PMI SH - Execute Project With the Urgency Required to Deliver Bu

A project manager is on a mega industrial project. The project team is distributed throughout six different countries and time zones.

During a review meeting, it was noticed that important baselined milestone dates were missed.

What is the most likely reason for the missed deadlines?

• Lack of buy-in commitment

• Poor team communication

• Misunderstanding stakeholder expectations

• Stakeholders' expectation is set too high

Answer explanation

Solution: B. Poor team communication

Missing milestone dates is not due to stakeholders, but is directly incumbent on the project team. That makes team communication the most likely culprit.

A key stakeholder requests a change that will solve a critical issue that might affect continuity of operations. However, the project is nearing completion and the change would increase the overall project cost and delay the completion date.

What should the project manager do?

• Assign the decision regarding the critical nature of the change to a more knowledgeable stakeholder.

• Submit a change request to the change control board (CCB).

• Revise the work breakdown structure (WBS) and the project scope statement to include the change.

• Communicate the impact on the budget and schedule to the project sponsor.

Answer explanation

Solution: B. Submit a change request to the change control board (CCB)

The Project Management Plan defines how to handle changes, including submitting them to a change control board (CCB). The Project Manager must follow the defined procedure.

Assigning the decision to a more knowledgeable stakeholder as this change raised by the key stakeholder needs to be managed correctly via the change request process.

The Project Manager can't revise the WBS before the change request is approved to proceed.

Communicating the impact on the budget and schedule will be discussed after the change request is submitted.

A business manager and product owner are requesting a more flexible way to incorporate changes into the product backlog. They want to reduce go-to-market time in order to react to a competitor's release strategy.

What should the project manager do?

• Coach the product owner to prioritize product backlog items in accordance with business goals.

• Review the assumption log and the project management plan to identify potential changes.

• Establish a comprehensive change control process and select a change control board (CCB).

• Authorize all key stakeholders to make modifications in order to deliver the product faster.

Answer explanation

Solution: A. Coach the product owner to prioritize product backlog items in accordance with business goals.

The prioritization of the backlog items is the responsibility of the product owner. In markets where competitors are releasing new products frequently, the features planned for a new release may be updated in response. A competitor's release strategy can trigger a change in direction that requires the product owner to reprioritize the product backlog.

The other options are incorrect.

Reviewing the assumption log and the project management plan does not directly address the request to reduce go-to-market time.

Establishing a comprehensive change control process may not be necessary depending on the opportunity for change and the designated development approach.

Authorizing stakeholders to make modifications can lead to uncontrolled changes that might not align with the project's objectives or the business goals. 

A senior business stakeholder with many years of experience is pressuring an agile team to deliver most of the promised functionality to the customer 18 months in the future as opposed to multiple, incremental deliveries over the course of the 18 months. What should the project lead do next?

• Work with the agile team to schedule the incremental deliveries to enable delivery of business value sooner to the customer.

• Schedule meetings with the customer to determine their ability to support multiple incremental deliveries.

• Provide details of the concern to the agile team and adjust their goals and release plans to conform to the stakeholder's request.

• Work with the stakeholder to understand what the concerns are while, at the same time, conveying the benefits of incremental deliveries.

Answer explanation

Solution: D. Work with the stakeholder to understand what the concerns are while, at the same time, conveying the benefits of incremental deliveries.

The project lead will need to understand the reasons why one of the senior business stakeholder is pressuring for delivery 18 months in the future . At the same time, the Project lead will need to impress upon on the benefits of incremental delivery and also stress that incremental delivery is a fundamental aspect of agile delivery.. Hence this option is correct.

The project lead should not proceed with scheduling incremental deliveries especially when there is resistance from one of the senior stakeholder. Hence this option is incorrect.

Scheduling meetings with customer is also detrimental without having an internal consensus from all stakeholders on the delivery. Hence this option is also incorrect.

The project lead cannot adjust to goals and release plans without consensus from the entire team. Hence this option is incorrect.

A demanding project stakeholder insists that an additional feature be added to a project product without changing the scope, budget, or schedule. The project manager allows this feature to be included since it adds great value to the end product. However, the project manager discovers that adding this feature has lengthened the project schedule and increased project costs.
Which process should the project manager have followed before including the additional product feature?

• Change control

• Schedule planning

• Procurement planning

• Quality audit

Answer explanation

Solution: A. Change control

 Any change requests should be accompanied by an evaluation of any new risks that are introduced as well as changes in scope, budget, or schedule. All changes must be evaluated for the potential value they bring to the project and the potential resources, time, and budget needed to realize the potential value. The project manager should work with the change control board and the demanding stakeholder to guide change requests through the change control process. Approved changes are integrated into the applicable project planning documents, product backlog, project scope, etc. 

The other options are incorrect because they do not provide a comprehensive assessment of the full impact of the additional feature. The change control process would encompass all project aspects, allowing the project manager to identify areas that would be impacted. Had the project manager performed a holistic review of the potential impacts of adding the feature, they would have discovered that the scope and budget would be impacted. 

A customer's requested design change is approved by the change control board (CCB). The project manager then discovers that the change will cause a three-month project delay.

What should the project manager have done to avoid this?

• Increased the authorized budget, and requested additional resources

• Redefined the project scope to include the new design

• Fast tracked and crashed the schedule

• Thoroughly assessed the request in accordance with the risk management plan

Answer explanation

Solution: D. Thoroughly assessed the request in accordance with the risk management plan

PMBoK Sixth Edition Chapter 4 and 11 state: "Risk management plan. Described in Section 11.1.3.1. The risk management plan provides information on risk-related roles and responsibilities, indicates how risk management activities are included in the budget and schedule, and describes categories of risk, which may be expressed as a risk breakdown structure,

4.6.2.5 MEETINGS

Change control meetings are held with a change control board (CCB) that is responsible for meeting and reviewing the change requests and approving, rejecting, or deferring change requests. Most changes will have some sort of impact on time, cost, resources, or risks. Assessing the impact of the changes is an essential part of the meeting. Alternatives to the requested changes may also be discussed and proposed. Finally, the decision is communicated to the request owner or group.

The CCB may also review configuration management activities. The roles and responsibilities of these boards are clearly defined and agreed upon by the appropriate stakeholders and are documented in the change management plan. CCB decisions are documented and communicated to the stakeholders for information and follow-up actions.

4.6.3 PERFORM INTEGRATED CHANGE CONTROL: OUTPUTS

4.6.3.1 APPROVED CHANGE REQUESTS

Change requests (described in Section 4.3.3.4) are processed according to the change management plan by the project manager, CCB, or an assigned team member. As a result, changes may be approved, deferred, or rejected. Approved change requests will be implemented through the Direct and Manage Project Work process. Deferred or rejected change requests are communicated to the person or group requesting the change.

The disposition of all change requests are recorded in the change log as a project document update"

The correct answer is: "Thoroughly assessed the request in accordance with the risk management plan"

The distractors are valid

A project manager is leading a large business transformation project that involves the entire organization. The project manager is working on the communications management plan.

Which two elements should the project manager consider while planning communications?

(Choose 2).

• Key messages

• Objectives and values

• Collecting feedback

• Multiple communication channels

• Best communication channel

Answer explanation

Solution: A and D. Key messages and Multiple communication channels

The project manager should focus on key messages and the use of multiple communication channels while planning communications for the transformation.

The other answer choices are incorrect. The organization's objectives and values will not be included because they may change after the transformation of the entire organization. Collecting feedback is already a part of the project plan and has been well considered in advance. The project manager should aim to use all communication channels and should avoid narrowing usage down to a single "best" option.

A company's leadership team has decided to invest in a new product using an agile approach. The commercial and product teams have started the planning activity for this new venture.

Which three key factors does the project manager need in order to deliver this product?

(Choose 3)

• Product vision

• Product roadmap

• High-level product backlog

• Key performance indicators (KPIs)

• Schedule performance indexes (SPIs)

Answer explanation

Solution: A, B and C. Product vision, Product roadmap and High-level product backlog.

The goals of product-level planning (which I also refer to as envisioning) are to capture the essence of a potential product and to create a rough plan for the creation of that product. This allows the product team to evaluate and deliver project benefits and value. The output of this activity are:

1. Product Vision

2. Product Roadmap

3. High Level Product backlog

During project implementation, an issue arises that requires the execution of the project's contingency plan, which will impact the project schedule. What should the project manager do?

• Initiate a risk audit.

• Issue a change request.

• Review the cost impact.

• Update the contingency plan.

Answer explanation

Solution: B. Issue a change request

Issuing a change request is the formal process for enacting changes on an established project. If there are challenges that could impact the project schedule and budget, issuing a change request can help formalize the need for changes to the project plan, including adjustments to the schedule and budget. A change request will formally document and manage the change and help ensure that the project remains on track and that all stakeholders are aware of the changes.
The other options are incorrect because they are not the best course of action in this situation. While other actions like risk audits, cost impact reviews, and contingency plan updates may follow, issuing a change request is the initial step in managing the change effectively within a project.
Initiating a risk audit is incorrect because risk audits are not the immediate response to an issue that has already occurred. A risk audit is more appropriate for a proactive assessment of the project's risks rather than for responding to an issue that has already arisen.
Reviewing the cost impact is incorrect because it should be done after the change request has been issued and the impacts of the issues are assessed.
Updating the contingency plan is incorrect because it should be done after the change request has been approved and the changes to the project have been implemented.

A project manager is assigned to redesign a store's point-of-sale system. The team is currently testing the new functionality when a key stakeholder proposes a change. The change can bring a significant benefit and increase customer satisfaction, but it also requires more resources.

What actions should the project manager take?

• Stop the testing and schedule a meeting to review the proposed changes with the resources.

• Complete testing while the project manager meets with the key stakeholder to review the proposed changes.

• Document the proposed changes and assess any impact on time, cost, and resources.

• Postpone the proposed changes and allow the team to complete the testing and implementation activities.

Answer explanation

Solution: C. Document the proposed changes and assess any impact on time, cost, and resources.
The project manager should document the proposed changes and assess any impact on time, cost, and resources. This will help the project manager and stakeholders understand the potential implications of the proposed changes and make informed decisions about how to proceed. It is important to consider the potential benefits of the proposed changes, but also to weigh them against the additional resources required. 
The other answer choices are incorrect because an impact assessment must be conducted and communicated prior to making decisions and taking action. Once the impact has been assessed, the project manager can then determine the best course of action, which may include stopping testing and scheduling a meeting to review the proposed changes with the resources, completing testing while meeting with the key stakeholder, or postponing the proposed changes and allowing the team to complete the testing and implementation activities.