PMI-SP Online Practice Questions and Answers

Correct Answer: Schedule

An activity is an individual element of work that is logically linked to other activities to form the schedule. Its primary characteristics include an overall duration based upon the resources applied to it (manpower, material, and equipment), as well as a start and completion date that is tied to a work calendar. It also has a relationship with other activities (predecessors and successors).

Correct Answer: B

Activity B is not on the critical path and it has a total of four days of float. If Activity B takes a total of eight days, it will consume three days of float. However, the total duration of the path ABEHJ may not exceed 26 days, as this is the total duration for the project. Although Activity H has a total of four days of float available, the consumption of three days of float on this path will reduce the total float for Activity H to just one day. If Activity H is delayed by more than one day, then the project will be late. Answer option D is incorrect. There is one day of float still available for Activity H. Answer options A and C are incorrect. These are not the valid answers, as there is just one day of float available for Activity H.

Correct Answer: D

Corrective actions should be taken to move the results of the project work back into alignment with the project scope. The project team must start their activities on time and finish on time. A corrective action is a change implemented to

address a weakness identified in a management system. Normally corrective actions are implemented in response to a customer complaint, abnormal levels of internal nonconformity, nonconformities identified during an internal audit or

adverse or unstable trends in product and process monitoring such as would be identified by SP C. It is method of identifying and eliminating the causes of a problem, thus preventing their reappearance. Examples of a corrective action are

:Improvements to maintenance schedulesImprovements to material handling or storage Answer option C is incorrect. Management reserve is time and funds allotted for unforeseen issues and risks within the project.

Answer option A is incorrect. Padding each estimate may cause the project to succumb to Parkinson's Law: work expands to fill the amount of time allotted to it. In addition, the project team may still delay the start time of their project

assignments.

Answer option B is incorrect. Disciplining the project team may be a good option if the problem continues.

The best option is to first apply corrective actions.

Correct Answer: C

The rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimate is used early in the project when there is not much information available to create a time estimate. Rough order of magnitude estimates can have a range of variance as large as -25% to +75 percent. While ROM is mostly used with cost estimates, it can be used with time estimates too. Rough order of magnitude (ROM), also known as ball park estimate, is a rough approximation, made with a degree of knowledge and confidence that the estimated figure falls within a reasonable range of values. ROM range can vary from half to twice (-50 to +100) the actual cost. Answer option B is incorrect. Broad estimate is not a valid time estimating type. Answer option D is incorrect. Expert judgment is what the project manager used in this scenario to create the time estimate, but it is not a time estimating type. Answer option A is incorrect. An analogous estimate is based on historical information from a similar project. For example, Project A took 8 months to complete and Project B, while similar but larger, will take 10 months to complete.

Correct Answer: B

According to the question, you are required to calculate the cost performance index (CPI) of the project. Cost variance (CV) is a measure of cost performance on a project. The variance notifies if costs are higher than budgeted or lower than budgeted. The cost variance is calculated based on the following formula: CV = Earned Value (EV) - Actual Cost (AC) A positive value means that spending is less than budgeted, whereas a negative value indicates that costs are higher than originally planned for the project. Now, putting the provided values in the formula: CV = EV - AC = 320 - 400 = -80 As the value of CV (which is 80) is negative, it shows that the costs are higher than that have been planned for the project. What is BCWP (or EV)? Budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP) or Earned Value (EV) is the value of completed work. It is the budgeted amount for the work actually completed on the schedule activity during a given time period. What is BCWS (or PV)? Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) or Planned Value (PV) is the authorized budget assigned to the scheduled work to be accomplished for a schedule activity or Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) component. What is ACWP (or AC)? Actual cost of work performed (ACWP) or Actual Cost (AC) is the total costs actually incurred and recorded in accomplishing work performed during a given time period for a schedule activity. It is the cost of the work to date, including direct and indirect costs. AC is money that has actually been expended to date.

Correct Answer: C

What-if scenario analysis explains the analysis of the question "What if the situation represented by scenario 'X' happens?". This What-If Scenario Analysis shortly named as WIS A. A schedule network analysis is performed using the schedule to compute the different scenarios, such as extending specific engineering durations, or delaying a major component delivery. Businesses use what-if scenarios to determine the effect different costs or investments have on profit and other financial indicators. Answer option A is incorrect. The schedule analysis is the review of the schedule, but does not examine other possibilities for completing the project work. Answer option D is incorrect. The root cause analysis helps to determine the reasons why the project is running late. Answer option B is incorrect. The resource leveling causes the project's duration to increase. It is a technique that resolves resource conflicts by delaying tasks within their slack allowances. The resource leveling is the process in which project teams come across problems when developing their project schedules.

Correct Answer: C

The best answer for this question is a template. When projects adapt previous project plans for the current project, it is an example of a project template. Template is an activity list or a part of the activity list taken from the previous project and used in a new project. Answer option D is incorrect. A parametric estimate is an estimate that uses a parameter to predict the costs of the project, such as cost per network drop or cost per software license. Parametric estimating technique utilizes the statistical relationship that exists between a series of historical data and a particular delineated list of other variables. Answer option A is incorrect. Expert judgment is not the best choice for this question. Expert judgment is a technique based on a set of criteria that has been acquired in a specific knowledge area or product area. It is obtained when the project manager or project team requires specialized knowledge that they do not possess. Expert judgment involves people most familiar with the work of creating estimates. Preferably, the project team member who will be doing the task should complete the estimates. Expert judgment is applied when performing administrative closure activities, and experts should ensure the project or phase closure is performed to the appropriate standards. Answer option B is incorrect. Analogous is an estimating technique that uses the values of parameter, such as scope, cost, budget, and duration or measures of scale such as size, weight, and complexity from a previous, similar activity as the basis for estimation of the same parameter for a future activity. It is a top-down estimating technique and is a form of expert judgment. It provides a lower degree of accuracy than other estimating techniques. This technique is primarily used when there is a limited amount of detailed information about the project or program.

Correct Answer: B

This is also known as a hammock activity, as the SS and FF relationship hangs off of the activities in the project network diagram. A hammock activity is a schedule or project planning term for grouping of subtasks that "hangs" between two

end dates it is fixed to. It groups subtasks that are not related in the hierarchical sense of a Work Breakdown Structure. It also groups subtasks that are not related in a logical sense of a dependency where one subtask must wait for another.

A hammock activity usually refers to report information that is time-dependent and lasts from the initial to the latest date of the activities it encompasses. By using a hammock activity, the top management is able to see an overview of the

project without being besieged by details.

Answer option D is incorrect. Finish-to-start is the most common relationship between project activities in the project network diagram.

Answer option A is incorrect. Project management overhead describes the work that supports the project objectives, but is not linked directly to the project deliverables. Answer option C is incorrect. A subproject is a discrete set of work that

contributes to the project, but branches off the primary project work. A subcontract portion of the project is an example of a subproject.

Correct Answer: A

The activity attributes initially include the Activity ID, WBS ID, and the Activity Name, but it can evolve over time to include other components about the work. Activity attributes are an output of the Define Activity process. These attributes refer to the multiple components that frame up an activity. The components for each activity during the early stages of the project are the Activity ID, WBS ID, and Activity name. At the later stages, the activity attributes include Activity codes, Predecessor activity, activity description, logical relationship, successor activity, leads and lags, imposed dates, and constraints and assumptions. Activity attributes are used for schedule development and for ordering, selecting, and sorting the planned schedule activities in a number of ways within reports. Answer option B is incorrect. A project management plan is a formal document that defines how the project is being monitored, controlled, and executed. It is not the best answer. Answer option D is incorrect. The roles and responsibilities matrix records the work and the person to record the work, but does not offer additional information such as locale for the work, level of effort, and other information. Answer option C is incorrect. The Schedule Management Plan defines how the schedule will be created, executed, and controlled.

Correct Answer: C

A schedule baseline provides a method to track project progress during project execution against what was planned. What is schedule baseline? Schedule baseline is a project schedule used in measuring project progress. It helps provide a comparison with the actual progress of work against the schedule and to determine if performance to date is within acceptable parameters. Any change caused by change in scope of the project invalidates the original schedule and requires a new baseline schedule. Answer options D, A, and B are incorrect. A detailed project budget, team members profile, and benefit-cost ratio will not help you track project progress. What is BCR? A benefit-cost ratio (BCR) is an indicator, used in the formal discipline of cost-benefit analysis, that attempts to summarize the overall value for money of a project or proposal. A BCR is the ratio of the benefits of a project or proposal, expressed in monetary terms, relative to its costs, also expressed in monetary terms. All benefits and costs should be expressed in discounted present values. For e.g., a BCR of $3.8 indicates a payback of $3.8 for each dollar expended.