PM Test Center

You are halfway through your project and your sponsor would like to know how much the project is expected to cost when it is completed. What earned value metric should you use?

A. CV
B. AC
C. EAC
D. ETC

Answer: C. EAC
EAC (Estimate at Completion) tells you that the project is expected to cost x dollars. This is derived from how much you thought it would cost from the beginning (BAC) and what the rate of spending is (CPI).

While building a new community park, you hired a contractor to complete a small visitor center that includes restrooms, a snack shop, and bulletin boards. You agreed to a fixed price contract payable upon completion of their deliverable. Midway through the project, they contractor informs you that the economy has affected their bottom line and they could use some funds upfront to pay their subcontractors. Which is the following is the best thing for you to do?

A. Insist that you agreed to pay upon completion and are not willing to violate the contract.
B. Negotiate a change to the payment conditions.
C. Pay the contractor for the work accomplished to date.
D. Start the search for another contractor.

Answer: B. Negotiate a change to the payment conditions.
Although paying the contractor for the work accomplished to date seems fair, you would want that detailed in a new contract or addendum. Therefore, the best approach is the negotiate the change first so the new payment conditions, whatever they may be, are documented and approved by both parties.

As the project manager with a time conscience sponsor, you have been monitoring earned value throughout the year long project. At the halfway point, you report that the SPI is 0.8. This means that the project is:

A. Ahead of schedule
B. Under budget
C. Behind schedule
D. Over budget

Answer: C. Behind schedule
The Schedule Performance Index (SPI) determines how much ahead or behind schedule you are. An SPI of 1.0 means you are on target. Therefore, an SPI of 1.5 means that you are progressing at 150% of the baseline, which is a good thing. Conversely, an SPI of 0.8 represents only moving at 80% of the baseline, not so good. In short, over 1.0 is good, under 1.0 is bad.

Resource leveling typically results in a:

A. Project cost overrun
B. Project cost savings
C. Project duration longer than the baseline
D. Project duration shorter than the baseline

Answer: C. Project duration longer than the baseline
When resource leveling, work scheduled for resources that are over-allocated will be spread over a longer period of time. As a result, this smoothing out process will usually cause the project to take longer.

While reviewing your weekly report, you notice that two of your resources are over-allocated. One way to solve this is to:

A. Level resources
B. Use PERT
C. Add lag
D. Crash the schedule

Answer: A. Level resources
Of the choices, only leveling resources is the only method that will relieve over-allocated resources. Leveling will take the extra work and move it to a different date so the resources will not exceed their maximum per day.

What is a key deliverable of the Verify Scope process?

A. Approved requirements
B. Customer acceptance
C. Product that passed quality tests
D. Completed WBS

Answer: B. Customer acceptance
The primary output of the Verify Scope process is an accepted deliverable. That means that the deliverable has met acceptance criteria and was formally signed off by the customer or sponsor.

At your upcoming status meeting with your project sponsor, rather than just using a table, you want to graphically show earned value. Which of the following charts will you use?

A. Trend analysis
B. Control chart
C. S-curve
D. Pareto diagram

Answer: C. S-curve
An S-curve graph typically displays earned value (EV), planned value (PV) and actual cost (AC). PV is charted first and will look like an S. As time progresses, the EV and AC will extend allowing you to compare them against the PV.

Dwight’s project is behind schedule. As a result, he is looking to reduce the duration of his project to bring it back on track. If cost is not a factor, what tactic should he use?

A. Fast-track
B. Critical path
C. PERT
D. Crash

Answer: D. Crash
Crashing is one method to reduce the project duration. This is done by adding resources which leads to an increase in costs.

Dwight’s project is behind schedule. As a result, he is looking to reduce the duration of his project to bring it back on track. Dwight is also tasked with keeping costs as low as possible to reduce the risk of an overrun. What tactic should he use?

A. Fast-track
B. Critical path
C. PERT
D. Crash

Answer: A. Fast-track
Fast-tracking is one method to reduce the project duration. This is done by overlapping tasks (i.e. adding lead time). Although this does not typically increase cost, it does increase risk.

If a project has a Cost Variance (CV) of 1000 and a Schedule Variance (SV) of -1000, what does it mean?

A. The project is under budget and behind schedule.
B. The project is over budget and ahead of schedule.
C. It is impossible to have a negative SV.
D. The Overall Variance (OV) is 0.

Answer: A. The project is under budget and behind schedule.
For both Cost Variance (CV) and Schedule Variance (SV), if the number is positive, then it is good. Conversely, if the number is negative, then it is bad. So CV of 1000 is good (under budget), while SV of -1000 is bad (behind schedule). There is no such thing as Overall Variance (OV).