PMP Scope Management 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A project manager is developing the WBS and realizes some work elements are difficult to define at this stage. What is the BEST approach?
- Wait until the project is cancelled and restart with better information
- Use rolling wave planning to plan near-term work in detail and future work at a higher level (Correct answer)
- Guess at the details to fill out the WBS completely
- Proceed without a WBS for the undefined portions
Correct answer: Use rolling wave planning to plan near-term work in detail and future work at a higher level
Rolling wave planning allows detailed planning for near-term deliverables while leaving future work at a summary level until more information is available.
Question 2: The 100% rule of WBS construction states that:
- 100% of team members must approve the WBS before baseline
- The WBS must capture 100% of the work defined in the project scope (Correct answer)
- Each WBS element must be completable in 100 hours or fewer
- 100% of deliverables must map to a single work package
Correct answer: The WBS must capture 100% of the work defined in the project scope
The 100% rule means the WBS captures all work—and only the work—required to complete project objectives, including all deliverables.
Question 3: Which technique involves having each requirement traced back to a business need to ensure alignment?
- Decomposition
- Requirements traceability matrix (Correct answer)
- Variance analysis
- Expert judgment
Correct answer: Requirements traceability matrix
A requirements traceability matrix links requirements to their origin and traces them throughout the project lifecycle to ensure all are addressed.
Question 4: A project sponsor asks the project manager to add a significant new feature that benefits the business. The project manager SHOULD:
- Implement immediately because it came from the sponsor
- Perform impact analysis and submit a formal change request for approval (Correct answer)
- Reject the request because the project is already in execution
- Add it to the backlog for a future project
Correct answer: Perform impact analysis and submit a formal change request for approval
Even sponsor requests must go through formal change control to assess impact on scope, schedule, cost, and risk before approval.
Question 5: What is the PRIMARY difference between product scope and project scope?
- Product scope focuses on cost; project scope focuses on schedule
- Product scope describes features of the deliverable; project scope describes the work to create it (Correct answer)
- Project scope is set by the sponsor; product scope is set by the customer
- Product scope is fixed; project scope can be changed at any time
Correct answer: Product scope describes features of the deliverable; project scope describes the work to create it
Product scope refers to the features and functions of the deliverable, while project scope refers to the work required to deliver it.
Question 6: During which process is the scope baseline created?
- Plan Scope Management
- Define Scope
- Create WBS (Correct answer)
- Control Scope
Correct answer: Create WBS
The scope baseline—consisting of the approved scope statement, WBS, and WBS dictionary—is created as an output of the Create WBS process.
Question 7: A project manager notices that the project's actual work is consistently greater than planned. This is MOST likely caused by:
- Team members working inefficiently
- Scope creep that was not captured through change control (Correct answer)
- Poor quality control leading to rework
- Inaccurate productivity estimates from the planning phase
Correct answer: Scope creep that was not captured through change control
When actual work consistently exceeds planned work, undocumented scope additions (scope creep) are the most common cause.
PMP Scope Management 3
A project manager is developing the WBS and realizes some work elements are difficult to define at this stage.
What is the BEST approach?