The new version of the Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification exam launched on 2 January 2021, based on recommendations from research conducted in 2019. It contains 180 questions covering the updated three domains and combining multiple-choice, multiple response, matching, hotspot, and fill in the blank. However, SPOTO provides only 200+ questions that cover the actual exam questions to ease your preparation process.
How will you know if you are ready to take the new PMP Exam? Try this free Project Management Professional practice exam to see the types of questions on the actual PMP exam and check if you are ready for the upcoming PMP exam.
1. The project aims to investigate the feasibility of constructing a hydroelectric dam from a technical, economic, and social perspective. The project charter created by the project manager on behalf of the project sponsor is now approved.
Which of the following processes should be performed next?
A. Develop Project Management Plan
B. Identify Risks
C. Identify Stakeholders
D. Develop Project Charter
Answer: C
Explanation:
The Identify Stakeholders process identifies all people or organizations impacted by the project and documents relevant information regarding their interests, involvement, and impact on project success. Both the Develop Project Charter process and the Identify Stakeholders process are part of the Initiating Process Group which should be completed before proceeding to the processes in the Planning Process Group. In this scenario, since the project charter has been developed and approved, the Identify Stakeholders process should be performed next.
2. A team member submits a draft of the requirements management plan to the project manager for review. The project manager notices that one of the components included in the plan does not belong there.
Which of the following components did the project manager most likely notice?
A. A process that describes how the project requirements will be prioritized
B. The metrics that will be used and the rationale for using them
C. A process that specifies how a project scope statement will be prepared
D. How requirement activities will be planned, tracked and reported
Answer: C
Explanation:
The requirements management plan is a component of the project or program management plan that describes how requirements will be analyzed, documented, and managed. A process that specifies how a project scope statement will be prepared is an element of the scope management plan and should be excluded from the requirements management plan. The incorrect answer choices represent components that should be included in the requirements management plan.
3. A project manager is leading a process improvement project for a factory operation. Currently, the project manager and the team are performing the Monitor and Control Project Work process.
Which of the following activities might be carried out during this process?
A. Comparing actual project performance against the project management plan
B. Implementing approved change requests to achieve the project’s objectives
C. Analyzing change requests and either approving or rejecting them
D. Gaining formal acceptance of the deliverables by the customer or sponsor
Answer: A
Explanation:
Monitor and Control Project Work is the process of tracking, reviewing, and reporting overall progress to meet the performance objectives defined in the project management plan. Of the available choices, only comparing actual project performance against the project management plan is performed during the Monitor and Control Project Work process.
4. A company has authorized a dedicated change control board (CCB) to review and evaluate all submitted change requests for any project.
If the project sponsor is a member of the CCB, which of the following best describes an individual or group that can request a change on a project?
A. Project manager
B. Project sponsor
C. Project team
D. Any stakeholder
Answer: D
Explanation:
Changes may be requested by any stakeholder involved with the project and may occur at any time throughout the project life cycle. The project manager, the project sponsor, and the project team are all project stakeholders and can request changes. All of the answer choices are technically correct, but the option of ‘any stakeholder’ provides a complete answer and is, therefore, the best answer to the question. Additionally, the fact that the company authorizes a change control board (CCB) and the project sponsor is its member is irrelevant to the question asked. It is essential to discern the relevant information of a question to select the best answer to the choices.
5. A project is divided into four sequential phases. The second phase of the project has just been completed, and the third phase is about to begin.
What should the project manager do first?
A. Begin the process of directing and managing the project work
B. Perform the process of identifying the project stakeholders
C. Start the process of monitoring and controlling the project work
D. Begin the process of developing the project management plan
Answer: B
Explanation:
The process of identifying project stakeholders occurs for the first time in a project either before or at the same time the project charter is developed and approved. It is repeated as necessary but should be performed at the start of each phase and when a significant change in the project or organization occurs. Each time the identification process is repeated, the project management plan components and project documents should be consulted to identify relevant project stakeholders.
6. A project manager is in the process of developing the stakeholder register. As the first step in this process, she needs to create a list of potential stakeholders and use a data-gathering technique called brainwriting.
What is the first thing to do when using that technique?
A. Convene a data gathering meeting with the participants
B. Develop your template for a stakeholder register
C. Send a list of questions to participants before the creativity session
D. Consult the stakeholder engagement plan to understand how the stakeholders are to be identified
Answer: C
Explanation:
Data gathering techniques that can be used for the Identify Stakeholders process include questionnaires and surveys, brainstorming, and brainwriting. Brainwriting is a refinement of brainstorming that allows individual participants time to consider the questions individually before the group creativity session is held. Therefore, the first step of brainwriting is providing the participants with the questions before the creativity session. This process will allow the participants to be better prepared, which will make the meeting more effective than a traditional brainstorming session.
7. You are managing a project to build a database and acquire information from the project’s stakeholders. The team uses brainstorming, focus groups, interviews, questionnaires, and benchmarking to understand and document the stakeholders’ needs.
The methods the team is using are representative of which tool and technique?
A. Data gathering
B. Data analysis
C. Decision making
D. Data representation
Answer: A
Explanation:
The project described in the scenario is in the Collect Requirements process, where project stakeholders’ needs and requirements are determined and documented. A tool and technique used in the Collect Requirements process to elicit requirements from stakeholders is data gathering. Data gathering includes brainstorming, focus groups, interviews, questionnaires, surveys, and benchmarking.
8. A project manager meets with a customer for initial discussions about an upcoming project. At the end of the meeting, the customer asks the project manager for a rough estimate of the project duration. Based on her experience with three similar projects, the project manager estimates 8-10 months.
What estimation technique does the project manager use?
A. Expert judgment
B. Three-point estimating
C. Analogous estimating
D. Bottom-up estimating
Answer: C
Explanation:
The project manager uses historical duration information from comparable projects to estimate the duration of a future project. This gross value calculating approach is called analogous estimating. It is frequently used to provide a ballpark figure when there is limited detailed information about the project.
9. You have just taken over a project in which some of the deliverables will be produced by external vendors. You want to familiarize yourself with those who are involved in the project from the sellers’ side.
Where would you look to obtain this information?
A. Bid documents
B. Stakeholder register
C. Seller proposals
D. Stakeholder engagement plan
Answer: B
Explanation:
The stakeholder register is a project document that contains relevant information regarding stakeholder interests, involvement, interdependencies, influence, and potential impact on project success. Vendors are project stakeholders and, as such, should be included in the stakeholder register. The project manager and project team members should refer to this document when obtaining pertinent information about project stakeholders, whether the stakeholders are internal or external to the performing organization.
10. In the design phase, external experts verified that the team’s blueprints for a new crane complied with requirements. During the build phase, the customer performed a walkthrough and found that some welding joints on the crane were defective. The crane needs to be reworked to ensure it can be operated safely.
How could this situation have been avoided?
A. Outsourcing the welding to an external vendor
B. Testing the welding before the customer walkthrough
C. Using the requirements traceability matrix
D. Defects are part of any project and cannot be avoided.
Answer: B
Explanation:
The question describes a situation in which the project team completed the project’s design phase and began building the product. However, it appears the team did not sufficiently test the work done on the welding, which is part of the Control Quality process. This process is carried out to ensure the project outputs are complete, correct, and meet customer expectations before the customer accepts the deliverables as part of the Validate Scope process. As a result of not performing the Control Quality process, defects were found in the crane when the customer held a walkthrough. If the team carried out the Control Quality process properly, the defective welding would likely have been discovered, corrected, and the situation described in the scenario avoided.
11. For an upcoming project, a needs assessment and business case have been completed, and the project management office (PMO) is reviewing a draft of the benefits management plan. The PMO highlights an element of the benefits management plan and requests that the component be removed before the document is finalized.
Which of the following was most likely the element the PMO requested to remove?
A. Expected tangible and intangible value to be gained by the implementation of the project
B. A set of options to be considered for addressing the business opportunity
C. A timeframe for realizing the benefits of the project
D. Measures to be used to show benefits realized
Answer: B
Explanation:
The critical elements of a benefits management plan include target benefits, strategic alignment, a timeframe for realizing benefits, benefits owner, metrics, assumptions, and risks. Identifying a set of options to be considered for addressing the business problem or opportunity is a key element of the project business case. It should not be included in the benefits management plan. This element is most likely what was marked for removal by the PMO.
12. A project is nearing its end when the project manager receives an approved change request to replace a defective unit.
What should the project manager do next?
A. Capture the problem in the issue log
B. Meet with the change control board
C. Have the defective unit repaired
D. Have the defective unit replaced
Answer: D
Explanation:
The question suggests that the Direct and Manage Project Work process is being carried out. Approved change requests are one of the inputs to that process. The project manager has received an approved change request. It is now her responsibility to ensure the approved change request is implemented as specified. Since the change request calls for replacing the defective unit, the next step for the project manager is to have the defective unit replaced.
13. A technician has just tested a piece of equipment and found a defect. The technician has informed the project manager and submitted a change request to repair the defect, indicating that the repair will require significant rework.
What should the project manager do first?
A. Approve the change request
B. Consult the change management plan
C. Instruct the team to repair the defect
D. Reject the change request due to significant rework
Answer: B
Explanation:
During the Perform Integrated Change Control process, change requests may be submitted for review and have a decision made based on the merits of the request. A defect repair requires an approved change request, but the project manager may or may not have the authority to approve the change request. The change management plan provides direction for managing the change control process and documents the roles and responsibilities. The project manager should check the change management plan first to know which individual or group is responsible for reviewing and making decisions on change requests.
14. A project is behind schedule because department managers reassigned project team members to work on other assignments. After negotiations with the managers, you agreed to a temporary solution where a core group of project resources is dedicated to performing the project work until more resources are approved.
What conflict resolution technique did you most likely employ in this situation?
A. Compromise or reconcile
B. Force or direct
C. Collaborate, or problem-solve
D. Smooth or accommodate
Answer: A
Explanation:
The question states that a temporary solution was suggested that provided some degree of satisfaction for both managers. The compromise/reconcile approach to conflict resolution is characterized by searching for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to all parties to temporarily or partially resolve a conflict. Even though the compromise/reconcile approach provides a lose-lose solution because both parties have to give up something, it is the best answer based on the situation described by the question.
15. A project manager is in the process of obtaining team members. She wants to understand the availability of the team members required to complete project work.
What should the project manager do to find this information?
A. Look at the resource calendars
B. Contact the project management office
C. Review the resource requirements
D. Examine the resource breakdown structure
Answer: A
Explanation:
The scenario implies that the project manager is about to start one of the iterations of the Acquire Resources process and needs to understand the availability of the project team members. The project documents include the resource calendars, which serve as an input to the Acquire Resources process. A resource calendar identifies the working days, shifts, start and end of regular business hours, weekends, and public holidays when each specific resource is available. Information on which resources are potentially available during a planned activity period is used for estimating resource utilization. Resource calendars also specify when and for how long the identified team and physical resources will be available during the project. Of the available choices, looking at the resource calendars provides the best source of information for the project manager about the availability of the team members to perform project work.
Note, resource calendars are progressively elaborated and updated throughout the project. Once created as an output of the Acquire Resources process, they are used as needed whenever it is repeated. In other words, after the Acquire Resources process is completed for the first time, resources calendars become an input to each subsequent iteration of the process, which is the assumption the scenario described.
Conclusion
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