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APM PMQ Exam revision| Questions|
Correct Answers.
What are the five criteria for a successful project? - ANSWER Time, cost, quality, risk & benefits Project Management - ANSWER The application of processes, methods, knowledge, skills and experience to achieve the project objectives Programme Management - ANSWER The coordinated management of projects and change manage activities to achieve beneficial change Project Success - ANSWER The satisfaction of stakeholder needs measured by the success criteria as identified and agreed at the start of the project Benefits Management - ANSWER The identification, definition, planning, tracking and realisation of business benefits Project Context - ANSWER Refers to the environment within which the project is undertaken Stakeholder Management - ANSWER The systematic identification, analysis, planning and implementation of actions designed to engage with stakeholders Project Life Cycle - ANSWER The inter-related phases of a project, programme or portfolio, it provides a structure for governing the progression of work Project Reviews - ANSWER Reviews take place throughout the project life cycle to check the likelihood of achieving the objectives specified in the PMP and the benefits detailed in the business case The Business Case - ANSWER Provides justification for undertaking a project or programme. It evaluates the benefits, cost and risk of alternative options and provides reasoning behind the preferred solution Organisational Roles - ANSWER Are the roles performed by individuals or groups in a project. Both roles and responsibilities within projects must be defined to address the transient and unique nature of projects and to ensure clear accountabilities can be assigned Project Sponsor - ANSWER is an important senior management role. The sponsor is accountable for ensuring that the work is governed effectively and delivers the objectives that meet the identify needs.
The Project Management Plan - ANSWER A document used to coordinate all project planning documents, it is the reference document for managing the project. It is an output of the definition phase Scope Management - ANSWER A process whereby outputs, outcomes and benefits of the project are identified, defined and controlled. Requirements management GAJB Scope development PBS-WBS Configuration management PICSAVA Change Control RRADI 0 Scheduling - ANSWER The process used to determine the overall project duration and when activities and events are planned to happen. Schedule Management: ICECAP Resource Management - ANSWER The acquisition and deployment of the internal resources required to deliver the project Project Risk Management - ANSWER Is a process that allows individual risk events and overall project risk to be understood and managed proactively, optimising success by minimising threats and maximising opportunities Project Quality Management - ANSWER Is a discipline for ensuring the outputs, benefits and the processes by which they are delivered, meet stakeholder requirements and are fit for purpose. PACCIFY Change Control - ANSWER Is the process through which all requests to change the baseline scope of a project are captured, evaluated and then approved, rejected or differed Issue - ANSWER Occurs when the tolerance of delegated work are predicted to be exceeded or have been exceeded. This triggers and escalation of the issue from one level of management to the next in order to seek a solution Configuration Management - ANSWER Comprises the administrative activities concerned with the creation, maintenance, controlled change and quality control of the scope of work. PICSAVA Information Management - ANSWER Is the collection, storage, dissemination, archiving and destruction of information. It enables teams and stakeholders to use their time, resource and expertise effectively to make decisions and to fulfil their roles
Speed up/slow down projects Benefits focused Stakeholder management/communication Supports strategic change Roles and responsibilities of programme management? - ANSWER Initiate, prioritise and terminate projects Manage project and BAU interdependencies Manage resources and conflicts Manage risks, issues and changes Define and realise the strategic benefits Benefits of programme management - ANSWER Prioritisation of individual projects Resource management View of interdependencies Ability to manage risks issues and changes Effective communication/consistent reporting Alignment with programme objectives Challenges of programme management - ANSWER Unclear organisation/scope High number of stakeholders Lack of clear requirements Key activities in portfolio management - ANSWER Segmentation Select and prioritise Assess progress Review and reporting Benefits management Benefits of portfolio management - ANSWER Maintaining a balances and aligned portfolio Holistic overview of risks, dependencies, and scheduling Cost reduction Efficient utilisation of resources Better coordination and control Organisational structure levels - ANSWER External Sponsorship Management Delivery (Administrative support and assurance sit alongside) Benefits of matrix organisation structure - ANSWER Increased share learning Global resources pool available Facilitates resources sharing Consistent methodology in organisation
Flexible for differen projects. Good for organisations with lots of projects and routine operations Good for staff welfare as they have dedicated resource Project requirements fit business needs Better allocation of resources fit to skills - efficient Improved project management expertise Disadvantages of matrix organisation structure - ANSWER Resource and loyalty conflict between projects and functions. May overload team with work. Duplication of reports Less functional training Clash between functional and project managers Lack of alignment to organisation priorities (BAU vs project) Unclear escalation route for staff Organisational roles, key project roles - ANSWER Project steering group Project sponsor Project manager Team Members Users Project Office Sponsor role and responsibilities - ANSWER Represent the host or client Owns the Business case-ownership Governance link to the business Champion of the project Provides or secure funding Approve the PMP Stakeholder arbitration Approves through review gates. Stage-gate approval Receive escalated risks, issues and change requests Accept deliverables Review benefits Maybe the programme manager and chair project board. Process used to examine internal and external enviroment - ANSWER Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Process used to examine external environment - ANSWER Political Economic Sociological Technological
Project evaluation review Post-project review Benefits review Audit Benefits of a project lifecycle - ANSWER Consistency High Level Planning.More effective planning Go/no go decisions.Improved decision-making Phase end reviews.Improved governance Manage funding Lesson Learned. Improved communication Management focus on the early phases Stakeholder management process - ANSWER IAPE Identify Assess Plan communications Engage and influence Benefits of stakeholder management - ANSWER Increase support for the project Increase likelihood of acquiring resource Minimising resistance allows you to focus on project Better chance of deliverable acceptance Enhanced decision making and communication Content of the business case - ANSWER BOBCRT Background Options Benefits Costs (A) Risk Timescales Success factors - ANSWER Success factors are management practices that when implemented, will increase the likelihood of success of a project, programme or portfolio. The degree to which these practices are established and embedded within an organisation indicates its level of maturity. Senior management commitment Clear project goals and objectives Focus on Business Value Proper project governance Clear and timely communication
Capable and motivated team Negotiation process - ANSWER PDPBAR Planning Discussing Bargaining Agreement Review Preparing/planning for a negotiation - ANSWER Consult with others Identify interests on both sides Identify BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negogiated Agreement) Balance of power Negotiating strategy Prepare your team Tactics of negotiation - ANSWER Using real or fake deadlines Good guy/bad guy Limited authority Auction Silence Problems with Estimating - ANSWER Optimism/pessimism Social/political pressure Lack of experience Unclear scope Inaccurate source data Types of estimate - ANSWER Comparative Parametric Bottom-up Three-point/PERT PERT estimate formula - ANSWER Time scheduling activities - ANSWER ICECAP-B Identify all activities Create a detaled logical model Estimate duration activities Calculate the critical path, overall duration and float Apply and identify the milestones Present findings BASELINE
Benefits of EVM - ANSWER Useful for monitoring, tracking and reforecasting cost and schedule, and for paying suppliers on the basis of work done. Simpler project reporting (KPIs) Highlight estimating errors Facilitate forecasting of cost and time Facilitates tighter controls of direct costs Help justify corrective action Identifies where early termination of project is required Information management components - ANSWER CS DAD Collect Store Disseminate Archive Destroy Arguments against the use of EVM - ANSWER Requires frequent information on costs Forecasts are based on no corrective action Can lead to a lack of focus on quality Oversimplified Doesn't work for some project methods (agile) Risk management stages - ANSWER IIAPI - Update risk log Initiate Identify Assess Plan responses Implement responses Risk identification methods - ANSWER Brainstorm Interviews SWOT Prompt lists Check lists Risk responses (threats) - ANSWER Avoid Transfer Reduce Accept Risk responses (opportunities) - ANSWER Exploit Share Enhance
Reject Benefits of risk management - ANSWER Discourages acceptance of financially unsound projects Increases credibility Gains team 'buy in' Improves communication Effective governance Disadvantages of risk management - ANSWER Bureaucratic/time consuming Information is out of date quickly Creates risk-averse culture Limits creativity Bad data in bad data out Communication media - ANSWER Oral Visual Electronic Written Communication methods - ANSWER Interactive Push Pull Formal vs informal communication - ANSWER Audit trail vs no audit trail Communications management plan should include - ANSWER Content (what) Sender (who) Receiver (who) Reason (why) Frequency (when) Method (how) Location (where) Barriers affecting communication - ANSWER Clarity of ideas Purpose Environment Background Delivery Benefits of a formal communications plan - ANSWER Understanding of roles and responsibilities Reduced potential for conflict due to misunderstanding Enhanced confidence within project team and stakeholders Consistent transfer of project information Higher sense of ownership and commitment within the team
Norm Perform Adjourn Situational Leadership (Hersey and Blanchard) - ANSWER Balance between Directive and supportive behaviours Telling and directing Selling and Coaching Participating and supporting Delegating Characteristics of an effective team - ANSWER Shared aims Trust Communication Shared skills Effective leadership Project handover activities - ANSWER User acceptance of deliverables Transfer of deliverable ownership Documentation acceptance Project closure activities - ANSWER Post-project review Archiving of project documentation Contractual closure Project review focus areas - ANSWER Business case management process Deliverables Benefits of project reviews - ANSWER Confidence Reflection Improvement Good governance Recognition Sucess Informed decision-making Objective review of project health More rigorous governance Sharing of lessons learned Implementation of corrective action Increased stakeholder confidence Gate Reviews - ANSWER • A formal decision point; go or no go
- Marks the end of the first phase
Stage Reviews - ANSWER Similar to Gate Reviews but occur during longer stages eg. Development Project Evaluation Review - ANSWER A progress review Post Project Review - ANSWER Occurs in Handover and Closure Benefits Review - ANSWER Occur throughout the entire lifecycle, mostly during Operation phase Audit - ANSWER External Shadowing - ANSWER Internal; Peer Project Lifecycle - ANSWER Concept Definition Development Handover and Closure Extended Project Lifecycle - ANSWER Concept Definition Development Handover and Closure -Benefits Realisation -Operation Product Lifecycle - ANSWER Concept Definition Development Handover and Closure -Benefits Realisation -Operation Termination Business Case - ANSWER • Created in Concept phase BOB CART
- Background
- Options Appraisal
- Benefits
- Commercial
- Aspects
- Risks / Requirements
- Timescale
Actual costs - ANSWER Money paid out already Accrued costs - ANSWER Where the work is done but no invoice has been received yet; the cost is transferred to the next financial period Committed costs - ANSWER Where the cost is promised, such as a contract Sunk costs - ANSWER • Under committed costs
- Where the money is paid out already irrespective of whether the work has been done Cost Baseline - ANSWER • Will be of the most interest to the PM and sponsor
- produced bottom up
- this is what is approved for the project Baseline project budget structure - ANSWER • Project budget
- 2 X Reserves
- Cost Baseline
- Control Accounts
- Work Package estimates
- Activity estimates Baseline project budget: 2 X Reserves - ANSWER Contingency Management Contingency Reserve - ANSWER For knowns and identified risks Management Reserve - ANSWER For the unknowns and unpredicted risks Baseline budget - ANSWER • Everything is reported and measured against the baseline
- Allows expectation of project spending Things are always liable to change resulting in: - ANSWER • An inaccurate baseline - scope is mapped against costs Benefits of a project review - ANSWER • Allow for more informed decision-making
- Increases stakeholder confidence
- Allow for timely implementation of corrective action
- Allows for an objective review of the project health
- Sharing of lessons learned
- Increased chance of project success
- Rigorous governance Configuration Management activities: - ANSWER PICSAVA Planning Identification
- Control
- Status Accounting
- Audit and Verification Configuration Management: Identification - ANSWER Each baseline configuration item requires some form of unique identification as well as the documenting of any related attributes, such as type of item, owner, status, version, relationship with other items Configuration Management: Control - ANSWER Changes to the configuration baseline must only be implemented and approved by the authorised parties. Storage of CI's must be controlled and access to be restricted where appropriate, including archived items Configurations Management: Status Accounting - ANSWER Current status and version of each item must be recorded and monitored, any changes must be documented to enable tracking of an item status during its development. A PM might typically use a register of assets, also known as a product status account, to ensure that the status is clearly visible Configuration Management: Audit and Verification - ANSWER Assets should be reviewed at each stage gate to ensure that their status aligns with the presently authorised version. This is important at handover as it insures that the latest version of each project as it is delivered Define an issue - ANSWER A formal issue occurs when the tolerances of delegated work are predicted to be exceeded or have been exceeded. This triggers the escalation of the issue from one level of management to the next in order to seek a solution. What is the issue management process? - ANSWER IEMR Identify: Identify right issues, discriminate from minor concerns, put in issue log. Escalate: PM escalates to owner, owner accountable. Monitor: Ongoing monitoring to ensure resolution actions impactful. Resolve: If owner doesn't resolve, PM must escalate to sponsor/programme manager. Update as resolved in log once approp. action taken. Define tolerance - ANSWER A permissable variation in performance parameters. What might an issue log include? (Name five) - ANSWER Description of the issue. Date issue was raised Who identified it Issue owner Present status Unique identifier Impact of issue on Project objectives Possible resolution Date of closure
How employees feel? How simple org structure? How efficient re resources? How develops skills/careers? Name three strengths and weaknesses of a Matrix Organisation? - ANSWER Strengths:
- Balance between projects and BAU
- Integration of projects within functional departments.
- Specialist knowledge is developed and not lost
- Flexible and efficient use of resources.
- Employees may develop general management skills while maintaining reasonably clear career progression.
- Global priorities are visible Weaknesses:
- Individuals have two or more bosses
- Conflict and stress are likely.
- Project managers feel they have inadequate authority.
- Organisations structure is more complex
- Functional and project resource problems Think: How managers feel? How employees feel? How simple org structure? How efficient re resources? How develops skills/careers? Name three strengths and weaknesses of a projectised organisation - ANSWER Strengths:
- Strong commitment to the project - single purpose and a high degree of autonomy
- Integration of multiple disciplines
- Develops general management skills
- Clear management definition - team members know where they stand.
- Can operate with informal communications.
- Precise budget including transparent PM costs. Weaknesses:
- Highly visible - may upset established organisation.
- Duplication and inefficient resource usage therefore increased cost.
- Reduced job security and unclear career paths
- Constant change (forming, storming etc)
- May be prone to symptoms of group-think
- Sharing of lessons learned can be problematic
- Team can become distracted near end of project. Think: How managers feel? How employees feel? How simple org structure? How efficient re resources? How develops skills/careers? Define procurement - ANSWER The process by which products and services are acquired from an external provider for incorporation into the project, programme, or portfolio. Name five things the PM should consider as part of a procurement strategy - ANSWER
- Deciding on best procurement approach (e.g. rent, make, buy)
- Pricing e.g. Only using fixed prices when there is a clear scope
- Supplier interface (contract terms)
- Availability of funds (budget)
- EU rules (for OJEU, an online tender portal).
- Risk - e.g. IP rights, financial stability of parties, health and safety, quality, pricing strategy. What are the key steps in the provider selection process? - ANSWER RPTNaMC
- Research - What's needed, who could provide it?
- Pre-qualification - Shortlist (potentially using survey)
- Tendering - Invite bids from shortlisted
- Negotiate & Award (e.g. payment terms, Contract type)
- Management (Contract management).
- Closure of the contract Which five things should be considered during the pre-qualification stage of a procurement process? - ANSWER 1. Nature of supplier organisation
- Financial position (Are they sustainable financially?)
- Experience (Have they done this before? Is this their bread and butter?)
- Management arrangements and personnel (do our culture/processes match)
- Past performance (Is there past performance we can judge by?) Which five things might be considered during the tendering phase of a procurement process? - ANSWER Suppliers should be given evaluation criteria to demonstrate their capability e.g.
