PMI SH Manage Project Issues

A project manager has just taken over an ongoing project. The previous project manager resigned from the organization. During a review of the project documentation, the project manager realizes there are major deviations in the procurement process used by the previous project manager to engage service providers currently working on the project.

What should the project manager do next?

• Call the previous project manager to understand the rationale for the abnormal procurement process.

• Contact the service providers to discuss the deviation and demand that they resolve the issue.

• Report the service providers and the previous project manager to the ethics committee of the organization.

• Flag the abnormal procurement process as a critical issue for the attention of senior management.

Answer explanation

The project manager should bring this issue to the attention of senior management because there are major process deviations that could have significant impacts. Organizations usually have rigorous policies and procedures associated with procurements. The discrepancy could have serious legal or regulatory consequences that must be addressed immediately. Before taking action the project manager should first notify senior management and allow them to determine an appropriate course of action.

Calling the previous project manager is not the best option because it does not address the core issue. Understanding the reasoning may be helpful, but the previous project manager no longer works for the organization and it may not be appropriate to contact them. Further, the previous project manager should have documented changes or deviations from the procurement management plan. 

Contacting the service provider may be helpful, but it does not resolve the issue and could potentially disrupt progress or negatively impact the business relationship.

Reporting the service provider and previous project manager to the ethics committee is not appropriate at this time and should only occur with there is evidence of ethical violations or misconduct.

While executing a critical iterative phase of a project, a problem previously identified as a risk just became a confirmed issue, which has halted progress. After entering the new item in the issue log, what should the project manager do next?

1. A.Increase communications and involve stakeholders in the resolution whenever necessary.

• Increase communications and involve stakeholders in the resolution whenever necessary.

• Change the communications management plan and assign ownership to a team member.

• Escalate the issue within the team during the next project retrospective meeting.

• Add the issue to the product backlog to bring it into focus during the current sprint.

Answer explanation

Effective issue management requires increased communication and should include stakeholders whenever necessary. All relevant stakeholders should be made aware of the issue and contribute to its resolution. 

The other options are incorrect because the project manager should involve stakeholders in the resolution as necessary. Updating the communication plan is incorrect because it may not be necessary once the issue is resolved. If progress is halted, the project manager cannot wait for the next retrospective meeting. In an agile environment, items from the backlog are not added to a current sprint once it has started.

Question

A team is working on a new project and the sponsor refuses to approve a budget increase needed for the current iteration. What should the project manager do to address this situation?

• Submit a change request to get formal approval for a budget increase.

• Work with the stakeholders to develop flexible budgeting approaches.

• Explain to the sponsor the risk of not having the budget approval.

• Spend the extra money and plan to compensate in the next sprint.

Answer explanation

The project sponsor refused to approve the budget, so the project manager should work with the stakeholders to develop flexible budgeting approaches for this iteration. This allows the project manager to explore budgeting strategies to accommodate specific project needs without requiring a budget increase. 

Submitting a change request is incorrect because it may not be feasible or effective because the sponsor has already decided not to approve the budget increase.

Explaining the risk of denying the increase may or may not be helpful, but it does not provide a solution to the problem. The increase could have been denied for any number of reasons and the sponsor may already be aware of the risks. The best course of action is to address concerns and explore resolutions.

Spending extra money is irresponsible and may have serious negative impacts on future iterations.

A customer requested a change in functionality for a product that will be delivered in the next sprint. The responsible specialist for this change is also assigned to a deliverable for another project. The project manager needs to negotiate the availability of the specialist.

Who is responsible for confirming the specialist's availability?

• Project Sponsor

• Functional Manager

• Product Owner

• Human resources Manager

Answer explanation

The project manager or project team should effectively negotiate and influence others who are in a position to provide the required team and physical resources for the project.

PMBoK Sixth Edition Chapter 9 States: "9.2.2.7 MEETINGS

The project manager may hold planning meetings with functional managers to estimate the resources needed per activity, level of effort (LoE), skill level of the team resources, and the quantity of the materials needed. Participants at these meetings may include the project manager, the project sponsor, selected project team members, selected stakeholders, and others as needed.

9.3.2.2 INTERPERSONAL AND TEAM SKILLS

Functional managers. Ensure that the project receives the best resources possible in the required timeframe and until their responsibilities are complete.

The project management team's ability to influence others plays an important role in negotiating resource allocation, as does the politics of the organizations involved. For example, convincing a functional manager about the high visibility of the project may influence him or her to assign the best resources to this project over competing ones.

The correct answer therefore is: "Functional Manager"

The Distractors are valid and accepted

A project manager is managing an agile project which has many risks identified in the risk register. The current sprint deals with a critical aspect of the project. During the iteration, an identified risk occurs which ceases project development. The project manager logs the risk occurrence.

What should the project manager do next?

• Raise the frequency of communications and leverage stakeholders to assist in resolving issues.

• Assign responsibility for the communication management plan to a senior team member.

• Invite the stakeholders to the next retrospective meeting and inform them of the issue.

• Delay development of the critical aspect to the next sprint and work on items currently in the backlog

Answer explanation

Effective issue management requires increased communication and should include stakeholders whenever necessary. If progress is halted, the project manager cannot wait for the next retrospective meeting. In agile, items from the backlog are not added to a current sprint once it has started.

A project is estimated to have a total of 250 story points. The team planned 40 story points for each iteration and delivered 40, 10, 20, and 15 story points in the first four iterations. 

What should the project manager do?

• Reassign undelivered tasks to team members to complete during the next iteration.

• Work with team members to adjust the planned story points for the next iterations.

• Remove the features that cannot be delivered from the product backlog and update the customer.

• Negotiate with the customer for an extension of the deliverables due to holiday schedules.

Answer explanation

The project manager should work with team members to adjust the planned story points for the next iterations. Based on the four iterations the team's average is 21 story points per iteration but the team planned 40 story points for each iteration. There is an inconsistency between initial estimations and actual performance. Hence, the project manager needs to be practical in planning the story points per iteration.
The other answer choices are incorrect. Reassigning undelivered tasks to team members to complete during the next iteration is wrong because the project manager does not assign tasks, the team is self-organizing. Removing features should be a last resort and should be done in collaboration with the customer. Negotiating an extension of the deliverables due to holiday schedules doesn't address the core problem.

Question

During the testing phase of a project, a team member finds that some requirements were not met. If the project now adds work to meet the requirements, it may cause a large time and cost overrun.

What should the project manager do first?

• Escalate the issue to top management.

• Perform an impact analysis.

• Call for a stakeholder meeting.

• Update the risk register.

Answer explanation

The project manager should first assess the impact of requirements not being met, and then decide on a course of action. It is too soon to notify management or call a stakeholder meeting; the impacts need to be assessed first, before "sounding the alarm." Likewise, the impact analysis would be an input into updating the risk register.

During project execution, an issue arises that requires additional budget and time to resolve the issue. The project team did not identify this issue as a risk during risk management planning. The project sponsor points out that this risk has occurred on past projects. 

What should the project manager have done to avoid this oversight?

• Reviewed the risk management plan.

• Confirmed organizational risk appetite.

• Reviewed the lessons learned register.

• Allocated additional contingency reserves.

Answer explanation

The project manager should have reviewed the lessons learned register as a resource to help identify threats. A lessons learned register is used to record knowledge gained during a project and identify potential improvements

The other options are incorrect because they are not relevant and do not address the issue of overseeing the risk. If the team had reviewed the lessons learned register as part of risk management planning, they would have been able to identify the missing risk and identify an appropriate risk response. The project manager could not have allocated additional contingency reserves because contingency reserves are set aside to implement a risk response or to respond to risk events should they occur. In this case, the risk was not identified and there is no response plan to address the issue.

During a product acceptance test for a software project, the project sponsor tells the project manager that the software will only pass if the theme color is changed from red to blue. The project manager reviewed the planning documents and confirmed that the theme color should be red. The sponsor insists that the color be changed to blue.

What should the project manager do next?

• Suggest that the project sponsor submit a formal change request to change the requirement for the theme.

• Tell the project sponsor to accept the theme because the contract clearly states it should be red.

• Agree with the project sponsor and change the theme color as requested to avoid potential conflict.

• Request that procurement change the theme color to blue to align with the project sponsor's expectations.

Answer explanation

The project manager should follow established procedures and suggest that the sponsor submit a change request. The color change will likely have widespread impacts that must be identified and analyzed. A formal change request is important in this situation because it will document any changes to the agreed parameters of the project, such as scope, requirements, schedule, cost, or quality. It will ensure that any changes are approved by all key stakeholders before they become part of the project. It will also assess the impact of any change on the project and its stakeholders, estimate the cost of any change, and manage the change process effectively and efficiently, avoiding delays and disputes.
The other options are incorrect.
Telling the sponsor to accept the theme color is inappropriate because it does not acknowledge the sponsor's request and is beyond the project manager's authority. 
Blindly making changes to avoid conflict, or requesting that procurement change the color, are not acceptable responses to the sponsor's request. The color change may not be feasible and may substantially impact the resources, schedule, and budget, and those impacts must be identified, understood, and accepted by stakeholders. 

A project manager has developed a project management plan based on agile methodologies in an effort to deliver the product quickly. However, the project is complex and the requirements are unclear, putting the schedule at risk.

What should the project manager do to get the project back on track?

• Rebaseline the schedule to accept additional expectations and potential delays.

• Review the product backlog with the product owner and team to resolve the status.

• Increase the number of standup meetings and implement daily status updates.

• Adjust the plan to employ more iterative and incremental life cycle features.

Answer explanation

Reviewing the product backlog with the product owner and team to resolve the status is correct because poorly understood or unclear requirements mean the backlog may be prioritized incorrectly causing delays. Some features may need to be split or other realigned. Having the product owner is key as they have approval for the backlog and influence business stakeholders if needed. The team on the other hand has the insight needed and the project manager can facilitate the right outcome.

The other answer choices are incorrect. Rebaselining the schedule to accept additional expectations and potential delays is incorrect because the root cause is not the schedule; it is rather a symptom of poor requirements and misaligned features. Increasing the number of standup meetings and implementing daily status updates is incorrect because this does not address the root cause of the issue as standups only look at progress and impediments within a 24-hour period, or the last standup if the interval is more. Adjusting the plan to employ more iterative and incremental life cycle features is incorrect because adjusting a plan to more iterative and incremental may only result in the same mistakes being made over and over at a higher frequency if the root cause is not addressed.