PMI-SP Monitoring, Controlling & Reporting Schedules 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A project manager notices the SPI is 0.82 at the midpoint of a software project. Which action is MOST appropriate?
- Close the project immediately
- Analyze which activities are behind and implement schedule recovery actions (Correct answer)
- Increase the project budget to compensate
- Report the variance to the customer only at project completion
Correct answer: Analyze which activities are behind and implement schedule recovery actions
An SPI below 1.0 indicates work is progressing slower than planned, requiring root-cause analysis and corrective action.
Question 2: Which technique compares the amount of work physically accomplished against the planned work to determine schedule variance?
- Critical Path Method
- Earned Value Management (Correct answer)
- Resource Leveling
- Monte Carlo Simulation
Correct answer: Earned Value Management
Earned Value Management (EVM) uses EV, PV, and AC to compute schedule and cost variances.
Question 3: A schedule performance report shows SV = -15 days. What does this indicate?
- The project is 15 days ahead of schedule
- The project is 15 days behind schedule in earned value terms (Correct answer)
- The project has exceeded its budget by 15 days of labor cost
- The critical path has shifted by 15 days
Correct answer: The project is 15 days behind schedule in earned value terms
A negative Schedule Variance (SV = EV - PV) means earned value is less than planned value, indicating the project is behind schedule.
Question 4: During schedule control, which document is formally updated to reflect approved changes to the project schedule baseline?
- Project Charter
- Schedule Management Plan
- Schedule Baseline (Correct answer)
- Risk Register
Correct answer: Schedule Baseline
Only formally approved changes via the change control process result in updates to the schedule baseline.
Question 5: A scheduler wants to understand the range of possible project completion dates. Which tool is BEST suited for this?
- Precedence Diagramming Method
- Monte Carlo Simulation (Correct answer)
- Variance Analysis
- Trend Analysis
Correct answer: Monte Carlo Simulation
Monte Carlo Simulation runs thousands of iterations using activity duration distributions to produce a probability distribution of project end dates.
Question 6: Which metric directly answers the question: 'How efficiently is the team using time to accomplish work?'
- Cost Performance Index (CPI)
- Schedule Performance Index (SPI) (Correct answer)
- Budget at Completion (BAC)
- Estimate to Complete (ETC)
Correct answer: Schedule Performance Index (SPI)
SPI = EV / PV measures schedule efficiency; values above 1.0 indicate better-than-planned schedule performance.
Question 7: A project team is using a time-scaled network diagram to review schedule status. What is a key advantage of this format?
- It eliminates the need for a critical path analysis
- It visually represents activity durations and dependencies against a calendar (Correct answer)
- It automatically calculates earned value
- It replaces the need for resource histograms
Correct answer: It visually represents activity durations and dependencies against a calendar
A time-scaled network diagram maps activities to calendar dates, making it easy to see when activities occur relative to each other.
PMI-SP Monitoring, Controlling & Reporting Schedules 2
A project manager notices the SPI is 0.82 at the midpoint of a software project.
Which action is MOST appropriate?