Project Management Quiz Answers PDF

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Project Management questions and answers preparation...

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Pr oj ectmanageri nt er vi ew quest i ons( wi t hexampl e answer s) Let ’ sl ookataf ewcommoni nt er vi ewquest i onsf orpr oj ectmanager swi t hexampl esof howyoucoul danswert hem.Whenpr epar i ngf oryouri nt er vi ew,t hi nkaboutaf ew scenar i osofquest i onsyoumaybeask eddependi ngony ouri ndust r y .

1.Whati st hemosti mpor t antt hi ngapr oj ectmanagerdoes? Thi si saquest i onwher ey oucandemonst r at et heknowl edgey ouhavegai nedasa pr oj ectmanager .Thi nkaboutwhaty ouspendt hemostt i medoi ngandsomeofy ourk ey r esponsi bi l i t i es. Exampl e:“ Ihav ef oundt hatcommuni cat i oni soneoft hemostcr uci al el ement soft hi s r ol e.Ther ear et ypi c al l ymanymov i ngpar t si nv ol v edi ncompl expr oj ect s,each cont r i but i ngt owar dacer t ai npor t i onoft hegoal .Forev er yonet obeabl et odot hei rj obs effici ent l yandwel l ,i ti si mpor t antt hatwear eal lont hesamepage.I ti sal soi mpor t ant t hatt hepr ogr essoft hepr oj ecti scommuni cat edt ocl i ent sandot herkeyst akehol der s. Ul t i mat el y ,communi cat i oni swhatmakesapr oj ectflowsmoot hl y . ”

2.Haveyoueverhadapr oj ectt hatdi dnotmeett hedeadl i neorbudget ? Mi s si ngt hedeadl i neorbudgetar et wocommoni ssuest hatpr oj ectmanager s encount er .Her e,y oucanshowhowyouhandl epr oj ectset backs.Youcanuset heSTAR met hodt oanswert hi squest i on:    

Si t uat i on:Ex pl ai nt hei ssuei napos i t i v e,const r uct i veway . Task:Expl ai ny ourr ol ei nt hesi t uat i on. Act i on:Ex pl ai nwhaty oudi dt or esol v eoraddr esst hesi t uat i on. Resul t :Expl ai nhowy oursol ut i onhadaposi t i v ei mpact .

TheSTARmet hodal l owsyout ocl ear l yexpl ai nar eal l i f esi t uat i onandhowyou ov er camei t . Exampl e:“ Iwaswor ki ngonapr oj ectwi t hacl i ent ,andt heywant edt oaddacer t ai n f eat ur et ot hei rcust om sof t war et hatwoul dputt hem ov ert heal l ocat edt i me.Ast he pr oj ectmanager ,Ineededt odeci dewhet herweshoul daddt hi sf eat ur eandmi s sour deadl i neorspendl esst i meonanot herpar toft hepr oj ect . Imetwi t hmyt eam t ounder st andhowmucht i mei twoul dt ak et oaddt hef eat ur e.Once Ihadaver yt hor oughanswerf ort hecl i ent ,Ipr esent edt hem wi t ht heopt i ons.They deci dedt hatt heywoul dacceptal at erdeadl i nef ort hef eat ur e.Weendedupdel i v er i ng

t hefini shedpr oductamont hl at ert hant heor i gi naldeadl i ne,butt hecl i entwashappy wi t ht heout come. ”

3.Whatdoesat ypi calr el at i onshi pwi t hyourpr oj ectsponsorl ookl i ke? Pr oj ectsponsor sar ei ndi vi dual swhoar edi r ect l yr esponsi bl ef ort hesuccessoft he pr oj ect .Asapr oj ectmanager ,y oushoul dk eepyoursponsori nf or medofanyi ssuest hat wi l lsl oworst opt hepr oj ect ' ssuccess.Youranswershoul ddescr i behowof t eny ou cont actyourspons orandwhy .Toanswert hi squest i on,t r yt ot hi nkaboutyour i nt er act i onswi t hpr oj ectsponsor sandwhenyout al kt ot hem. Exampl e:“ Si nceIbel i ev ecommuni cat i oni st hemosti mpor t antpar tofmyj ob,It r yt o k eepmysponsorupdat edasmuchaspossi bl e.It r yt ohav eaweekl ymeet i ngwi t ha pr oj ectsponsort odel i verupdat es.Shoul dt her ebeanoccur r enceout si deoft hi s meet i ngt hatr equi r est hei ri nput ,Iwi l l cont actt hem.Ther el at i onshi pdependsont he sponsor ,t oo.Somet i mesIwor kwi t hsponsor st hatar ebus yandl essi nv ol v ed.Ot her s enj oyaddi ngi nputanddi r ect l yhel pi ngt hepr oj ect . Ofcour se,i tal sodependsont hepr oj ect .Sponsor sf orl ar ge,ext endedpr oj ect sar ev er y i nv est edi nt hepr ocess.I fIhav easmal l erpr oj ect ,Imayonl ywantt ohav et hespons or pr esentf orcl i entmeet i ngsori fIencount eranymaj ori ss ues. ”

4.Whatwasyourmostsuccessf ulpr oj ect ? Thi squest i oni sawayt odemonst r at et haty ouknowt hest epsyoucant ak et obe successf ul .Thi nkaboutyourmostsuccessf ul pr oj ectandwhyy ouhadaposi t i v e out come.Uset heSTARmet hodt ogi veabr i efout l i neoft hepr oj ectf r om st ar tt ofini s h. Exampl e:“ Mymostsucces sf ulpr oj ectwast ocr eat eanadv i sorpor t alourcl i entcoul d uset omanagecust omer s' as set s.Ihadani nt er nalki ck offwher eIwor kedwi t hmyt eam t odev el opar easonabl et i mel i ne,budgetanddet ai l edst epswewoul dt ak et ocompl et e t hepor t al .Af t er war d,wehadameet i ngwi t ht hecl i ent . Thi si swher ewehadami nori ssue.Thecl i entwasnothappywi t houror i gi nalt i mel i ne. Theywant edt hepor t alt hr eeweeksear l i ert hanwhatwepr oposed.Iex pl ai nedt hati n or dert ocompl et ei tear l i er ,wewoul dhav et oi ncr easet hebudgetsowecoul dusemor e r esour ces.Theywer ehesi t antatfir stbutendedupagr eei ngt oasl i ghti ncr easei n budget . Af t ert hat ,Ihadadai l yst andupwi t hmyt eam andweekl yst at uscal l swi t ht hecl i entt o gi v et hem updat esandensur et hedel i v er abl el ook edandwor k edasexpect ed.We del i v er edt hepor t alont i meandwi t hi nt hebudget .Thecl i entwassopl easedwi t ht he user f r i endl yi nt er f aceandf unct i onal i t yt hatt heyhaduscr eat ephoneandt abl et appl i cat i ons,t oo.Theykeyt osuccesswasconst antcommuni cat i onandmanagi ng expect at i onst hr oughoutt hepr oj ect . "

Readmor e:I nt er vi ew Quest i on:“WhatI sYourGr eat estAccompl i shment ?”

5.Whatsor tofpr oj ectmanagementt ool sdoyouuse ? Eachcompanywi l lhav eadi ffer entsetofpr oj ectmanagementsof t war e.Expl ai ni ngt he t ool syouhav eusedwi l ldemonst r at ey oursof t war eexper i ence,especi al l yi fy ouhave adv ancedt echni calski l l swi t hacer t ai npl at f or m.Checkt oseei ft hej obl i st i ngi ncl udes t het ool st heyuseandwhet hery ouhaver el ev antex per i encewi t ht hem.I fnot ,di scuss t hepr ogr amsyouar emostf ami l i arwi t handexpl ai nyoureager nesst ol ear n. Exampl e:“ Ihav epr i mar i l yusedMi c r osof tPr oj ecti nt hepast ,butmyl astor gani zat i on usedBasecamp,whi c hwasgr eatf ort eam col l abor at i on.Eachst ak ehol derwasabl et o addi deast ot heonl i neboar dandsel ectt hebes tt oaddr esst hei s sueorchal l engeat hand.Ial souseTr el l of ormanagi ngt het eam' st i meandassi gnt ask s. "

6.Whatescal at i onpat hsdoyouuse? Anescal at i onpat hi showy ouhandl eapr oj ecti ssuewheni tar i ses.Youranswershoul d demonst r at ey ourcr i t i c al t hi nki ngandpr obl emsol vi ngski l l s.Youcananswerwi t ha speci fict i mey ouencount er edapr obl em whi l ewor ki ngonapr oj ectandhowy ou handl edi t . Exampl e:“ I fIhav et her esour ces,knowl edgeandt i met osol v eapr obl em wi t hmy i mmedi at et eam,t hati smyfir stcour seofact i on.I fIf eelt hei s suei nv ol vesasensi t i v e mat t er ,r equi r eshi ghl ev elappr ov alorIsi mpl yneedaddi t i onal i nputonmydeci ded cour seofact i on,i ti si mpor t antf ormet owor kwi t hmysponsoronsol v i ngt hei s sue.No mat t ert hepr obl em,If eel i ti sal way sbestf ort het eam andf ormyownpr of essi onal devel opmentt ouseev er yr esour ceav ai l abl et ogetasf arasIcani nsol vi ngt hei s sue bef or ebr i ngi ngi not her s. Iwasoncewor ki ngonapr oj ectwher et hesal est eam pr omi s edt hecl i entaf eat ur eour pr ogr am coul dnotsuppor t .Ul t i mat el y ,Ihadt oi nv ol v et hepr oj ectsponsor .Sheagr eed t hati twasi mpossi bl et odel i vert hef eat ur e. I twasadi fficul tconv er sat i onwi t ht hecl i ent ,butwemanagedt or eachacompr omi s e. West ar t edwor ki ngonawayt osuppor tt hef eat ur e,andwi l lofferi tt ot hecl i entf r eeof char geoncei ti sr eady . ”

7.Whatpr oj ectmanagementmet hodsdoyouuse ? Ther ear esev er al pr oj ectmanagementst yl es,l i keScr um andWat er f al l ,t hatcompani es usebasedont hepr oj ect .Yourst yl ewi l ldet er mi nehowyouwi l lbestfitt hecompany ' s cur r entmet hods.Youshoul dt al kaboutt hest yl ey ouuseori fyouuseavar i et y dependi ngont hepr oj ect .

Exampl e:“ Si nceIhav ewor k edpr i mar i l yi nt hesof t war ei ndust r y ,Ihav ef oundt heAgi l e met hodwor ksbestf ormypr oj ect s.Wi t hAgi l e,Icancr eat eshor t erdel i ver ycy cl esso t hecl i entcanseemyt eam' swor kandgi v eusconst r uct i vef eedback.I tcr eat esamor e col l abor at i v eenvi r onmentwher eIcanwor kt ocr eat egoal swi t hmyt eam basedont hei r f eedback. Ihav eal sost udi edt heLeanmet hodi nmyownt i meandt r i edt oi ncor por at esomeofi t i nt omyst yl e.It r yt oel i mi nat ewas t ei nt i meandbudgeti nal l ofmypr oj ect sandal way s findway st oi mpr ovet hepr ocess . ”

8.How doyoudealwi t h" scopecr eep" ? Anessent i al par tofpr oj ectmanagementi smaki ngsur eapr oj ectst ayswi t hi nt he or i gi nalbudgetanddeadl i ne.Scopecr eepi ncl udesanyt hi ngt hatchangeswi t hi nt he pr oj ectt hatcoul dcauseyout omi s syourt ar get s.Youranswerwi l lhel pt hei nt er vi ewer gai ni nsi ghti nt ot hewayy oumanager esour cesandhandl eobst ac l es.Youcanusean ex ampl eofhowy ouwer eabl et omanagescopecr eepi noneofyourpr oj ect s. Exampl e:“ Scopecr eepi sonet hi ngt hatIwat chf ordai l y .Ioncehadamassi v epr oj ect t hati ncl udedbui l di nganent i r ewebsi t e,pl usappl i cat i onst hatwoul dwor konal l phone andt abl etoper at i ngsy s t ems.Weneededt odel i v erev er yt hi ngi nayear ,andi twasa mul t i mi l l i ondol l arpr oj ect . Ideci dedt ospl i tt hepr oj ectupi nt osmal lpor t i onst hatwecoul dwor konmont hby mont h.Ipl annedweek saheadasweappr oachedanewmont hbasedoncl i ent f eedbackf r om whatwehadal r eadypr esent edt ot hem.Thepr oj ectconst ant l ychanged basedonneedsandf eedback,andi tcoul dhav eeasi l ygonef aroverbudgetandt i me. Wi t hst r i ctt i memanagementandcommuni cat i on,wewer eabl et odel i v eracompl et e pr oj ecti n12mont hs. ”

9.How doyouhandl et eam confli ct s? Managi ngat eam i sani mpor t antpar tofpr oj ectmanagement .Youmustensur eyour t eam canwor kt oget hert odel i verapr oductorser vi ce.Tr yt oanswert hi squest i onwi t h anex ampl eofhowyouwer eabl et osuccess f ul l yhandl eaconfli ct . Exampl e:“ Ial waysencour agemyt eam t ot r yt or esol v econfli c t sont hei rownfir st . Let t i ngmyt eam wor kt hi ngsoutt oget herhel pst hem bui l dupt hei rr el at i onshi psand i mpr ov est hei rcommuni cat i on.Somet i mesi ti snecessar yf ormet oi nt er vene. Ioncemanagedat eam wher eabusi nessanal ys tanddev el operwer ehavi ngt r oubl e agr eei ngonasol ut i ont oapr obl em.Ihadameet i ngwi t hj ustt het hr eeofuswher ewe spentabout30mi nut esdi scussi ngt hesol ut i onsandhowt heywoul daffectt hepr oj ect . Event ual l y ,wedeci dedt ogowi t ht hebusi nessanal y st ' ssol ut i onsi ncei twoul dt aket he

l eas tamountoft i meandmoney .I ti si mpor t antt obot hcommuni cat eandact i vel yl i st en whenr esol vi ngconfli ct s. ” Readmor e:Confli ctResol ut i onSki l l s:Defini t i onandExampl es

10.How doyouhandl eunder per f or mi ngt eam member s? I fat eam i sst r uggl i ng,i ti st hepr oj ectmanager ' sr espons i bi l i t yt ohel p.Thi squest i oni s anoppor t uni t yt odemonst r at ey ourmanagementandl eader shi pski l l s.Youcanshow howyouar ecommi t t edt ot hesuccessofy ourt eam. Exampl e:“ Ther ewasat i mewhenmyi nt egr at i ondev el operwashavi ngahar dt i me ext r act i ngdat af r om acl i entwebsi t e.It r i edt ogi v ehi mt i met owor konasol ut i on,but ev ent ual l y ,west ar t edmi s si ngdeadl i nes.Ischedul edameet i ngwi t hhi m sowecoul d di scusswhatwasgoi ngon.Si nceIam notanexper tdev el oper ,Ihadoneofourseni or i nt egr at i ondev el oper sj oi nus.I nst eadofdoi ngt hepar ther sel f ,t heseni ormember hel pedmydev el operwor koutapl ant oext r actt hedat asohecoul dl ear nt hepr ocess. Heendedupcompl et i ngt het askt henextdayandnev erhadi s sueswi t hi tagai n. ”

11.Whatwasyourl astpr oj ectl i ke? Yourl astpr oj ectwi l lshowwhaty ouhavel ear nedasapr oj ectmanager .Youcant al k aboutanyset backsandachi ev ement syouexper i enced. Exampl e:“ Ov er al l ,myl as tpr oj ectwasasuccessi nt hatt hecl i entwashappywi t ht he pr oduct ,butwehadaset back.Oneofmykeyt eam member shadanunex pect ed i l l nessandhadt ot ak eanex t endedl eav eofabsence,whi chl edt ousal mostmi s si ng ourdeadl i ne.Il ear nedt hatIshoul dal way shav eanal t er nat epl ant hati ncl udesr edel egat i ngt het ask sofanyt eam member swhocannotcompl et et hem t omak esur ewe compl et et hepr oj ectont i meandi nf ul l . "

How do you add or delete a standard or custom column/field?

A bit of a trick question: there are many ways to add (or insert) a column/field, typically they will brute force Insert or use a macro. You should never delete a column/field that contains data; recommended approach is to hide the column.Interviewer could drill in to the candidate’s use of custom tables, views, fields, and filters. Have they set up templates? How do they manage consistency among multiple projects? Do they use automation or templates to develop standards and make incremental improvements for each project they work on? Why would you embed contractor time within a Project plan? How do you do it, and where do you get the quickest information relative to contractor costs? There are multiple reasons for contractor time, the most obvious would be the need to account for all tasks and dependencies. The candidate should also come up with a rationale around capturing cost – they need to demonstrate a focus on schedule and budget. It’s also interesting to see where in the project proposal process they bring in high-level Project plans, with resource-loaded tasks and time lines, to develop initial estimates for the inevitable cost/benefit conversations.Specifically, to get this done, you need to add contractor cost per hour on the Resource Sheet. Costs could be a blended rate (for High / Medium / Low skilled tasks) or specific rates for known resources. The candidate should be able to speak intelligently on how and why to create a blended rate – averaging hourly costs for full-time employees and contractors, the total project budget (when approved) gives you the flexibility (ie. the budget) to bring in external contractors when internal resources are occupied with other work. How do you best embed resource availability within your plan? Use a Standard calendar, noting non-working time for all resources. Then, embed out-of-office for specific individuals as needed. If you skip this step, you risk creating an inaccurate schedule, by hampering Project’s ability to extrapolate accurate future dates.You can sneak into a soft skills conversation here, by talking about the requisite negotiations for resource time within the business (I already have a full time job … no time to work on this …) How do you model meetings and non-working time in a project plan? There are a number of different methods – including … Model all resource participation at 80% available time Change the default calendar to 6 hour work days Create weekly, 5-day (duration) tasks, for 1-4 (effort) hours per week, and assign everybody to this task Candidate should be able to talk about the pros and cons of whatever method they select.   

How would you best configure the critical path to be very obvious within your plan? Format – Text Style – Item to Change; Select Critical Path and adjust color to Red or something else equally eye catching. Extra points awarded if the candidate is sensitive to the typical lack of color printers in many organizations – how does your

Red come out now, hmmm?Here’s another opportunity to move into a soft skills conversation, with war stories about significant critical path moments in past projects, or discussing how to explain critical path to the project team. Explain how Earned Value fields are used to compute Schedule Variance – and why this is important. Schedule Variance (SV) = Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP) – Scheduled (BCWS)Cost Variance (CV) = Budgeted (BCWP) – Actual (ACWP) Cost of Work Performed Project Earned Value is a simple concept (are we ahead of schedule? Budget?), but most folks don’t use it. It’s an indicator of how good the candidate is at tracking an active project (as opposed to just using MS Project as an estimator / high-level planner). Can MS Project be used to track an agile development project, and if so, how? There is no right answer to this question, I’ve heard opinions on both sides. However, if someone can give a cogent, detailed answer either way, they are demonstrating their knowledge of agile and/or Project What are your favorite MS Project books / web sites? Project planning, estimating, tracking, and communication are possibly the most complex, nuanced area that Microsoft’s family of Office-related applications hopes to support. Experienced, professional PMs should be actively looking to expand their skill sets with a variety of resources. Have you done any VBA automation with MS Project? This is not as common as Excel programming, but it might give some insight into their depth of understanding of the Project “database”. Some folks automate look/feel issues, so printouts always look the same (consistency breeds familiarity). Other uses macros for particularly tricky utilization or costing calculations. The candidate should be able to glibly describe the benefits and challenges of automation with this tool. I welcome comments / feedback on this list! If/when I get a decent number, I’ll put together a nice little interview guide, suitable for download and re-use.

1. make a case for what is link task at intervals the MS project used for? Ans: As the name suggests, a link task throughout an MS project is used for linking any 2 tasks in a very project. 2. Mention wherever is also an outline task at intervals the MS project? Ans: The outline task helps estimate the task amount, therefore} the length of the project and organizing the task so as. you will find the outlined task beneath the foremost menu – 3. List out the classes of tasks used within the MS project? Ans: There are unit major four types of tasks: Summary tasks: It consists of subtasks and their connected properties Subtasks: it is a smaller task that is a neighborhood of an outline task Recurring tasks: This area unit the tasks that fall at regular intervals Milestones: This area unit the prime priority task that is adjusted to zero length and is like short-run goals at intervals the project. 4. Mention what area unit the new options obtainable in MS project 2013? Ans: Improved news tools: MS Project 2013 offers advanced news tools and easy answerableness for organizations Office 365 Integration: simple integration of workplace 365 to the MS project knowledge New Project Templates: The new MS project provides project templates that can suit your demand like promoting, construction, business, package development arrange, etc. Better Presentation Tools: The timeline read offers a much better read of the progress of your project and helps to schedule your project consequently Task Path: This feature area unit usually handy for a project manager handling massive and complicated schedules. It permits the user to establish the path for a specific task together with Successors, Driven successors, Predecessors, and Driving Predecessors. 5. make a case for what is a constraint in AN MS project? What area unit the varieties of constraints obtainable in MS project 2013?

Ans: In MS Project, the constraint is used for programming the task and setting a maturity for the task. the varieties of constraint obtainable in MS project are: As before As late Must Must Finish no Start no Start Finish no before.

long

as as

begin end later later no

potential potential on on than than before

6. Mention the thanks to set a point in time in AN MS project? Ans: To set a point in time at intervals the MS project Double-click a task ->it can open a task info panel Now, click on the advanced tab Then click on the arrow at intervals the point in time field to signifies the calendar then opt for a date 7. make a case for, however, you will move tasks in project 2013? Ans: You can move tasks in MS project 2013 by 2 techniques Move the task with the drag and drop methodology Move the task with the cut and paste methodology. 8. make a case for, however, you will take away resources from your project? Ans: To remove the resource from y...