PMI SH Plan and Manage Scope

Question

During acceptance testing of a deliverable, some senior stakeholders complain that a feature essential to their department was not included. What should the project manager have done to prevent this?

• Consulted lessons learned from similar projects to adapt processes

• Prepared a change management plan and logged changes during project implementation

• Analyzed the project charter and developed a scope management plan

• Prepared a prototype and conducted a product demo with stakeholders

Answer explanation

Analyzed the project charter and developed a scope management plan is correct, because the question is about what Project Manager should have done to prevent this situation. The scope management plan is a component of the project or program management plan that describes how the scope will be defined, developed, monitored, controlled, and verified.

The remaining options are not correct for the reasons explained below

• Consulted ... appears to be close but it is a distractor because lessons learned provides an insight of how other projects were executed in general

• Prepared a change.... is the next step but not what should have been done to prevent this situation

• Prepared a Prototype.... is on the basis of Scope and Requirements which is part of Scope Management plan

A project manager is involved in a project where requirements are constantly evolving.

What should the project manager do to achieve success?

• Provide regular updates and request deliverable-based approvals from the product owner.

• Work with the team to ensure they are on track and delivering on schedule.

• Maintain a comfortable working atmosphere to improve team cohesion.

• Ensure documentation and processes are filed appropriately and update the product owner.

Answer explanation

The project manager is dealing with a project with an evolving scope. Such projects require the project manager to engage constantly with the product owner for feedback and sign off on project deliverables.

The other answer choices are incorrect. They are all proper PM processes, however they don't focus on the evolving scope in the question.

Question

A new product was accepted by the customer, but after two weeks the project manager received a complaint from the customer saying that the product's functionality requirements were not met.

What should the project manager do first?

• Escalate the issue to the project sponsor.

• Review the scope validation process.

• Schedule an inspection of the product.

• Validate the scope with the customer.

Answer explanation

The scope validation process is intended to confirm that a product meets the needs of the customer and other identified stakeholders. The customer reviews the criteria required to be met before they accept the deliverable. If the customer is complaining that the product functionality requirements were not met, it suggests that there are issues with the scope validation process. The project manager should review the scope validation process to identify the root cause of the discrepancy and ways to address it.
The other options are incorrect.
Validating the scope with the customer occurs before they accept the product, so it should have been done already.
Inspecting the production may be necessary in the future, but it is too early to determine if it is needed. 
Escalating the issue to the project sponsor should only be done after the project manager determines the root cause of the problem. 

Question

A project team completes the identification of project and product requirements. Which of the following were used to accomplish this?

• Benchmarking, network diagram, and trend analysis

• Work breakdown structure (WBS), trend analysis, and observation/conversation

• Brainstorming, affinity diagrams, and mind mapping

• Affinity diagrams, benchmarking, and observation/conversation

Answer explanation

PMBoK Sixth Edition Chapter 4 states: "EXECUTING PROCESS GROUP

The Executing Process Group consists of those processes performed to complete the work defined in the project management plan to satisfy the project requirements. This Process Group involves coordinating resources, managing stakeholder engagement, and integrating and performing the activities of the project in accordance with the project management plan. The key benefit of this Process Group is that the work needed to meet the project requirements and objectives is performed according to plan. A large portion of the project budget, resources, and time is expended in performing the Executing Process Group processes. The processes in the Executing Process Group may generate change requests. If approved, the change requests may trigger one or more planning processes that result in a modified management plan, project documents, and possibly new baselines. The Executing Process Group includes the project management processes identified

Question

A project team discovers an opportunity to enhance software without impacting the budget or schedule. The team makes the enhancement without proper documentation, which later causes production issues.

What process should have been conducted to prevent this?

• Control Schedule

• Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis

• Plan Scope Management

• Perform Integrated Change Control

Answer explanation

As per PMBoK Sixth Edition Chapter 5 states: "

The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group consists of those processes required to track, review, and regulate the progress and performance of the project; identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding changes. Monitoring is collecting project performance data, producing performance measures, and reporting and disseminating performance information. Controlling is comparing actual performance with planned performance, analyzing variances, assessing trends to effect process improvements, evaluating possible alternatives, and recommending appropriate corrective action as needed. The key benefit of this Process Group is that project performance is measured and analyzed at regular intervals, appropriate events, or when exception conditions occur in order to identify and correct variances from the project management plan. The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group also involves:

Evaluating change requests and deciding on the appropriate response;

Recommending corrective or preventive action in anticipation of possible problems;

Monitoring the ongoing project activities against the project management plan and project baselines; and

Influencing the factors that could circumvent the change control process so only approved changes are implemented.

Continuous monitoring provides the project team and other stakeholders with insight into the status of the project and identifies any areas that require additional attention. The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group monitors and controls the work being done within each Knowledge Area, each Process Group, each life cycle phase, and the project as a whole. The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group includes the project management processes identified in Sections 5.1 through 5.12"

The Project Team cannot make "Changes - Enhancements or otherwise" with performing Integrated Change Control. Documentation is a must.

The "Distractors" are correct as they not relevant but are able to distract for the correct answer "Perform Integrated Change Control"

A project manager is working on a new software development project and has met with the customer to discuss their requirements. The customer has provided the project manager with a list of requirements, but did not differentiate the technical requirements from the customer requirements.

Which of the following requirements should the project manager classify as a customer requirement?

• The software should be able to process 1000 transactions per second.

• The software should use a secure database encryption algorithm.

• The software should be able to run on a variety of operating systems.

• The software should be easy to use and navigate.

Answer explanation

Customer requirements refer to the specifications or features of a product or service deemed necessary by customers that must be completed (developed and tested) for the project to be completed. They are more general and describe what the customer wants the product or service to do. They are typically expressed in the customer's own words and may not be specific enough to be implemented and tested. It is important to note that customer requirements are the starting point for technical requirements. The project team needs to work with the customer to understand their requirements and then translate those requirements into more specific technical requirements that can be implemented.

The other answer choices are incorrect because they are classified as technical requirements. They are specific enough to be implemented and tested. They describe what the software should do, how it should behave, and the desired quality attributes it should have.

The sponsor of a hybrid project wants to see a more detailed breakdown in the project charter, not just the milestones. The project manager informs the sponsor that preparing the breakdown will require two more iterations.

Why is this additional time required?

• The milestone schedule was prepared based on the project manager's experience only.

• The steering committee has to review and approve the schedule first.

• Scope in the charter should be approved before detail planning with the team can occur.

• Schedule details are only planned one iteration in advance in a hybrid approach.

Answer explanation

Project Charter scope needs to be agreed on by the sponsor before the team starts detailed planning.

The other answer choices are incorrect because they are not relevant as the ask is about detail planning and not on a milestone schedule.

A project manager learns that a few stakeholders have a disagreement regarding the results of one project deliverable.

What is the next step the project manager should take?

• Review and analyze the project requirements document.

• Review the approved version of a scope statement.

• Organize a meeting with the stakeholders.

• Modernize documented project risks and their responses.

Answer explanation

The best next step for the project manager is to organize a meeting with the stakeholders. This will allow the project manager to discuss the discrepancy with the stakeholders and to try to reach an agreement. 

The other answer choices are incorrect because they are not the best next step. Reviewing, analyzing, and modernizing documents can happen during or after the meeting, but it is important to meet with the stakeholders right away to understand their differences and create harmony. 

Question

A transportation company is transforming its operational processes and the main system this company uses to move freight. The scope statement is in place. An iterative delivery approach has been agreed by all stakeholders.

What does the project manager need to do next to help the team understand the work that needs to be done?

• Start working on the project management plan with work packages, a detailed schedule, and work assignments for team members.

• Work directly with stakeholders on the work breakdown structure (WBS) and assign tasks with a required timeline for each team member to start the work.

• Work with the team to decompose the scope into a WBS and work packages in order to create required deliverables and timelines.

• Create the requirements management plan to outline how project requirements will be collected, analyzed, and documented, and then assign requirements to team members.

Answer explanation

To understand the work, the scope needs to be decomposed into a work breakdown structure with specific work packages included. Then the detailed requirements documentation is completed based on the agreed scope and the WBS.

Without the detailed scope statement, it is not possible to proceed with creating a detailed schedule or work assignments . Hence all the remaining options are incorrect.

During testing of a project component, a senior tester discovers a functionality that will ensure the future performance of the project's solution. This will create a change in scope.

Which type of change request should be made to include this functionality?

• Preventive action

• Corrective action

• Defect repair

• Scope update

Answer explanation

PMBoK Sixth Edition Chapter 8 Section 8.2.2.5 states: "AUDITS

An audit is a structured, independent process used to determine if project activities comply with organizational and project policies, processes, and procedures. A quality audit is usually conducted by a team external to the project, such as the organization's internal audit department, PMO, or by an auditor external to the organization. Quality audit objectives may include but are not limited to:

• Identifying all good and best practices being implemented;

• Identifying all nonconformity, gaps, and shortcomings;

• Sharing good practices introduced or implemented in similar projects in the organization and/or industry;

• Proactively offering assistance in a positive manner to improve the implementation of processes to help raise team productivity; and

• Highlighting contributions of each audit in the lessons learned repository of the organization.

The subsequent effort to correct any deficiencies should result in a reduced cost of quality and an increase in sponsor or customer acceptance of the project's product. Quality audits may be scheduled or random, and may be conducted by internal or external auditors.

Quality audits can confirm the implementation of approved change requests including updates, corrective actions, defect repairs, and preventive actions"

The correct answer is: "Preventive Action"

The distractors are correct