APM-PFQ APM Project Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ) Questions and Answers

To establish formal reporting procedures for project progress.

To assess the progress of their work against the strategic objectives.

To ensure that work assigned to them by the Project Manager is performed.

To identify and resolve project issues affecting the work delegated to them

A statement of what the project will deliver in terms of products/deliverables and satisfaction.

The reasons why the project sponsor wants their project to proceed.

A statement on how the project fits into the long-term aims of the project sponsor.

Provides justification for undertaking the project, in terms of evaluating the benefits, cost and risks

the qualitative or quantitative measures by which the success of the project is judged.

the factors that, when present in the project are most conducive to a successful outcome.

the measures that establish if project activities are ahead or behind schedule.

the activities or elements of the project which are considered to be critical to success

The project team.

The chief executive.

The project manager.

The project support office

Keeping resource usage to a minimum to help reduce costs.

Supporting the production of comparative estimates.

Identifying where costs can be minimised when preparing a budget.

Representing increasing levels of estimating accuracy achieved through the life cycle

Ensure that stakeholders who oppose the project are not involved

Develop an environment where all stakeholder's needs are satisfied.

Develop ways of understanding the needs of stakeholders.

Ensure that the influence stakeholders have is reduced.

Only transmitting information that stakeholders have requested, ensuring that any excess information is kept to a minimum.

Communication is carried out en-masse ensuring that all stakeholders get all information.

Communication is planned in advance and all messages delivered use the approved framework.

Communicating information on a one-way basis reducing the need for stakeholders to waste their time providing feedback

quality assurance.

quality planning.

quality control.

quality audit.

A target for the project to receive zero change requests.

The date by which the project is to be completed.

Delivery of products that meet required specifications.

The awarding of bonuses to senior management.

Project management office.

Change control board.

Project steering group.

Programme director.

included in the project plan for the next similar project.

restricted in circulation in case it contains critical information.

archived for use in a future audit of project management processes.

available to all project managers within the organisation

Start-up, feasibility, planning, execution and roll-out.

Concept, screening, implementation, handover and closeout.

Concept, definition, implementation, handover and closeout.

Start-up, definition, development and production closedown.

technical specification.

day-to-day requirement.

detailed timetable.

high-level approach.

A. summary of the project acceptance criteria.

CVs of all the team members.

Details Of previous similar projects.

Resourcing details for quality reviews.

The phases in the project life cycle are always the same size.

The same processes are used in each of the project life cycle phases.

The project life cycle has a number of distinct phases.

The project budget is divided equally between each phase of the project life cycle.

They have a lack of interest in what the project is they feel it doesn't really affect them.

They haven't been involved in project manager from the candidates available

They have misunderstood what the project is trying to achieve and have had very little communication from the project.

They are a in another project and time to perform the stakeholder role

An approved omission from the agreed project scope.

The potential for agreed resources to be removed from the project.

A. requirement for extra expenditure to cover increased supplier costs.

The removal of work packages from the agreed project scope.

minimise the impact of changes on the scope of the project.

ensure that the final product meets the strategic needs of the business.

provide control of the deliverables and avoid mistakes or misunderstandings.

maximise the impact of agreed enhancements on the project deliverables.

The issue owner is consulted,

A decision regarding the issue is deferred.

The issue is rejected and the owner is informed.

The issue needs to be progressed through change control.

Anyone who has heard about the project.

Anyone who has an opinion about how the project should be managed.

People wanting to be members of the project team.

People who are affected by the project in some way.

email, paper, Voice.

tactile/visual, auditory, written.

telephone, computer. microphone.

reception, transmission, interruption.

They offer tested methods for experimentation and risk reduction

They reduce stakeholders' expectations of how they benefit from the project.

Try allow the project to develop an extended life cycle.

They always deliver the project quicker than planned

Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS) shows costs assigned to:

individual work packages using the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

individual resources using the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

individual resources using the Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM).

individual deliverables using the Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)

Recommendation.

Justification.

Planning.

Continuous improvement

Budget.

Stakeholder.

Resource.

Schedule

the work breakdown structure (WBS) with the organisational breakdown structure (OBS) to match resources to the tasks.

the organisational breakdown structure (OBS) with the cost breakdown structure (CBS) to assign A. cost to each resource.

the product breakdown structure (PBS) with the work breakdown structure (WBS) to assign activities to the products.

the organisational breakdown structure (OBS) with the product breakdown structure (PBS) to assign resources to deliverables.

Benefits realisation review.

Final project review.

Deliverables accepted by sponsor.

Handover of relevant documentation

the project follows appropriate processes.

project outputs are delivered on time.

the project follows appropriate governance.

project outputs meet acceptance criteria.

ensure that everyone is copied On all emails.

insist on a lower level of paper documents.

train project staff in the most up-to-date communication techniques

develop a communication plan.

Quality planning.

Quality assurance.

Total quality.

Quality control.

users.

audits.

stakeholders.

assets.

The highlights of the change are communicated directly to the sponsor.

The actual impact of the change is assessed.

The next change requested should be reviewed as quickly as possible.

The related plans must be updated to reflect the change.

To consider if the change is feasible to evaluate at this stage.

To establish who might be the best stakeholders to be involved in the change.

To ensure that the change request is considered as soon as possible.

To implement the necessary actions to ensure the change has a smooth implementation.

Evaluative estimating.

Risk based estimating.

Analogous estimating.

Analytical estimating.

informing stakeholders about the project.

storing and archiving of project information.

gathering stakeholder feedback.

collecting project information.

Resource aggregation.

Resource estimation.

Resource levelling.

Resource expansion

the co-ordinated management of related projects, including related business-as-usual activities.

the formal process through which changes to the project plan are approved and introduced.

the identification of the benefits (of A. project or programme) at an organisational level and the tracking and realisation of those benefits.

the selection and management of all of an organisation's projects, programmes and related business-as-usual activities, taking into account resource constraints.

An event that may or may not occur

An opportunity that occurs through change control

A problem that the project manager has to deal with on a day-to-day basis

A problem that must be escalated to the appropriate level of management for resolution

It allows a thorough assessment of the factors that are most likely to affect the change.

It is A. means to justify to the customer variances from the original objectives.

It ensures that the delivered product most closely meets the needs of the customer.

It manages the impact of change to the project scope.

Define activity durations

Determine float

Determine the interdependencies of activities

Harmonise the activity to a calendar

A benefit to the project if potential opportunities are realised

The cost of dealing with a risk should it occur is usually greater than the cost of managing that risk.

Risk management in the project facilitates team building.

It allows the organisation to assure stakeholders of project compliance with regard to risk management.

ensure a simpler critical path.

enable the tracking of project deliverables.

ensure stakeholder acceptance of project deliverables.

provide an increased total float.

Progress monitoring and implementation of change control.

Benefits realisation.

Identify options for deployment.

Prepare users for delivery of the output into operation.

Business-as-usual activities cannot be improved.

Business-as-usual activities are more difficult to manage than projects.

Projects are transient endeavours that bring about change to business-as-usual.

A. project is always the starting point for operational refinement.

Risk management

Change control

Scope management

Team building

The organisation would know what political change is most likely and therefore the impacts on objectives considered.

The organisation would most likely have a number of options available as to how the desired objectives could be achieved.

The organisation would have an understanding of the necessary skills required to deliver the objectives required.

D The organisation would be able to develop an accurate estimate of the costs and time frame forthe objectives to be achieved.

Make use Of widely available templates and predefined structures to ensure a complete spectrum of stakeholders are identified.

Ask the most influential stakeholders to identify who else they think Should be involved in the project.

Analyse Other projects and who their stakeholders are and include them by default.

Question whose support or lack of it might significantly influence the success of the project

A complex process of supervising and managing the delivery of any time-bound deliverable.

Any change in management techniques in a company that achieves strategic objectives.

The application of processes, methods, knowledge, skills and experience to achieve specificobjectives for change.

The coordination of several projects alongside business as usual.

deliver the benefits.

define the requirements.

sign off the business case.

implement the project plan

defining which operational systems to put in place.

identifying routine tasks.

ensuring ongoing operations are maintained.

planning to achieve defined objectives.

The development of a. strategy for the management of quality in the project.

Supplying the client with evidence of control to ISO 9000:2000.

A. review of whether underlying processes and way of working are leading towards product deliverables of the right quality.

The agreed methods of inspection, measurement and testing to verify that the project outputs meet acceptance criteria defined during quality planning.

interests.

expectations.

influence.

engagement.

Costs associated with the change are evaluated and documented.

Risks associated with the change are monitored to avoid delays to the project.

The item is approved or declined in line with stakeholder expectations.

Documents are updated to include any approved changes.

It records risks. their impact and the responses being adopted.

It records risk ownership and how issues are being managed.

It assesses the impact and probability of risks taking place.

It directs the team in how the management of risk in the project should be conducted.

Contingency budget for remedial work.

Equipment required for quality testing.

Staff qualified to undertake inspections.

Processes to obtain stakeholder approvals.

It is a personal appraisal for each team member on completion Of the project.

It appraises the products of the project.

It considers all aspects of the management of the project.

D It involves only the project implementation team.

A. process which identifies activities that will need project resources.

A. process to assign roles to project resources.

A. process that identifies when resources are needed.

A. process to estimate the project resources.

Verification.

Request.

Closure.

Justification

starting, planning, control and closing.

concept, definition, development, handover and closure.

initiation, definition, planning, monitoring and operations.

concept, definition, implementation and operations.

to be the sole source of expertise for estimating techniques on cost and time.

to deliver the project objectives to enable benefits to be realised.

to take ultimate accountability for the delivery of the business benefits.

to delegate all accountability for managing time, cost and quality to team leaders

when the Project Management Plan is initiated.

at the time the Work Breakdown Structure is developed.

at the start of the project.

once the project concept is understood.

works with the project sponsor.

has no involvement.

must develop it themself.

works with the end user.

Use of body language.

Having formal meetings.

Attitudes, emotions and prejudices.

Use of informal communication channels

A member of the sponsoring organisation's board of directors.

A key player who is seeking to maximize control over the project

A person or group who has an interest in or is impacted by the project.

A project team member who has the skills necessary to deliver the project

Deployment phase.

Concept phase.

Definition phase.

Transition phase.

Whether to proceed with the project or recommend termination.

Whether the process being used is robust enough for the project being undertaken.

Whether to proactively invest to bring the exposure to risk within tolerable levels.

Whether to use brainstorming or a workshop to decide on the best response.

1, 2 and 3

1, 2 and 4

2, 3 and 4

1, 3 and 4

Evaluation of the benefits of the project.

Identification of the problems that arose and their likely causes.

Review of the project's performance against the success criteria.

Review of how the team worked together to solve problems and issues.

Risk is always beneficial to the project.

Risk is neither beneficial or detrimental to the project

Risk can be beneficial or detrimental to the project.

Risk is always detrimental to the project.

At the start of the concept phase.

At the start of the definition phase.

At the start of the development phase.

At the end of the handover stage.

The project is more likely to finish on time.

There will be greater adherence to the organisation's governance and standards.

The project will be less susceptible to uncontrolled change.

There will be more focus on what benefits the project will be delivering.

Steering group.

Risk owner.

Project sponsor.

Project manager

accepted, rejected or deferred.

accepted and the project plan updated.

sent to the project sponsor for approval.

assessed to determine its potential impact.

Social sensitivity.

Leadership.

Communication.

Drive.

Provides a framework that is universally applicable.

Speeds up deployment and benefits realization.

Focuses on the most useful interim deliverables.

Augments and strengthens predictive deployment.

1 and 2

1 and 3

2 and 3

2 and 4

Quality management plan.

Financial feasibility analysis.

Risk management plan.

Details of scope.

Five

One

Three

Four

Using APM's Body of Knowledge 6th edition as a guide to all projects.

Employing a project manager who has undertaken similar projects.

Utilising team members who can work on a project full time.

Application of processes and methods throughout the project life cycle.

must be recorded but a risk does not.

is an uncertain event but a risk is not.

is a certain event but a risk is not.

always affects scope but a risk does not

Stakeholders may be for the change or against

Stakeholders may have little influence or lots

Stakeholders may be internal or external to your organisation

Stakeholders with high influence always have high interest in the project

Benefits.

Quality.

Tolerance.

Controls.

change management committee,

change authority,

change control board.

change implementation group.

Creating a project cost breakdown structure.

Authoring the project management plan.

Creating a project work breakdown structure.

Owning the project business case.

There are no suppliers that can meet our specification.

We may not be able to finish on time.

The project is going to be late.

A key phase of the project is taking longer than expected

prepare a high-quality management plan.

ensure that deliverables meet appropriate standards.

validate the use of consistent standards.

determine whether to accept change requests.

A. summary of all possible alternative resolutions of an issue.

A. summary of all the project issues, their analysis and status.

A. tool to ensure that a process is in place for capturing all issues.

A. tool to ensure that the issue management process is adhered to.

Teamwork.

Motivation.

Management.

Leadership

External stakeholders.

The end users.

The finance director.

The project manager

The project will be much more economically viable.

The business case is justified to a greater degree.

Overall project duration is reduced.

Reduction in contingency reserves are achieved.

A. project sponsor is an advocate for the project and the change it brings about.

A. project sponsor writes and owns the project management plan.

A. project sponsor is able to work across functional boundaries within an organisation.

D A. project sponsor is prepared to commit sufficient time and effort to support the project.

all those responsible to the project manager who are working towards the project objectives.

the members of staff who are allocated full time to the project.

the members of staff who report to the project manager and who carry out work on the project.

all project stakeholders.

A major problem that requires formal escalation.

A problem that the project manager has to deal with on a day-to-day basis.

An uncertain event that may or may not occur.

An opportunity that occurs through change control.

It utilises resources as and when required under direction of a project manager.

It advocates employing A. consultancy firm which specialises in managing change.

It recommends using only highly skilled people in the project team.

It ensures that the chief executive is accountable for the achievement of the defined benefits.

validate overall progress to date against the budget and schedule.

capture learning and document it for future usage.

ensure acceptance of all permanent documentation, signed by the sponsor.

establish that project benefits have been identified.

identification. analysis, response. closure.

assessment, analysis. closure. response.

assessment, planning, managing. response.

identification, planning, response. closure

control in the implementation of changes to project schedules.

an organisation to review proposed changes to the project deliverables.

quality control of project deliverables and documentation.

creation, maintenance and controlled change of the project deliverables.

Project team getting to know each other better.

utilization of learning and experience.

Project scope increasing in cost.

use of a linear life cycle

Uncertain events that may or may not occur.

Opportunities that occur through change control.

Problems that the project manager has to deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Threats to the project which cannot be resolved by the project manager.

Key stakeholders.

The Project Manager.

The project sponsor.

The project team.

the cost of a do-nothing option.

an analytical estimate.

high-level project costs.

a comparative estimate.

The senior management team.

The project manager.

The project management office.

D The project team.

Introducing a new information technology system.

Operating a national rail network.

Organising ongoing catering in the armed forces.

Managing day-to-day security for senior politicians

to schedule activities within the limits of their float.

to minimise the use of overtime and weekend working.

not to exceed the limits of resource available.

to increase the resource availability

Producing an exception report to communicate A. project issue to the project board.

Publicising the project benefits to the business organisation.

Notifying team members of the project's progress at the weekly team meeting.

Formally notifying the status of the project to the project's stakeholders.

the management of multiple projects by one project manager.

the management of very large, complex projects.

the means of linking business strategy to projects within an organisation.

a fashionable term which means the same as Project Management.

decision gate.

starting point.

end point.

outline schedule.

reporting.

control.

assurance.

planning.

Providers of both strategic and tactical direction to the project.

Those intended to receive benefits or operate outputs.

Facilitators of an appropriate issue resolution procedure.

Those providing full-time commitment to the project.

The time order in which the issues occurred.

The impact on success criteria and benefits.

The relative seniority of the issue owner.

The relationship with A. relevant risk.

Staff appraisals.

Management buy in.

Milestone achievement.

Master schedule.

Independent reviews and quality audits form part of quality assurance to ensure the project manager delivers on time and to budget.

Quality assurance provides confidence to stakeholders that requirements for quality will be exceeded.

Quality control verifies that the project deliverables conform to specification, are fit for purpose and meet stakeholder expectations.

Quality planning enables the project manager to manage the trade-off between customer expectations and budget.

risks

resources

milestones

activities

Histogram.

Hierarchical.

Handover.

Historical.

How issues are to be escalated from project manager to project sponsor.

Understanding stakeholders' power and influence.

When project workshops are to be held.

Reference to higher level corporate policies.

Concept

Definition

Operations

Transition

Quality alignment.

Quality control.

Quality assurance.

Quality improvement.

1, 2 and 3

1, 2 and 4

1, 3 and 4

2, 3 and 4

projects and/or programmes that contribute directly to the organisation's strategic objectives.

projects with exceptionally high returns on investment.

projects and programmes over business as usual.

projects which maximise change over those which maximise investment