CED Project Planning & Execution 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A project kickoff meeting is most valuable for:
- Finalizing the project budget with finance staff
- Aligning all stakeholders on objectives, roles, and ground rules (Correct answer)
- Completing the risk register
- Assigning work packages to team members
Correct answer: Aligning all stakeholders on objectives, roles, and ground rules
The kickoff meeting establishes shared understanding of project purpose, roles, and expectations — creating the social contract that guides team behavior throughout.
Question 2: Which document formally authorizes a project and grants the executive director authority to apply organizational resources to project activities?
- Project management plan
- Project charter (Correct answer)
- Statement of work
- Work breakdown structure
Correct answer: Project charter
The project charter officially authorizes the project, names the project manager/executive director, and grants them authority to commit resources.
Question 3: A nonprofit launches a program expansion with a fixed grant deadline. The project manager compresses the schedule by adding resources to critical-path tasks. This technique is called:
- Fast tracking
- Crashing (Correct answer)
- Resource leveling
- Scope reduction
Correct answer: Crashing
Crashing adds resources (people, equipment, overtime) to critical-path activities to shorten duration, typically increasing cost.
Question 4: When creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), the 100% rule requires that:
- All work is assigned to a single accountable person
- The WBS captures 100% of the project scope with no gaps or overlaps (Correct answer)
- Every task must be completable in under 8 hours
- All deliverables must be approved by the board
Correct answer: The WBS captures 100% of the project scope with no gaps or overlaps
The 100% rule ensures the WBS includes all work — and only the work — needed to complete the project, preventing both scope gaps and double-counting.
Question 5: An executive director notices team members are duplicating efforts on a multi-department initiative. The root cause is most likely a lack of:
- Budget
- A responsibility assignment matrix (RACI) (Correct answer)
- Staff experience
- Board oversight
Correct answer: A responsibility assignment matrix (RACI)
A RACI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) clarifies who does what for each task, eliminating ambiguity that leads to duplication.
Question 6: In project schedule management, 'float' (or slack) represents:
- The total project budget contingency reserve
- The amount of time a task can be delayed without delaying the project end date (Correct answer)
- The difference between planned and actual costs
- Unassigned staff capacity
Correct answer: The amount of time a task can be delayed without delaying the project end date
Float is the scheduling flexibility on non-critical tasks; critical path tasks have zero float because any delay pushes the project end date.
Question 7: An executive director is closing a major grant-funded program. Which action is MOST important during project closeout?
- Reassigning staff to new projects immediately
- Conducting a lessons-learned review and archiving project documentation (Correct answer)
- Releasing all remaining budget back to operations
- Notifying the funder of project completion without documentation
Correct answer: Conducting a lessons-learned review and archiving project documentation
Lessons-learned reviews and document archiving capture institutional knowledge that improves future project performance and supports audit requirements.
CED Project Planning & Execution 3
A project kickoff meeting is most valuable for: