Deck 7: Monitoring and Controlling the Project

Question 1

In order to manage for overall project success, control should be exercised at a very high and aggregated level and not get bogged down with unnecessary details.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Statistical quality control techniques can be helpful for determining what size variances are significant.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

It is often the case with particularly challenging or uncertain projects that the planning-monitoring-controlling effort is minimized so that the "real work" can be done.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

A common mistake is to focus too much on results and not enough on the intensity of activity.

Question 5

Project monitoring and control can be thought of as opposite sides of project selection and planning.

Question 6

Too often, intensity of activity is measured instead of results.

Question 7

Control should not be used at the detailed work level in order to avoid stifling innovation.

Question 8

The purpose of control is to assign blame.

Question 9

The key to setting up a monitoring system is to identify the special characteristics of scope, cost and time that need to be controlled in order to achieve the project goals.

Question 10

Monitoring is the direct connection between project planning and control.

Question 11

An important use of data analysis is to identify who to properly blame for poor project performance.

Question 12

The plan-monitor-control cycle constitutes a "closed loop" process.

Question 13

Control is the collection, recording, and reporting of project information.

Question 14

The most important use of data gathered from monitoring is learning from mistakes.

Question 15

The plan-monitor-control cycle constitutes an "ongoing open loop" process.

Question 16

The purpose of control is to ensure that all interested parties have the information they need.

Question 17

In order to manage for overall project success, control must be exercised at the detailed work level for each aspect of project performance.

Question 18

One way of linking planning and control is to monitor project progress on a Gantt chart.

Question 19

The most important use of data gathered from monitoring is control.

Question 20

Mechanisms to gather and store data rarely need to be designed.

Question 21

Lower expenditures than expected at a given point in time is always good.

Question 22

Frequent blame is considered a good motivational tool to keep project team members on track.

Question 23

Earned value is a measure of overall project progress in terms of performance, budget, and schedule.

Question 24

Earned value (EV) of a task is the budgeted cost of the work actually performed.

Question 25

If expenditures are lower than expected for a given period, this is always a good thing.

Question 26

Everyone associated with the project should receive the same information.

Question 27

Remarks should be directly attributed to individuals in the meeting minutes.

Question 28

The 50-50 approach for estimating progress overstates the EV of tasks that are near completion and understates the EV of tasks that have recently begun.

Question 29

According to the text, there is no satisfactory way to measure accurately the percent of completion of most tasks.

Question 30

An overload of reporting is just as dangerous as underreporting.

Question 31

Weekly progress report meetings should be rarely held.

Question 32

Exception reports are prepared to disseminate the results of a special study.

Question 33

In general, it is preferable to have periodic reports.

Question 34

Significant differences from the plan should be archived so they can be reviewed once the project is completed.

Question 35

All reports go to the steering committee when the project is completed.

Question 36

To maximize efficiency, project team meetings should follow Robert's Rules of Order.

Question 37

Earned value is a measure for overall project progress in terms of performance, budget and schedule.

Question 38

Exception reports are primarily intended for unexpected situations.

Question 39

It is a good idea to use periodic reports so the project manager is always up-to-date on the project.

Question 40

Project review meetings are always important.

Question 41

Which of the following is not an objective mentioned in the text for data gathered from monitoring?

A) promoting team members
B) keeping management informed
C) auditing
D) learning from mistakes
E) control

Question 42

The purpose of the sprint review meeting is to demonstrate the product functionality that was created during the sprint and to obtain feedback from key stakeholders to optimize future value.

Question 43

Only senior scrum team members participate in the sprint review in order to keep the evaluation on track.

Question 44

In Agile, average velocity can be used to assess the progress to date and to estimate the amount of time required to complete the remaining product backlog items.

Question 45

Control is the act of reducing the differences between the plan and actuality.

Question 46

The go/no-go control takes the form of tests (sensors) to determine if some specific precondition (standard and comparator) has been met before permission is granted to continue (decision maker and effector).

Question 47

In Agile, 90% complete means that the 90% highest requirement features are completed and are in operational testing.

Question 48

The sprint retrospective is held between the sprint review and the next sprint planning meeting.

Question 49

Avoiding scope creep is not possible.

Question 50

Physical asset control is concerned with the accounting system and the use of funds for the project.

Question 51

With Agile approaches, project scope is assumed to be variable as change is a welcome opportunity to incorporate new information and customer feedback to further enhance the value proposition of the product being developed.

Question 52

There is no satisfactory way to measure accurately the percent of completion of most tasks.

Question 53

There are two primary purposes of control: the stewardship of organizational assets and the regulation of results through the alteration of activities.

Question 54

In the traditional waterfall approach, when a project is evaluated to be 90% complete this typically means that there is 90% progress toward completing the project but likely 0% is actually completed and operational.

Question 55

There is some optimum amount of resources worth investing in the control process.

Question 56

The concept of earned value (EV) is particularly applicable to Agile projects.

Question 57

The plan-monitor-control cycle is best described as…

A) an open loop process
B) a closed-loop process
C) an ad-hoc process
D) an informal process
E) a hierarchical process

Question 58

In Agile, the product backlog and sprint backlog are key scrum artifacts that contain the complete list of the requirements for the product being developed or improved and the requirements to be completed in the current sprint.

Question 59

Control systems that make use of all five components of project control are called cybernetic control systems.

Question 60

Control is one of the project manager's easiest tasks since reports lay out exactly what is out-of-control.

Question 61

The SPI is calculated as…

A) AC / EV
B) EV / PV
C) PV / EV
D) AC / PV
E) EV / AC

Question 62

In earned value analysis…

A) it is desirable to have negative variances for both schedule and spending.
B) it is desirable to have positive variances for both schedule and spending.
C) the schedule variance should be positive and the spending variance negative.
D) the schedule variance should be negative and the spending variance positive.
E) ideally both variances would equal zero.

Question 63

Estimated (remaining cost) to completion (ETC) is calculated as…

A) (BAC - EV)/CPI
B) (BAC - EV)/SPI
C) (BAC + EV)/CPI
D) (BAC + EV)/SPI
E) (BAC - AC)/CPI

Question 64

Paulina, a fashion designer, has a new project that requires her to make five dresses in seven days. A sum of $2,000 is allotted to her to fund the entire project. In three days, she completes one-third of the work and spends $1,2Calculate the cost performance index from the given scenario.

A) 0.55
B) 0.75
C) 0.33
D) 0.66
E) 0.25

Question 65

Kimberley, a project manager in a software development company, is assigned a new project. She is given a budget of $500,000 and a span of six months to complete the project. In three months, she is able to complete 50 percent of the project. In this scenario, the earned value of the work completed is _____.

A) $350,000
B) $300,000
C) $250,000
D) $200,000
E) $150,000

Question 66

The accountants of Junis Plex, a textile company, used to calculate the company's taxable income manually. However, the management recently adopted a software program that requires only few inputs from the accountants which automatically calculates the taxes owed by the company. The management releases a report for all its operations managers that provides specific instructions on how to use this software. Which of the following types of reports has Junis Plex used to inform its project managers of the new software program?

A) A special analysis report
B) A semi-periodic report
C) An exception report
D) A routine report
E) A resource report

Question 67

The total cost to complete a task is…

A) (BAC - EV) / CPI
B) ETC / AC
C) EV / AC
D) ETC + AC
E) ETC + (AC / EV)

Question 68

Walter, a luthier, is assigned with the task of building ten apartments in six months. He is given a budget of $1,500,000 to buy the necessary raw materials required for building ten apartments of same quality. In a period of four months, Walter is able to complete 75 percent of the work and spends $1,250,000 in the process. The project that Walter is working on has a spending variance of _____.

A) $350,000
B) $150,000
C) $430,000
D) $125,000
E) $500,000

Question 69

The CPI is calculated as…

A) AC / EV
B) EV / PV
C) PV / EV
D) AC / PV
E) EV / AC

Question 70

To calculate the variable in its economic growth, Nunclemen Inc., a pharmaceutical company, collects data on the sales of its products based on how many doctors prescribe its medicines to their patients. However, a research study conducted by the company shows that pharmacists are a more reliable source than doctors. Nunclemen submits a report of this finding to all its stakeholders to review. Which of the following types of reports has the company used to inform its stakeholders of the results of the research study?

A) A resource report
B) A special analysis report
C) A routine report
D) An exception report
E) A semi-periodic report

Question 71

The schedule variance is calculated as…

A) AC - EV
B) EV - PV
C) PV - EV
D) AC - PV
E) EV - AC

Question 72

Robert, a baker, receives an order for preparing 10 cakes in one day. He is given a budget of $5,0In six hours, he bakes two-thirds of the order and spends $3,6Calculate the schedule performance index from the given scenario.

A) 0.55
B) 0.33
C) 0.25
D) 0.66
E) 0.75

Question 73

_____ reports are primarily intended for special decisions or unexpected situations in which affected team members and outside managers need to be made aware of a change, and the change itself needs to be documented.

A) Routine
B) Exception
C) Special
D) Emergency
E) Go/no-go

Question 74

The cost/spending variance is calculated as…

A) AC - EV
B) EV - PV
C) PV - EV
D) AC - PV
E) EV - AC

Question 75

Nadia, an intern in a restoration firm, collects data on a project involving the remodeling of a monument and sends the collected information to Maria, her supervisor. Maria uses this data to estimate the project's progress. After finding that the project is behind schedule, she makes small changes to the tasks involved in the project to bring the performance into agreement with the plan. In this scenario, Maria is engaged in _____ the project.

A) monitoring
B) planning
C) scoping
D) controlling
E) analyzing

Question 76

David, an architect, is in charge of executing a housing project. He appoints Charles to collect, record, and report all the necessary information to David and other relevant stakeholders. In this scenario, Charles will be engaged in _____ the project.

A) scoping
B) monitoring
C) planning
D) controlling
E) scheduling

Question 77

The first step in setting up a monitoring system is to:

A) identify personnel
B) identify all project milestones
C) identify key factors to be controlled
D) identify reports required
E) develop a change request form

Question 78

_____ analysis reports are prepared to disseminate the results of a special study in a project concerning a particular opportunity or problem for the project.

A) Routine
B) Exception
C) Special
D) Emergency
E) Go/no-go

Question 79

Mauvin Maz, a fashion boutique, found that its newly acquired batch of raw materials did not meet the company's quality standards and was affecting the quality of its final products. In order to prevent any financial loss due to this problem, the top managers of Mauvin Maz decided to release a report to the workers asking them to stop using the newly acquired raw materials until a formal quality check is conducted. In this scenario, Mauvin Maz most likely released a(n) _____.

A) special analysis report
B) periodic report
C) exception report
D) routine report
E) resource report

Question 80

Renuit Mec, a footwear manufacturing company, produces 10,000 shoes per day. In an average, about 200 shoes have more than one defect. However, the company has found that its newly installed machines are producing more defective products than the older machines. In order to prevent the production of more defective products, Renuit Mec releases a report to its employees asking them to stop using the newly installed machines. In this scenario, Renuit Mec most likely released a(n) _____.

A) periodic report
B) routine report
C) special analysis report
D) resource report
E) exception report