Post-Test
Managing Multiple Projects
Course Code 98007
INSTRUCTIONS: Record your answers on one of the scannable forms enclosed. Please follow the directions on the form carefully. Be sure to keep a copy of the completed answer form for your records. No photocopies will be graded. When completed, mail your answer form to:
Educational Services
American Management Association
P.O. Box 133
Florida, NY 10921
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1. A key task of the multiple project manager during project execution is:
(a) handling change management.
(b) transferring deliverables to their next stage.
(c) progressively elaborating the project plan.
(d) acquiring and building the project team.
2. Project requirements are normally incorporated into the:
(a) statement of work.
(b) Work Breakdown Structure.
(c) network diagram.
(d) project charter.
3. What does a Tracking Gantt Chart provide?
(a) A comparison of planned to actual schedule performance
(b) A list of resources and job assignments on a project
(c) A checklist of what needs to be accomplished
(d) The original planned schedule for the project
4. A Gantt chart displays information from the network diagram as a:
(a) flow chart of work packages.
(b) hierarchical decomposition of the work in the project.
(c) bar graph over a calendar.
(d) structured outline of the work.
5. What is a common challenge in managing a program of independent projects?
(a) The project manager is seldom an expert in every project category.
(b) Individual project managers don’t always see how their outcomes affect other projects.
(c) A failure on one project usually creates negative effects on other projects.
(d) The projects frequently suffer from bandwidth limitations and bottlenecks.
6. What dependency relationship describes a situation in which the beginning of the second activity requires the completion of the preceding one?
(a) Start to Finish
(b) Finish to Start
(c) Finish to Finish
(d) Start to Start
7. In Critical Chain Project Management, the feeder buffer is:
(a) extra time added to noncritical paths to ensure schedule overruns don’t threaten the project deadline.
(b) extra time before the final deadline.
(c) a set of finish-to-start dependency relationships.
(d) half the difference between the safety estimate and the best estimate for the tasks on the critical path.
8. A program of independent projects is:
(a) linked by a strategic business objective.
(b) the same thing as a very large project.
(c) a term used only in the government sector.
(d) not a project itself.
(a) sets priorities among competing projects.
(b) uses screening questions to sort risks.
(c) ensures project update information is focused on specific stakeholder needs.
(d) sorts risks into risk buckets.
10. In the Earned Value Project Management method, the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) measures how well you are doing against the schedule, using the formula:
(a) Earned Value divided by Planned Value (EV/PV)
(b) Earned Value minus Planned Value (EV – PV)
(c) Planned Value divided by Earned Value (PV/EV)
(d) Earned Value times Actual Cost (EV * AC)
11. Determining the seriousness of individual risks both in absolute and relative terms, is known as:
(a) risk identification.
(b) risk analysis.
(c) risk monitoring and control.
(d) risk response planning.
12. Using the network diagram shown here, determine the critical path.
(a) A – D – F – G
(b) A – B –E – G
(c) A – C – E – G
(d) A – C – F – G
13. In the same network diagram, describe the float in Task B.
(a) Task B is critical; float = 0.
(b) Task B has 3 days of free float.
(c) Task B has 2 days of total float, but no free float.
(d) Task B has 2 days of free float.
14. An important difference between business risk and insurance risk is that business risk:
(a) only occurs in the for-profit sector.
(b) focuses on the potential for loss.
(c) has the opportunity for both gain and loss.
(d) does not use insurance as a potential solution.
15. What is scope creep?
(a) A difficult customer who changes his or her mind frequently
(b) Unplanned and unmanaged scope change
(c) Changes to the project authorized by a change order
(d) Any change requested by a project stakeholder
16. A cost estimate with an anticipated accuracy between +25% and -10% is called a:
(a) budgetary estimate.
(b) definitive estimate.
(c) rough order of magnitude estimate.
(d) analogous estimate.
17. In managing people and projects when your formal role power is insufficient, you can gain influence based on your communications skills. This kind of power is known as:
(a) rhetoric power.
(b) relationship power.
(c) reason power.
(d) respect power.
18. In compressing the schedule, one strategy is to shorten the time it takes to complete tasks on the critical path. One way to accomplish this is to:
(a) do more tasks in the same time period.
(b) add resources to speed up individual tasks.
(c) split tasks.
(d) overlap tasks, starting before the previous task is finished.
19. Unlike a program, a portfolio groups projects:
(a) under the leadership of a multiple project manager.
(b) according to their Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) category.
(c) as either operations or work.
(d) around strategic business objectives.
20. Before a project can be considered properly initiated, it must have a:
(a) Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
(b) project charter.
(c) statement of work.
(d) risk management plan.
21. Resource loading is the process of:
(a) determining whether you have enough resources to accomplish the project.
(b) assigning resources that require scheduling.
(c) moving tasks and people to avoid overloading.
(d) compressing the schedule.
22. When demand for resources is high, some authorities recommend scheduling priority based on maximum total work content (MAXTWK), which involves
(a) assigning resources to the jobs that require the most resources, regardless of deadlines.
(b) giving priority to the activities with the largest number of successor activities.
(c) assigning resources to the first eligible work package.
(d) assigning resources to short activities and short projects to accomplish the greatest number of projects.
23. In a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), what does a “control account” represent?
(a) A milestone involving test and evaluation
(b) A mechanism to ensure quality
(c) The management and organizational structure of the project
(d) A work package to be accomplished
24. Which of the Triple Constraints is most flexible?
(a) Driver
(b) Weak Constraint
(c) Constant Constraint
(d) Middle Constraint
25. The standard tool for human resource planning on projects is known as a:
(a) Resource Assignment Matrix (RAM)
(b) Resource Leveling Plan (RLP)
(c) Kanban Task Management Form (KTMF)
(d) Resource Scheduling Method (RSM)