All Project Management Institute (PMI)® exams have the same format. A question/situation with four options. Chose the best of what’s there. All the answers can be right, all can be wrong, or some combination. You select the best of what’s there. This is what starts the process of driving some people crazy regarding this exam.
For example:
- You are the project manager on a project. It has been discovered that testing will begin a week late. Which is the best solution?
(A) Perform analysis about the delay and if it indeed will not impact the scope, schedule, or cost of the project, approve it and keep the project running
(B) Ask senior management to choose the solution
(C) Ignore the testing issue because that part of the project hasn’t come up yet
(D) Ask the sponsor for an opinion about converging system testing and user acceptance testing
Correct Answer: (A) Perform analysis about the delay and if it indeed will not impact the scope, time, or cost of the project, approve it and keep the project running
Logic: When a problem arises and it doesn’t violate the triple constraint, the project manager has the authority to approve a solution.
- You are the manager of the project. It has bY2. You are the project manager of the project. It has been discovered that testing will begin a week late, causing the project finish date to slip a week. Which is the best solution?
(A) Perform analysis about the week delay and if it will not impact the scope, schedule, or cost of the project, approve it and keep the project running
(B) After analyzing the problem and potential solutions, alert senior management to the problem and potential solutions, and implement the solution they recommend
(C) Ignore the testing issue; that part of the project hasn’t come up yet
(D) Ask the sponsor for an opinion about converging system testing and user acceptance testing
Correct Answer: (B) After analyzing the problem and potential solutions, alert senior management to the problem and potential solutions, and implement the solution they recommend
Logic: When a problem arises and it does violate the triple constraint, senior management or the sponsor must approve the solution. Typically, the project manager would not go to senior management or the sponsor for problem resolution without first having potential solutions to present.
- You are a manager for a project awaiting some new positions to be filled. The schedule is already set to include the work of these new resources. The start date of these resources has passed without hearing back from the client on signing approval for these new resources. Who can best resolve this problem?
(A) Senior management
(B) Project manager
(C) Sales executive
(D) Program manager
Correct Answer: (A) Senior management
Logic: When the customer won’t sign off or a similar situation arises, the key solution is to involve senior management. Your role is to inform the client that they must approve something. If they don’t approve, you do not pursue the issue; instead, you involve senior management.
- The project is not progressing well. It is behind schedule 4. The project is not progressing well. It is behind schedule and over budget. The project manager has determined that the schedule was created without adequate team input and needs to be recreated. Reworking the schedule could effect the overall project finish date. Who can best address the schedule problem?
(A) The project manager because the project manager needs to put together a new schedule for approval by senior management
(B) Senior management because senior management needs to approve a violation of the triple constraint
(C) Functional manager because the functional manager is in control of the resources on the schedule
(D) Team member(s) because team members have input to the schedule
Correct Answer: (A) The project manager because the project manager needs to put together a new schedule for approval by senior management
Logic:Generally, the project manager does not go to senior management with a problem without first having potential solutions. (The previous rule was an exception.) Going to senior management without a solution is like screaming that the sky is falling. Remember, they hired you to get the work of the project complete, and you are to work through issues instead of running to senior management all the time.
- The project is behind schedule because the key estimator wasn’t available when the schedule was created. Senior management is aware of this and has allowed the project manager to re-baseline the schedule. What process will fix this problem?
(A) Develop schedule
(B) Sequence activities
(C) Work breakdown structure
(D) Control schedule
Correct Answer: (D) Control schedule
Logic: When asked what would fix a problem, examine the problem and select the answer that will resolve it.
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