CTL Project Planning & Execution 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A stakeholder requests a major change after the project has already started execution. The team leader should FIRST:
- Implement the change immediately to satisfy the stakeholder
- Evaluate the change's impact on scope, cost, and schedule (Correct answer)
- Reject the change to protect the project baseline
- Escalate the request to the project sponsor without analysis
Correct answer: Evaluate the change's impact on scope, cost, and schedule
Evaluating impact before deciding ensures the team leader can present an informed recommendation to decision-makers.
Question 2: Which output of project planning provides a detailed schedule showing task start and end dates in a bar chart format?
- Network diagram
- Gantt chart (Correct answer)
- Responsibility matrix
- Project charter
Correct answer: Gantt chart
A Gantt chart displays project tasks along a timeline with bars representing start, duration, and end dates.
Question 3: A team leader wants to ensure lessons from a completed project benefit future projects. The BEST action is to:
- Archive all project files without review
- Conduct a lessons-learned session and document findings in an organizational repository (Correct answer)
- Share informal verbal feedback with the next project manager
- Email the lessons learned only to direct team members
Correct answer: Conduct a lessons-learned session and document findings in an organizational repository
Documenting lessons learned in a shared repository makes knowledge available to future project teams across the organization.
Question 4: During planning, the team identifies a risk with high probability and high impact. The MOST appropriate first response is to:
- Accept the risk and move forward
- Develop a proactive risk response strategy (Correct answer)
- Remove the activity that triggers the risk from the project scope
- Log the risk and revisit it during project closure
Correct answer: Develop a proactive risk response strategy
High-probability, high-impact risks require immediate, proactive response planning to minimize their effect.
Question 5: A team leader is planning a project with an external vendor. To ensure accountability, the MOST important document to establish is:
- An informal email agreement
- A signed Statement of Work (SOW) or contract (Correct answer)
- A team meeting agenda
- An internal project charter
Correct answer: A signed Statement of Work (SOW) or contract
A SOW or contract formally defines deliverables, timelines, and responsibilities, creating enforceable accountability with the vendor.
Question 6: Which of the following is a characteristic of a well-defined project objective?
- It is broad enough to allow flexibility in delivery approach
- It is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (Correct answer)
- It is written after the project is underway based on initial findings
- It focuses only on deliverables, not on timelines or resources
Correct answer: It is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound
SMART objectives provide clarity and measurable criteria that guide project planning and success evaluation.
Question 7: A team leader conducts a project status review and finds that actual progress matches the plan. The Schedule Performance Index (SPI) would be:
- Less than 1.0
- Equal to 1.0 (Correct answer)
- Greater than 1.0
- Undefined without cost data
Correct answer: Equal to 1.0
An SPI of 1.0 means earned value equals planned value, confirming the project is exactly on schedule.
CTL Project Planning & Execution 5
A stakeholder requests a major change after the project has already started execution.
The team leader should FIRST: