CPSM Resource Planning & Capacity Management 3

Question 1

What is 'shadow resourcing' in professional services capacity management?

Accepted Answer

Tentatively assigning resources to pipeline deals before contracts are signed to prepare for ramp-up

Answer

Training junior staff by having them shadow senior consultants on live engagements

Answer

Maintaining a hidden pool of contract resources for confidential projects

Answer

Tracking resource costs in a separate accounting ledger for internal reporting

Question 2

A professional services manager is deciding between hiring a specialist or outsourcing to a subcontractor for a niche engagement. Which factor MOST favors subcontracting?

Accepted Answer

The engagement is a one-time project with a very specialized skill unlikely to recur

Answer

The skill is expected to be needed on more than five future projects

Answer

The client has a preference for dedicated full-time employees

Answer

The subcontractor's rate is lower than an equivalent employee's fully-loaded cost

Question 3

Which approach is most effective for managing resource conflicts when two high-priority projects compete for the same specialist?

Accepted Answer

Escalate the conflict to a governance committee or leadership to make a priority decision

Answer

Allow the specialist to split time 50/50 between both projects

Answer

Assign the specialist to whichever project started first

Answer

Replace the specialist with a less-experienced staff member on one project

Question 4

What does 'planned vs. actual utilization' variance analysis help a services manager identify?

Accepted Answer

Whether resource assignments are executing as planned or if scheduling adjustments are needed

Answer

Differences between budgeted and actual project expenses

Answer

Gaps between employee performance ratings and target scores

Answer

Discrepancies in time-and-expense reports submitted by consultants

Question 5

Which scheduling method prioritizes filling the most constrained resource (the bottleneck) first when building project staffing plans?

Accepted Answer

Theory of Constraints (TOC) resource scheduling

Answer

Critical Path Method (CPM)

Answer

Agile velocity-based planning

Answer

Resource leveling by priority score

Question 6

In professional services, 'seat planning' for a project is best described as:

Accepted Answer

Mapping out which roles and seniority levels will be required at each phase of a project

Answer

Reserving physical office or co-location space for a delivery team

Answer

Assigning workstation licenses and IT equipment to incoming staff

Answer

Setting up virtual meeting infrastructure for remote team collaboration

Question 7

A services organization with 200 billable staff has a target billable utilization of 75%. If actual utilization is 68%, what is the approximate annual revenue impact assuming an average billing rate of $150/hour and 2,000 available hours per employee?

Accepted Answer

$4.2 million

Answer

$12 million

Answer

$2.1 million

Answer

$8.4 million