An oil and gas project started without having acquired full funding for the project. The remaining funds were to be acquired during project execution. The acquisition of the remaining funds was delayed several months, resulting in a suspension of work by all contractors.
What should the project manager have done to prevent this from happening?
Correct Answer:
C
The project manager should have ensured the risk of not acquiring full funding for the project was adequately assessed and mitigated by the appropriate stakeholders to prevent this from happening. According to the PMBOK® Guide, a risk is an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on one or more project objectives1. In this case, the risk of not acquiring full funding for the project is a negative risk that could affect the project scope, schedule, cost, and quality. Therefore, the project manager should have performed the following risk management processes1:
✑ Identify Risks: The process of identifying individual project risks and sources of overall project risk, and documenting their characteristics. The project manager should have identified the riskof not acquiring full funding for the project as a potential source of overall project risk, and documented its characteristics, such as causes, triggers, probability, impact, and priority.
✑ Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis: The process of prioritizing individual project risks for further analysis or action by assessing their probability of occurrence and impact, as well as other characteristics. The project manager should have prioritized the risk of not acquiring full funding for the project based on its probability and impact, and determined if it required further analysis or action.
✑ Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis: The process of analyzing the effect of identified individual project risks and other sources of uncertainty on the project objectives, and presenting the results in quantitative terms. The project manager should have analyzed the effect of the risk of not acquiring full funding for the project on the project objectives, such as the expected monetary value, the cost of risk, the schedule reserve, and the contingency reserve.
✑ Plan Risk Responses: The process of developing options and actions to enhance opportunities and reduce threats to the project objectives. The project manager should have developed options and actions to reduce the threat of the risk of not acquiring full funding for the project, such as avoiding, mitigating, transferring, or accepting the risk, and implementing contingency plans or fallback plans if the risk occurs.
✑ Implement Risk Responses: The process of implementing the agreed-upon risk response plans. The project manager should have implemented the risk response plans for the risk of not acquiring full funding for the project, such as securing alternative sources of funding, negotiating with the stakeholders, or adjusting the project scope, schedule, or cost.
✑ Monitor Risks: The process of tracking the implementation of risk response plans, identifying and analyzing new risks, and evaluating risk process effectiveness. The project manager should have monitored the risk of not acquiring full funding for the project, and tracked the implementation of the risk response plans, identified and analyzed any new risks, and evaluated the effectiveness of the risk process.
By performing these risk management processes, the project manager could have prevented the risk of not acquiring full funding for the project from occurring, or minimized its impact on the project performance. The other options are not sufficient or appropriate for this situation, as they do not address the need to assess and mitigate the risk.
✑ Ensuring the stakeholder anticipated obstacles to achieving financial closure on the remaining funds is a passive and vague action that does not specify how the project manager will help the stakeholder overcome the obstacles or secure the funds.
✑ Ensuring the stakeholder who was providing additional funds remained interested in the project is an important but not sufficient action that does not guarantee the availability or timeliness of the funds.
✑ Ensuring the project team monitored and reviewed the project risk register periodically is a necessary but not sufficient action that does not involve developing and implementing risk response plans.
References: 1: PMBOK® Guide, 7th edition, pages 97-99.
Some project teams are voicing frustration because of conflicting priorities between agile and predictive work in a complex project. Which leadership style would effectively promote
collaboration across the project teams?
Correct Answer:
B
Servant leadership is a leadership style that focuses on empowering and serving the team members, rather than directing or controlling them. Servant leaders foster acollaborative and trusting environment, where team members can share their ideas, opinions, and concerns. Servant leaders also support the team members in their professional and personal growth, and help them overcome any obstacles or challenges. This leadership style would effectively promote collaboration across the project teams, especially in a complex project that involves agile and predictive work. Servant leadership is aligned with the principles of agile project management, as well as the values and ethics of project management. References:
✑ PMBOK Guide, 6th edition, pages 56-57, 504-505, 686-687.
✑ PMP Exam Content Outline, June 2019, pages 8-9, 14-15.
✑ Agile Practice Guide, pages 19-20, 27-28.
A large project is affecting the neighborhood in which it is located. The neighbors are not satisfied with the project, and their resistance to the project may affect the project deadline.
What two actions should the project manager take? (Choose two.)
Correct Answer:
AD
= The project manager should take a proactive and collaborative approach to deal with the neighborhood resistance, which is a potential risk to the project. The project manager should analyze the situation and find out the root cause of the negative attitude, such as noise, pollution, traffic, safety, or other concerns. The project manager should also set up a meeting with the neighborhood representatives to win their cooperation and support, by addressing their issues, providing information, offering benefits, or negotiating solutions. Asking the customer to extend the deadline, asking the mayor to intervene, or sending letters to the neighbors are not effective actions, as they may escalate the conflict, damage the relationship, or ignore the problem. References:
✑ PMBOK® Guide 7th Edition, Chapter 8: Stakeholder Performance, Section 8.2: Engage Stakeholders, Page 205
✑ PMBOK® Guide 6th Edition, Chapter 13: Stakeholder Management, Section 13.3: Manage Stakeholder Engagement, Page 523
✑ Agile Practice Guide, Chapter 3: Implementing Agile: Creating an Agile Environment, Section 3.3: Customer Engagement Practices, Page 37
A project manager is managing a complex research project with a high level of uncertainty. A request is made to implement a mechanism tomeasure the quality of the deliverables.
Using a hybrid approach, what techniques can be used to achieve this goal?
Correct Answer:
C
A hybrid approach is a combination of predictive and adaptive methods that can be tailored to suit the project context and needs. Time-boxed iterations are a common feature of agile methods that allow the project team to deliver incremental value and receive feedback in a fixed period of time. Standup review meetings are short and frequent meetings where the project team members share their progress, issues, and plans for the next iteration. These techniques can help the project manager to measure the quality of the deliverables by ensuring alignment with the customer expectations, identifying defects and risks early, and promoting continuous improvement. The other options are not necessarily related to quality measurement or are not part of a hybrid approach. References: PMBOK Guide, 7th edition, page 30-31, 34-35, 40-41.
DRAG DROP
In an effort to modernize the technology for a project, the project manager has been discussing risk prioritization with the project team. The project manager determines that additional parameters are needed to iteratively assess and prioritize the project risks.
Match the project manager's goals on the left with the relevant risk parameter on the right.
Solution:
According to the PMBOK Guide, risk prioritization is the process of ranking the identified risks based on their potential effect on project objectives. Risk prioritization helps the project manager and the project team to focus their attention and resources on the most significant risks. Risk prioritization can be done using various parameters, such as probability, impact, urgency, proximity, detectability, and controllability. These parameters can be used to assess and compare the risks in an iterative manner, as the project progresses and new information becomes available. The project manager can also define additional parameters that are relevant to the project context and goals. In this scenario, the project manager has determined four additional parameters that can help to prioritize the project risks more effectively:
✑ Assess how quickly the risk response needs to be implemented in order to be effective: This parameter evaluates the urgency of the risk, or how soon the risk must be addressed before it becomes unmanageable or irreversible. The project manager can use this parameter to identify the risks that need immediate attention or monitoring, and to plan the risk responses accordingly.
✑ Assess the amount of time before the risk can impact one or more project objectives: This parameter measures the proximity of the risk, or how close the risk is to affecting the project outcomes. The project manager can use this parameter to determine the risks that have the most impact on the project objectives, and to prioritize them accordingly.
✑ Assess if the risk is related to other individual project risks: This parameter analyzes the interrelationships among the project risks, or how the occurrence or outcome of one risk can influence or trigger another risk. The project manager can use this parameter to understand the complexity and interdependency of the project risks, and to develop risk responses that address the root causes and effects of the risks.
✑ Assess how long after a risk has occurred before its impact is discovered: This parameter evaluates the detectability of the risk, or how easy or difficult it is to notice or measure the risk occurrence and consequences. The project manager can use this parameter to measure the uncertainty of the risk occurrence and detection, and to implement risk responses that enhance the risk awareness and visibility.
References: = PMBOK Guide, 7th edition, pages 230-231, 236-237.
Does this meet the goal?
Correct Answer:
A