PM Test Center

What is the name of the document that formally authorizes a project?

A. Project management plan
B. Requirements documentation
C. Project charter
D. Project scope statement

Answer: C. Project charter
According to the PMBOK®, Develop Project Charter is the process of developing a document that formally authorizes a project or a phase and documenting initial requirements that satisfy stakeholder needs and expectations.

You are performing a quality audit to determine whether or not your project team’s testing activities follow your organization’s project policies. What process are you working in?

A. Perform Quality Assurance
B. Perform Quality Audit
C. Perform Quality Control
D. Perform Quality Activities

Answer: A. Perform Quality Assurance
The key word in the question is audit. Auditing is a primary tool in the quality assurance. Essentially, you are auditing to ensure appropriate quality standards. There is no such process as Perform Quality Audit or Perform Quality Activities.

According to PMI®, a project is a(n) __________ endeavor undertaken to create a __________ product, service, or result.

A. special, permanent
B. temporary, unique
C. approved, capable
D. organized, needed

Answer: B. temporary, unique
That definition has been associated with the term since the first version of the PMBOK®.

Adam wants to show his stakeholders defect types ranked by frequency of occurrence. What tool should he use?

A. Pareto chart
B. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
C. Control chart
D. Cause and effect diagram

Answer: A. Pareto chart
Pareto charts are based on the Pareto Law (the 80/20 principle). This type of histogram shows categories of defects in order of frequency of occurrence. By ranking defect types this way, you could visually see which 20% of the causes to address in order to solve 80% of the problems.

While planning a project that involves building a unique product for a client, you decide to build a prototype in order to reduce the risk of not meeting expectations. This is an example of what type of risk response strategy?

A. Avoid
B. Transfer
C. Mitigate
D. Accept

Answer: C. Mitigate
Mitigating requires you to decrease the probability and/or impact of a particular risk. In this scenario, creating a prototype could reduce the chance that the risk triggers but even if it does, it could decrease the delta (gap).

The project you are managing is nearing its end. Your testing team is currently inspecting the final deliverable. Which process is your project on?

A. Verify Scope
B. Control Scope
C. Perform Quality Assurance
D. Perform Quality Control

Answer: D. Perform Quality Control
According to the PMBOK®, Quality Control is the process of monitoring and recording results of executing the quality activities to assess performance and recommend necessary changes. In short, inspection! Do not confuse quality control with scope verification, the latter involving a formal sign-off by the customer.

George, one of your co-workers, is applying to take the PMP® exam. When you ask him about the process, he tells you that although he does not have enough experience to qualify, he is simply increasing his actual project hours to fill any gaps. You know this is wrong and the best thing for you to do is:

A. Tell his manager that he is being unethical
B. Confront him and recommend that he apply for the CAPM® exam instead
C. Notify PMI® directly
D. Do nothing

Answer: C. Notify PMI® directly
Although confronting him or telling his manager seem appropriate, the best thing for you to do is to contact PMI®. As a general rule, the safest bet is to report unethical behavior directly to the governing body, and in this case, it happens to be PMI®.

You, the project manager, have a deliverable due in three days, just in time for your client to showcase at her annual event. However, you just learned that a shipment has been delayed and it will push your delivery date out by a day. What is the first thing you should do?

A. Notify your client
B. Notify your manager
C. Evaluate the options
D. Assess the impact

Answer: D. Assess the impact
Any time you are in a scenario like this, the first two things you should do before notifying your manager or your client are to (1) assess the impact and (2) evaluate the options. In other words, take a look at what happened and figure out some alternatives. So by the time you have to communicate to your manager/client, you already have a story and recommendation ready to go.

While planning your budget, you decide to categorize your types of costs. Labor, the biggest cost on the project, is best categorized as a(n):

A. Fixed cost
B. Variable cost
C. Direct cost
D. Indirect cost

Answer: C. Direct cost
Direct costs are those that attribute directly to a particular project. Conversely, indirect costs typically benefit multiple projects, such as overhead costs. One way to look at fixed costs vs. variable costs is that the former do not change as production changes.

Contracts should typically be communicated through:

A. Informal written
B. Informal verbal
C. Formal written
D. Formal verbal

Answer: C. Formal written
Formal written communication should be used for project documents such as project charters, project plans, and contracts. As a general rule, if it needs sign-off, then you should take a formal written method. Most project communication, however, will fall into the other categories. These could include email (informal written), meetings (informal verbal), and presentations (formal verbal).