Deck 10: Project Execution

Question 1

List and describe the three general categories of conflict on projects.

Answer 1

There are three general categories of conflict on projects:
• Task-oriented conflict-This type of conflict is associated with disagreements regarding end results or outcomes and results from multiple perceptions of a project stemming from vague or incomplete scope statements or requirement specifications.
• Administrative, or process, conflict-This type of conflict is associated with disagreements about reporting relationships or who has authority to make decisions. This is especially evident in matrix organizations, when a team member has several managers-project leader(s) and a functional supervisor.
• Interpersonal, or relationship, conflict-This type of conflict is associated with personality differences between project team members, such as work ethics, egos, or individual personalities.

Question 2

Which of the Human Resources Management knowledge area processes are performed during project execution?

Answer 2

The Human Resources Management knowledge area consists of the following processes: develop human resource plan, acquire project team, develop project team, and manage project team. During project execution, these processes are performed: acquire project team, develop project team, and manage project team.

Question 3

Describe at least five of the most common IT project-related problems encountered during the project execution phase.

Answer 3

The following list describes some of the most common IT project-related problems encountered during the execution phase:
• Human resources problems, such as lacking needed skills, being given the wrong work assignments (either too difficult or not difficult enough), not being trained correctly or at all, not being motivated properly
• Poor management of stakeholder expectations (The project manager must communicate with stakeholders honestly about the status of the project and not promise results that may not be possible.)
• Insufficient planning and estimating, leading to inaccurate project plans and schedules
• Overly optimistic schedules
• Scope creep (wherein the scope of a project continually expands, mainly due to an undisciplined approach to change management)
• Inaccurate, poorly written, or unnecessary system requirements • Resources added to a late project, which only makes it later because of the time it takes to educate the new resources on the specifics of the tasks plus the added time needed for communication outweigh, in most cases, the increases in output
• Unmanaged/controlled conflict
• Lack of user input and involvement, which leads to inaccurate requirement statements, producing the wrong product or service
• Poorly planned and executed quality assurance, which leads to poorly constructed systems

Question 4

Just as the phases in the project management life cycle overlap, so do the project management and product life cycles.

Question 5

List and define the four dimensions of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Question 6

The execution phase consists of tools and techniques from five of the nine knowledge areas from the Project Management Institute's project management body of knowledge (PMBOK): Integration Management, Quality Management, Human Resource Management, Communications Management, and Risk Management.

Question 7

The deliverables from the execution phase are primarily product driven, such as lines of code, user interface elements, training, and process definitions.

Question 8

What are the key deliverables of the process of acquiring project teams?

Question 9

The execution phase of a project consists of tools and techniques from which of the nine PMBOK knowledge areas?

Question 10

Explain the role and objective of the quality audit.

Question 11

The project management life cycle and the product life cycle are most visibly integrated during the project execution phase.

Question 12

In the Human Resources knowledge area, the quality assurance process is performed during project execution.

Question 13

Describe the use, principle goals, and frequency of team building.

Question 14

What are the deliverables from the quality assurance process?

Question 15

The last step of a product life cycle is generally to identify and document the user requirements for a new IT project.

Question 16

The goal of the execution phase is to work on each task defined in the work breakdown structure (WBS) to produce the identified outcomes and to follow the defined or as-changed project schedule.

Question 17

Explain the difference between quality assurance and quality control.

Question 18

In Human Resources Management, directing and managing project execution is the only process performed during project execution.

Question 19

The tools and techniques of a project's execution phase exist in which PMBOK knowledge areas? Also, what are their associated processes?

Question 20

During project execution, it is not uncommon for a project manager and team to get overwhelmed with trying to get the product or service completed to meet time, cost, scope, and quality goals; often, time is not spent on other key processes, such as communication, risk management, change management, and seller management.

Question 21

To understand the difference between quality assurance and quality control, it might help to think of quality assurance as the management section of quality management and quality monitoring and control as the process to highlight the activities that need to be managed.

Question 22

A collocated team is a group of team members who are working on the same project but are geographically dispersed, such that they may never meet face-to-face.

Question 23

According to A Guide to the PMBOK (PMI, 2004), quality assurance is the area where a project manager can have the greatest impact on project quality.

Question 24

Moving the quality audit responsibility away from the resources that are actually creating the product will not help to promote a nonbiased, impartial evaluation.

Question 25

The deliverables from the quality assurance process are requested process changes, corrective actions, and updates to any project documentation affected.

Question 26

Judgment people tend to organize all life events and act according to their defined plans. They focus on goals, planning, and strategies designed to reach their defined goal.

Question 27

The key deliverables of the process of acquiring project teams are defined staff assignments and updates to the staffing management plan.

Question 28

The quality assurance process is focused on the processes required to produce the desired results defined in the quality plan.

Question 29

Introverts tend to act, then reflect, and then act further, while extroverts tend to reflect before acting, act, and then reflect again.

Question 30

Judgment/Perception are referred to as the decision-making (judging) functions.

Question 31

One of the key skills a project manager must possess is negotiation.

Question 32

A project manager has more control over the product deliverables than over the processes that are used.

Question 33

The first step in the process of acquiring the project team is to understand the skills necessary to perform the technical functions required.

Question 34

Both thinking and feeling types strive to make rational choices, based on the data received from their information-gathering functions .

Question 35

The Human Resources Management knowledge area consists of the following processes: develop human resource plan, acquire project team, develop project team, and manage project team. During project execution, all of these processes are performed.

Question 36

On most, if not all, medium to large IT projects, a project manager will never see any of the application code generated by the software developers and must spend time influencing the processes that will lead to better-written software.

Question 37

The two key objectives of the process of developing a project team are to define staff assignments and to promote teamwork to enhance project performance.

Question 38

In general, resources who are interested in a project are much easier to motivate and will produce higher-quality work at a higher productivity rate.

Question 39

Judgment/Perception are referred to as the information-gathering (perceiving) functions.

Question 40

The first step in the process of resource selection is looking at a prospective team member's nontechnical skills, consisting of personality traits, communication skills, interest and motivation factors, and business knowledge.

Question 41

The process of managing project teams is about finding out why the numbers are what they are by knowing what is going on with members of the team and, if needed, implementing corrective actions to improve performance.

Question 42

The Communications Management knowledge area from the PMBOK consists of the following processes: identify stakeholders, plan communications, distribute information, manage stakeholders, and report performance.

Question 43

Kezsbom's (1992) findings show that goals and priority definition is the highest ranking conflict category, followed by personality and interpersonal conflict, followed by problems in communication and information flow.

Question 44

The goal of the execution phase is to work on each task defined in the ________ to produce the identified outcomes and to follow the defined or as-changed project schedule.

A) scope statement
B) project schedule
C) WBS
D) risk management plan

Question 45

Tuchman (1965) developed a five-stage maturity model through which all groups move: forming, storming, norming, performing, and advancing.

Question 46

Eliminating non-value-added processes or inefficient procedures should increase the overall ________ of the project and product deliverables.

A) schedule
B) resources
C) quality
D) cost

Question 47

Conflict on IT projects is inevitable, so it is extremely important for project managers to learn where conflict is coming from and to understand the type of conflict and the most effective ways of dealing with it.

Question 48

The role of this group is to ensure that everyone on the project team is following the defined quality processes.

A) Quality assurance
B) Quality Control
C) Quality Management
D) All of the above

Question 49

A project manager has more control over the ________ that are used than over the product deliverables, such as each line of code.

A) processes
B) human resources
C) technical resources
D) vendors

Question 50

The execution phase consists of tools and techniques from five of the nine knowledge areas from the Project Management Institute's project management body of knowledge (PMBOK). Which of the following is NOT one of the five areas?

A) Time Management
B) Integration Management
C) Quality Management
D) Human Resource Management

Question 51

Which of the following is NOT one of the deliverables from the quality assurance process? are requested process changes, corrective actions, and updates to any project documentation affected.

A) Requested process changes
B) Quality checklist
C) Corrective actions
D) Updates to any project documentation affected

Question 52

In the ________ Management knowledge area, the quality assurance process is performed during project execution.

A) Integration
B) Quality
C) Human Resources
D) Communications

Question 53

In ________ Management, directing and managing project execution is the only process performed during project execution.

A) Integration
B) Quality
C) Human Resources
D) Communications

Question 54

On most, if not all, medium to large IT projects, a project manager will never see any of the application code generated by the software developers and must spend time influencing the ________ that will lead to better-written software.

A) processes
B) human resources
C) technical resources
D) vendors

Question 55

The highest percentage of time on a project-hours worked-occurs during the project ________ phase.

A) initiation
B) planning
C) execution
D) monitoring and closing

Question 56

A project manager will spend 5 percent of his or her time dealing with some form of conflict.

Question 57

According to A Guide to the PMBOK (PMI, 2004), ________ is the area where a project manager can have the greatest impact on project quality.

A) monitoring and controlling
B) quality audit
C) quality control
D) quality assurance

Question 58

The quality assurance process is focused on the processes required to produce the desired results defined in the quality plan.

A) monitoring and controlling
B) quality audit
C) quality control
D) quality assurance

Question 59

Which of the following Human Resources Management knowledge area process is NOT performed during project execution?

A) Develop human resource plan
B) Acquire project team
C) Develop project team
D) Manage project team

Question 60

The first step in the process of ________ is to understand the skills necessary to perform the technical functions required.

A) developing the human resource plan
B) acquiring the project team
C) developing the project team
D) managing the project team

Question 61

Posner's (1986) research listed conflict over ________ as number one, followed by cost and budget issues and then project priorities.

A) resources
B) quality
C) schedules
D) project managers

Question 62

These are referred to as the information-gathering (perceiving) functions.

A) Extrovert/Introvert
B) Sensing/Intuitive
C) Thinking/Feeling
D) Judgment/Perception

Question 63

The process of ________ project teams is about finding out why the numbers are what they are by knowing what is going on with members of the team and, if needed, implementing corrective actions to improve performance.

A) acquiring
B) developing
C) managing
D) controlling

Question 64

These represent ways in which individuals realize and live with processed information.

A) Extrovert/Introvert
B) Sensing/Intuitive
C) Thinking/Feeling
D) Judgment/Perception

Question 65

The outputs from the develop team process are mostly ________, such as lower team turnover rates, higher productivity, and higher quality of deliverables.

A) direct
B) indirect
C) implied
D) not measurable

Question 66

Based on his or her responses to multiple-choice questions, a person who takes the MBTI is identified as having personality preferences that fit into 1 of 16 different personality ________, or natural tendencies in a given situation.

A) categories
B) types
C) characteristics
D) classes

Question 67

These are referred to as the decision-making (judging) functions.

A) Extrovert/Introvert
B) Sensing/Intuitive
C) Thinking/Feeling
D) Judgment/Perception

Question 68

________ is a discussion intended to produce an agreement.

A) Interaction
B) Give-and-take
C) Compromise
D) Negotiation

Question 69

A(n) ________ team is a group of team members who are working on the same project but are geographically dispersed, such that they may never meet face-to-face.

A) outsourced
B) vitual
C) remote
D) distributed

Question 70

Which of the following is a key deliverable of the process of acquiring project teams?

A) Defined staff assignments
B) Updates to the staffing management plan
C) Both A and B
D) None of the above

Question 71

Which of the following is NOT a general category of conflict?

A) Task-oriented
B) Administrative
C) Interpersonal
D) Budgetary

Question 72

Conflict management involves ________, managing, or resolving conflicts as they occur throughout a project.

A) preventing
B) testing
C) initiating
D) preserving

Question 73

Thamhain and Wilemon's (1975) research shows that the primary source of ________ changes from one phase to the next.

A) conflict
B) pain
C) change
D) requirements

Question 74

Kezsbom's (1992) findings show that goals and priority definition is the highest ranking ________ category, followed by personality and interpersonal conflict, followed by problems in communication and information flow.

A) conflict
B) personality
C) risk
D) quality

Question 75

Which of the following is NOT a technique of conflict management?

A) Avoidance
B) Shared goals
C) Smoothing
D) Transference

Question 76

The second step in the process of resource selection is looking at a prospective team member's nontechnical skills, consisting of personality traits, communication skills, interest and motivation factors, and business knowledge.

A) developing the human resource plan
B) acquiring the project team
C) developing the project team
D) managing the project team

Question 77

Tuchman (1965) developed a five-stage maturity model through which all groups move. Which of the following is NOT one of stages?

A) Forming
B) Norming
C) Defining
D) Performing

Question 78

Which of the following is NOT a key objective of the process of developing a project team are to improve the competencies (skills) of each team member and to promote teamwork to enhance project performance.

A) Improve the competencies of each team member.
B) Promote teamwork to enhance project performance.
C) Improve the skills of each team member.
D) Define staff assignments.

Question 79

In general, resources who are interested in a project are much easier to motivate and will produce higher-quality work at a higher productivity rate.

A) interested
B) investors
C) recruited
D) managed

Question 80

The Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS) is based on the early work of the MBTI but contains just ________ temperaments, not 16.

A) four
B) six
C) eight
D) ten