Mixed Deck — All Project Management Topics Flashcards
100 cards from real Project Management practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 20 Mixed Deck — All Project Management Topics flashcards as text
What term describes the point in a project where a decision is made to continue, redirect, or stop the project?
Answer: Phase gate
A phase gate (also called a kill point or stage gate) is a scheduled review at the end of a phase where continuation decisions are made.
During project execution, a team member implements a small, seemingly beneficial process improvement without going through the change control board. The project manager should:
Answer: Reverse the change and submit it through the formal change control process
All changes, regardless of size, must go through the integrated change control process to maintain baseline integrity and avoid unauthorized scope changes.
If the project completion date is moved earlier by management, what is the effect on the critical path?
Answer: Some previously non-critical activities may become critical
Compressing the required end date reduces total float across the network, potentially making previously non-critical paths critical.
A Product Owner and the Developers are collaborating to add details, estimates, and order to items in the Product Backlog. This is not a formal, time-boxed event but an ongoing activity throughout the sprint. This activity is best known as:
Answer: Backlog Refinement
Product Backlog refinement is the act of breaking down and further defining Product Backlog items into smaller, more precise items. It's an ongoing activity where details, estimates, and order are added to Product Backlog items. The Scrum Guide suggests this usually consumes no more than 10% of the Development Team's capacity.
Which of the following statements is true about the Planning Process' definition?
Answer: Defines and refinesthe project objectives
The Planning Process Group is where the project objectives are further defined, refined, and detailed. This involves developing the comprehensive project management plan, which outlines how the project will be executed, monitored, controlled, and closed, ensuring alignment with the initial project goals. It transforms high-level ideas into specific, actionable plans.
A product owner wants to ensure the team builds the most valuable features first. Which backlog refinement technique best supports this goal?
Answer: Prioritizing by MoSCoW categories based on business value
MoSCoW (Must, Should, Could, Won't) categorization helps product owners rank items by urgency and business value for prioritized delivery.
Which Scrum ceremony is primarily focused on creating a shared understanding of the work needed to achieve the Sprint Goal?
Answer: Sprint Planning
Sprint Planning creates shared understanding by defining the Sprint Goal and selecting and decomposing Product Backlog items into actionable Sprint Backlog tasks.
Which document formally authorizes a project and gives the project manager authority to apply organizational resources?
Answer: Project Charter
The Project Charter formally authorizes the project's existence and grants the project manager authority to use resources.
Which of the following is a key tool or output of the Plan Stakeholder Engagement process, used for comparing the current and desired engagement levels of project stakeholders?
Answer: Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix
The Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix is the specific tool used within the Plan Stakeholder Engagement process to map out current versus desired engagement levels. The Stakeholder Register is an input to this process, while the Issue Log is used later in managing engagement, and the Communications Management Plan outlines how communication will occur.
During project execution, a stakeholder requests a small addition that will take only two hours. The PM should:
Answer: Submit a change request and await approval before proceeding
All scope changes, regardless of size, must go through integrated change control before work begins.
A project manager is conducting a stakeholder analysis mid-project and identifies a new influential stakeholder who was missed in initial planning. What is the BEST course of action?
Answer: Add the stakeholder to the register and assess their engagement needs immediately
Stakeholder identification is iterative; newly identified stakeholders should be added and assessed without delay.
During risk response planning, the project manager should ensure that responses are commensurate with the risk. This principle means:
Answer: The cost and effort of the response should be proportional to the risk's significance
Risk responses should be cost-effective; spending more on a response than the risk's expected monetary value is wasteful.
The critical path in a project schedule is defined as:
Answer: The longest sequence of dependent activities that determines the project's minimum duration
The critical path is the longest path through the network diagram and determines the earliest the project can finish.
A project team is selecting quality standards relevant to their software project. This activity occurs during which process?
Answer: Plan Quality Management
Plan Quality Management is where the team identifies relevant quality standards and determines how to satisfy them for the project.
A project has EV = $150,000, PV = $120,000, and AC = $140,000. What is the Schedule Variance (SV)?
Answer: $30,000
SV = EV - PV = $150,000 - $120,000 = +$30,000, meaning the project has accomplished $30,000 more work than planned.
A Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) is used to show:
Answer: The relationship between project work packages and the team members responsible for them
A RAM maps work packages or activities to the team members responsible for them, ensuring clear ownership and preventing gaps or duplication in effort.
During project execution, a new regulatory body is identified that can block project approval. What is the BEST immediate action?
Answer: Add them to the stakeholder register and develop an engagement plan
Newly identified stakeholders should be documented and engaged proactively to prevent project disruptions.
Which factor is MOST important when determining the desired engagement level for a specific stakeholder?
Answer: The stakeholder's impact on project success and their role in risk mitigation
Desired engagement levels are set based on how critical the stakeholder is to project success and risk management.
Which EVM metric would a project manager use to predict the total cost at project completion if current cost performance continues?
Answer: EAC = BAC / CPI
EAC = BAC / CPI is used when current cost performance is expected to continue for the remainder of the project.
A project manager is leading a project in the pharmaceutical industry. During execution, a new federal regulation concerning clinical trial data reporting is enacted. What should be the project manager's FIRST action to ensure compliance?
Answer: Immediately consult with the organization's legal and regulatory departments to assess the impact.
When a new legal or regulatory requirement emerges, the project manager's first responsibility is to understand its specific impact on the project. The most appropriate and effective way to do this is by engaging the organization's experts in that domain, such as the legal and regulatory compliance departments. This ensures a correct interpretation and a formal assessment of necessary changes.