CPP Project Governance & Portfolio Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A portfolio manager notices that several projects are competing for the same scarce engineering resources. What is the most appropriate first step?
- Escalate to the executive sponsor immediately
- Conduct a portfolio-level resource capacity analysis (Correct answer)
- Allow project managers to resolve conflicts among themselves
- Pause all projects until resources are available
Correct answer: Conduct a portfolio-level resource capacity analysis
A portfolio-level resource capacity analysis identifies where demand exceeds supply and enables informed prioritization decisions.
Question 2: Which governance document formally authorizes a project and establishes the project manager's authority?
- Project Management Plan
- Project Charter (Correct answer)
- Statement of Work
- Business Case
Correct answer: Project Charter
The Project Charter is the governance document that formally authorizes the project and grants the project manager authority to apply resources.
Question 3: In portfolio management, a 'strategic bucket' is best described as:
- A financial reserve for portfolio contingencies
- An allocated portion of investment capacity dedicated to a specific strategic theme (Correct answer)
- A container for low-priority projects awaiting funding
- A risk register category for portfolio-level threats
Correct answer: An allocated portion of investment capacity dedicated to a specific strategic theme
Strategic buckets are portions of the investment pool pre-allocated to specific strategic categories, ensuring balanced investment across themes.
Question 4: A project steering committee is primarily responsible for:
- Day-to-day project task assignments
- Providing strategic direction, resolving escalated issues, and approving major changes (Correct answer)
- Writing detailed project schedules
- Managing vendor contracts at the operational level
Correct answer: Providing strategic direction, resolving escalated issues, and approving major changes
A steering committee governs at the strategic level—setting direction, unblocking escalations, and approving significant changes.
Question 5: The primary purpose of a portfolio review meeting is to:
- Update individual project schedules
- Assess portfolio health and make investment reallocation decisions aligned to strategy (Correct answer)
- Resolve interpersonal conflicts between project managers
- Conduct detailed technical reviews of project deliverables
Correct answer: Assess portfolio health and make investment reallocation decisions aligned to strategy
Portfolio reviews assess overall health, strategic alignment, and whether to continue, adjust, or terminate investments.
Question 6: When a project's benefits realization is measured after project closure, who typically owns this process?
- The original project manager
- The project sponsor or business owner (Correct answer)
- The PMO director
- The quality assurance team
Correct answer: The project sponsor or business owner
Benefits realization post-closure is owned by the sponsor or business owner because operational accountability transfers to them after project completion.
Question 7: Which metric best indicates the strategic alignment of a project portfolio?
- Average Schedule Performance Index across all projects
- Percentage of portfolio investment mapped to strategic objectives (Correct answer)
- Total number of active projects
- Combined net present value of all projects
Correct answer: Percentage of portfolio investment mapped to strategic objectives
The proportion of investment tied to strategic objectives directly measures how well the portfolio advances organizational strategy.
CPP Project Governance & Portfolio Management 2
A portfolio manager notices that several projects are competing for the same scarce engineering resources.
What is the most appropriate first step?