PK0-005 Practice Test 4 — 25 Questions

Question 1

A software development project is currently in the execution phase. The project manager has a team of 10 developers and 2 testers. The project is scheduled to be completed in 6 months, with a budget of $500,000. At the end of month 3, the project manager reviews the status and finds that only 40% of the work is complete, whereas 50% was planned. The actual cost incurred is $280,000. The project manager calculates the CPI as 0.71 and the SPI as 0.80. The project sponsor is concerned and asks for a recovery plan. The project manager must decide the best course of action. Which action should the project manager take?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Fast track the project by starting tasks concurrently. The project is behind schedule (SPI 0.8) and over budget (CPI 0.71). The sponsor wants a recovery plan. Since the project is already over budget, crashing (adding more developers) would increase costs further, which is not advisable. Fast tracking (starting tasks concurrently) can help recover the schedule without adding significant cost, although it does increase risk of rework. Reducing scope requires formal change and may not be acceptable. Replacing senior with junior developers would likely worsen quality and schedule. Therefore, fast tracking is the best immediate action in this situation.

Answer

Add more developers to critical path tasks to catch up on schedule

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Reduce the project scope to align with the current progress

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Replace senior developers with junior ones to reduce cost

Question 2

A project manager is creating a document that identifies all project stakeholders and their influence, interest, and impact on the project. Which document is being created?

Accepted Answer

Stakeholder register. The stakeholder register is the document that captures all stakeholders along with their influence, interest, and impact on the project. This register serves as the foundational input for stakeholder analysis and engagement planning, directly matching the description in the question.

Answer

Project scope statement

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Communication plan

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Risk register

Question 3

A project manager is developing the project management plan. The sponsor requests detailed cost estimates for each work package, but the activities have not yet been defined. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Defer the cost estimates until after activity definition.. Detailed cost estimates require that activities are defined first, as per the typical planning process sequence (e.g., PMBOK). Without activity definition, the project manager cannot accurately estimate costs for each work package. Option A is wrong because analogous estimating provides rough estimates, not detailed ones, and is used when little information is available—not suitable for this scenario. Option B is wrong because a rough order of magnitude estimate is not detailed and does not meet the sponsor's request for detailed cost estimates. Option D is wrong because breaking down work packages into activities is part of activity definition, which has not yet been done; bottom-up estimates should follow activity definition, not precede it.

Answer

Use analogous estimating to provide rough estimates.

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Ask the sponsor to approve a rough order of magnitude estimate.

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Break down the work packages into activities and create bottom-up estimates.

Question 4

Which THREE of the following are examples of project constraints?

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 and cost, forming the core of the triple constraint model. In project management, scope must be clearly defined and controlled to prevent scope creep, which can derail project objectives.

Answer

Communication

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Risk

Question 5

A project manager is leading a hybrid project that combines waterfall planning with iterative execution. Which of the following is a key challenge in managing such a project?

Accepted Answer

Balancing scope changes with baseline control. In a hybrid project combining waterfall planning with iterative execution, the key challenge is balancing scope changes (which are natural in iterative cycles) with baseline control (which is rigidly defined in waterfall planning). This tension requires careful change management to prevent scope creep while still allowing adaptive adjustments, making option A correct.

Answer

Eliminating all documentation

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Using only daily stand-ups for communication

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Ensuring strict adherence to a fixed schedule

Question 6

A project manager is assigned to a new project that has a tight deadline. The team members are from different departments and have competing priorities. Which project management process group is the project manager likely to spend the MOST time in during the initial phase of the project?

Accepted Answer

Planning. In the initial phase of a project with a tight deadline and cross-functional team members, the project manager must focus on defining scope, creating schedules, and establishing baselines. The Planning process group (D) is where these critical activities occur, as it involves developing the project management plan and subsidiary plans that guide execution. Without thorough planning, the tight deadline and competing priorities would lead to chaos during execution.

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Closing

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Executing

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Monitoring and controlling

Question 7

A project team is conducting a lessons learned session. In which project life cycle phase does this typically occur?

Accepted Answer

Closure. Lessons learned are conducted during project closure to capture knowledge for future projects. Option A is incorrect because planning focuses on detailed planning. Option C is incorrect because execution focuses on performing the work. Option D is incorrect because initiation focuses on authorizing the project.

Answer

Planning

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Execution

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Initiation

Question 8

A project manager is planning a new data center build. The organization requires high availability and low latency for critical applications. Which infrastructure component should be prioritized to meet these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Redundant network paths. Redundant network paths ensure that if one link or switch fails, traffic can immediately fail over to an alternate path, providing high availability. They also reduce latency by enabling load balancing across multiple links, which is critical for real-time applications. This directly addresses the requirement for both high availability and low latency in a data center build.

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Additional storage arrays

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Additional firewall appliances

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Virtualization licenses

Question 9

During project closing, which activity involves obtaining formal acceptance from the customer or sponsor that deliverables meet requirements?

Accepted Answer

Formal acceptance. Formal acceptance is obtained from the customer or sponsor during closing, often via a project acceptance form.

Answer

Lessons learned

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Archiving project documents

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Final project report

Question 10

Which project management process group involves obtaining formal acceptance of the project deliverables and archiving project documents?

Accepted Answer

Closing. Closing includes formal acceptance, lessons learned, and archiving project documents.

Answer

Executing

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Planning

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Initiating

Question 11

A project manager needs to determine the project's success criteria before the project is initiated. Which document should contain these criteria?

Accepted Answer

Project charter. The project charter is the document that formally authorizes the project and defines high-level success criteria, including measurable project objectives and key stakeholder expectations. According to the PMBOK Guide, the project charter is created during the Initiating process group and must contain the business case, high-level risks, and the criteria that will be used to determine whether the project is successful. Without these criteria defined in the charter, there is no agreed-upon baseline for evaluating project performance or closure.

Answer

Project schedule

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Risk register

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Lessons learned

Question 12

An IT project is nearing completion. The project manager is preparing for project closure. During the final testing, the client identifies a few minor defects that were not in the original scope. The project manager has a signed scope baseline. The client insists these defects must be fixed before acceptance. The project budget is nearly exhausted, and the schedule has no buffer. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Submit a change request to modify the scope baseline.. The project manager must follow the formal change control process when the client requests work outside the signed scope baseline. Since the defects are not in the original scope, the only way to proceed legitimately is to submit a change request to modify the scope baseline, which will trigger a review of cost, schedule, and resource impacts. This aligns with PMI's integrated change control and ensures the project does not proceed without proper authorization, especially given the exhausted budget and lack of schedule buffer.

Answer

Negotiate with the client to accept the project as-is with a discount.

Answer

Fix the defects and request additional funding from the sponsor.

Answer

Explain that the defects are out of scope and close the project.

Question 13

A project manager is leading a software development project. The team is consistently delivering work late, causing schedule delays. The project manager suspects the initial duration estimates were too optimistic. What is the best action to improve future estimation accuracy?

Accepted Answer

Review historical data and lessons learned from similar projects.. Reviewing historical data and lessons learned from similar projects (Option A) directly addresses the root cause of inaccurate estimates by leveraging empirical evidence from past work. This aligns with the PMI's iterative estimation approach, where actual performance data (e.g., velocity from previous sprints) is used to calibrate future estimates, improving accuracy over time. In software development, this is analogous to using historical cycle times or story point completion rates to refine planning poker sessions.

Answer

Extend the project schedule to accommodate delays.

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Assign additional team members to complete tasks faster.

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Increase all future estimates by 20% to account for unknowns.

Question 14

A project has a CPI of 0.9 and an SPI of 1.1. Which two statements are true? (Select TWO.)

Accepted Answer

The project is ahead of schedule.. CPI < 1 means over budget; SPI > 1 means ahead of schedule.

Answer

The project is on schedule.

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The project is under budget.

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The project is behind schedule.

Question 15

A project manager uses a power/interest grid to categorize stakeholders. Stakeholders with high power and low interest should be managed using which approach?

Accepted Answer

Keep satisfied. High power, low interest stakeholders need to be kept satisfied to prevent them from using their power against the project.

Answer

Manage closely

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Keep informed

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Monitor

Question 16

A project has a budget at completion (BAC) of $200,000. The earned value (EV) is $100,000, actual cost (AC) is $120,000, and planned value (PV) is $90,000. What is the estimate at completion (EAC) if the project will continue to perform at the current cost performance index (CPI)?

Accepted Answer

$240,000. CPI = EV/AC = 100,000/120,000 = 0.833. EAC = BAC/CPI = 200,000/0.833 = 240,000.

Answer

$200,000

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$220,000

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$260,000

Question 17

In a network diagram using PDM, activity B can start only after activity A has finished. Which dependency type does this represent?

Accepted Answer

Finish-to-Start (FS). Finish-to-Start (FS) is the most common dependency, where the successor activity cannot start until the predecessor activity has finished.

Answer

Finish-to-Finish (FF)

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Start-to-Finish (SF)

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Start-to-Start (SS)

Question 18

A project manager has identified a risk that could cause a $50,000 loss with a 20% probability. What is the Expected Monetary Value (EMV) of this risk?

Accepted Answer

$10,000. EMV = Probability × Impact = 20% × $50,000 = $10,000. This is a quantitative risk analysis technique.

Answer

$50,000

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$40,000

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$25,000

Question 19

A project team is in the storming stage of Tuckman's model. Which of the following behaviors is most likely to be observed?

Accepted Answer

Team members challenge each other's ideas. In the storming stage, team members may have conflicts and disagreements as they assert their opinions and struggle for positions. This is a natural part of team development.

Answer

Team members are polite and avoid conflict

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Team members work together efficiently

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Team members focus on completing tasks

Question 20

A project manager is developing a communication plan. Which two factors should be considered for each stakeholder? (Select TWO.)

Accepted Answer

Communication needs. Communication needs and preferred frequency are key inputs to the communication plan.

Answer

Vendor performance

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Budget constraints

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Risk tolerance