CSM Project Management Fundamentals 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does the term 'gold plating' refer to in project management?
- Adding extra features or quality beyond what the customer requested (Correct answer)
- Using premium materials to exceed specification requirements
- Charging clients a premium rate for specialized work
- Documenting project successes for future reference
Correct answer: Adding extra features or quality beyond what the customer requested
Gold plating is the practice of adding unnecessary features or enhancements beyond the agreed scope, which wastes resources and can introduce risk.
Question 2: A project has an Estimate at Completion (EAC) of $500,000 and a Budget at Completion (BAC) of $450,000. What does this indicate?
- The project will finish under budget
- The project is expected to overrun the original budget by $50,000 (Correct answer)
- The project is ahead of schedule
- The project has a positive cost variance
Correct answer: The project is expected to overrun the original budget by $50,000
When EAC exceeds BAC, the project is forecasted to cost more than originally budgeted, indicating a cost overrun.
Question 3: Which risk response strategy involves shifting the negative impact of a risk to a third party?
- Avoid
- Mitigate
- Transfer (Correct answer)
- Accept
Correct answer: Transfer
Transferring risk shifts the financial impact or ownership to a third party, such as through insurance or outsourcing.
Question 4: What is the critical path in a project network diagram?
- The path with the most activities
- The path with the highest total cost
- The longest path through the network that determines project duration (Correct answer)
- The path with the most critical resources assigned
Correct answer: The longest path through the network that determines project duration
The critical path is the longest sequence of dependent activities and determines the minimum project completion time.
Question 5: In software project management, what is a 'sprint' most closely associated with?
- A rapid deployment of a hotfix to production
- A time-boxed iteration in Agile/Scrum methodology (Correct answer)
- A performance benchmark test run
- An emergency project schedule compression
Correct answer: A time-boxed iteration in Agile/Scrum methodology
A sprint is a fixed-length iteration (typically 1-4 weeks) in Scrum where a usable product increment is delivered.
Question 6: Which document captures the agreed-upon deliverables, requirements, and acceptance criteria between the project team and the customer?
- Project Management Plan
- Requirements Traceability Matrix
- Scope Baseline
- Scope Statement (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Scope Statement
The Project Scope Statement formally documents deliverables, project boundaries, assumptions, constraints, and acceptance criteria.
Question 7: A project manager is using Monte Carlo simulation for risk analysis. What does this technique primarily produce?
- A ranked list of project risks by probability
- A probability distribution of possible project outcomes (Correct answer)
- A decision tree showing risk response options
- An expected monetary value for each identified risk
Correct answer: A probability distribution of possible project outcomes
Monte Carlo simulation runs thousands of iterations using probability distributions for uncertain inputs to produce a range of possible project outcomes.
CSM Project Management Fundamentals 3
What does the term 'gold plating' refer to in project management?