CTL Project Planning & Execution 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A team leader is reviewing a project that has a Cost Performance Index (CPI) of 0.85. This means the project is:
- Earning $1.18 for every dollar spent
- Spending $1.18 for every dollar of value earned (Correct answer)
- Ahead of schedule by 15%
- Under budget by 15%
Correct answer: Spending $1.18 for every dollar of value earned
A CPI below 1.0 means the project is over budget — spending more than the value of work completed.
Question 2: Which risk response strategy involves transferring the negative impact of a risk to a third party?
- Avoid
- Mitigate
- Transfer (Correct answer)
- Accept
Correct answer: Transfer
Transferring shifts risk ownership to another party, such as through insurance or outsourcing.
Question 3: A team leader wants to set realistic deadlines. Which estimating technique uses three time estimates (optimistic, most likely, pessimistic)?
- Analogous estimating
- Bottom-up estimating
- PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) (Correct answer)
- Rolling wave planning
Correct answer: PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique)
PERT calculates a weighted average of optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates to produce a realistic duration.
Question 4: During project execution, which meeting format is BEST suited to quickly surface blockers and synchronize the team daily?
- Retrospective
- Stakeholder review
- Stand-up (daily scrum) (Correct answer)
- Lessons-learned session
Correct answer: Stand-up (daily scrum)
A daily stand-up is a brief, time-boxed meeting designed to surface impediments and keep the team aligned each day.
Question 5: When resources are limited and multiple tasks compete for the same person, a team leader should use:
- Schedule compression
- Resource leveling (Correct answer)
- Scope reduction
- Quality audits
Correct answer: Resource leveling
Resource leveling adjusts task timing to resolve resource conflicts without overloading any individual.
Question 6: A project has high uncertainty in early phases but details become clearer over time. Which planning approach BEST suits this situation?
- Fixed-scope waterfall planning
- Rolling wave planning (Correct answer)
- Critical chain method
- Parametric estimating
Correct answer: Rolling wave planning
Rolling wave planning details near-term work fully while leaving future phases at a higher level until more is known.
Question 7: A team leader wants to measure whether a project is delivering value relative to cost. Which metric should be used?
- Schedule Variance (SV)
- Cost Performance Index (CPI) (Correct answer)
- Scope Creep Index
- Risk Probability Score
Correct answer: Cost Performance Index (CPI)
CPI measures cost efficiency by comparing earned value to actual cost, indicating value delivered per dollar spent.
CTL Project Planning & Execution 4
A team leader is reviewing a project that has a Cost Performance Index (CPI) of 0.85.
This means the project is: