PGM Performance Measurement and Improvement 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A program manager notices that a project's Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is 0.85. What does this indicate?
- The project is 15% ahead of schedule
- The project is performing at 85% of the planned schedule efficiency (Correct answer)
- The project has spent 85% of its budget
- The project quality score is 85%
Correct answer: The project is performing at 85% of the planned schedule efficiency
An SPI of 0.85 means the project is only accomplishing 85 cents of scheduled work for every dollar of work planned, indicating it is behind schedule.
Question 2: Which technique involves comparing program performance against best practices from other organizations or industries?
- Root cause analysis
- Benchmarking (Correct answer)
- Variance analysis
- Monte Carlo simulation
Correct answer: Benchmarking
Benchmarking compares processes and performance metrics against industry leaders or best-in-class organizations to identify improvement opportunities.
Question 3: A program's Cost Performance Index (CPI) is 1.12. What action should the program manager prioritize?
- Immediately cut costs to avoid overspending
- Investigate why costs are running below budget to ensure quality is maintained (Correct answer)
- Request additional funding from stakeholders
- Escalate the issue to senior leadership
Correct answer: Investigate why costs are running below budget to ensure quality is maintained
A CPI above 1.0 means the program is under budget, but the manager should verify this reflects genuine efficiency rather than deferred work or quality shortcuts.
Question 4: What is the primary purpose of a Balanced Scorecard in program management?
- To track only financial performance metrics
- To provide a multi-dimensional view of performance across financial, customer, process, and learning perspectives (Correct answer)
- To replace the program's risk register
- To assign balanced workloads across team members
Correct answer: To provide a multi-dimensional view of performance across financial, customer, process, and learning perspectives
The Balanced Scorecard measures organizational performance across four perspectives—financial, customer, internal processes, and learning/growth—providing a holistic view.
Question 5: During a program review, the team identifies that a key metric has been consistently missing its target for three consecutive reporting periods. What is the recommended first step?
- Change the target to match actual performance
- Conduct a root cause analysis to identify underlying issues (Correct answer)
- Remove the metric from the dashboard
- Assign blame to the responsible team lead
Correct answer: Conduct a root cause analysis to identify underlying issues
Root cause analysis helps identify the underlying factors driving persistent metric misses, enabling targeted corrective actions rather than symptomatic fixes.
Question 6: In Earned Value Management, what does the Estimate at Completion (EAC) represent?
- The original approved budget for the program
- The expected total cost of completing all program work based on current performance (Correct answer)
- The amount of work completed to date expressed in dollars
- The difference between planned and actual costs
Correct answer: The expected total cost of completing all program work based on current performance
EAC is a forecast of the total cost required to finish the program, calculated using current CPI and remaining work.
Question 7: A program manager wants to understand how changes in one variable affect the overall program outcome. Which analytical technique is most appropriate?
- Trend analysis
- Sensitivity analysis (Correct answer)
- Stakeholder analysis
- Issue log review
Correct answer: Sensitivity analysis
Sensitivity analysis evaluates how the variation in one variable impacts the program outcome while other variables are held constant.
PGM Performance Measurement and Improvement 2
A program manager notices that a project's Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is 0.85.
What does this indicate?