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ICDL Project Planning study materials
ICDL Project Planning study resources

ICDL Project Planning (ICDL) practice questions

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Question 1Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

Which characteristic distinguishes a project from routine operational work?

  1. It is temporary and produces a unique result Correct answer.
  2. It is managed by a functional department on an ongoing basis
  3. It is repeated on a fixed cycle using established procedures
  4. It is funded from a continuous operating budget rather than a business case

Explanation

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result, so it has a defined start and end. Operational work is ongoing and repeats established procedures to keep the business running. Uniqueness means the outcome has not been produced in exactly the same way before, which is why projects carry uncertainty.

Question 2Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

In a typical predictive project life cycle, which sequence of phases is correct?

  1. Initiation, execution, planning, closure
  2. Execution, planning, initiation, closure
  3. Initiation, planning, execution, closure Correct answer.
  4. Planning, initiation, closure, execution

Explanation

Work is authorized during initiation, the detailed approach is defined during planning, deliverables are produced during execution, and formal acceptance plus administrative closure come last. Monitoring and controlling activities run across all of these phases rather than forming a separate sequential step.

Question 3Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A sponsor asks the project manager to add a significant scope item while keeping the deadline and budget unchanged. Which project constraint relationship does this request conflict with?

  1. The communication plan
  2. The scope-schedule-cost balance Correct answer.
  3. The stakeholder register
  4. The procurement strategy

Explanation

Scope, schedule, and cost are interdependent, so a change to one normally requires adjusting at least one of the others or accepting a change in quality. Adding scope under a fixed deadline and budget forces an explicit trade-off decision. The sponsor, not the project manager alone, should authorize that trade-off.

Question 4Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A project manager is compiling the stakeholder register early in a project. Which action best reduces the risk that an important stakeholder is missed?

  1. Asking the sponsor to name the department heads
  2. Listing only the people named in the project charter
  3. Mapping the project's interfaces and asking known stakeholders who else is affected Correct answer.
  4. Reviewing the organizational chart and stopping once every department appears

Explanation

Stakeholder identification is iterative and draws on multiple inputs, including the environment, interfaces, and other stakeholders' knowledge of who is affected. Asking known stakeholders who else has an interest surfaces parties that formal documents do not capture. The register should then be reviewed and updated as the project progresses.

Question 5Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

What is the primary purpose of a work breakdown structure?

  1. To record the assumptions and constraints agreed with the sponsor
  2. To decompose deliverables into manageable work packages Correct answer.
  3. To sequence activities and calculate the critical path
  4. To assign each team member a reporting line in the organization

Explanation

A work breakdown structure breaks the total scope into progressively smaller deliverables, with the lowest level being work packages that can be estimated, assigned, and controlled. It is organized around deliverables rather than around activities or the organizational structure. Sequencing and scheduling happen after the work breakdown structure exists.

Question 6Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

In a project schedule, an entry of zero duration that marks the formal sign-off of the design phase is best described as what?

  1. A summary task rolling up several sub-tasks
  2. A recurring status meeting listed in the communication plan
  3. A milestone signalling completion of a key event Correct answer.
  4. A critical activity that consumes float

Explanation

A milestone is a significant point or event in the project with zero duration, used to mark the completion of a deliverable or the approval of a phase. Because it consumes no time or resources, it acts as a checkpoint rather than as work. Milestones give sponsors and teams a simple way to track progress against key dates.

Question 7Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A project has a stable high-level scope, but detailed tasks for later phases cannot be defined until earlier design work is complete. Which planning approach fits this situation best?

  1. Replacing the schedule with a fixed scope statement approved by the sponsor
  2. Planning near-term work in detail while keeping later phases at a high level Correct answer.
  3. Producing a complete, detailed schedule for every phase before execution starts
  4. Deferring all planning until the design phase has been fully completed

Explanation

Progressive elaboration allows plans to be refined as more information becomes available, which suits projects where later detail depends on earlier design decisions. Near-term work is planned in enough detail to execute, while later phases stay at a higher level and are elaborated as the project advances. Planning everything in advance would produce false precision that is immediately invalidated.

Question 8Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

At the end of each phase, a committee reviews the deliverables, confirms quality, and decides whether to fund the next phase. What is this practice called?

  1. Rolling wave planning
  2. A phase-gate review Correct answer.
  3. Resource levelling
  4. Scope creep control

Explanation

A phase-gate or stage-gate review is a decision point at the end of a phase where deliverables, quality, and business justification are examined. The outcome authorizes, delays, or cancels the next phase and releases its funding. It is a governance control that keeps investment aligned with expected benefits.

Question 9Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A product must meet a fixed regulatory deadline, but the exact features are expected to change as user feedback arrives. Which life cycle is most appropriate?

  1. A sequential life cycle with a single delivery at the very end
  2. A predictive life cycle in which scope is baselined once at the start
  3. A life cycle that starts execution before requirements are defined
  4. An adaptive life cycle with timeboxed iterations delivering increments Correct answer.

Explanation

Requirements uncertainty favours an adaptive approach, where short timeboxed iterations produce increments and allow feedback to reshape the backlog. The fixed deadline is protected by adjusting scope priority at each iteration rather than by freezing requirements up front. A predictive cycle would lock in the very scope that is expected to change.

Question 10Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A project finishes on time and within budget, but the intended users never adopt the product. Which conclusion is most sound?

  1. Delivering the output does not by itself establish success; benefits realisation must be assessed Correct answer.
  2. Adoption by users is an operational matter outside any assessment of project success
  3. The project was successful because it met the triple constraint of time, cost, and scope
  4. The project failed only because the sponsor withheld final acceptance and payment

Explanation

Meeting the triple constraint confirms efficient delivery of the output, but project success also depends on whether the outcome delivers the intended benefits. If users do not adopt the product, the business case that justified the investment is not being realized. Mature benefits management therefore tracks outcomes after handover, not just delivery performance.

Question 11Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

Which description best defines a program?

  1. A temporary endeavor that creates a unique product, service, or result for a customer
  2. Related projects managed together to gain benefits not available when managed separately Correct answer.
  3. The full portfolio of investments selected to achieve an organization's strategic objectives
  4. Ongoing operational work that sustains the business once projects have been delivered

Explanation

A program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way so that the combined effort yields benefits that managing the projects separately would not. A single project, however large, remains a temporary endeavor producing a unique result. A portfolio is the wider collection of programs, projects, and operational work chosen to meet strategic objectives, while operations are the ongoing, repetitive work of the business.

Question 12Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

In a predictive life cycle, at which point are changes to product requirements generally least expensive to incorporate?

  1. During the closing phase, while the final documentation is being approved
  2. After the final product has been verified and handed over to operations
  3. At the end of the execution phase, once the deliverables are complete
  4. During the early concept and definition stages, before the design is baselined Correct answer.

Explanation

In a predictive life cycle, the ability to influence the product's characteristics is highest at the start and falls as the design becomes baselined. Each later change forces rework of completed documents, components, and tests, so the cost of change rises sharply through execution and closing. Early changes therefore cost far less than late ones.

Question 13Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

What is the primary purpose of a project charter?

  1. To specify the reporting lines, salary bands, and career paths for delivery team members
  2. To authorize the project formally and empower the project manager to apply resources Correct answer.
  3. To list every product requirement together with its acceptance criteria and owner
  4. To record the detailed schedule baseline and cost baseline that the project will follow

Explanation

The charter is the document that formally authorizes the project and links it to the organization's strategic objectives. It typically names the project manager and gives that person authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. Baselines, requirements, and staffing arrangements are developed later in the project management plan and supporting documents.

Question 14Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A project team delivers a new payroll system and closes the project at handover. Two years later the system is still being enhanced and maintained. Which statement best describes this situation?

  1. The project life cycle ended at handover, while the product life cycle continues through its useful life Correct answer.
  2. The project life cycle continues for as long as the payroll system remains in use
  3. The product life cycle ended when the project was formally closed at handover
  4. The project has failed because the team is no longer involved after handover

Explanation

The project life cycle spans the phases from initiation to closure and ends when the product is handed over and the project is closed. The product life cycle then continues through operation, maintenance, possible growth, and eventual retirement. Later enhancements are part of the product's life rather than a continuation of the project.

Question 15Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

During planning, a team records the statement: 'The hardware vendor will deliver all servers by 30 June.' No contract clause guarantees this date. How should this entry be classified?

  1. As a quality criterion, because delivery dates are verified during quality control
  2. As a constraint, because it limits the options available to the project team
  3. As an assumption, because it is treated as true for planning though unproven Correct answer.
  4. As a risk response, because it reduces the impact of a possible vendor delay

Explanation

An assumption is a factor taken as true for planning purposes without proof, and it must be validated as the project proceeds. A constraint, by contrast, is a limitation such as a fixed date, budget, or regulation that the project must work within. Because the delivery date here is an unverified expectation rather than an imposed limit, it is an assumption.

Question 16Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A project manager reuses the risk register template, estimating spreadsheets, and lessons-learned reports from earlier projects in the same organization. These items are best classified as:

  1. Organizational process assets, because they are internal tools and knowledge the organization keeps Correct answer.
  2. Enterprise environmental factors, because they originate outside of the immediate project team
  3. Deliverables, because the team will hand them over to the customer when the project closes
  4. Project documents, because they are prepared during the current project's planning phase

Explanation

Organizational process assets are the internal policies, templates, procedures, and historical information the organization maintains, including lessons learned from earlier projects. Enterprise environmental factors are conditions largely outside the project team's control, such as market conditions, regulations, or organizational culture. Reusable templates and prior-project records are therefore process assets.

Question 17Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

Which pair correctly distinguishes product scope from project scope?

  1. Product scope applies only to manufactured goods; project scope applies only to service engagements
  2. Product scope covers the work that the delivery team performs; project scope covers the features that customers receive
  3. Product scope is agreed at closure; project scope is agreed only after delivery begins
  4. Product scope covers the features of the deliverable; project scope covers the work to build it Correct answer.

Explanation

Product scope describes the features and functions that characterize the product, service, or result the project delivers. Project scope describes the work that must be performed to deliver that product with the specified features. Requirements management links the two, but they remain distinct baselines that are both defined early and refined as planning proceeds.

Question 18Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A project manager starts the build phase before the design phase is fully signed off, aiming to shorten the overall timeline. What is the most likely consequence of this decision?

  1. The final product will automatically meet all of its quality standards more quickly
  2. Rework risk will rise, because build activities may rely on design that later changes Correct answer.
  3. The project will no longer require any phase-gate review before the final delivery
  4. The total project cost will fall, because less time and effort are spent on planning work

Explanation

Starting a later phase before the earlier one is finished is known as overlapping or fast tracking the phases. It can compress the schedule, but downstream work may rest on preliminary design that subsequently changes, which increases the likelihood and cost of rework. Overlapping phases does not remove governance, lower total cost, or guarantee quality.

Question 19Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

At a phase gate, the review board learns that the market targeted by the business case has shrunk and the projected benefits no longer justify the remaining investment, although work so far has met all specifications. What is the most appropriate decision?

  1. Delay the decision until closing, when final benefit figures can be compared with the budget
  2. Continue unchanged, because meeting the specifications proves the project is performing well
  3. Continue unchanged, because the cost already incurred must be recovered by completing the project
  4. Terminate or restructure it, because continuation should depend on remaining value, not past spend Correct answer.

Explanation

A phase gate is a decision point at which continuation must be justified by the remaining value of the business case, not by expenditure already made. Money already spent is a sunk cost and cannot be recovered simply by finishing. A project that conforms to specification but no longer delivers sufficient benefits should be terminated, restructured, or have its business case revisited.

Question 20Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

An organization's project office publishes mandatory templates, requires every project to pass its compliance audits, and reports deviations to senior management, but project managers still report to their business unit heads. Which type of project management office is this?

  1. A directive PMO, because its staff take direct responsibility for managing the projects themselves
  2. A center of excellence, because it concentrates on developing project management capability
  3. A controlling PMO, because it enforces compliance while project managers remain in business units Correct answer.
  4. A supportive PMO, because it supplies templates and guidance that project teams may choose to use

Explanation

A controlling PMO requires projects to comply with specified frameworks, templates, and audits while the project managers remain employed within the business units. A supportive PMO offers templates and advice that teams may adopt voluntarily, and a directive PMO takes direct ownership of the projects it manages. Because compliance here is mandatory but the projects are not directly managed by the office, the office is controlling.

Question 21Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

An organization groups several unrelated projects and programs so it can prioritize investment, balance risk, and track overall strategic performance. What is this grouping called?

  1. A deliverable
  2. A portfolio Correct answer.
  3. A work package
  4. A phase

Explanation

A portfolio is a collection of projects, programs, and other work grouped to support strategic objectives. Unlike a program, its components need not share a common outcome or be interdependent. Portfolio management focuses on prioritizing and balancing the whole investment.

Question 22Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

Users repeatedly request small additional features, and the team implements them without changing the approved scope, schedule, or budget. Which term best describes this situation?

  1. Gold plating
  2. Configuration management
  3. Progressive elaboration
  4. Scope creep Correct answer.

Explanation

Scope creep is uncontrolled expansion of scope without corresponding approval and adjustment of baselines. It differs from an approved change because no formal change control occurs. Left unchecked, it erodes schedule and cost performance.

Question 23Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

Which document compares expected benefits, costs, and risks to justify authorizing a project?

  1. Business case Correct answer.
  2. Project charter
  3. Benefits realization plan
  4. Stakeholder register

Explanation

The business case establishes whether the expected benefits justify the investment and provides the rationale for initiating the project. It is often used at gate reviews to confirm the project remains viable. The charter formally authorizes the project but does not itself contain the full investment justification.

Question 24Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

In a work breakdown structure, which component is the lowest level of work that can be estimated, scheduled, and assigned to a person or team?

  1. Milestone
  2. Control account
  3. Project phase
  4. Work package Correct answer.

Explanation

A work package is the smallest deliverable-oriented unit in the work breakdown structure for which cost and duration can be reliably estimated and managed. Control accounts sit above work packages and aggregate them for management purposes. Milestones are points in time and phases are broader life-cycle segments.

Question 25Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

Which tool links each requirement to its source and to the deliverables and tests that demonstrate it has been met?

  1. Traceability matrix Correct answer.
  2. Risk response register
  3. Issue resolution log
  4. Resource loading chart

Explanation

A traceability matrix records the origin of each requirement and traces it forward to design, build, and test artifacts, and backward to its source. This supports impact analysis and confirms that every requirement is delivered and verified. It also helps detect missing or orphaned requirements.

Question 26Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A project team sets aside funds to cover known risks that have accepted response plans. What is this reserve called?

  1. Funding ceiling
  2. Contingency reserve Correct answer.
  3. Approved cost baseline
  4. Management reserve

Explanation

A contingency reserve is allocated for identified risks and is included in the cost baseline, so the project manager can use it when an accepted risk occurs. A management reserve covers unknown risks and normally requires higher-level approval. The cost baseline is the approved time-phased budget excluding management reserve.

Question 27Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A change request has been approved. Which process ensures that the change is reviewed, approved, and incorporated into the project baselines?

  1. Quality assurance review
  2. Change control Correct answer.
  3. Scope verification meeting
  4. Procurement administration

Explanation

Change control is the process for reviewing all change requests, approving or rejecting them, and managing changes to deliverables, project documents, and the project management plan. It ensures approved changes are reflected consistently in baselines and communicated to stakeholders. Without it, approved changes may not be implemented or may cause conflicting versions.

Question 28Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

In a RACI responsibility assignment matrix, what does the letter 'A' represent?

  1. Approver
  2. Advisor
  3. Administrator
  4. Accountable Correct answer.

Explanation

In RACI, A stands for accountable, meaning the one person who is ultimately answerable for the work and has authority to approve it. Each activity should normally have only one accountable person to avoid confusion. Responsible is the person who performs the work, consulted provides input, and informed is kept up to date.

Question 29Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A project has delivered its scope and closed. Who is typically accountable for ensuring that the planned business benefits are actually realized?

  1. The delivery team
  2. The procurement lead
  3. Business owner Correct answer.
  4. The project manager

Explanation

Benefits are usually realized after the project output is in use, so the business owner or sponsor is accountable for embedding the change and tracking benefit realization. The project manager is responsible for delivering the project scope within constraints, not for long-term operational benefits. Clear assignment of this accountability should be established during planning.

Question 30Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A project is terminated early because its business case is no longer valid. Which closure action is still required?

  1. Continuing contracts unchanged
  2. Extending the schedule
  3. Completing all original test cases
  4. Administrative closure Correct answer.

Explanation

Even when a project is terminated early, administrative closure is required to document the termination, archive records, release resources, and capture lessons learned. Contracts should be closed or renegotiated according to their terms, and unfinished work is not continued merely to match the original plan. Closure ensures an orderly end and preserves useful organizational knowledge.

Question 31Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

Which type of work is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result, and that ends once its objectives are met or it is terminated?

  1. Operations
  2. A program
  3. A portfolio
  4. A project Correct answer.

Explanation

A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined start and end, undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result, and it concludes when its objectives are achieved or it is terminated. Ongoing, repetitive work that sustains the business is operations. Because the effort is time-bound and its output is unique, the work described is a project.

Question 32Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

Which characteristic best describes a milestone in a project schedule?

  1. It is the longest activity on the critical path
  2. It is a task that can be performed in parallel with any other activity
  3. It represents a work package consuming the largest share of the budget
  4. It has zero duration and marks a significant point or event Correct answer.

Explanation

A milestone is a significant point or event in the project, such as completion of a phase or approval of a deliverable, and it occupies no time in the schedule. Because it marks progress rather than performing work, it consumes no resources and carries no duration, cost, or effort of its own.

Question 33Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

What is the main purpose of holding a project kickoff meeting at the start of a project or phase?

  1. To obtain the sponsor's formal written approval of the project budget and schedule
  2. To negotiate the final contract terms and conditions with the selected vendors
  3. To communicate goals, roles, and the plan and build commitment Correct answer.
  4. To review detailed test results for the deliverables that have already been completed

Explanation

A kickoff meeting brings the team and key stakeholders together to communicate the objectives, scope, plan, roles and responsibilities, and working arrangements, so that everyone shares a common understanding. It is a communication and team-building event that builds commitment to the plan, not a formal approval gate, a technical review, or a contracting event.

Question 34Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A project manager prepares detailed plans for the next three months and only high-level estimates for the remaining work, intending to refine them as more information becomes available. Which planning technique is being applied?

  1. Fast tracking
  2. Rolling wave planning Correct answer.
  3. Parametric estimating
  4. Crashing

Explanation

Rolling wave planning is an iterative, progressively elaborated technique in which near-term work is planned in detail while work further in the future is planned at a higher level and elaborated later. It suits projects with uncertainty because it avoids committing resources to detail that is likely to change before it is needed.

Question 35Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

Which project is best suited to an adaptive (agile) life cycle?

  1. A project whose requirements are expected to change often and whose users can give early feedback Correct answer.
  2. A project with a fixed regulatory deadline, stable and fully documented requirements, and a well-understood, familiar technology
  3. A project in which the customer must approve one complete specification before any development work begins
  4. A project delivering a process that has been performed successfully many times with minimal variation

Explanation

Adaptive life cycles deliver work in short iterations with frequent customer feedback, which suits projects where requirements are uncertain or likely to change and where incremental value can be demonstrated and adjusted early. Stable, fully defined requirements paired with a well-understood solution favour a predictive life cycle, in which scope is fixed early.

Question 36Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

Which three baselines are combined to form the performance measurement baseline used to assess project performance?

  1. Quality, risk, and resource baselines
  2. Scope, schedule, and cost baselines Correct answer.
  3. Benefits, procurement, and stakeholder baselines
  4. Communications, change, and configuration baselines

Explanation

The performance measurement baseline integrates the approved scope, schedule, and cost baselines so that scope, time, and cost performance can be measured against a single agreed reference. Other areas such as quality, risk, resources, and communications are addressed through subsidiary management plans rather than through baselines that form the performance measurement baseline.

Question 37Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

Which item is an example of an enterprise environmental factor that can influence project planning?

  1. Market conditions and industry standards affecting the project Correct answer.
  2. The organization's searchable repository of lessons learned from previous, similar projects
  3. The organization's standardized project charter template
  4. The organization's documented project closure procedures

Explanation

Enterprise environmental factors are conditions that influence the project and are generally outside the team's immediate control, such as market conditions, industry standards, organizational culture, and available resources. Templates, procedures, and lessons-learned repositories are organizational process assets, because they are internal documents and processes the organization owns and the project can use and update.

Question 38Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

In a work breakdown structure, what does the 100 percent rule require?

  1. Every element in the structure must be scheduled to use 100 percent of the available team hours
  2. The children of a node must capture all of the parent's work and nothing more Correct answer.
  3. Every work package must have exactly one assigned owner
  4. The structure must contain at least one hundred work packages

Explanation

The 100 percent rule states that the decomposed children of a WBS element must represent all of the work of the parent element and nothing beyond it, so no scope is omitted and no extra work is added. Applying the rule preserves scope integrity and allows cost and duration to roll up accurately from work packages to higher levels.

Question 39Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

Which statement best distinguishes an iterative life cycle from an incremental life cycle?

  1. Iterative development delivers the entire product in one cycle, while incremental development repeats the same cycle without adding scope
  2. Iterative development fixes the project scope and the schedule, while incremental development fixes only the total budget
  3. Iterative development requires no customer feedback at all, while incremental development requires feedback only at project closure
  4. Iterative cycles refine the same evolving deliverable repeatedly; incremental cycles deliver successive portions of the product Correct answer.

Explanation

In an iterative life cycle, scope is elaborated through repeated cycles that progressively refine and improve the same evolving deliverable, whereas in an incremental life cycle the product is built and delivered in successive portions, each adding usable functionality. The two approaches can be combined, but the essential difference is repeated refinement of the whole versus successive delivery of parts.

Question 40Project planning fundamentals and the project life cycle

A project must deliver a regulatory report by a date fixed by law, but the user interface of the internal portal that displays the report has unclear requirements. Which life cycle choice is most appropriate?

  1. Cancelling the portal work until all of its requirements have been fully specified and approved
  2. A pure adaptive life cycle for all of the work, with no fixed milestones, because the portal requirements are unclear
  3. A hybrid life cycle that plans the regulatory deliverable predictively and develops the portal iteratively Correct answer.
  4. A pure predictive life cycle for all of the work, because the regulatory deadline is fixed by law

Explanation

A hybrid life cycle combines predictive and adaptive approaches where different parts of the work carry different levels of uncertainty, planning the regulated, date-driven deliverable predictively while developing the unclear portal requirements iteratively with feedback. Choosing a single extreme approach would either endanger the legal deadline or force premature specification of requirements that are not yet understood.

Question 41Scope definition, deliverables and stakeholder analysis

Which document defines what work is included in a project and what is explicitly excluded?

  1. Scope statement Correct answer.
  2. Resource calendar
  3. Stakeholder register
  4. Quality checklist

Explanation

The scope statement records the project boundaries: the deliverables that are included, the work that is explicitly excluded, assumptions and acceptance criteria. It becomes the reference against which later change requests are judged. The other documents listed each serve a different purpose, such as recording people, availability or quality checks.

Question 42Scope definition, deliverables and stakeholder analysis

How does a milestone differ from a deliverable?

  1. It has zero duration Correct answer.
  2. It contains several work packages
  3. It produces a tangible output for the client
  4. It requires formal customer approval

Explanation

A milestone is a significant point or event in the project, such as the approval of a design, and it consumes no time or resources. A deliverable is a tangible or intangible output that is produced and can be verified. A milestone may be used to mark the completion of a deliverable, but the two concepts are not the same.

Question 43Scope definition, deliverables and stakeholder analysis

What is the main purpose of a stakeholder register?

  1. To assign work packages to team members
  2. To track project spending by department
  3. To list the project's approved deliverables
  4. To record stakeholder details and influence Correct answer.

Explanation

The stakeholder register captures who the stakeholders are, their interests, expectations, level of influence and how they will be engaged. It supports planning communication and managing relationships throughout the project. Cost tracking, work assignment and deliverable listing are handled by other project documents.

Question 44Scope definition, deliverables and stakeholder analysis

A supplier has high influence over a key component but little interest in the wider project. On a power/interest grid, how should the project manager engage this stakeholder?

  1. Wait until the supplier raises an issue
  2. Invite the supplier to all decision meetings
  3. Send detailed monthly progress reports
  4. Keep the supplier satisfied with brief updates Correct answer.

Explanation

The power/interest grid plots influence against interest, and high-power, low-interest stakeholders fall in the 'keep satisfied' quadrant. They need enough information to remain comfortable and avoid blocking work, but not so much detail that they become overloaded. Detailed reports suit high-interest parties, while minimal effort suits low-power, low-interest parties.

Question 45Scope definition, deliverables and stakeholder analysis

Midway through a project, a client asks for an extra report that the scope statement does not include. What is the best first action for the project manager?

  1. Submit it to integrated change control Correct answer.
  2. Refuse it, since the scope is fixed
  3. Instruct the team to absorb the extra work
  4. Record it in the quality defect log

Explanation

Requests that add or alter agreed scope must go through integrated change control so their impact on time, cost, quality and risk can be assessed before a decision is made. Absorbing the work directly is scope creep and erodes the baseline. Outright refusal is also inappropriate, because a justified change may still be approved.

Question 46Scope definition, deliverables and stakeholder analysis

Which statement best describes a well-formed work breakdown structure?

  1. It shows the reporting lines of the project team
  2. It sequences the activities in execution order
  3. It records every risk that could affect scope
  4. It decomposes deliverables into work packages Correct answer.

Explanation

A work breakdown structure is a deliverable-oriented hierarchy that breaks the total scope into progressively smaller components until the lowest level, the work package, can be estimated and managed. The 100 percent rule requires the children of each level to represent the full scope of the parent. Sequencing, reporting lines and risk recording belong to other artefacts.

Question 47Scope definition, deliverables and stakeholder analysis

A team writes user stories and acceptance criteria describing the features a new portal must have. Which type of scope are they defining?

  1. Organisational scope
  2. Project scope
  3. Product scope Correct answer.
  4. Procurement scope

Explanation

Product scope describes the features and functions that characterise a product or service, and user stories with acceptance criteria are a common way of capturing it. Project scope, by contrast, is the work required to deliver that product. Completion of product scope is measured against requirements, while completion of project scope is measured against the project plan.

Question 48Scope definition, deliverables and stakeholder analysis

A regulator holds legal authority over a project, has a valid claim on its outcome, and has set a deadline that needs immediate attention. In the stakeholder salience model, how is this regulator classified?

  1. Dependent, holding legitimacy and urgency only
  2. Dominant, holding power and legitimacy only
  3. Definitive, holding all three attributes Correct answer.
  4. Latent, holding none of the key attributes

Explanation

The salience model ranks stakeholders by power, legitimacy and urgency. A stakeholder that possesses all three attributes is classified as definitive and receives the highest priority for engagement. Combinations of only two attributes produce the dominant, dependent and dangerous categories.

Question 49Scope definition, deliverables and stakeholder analysis

Which three components make up the scope baseline?

  1. WBS, activity list and resource plan
  2. Scope statement, schedule baseline and cost baseline
  3. Requirements log, stakeholder register and WBS
  4. Scope statement, WBS and WBS dictionary Correct answer.

Explanation

The scope baseline is the approved scope statement plus the work breakdown structure and its dictionary, and it is used to detect scope deviations. The scope statement supplies the narrative boundaries, the WBS the deliverable hierarchy, and the dictionary the detail for each component. Schedule and cost baselines are separate baselines that together with scope form the performance measurement baseline.

Question 50Scope definition, deliverables and stakeholder analysis

A developer adds an unrequested feature to a product because they believe it will delight the client, although no requirement asked for it. How is this best described?

  1. Progressive elaboration of requirements
  2. Gold plating by the delivery team Correct answer.
  3. A valid change under integrated change control
  4. Scope creep requested by the customer

Explanation

Gold plating is the addition of extra features or effort that the customer did not request, usually by the delivery team in the belief that it adds value. It consumes budget and time and can introduce untested functionality, so it should be avoided even when well intentioned. Scope creep, by contrast, usually originates from stakeholder requests, and legitimate changes pass through integrated change control.