CAPM Practice Test 14 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A project manager is reviewing the project schedule and notices that a task has a lead time of 2 days. What does this indicate?

Accepted Answer

The task can start 2 days before its predecessor finishes. Lead time allows a successor activity to start before its predecessor finishes. A lead of 2 days means the successor can start 2 days before the predecessor finishes. Lag is the opposite (wait time). Float is not directly related.

Answer

The task has 2 days of float

Answer

The task duration is 2 days

Answer

The task cannot start until 2 days after its predecessor finishes

Question 2

A project team is experiencing frequent changes in requirements. The project manager wants to minimize disruptions. Which approach is best to manage changes effectively?

Accepted Answer

Establish a change control board and process.. A formal change control board (CCB) and a documented change control process provide a structured, consistent method for evaluating, approving, and implementing changes. This minimizes disruptions by ensuring that only approved, impact-assessed changes are introduced, preventing ad-hoc modifications that can destabilize the project scope, schedule, and budget.

Answer

Freeze requirements after initial sign-off.

Answer

Let the team implement changes as they come.

Answer

Communicate changes to stakeholders after implementation.

Question 3

A project team is troubleshooting a delay in the critical path. The project manager identifies that a non-critical activity has slipped by five days but the project end date remains unchanged. What is the most likely reason for this?

Accepted Answer

The slipped activity has sufficient total float to absorb the delay without affecting the critical path.. In critical path method (CPM), non-critical activities have total float — the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project finish date. If a non-critical activity slips by five days but the project end date is unchanged, the slip is within the activity's total float, so it is absorbed without impacting the critical path.

Answer

The team used crashing to accelerate the non-critical activity.

Answer

The slipped activity is actually on the critical path and the end date was recalculated incorrectly.

Answer

The project manager applied fast tracking to overlap the slipped activity with its successor.

Question 4

Based on the exhibit, which requirement is not yet linked to a test case?

Accepted Answer

None of the above. The exhibit shows that requirements R001, R002, and R003 are each linked to at least one test case. Since all listed requirements already have test case associations, the correct answer is 'None of the above' — no requirement remains unlinked.

Answer

R001

Answer

R002

Answer

R003

Question 5

A project manager is leading a team that includes members from different cultures. Communication misunderstandings are causing delays. Which action best addresses the root cause?

Accepted Answer

Update the communications management plan to include cultural considerations. Updating the communications management plan to include cultural considerations addresses the root cause by formally incorporating cultural norms, language preferences, and communication styles into how the team interacts. This is a proactive, documented approach that aligns with PMBOK guidance on tailoring communications to stakeholder needs. It resolves misunderstandings at their source rather than applying superficial fixes.

Answer

Replace team members who are not communicating effectively

Answer

Increase the frequency of status meetings

Answer

Send a memo emphasizing the importance of clear communication

Question 6

A project manager is defining success criteria for a new software development project. Which of the following is the most objective and measurable success criterion?

Accepted Answer

Completion within the approved budget and schedule. Completion within the approved budget and schedule is objective and measurable — you can compare actual cost and finish date against the baseline to determine success or failure. The other options are subjective or lack clear thresholds, making them unsuitable as primary success criteria.

Answer

Positive team morale

Answer

Low number of change requests

Answer

High customer satisfaction

Question 7

A business analyst discovers that two requirements conflict with each other. What is the best strategy to resolve this conflict?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting with the key stakeholders to negotiate a resolution. When two requirements conflict, the best strategy is to bring the key stakeholders together and facilitate a negotiation to resolve the conflict collaboratively. This aligns with PMI/CAPM principles of stakeholder engagement, conflict resolution, and collaborative problem-solving rather than unilateral escalation or deferral. The business analyst or PM facilitates, but the stakeholders own the decision.

Answer

Ask the project sponsor to choose which requirement to keep

Answer

Document both requirements and let the development team decide

Answer

Include both requirements and add a third requirement to reconcile them

Question 8

A project manager is assigned to a project that is in execution phase. The project has a cost performance index (CPI) of 0.8 and a schedule performance index (SPI) of 1.1. Which of the following best describes the current status of the project?

Accepted Answer

The project is over budget but ahead of schedule.. A CPI of 0.8 means the project is earning only $0.80 for every $1.00 spent, indicating it is over budget. An SPI of 1.1 means the project is earning $1.10 for every $1.00 of planned work, indicating it is ahead of schedule. Therefore, the project is over budget but ahead of schedule, making option C correct.

Answer

The project is under budget and ahead of schedule.

Answer

The project is under budget and behind schedule.

Answer

The project is over budget and behind schedule.

Question 9

A business analyst is developing a business case for a proposed IT system. Which component should be included to evaluate the financial viability?

Accepted Answer

Cost-benefit analysis. Cost-benefit analysis compares the costs and benefits to determine financial viability. Option A is incorrect because requirements traceability matrix links requirements, not financials. Option B is incorrect because stakeholder register identifies stakeholders, not financials. Option D is incorrect because WBS decomposes work.

Answer

Requirements traceability matrix

Answer

Stakeholder register

Answer

Work breakdown structure

Question 10

During a project, a stakeholder requests a change that adds new functionality. The BA determines the change is feasible but will delay the schedule. What should the BA do first?

Accepted Answer

Document the impact in the change request. When a change is feasible but impacts the schedule, the BA's first step is to document the impact in the change request so the change control board (or sponsor) can make an informed decision. Approving, rejecting, or implementing the change are decisions that belong to the change control process, not to the BA acting alone. Documenting the impact preserves the audit trail and enables proper evaluation.

Answer

Reject the change

Answer

Approve the change

Answer

Implement the change

Question 11

In a predictive project life cycle, which of the following best describes the relationship between scope, time, and cost?

Accepted Answer

Scope is fixed, time and cost are estimated.. In a predictive project life cycle, the scope is defined and fixed early in the project, while the time and cost are estimated based on that scope. Therefore, Option B correctly states that scope is fixed and time and cost are estimated. Option A is incorrect because not all three are fixed; time and cost are estimates. Option C is incorrect because it describes an adaptive life cycle where scope is variable, not predictive. Option D is incorrect because scope is not variable in predictive life cycles.

Answer

All three are fixed.

Answer

Time and cost are fixed, scope is variable.

Answer

All three are variable.

Question 12

After solution implementation, the business analyst discovers that a key performance indicator (KPI) has not improved as expected. What is the most appropriate next step?

Accepted Answer

Conduct a root cause analysis to identify why the solution is underperforming.. Conducting root cause analysis helps identify why the solution is underperforming. Option B is wrong because requesting additional budget without analysis is premature. Option C is wrong because escalation without analysis is premature. Option D is wrong because documenting in lessons learned without action is inadequate.

Answer

Request additional budget for a new solution.

Answer

Immediately escalate to the project sponsor.

Answer

Document the discrepancy in the lessons learned.

Question 13

A software development team is transitioning from a plan-driven approach to Scrum. The Product Owner is enthusiastic but struggles to break down the product backlog into small, independent items. The team frequently encounters dependencies between user stories, causing delays in sprints. What is the best course of action for the Scrum Master to address this issue?

Accepted Answer

Coach the Product Owner on how to split user stories to minimize dependencies.. The Scrum Master's primary responsibility is to coach the Product Owner and the team on Scrum practices. In this scenario, the root cause is the Product Owner's inability to decompose user stories into small, independent items, which creates dependencies. By coaching the Product Owner on effective story splitting techniques (e.g., using vertical slicing, splitting by workflow steps, or by acceptance criteria), the Scrum Master directly addresses the source of the problem, enabling the team to deliver value incrementally without cross-story delays.

Answer

Have the team self-organize to handle dependencies by assigning a dependency owner.

Answer

Increase the sprint duration to allow more time to resolve dependencies.

Answer

Ask developers to manage dependencies during the sprint by coordinating with other teams.

Question 14

A distributed Scrum team is having difficulty with communication across time zones. The Daily Scrum is scheduled at 9 AM in the US, which is midnight in India. What is the best approach to resolve this?

Accepted Answer

Rotate the time of the Daily Scrum so that no one is always inconvenienced.. Rotating the Daily Scrum time shares the inconvenience of time zone differences equitably across the distributed team, preserving the event's purpose of daily synchronization and inspection. The Scrum Guide requires the Daily Scrum to be held at the same time and place each day, but for distributed teams, rotating the time is an acceptable adaptation that maintains the event's time-boxed, collaborative nature without breaking the inspect-and-adapt cycle.

Answer

Record the Daily Scrum for the India team to watch later.

Answer

Replace the Daily Scrum with asynchronous updates.

Answer

Hold two separate Daily Scrums for each location.

Question 15

A project manager is leading a software development project. The business analyst has identified that the current requirements gathering process does not align with the enterprise's business analysis framework. The team is experiencing frequent scope changes and rework. What should the project manager do first to address this issue?

Accepted Answer

Review the enterprise's business analysis framework and adjust the requirements process to comply with it.. The project manager must first ensure the requirements gathering process aligns with the enterprise's business analysis framework. This alignment is a foundational step to reduce scope changes and rework, as the framework defines standard practices, templates, and governance for requirements management. Without compliance, any change control or documentation updates will be ineffective because the underlying process itself is non-conforming.

Answer

Immediately implement a change control process to manage scope changes.

Answer

Train the business analyst on the project's requirements gathering techniques.

Answer

Update the requirements documentation to include a traceability matrix.