Deck 1: Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)

Question 1

Paralingual communication pertains to the way that the pitch and tone of a voice convey meaning.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

For which of the following should you use a formal, written communications method? Select all that apply:

A)Negotiating a contract
B)Change request
C)Asking for additional project funds or resources
D)Telling a project team member that they did poorly their first week on the job
E)Status report to the CEO

Answer 2

Negotiating a contract
Change request
Asking for additional project funds or resources
Status report to the CEO

Question 3

What is the BEST way to notify the team about an approved change request?

A)Send an e-mail out to all team members
B)Walk around to communicate with each team member
C)Post on an internal website
D)Send an e-mail out to everyone in the division
E)Consult with change control process

Answer 3

Consult with change control process

Question 4

Caroline is managing a project at The Forrester Company. In the project charter she helped draft, it's noted that Systems A and B are assumed to be the only systems impacted; however, it comes to light several weeks later that System C is also impacted. Which statement is correct about this particular situation?

A)The constraints in the project charter will need to be adjusted by the Sponsor.
B)The assumptions in the statement of work will need to be adjusted by the Project Manager
C)The constraints and assumptions will need to be revisited by the Initiating Process Group and the overall project plan adjusted.
D)This project is a wash. Start from scratch.

Question 5

A work authorization system is always required by PMI standards.

Question 6

Joe is a consultant. He is managing a contract that is fixed price on client site. The client requests a change that would impact the cost and schedule of the project. Which of the following should Joe do? Select all that apply:

A)Consult the formal change control system at the organization
B)Review the contract
C)Analyze how the changes impact cost, time and quality
D)Begin working on the changes immediately to save time
E)Gold-plate the existing project

Question 7

Sherri Bobbins is formulating her scope management plan for his project. To develop a well-rounded plan she'll use all of the following, except:

A)Product analysis
B)Stakeholder analysis
C)Scope definition
D)Benchmarks

Question 8

The WBS is created by the project manager alone.

Question 9

What are the four options for dealing with a risk?

A)Accept, mitigate, transfer and avoid
B)Accept, insure, transfer and avoid
C)Accept, mitigate, reduce and avoid
D)Situation, task, action, result
E)It's a trick question - there are only three and they are transfer, mitigate and avoid.

Question 10

By applying effective risk management techniques, what percentage of risks can be curtailed?

A)50%
B)10%
C)25%
D)90%
E)100%

Question 11

What is Pareto's Law?

A)80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes
B)Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
C)Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
D)Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Question 12

Rick was in the middle of his procurement management process when he realized he was missing organizational process assets. Which is an example of an organizational process asset?

A)Project scope statement
B)Risk register
C)Current contracts
D)Lessons learned from prior projects
E)All of the above

Question 13

Eric is heading an engineering project and is in the midst of deciding which type of contract statement of work he will use. Which type is not available to him?

A)Performance
B)Functional
C)Design
D)RFP
E)All of the above

Question 14

For the seller of services, a Fixed Price plus Incentive contract is riskier than a Cost plus Fixed Fee contract.

Question 15

When is the project manager using analogous estimating?

A)The PM doesn't have all of the information needed to give time estimates
B)The PM needs to pad their estimates
C)The PM is using a mathematical model
D)The PM uses similar projects or activities to assist with time estimates
E)The PM is using a Monte Carlo technique

Question 16

Jill's project is behind schedule but it needs to be delivered by a certain date. She requests additional resources to complete the project faster. Which of the following terms is this an example of?

A)Critical path
B)Crashing
C)Secondary risk
D)Float
E)Slack

Question 17

Michael is looking at a network diagram he's just created for his project. He sits with Tito, a team member and relays important facts about the project utilizing the diagram. Which of the following does not represent the benefits of using a network diagram?

A)It includes dependences
B)It illustrates the critical path
C)t may utilize a calendar scale
D)It's a quick sketch

Question 18

What are some limitations of the PERT/critical path approach?

A)It can place too much emphasis on the critical path.
B)Time estimates tend to be subjective.
C)Costs are not considered.
D)It can be time intensive to manage this way.
E)It is difficult to create reports.

Question 19

What is a standard range for a Rough Order of Magnitude estimate?

A)-25% to +50%
B)-25% to +75%
C)-50% to +50%
D)-50% to +75%
E)-75% to +75%

Question 20

A management reserve should be a specific percentage of each budget.

Question 21

Based on a real scenario: Hayden the Handyguy wants $50 per hour plus the cost of wood, nails and beer to build some new shelves for Ted the Project Manager who is disappointed what he built fell off the wall. Hayden's billing method is: (Select the two answers that apply).

A)Cost plux fixed fee
B)Time and material
C)Fixed fee plus percentage of costs
D)Variable cost
E)Incentive based fee for performance

Question 22

Which of the following is not recommended as it tends to take the focus off of meeting the client's intended requirements?

A)Gold-plating
B)Just in time
C)Prevention over inspection
D)Continuous improvement
E)PMIS

Question 23

Which set of standards does a project manager typically have the least control over?

A)Environmental
B)Organizational
C)Departamental
D)Project
E)Resource

Question 24

A company makes 1,000,000 parts. If fewer than ___ were defective, it would be six sigma quality.

A)317,400
B)45,400
C)2,700
D)2
E)0

Question 25

What is mutual exclusivity?

A)If one event occurs, the other cannot
B)A rule of dating
C)A measure of variation
D)A conclusion from a control chart
E)A conclusion from a scatter diagram

Question 26

In Project X, Stan the Project Manager has just recently received the Statement of Work he was anxiously awaiting from Bob. Which best describes Bob's role in the project?

A)Stakeholder
B)Team Member
C)Sponsor
D)Functional Manager

Question 27

The tendency to generalize performance based on a single indicator is best described as:

A)A facilitating approach
B)The halo effect
C)A consensus
D)Consultative style
E)Autocratic

Question 28

According to the Project Manager's Book of Knowledge, legitimate power is always the best way to get someone to do something.

Question 29

Patrick, a Project Manager at the Ponzi Financial Services firm, is staffed on a key strategic project and is privy to the firm's client information. His manager Bernie has asked him to keep the information confidential. What would be considered an inappropriate use of Patrick's access to information according to the Code?

A)Discussing the project during lunch out with a fellow project manager from his consulting firm
B)Discussing client information as it pertains to his project with other project stakeholders
C)Giving a private project status to the stakeholders who request it
D)All of the above

Question 30

Calvin Butterball is working as a Project Manager at the Half-Baked Ham Company. One day, he realizes that his last status report to the project's stakeholders contains a serious mistake. According to the Code of Professional Conduct, what concept best represents the situation at hand, and what should Calvin do?

A)Mistakes happen: Unless the mistake is going to cause an explosion, Calvin should pretend he didn't notice it
B)Put the project's needs before your own: Calvin should avoid bringing up the mistake because he doesn't want any delays in the project as a result of his error
C)Do what's right: Calvin should explain away the error as best he can
D)Tell the truth at all times: Calvin should disclose the error to his stakeholders right away
E)Violation of the law: Calvin must report the incident to the authorities

Question 31

This is based on a real scenario at a Japanese investment bank. You have discovered a major complex case of international fraud at the company in the course of executing a project. You have reported it to your manager and were not satisfied by his lack of response. What should your NEXT action be?

A)Call your lawyer, even though he's kind of a jerk.
B)Tell your boss' boss. If he doesn't listen, tell your boss' boss' boss.
C)By telling your boss, you did your duty.
D)Resign from your position.
E)Report it to the authorities.

Question 32

Project X at The Ray Company has a new Project Manager. Company management, eager to get their project back on track, hired this new manager 1 month into a 6 week project. The project is flailing. Which best describes why the project may not make its delivery date based on what we know?

A)High level planning wasn't done adequately.
B)The new project manager became involved too late in the process.
C)The project doesn't have management's support.
D)The project doesn't have management's support

Question 33

Which best signals the completion of a project from the client's point of view?

A)When project documents are indexed and archived
B)When resources are released
C)When the project receives formal sign-off
D)When lessons learned are documented
E)When project funds are completely expended

Question 34

Which of the following are part of the perform quality control process? Select all that apply:

A)Assessing the effectiveness of project control systems
B)Performing re-work to meet quality standards
C)Authorize work
D)Make payments to a vendor
E)Monitor the effectiveness of risk response plans

Question 35

Completing re-work is an accepted quality control process.

Question 36

What is true of corrective action?

A)Action against a corrupt employee
B)Requires approval of all stakeholders
C)Action to bring project performance in line with what has been planned

Question 37

Terry is managing a project at a top construction firm. Her project team includes Tammy and Sal. She's also in constant contact with Burt (her client), Ben (her Direct Manager) and Peter (PMO Officer). Who are the stakeholders in this project?

A)Terry, Burt
B)Terry, Burt, Tammy, Sal
C)Burt, Peter
D)Terry, Tammy, Sal, Burt, Ben, Peter
E)Terry, Tammy