CSC Project Management & Execution 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A consultant's project team is geographically dispersed across four time zones. Which communication approach is MOST effective for decision-making?
- Send all decisions via email to avoid scheduling conflicts
- Establish overlapping core hours for synchronous meetings on critical decisions (Correct answer)
- Allow each regional team to make decisions independently
- Rely exclusively on asynchronous collaboration tools
Correct answer: Establish overlapping core hours for synchronous meetings on critical decisions
Core overlapping hours ensure critical decisions involve all key stakeholders while acknowledging time zone constraints.
Question 2: The Estimate to Complete (ETC) formula when past performance is expected to continue is:
- BAC - EV
- (BAC - EV) / CPI (Correct answer)
- EV / AC
- AC + BAC - EV
Correct answer: (BAC - EV) / CPI
ETC = (BAC - EV) / CPI adjusts the remaining work estimate based on current cost efficiency.
Question 3: A senior consultant identifies a conflict between two high-priority deliverables competing for the same specialized resource. The BEST resolution approach is:
- Let the resource choose which task to prioritize
- Perform resource leveling or negotiate with project sponsors to reprioritize (Correct answer)
- Delay both deliverables equally
- Hire a new resource immediately without stakeholder input
Correct answer: Perform resource leveling or negotiate with project sponsors to reprioritize
Resource leveling and sponsor negotiation resolve contention based on business priority rather than ad hoc resource decisions.
Question 4: Which project lifecycle approach is MOST appropriate when requirements are well-defined, stable, and unlikely to change?
- Agile/Scrum
- Kanban
- Predictive (Waterfall) (Correct answer)
- Hybrid
Correct answer: Predictive (Waterfall)
Predictive lifecycles work best when scope, cost, and schedule can be clearly defined upfront and requirements are stable.
Question 5: A client requests that a senior consultant accelerate the project schedule. Crashing the schedule involves:
- Removing non-critical activities from the project
- Adding resources to critical path activities to reduce duration at increased cost (Correct answer)
- Running activities in parallel that were originally sequential
- Reducing the project scope to meet the deadline
Correct answer: Adding resources to critical path activities to reduce duration at increased cost
Crashing adds resources to critical path tasks to compress duration, typically increasing direct costs.
Question 6: What is the PRIMARY purpose of a project kickoff meeting?
- To finalize the project budget and secure additional funding
- To formally authorize the project and align all stakeholders on objectives, roles, and expectations (Correct answer)
- To conduct the first round of quality reviews
- To assign tasks to team members and set individual performance goals
Correct answer: To formally authorize the project and align all stakeholders on objectives, roles, and expectations
A kickoff meeting establishes shared understanding of project goals, scope, roles, and success criteria among all stakeholders.
Question 7: In earned value management, a Schedule Variance (SV) of -$15,000 means:
- The project has spent $15,000 more than planned
- The project is $15,000 worth of work behind schedule (Correct answer)
- The project will cost $15,000 more at completion
- The project has $15,000 in unspent budget
Correct answer: The project is $15,000 worth of work behind schedule
SV = EV - PV; a negative SV indicates the project has completed less work than planned for the period.
CSC Project Management & Execution 3
A consultant's project team is geographically dispersed across four time zones.
Which communication approach is MOST effective for decision-making?