Quiz 1: Terms and Process Groups

Multiple Choice

The team is working with the executive management of the company to implement a few new projects and programs to increase revenue by over 50% within the next 3 years. What is the team trying to develop?  

• Long Term Program

• Multi Project Program

• Portfolio

• Long Term Project

A portfolio is a collection of projects and programs implemented to achieve a strategic (long-term) business goal. All the other choices are made up.

Multiple Choice

As the project team is collecting the new project’s requirements, the organization’s legal department has informed them of a new law that could affect the project. The team determined that it is mandatory to implement this new law in the project. What is this called?

• Regulation

• Standard

• Baseline

• System

A regulation is an official guideline that must be followed by the project, usually imposed by local or national law. A standard is a guideline that should be followed, but is not mandatory. A baseline is used to measure the performance of the project, such as cost, schedule, and scope. A system is a set of processes and procedures that a company will implement to manage something, such as accounting procedures to invoice customers.

Multiple Choice

Peter is working on a project that he knows little about. He was assigned by the project management office (PMO) and they have almost complete control over the project. What type of PMO best describes this scenario?    

• Controlling

• Directive

• Supportive

• Guiding

• Supportive: Supports the project manager, such as providing templates, training, or lessons learned form other projects.

• Controlling: Determines the framework or methodology and use of specific forms

• Directive: Controls the project. PM will be assigned and report to the PMO.

Multiple Choice

Mary’s new project staff are some of the best talents in the company. The team members will use their own methodologies and prefer to be in control of the project; they would only like to be provided templates and lessons learned from other projects. What type of PMO would be best for this project?

• Controlling

• Directive

• Supportive

• Managing

In a directive PMO, the office takes control of the project by managing the projects and assigning the project manager. Controlling PMOs control the way the project is done by providing templates and frameworks. Supportive PMOs have a low degree of control on the project. “Guiding” is not a type of PMO.

Multiple Choice

Pat is working in an organization where she does project management full time. However, she still needs to consults with functional managers in order to acquire her project team. What organizational structure type best describes this situation?

• Functional

• Weak Matrix

• Project Oriented

• Strong Matrix

Multiple Choice

Ian has been working on an office remodel project for close to 6 months. He feels like the project is going poorly due to a lack of resources from the functional managers and his lack of time to work on the project. Ian spends most of him day doing operational work. What organizational structure best describes this? 

• PMO

• Weak Matrix

• Project Oriented

• Strong Matrix

Multiple Choice

ABX Shipping is a large global company with many departments, some of which are have part-time project management and others, such as research and development, where it is full time. Where the project managers work determines their control over resources. What organizational structure best describes this organization?

• Mixed

• Multinational

• Project Oriented

• Hybrid

In a hybrid, the company uses multiple types of structures, such as functional and project-oriented.

Project-oriented requires project managers to be full time and have control over resources.

Multiple Choice

Mark has just started a new job as a project coordinator for a company. He will be working with a group to develop their new website. Mark finds working on this project to be difficult due to always needing the company owner’s approval for budget matters. He also has very few resources to work with because the company is very small. What organizational structure best describes this scenario?  

• Organic

• Owner Functional

• Shareholder Functional

• Weak Matrix

In an organic or simple structure, the owner controls the budget, and there are few to no resources.

A weak matrix would have a functional manager to control the budget.

Multiple Choice

Mark has just started working for a company that has little to no project management framework or functions. He notices that most people manage projects on their own with no oversight or established processes. Mark has spoken the CEO and they have decided to change this. What is this organization lacking? 

• Governance

• Certified Project Managers

• Functional Management

• Strong Functional Management

Project governance refers to the framework, functions, and processes that guide a company to create a project. The other choices are made up.

Multiple Choice

Project management and operations management are sometimes managed by the same set of people. What is one of the key differences between project and operations management? 

• Operations Management is Temporary and Project Management is Ongoing

• Project Management is Temporary and Operations Management is Ongoing

• Project Management is Done by a Certified Project Manager

• None: Operations and Project Management are the Same

Project management is a temporary endeavor, while operations management is ongoing and never stops. A project manager does not necessarily need to be certified.

Multiple Choice

Mark has gotten a new job at a company that is about to create a new product. This new product will be a very complex software that may take years to create and have many different groups of people. Mark has decided to break up this complex project into smaller subprojects and manage them individually. What is Mark managing? 

• Portfolio

• Project

• Program

• Operations

A program is a group of related projects that are managed in coordination to obtain the benefits of not managing them individually. A portfolio is a collection of projects, programs, and other portfolios. A project is a single temporary endeavor to create a unique product, service, or other result.

Multiple Choice

Many organizations have different strategic goals. Which of the following helps an organization attain these goals?  

• Project

• Program

• Operation

• Portfolio

Multiple Choice

Mary has just completed one of the most important deliverables of the project. She meets with the organization’s senior management, and they have not determined if the project should continue or not, as the current deliverable may be all they need. What would best describe this review?

• Phase Gate

• Kickoff Meeting

• Project review Meeting

• Project Closure Review

A phase gate is done at the end of a phase, deciding whether to continue to the next phase or not. A kickoff meeting is generally done at the end of planning and sometimes at the end of the project’s initiated sections in order to start the next section. Answers C and D do not exist.

Multiple Choice

What best describes an area of project management where the project manager will work with the project team in order to complete the project work?  

• Initiating

• Planning

• Executing

• Closing

“Executing” is the process group where the project manager acquires both the physical and human resources to complete the project work. The main output of execution is the project deliverables (work). “Initiating” is used to authorize the project, and “planning” is used to determine the course of action needed to build the deliverables. “Closing” is used to review the project and transition the deliverables to the customer or sponsor.

Multiple Choice

Project manager Bill has started planning his project and will gather all requirements from his customers, then build the project deliverable in its entirety. Bill will generally not get any input from the customer while the product is being made, and the customer will only review it at the end. What life cycle best describes Bill’s project?  

• Predictive

• Incremental

• Iterative

• Adaptive

A predictive life cycle is when the project scope is known early in the project. For Bill to create the deliverable in its entirety without any feedback from the customer, he will have gathered the scope in its entirety before executing the project. All other choices are adaptive and used in projects when the deliverable is built in increments, with continuous customer feedback.

Multiple Choice

Mary has just been awarded a new product development project. After speaking with some of the customers, it seems that they do not know how they would like the product to look and feel. They would like to be more involved in the product development and give Mary continuous feedback. What project life cycle would best fit this project? 

• Predictive

• Waterfall

• Incremental

• Non-Predictive

In an incremental life cycle, the deliverable is built in a series of iterations with continuous feedback from project stakeholders. “Predictive” or “waterfall” are the same thing, and are only used when the scope is known early in the project. “Non-predictive” does not exist.

Multiple Choice

One phase of the project has been completed, and the stakeholders are very happy with the transition of the project deliverable. What would be the next best step on this project?

• Kickoff Meeting

• Start a New Phase

• Archive Project Records

• Conduct a Phase Review

When a project is completed, the project stakeholders should conduct a phase gate or phase review to determine whether to continue the project or end it. You should not start a phase if you have not reviewed the previously finished phase. Archive project records would have been done in the phase that was just completed. A kickoff meeting is used at the end of the planning or initiating a section of the project in order to start the next section.