Quiz 7: Monitoring and Controlling the Project

The key to setting up a monitoring system is to identify the special characteristics of scope, cost and time that need to be controlled in order to achieve the project goals.

Monitoring is the direct connection between project planning and control.

Project monitoring and control can be thought of as opposite sides of project selection and planning.

Control is the collection, recording, and reporting of project information.

The purpose of control is to ensure that all interested parties have the information they need.

The purpose of control is to assign blame.

The most important use of data gathered from monitoring is learning from mistakes.

The most important use of data gathered from monitoring is control.

The plan-monitor-control cycle constitutes a "closed loop" process.

The plan-monitor-control cycle constitutes an "ongoing open loop" process.

It is often the case with particularly challenging or uncertain projects that the planning-monitoring-controlling effort is minimized so that the "real work" can be done.

In order to manage for overall project success, control should be exercised at a very high and aggregated level and not get bogged down with unnecessary details.

In order to manage for overall project success, control must be exercised at the detailed work level for each aspect of project performance.

Control should not be used at the detailed work level in order to avoid stifling innovation.

Mechanisms to gather and store data rarely need to be designed.

One way of linking planning and control is to monitor project progress on a Gantt chart.

Too often, intensity of activity is measured instead of results.

A common mistake is to focus too much on results and not enough on the intensity of activity.

Statistical quality control techniques can be helpful for determining what size variances are significant.

An important use of data analysis is to identify who to properly blame for poor project performance.

Frequent blame is considered a good motivational tool to keep project team members on track.

Everyone associated with the project should receive the same information.

In general, it is preferable to have periodic reports.

An overload of reporting is just as dangerous as underreporting.

Exception reports are prepared to disseminate the results of a special study.

Exception reports are primarily intended for unexpected situations.

Project review meetings are always important.

Weekly progress report meetings should be rarely held.

Remarks should be directly attributed to individuals in the meeting minutes.

To maximize efficiency, project team meetings should follow Robert's Rules of Order.

Significant differences from the plan should be archived so they can be reviewed once the project is completed.

All reports go to the steering committee when the project is completed.

It is a good idea to use periodic reports so the project manager is always up-to-date on the project.

Earned value is a measure for overall project progress in terms of performance, budget and schedule.

Lower expenditures than expected at a given point in time is always good.

According to the text, there is no satisfactory way to measure accurately the percent of completion of most tasks.

Earned value is a measure of overall project progress in terms of performance, budget, and schedule.

Earned value (EV) of a task is the budgeted cost of the work actually performed.

The 50-50 approach for estimating progress overstates the EV of tasks that are near completion and understates the EV of tasks that have recently begun.

If expenditures are lower than expected for a given period, this is always a good thing.

There is no satisfactory way to measure accurately the percent of completion of most tasks.

Control is the act of reducing the differences between the plan and actuality.

Control is one of the project manager's easiest tasks since reports lay out exactly what is out-of-control.

There are two primary purposes of control: the stewardship of organizational assets and the regulation of results through the alteration of activities.

Physical asset control is concerned with the accounting system and the use of funds for the project.

There is some optimum amount of resources worth investing in the control process.

Control systems that make use of all five components of project control are called cybernetic control systems.

The go/no-go control takes the form of tests (sensors) to determine if some specific precondition (standard and comparator) has been met before permission is granted to continue (decision maker and effector).

Avoiding scope creep is not possible.

In the traditional waterfall approach, when a project is evaluated to be 90% complete this typically means that there is 90% progress toward completing the project but likely 0% is actually completed and operational.

In Agile, 90% complete means that the 90% highest requirement features are completed and are in operational testing.

The concept of earned value (EV) is particularly applicable to Agile projects.

In Agile, the product backlog and sprint backlog are key scrum artifacts that contain the complete list of the requirements for the product being developed or improved and the requirements to be completed in the current sprint.

In Agile, average velocity can be used to assess the progress to date and to estimate the amount of time required to complete the remaining product backlog items.

The purpose of the sprint review meeting is to demonstrate the product functionality that was created during the sprint and to obtain feedback from key stakeholders to optimize future value.

With Agile approaches, project scope is assumed to be variable as change is a welcome opportunity to incorporate new information and customer feedback to further enhance the value proposition of the product being developed.

Only senior scrum team members participate in the sprint review in order to keep the evaluation on track.

The sprint retrospective is held between the sprint review and the next sprint planning meeting.

Which of the following is not an objective mentioned in the text for data gathered from monitoring? A) promoting team members B) keeping management informed C) auditing D) learning from mistakes E) control

The plan-monitor-control cycle is best described as… A) an open loop process B) a closed-loop process C) an ad-hoc process D) an informal process E) a hierarchical process

The first step in setting up a monitoring system is to: A) identify personnel B) identify all project milestones C) identify key factors to be controlled D) identify reports required E) develop a change request form

David, an architect, is in charge of executing a housing project. He appoints Charles to collect, record, and report all the necessary information to David and other relevant stakeholders. In this scenario, Charles will be engaged in _____ the project. A) scoping B) monitoring C) planning D) controlling E) scheduling

Nadia, an intern in a restoration firm, collects data on a project involving the remodeling of a monument and sends the collected information to Maria, her supervisor. Maria uses this data to estimate the project's progress. After finding that the project is behind schedule, she makes small changes to the tasks involved in the project to bring the performance into agreement with the plan. In this scenario, Maria is engaged in _____ the project. A) monitoring B) planning C) scoping D) controlling E) analyzing

Mauvin Maz, a fashion boutique, found that its newly acquired batch of raw materials did not meet the company's quality standards and was affecting the quality of its final products. In order to prevent any financial loss due to this problem, the top managers of Mauvin Maz decided to release a report to the workers asking them to stop using the newly acquired raw materials until a formal quality check is conducted. In this scenario, Mauvin Maz most likely released a(n) _____. A) special analysis report B) periodic report C) exception report D) routine report E) resource report

Renuit Mec, a footwear manufacturing company, produces 10,000 shoes per day. In an average, about 200 shoes have more than one defect. However, the company has found that its newly installed machines are producing more defective products than the older machines. In order to prevent the production of more defective products, Renuit Mec releases a report to its employees asking them to stop using the newly installed machines. In this scenario, Renuit Mec most likely released a(n) _____. A) periodic report B) routine report C) special analysis report D) resource report E) exception report

The accountants of Junis Plex, a textile company, used to calculate the company's taxable income manually. However, the management recently adopted a software program that requires only few inputs from the accountants which automatically calculates the taxes owed by the company. The management releases a report for all its operations managers that provides specific instructions on how to use this software. Which of the following types of reports has Junis Plex used to inform its project managers of the new software program? A) A special analysis report B) A semi-periodic report C) An exception report D) A routine report E) A resource report

To calculate the variable in its economic growth, Nunclemen Inc., a pharmaceutical company, collects data on the sales of its products based on how many doctors prescribe its medicines to their patients. However, a research study conducted by the company shows that pharmacists are a more reliable source than doctors. Nunclemen submits a report of this finding to all its stakeholders to review. Which of the following types of reports has the company used to inform its stakeholders of the results of the research study? A) A resource report B) A special analysis report C) A routine report D) An exception report E) A semi-periodic report

_____ reports are primarily intended for special decisions or unexpected situations in which affected team members and outside managers need to be made aware of a change, and the change itself needs to be documented. A) Routine B) Exception C) Special D) Emergency E) Go/no-go

_____ analysis reports are prepared to disseminate the results of a special study in a project concerning a particular opportunity or problem for the project. A) Routine B) Exception C) Special D) Emergency E) Go/no-go

The cost/spending variance is calculated as… A) AC - EV B) EV - PV C) PV - EV D) AC - PV E) EV - AC

The schedule variance is calculated as… A) AC - EV B) EV - PV C) PV - EV D) AC - PV E) EV - AC

The CPI is calculated as… A) AC / EV B) EV / PV C) PV / EV D) AC / PV E) EV / AC

The SPI is calculated as… A) AC / EV B) EV / PV C) PV / EV D) AC / PV E) EV / AC

Estimated (remaining cost) to completion (ETC) is calculated as… A) (BAC - EV)/CPI B) (BAC - EV)/SPI C) (BAC + EV)/CPI D) (BAC + EV)/SPI E) (BAC - AC)/CPI

In earned value analysis… A) it is desirable to have negative variances for both schedule and spending. B) it is desirable to have positive variances for both schedule and spending. C) the schedule variance should be positive and the spending variance negative. D) the schedule variance should be negative and the spending variance positive. E) ideally both variances would equal zero.

Robert, a baker, receives an order for preparing 10 cakes in one day. He is given a budget of $5,0In six hours, he bakes two-thirds of the order and spends $3,6Calculate the schedule performance index from the given scenario. A) 0.55 B) 0.33 C) 0.25 D) 0.66 E) 0.75

Kimberley, a project manager in a software development company, is assigned a new project. She is given a budget of $500,000 and a span of six months to complete the project. In three months, she is able to complete 50 percent of the project. In this scenario, the earned value of the work completed is _____. A) $350,000 B) $300,000 C) $250,000 D) $200,000 E) $150,000

Walter, a luthier, is assigned with the task of building ten apartments in six months. He is given a budget of $1,500,000 to buy the necessary raw materials required for building ten apartments of same quality. In a period of four months, Walter is able to complete 75 percent of the work and spends $1,250,000 in the process. The project that Walter is working on has a spending variance of _____. A) $350,000 B) $150,000 C) $430,000 D) $125,000 E) $500,000

Paulina, a fashion designer, has a new project that requires her to make five dresses in seven days. A sum of $2,000 is allotted to her to fund the entire project. In three days, she completes one-third of the work and spends $1,2Calculate the cost performance index from the given scenario. A) 0.55 B) 0.75 C) 0.33 D) 0.66 E) 0.25

The total cost to complete a task is… A) (BAC - EV) / CPI B) ETC / AC C) EV / AC D) ETC + AC E) ETC + (AC / EV)

Which of the following is not a tool used to aid the PM in project control? A) variance analysis B) trend projections C) earned value analysis D) control charts E) discounted cash flow analysis

The most common source of changes to a project based on the natural tendency of the client and project team members to improve the project's output is called… A) scope creep B) projectitis C) multitasking D) dynamic scoping E) unfreezing

Explain why project monitoring and control can be thought to be opposite sides of project selection and planning.

Define the terms monitoring and control.

List and briefly describe the three distinct types of reports.

List the benefits of reports beyond the purpose of control.

What actions can you take to help avoid the common problems associated with meetings?

Explain why virtual projects may be necessary?

What is the best way to estimate percent completion of activities for finding earned value?

What is earned value?

State the formula for CPI. Explain what CPI means and its relevance to monitoring and controlling a project.

State the formula for SPI. Explain what SPI means and its relevance to monitoring and controlling a project.

Explain how an earned value chart can be used to help monitor and control a project.

Why is control difficult?

What are the two primary purposes of control?

All good project plans have a change control system as a component. Briefly explain the change control process.