Chapter 1

Q1 (b) For most families, a new house is a major project. They will have to agree on the configuration from the parts and will have to ensure financing. The construction company will probably regard the entire neighborhood as a project.

Q2 (a) Uncertainty on the specifications and other details of the deliverables of a project is a common element of project management. Project managers should respond to this uncertainty with methodical approaches, not with tinkering.

Q3 (d) Projects are investments, and investors sacrifice a lot to make them. They could use the money invested otherwise—for example, buy themselves a yacht, invite their loved ones to an expensive dinner, or invest the money in another project. It may take some time until the project creates benefits that may then be devalued by inflation, and each investment has a risk of loss. The results of the project fail to bring the expected benefits. Administering the investment, project managers have a responsibility to protect the investors from such damages.

Q4 (d) Temporary and unique are the attributes that distinguish projects from operations, which are continuous and repetitive by definition. A note: Operations are of course also temporary—nothing lasts forever, at least in industry. The difference is that projects are intended to be finished when work has been done and objectives achieved. Operations are ended when their processes or deliverables are no longer up to date, when resources in use are worn out, when the environment no longer supports or accepts them, or when they are no longer a sustainable and profitable business.

Q5 (b) While active risk management has become an essential element of effective project management, one should not forget that risks may occur in areas that have not been considered before, and that these risks may jeopardize even the most well-managed project.

Q6 (a) Misunderstandings are a common cause for troubled projects, and identical terminology may be used in different industries to describe different things. The danger is that people may not be aware that they are talking of different things. Project managers should develop expertise outside their industrial home domain to understand these differences.

Chapter 2

Q1 (c) Under time pressure, most people tend to rush things, but effective project managers make sure they are doing the right things, as they have no more time left to fix errors. The question relates to single-loop learning—applying corrective action and bringing the project back to plan (answer a)—and double-loop learning, which would be re-planning the project (answer d). Answer b describes a zero-loop learning approach that is sometimes also found in projects.

Q2 (a) Project managers must manage uncertainty as professionally as they manage the things they know about the project.

Q3 (d) Project managers are expected to take into account the needs and expectations of stakeholders in both internal projects and customer projects.

Q4 (b) A Nash Equilibrium is a situation in which particular interests of “players” (individuals, groups, companies, etc.) are dominant over the common interests that the players share. The emergence of a Nash Equilibrium can often be identified early by looking at the quality of communication, cooperation, risk taking, and other tangible and intangible investments that the parties make.

Q5 (a) Many organizations use the concept of the “internal customer” and “internal vendor” to model cost and profit streams inside the organization in the form of “internal charges”, similar to external billing. While these models may be helpful to manage the organization, one should bear in mind that internal customers do not generate income to the organization^*.

Q6 (d) If there are risk-free projects, they must be rare. Project management includes managing uncertainties, which bring risks with them. Project managers must navigate their projects through a strait with monsters at each sides. One of these monsters is called “easy”—it stands for over-optimism and beautification. The other one’s name is “panic”—it is characterized by extreme pessimism and its promoters paint pictures of the future in gloomy color shades. The course between the monsters is called “realism”. The two monsters have their place in organizations: “Easy” people are the best to sell their products and services, “panic” people effectively manage quality and security. Project managers stand between these groups.

Chapter 3

Q1 (a) “Over the fence” is a common term for projects that are executed along a sequence of business units or contractors, and when one of them has finished its work, it virtually throws the project “over the fence”, where the next unit or contractor is waiting to do its work. This is commonly connected with a phase approach. Over-the-fence projects are highly fragmented and have no integrating function, which commonly leads to interface problems and finger pointing.

Q2 (d) The example describes a Mark n project. Complacency is a risk in any Mark n project. The low degree of novelty makes the project look simple and easy, just a derivation of former projects. Small differences and overlooked influence factors may then surprise the team with unexpected disruptions and derail the project.

Q3 (c) The project is a satellite project, whose success is highly dependent on the performance of the principal project (the construction of the hospital). Depending on the contractual clauses, on which project managers rarely have influence, problems of the principal project may impact the satellite project. The project manager will have to manage risks not only related to their own project but also to the principal project.

Q4 (b) Brownfield projects take place in developed environments, in which people with their wishes, needs, expectations, fears, etc. may be a decisive factor in the dynamics of success and failure. In such projects, project managers should take special care of these stakeholders.

Q5 (d) The question describes a composed project that is built bottom-up, not top-down, based on the preparedness of stakeholders to contribute. As a project manager, you will have to combine your skills as a facilitator and motivator with those of a coordinator, allowing the team a maximum degree of self-organization while protecting the project from running into chaos.

Q6 (a) Applying agile principles places some burdens on the performing organization. In a customer project, it is important to have an understanding that such a burden must be shared between the customer and the contractor. It is not in the customer’s interest to create distrust and frustration on the side of the contractor—whose cooperation and support is essential for project success—or to even drive the contractor into insolvency.

Chapter 4

Q1 (b) Agile methods are great for specific projects and project situations but have weaknesses when long-term planning is beneficial to book resources early, and to order work items beforehand, and when teams cannot be collocated and dedicated to the project.

Q2 (c) Answer (a) describes the “contributory” achieving style, answer (b) the “personal” style, and answer_(d) the “entrusting” style.

Q3 (a) “Rolling wave” is a commonly used term for iterative–incremental approaches. Another commonly used term is “progressive elaboration”.

Q4 (c) Answer (a) would build formal networks with intensive delegation, answer (b) invests own resources, and answer (d) motivates and mentors people.

Q5 (b) Agile methods are beneficial for projects with uncertain requirements and almost constant change.

Q6 (a) Even without in-depth knowledge of the Achieving Styles Model, the competitive character of this behavior should be easy to identify.

Chapter 5

Q1 (b) Assumptions registers are normally not helpful for team building but are for the other purposes.

Q2 (d) De-scoping is limited by the contract. Crashing may speed up the project, but it comes with massively increased costs and risky team dynamics. Cost engineering focuses on project costs. Benefit engineering can often (not always) find an acceptable solution for the customer to accept a higher price and postponed deadlines in return for more benefits created.

Q3 (c) The span width in StaFFA signals the distance between driving and restraining stakeholders. If this distance is large, one should expect conflicts.

Q4 (a) Coming with opportunities and threats for the project, change requests are truly two-faced.

Q5 (b) Estimates under pressure may be too optimistic or pessimistic, depending on the pressure perceived by the estimator in the given situation. Project managers should avoid forcing people to give political estimates and help them make realistic estimates.

Q6 (b) Documents and presentations shown during a kick-off meeting should be thoroughly prepared. They will be presented to senior managers who can take any weakness in them as a reason to close down your project before it has even started.

* As management thinker Peter F. Drucker wrote: “Inside an organization, there are only cost centers. The only profit center is the customer whose check has not bounced” (Drucker, 2013, p. 84).