Process Domain - Topic A & B

Doug wants to ensure that his stakeholders are always referencing the most up to date project artifacts. To accomplish this, he has documented version controls and policies for project documents and artifacts. Where would Doug note this information?

• Requirements management plan

• Lessons learned document

• Issue log

• Configuration management plan

Answer explanation

Doug should note this in the configuration management plan. The purpose of the configuration management plan is to establish policies around naming conventions and versioning control. Neither the lessons learned document, requirements management plan, nor the issue log set the standard for version control or naming conventions. 

Ryan is a Project Manager of a Software development project that involves substantial amount of research and development.

Which development approach is most suited here?

Select the best two options.

• Predictive

• Iterative and Incremental

• Hybrid

• Agile

Answer explanation

Answer – B,D.

The Agile approach is both Iterative and incremental. It works well for projects that:

Require research and development.

Have high rates of change.

Have unclear or unknown requirements.

Have a final goal that is hard to describe.

By building a small increment and then testing and reviewing it, the team can explore uncertainty at a low cost in a short time that helps in risk reduction and maximize business value delivery.

Here, as per the situation stated in the question, options B and D are the best choices.

Agile Practice Guide - Project Management Institute Inc., 2017, Page(s) – 16.

At what point in an agile project should a project manager engage stakeholders?

• When challenges are encountered in the project

• Throughout the project life cycle

• At the end of the project

• At the start of the project

Answer explanation

Project managers should actively engage stakeholders throughout the agile project lifecycle. Stakeholders should be engaged at the start and end of a project and aware of issues and challenges encountered during the project.

The other answer choices are incorrect. These options suggest that stakeholders should only be involved during a certain part of the project instead of throughout the project lifecycle.

The correct answer(s)

Throughout the project life cycle

References

2021 PMP Examination Content Outline - Domain 2 (Process), "Task 04: Engage stakeholders"

The iterative process of increasing the level of detail in a project management plan as greater amounts of information and more accurate estimates become available is termed as :-

• Rolling wave planning

• Progressive Elaboration

• Planning package

• Agile Release Planning

Answer explanation

(PMBOK Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute Inc., 2017, Page(s) -715.

A new project manager joins the XGH project. He wants to review the project team directory as well as the roles and responsibilities of the team members. Which document should he review?

• WBS

• RACI chart

• Project Team assignments

• Resource Calendar

Answer explanation

Answer - C.

The Project Team assignments is a project document that records the team members and their roles and responsibilities for the project.

Choice A – WBS – Incorrect – WBS is the hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team. It doesn’t have information on Project Team directory.

Choice B – RACI chart – Incorrect – A RACI chart provides the level of involvement for each stakeholder associated to a task.

Choice C - Project Team assignments – Correct - The Project team assignments specify which resources are assigned to each activity. It’s a project document that records the team members and their roles and responsibilities for the project. It also can include the project team directory.

Choice D – Resource calendar – Incorrect – A resource calendar contains resource availability information for the project work. It doesn’t have information on the roles and responsibilities of the team members.

(PMBOK Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute Inc., 2017, Page(s) – 334

A project is in execution. A key stakeholder raises a change request for adding a new functionality. The Project Manager decides to do impact analysis before passing the change request to the Change Control board.

Which of the following documents would help him assess the impact of the change on the project scope?

• Requirement Documentation

• Risk register

• Requirements Traceability Matrix

• Change Management Plan

Answer explanation

The question states that the Project Manager is involved in Perform Integrated Change Control process. He or she should review the Requirements Traceability Matrix to assess the impact of the change on the project scope.

(PMBOK Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute Inc., 2017, Page(s) 116.

Maggie is planning a release planning meeting. Which of the following is not true when it comes to hosting a release planning meeting?

• Happens before the final release

• All stakeholders are represented

• The goal is to find which stories will be done in which iterations for the release

• Defines future iterations for future releases

Answer explanation

A release planning meeting happens before each release

Ben’s team is about to perform affinity estimating. Which of the following is not a part of the process for affinity estimating?

• Stories on sticky notes

• Review original road map

• Compare to proven reference stories

• Match stories to comparable reference stories

Answer explanation

When affinity estimating, put stories on sticky notes, compare to proven reference stories, and match stories to comparable reference stories.

All CCB members have gathered in one meeting room to assess a requested change submitted by a key stakeholder of High power and high interest. They are using a technique to decide, whether the Change Request can be accepted or rejected, or need further clarification to be finally accepted.

What tool has been used in the above given scenario?

• Expert Judgement

• Alternative Analysis

• Product Analysis

• Performance Analysis

Answer explanation

The Question states that the CCB members are doing Perform Integrated Change Control process. As a part of the process, Alternative analysis is a tool that’s being used in the PICC process to assess the change requests and decide which are accepted, denied, or need further clarification to be finally accepted.

(PMBOK Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute Inc., 2017, Page(s) – 119.

Project A is developing a customer service prototype for a company’s marketing department. The customer stakeholder group includes franchise owners and direct customers of the company. The prototype scores 95% on fulfilling the functional requirements defined in the scope, a passing score in the project’s agreed quality metrics. The franchise group is unwilling to approve the prototype since it does NOT fulfill a particular functional requirement, but the direct customer group approves.

How can the project manager handle communication with this diverse stakeholder group?

• Send a survey to each group asking for specific feedback on the prototype

• Thank the customers for their approval; review the WBS and verify the requirements documentation with the franchise group

• Hold a consultation with the franchise group, show them the direct customer approval, and negotiate for the approval

• Check the RACI matrix for which group’s approval is needed, and if still unclear, ask an executive stakeholder to make the final decision

Answer explanation

During this project phase, the project team and stakeholders should benefit from good communication. Working directly with each stakeholder group—in this case, thanking the direct customers and using project data to show the franchise group that the prototype fulfilled both requirements and agreed with quality metrics.

The correct answer is:

Thank the customers for their approval; review the WBS and verify the requirements documentation with the franchise group.