CAPM Practice Exam 1 — 20 Questions

Question 1

Which TWO of the following are examples of project constraints? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Scope. Scope is a classic project constraint because it defines the boundaries of what the project will deliver. Any change to scope directly impacts time, cost, and quality, making it one of the triple constraints in project management.

Answer

Risk

Answer

Work package

Answer

Resource calendar

Question 2

A project manager is leading a construction project with a fixed budget and strict deadline. During execution, a key supplier notifies that a critical material will be delayed by two weeks, which will push the project past the deadline. The project manager reviews the schedule and identifies that the delay can be compensated by fast-tracking two subsequent activities that are currently planned sequentially. What should the project manager do first?

Accepted Answer

Assess the risks of fast-tracking the two activities.. The correct first step is to assess the risks of fast-tracking the two activities (Option B). Fast-tracking involves performing activities in parallel that were originally planned sequentially, which can introduce new risks such as rework, resource conflicts, or quality issues. The PMBOK Guide emphasizes that before implementing a schedule compression technique, the project manager must evaluate the associated risks and determine if the benefits outweigh the potential negative impacts. Since the project has a fixed budget and strict deadline, a risk assessment ensures informed decision-making before proceeding.

Answer

Accept the delay and update the project schedule accordingly.

Answer

Submit a change request to extend the deadline.

Answer

Immediately add resources to the delayed activity to catch up.

Question 3

In Kanban, the team is experiencing frequent bottlenecks at the testing stage. Which practice should they adopt to improve flow?

Accepted Answer

Limit the WIP at each stage, especially testing.. In Kanban, limiting Work in Progress (WIP) at each stage is a core practice to expose bottlenecks and improve flow. By capping the number of items allowed in testing, the team prevents work from piling up, forcing them to finish existing tasks before pulling new ones. This directly addresses the frequent bottlenecks by making the constraint visible and actionable, enabling the team to focus on completing testing rather than starting more work.

Answer

Increase the batch size of work items.

Answer

Conduct daily stand-up meetings.

Answer

Add more testers to the testing phase.

Question 4

A project manager is performing risk response planning for a high-priority risk. The risk has a high probability and high impact. Which response strategy is most appropriate to reduce the probability and/or impact?

Accepted Answer

Mitigate. Mitigation is the risk response strategy that reduces the probability and/or impact of a risk to an acceptable level. For a high-probability, high-impact risk, mitigation is the most appropriate proactive response because it directly addresses the risk's likelihood or consequences through actions such as testing, redundancy, or process improvements.

Answer

Transfer

Answer

Accept

Answer

Avoid

Question 5

A project manager is creating the project schedule. The team estimates that the optimistic time for an activity is 10 days, the pessimistic time is 30 days, and the most likely time is 15 days. Using PERT three-point estimation, what is the expected duration?

Accepted Answer

16.67 days. The PERT three-point estimate formula is (Optimistic + 4×Most Likely + Pessimistic) / 6. Plugging in the values: (10 + 4×15 + 30) / 6 = (10 + 60 + 30) / 6 = 100 / 6 = 16.67 days. This weighted average gives more influence to the most likely estimate, reflecting a beta distribution.

Answer

18.33 days

Answer

20.00 days

Answer

15.00 days

Question 6

A project manager is evaluating the impact of a potential risk on project objectives. The risk has a probability of 0.3 and an impact of $50,000. What is the expected monetary value (EMV) of this risk?

Accepted Answer

$15,000. The expected monetary value (EMV) of a risk is calculated by multiplying the probability of the risk occurring by its potential impact. In this case, the probability is 0.3 and the impact is $50,000, so EMV = 0.3 × $50,000 = $15,000. This quantifies the average expected loss or gain from the risk, which is used in decision-making and contingency reserve planning.

Answer

$50,000

Answer

$150,000

Answer

$1,500

Question 7

A project manager is developing a project schedule for a software development project using a predictive approach. After identifying activities and sequencing them, what is the NEXT step?

Accepted Answer

Estimate activity durations. In PMBOK's predictive (waterfall) schedule management process, the sequence is: Plan Schedule Management → Define Activities → Sequence Activities → Estimate Activity Durations → Develop Schedule → Control Schedule. Since the question states activities have already been identified and sequenced, the next step is to estimate how long each activity will take, which is 'Estimate Activity Durations.' Only after durations are estimated can the schedule be developed.

Answer

Control schedule

Answer

Define activities

Answer

Develop schedule

Question 8

In a project to implement a new customer relationship management (CRM) system, the business analyst needs to understand the current workflows and identify areas for improvement. Which technique should be used?

Accepted Answer

Process modeling. Process modeling is the correct technique because it visually maps out the current workflows, showing the sequence of activities, decision points, and handoffs in the CRM system. This allows the business analyst to identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and areas for improvement in the existing processes before designing the new system.

Answer

Document analysis

Answer

Benchmarking

Answer

Root cause analysis

Question 9

A project manager is estimating activity durations for a software development project. The team has historical data from similar projects, but the current project involves new technology that could cause delays. Which estimating technique should the project manager use to account for uncertainty?

Accepted Answer

Three-point estimating. Three-point estimating (C) is correct because it explicitly accounts for uncertainty by using optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates. The new technology introduces unknown risks, making the triangular or PERT distribution ideal for modeling the potential delay range.

Answer

Parametric estimating

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Analogous estimating

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Bottom-up estimating

Question 10

A project manager is developing the WBS for a large construction project. She has identified the major deliverables and decomposed them into work packages. Which of the following BEST describes the next step in the WBS creation process?

Accepted Answer

Decompose work packages into activities. After the WBS is created down to the work package level, the next step in project planning is to further decompose those work packages into individual activities. This is done in the 'Define Activities' process, which is part of the Planning Process Group and specifically under Project Schedule Management. The WBS focuses on deliverables, while activities represent the work needed to produce those deliverables. Therefore, decomposing work packages into activities is the logical next step before estimating durations, costs, or resources.

Answer

Estimate the cost of each work package

Answer

Assign resources to each work package

Answer

Obtain stakeholder approval of the WBS

Question 11

During project execution, a key stakeholder requests a change that would add a new feature to the product. The project manager evaluates the impact on scope, schedule, and cost. According to the change management plan, which step should the project manager take first?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the impact of the change on the project constraints. The change management plan requires the project manager to first analyze the impact of the proposed change on scope, schedule, and cost before any further action. This analysis provides the necessary data to determine whether the change should be submitted to the CCB for approval. Skipping this step would violate the defined change control process.

Answer

Submit the change request to the change control board (CCB) for approval

Answer

Implement the change and document it later

Answer

Reject the change because it was not part of the original scope

Question 12

Drag and drop the steps for managing project communications in the correct order.

Accepted Answer

Plan Communications Management, then Manage Communications, then Monitor Communications. Communications management: plan (including requirements and technology), manage, and monitor.

Answer

Manage Communications, then Plan Communications Management, then Monitor Communications

Answer

Monitor Communications, then Plan Communications Management, then Manage Communications

Answer

Plan Communications Management, then Monitor Communications, then Manage Communications

Question 13

Which THREE factors should a business analyst consider when selecting an elicitation technique for a project?

Accepted Answer

Availability of stakeholders. A is correct because stakeholder availability directly impacts the feasibility of scheduling and conducting elicitation activities such as interviews, workshops, or focus groups. If key stakeholders are unavailable, the chosen technique may be impractical or yield incomplete information, making this a primary logistical consideration in technique selection.

Answer

Project manager's preference

Answer

Cost of the technique

Question 14

A team using Scrum has a velocity of 30 story points per Sprint. The Product Owner wants to plan for the next release with 150 story points of work remaining. The team is stable. Which release planning approach aligns with agile principles?

Accepted Answer

Plan the first Sprint in detail and forecast the rest using velocity.. It aligns with agile principles of iterative planning and empirical data: plan the first Sprint in detail based on the team's capacity and use velocity to forecast the remaining Sprints, acknowledging that estimates may change. Option B is incorrect because detailed schedules with buffers are a traditional, plan-driven approach. Option C is incorrect because committing to a fixed number of Sprints ignores variability and violates agile's embrace of change. Option D is incorrect because detailed planning for all Sprints upfront is wasteful and contradicts agile's just-in-time planning.

Answer

Create a detailed schedule with buffers.

Answer

Commit to delivering all 150 points in exactly 5 Sprints.

Answer

Plan work in detail for all 5 Sprints now.

Question 15

During a requirements validation session, the project sponsor questions whether a particular requirement aligns with the business case. The business analyst recalls that the requirement originated from a regulatory compliance need. What should the BA do to resolve the concern?

Accepted Answer

Show the sponsor the traceability link to the regulatory requirement.. The business analyst (BA) should use the traceability link to demonstrate how the requirement directly maps to a regulatory compliance need, which is a valid justification within the business case. Traceability ensures that every requirement is linked back to a business objective or external driver, such as a regulation, and provides objective evidence to resolve the sponsor's concern without subjective debate.

Answer

Ignore the sponsor's comment and proceed with the requirement as documented.

Answer

Remove the requirement to address the sponsor's concern.

Answer

Postpone the discussion until the next stakeholder meeting.

Question 16

A project manager notices that the project's cost performance index (CPI) is 0.85. What does this indicate?

Accepted Answer

The project is over budget. A CPI of 0.85 indicates that the project is over budget. CPI is calculated as Earned Value (EV) divided by Actual Cost (AC). A value less than 1.0 means that for every dollar spent, less than a dollar of value was earned, indicating cost overrun. Therefore, the project is over budget.

Answer

The project is under budget

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The project is behind schedule

Answer

The project is ahead of schedule

Question 17

During project execution, a stakeholder requests a new feature that was not in the original scope. The project manager determines that the feature can be accommodated without affecting the critical path, but will increase costs. According to the predictive plan-based methodology, what should the project manager do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Submit the change request to the change control board. In a predictive (plan-based) methodology, any change to the project scope, schedule, or cost must go through the formal Integrated Change Control process. Since the requested feature was not in the original scope and will increase costs, it constitutes a change request. The project manager's next step is to submit this change request to the Change Control Board (CCB), which is the designated body responsible for reviewing, approving, or rejecting changes that impact project baselines. The project manager does not have the authority to unilaterally approve changes that affect cost baselines, even if the critical path is unaffected.

Answer

Approve the change to improve stakeholder satisfaction

Answer

Inform the stakeholder that the change cannot be accepted

Answer

Update the project management plan to include the feature

Question 18

A business analyst reviews existing project documentation, process flows, and system manuals to understand the current environment. This technique is called:

Accepted Answer

Document analysis. Document analysis. Option A is wrong because interviews involve direct interaction. Option C is wrong because surveys collect data from many respondents. Option D is wrong because brainstorming is a group creativity technique. Document analysis involves reviewing existing materials like project documentation, process flows, and manuals to understand the current state.

Answer

Interview

Answer

Survey

Answer

Brainstorming

Question 19

An Agile team is experiencing frequent changes in requirements from stakeholders. Which approach best enables the team to adapt while maintaining productivity?

Accepted Answer

Maintain a prioritized product backlog and refine it regularly with stakeholders.. A prioritized product backlog with regular refinement allows the team to adapt to changes by reprioritizing work. Fixed scope (option C) and detailed upfront requirements (option B) are waterfall practices. Freezing the sprint backlog (option D) prevents necessary changes.

Answer

Create a detailed requirements document at the project start.

Answer

Define a fixed scope and use a change control board.

Answer

Freeze the sprint backlog at the start of each sprint.

Question 20

A company transitioning from a waterfall to a Scrum framework wants to ensure continuous improvement. Which Scrum event is specifically designed for inspecting and adapting the process?

Accepted Answer

Sprint Retrospective. The Sprint Retrospective is the Scrum event specifically designed for inspecting and adapting the process. It occurs at the end of each Sprint and focuses on how the team worked together, identifying improvements to apply in the next Sprint. The Daily Scrum is for daily coordination, the Sprint Review is for inspecting the product increment, and Sprint Planning is for planning the upcoming Sprint's work.

Answer

Daily Scrum

Answer

Sprint Review

Answer

Sprint Planning