PMI SH - Plan and Manage Schedule

An information technology (IT) project manager was assigned a new team for a software development project in an agile environment. The project manager estimates that the project will take a certain number of days based on past experience in another organization.

How should the project manager validate this assumption and properly plan and manage the project schedule?

• Conduct a survey in the organization and generate data to validate claims.

• Estimate based on sprint review meetings and stakeholder input.

• Study previous sprint planning meetings and the organization's project culture.

• Ask the team members to estimate the number of story points and observe team velocity.

Answer explanation

Solution: D. Ask the team members to estimate the number of story points and observe team velocity.

When a new team starts working, it is best they estimate with story points and as they make progress through the user stories of a project, their velocity becomes apparent over the first few iterations. The beauty of a points-based approach to estimating is that planning errors are self-correcting because of the application of velocity.

The other answer choices are incorrect. They are not consistent with the agile approach of estimating story point velocity and completion time. They also do not address the synergy within the new team.

A product owner has requested to incorporate embedded functionality for the patient portal in the next sprint. The team decided to perform an Affinity Estimation session to define how much value will be delivered.

Which role is responsible to facilitate the session?

• Product Owner

• Scrum Master

• Developer

• Stakeholder

Answer explanation

Solution: B. Scrum Master

The Scrum Master is the facilitator for all Scrum ceremonies, including estimation events.

A project team is working on determining the dependencies for activities for an ongoing project. What action should the project team take first to manage dependencies successfully?

• Monitor and track the dependencies.

• Communicate the dependencies to the sponsor.

• Assess and document the dependencies.

• Appoint project schedulers for all tasks.

Answer explanation

Solution: C. Assess and document the dependencies

Assess and document the dependencies is the correct answer as the project team reviews and updates the activities' dependencies list throughout the project.

Monitor and track the dependencies and Communicate the dependencies to the sponsor. are incorrect as these are later activities after determining the dependencies first.

Appoint project schedulers for all tasks is incorrect as this is a project team task in question.

In a project where a third-party provider is implementing a custom solution, the project manager must ensure that the local team will have the capacity to support the solution.

What should the project manager do to ensure that the local team can support the solution?

• Delegate the responsibility of supporting the custom solution to the third-party provider.

• Conduct comprehensive training sessions for the local team on the new solution.

• Reduce the responsibilities of the local team to minimize the need for support.

• Hire additional personnel to provide ongoing support for the local team.

Answer explanation

Solution: B. Conduct comprehensive training sessions for the local team on the new solution.

It is important to make sure project team members understand and fulfill their roles and responsibilities by identifying gaps in knowledge and skills and developing strategies to address those gaps through training. Training the local team on the new solution will ensure that they have the capacity to support it and are not dependent on outside resources. This will ensure that the local team has the skills and knowledge they need to support the custom solution in the long term.

The other options are incorrect.

Delegating responsibility to a third-party provider is not a comprehensive solution and makes the local team dependent on a third-party vendor, which can lead to a number of issues down the road.

Reducing the responsibilities of the local team is not an effective solution as it limits their capabilities and could cause future complications. 

Hiring additional personnel may not be feasible and there is no guarantee that the additional personnel will have the capacity to support the solution.

An agile team has been struggling to keep up with the planned pace, which is frequently resulting in sprint failures. What should the project manager do to help avoid this situation in the future?

• Ask the project sponsor to approve overtime to compensate for the lack of performance while adjusting the plan.

• Review the velocity of the team over the last several sprints and adjust the plan accordingly.

• Replace junior team members with more experienced ones, and negotiate the project scope to compensate for the budget gap.

• Switch to a Kanban approach to have better control on the planned pace by limiting work in progress.

Answer explanation

Solution: B. Review the velocity of the team over the last several sprints and adjust the plan accordingly

The best indicator of team capacity is the velocity metric and the delivery plan should take that in account prior to any solid commitment

During the planning phase, a project manager is creating the project schedule. The designated project team is finishing an unrelated project, so temporary resources are assigned to assist with planning and task duration estimation. The project team will replace the temporary resources prior to starting the project.

What should the project manager do before the project schedule is finalized?

• Review the estimates with the designated team.

• Check the task durations of previous projects.

• Update duration estimation in the risk register.

• Request approval from the project sponsor.

Answer explanation

Solution: A. Review the estimates with the designated team.

It's crucial to ensure that task duration estimates are as accurate as possible. The project manager should review the estimates with the designated project team to align expectations, identify discrepancies, and allow necessary adjustments before the project schedule is finalized. By reviewing the estimates with the actual team, the project manager can ensure that the project schedule is realistic and achievable. 

The other options are not as effective.

Checking task durations for previous projects may not be helpful because every project is different and may have different challenges and constraints. 

Updating the risk register is typically done as part of risk management, not specifically during the scheduling phase. Without confirming realistic estimates, the risk register may not accurately reflect risks. 

Requesting approval from the project sponsor should be done after the project schedule has been finalized. The project sponsor may not have the same level of technical expertise as the actual team, so they may not be able to accurately assess the feasibility of the task duration estimates.

A member of a project team at a standup proposes altering a feature due to its popularity in the market. A different team member counters and is concerned about quality user experience regarding the feature.

How can the project manager correct this issue?

• Present the product owner the option to place the request in the product backlog by giving the product owner suggestions.

• Utilize a voting system and allow the team to decide which of the features’ version to apply.

• Place the issue in the backlog of the sprint and allow the project team to decide at the next meeting.

• Arrange a meeting to make a definitive decision that includes all stakeholders and the project team.

Answer explanation

Solution: A. Present the product owner the option to place the request in the product backlog by giving the product owner suggestions

The project manager can correct this issue by present the product owner the option to place the request in the product backlog and providing suggestions. It is up to the product owner to decide if the feature will add value.

The other answer choices are incorrect. These options are internal to the project team but the product owner is accountable for the product.

In an industrial plant, the owner has decided to add more capacity to the plant by installing a new machine and updating the software used in production. This capacity enlargement will occur while the plant is still functioning and producing. The software update will be accomplished using an agile approach in order to minimize risk.

The machine procurement, installation, and integration will be accomplished using predictive approaches.

What types of communications will the project manager have to design into the schedule management plan to ensure the project will be on schedule?

• Weekly colocated meetings with the relevant stakeholders

• Biweekly written status reports from the relevant stakeholders

• Weekly one-on-one meetings with each of the relevant stakeholders

• Biweekly conference calls with the relevant stakeholders

Answer explanation

Solution: A. Weekly colocated meetings with the relevant stakeholders

As far as possible, conducting the Colocation meetings are the best form of communications. Hence it is the correct answer.

one-on-one meetings are done when the team member has difficulty in expressing any concerns in public to the Project Manager. Hence this option is incorrect.

Biweekly written status reports are more of formal communication means and is not the correct answer.

Bi-weekly conference calls is not the best means of communication, if there is a facility for collocated meetings. Hence this option is not the preferred choice.