PMI-SP Reviews Questions

The project communications management plan is a document to define who needs what information, when the information is needed, and the modality the information is expected. Stakeholder communication preferences are also recorded here. What is Project Communication Management? Project Communications Management is one of the nine Knowledge Areas. It employs the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, distribution, storage, retrieval, and ultimate disposition of project information. The following processes are part of Project Communications Management: Identify Stakeholders

Plan Communications

Distribute information

Manage Stakeholder Expectations

Report Performance

The Project Communications Management processes provide the critical links among people and information that are necessary for successful communications. These processes interact with each other and with the processes in the other Knowledge Areas as well.

Answer option D is incorrect as the project scope management plan defines how the scope is created, managed, how changes to the scope are managed, and how the scope is validated.

Answer option B is incorrect as the project reporting structure defines who reports to whom, not the preferences and requirements for communication.

Answer option C is incorrect as the project schedule defines when project activities are to occur.

Fast tracking is a technique for compressing project schedule. In fast tracking, phases are overlapped that would normally be done in sequence. It is shortening the project schedule without reducing the project scope.

Answer option D is incorrect. Crashing is a process in that the project manager adds more resources to effort-driven activities in an attempt to shorten their duration.

Answer option A is incorrect. A lag time is a delay between the predecessor and the successor tasks. Sometimes it may be needed to schedule a delay between the predecessor and the successor tasks. For example, if two coats of paint are required to paint a car, then the final coat should be applied only when the first coat dries. This delay is known as the lag time. The lag time is entered as a positive value. The lag time can be entered as a duration or as a percentage of the predecessor's task duration. It is entered on the Predecessor tab in the Task Information dialog box.

Answer option B is incorrect. A lead time is the time that overlaps between the predecessor and the successor tasks. The successor task can start before the predecessor task finishes. For example, if a task can start when its predecessor is one-fourth finished, a finish-to-start dependency with a lead time of 25 percent for the successor task can be specified. The lead time is entered as a negative value. The lead time can be entered as a duration or as a percentage of the predecessor's task duration. It is entered on the Predecessor tab in the Task Information dialog box.

The autoregressive moving average is an example of a causal/econometric method for the forecasting project performance. The casual/econometric forecasting method uses the assumption that it is possible to identify the underlying factors, which might influence the variable being forecasted. For example, sales of umbrellas might be associated with weather conditions. If the causes are understood, projections of the influencing variables can be made and used in the forecast. Some examples of casual/econometric forecasting method are as follows: Regression analysis using linear regression or non-linear regression Autoregressive moving average (ARMA) Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) Econometrics

Answer option B is incorrect. The time series method relies on the earned value, moving average, extrapolation, and growth curve.

Answer option A is incorrect. The judgmental methods use intuition, the Delphi method, and forecast by analogy.

Answer option C is incorrect. The ensemble forecasting is not part of the causal/econometric method for forecasting.

Your schedule variance is -$33,750. You can find this by using the formula earned value-minus planned.

Answer option C is incorrect. Cost is not the largest variance in the project.

Answer option A is incorrect. Cost is not the largest variance in the project (it is -$8,000).

Answer option D is incorrect. -$20,000 is the variance at completion for the project.