CSET Project Planning & Execution 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: During project execution, a team member raises a concern that a deliverable does not meet the specified requirements. The project manager should first:
- Immediately notify the sponsor of the defect
- Review the quality standards and verify the requirements against the deliverable (Correct answer)
- Assign blame to the team member responsible
- Submit a change request to modify the requirements
Correct answer: Review the quality standards and verify the requirements against the deliverable
The project manager should verify the issue by comparing the deliverable to documented requirements before taking escalation or corrective action.
Question 2: Which scheduling tool visually shows tasks as horizontal bars across a timeline, making it easy to see task duration and overlap?
- Network diagram
- Gantt chart (Correct answer)
- PERT chart
- Precedence diagram
Correct answer: Gantt chart
A Gantt chart uses horizontal bars on a calendar timeline to represent each task's duration and its position relative to other tasks.
Question 3: In the context of project risk management, a 'risk response strategy' of acceptance means:
- Eliminating the risk entirely
- Transferring the risk to a third party
- Acknowledging the risk and deciding not to change the plan to address it (Correct answer)
- Reducing the probability or impact of the risk
Correct answer: Acknowledging the risk and deciding not to change the plan to address it
Risk acceptance means the project team acknowledges the risk exists but chooses not to act proactively, often because the cost of response outweighs the impact.
Question 4: A project team is in the 'Norming' stage of Tuckman's model. This means the team is:
- Just forming and getting to know each other
- Experiencing conflicts and competing for positions
- Resolving differences and beginning to work cohesively (Correct answer)
- Performing at peak efficiency and productivity
Correct answer: Resolving differences and beginning to work cohesively
In the Norming stage, team members resolve interpersonal differences, establish norms, and begin collaborating more effectively.
Question 5: To Estimate at Completion (EAC) using actual performance trends, a project manager would calculate:
- BAC + actual costs to date
- BAC / CPI (Correct answer)
- EV - PV
- AC + (BAC - EV)
Correct answer: BAC / CPI
EAC = BAC / CPI uses the current cost performance index to forecast the total cost if current spending efficiency continues.
Question 6: Which communication model component refers to anything that interferes with the transmission or understanding of a message?
- Feedback
- Encoding
- Noise (Correct answer)
- Channel
Correct answer: Noise
Noise includes any distortion, distraction, or interference—physical or psychological—that reduces the clarity of a communicated message.
Question 7: A project manager applies 'crashing' to compress the project schedule. The primary trade-off of this technique is:
- Reduced quality of deliverables
- Increased project cost (Correct answer)
- Expanded project scope
- Higher risk of scope creep
Correct answer: Increased project cost
Crashing adds resources (people, equipment) to shorten critical path activities, which compresses the schedule but increases costs.
CSET Project Planning & Execution 5
During project execution, a team member raises a concern that a deliverable does not meet the specified requirements.
The project manager should first: