Program Management Professional Trivia 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the purpose of a Program Steering Committee?
- To perform day-to-day program management tasks
- To provide executive oversight, make high-level decisions, and resolve issues escalated by the program manager (Correct answer)
- To approve individual project budgets within the program
- To conduct quality audits on component deliverables
Correct answer: To provide executive oversight, make high-level decisions, and resolve issues escalated by the program manager
The Program Steering Committee (or Governance Board) provides strategic oversight, approves major decisions, and resolves issues beyond the program manager's authority.
Question 2: In program financial management, what is the purpose of a 'management reserve'?
- To fund planned risk responses
- To cover unknown unknowns or unforeseen program-level contingencies (Correct answer)
- To pay for scope changes approved through change control
- To compensate for poor cost estimating in component projects
Correct answer: To cover unknown unknowns or unforeseen program-level contingencies
Management reserve is set aside for unknown risks (unknown unknowns) and requires governance approval before use, unlike contingency reserves for known risks.
Question 3: Which of the following is an example of a 'transition benefit' in a program?
- A new software system deployed to users
- Productivity gains realized by business units after adopting a new process enabled by the program (Correct answer)
- A completed training module delivered to staff
- An approved change request logged in the change log
Correct answer: Productivity gains realized by business units after adopting a new process enabled by the program
Transition benefits are outcomes realized after program components close and operational teams begin using the new capabilities in their work.
Question 4: What is the MAIN reason a program manager maintains an Integrated Program Schedule?
- To replace individual project schedules
- To visualize and manage interdependencies across all components and ensure coordinated delivery (Correct answer)
- To track resource utilization at the task level
- To report individual project status to sponsors
Correct answer: To visualize and manage interdependencies across all components and ensure coordinated delivery
An Integrated Program Schedule aggregates component schedules to surface cross-project dependencies, milestones, and sequencing critical to achieving program outcomes.
Question 5: A key stakeholder suddenly withdraws their support for the program. What is the program manager's BEST first response?
- Escalate to the PMO immediately and halt the program
- Engage the stakeholder to understand their concerns and develop a targeted re-engagement strategy (Correct answer)
- Remove the stakeholder from communication distributions
- Revise the program charter to reflect reduced scope
Correct answer: Engage the stakeholder to understand their concerns and develop a targeted re-engagement strategy
Understanding the root cause of the stakeholder's withdrawal and tailoring an engagement response is the appropriate first step before escalation or structural changes.
Question 6: Which technique helps a program manager identify which stakeholders have the most influence and interest in program outcomes?
- SWOT analysis
- Stakeholder analysis grid (power/interest matrix) (Correct answer)
- RACI chart
- Ishikawa diagram
Correct answer: Stakeholder analysis grid (power/interest matrix)
A power/interest (or influence/impact) grid maps stakeholders by their authority and interest level, guiding the program manager on engagement strategies.
Question 7: What is the MOST accurate description of 'component initiation' in a program?
- Launching all projects at program start simultaneously
- The process by which the program manager authorizes a new component based on program readiness and strategic need (Correct answer)
- The portfolio manager selecting which projects to fund
- A governance board reviewing the program business case
Correct answer: The process by which the program manager authorizes a new component based on program readiness and strategic need
Component initiation is the program-level process of authorizing new projects or sub-programs when the program's plan and strategy indicate they are needed.
Program Management Professional Trivia 5
What is the purpose of a Program Steering Committee?