CAPM Practice Exam 151 Questions with Verified Answers
What includes the reasons for project initiation, objectives and a decision on the project? -
... [Show More] CORRECT ANSWER Business Case
Crashing - CORRECT ANSWER A technique used to shorten the schedule duration for the least incremental cost by adding resources.
Fast-Tracking - CORRECT ANSWER A schedule compression technique in which activities or phases normally done in sequence are performed in parallel for at least a portion of their duration.
What describes the acceptance criteria for each deliverable? - CORRECT ANSWER Scope statement
The industry standard number of quality tools is? - CORRECT ANSWER Seven
Control Chart - CORRECT ANSWER Chart that shows the stability of a process
The primary benefits of meeting quality requirements include: - CORRECT ANSWER 1) Less Rework
2) Higher Productivity
3) Lower Costs
4) Increased Stakeholder Satisfaction
5) Increased Profitability
The project manager has three main reasons for or interests in having good document control: - CORRECT ANSWER 1) effective communications, making sure that all necessary information is distributed and received by all those who need it;
2) be able to reconstruct why certain decisions were made and the conditions under which they were made;
3) historical value, so that lessons learned can be used in the future on other projects.
Management Reserves - CORRECT ANSWER Funds held for unknown risks (risks which could not be identified in the normal circumstances by the Project Team) and held outside the Performance Measurement Baseline.
Ensuring deliverable due dates of the product and benefits management plan are aligned describes which knowledge area? - CORRECT ANSWER Project Integration Management
What is the formula to determine the number of communication channels? - CORRECT ANSWER = n(n-1)/2
n is the number of stakeholders
What are the 2 main parts of successful communication? - CORRECT ANSWER 1) Develop an appropriate communication strategy based on both the needs of the project and the project's stakeholders
2) Communications / messages delivered based on strategy
What is the best way to manage stakeholders which are low on power and interest? - CORRECT ANSWER Monitor them
If an important stakeholder is at an "unaware" state at present (he doesn't know what's going on in the project), what is the best way to get him to a "supportive" state?
A) Send him regular reports about the project and its benefits
B) Assign some work or review activity to him
C) Give topmost priority to issues he has raised - CORRECT ANSWER B - Involving stakeholders in project work is a good way to get them to support the project
Salience Model - CORRECT ANSWER describes stakeholders based on their power, urgency, and legitimacy of project involvement
(looks like the triple ven diagram)
Power and Interest Grid - CORRECT ANSWER A tool used to group stakeholders based on their level of authority (power) and their level of concern (interest) for project outcomes
What is the best way to manage stakeholders which are high on power and interest? - CORRECT ANSWER Manage Closely
What is the best way to manage stakeholders which are high on power and low on interest? - CORRECT ANSWER Keep satisfied
What is the best way to manage stakeholders which are low on power and high on interest? - CORRECT ANSWER Keep Informed
Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) - CORRECT ANSWER connects project stakeholders with work breakdown structure components.
This contract type involves payment to the seller for all legitimate actual costs incurred for completed work, plus fee representing seller profit. - CORRECT ANSWER Cost-Reimbursable Contracts
This contract type involves setting a fixed total price for a defined product, service or result to be provided. - CORRECT ANSWER Fixed-Price Contracts
What type of deliverable is an output of Validate Scope? - CORRECT ANSWER Accepted Deliverables
What type of deliverable is an output of Control Quality? - CORRECT ANSWER Verified Deliverables
What type of deliverable is an input of Validate Scope? - CORRECT ANSWER Verified Deliverables
Resource Leveling - CORRECT ANSWER A resource optimization technique in which adjustments are made to the project schedule to optimize the allocation of resources and which may affect critical path.
A technique in which activity start and finish dates are adjusted to balance demand for resources with the available supply. - CORRECT ANSWER Resource Optimization Technique
Resource Smoothing - CORRECT ANSWER A resource optimization technique in which free and total float are used without affecting the critical path.
Constraint - CORRECT ANSWER A limiting factor that affects the execution of a project, program, portfolio, or process.
Contingency Reserve - CORRECT ANSWER Time or money allocated in the schedule or cost baseline for known risks with active response strategies.
Key word is KNOWN risks
Unknown risks are part of the management reserves.
Used to determine whether or not a process is stable or has a predictable performance. Can be used to monitor various types of output variables. - CORRECT ANSWER Control Chart
What does the WBS Code of Accounts provide? (2 answers) - CORRECT ANSWER 1) Unique identifier and control accounts for the WBS work packages.
2) A management control point for integrated scope, schedule and cost information.
McGregor's X and Y Theory - CORRECT ANSWER Theory X and Theory Y are theories of human work motivation and management.
Refers to two styles of management - authoritarian (Theory X) and participative (Theory Y)
They were created by Douglas McGregor
Parkinson's Law - CORRECT ANSWER Work expands to fill the time available for its completion
True or False
A comprehensive budget is included in the Project Charter. - CORRECT ANSWER False.
Raw data received or generated during project work.
Ex: costs, start/end dates, percentage complete - CORRECT ANSWER Work Performance Data
Analyzed raw data that can then be reported on.
Ex: status of deliverables or forecasting - CORRECT ANSWER Work Performance Information
What is the most accurate form of budgeting? - CORRECT ANSWER Bottom-Up Estimating
Converted data that is reported on.
Ex: dashboards, status reports, etc. - CORRECT ANSWER Work Performance Reports
Due to resource constraints, the organization can't handle all the projects at once, so they need to decide which project(s) will maximize profitability. What is used? - CORRECT ANSWER Project Selection Methods
A technique that enhances brainstorming with a voting process used to rank the most useful ideas for further brainstorming or for prioritization - CORRECT ANSWER Nominal group technique
A technique used to consolidate ideas created through individual brainstorming sessions into a single map to reflect commonality and differences in understanding and to generate new ideas. - CORRECT ANSWER Mind-mapping
A technique that allows large numbers of ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis - CORRECT ANSWER Affinity diagrams
Estimating by using historical data from a similar project - using previous project actuals. - CORRECT ANSWER Analogous Estimating
(Less costly and time consuming than other methods but often also less accurate.)
Estimating by using an algorithm to calculate cost or duration based on historical data and project parameters. - CORRECT ANSWER Parametric Estimating
Estimating using a triangular distribution formula to help determine approximate duration of an activity. - CORRECT ANSWER Three-Point Estimating
(Used when there is limited historical data.)
Estimating by aggregating estimates of lower level components in WBS. - CORRECT ANSWER Bottom-Up Estimating
(Most accurate form of budgeting)
What is the key to effective stakeholder engagement? - CORRECT ANSWER A focus on continuous communication with all stakeholders - including the project team - to understand their needs and expectations, address issues as they occur and manage conflicting interests.
Adding work to the project that wasn't included in the scope - CORRECT ANSWER Gold Plating
The work that needs to be accomplished to deliver a product, service or result with the specified features and functions. - CORRECT ANSWER Project Scope
The features and functions that characterize a product, service or result - CORRECT ANSWER Product Scope
Includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully. - CORRECT ANSWER Project Scope Management
Project success is determined by - CORRECT ANSWER how well the requirements are identified early on.
At the completion of the project, the scope will be measured against - CORRECT ANSWER the project management plan.
True or False
All of the requirements identified in Collect Requirements are included in the project. - CORRECT ANSWER False.
The Define Scope process selects the final project requirements from the requirements documentation.
The Project Scope Statement - CORRECT ANSWER - The detailed description of the project scope
- Major deliverables
- Assumptions and constraints.
True or False
The project charter contains the detailed scope description. - CORRECT ANSWER False
The project charter contains high-level information, while the project scope statement contains a detailed description of the scope elements.
What documents are included in the Scope Baseline? - CORRECT ANSWER - Approved Scope Statement
- WBS
- WBS Dictionary
- Code of Accounts
Document that provides detailed deliverable, activity, and scheduling information about each component in the WBS - CORRECT ANSWER WBS Dictionary
What is the lowest level of the WBS? - CORRECT ANSWER work package
The process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables. - CORRECT ANSWER Validate Scope
The process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline. - CORRECT ANSWER Control Scope
True or False
In the WBS, work refers to work products or deliverables that are the result of activity and not to the activity itself. - CORRECT ANSWER True
The processes required to manage the timely completion of the project - CORRECT ANSWER Project Schedule Management
The process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables; decomposes work packages into activities that provide a basis for estimating, scheduling, executing, monitoring, and controlling the project work. - CORRECT ANSWER Define Activities
Define Activities is part of which knowledge area? - CORRECT ANSWER Project Schedule Management
True or False
Each work package in the WBS is decomposed into activities required to create the work package deliverables. - CORRECT ANSWER True
(This is part of Define Activities)
The process of identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities. - CORRECT ANSWER Sequence Activities
(Key benefit - defines the logical sequence of work to obtain the greatest efficiency given all project constraints.)
If 2 activities have multiple logical Precedence Relationships, what should you do? - CORRECT ANSWER A decision must be made to select the relationship with the highest impact
Successor activity cannot start until predecessor activity has finished. - CORRECT ANSWER Finish-to-Start (FS)
Successor activity cannot finish until predecessor activity has finished - CORRECT ANSWER Finish-to-Finish (FF)
Successor activity cannot start until predecessor activity has started - CORRECT ANSWER Start-to-Start (SS)
Successor activity cannot finish until predecessor activity has started - CORRECT ANSWER Start-to-Finish (SF)
What is the most common type of precedence relationship? - CORRECT ANSWER Finish-to-Start (FS)
The amount of time a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor activity - CORRECT ANSWER Lead
The amount of time a successor activity will be delayed with respect to a predecessor - CORRECT ANSWER Lag
The process of estimating the number of work periods needed to complete individual activities with estimated resources. - CORRECT ANSWER Estimate Activity Durations
The process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements and schedule constraints to create a schedule model for project execution, and monitoring and controlling - CORRECT ANSWER Develop Schedule
The Schedule Baseline is output of what process - CORRECT ANSWER Develop Schedule
What is measured by the amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed or extended without delaying the project finish date? - CORRECT ANSWER Float
True or False
The critical path usually includes float time. - CORRECT ANSWER False.
The critical path typically has zero float
The approved version of a schedule model that can only be changed through formal CRs and is used as a basis for comparison to actual results. - CORRECT ANSWER Schedule Baseline
The process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project schedule and managing changes to the schedule baseline. - CORRECT ANSWER Control Schedule
Total cost or budget of a project is known as - CORRECT ANSWER Budget at Completion (BAC)
Planned Value (PV) - CORRECT ANSWER Planned % complete x BAC
Earned Value (EV) - CORRECT ANSWER Actual % complete x BAC
Cost Variance - CORRECT ANSWER EV - AC (earned value - actual cost)
Schedule Variance - CORRECT ANSWER EV - PV (earned value - planned value)
Cost Performance Index (CPI) - CORRECT ANSWER EV / AC (earned value / actual cost)
What does the cost performance Index tell you? - CORRECT ANSWER Value of every dollar spent.
= or > 1 Good, <1 Bad
(ex, 1.5 means you are getting $1.50 value for ever $1 spent)
Schedule Performance Index (SPI) - CORRECT ANSWER EV / PV (earned value/planned value)
What does the schedule performance Index tell you? - CORRECT ANSWER Value of every day worked
= or > 1 Good, <1 Bad
(Ex .5 means you are only getting half day's work done each day)
Estimate at Completion (EAC)
(When CPI is expected to be the same for the remainder of the project) - CORRECT ANSWER BAC / CPI
Estimate to Completion (ETC) - CORRECT ANSWER EAC - AC
Burn Rate formula - CORRECT ANSWER 1/CPI
OR
AC / EV
What is indicated by a burn rate >1 ? - CORRECT ANSWER the project is spending the budget faster than it should, and may finish over budget.
When is the ability to influence cost the greatest? - CORRECT ANSWER early stages of the project
The process of defining how the project costs will be estimated, budgeted, managed, monitored and controlled - CORRECT ANSWER Plan Cost Management
Describes how project costs will be planned, structured and controlled - CORRECT ANSWER Cost Management Plan
The process of developing an approximation of the cost of resources needed to complete project work - CORRECT ANSWER Estimate Costs
Cost of Quality - CORRECT ANSWER Includes all costs incurred over the life of the product by investment in preventing nonconformance to requirements, appraising the product for conformance to requirements and failing to meet the requirements (rework)
Failure costs are known as - CORRECT ANSWER the cost of poor quality
Prevention - CORRECT ANSWER keeping errors out of the process
Inspection - CORRECT ANSWER keeping errors out of the hands of the customer
Prevention vs Inspection
Which is preferred and why? - CORRECT ANSWER Prevention is preferred because it means that quality is part of the deliverable design and is usually associated with lower cost. Finding errors later in the process can lead to rework which is more costly, and can damage reputation and/or relationship with client.
Prevention is about keeping errors out of the process and inspection is about keeping errors out of the hands of the customer.
The process of aggregating estimated costs of individual activities to establish authorized cost baseline - CORRECT ANSWER Determine Budget
Funding used to execute the project - CORRECT ANSWER Project Budget
The approved time-phased project budget, excluding any management reserves, which can be changed only through formal change control procedures and is used as a basis of comparing actual results, is called a ____: - CORRECT ANSWER Cost Baseline
The process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project costs and changes to the cost baseline. - CORRECT ANSWER Control Costs
True or False
cost baseline is maintained throughout project - CORRECT ANSWER True
(Part of Control Costs process)
projection of cost performance team needs to meet in order to achieve original plan - CORRECT ANSWER To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI)
To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI) formula - CORRECT ANSWER (BAC - EV)/(BAC - AC)
Earned Value Management (EVM) integrates the scope baseline with the cost baseline and schedule baseline to form the ? - CORRECT ANSWER performance measurement baseline
Cause and Effect Diagrams - CORRECT ANSWER AKA fishbone diagrams, why-why diagrams or Ishikawa diagrams.
They break down the causes of the problem into discrete branches, helping to identify main or root of problem.
Pareto Chart - CORRECT ANSWER A graph that indicates the frequency of defects, as well as their cumulative impact. Pareto Charts are useful to find the defects to prioritize in order to observe the greatest overall improvement.
An uncertain occurrence of event that can affect the project positively or negatively. - CORRECT ANSWER Risk
Narrative description of the work that must be done for the project - CORRECT ANSWER Statement of Work
Legal contractual agreements between two or more entities to form a partnership or joint venture - CORRECT ANSWER Teaming Agreements
What is Estimate at Completion (EAC) typically based on? - CORRECT ANSWER Actual Costs incurred for work completed
and
Estimate to Completion (ETC) for remaining work
The project budget is comprised of what 2 components? - CORRECT ANSWER Cost Baseline + Management Reserve
How is the Performance Measurement Baseline typically displayed? - CORRECT ANSWER S-Curve
True or False
Management reserves are included in the project's total funds but they are not included in the cost performance baseline. - CORRECT ANSWER True
Cost Baseline + Management Reserve = Project Budget
Analyzes the interrelationships between project variables that contributed to project outcomes to improve performance on future projects. - CORRECT ANSWER Regression Analysis
What document contains a record of the assumptions and constraints that guide estimates, schedule, risk, etc.? - CORRECT ANSWER Assumption Log
What is the purpose of the Risk Report? - CORRECT ANSWER Provides information on the risk status and is used to check that there are no open risks at Project Close
What is the purpose of the Risk Register? - CORRECT ANSWER Provides information on risks that have occurred throughout the project.
What are the steps to calculate Expected Monetary Value (EMV)? - CORRECT ANSWER 1) Calculate the impact (taking possible results - cost to build)
2) Multiply the Impact by the probability to determine the exposures (Exposure = Probability x Impact)
3) Add together the exposures to determine EMV
Which of the following is NOT one of the tools and techniques that are used in the Sequence Activities Process?
a) Leads and Lags
b) Dependency determination
c) Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
d) Critical Chain method - CORRECT ANSWER d) Critical Chain Method
(this is used in Develop Schedule Process)
An output of the Plan Quality Management process is:
A. A process improvement plan.
B. Quality control measurements.
C. Work performance information.
D. The project management plan. - CORRECT ANSWER A. A process improvement plan.
The Perform Quality Assurance process occurs in which Process Group?
A. Executing
B. Monitoring and Controlling
C. Initiating
D. Planning - CORRECT ANSWER A. Executing
A large portion of a projects budget is typically expended on the processes in which Process Group?
A. Executing
B. Planning
C. Monitoring and Controlling
D. Closing - CORRECT ANSWER B. Planning
The process of defining how to estimate, acquire, manage and use team and physical resources. - CORRECT ANSWER Plan Resource Management
Resource planning is used to - CORRECT ANSWER Determine and identify an approach to ensure sufficient resources are available for the successful completion of the project.
Resource Breakdown Structure - CORRECT ANSWER A hierarchical representation of resources by category and type.
Category ex: labor, material, equipment supplies.
Type ex: skill level, grade level, required certs
RACI stands for - CORRECT ANSWER Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed
Provides information regarding the way in which people, teams, and org units behave - CORRECT ANSWER Organizational Theory
Purpose: to improve efficiency
Tool/Technique for Plan Resource Management
The component of the project management plan that provides guidance on how project resources should be categorized, allocated, managed and released. - CORRECT ANSWER Resource Management Plan
The process of improving competencies, team member interaction and the overall team environment to enhance project performance. - CORRECT ANSWER Develop Team
The process of tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues and managing team changes to optimize performance. - CORRECT ANSWER Manage Team
What are the 5 stages of development that teams go through? (aka the Tuckman ladder) - CORRECT ANSWER Forming
Storming
Norming
Performing
Adjourning
Team Performance Assessments - formal and informal assessments of project team effectiveness - are outputs of what process? - CORRECT ANSWER Develop Team
What are the five techniques of resolving conflict? - CORRECT ANSWER Withdraw/Avoid
Smooth/Accommodate
Compromise/Reconcile
Force/Direct
Collaborate/Problem Solve
It illustrates the number of hours that a person, department or entire project team will be needed each week or month over the course of the project. - CORRECT ANSWER The Resource Histogram
What are the 2 processes included in the Initiating Process Group? - CORRECT ANSWER Develop Project Charter
Identify Stakeholders
What document formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities? - CORRECT ANSWER Project Charter
What are the 3 components of the PMI Talent Triangle? - CORRECT ANSWER Technical Project Management
Leadership
Strategic and Business Management
Business Case - CORRECT ANSWER A documented economic feasibility study used to establish validity of the benefits of a selected component lacking sufficient definition and that is used as a basis for the authorization of further project management activities.
Project benefits management plan - CORRECT ANSWER The documented explanation defining the processes for creating, maximizing, and sustaining the benefits provided by a project.
What is the last activity conducted during the Closing Process Group? - CORRECT ANSWER Customer Satisfaction Survey
A decision-making/ information gathering technique in which group members submit ideas or answers anonymously to a facilitator who then categorizes them and returns them to group. - CORRECT ANSWER Delphi Technique
A quantitative risk analysis technique used to help determine which risks have the most potential impact on the project. It examines the extent to which the uncertainty of each project element affects the objective being examined.
The typical display of results is in the form of a tornado diagram. - CORRECT ANSWER Sensitivity Analysis [Show Less]