Book Image

Becoming a PMP® Certified Professional

By : J. Ashley Hunt
Book Image

Becoming a PMP® Certified Professional

By: J. Ashley Hunt

Overview of this book

One of the five most prestigious certifications in the world, the PMP® exam is said to be the most difficult non-technical certification exam. With this exam guide, you'll be able to address the challenges in learning advanced project management concepts. This PMP study guide covers all of the 10 project management knowledge areas, 5 process groups, 49 processes, and aspects of the Agile Practice Guide that you need to tailor your projects. With this book, you will understand the best practices found in the sixth edition of the PMBOK® Guide and the newly updated exam content outline. Throughout the book, you'll learn exam objectives in the form of a project for better understanding and effective implementation of real-world project management tasks, helping you to not only prepare for the exam but also implement project management best practices. Finally, you'll get to grips with the entire application and testing processes in PMP® and discover numerous tips and techniques for passing the exam on your first attempt. By the end of this PMP® exam prep book, you'll have a solid understanding of everything you need to pass the PMP® certification exam, and be able to use this handy, on-the-job desktop reference guide to overcome challenges in project management.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
1
Section 1: Introduction to Project Management and People
8
Section 2: Project Management Processes
17
Section 3: Revision
19
Chapter 16: Final Exam

Assessment exam

Question 1: The definition of a project is what?

  1. Progressively elaborated on and unique
  2. Temporary and chartered
  3. Temporary and unique
  4. Unique and has a life cycle

Question 2: Which of the following is the correct order for the process groups of project management?

  1. Initiation, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing the project or phase
  2. Planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing the project or phase
  3. Initiation, execution, and project or phase closure
  4. Initiation, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing the project or phase

Question 3: Which of the following are key activities in the initiation process group?

  1. Creation of the risk register and development of the business case
  2. Creating a schedule baseline and budget
  3. Project charter creation and identification of stakeholders
  4. Development of a business case and holding a kick-off meeting

Question 4: Which of the following is the main goal of planning?

  1. To create a comprehensive project management plan
  2. To create a schedule baseline
  3. To create a budget that meets the business plan
  4. To understand the scope of work

Question 5: Which of the following process groups is where the project deliverables are produced?

  1. Initiation
  2. Planning
  3. Monitoring and controlling
  4. Execution

Question 6: In order to process a change request, which of the following departments would you most likely need to get approval from?

  1. The PMO
  2. The CCB
  3. The sponsor
  4. The customer

Question 7: You are working on a long-term project with 25 stakeholders. In the middle of the project, the customer asks for a change in scope that will impact the entire project and consequently will not align with the project charter. Which of the following is the best way to handle this?

  1. Process a change request with the CCB.
  2. Discuss everything with your sponsor.
  3. After approvals go through, perform formal project closure for this project.
  4. Explain to the customer that the change is too different from the original scope of work and can't be done.

Question 8: You have received a project charter to work on a project that involves installing data centers at multiple client sites with a very tight timeline. Based on your current team and understanding of the scope of work, the team has decided that after planning and the delivery of equipment, each team member could work in pairs at a variety of locations at approximately the same time. What type of project phase configuration would be the best?

  1. Adaptive
  2. Sequential
  3. Overlapping
  4. Predictive

Question 9: What are the major differences between predictive project management and adaptive project management?

  1. Predictive projects know the full scope of work in advance, while adaptive projects typically correlate with knowledge work.
  2. Predictive projects don't really know the scope of work in the beginning, while adaptive projects are only for software development.
  3. Adaptive projects need formal change control, while predictive projects don't.
  4. Predictive projects see the scope of work as flexible, while in adaptive projects, the scope of work is not flexible.

Question 10: What is the main goal or objective of the project charter from the project manager's perspective?

  1. To explain the scope of work to stakeholders
  2. To define the business case
  3. To formally authorize the project manager to begin project work
  4. To get it signed by the sponsor

Question 11: Which of the following represents a PMIS?

  1. The project charter
  2. The stakeholders involved in the project
  3. The project management system or framework
  4. The software and hardware used to manage communications, reporting, and performance

Question 12: Which of the following would be considered an assumption in the project charter?

  1. Who the project manager will be
  2. Who the sponsor is
  3. Who the customer is
  4. The business case

Question 13: An Agile charter differs from a project charter for which of the following reasons?

  1. Offers less flexibility for the scope of work
  2. Offers more flexibility for the scope of work
  3. Offers more information about the software design
  4. Doesn't document how the project will be run

Question 14: You are about to hold a kick-off meeting for a large group of stakeholders to announce a new project and get buy-in. What is the best document to present to everyone prior to the meeting?

  1. A schedule
  2. A budget
  3. The names of the team members
  4. An agenda

Question 15: What is the main goal of any kick-off meeting?

  1. To confirm everyone understands the goals and objectives of the project
  2. To get everyone's thoughts on the project
  3. To assign your team to work in the charter
  4. To begin planning

Question 16: Jillian is a new project manager and is not totally clear on the customer requirements. As her team kicks off the project, Jillian notices that some stakeholders are upset about the project plan she has put together. What would be the best reason for the stakeholders not buying into Jillian's plans?

  1. Jillian didn't explain the way the plan works during the kick-off meeting.
  2. Jillian didn't fully understand the scope of work.
  3. Jillian did not practice stakeholder engagement in order to know the correct requirements.
  4. Jillian knows that she will progressively elaborate on the plan and this is just the first draft.

Question 17: During a very difficult project, Sam, who is a team member, explains to the project manager that they have identified a risk event that may threaten the schedule. Sam explains that if he just had a few more people to work on the critical activities, he could get the project back to the original baseline. Which of the following schedule compression techniques is Sam describing?

  1. Fast-tracking
  2. Risk contingency
  3. Re-baselining
  4. Crashing

Question 18: Karen and Bill are two of your best software developers and they have been working together for several years. Bill is suddenly transferred to another department and another project team. Karen experiences a bit of disappointment and low motivation. Which of the following team development processes best describes Karen's reaction?

  1. Forming
  2. Performing
  3. Adjourning
  4. Mourning

Question 19: Which of the following is at the top of Maslow's hierarchy of needs?

  1. Physiological
  2. Norming
  3. Social
  4. Esteem

Question 20: You and your team are working together to gather requirements and create your scope baseline. Which of the following best represents the documents that make up the scope baseline?

  1. WBS, WBS register, and the scope management plan
  2. The scope statement, WBS, and WBS dictionary
  3. The scope management plan, schedule, and cost baselines
  4. The requirements management plan, the project charter, and the scope statement

Question 21: Review the following network diagram and determine the critical path:

  1. A C D E
  2. B E
  3. A B C D E
  4. A C D

Question 22: Conya is trying to determine how long an activity will take. She has two team members that have differing opinions on how long it should take. The first team member identifies a risk event and thinks it will impact the duration, so she says the activity should take about 39 days. The second team member is more optimistic and thinks the activity should take about 28 days. Conya firmly believes that because she has done a similar activity in past projects, it should take 32 days. Using the beta-PERT distribution formula, how long should the activity take?

O: 28 P: 39 ML: 32

  1. 48.75
  2. 32.45
  3. 39.25
  4. 32.75

Question 23: While monitoring and controlling your schedule and cost baselines, the project manager runs an Earned Value Analysis and discovers the schedule variance is -2,300 and that the cost performance index is 1.3. How is the project performing?

  1. Ahead of schedule and over budget
  2. Over budget and behind schedule
  3. Behind schedule and under budget
  4. Ahead of schedule and under budget

Question 24: Which of the following contract types carries the most cost risk for the project team?

  1. Cost reimbursable
  2. Firm fixed price
  3. Time and materials
  4. A fixed-price incentive fee

Question 25: Which of the following best describes an organizational process asset?

  1. Standard templates
  2. Government regulation
  3. Market conditions
  4. Infrastructure