PgMP : Program Management Professional : Part 16

PgMP : Program Management Professional : Part 16

1. The above performance report shows the earned value (EV) analysis for a program. The program director performs a high-level analysis and must present a summary narrative to the steering committee.

   What do the current findings show?

   

   • Project C is running behind schedule and is over budget; projects A, B, and D are on schedule.
   • Project A is running ahead of schedule and is under budget; projects B, C, and D are behind schedule.
   • The overall program is performing within an acceptable level of variance.
   • Project A is running behind schedule and is over budget; projects B, C, and D are on schedule.

2. A program manager learns that their company’s organizational strategy has changed. This change impacts one component project of a program, misaligning it with both the program objectives and the new organizational strategy. This component project, however, is already 90 percent complete.

   What should the program manager do next?

   • Immediately submit a component project closure request to the program sponsor so that resources can be reallocated to strategically aligned component projects.
   • Assess the impact of closure on other component projects, and generate a recommendation for submission to the program governance board.
   • Recommend that the component project manager complete work activity to deliver benefits to the organization.
   • Update the benefits management plan to reflect the impact of the change on the program and its intended benefits.

3. An ice cream company wants to introduce a new flavor to a new market. The executive sponsor requests a sampling for the test market and the sample group provides negative feedback. As this type of program had previously been conducted by the company, the program manager questions whether similar results were experienced during testing.

   What should the program manager do next?

   • Document the results to share with the program governance board.
   • Facilitate another test market sampling.
   • Contact the R&D department for product testing results.
   • Review the program management information system (PMIS) for lessons learned.

4. A large automaker begins a program to create the next-generation car. As the program team is composed, key stakeholders are identified.

   Key stakeholders for the program should include which of the following?

   • Potential customers, government regulatory agencies, and competitors
   • Project management office (PMO), third-party contractors, and agents
   • Local car dealers, factory workers, and corporate officers
   • Vice president of logistics, potential customers, and corporate executives

5. An R&D group director approves a major program’s charter. Although the director has a high level of understanding of the program’s scope, they are unsure of how the program manager can be successful in delivering the program’s commitments.

   What should the program manager do to align stakeholders with planning and monitoring the program’s progress?

   • Establish high-level program milestones
   • Develop an accountability matrix, and assign program roles and responsibilities
   • Generate a supplier management plan to identify external stakeholders
   • Create a communications management plan, and establish reporting formats

6. A component project of a multiyear program delivers all expected products and services as anticipated. The component project manager obtains approvals from the stakeholders and transitions the benefits to operations.

   What should the program manager do next?

   • Reassign the component project manager to another component project or activity
   • Verify that the benefits were delivered and authorize component project closure
   • Conduct a program audit to confirm that the component project is complete
   • Keep the component project open until the program benefits are realized

7. An organization is embarking on a new program aligned with its strategic objectives. The new program has a high level of risk due to the rapidly changing technical landscape in which the organization operates. The organization has mature program management capabilities, as measured by its resources, intellectual assets, and management processes.

   Given the organization’s history of delivering successful programs, what should the program manager do as part of the planning process?

   • Interview the program managers and stakeholders of previous programs to learn from their experiences.
   • Review the organization’s strategic objectives, risk tolerance, and compliance processes, which may provide knowledge about past programs.
   • Consult the repository developed as part of the organization’s knowledge management initiative to capture best practices and lessons learned.
   • Hire independent industry specialists and subject matter experts (SMEs) to provide additional information about market trends and uncertainties in the external environment.

8. The program manager wants to increase the team’s commitment to the program objectives.

   The program manager should do which of the following?

   • Work with the sponsor to identify the organization’s best practices.
   • Work with the program stakeholders and program management office to identify the organization’s best practices.
   • Work with the program management office to identify the organization’s best practices.
   • Work with the sponsor, program stakeholders, and the program management office to identify the organization’s best practices.

9. A program manager has four projects pending approval. Senior management asks the program manager to identify a project for potential elimination based on the return on investment. The program manager has the following information to guide and support the decision:

   

   Which project should the program manager select to be cancelled?

   • Project A
   • Project B
   • Project C
   • Project D

10. In preparation for the development and submission of the program master schedule to a client, the program manager meets with the component project manager and master program scheduler to discuss the work breakdown structure (WBS).

    During the meeting, the master scheduler indicates that the master program schedule should include which of the following?

    • Program benefits and all component project activities
    • Component resources and their activity assignment/responsibility metrics
    • Program-level activities and integrated component projects
    • Program activities, component activities, and all other work

11. A program manager has a multiple-project program that is scheduled to be completed by year’s end. During the program delivery phases of the projects, several mandatory changes are identified that would extend the program’s completion date.

    What is the next step for the program manager?

    • Apply resource leveling to ensure the program is completed on schedule
    • Update the schedule to reflect the extended completion date
    • Adjust working hours to ensure the program is completed on schedule
    • Submit a change request to extend the program schedule

12. During the program execution stage, the component project manager responsible for testing estimates that budgeted hours may exceed 200 hours.

    What should the program manager do?

    • Communicate to the program sponsor regarding the additional estimated cost and request a change order.
    • Determine which component projects have excess capacity and rebalance those resources to the project that needs additional hours.
    • Request that the project manager make the team members work additional hours and not bill the project.
    • Talk with the project manager and find ways to reduce hours in another part of the project.

13. An organization must accelerate a product to market. The program manager completes the preliminary program steps and holds a kick-off meeting. Project managers submit their preliminary schedules for review.

    What should the program manager do next?

    • Assign resources to the schedule and report the revised delivery date to the project managers.
    • Work with the project managers to refine the project schedules and deliverables to align with the program milestones.
    • Revise the project schedules to meet the program schedule and communicate to stakeholders.
    • Integrate the project schedules into the program schedule and report the revised delivery date to the project managers.

14. The program director of a four-year program, estimated to require 600,000 person-days effort, notices that team morale has decreased over the last three months. The program is at a critical stage with 70% completion through the test phase. A number of defects are found that result in teams working additional hours. The program director requests that the program management office (PMO) gather metrics to monitor the situation.

    Which of the following metrics should the PMO capture on a monthly basis?

    • Billable hours charged to the program, non-billable hours charged to the program, quantity of defects per full-time equivalent (FTE)
    • Absenteeism rate, staff turnover, quantity of defects, total hours worked, average number of FTEs
    • Amount of hours spent on rework of software coding, retesting, and on non-rework activities
    • Absenteeism rate, staff turnover and leave liability

15. Stakeholders ask the program manager to assess reasons for the project’s delay and provide a report. Also, the program manager must identify steps to be taken to ensure the program will finish on time and within budget.

    The program manager distributes information in accordance with which of the following?

    • Stakeholder engagement plan
    • Program governance charter
    • Schedule management plan
    • Communications management plan

16. After taking over a program, a program manager reviews the program’s status and discovers that stakeholders do not know how the program is performing in relation to schedule and costs. The program manager establishes earned value (EV) metrics and determines that the program has a budget of US$2.1 million, is three months into a nine-month timeline, and the planned value (PV) at the three-month point should be US$320,000. The program has spent US$350,000 and the EV is US$340,000.

    Based on this information, the program manager determines which of the following?

    • The schedule is US$30,000 under budget
    • The cost is US$20,000 under budget
    • The schedule is US$10,000 over budget
    • The cost is US$20,000 over budget

17. A program manager is identifying and verifying risks as outlined in the risk management plan.

    The results will be recorded in which of the following?

    • Risk register
    • Risk monitoring and control
    • Risk response planning
    • Risk mitigation strategy

18. While setting up a program’s infrastructure and plan, a program management team develops documents and processes that provide commonality and consistency throughout the program’s components.

    What should the team also prepare, if not already provided by the organization’s assets?

    • Breakdowns such as the program work breakdown structure (PWBS), component project milestones, and budgets that transform top-level planning into fragments relevant to the components
    • Industry standards that provide guidance to the component project managers on how to adapt their detailed planning to the program’s master plan
    • Documents that enable level-adequate aggregation and consolidation of component/program information and forecasting
    • Files, filing structures, and templates for knowledge repositories that contain centrally stored and commonly maintained program data

19. A program is near completion and the benefits will be delivered shortly. The program manager prepares to initiate program closeout activities to release the program resources.

    Before initiating closeout and releasing the resources, what should the program manager do?

    • Review the benefits management plan with the program sponsor
    • Obtain approval from the sponsor to close the program
    • Prepare performance evaluations for all program personnel
    • Prepare performance evaluations for all project personnel

20. A program is developing a next-generation product line, and one component has been delivered. However, due to a change request, expectations for another component are unmet.

    What activity should the program manager perform next?

    • Program delivery management
    • Resource interdependency management
    • Program performance monitoring and controlling
    • Benefits sustainment and program transition