Q:	Q: I’ve never had a project charter. Is it really necessary?
A:	A: Yes, definitely. Have you ever been on a project where you didn’t feel like you had enough authority to do your job? The project charter gives you the authority to manage your project. Every project should have a charter, and writing the charter is the first thing that should happen on any project.
Q:	Q: Wait a minute! How can I be the one writing the charter, when it’s what gives me all of my authority and I might not even be assigned to the project yet?
A:	A: Right, you’re not usually going to write a charter. The charter is usually handed to you. The project sponsor usually writes the charter. And it’s always easy to tell who the project sponsor is: the sponsor is the person who pays for the project, and comes up with the project’s overall goals.
Q:	Q: I’m still not sure I get the idea behind a business case document. How’s that different from the project charter?
A:	A: The business case is a description of what your company is trying to get out of the project—like how much money you’re planning on making from the project, how it will benefit parts of your organization, and future business you might gain from the project. The project charter is a high-level description of your project. It tells you—and anyone else who needs to know about your project—what you’ll be delivering, including a really high-level description of what it is that you’ll build. A really important difference between them is that the project charter is what authorizes the project manager to do the work, while the business case helps give justification for the project. You can think of the business case as the background research that had to be done in order to make sure the project was worth doing, and the project charter as the thing that formally announces the decision to do it.
Q:	Q: I’m still not clear on who the sponsor is. How’s that different than the customer?
A:	A: The sponsor is the person (or people) paying for the project. The customer is the person who uses the product of the project. Sometimes the customer is the same person as a sponsor. This is often true in consulting companies. For the teachers’ project, the two sponsors are the CEO and VP of Asia Travel, and the customers are the teachers. But it’s possible that in another travel agency, the teachers themselves would be the sponsors. This happens a lot in contracted work. For the exam, you’ll need to be careful about this. Sometimes you’ll see the word customer in a question that’s asking you about the sponsor. You might even see the word client—a word that appears in the PMBOK Guide only four times! (It’s usually used when you’re talking about procurement.) When you see this, you should assume that the question is asking you about a consulting situation, where the sponsor, customer, and client are all the same person. Note The CEO and VP of Asia Travel are paying for this project in the sense that they’re providing funding for the project team at the travel agency and cutting checks to the airlines, hotels, tour groups, etc. The customers are definitely paying Acme Travel, but they’re not paying out the budget for the specific work that has to be done to complete the project.
Q:	Q: Hold on. My project sponsors are really important people in my company. I can’t imagine them actually typing up a project charter.
A:	A: Good point. That’s why the project sponsor will often delegate the actual creation of the charter to the project manager. For the exam, though, keep in mind that the sponsor is ultimately responsible.

Q:	Q: How far should I go when trying to anticipate every possible problem and list it in the Project Management plan?
A:	A: It’s really important to think about what could go wrong on your project, so that you can have plans for what to do when problems crop up. An unexpected change can sometimes derail a project, and doing some planning up front can keep issues like that to a minimum. Planning can help you avoid problems in the first place, which is a lot better for everyone than reacting to them when they happen. So think of everything you can; the extra time you spend planning could be what keeps your project a success.
Q:	Q: Does the project manager create the Project Management plan all by himself?
A:	A: No, it should be a group effort between the PM and the stakeholders. Everyone on the project team and all of the stakeholders need to agree that the plan is acceptable.
Q:	Q: What about things that I don’t think about? And sometimes, I know there could be problems in a certain area, but I’m not sure what they’ll be until the project gets going.
A:	A: You’re never going to think of everything that could go wrong. To help keep your plan flexible, you should add an Open Issues section to the plan. You can write down any open issues or concerns in this section, and deal with them as they come down the line. However, you have to have all your project requirements complete before starting the project—you should never have any requirements in your Open Issues section.
Q:	Q: I still don’t get what enterprise environmental factors are.
A:	A: Your company’s enterprise environmental factors are all of the information you have about its policies, processes, departments, and people. You need to know how your company does business in order to do a project. For example, you need to know about the different departments in your company if you’re managing a project that will be used by people in them.

Q:	Q: Sometimes my team members come to me and tell me that the project could have problems later. What do I do with that?
A:	A: For some project managers, it seems natural to dismiss these “negative Nellies” who seem concerned with problems that could go wrong in the future. But working with them instead is one of the best ways you can satisfy your stakeholders. When someone makes an estimate or prediction of a future condition that could lead to trouble, it’s called a forecast, and that’s very valuable information. You should distribute it along with your work performance information, and try to think of ways to avoid the problem—which is what preventive action is all about. A big part of your job as a project manager is to figure out how to prevent changes. This might seem a little weird—how can you prevent changes before the project is implemented? One way to do this is plan as well as possible, because a lot of changes happen because of a lack of planning. But it also means talking to stakeholders throughout the project and keeping an eye out for potential problems. When you take the PMP exam, if you see the phrase “influencing factors that cause change,” this is what it’s referring to.
Q:	Q: Who approves changes?
A:	A: Usually there’s a change control board (CCB) that approves changes. That’s a group of people, most often including the stakeholders and sponsor, who look at the benefits of a change and figure out if it’s worth the cost. If there’s a CCB, your change control system will include a procedure that mentions it. But not every company has a CCB, and there is no requirement in the PMBOK Guide that you have one.
Q:	Q: What if there’s a problem outside my project, and I’m not sure it affects me?
A:	A: You should still consider its potential impact when you’re monitoring your project’s work. It’s important that you’re always on the lookout for potential problems. If you’re not sure whether something could impact your project, it’s your responsibility as a project manager to bring it to the attention of your stakeholders. And if you can make a change on your own that doesn’t impact the project constraints (scope, cost, time, quality, risk, or resources), then it’s completely within your rights as a project manager to do it.
Q:	Q: Once a change is approved, what do I do with it?
A:	A: You change your Project Management plan to incorporate the change. This can mean that you create a new baseline with the new Project Management plan. For example, say you forgot to add a stakeholder to the change control board, so your project plan now describes the wrong process for making changes. You’ll need to fix that, and you’ll need to go through change control to do it. Every time a change is reviewed by the change control board, you keep a record of it in your change log. So whether the change was approved or rejected, the change request and the decision the CCB makes about it should be documented.
Q:	Q: What about changes that don’t affect the project constraints?
A:	A: If you evaluate the impact of a change and find that it won’t have an impact on the project constraints, then you can make the change without going through change control. Sometimes you need to change resources or move tasks around, and you can make those changes without affecting the bottom line or the end product. In these cases, change control wastes time and resources, rather than helping your project.
Q:	Q: Now, what’s a performance baseline again, and what do I do with it?
A:	A: A performance baseline is a snapshot of your project’s scope, schedule, and cost. When you plan out the work you’ll do on a project, you write down all of the activities you’ll need to do and save that understanding as your scope baseline. You’ll do the same with your understanding of the project’s schedule and its cost. That way, you can always compare your actual performance to your plan. Every time a change is approved, that means the plan has changed. So you have to update your baseline to include the new work (or cost, or schedule).

Q:	1. You’ve just received a change request. This means: The project charter is complete, but the work cannot begin yet because you need to make a change to the scope baseline. You are in the Direct and Manage Project Work process, and you can implement the change now. The change needs to be approved before it can be implemented. There is a defect in a deliverable that must be repaired.
Q:	2. Which of these is not an input to Develop Project Charter? Enterprise environmental factors Project Management plan Agreements Project statement of work
Q:	3. What is the output of Direct and Manage Project Work? Approved change requests Project Management processes Deliverables Forecasts
Q:	4. You’re managing a graphic design project. One of your team members reports that there is a serious problem, and you realize that it will cause a delay that could harm the business of the stakeholders. Even worse, it will take another two days for you to fully assess the impact—until then, you won’t have the whole story. What is the BEST way to handle this situation? Create a change request document and submit it to the change control meeting. Pull out the project charter and show them that you have authority to make decisions. Meet with the stakeholders and tell them that there’s a problem, and you need two more days to get them the information they need. Update the lessons learned and add it to your organizational process assets.
Q:	5. You’re a project manager on a construction project. The electrician has started laying out the wiring, when the client comes to you with a change request. He needs additional outlets, and you think that will increase the cost of the electrical work. What is the first thing you do? Refuse to make the change because it will increase the cost of the project and blow your budget. Refer to the Project Management plan to see how the change should be handled. Consult the contract to see if there is a clause. Make the change, since the client requested it.
Q:	6. The work authorization system: Ensures that every work package is performed at the right time and in the proper sequence Authorizes the project manager to spend money on work Is a set of processes and tools that aids project manager in effectively guiding the project to completion Is a formalized, written description of how to carry out an activity
Q:	7. You’re the project manager at a telecommunications company. You recently had stakeholders approach you with changes. You figured out that the changes would cost additional time and money. The stakeholders agreed, you were given additional time and budget, and the changes were approved. Now you have to incorporate the changes into the project. What do you do next? Modify the project charter to include the changes. Use the project management information system to make sure the work is performed. Make sure to track your changes against the project’s baseline so you know how much they eventually cost. Incorporate the changes into the baseline so you can track the project properly.
Q:	8. You are a project manager on a software project. When you planned the project, your enterprise environmental factors included a policy that all changes that cost over 2% of the budget need to be approved by the CFO, but smaller changes could be paid for by a management contingency fund. One of your stakeholders submitted a change request that requires a 3% increase in the budget. Your company has an outsourcing effort, and you believe that a small change to the way that the change is requested could allow you to take advantage of it and cut your costs in half. What is the BEST way to handle this situation? Work with the stakeholder to figure out how to reduce the cost of the change by a third. Request approval from the CFO. Refuse the change because it is over 2% of the budget. Document the change request, since all changes must be documented.
Q:	9. You’re on the project selection committee. You’re reviewing a document that describes the strategic value of a potential project and its benefits to the company. What’s this document called? Project charter Business case Benefit measurement method Contract
Q:	10. One of your team members has discovered a defect in a deliverable and has recommended that it be repaired. Which of the following is NOT true: The project charter has authorized you to perform the work. Your project is in Monitor and Control Project Work process. The defect repair must be approved before the deliverable can be repaired. You must update the Project Management plan to document the defect.
Q:	11. You are holding a formal, approved document that defines how the project is executed, monitored, and controlled. You are holding: The Project Management plan The performance measurement baseline The project charter The work breakdown structure
Q:	12. You are the project manager for a software project, when the sponsor pulls the plug and cancels the project. What do you do? Give the team the day off to recuperate from the bad news. Create a budget summary for the remaining unspent budget. Follow project closure procedures to close the project and update lessons learned. Find new assignments for any people previously assigned to your project.
Q:	13. You are managing a software project, when you find out that a programming team whom you were supposed to have access to has been reassigned to another project. What is the first thing that you should do? Figure out the impact that this will have on your project. Bring a copy of your project’s charter to the other manager, and explain that you need that team for your own project. Go to your sponsor and demand the team. Figure out a way to compress the project schedule so that you can work with the team if they become available.
Q:	14. You are a project manager on a software project. There are several changes that need to be made, and you need to decide how to apply project resources in order to implement them. What do you do? Decide the priority of the changes and announce them to the team. You should call a team meeting and invite the stakeholders, so that everyone can reach a consensus on the priority. Deny the changes because they will delay the project. Consult the Change Prioritization plan for guidance on prioritizing new changes.
Q:	15. You’re a project manager on a software project. Your team is busy executing the project and creating the deliverables, but there have been several changes requested by stakeholders over the past few weeks. Each time you got one of these changes, you called a meeting with your team and the stakeholders to discuss it. Why did you do this? Every change needs to be evaluated by a change control board. You’re delegating the work of evaluating changes. You do not have a good change control system in place. You are using a project management information system to assign the work.
Q:	16. You are the project manager on a construction project, and you have just received a change request. You consulted the Project Management plan, and followed the procedures laid out in the change control system. You are in the process of reviewing the change and documenting its impact. Your manager asks you why you are doing this. Which process are you doing by reviewing the change and documenting its impact? Perform Integrated Change Control Monitor and Control Project Work Manage Requested Changes Direct and Manage Project Work
Q:	17. Which of the following is NOT true about the project charter? The project charter defines the requirements that satisfy customer needs. The project charter defines the work authorization system. The project charter makes the business case that justifies the project. The project charter includes the milestone schedule.
Q:	18. You have just verified that all of the work on your project is completed. Which of these things is NOT part of the Closing process? Update historical information by documenting lessons learned. Document the work performance information to show the deliverables that have been completed and record the lessons learned. Verify that all of the deliverables have been accepted by the stakeholders. Follow the project closure procedure.
Q:	19. Which of the following is NOT true about the Project Management Plan? The Project Management plan contains the Scope Management plan. The Project Management plan gives authority to the project manager. The Project Management plan contains the schedule baseline. The Project Management plan contains the performance baseline.
Q:	20. Which of the following is NOT an output of the Direct and Manage Project Work process? Work performance information Deliverables Implemented change requests Forecasts
Q:	21. You are a project manager starting a new project. Your manager warns you that previous projects ran into trouble. Which of the following would be BEST for you to rely on to help plan your project: Our project management expertise Historical information The change control system Forecasts
Q:	22. Which is NOT true about the project charter: The project manager must be consulted before the charter is finalized. The charter is issued by the project sponsor. The project manager’s authority to manage the project is granted by the charter. The charter gives a summary milestone schedule.
Q:	23. Which of the following is NOT an input to the Develop Project Management Plan process? Outputs of the planning processes Project charter Expert judgment Enterprise environmental factors
Q:	24. You are the project manager on a network engineering project. Two weeks ago, your team began executing the project. The work has been going well, and you are now a day ahead of schedule. Two stakeholders just approached you to tell you that they have an important change that needs to be made. That change will put you behind schedule. What do you do? Implement the change because you’re ahead of schedule. Refuse to make the change because the stakeholders did not take it to the change control board. Refuse to make the change until the stakeholders document it in a change request. Make sure the stakeholders know that you’re open to change, and tell them to talk to the project sponsor.
Q:	25. Diane is a project manager at a software company. She just got a change request from one of her stakeholders, but is concerned that it will cause a serious problem with her schedule. She called a meeting with the project team, and decided that there was a real change, and now they need to start change control. Which of the following is NOT an output of the Perform Integrated Change Control process? Note Start thinking about the kinds of questions you’re seeing. Some have extraneous details—we call them “red herrings.” Others are about inputs and outputs. That will definitely make the exam more familiar and easier. Project document updates Change request status updates Project Management plan updates Change requests

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