In what area of responsibility does the project manager turn insight into something actionable?
enforcing learning
Andre is part of a data science
... [Show More] team. He is good at creating visualizations and reports. Which role on the team is best for him?
data analyst
Joyce is part of a data science team. She is very interested in running experiments. At what point would Joyce do this?
during the process of asking questions
For a project to have success, who must engage in the project work and outcomes?
the project stakeholders
You are creating a list of people who are stakeholders for your project. Who would be the key stakeholder?
a project sponsor
Which type of stakeholder mapping technique would best be used for managing change and communication?
direction of influence
What does it mean that project management is a transferable skill?
Once you have mastered the skills, you can manage any project, of any size, in any industry.
If you are a project manager and you crash a project, what are you doing?
You are taking steps to condense time if the projected time for the project is longer than acceptable.
Why is it imperative that you conduct a kickoff meeting before you begin planning a project?
to gain agreement on a single definition among multiple stakeholders as to what they want the project to look like
If your boss asks you to do a project within a borderline-impossibly tight time frame, which approach would you take in answering?
Create a Gantt chart and say, "Yes, but only with adjustments."
Why is working on projects considered by some people as the best part of any job?
You can do something new every time.
You have decided to hold two kickoff meetings. The goal for the first meeting is to have everyone agree on what the project is going to entail. What is the goal for the second kickoff meeting?
Agree to the plan and commit to it.
You hold a kickoff meeting in which the team members want to just start the project, and work out the details as the project moves along. What should be the purpose of this first meeting?
Get everyone to define the project.
Your customer has not specifically stated that money is their key driver, although you suspect that it is. Which question can you ask your customer to determine whether, in fact, money is their key driver?
Would you like us spend a little bit more in order to add some great extra features?
TwentySomething, Inc. is implementing a data mart server environment. James, the PM, realizes the key driver for the project is quality. What should James refrain from doing with the key driver?
James can ignore time and cost, and place all focus on quality as the key driver.
Why are the triple constraints of quality, cost, and time often referred to as the "Iron Triangle"?
The triple constraints are not negotiable.
Your boss has asked you to take on a project for an important customer. What is the best way to respond to your boss?
Let me plan the project with a Gantt chart.
Your plan estimates a project will cost more and take longer than the customer specifies. Why should you not answer "maybe" when the customer asks whether you can do it on time and within budget?
It is not a definitive no, so most customers will hear maybe as a yes.
Your project involves building a small office building. Why should you never use the word "ongoing" regarding the plumbing for the office building?
It does not clearly define the timeline for the plumbing contractor to complete the work.
Saundra is getting ready to list all the manageable tasks for her project. Which method specifically utilizes a work breakdown structure (WBS)?
Organize the tasks into categories.
Too much granularity leads to _____.
an unwieldy plan
Marcus is having a hard time estimating the cost of his tasks. Which action would you recommend to help him?
He should break down the tasks until he can estimate the costs.
Sherry is planning her project and has brainstormed with her team to list out all the tasks. What is the next logical step for her to organize the tasks?
Create a WBS.
Along with having your project team develop a list of project tasks, why else should you have a brainstorming session?
The members of your team will feel they are involved, and will buy into the project at the start.
Mel's project will take an average of 24 weeks to complete, and worst case is 36 weeks. To be 90 percent safe, he should add some contingency. What contingency would you recommend that Mel take?
24 weeks, plus 6 weeks
Which rule of thumb in contingency planning (safety margin) will make you 90 percent safe in hitting the time requirement of a project?
going halfway between the average and the worst case
Why is the critical path considered critical?
Any delay in the critical path delays the project finish date.
You are on a team to help think through the order of tasks for a project. Which tool would you recommend the team use?
Post-it notes
With all of the technology tools available to you as a project manager, why would you use Post-it® notes on a board when planning the order of project tasks?
You can engage your team to help you in a way that you could not if a computer was used.
Critical tasks are _____.
the tasks on the longest/slowest path
Jerome has organized his Post-it notes and is now estimating durations. What is a typical practice for estimating durations at this stage?
using average times in weeks
You need to complete a project in 25 weeks. With your contingency added, the project will take 29 weeks. What is the only step you can legitimately take to meet the time requirement if time is the key driver?
Take out some of the "nice-to-haves."
You have a project that is supposed to be done in 28 weeks but with contingency added it requires 35 weeks. To maintain the schedule at 28 weeks, which option should you use?
Overlap some tasks.
How can the colored-in sections of a Gantt chart help you track your project's budget?
The colored-in portions show how much of a project you have completed against how much you should have done, regardless of money spent.
Your boss needs a quick way to view the project you are managing. You decide to use Excel and create a Gantt chart. What is the first step in creating a Gantt chart?
List the critical path tasks first.
Your boss is interested in the planned costs for your project and how much of the work is actually complete. Why would you use a Gantt chart in this situation?
A Gantt chart makes sense of financial information.
You have finished your Gantt chart by totaling the hours for all rows. Why is this important information to see?
You can see how many hours are spent on each task.
Morgan is using a Gantt chart in Excel and starts to enter the project dates. The dates do not fit in the cells, and she needs to ensure everything fits on one page. What does Morgan need to do next?
Select the row, right-click and choose Format Cells, and then choose Alignment Vertical.
What do vertical lines on a Gantt chart represent?
the limits of the allowable movement of floating tasks
Cody notices there is a week near the beginning of his project and another week toward the end in which several tasks are happening when resources are low. Which option is best for Cody to use?
Move floating tasks forward or backward.
It is likely there will be an overlap or two in your project - tasks being done in parallel. How can a Gantt chart best assist you in ensuring that you and your project team can handle the overlaps?
It can let you know well in advance where you might need to procure additional resources.
How can a "Gantt of Gantts" help you as a project manager in handling multiple projects?
It shows you both the past performance and the future requirements of the projects.
Kendall and her team are preparing a list of risks and entering them in a risk assessment chart. How do they calculate the weighted factor?
Yes, you multiply them together so that if either the likelihood or the seriousness is low you don't have to worry too much about that risk.
In considering risks, which two factors do you assess?
likelihood and seriousness
Your company's boss has asked for an update on four projects. Who has the best perspective of their project progress?
PM #1 shows a colored Gantt chart.
You are looking at a Gantt chart and notice that your project actual spend is 500, the planned is also 500, but not all the planned work is complete. What does this typically imply?
The project is overspent and late. [Show Less]