Engagement and Analysis Flashcards

The responsibility of decoding the message rests with:

Answer: The receiver

Explanation: In the communication model, it is the sender that encodes, and the receiver decodes the message.

Acknowledgment in the context of the communication model indicates:

Answer: Confirmation of receipt

Explanation: Within the communication model, acknowledgment only indicates confirmation of receipt. It does not mean that the receiver understood the message or agreed with the message.

Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding issues?

Answer: Each issue should be assigned to a single owner.

Explanation: Each issue should be assigned to an owner and be assigned a target completion date. 'A' is incorrect since a project could be closed (successfully) and still have outstanding issues. Sometimes the issues are out of the project manager's control. 'B' is incorrect since the issue log is not for the stakeholders — it is for the project manager to use to manage issues. 'D` is incorrect because issues are managed within the context of a project. If you were even considering creating a separate project to manage issues, your project is probably beyond hope.

Which of the following communication techniques is the most effective for resolving conflict?

Answer: Face-to-face communication

Explanation: Face-to-face communication is the most effective means of resolving conflict. This fits an overall theme that direct, clear, and personal communication is favored by project managers.

You are about to attend a biweekly status meeting with your program manager when she calls and asks you to be certain to include earned value analysis in this and future meetings. Why is earned value analysis important to the communications process?

Answer: It communicates how the project is doing against the plan.

Explanation: Earned value analysis is a communication tool, and it's all about how the project is doing against the plan. 'A' is incorrect because "success" involves more than good earned value.

Mary is using forecasting to determine her project's estimate at completion. What would be the most likely place to include this information?

Answer: Project communications

Explanation: Project communications are the main output of the Manage Communications process. This is the place for updated earned value information such as the estimate at complete.

Marie is a project manager who is involved in a meeting with the customer. After the customer makes a statement, Marie carefully reformulates and restates the message back to them. What is Marie practicing in this case?

Answer: Listening skills

Explanation: Marie is practicing good listening skills to make sure she communicates well with her customers.

Lessons learned should contain:

Answer: Analysis of the variances that occurred from the project's baseline.

Explanation: Lessons learned focus on variances from the plan and what would be done differently in the future in order to avoid those variances.

Information sent to specific recipients who need to receive it but that is not confirmed to be received or understood by the receiver is known as:

Answer: Push communication

Explanation: Push communication is communication that is pushed out (think bulk email), but the drawback is that there is no reliable confirmation by the receiver that it was received or understood.

In which process would work performance information be produced?

Answer: Monitor Communications

Explanation: The WPI is the main output of Monitor Communications. It provides information on how communication is performing compared to the plan.

The issue log is used in which communications management process?

Answer: Monitor Communications

Explanation: Even if you didn't memorize all of the inputs, tools, and outputs, it may have been intuitive to you that the issue log was tied to the monitoring and controlling process here. It is one of the documents used as an input into Monitor Communications.