Project Plan Execution
| The inputs to project plan execution are the project plan itself, corrective action, preventive action, change requests, defect repair, and administrative closing procedure. The first three topics have been discussed already, but it is important to note the difference between preventive action and corrective action. According to the PMBOK, preventive action is "anything that reduces the probability of potential consequences of risk events." This is a proactive type of management where the project manager considers the risk events that might occur that will in some way hinder the completion of the project. He or she then takes management actions that reduce or mitigate the risks on the project. Corrective action is "anything done to bring expected future project performance in line with the project plan." Corrective action comes from the various control processes you will have on the project. It is reactive and comes after an event occurs. For the exam, it is a good idea to know the definitions of these two types of actions. They are close in definition, but they are not the same.
The answer is D. Reduction in "probability" is the key concept for this type of action.
The answer is C. Corrective action is taken after the variance in plan has occurred. Make sure you have memorized these two definitions. They are found in the exam in some form or another. Defect repair has two parts to it. The first is the request for correction of a defect, and the second is the notification that the repair has been done and is acceptable. A project manager has a specialized set of skills that he or she brings to a project. Areas such as scope management, risk management, quality management, and all of the knowledge areas are specific to project management. At the same time, the project manager must also have a standard set of skills that you would find with a general manager. It is possible that you will not have training in these particular management skills because many people come to project management from other areas. Some of these skills as finance, sales/marketing, research and development, and various planning types such as strategic and tactical. In addition, the motivational skills and all other HR skills such as team building, communication, leadership, conflict resolution, negotiating, and problem solving are also important to the project manager. The project manager needs general management skills on almost every project. One of the ongoing problems for project management as an overall profession is that often project managers are elevated to the project manager position because of competency in a technical area. This does not help much in understanding the different skill sets found in general management, but there are certainly a great many resources to read about general management, which is highly recommended for anyone who wants to be as professional as possible.
The answer is A. The specific knowledge areas in the PMBOK, such as scope and risk, are examples of project management skills.
The answer is B. General management skills are extremely important for a project manager. A project manager should always continue learning about the aspects of general management that he or she will use almost every day in managing a project. Product skills and knowledge are also part of the tools and techniques used in project plan execution. Subject matter experts help round out a project by providing specific technical knowledge. The project manager is not necessarily the person with the most knowledge about the technical areas of the project. This is a common mistake that general managers make when choosing a project manager. The job of the project manager is to bring the project to a successful conclusion, not to be a technical expert on all of the aspects of the project. When putting together a project team, the project manager should always consider what information he or she lacks on the technical side and make sure that the staffing of the project includes one or more people who are technically proficient. But knowing how to project manage is not the same as being able to explain how something on the project works technically. This is an ongoing issue for all project managers. As project management itself is recognized as a profession, more and more organizations will choose project managers based on project management skill sets rather than technical skill sets. That is the reason why PMP is an important designation. It indicates that you have studied and understand project management as a topic by itself.
The answer is D. No one person knows everything about a given project. It is a major function of putting together a project team to make sure that the various technical and product skills are available for the execution of the project. The more complex the project, the more likely it is that you will have many technical leads and experts working on the project. The project manager should know what kinds of skills are needed to complete the project successfully, but he or she is not responsible for having all of them. The work authorization system is another tool that is used to execute the project plan. This has been discussed at length in Chapter 4, and you can refer back to that section if necessary. Here is a question concerning the work authorization system.
The answer is C. The cost of your work authorization system should be balanced by the value of the system to the project and the project manager. Some highly sophisticated work authorization systems are used in major, complex projects. The costs of these systems would not be balanced by the value they would provide to a small project. So as the project manager, you must balance value against cost. Another extremely important tool in project plan execution is the status review meeting. Status review meetings will be discussed at some length in the communication knowledge area, but here are some of the ways you can make a status meeting more productive and useful. The most important thing you can bring to a status meeting is a prepared agenda. The first step is to send out an email asking all the people scheduled to be at the meeting if they have specific topics that should be on the agenda. After you have gathered that information, you blend it with the topics that you were planning to discuss and send out an agenda a few days before the meeting. The second step in preparing an agenda is to time every item on it. Give a finite time that will be allowed for discussion of a single topic. The first time you do this, you will get some pushback from people who are used to rambling and taking time to "explore" topics. So your job at the first timed agenda meeting is to cut off discussion after the allotted time has passed. The best way to do this is to give a five-minute warning before the topic is supposed to end. That way, everyone on the team knows that you are watching the time. The first time you do this is often problematic for people not used to time control and the discipline it takes to make meetings effective. But I guarantee that after the people in the status review meetings realize that they will be saving large amounts of time, they will like the control factor. Not every stakeholder needs to be at every meeting. You may have weekly status meetings for the project core team and bring in other stakeholders only once a month. This helps speed up meetings and makes them effective at the same time.
The answer is A. Putting in times will help you get control of the meeting. According to PMBOK, the outputs from the project plan execution are work results and change requests. Work results are the "outcomes of the activities performed to accomplish the project." You hold your status meetings to discuss work results, and as usual, the work results are measured against the plan baseline. As the project manager, you will manage against the variances seen from the original plan. Change requests happen during the execution of the project. The changes can be requested on many different parts of the project plan, such as scope, costs, and schedule times. Change requests are natural, and your job as a project manager is to make sure that change requests are kept under control.
The answer is D. This definition comes directly from the PMBOK. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
EAN: 2147483647
Pages: 167