.