PMBOK Scope and WBS Development 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A project manager uses a control account to integrate scope, schedule, and cost. Which technique does this support?
- Critical path method
- Earned value management (Correct answer)
- Risk-based scheduling
- Resource leveling
Correct answer: Earned value management
Control accounts are the management control points where scope, budget, and schedule are integrated and EVM performance is measured.
Question 2: A sponsor requests adding a feature after the scope baseline is approved. The project manager evaluates the request and approves it informally to keep the sponsor happy. This is an example of:
- Proactive scope management
- Scope creep (Correct answer)
- Gold plating
- Integrated change control
Correct answer: Scope creep
Scope creep is the uncontrolled expansion of project scope without going through formal change control processes.
Question 3: When collecting requirements for a system with many users across departments, which technique BEST captures the current state and desired improvements?
- Benchmarking
- Context diagram (Correct answer)
- Document analysis
- Questionnaires and surveys
Correct answer: Context diagram
A context diagram visually shows the product scope by depicting a business system and how people and other systems interact with it.
Question 4: What distinguishes a work package from a planning package in the WBS?
- Work packages are at higher levels of the WBS hierarchy
- Work packages have detailed activities that can be scheduled and costed (Correct answer)
- Planning packages are always assigned to a single team member
- Planning packages contain completed deliverables
Correct answer: Work packages have detailed activities that can be scheduled and costed
Work packages are the lowest-level WBS components with sufficient detail to plan, schedule, estimate, monitor, and control the work.
Question 5: A project manager is preparing the scope management plan. Which input is MOST essential to this process?
- Work breakdown structure
- Project charter (Correct answer)
- Risk register
- Stakeholder register
Correct answer: Project charter
The project charter provides high-level project description and requirements that form the basis for developing the scope management plan.
Question 6: During scope validation a deliverable is accepted with conditions. How should the project manager document this?
- Record it as fully accepted in the project log
- Document the conditions in the issue log and create change requests as needed (Correct answer)
- Reject the deliverable and rework it completely before re-submission
- Mark the deliverable as incomplete in the WBS
Correct answer: Document the conditions in the issue log and create change requests as needed
Conditional acceptance should be documented in the issue log and any required changes processed through formal change control.
Question 7: Which of the following BEST describes product scope?
- The work performed to deliver the product
- The features and functions that characterize a product (Correct answer)
- The time needed to complete a product
- The budget allocated to build a product
Correct answer: The features and functions that characterize a product
Product scope describes the features and functions that characterize the product, service, or result of the project.
PMBOK Scope and WBS Development 3
A project manager uses a control account to integrate scope, schedule, and cost.
Which technique does this support?