Project Human Resource Management

Practice Exam 8. The MOST common cause of conflict on a project are schedule, project priorities, and: A. Personalities. B. resources. C. cost. D. management 9. What conflict resolution technique is a project manager using when he says , I cannot Deal with this issue now! A. Problem solving. B. B. Forcing. C. Withdrawal D. Compromising. 10. What does a resource histogram shows that a responsibility assignment matix does not? A. Time B .Activity C. Interrelationships D. The person in charge of each activity. 11. You have just been assigned as project manager for a large telecommunications project. This one year project is about halfway done.The project team cosists of five sellers and 20 of your company s employees.You want to understand who is responsible for doing what on the project. Where would you find such information? A.Resposibility assignment matrix B.Resource histogram C.Bar Chat D.project organization chat 12. During project planning in matix organization, the project manager determine that additional Human resources are needed.From whom would he request these resources? A. Project manager B. Functional manager C. Team D. project sponsor 13. A project manager must publish a project schedule. Activities, start/end times and resources are identified. What should the project manager do NEXT? A. Distribute the project schedule according to the communication management plan. B. Confirm the availability of the resource. C. Refine the project management plan to reflect more accurate costing information. D. Publish a bar chart illustrating the timeline. 14. During every project team meeting, the project manager asks each team member to describe the work he or she is doing, and the project manager assigns new activities to

Project Human Resource Management

team members. The length of the meeting has increased because there are many different activities to assign. This could be happening for all the following reasons. EXCEPT? A. Lack of WBS B.Lack of a responsibility assignment matrix C.Lack of resource leveling D.Lack of tea involvement in project planning 15. You are project manager leading a cross-functional project team in aweak matrix environment none of project team members report to you functionally and you not have the ability directly reward their performance. The projsct is difficult involving tight date constraints and challenging Quality standards. Which of the following typesof project managemaent power will likely be the MOST effective in this circumtances? A. Referent B. Expert C. Penalty D. Formal 16. A team member is not performing well on the project because she is inexpereiced in system development work. What is the BEST solution for the project manager? A. Consult with functional manager to determine project completion incentives for the team member. B. Obtain a new source more skilled in development work. C. Arrange for the team member to get training. D. Allocate some of the project schedule reseve. 17. A project manager has just found out that major subcontractor for project is consistently late delivery work. The project team member responsible for this part of the project does not get along with sub-contractor. To resolve the problem the project manager says, You both will have to give up something to solve this problem.What conflict resolution method is she using? A. Confrontation B Compromise C. Smoothing D. Communicating 18. A project has several teams. Team C has repeatedly missed deadline in the past. This has caused team D to have to crash the critical path several times. As the team leader for team D, you receive word that the next deadline may also be missed. You should meet with the: A. manage of team D B. project manager alone. C. project manager and management D. project manager and the leader of team C 19. The new project is exciting to both the project managers and the team this is the project manager s first assignment as project manager.The team has feeling that they will be able to complete work that has never been tried before. There are 29 people

Project Human Resource Management

contributing to the product description and the team consists of nine highly experienced experts in their field Part of the way through planning, three highly technical team members are disagreeing about the scope of two of the deliverables.One is pointing to the draft WBS and saying that two additional work packages should be added. Another is saying that a particular worl should not even be done.The third team member agrees with both of them How should the project manager BEST deal with conflict ? A. He should listen to the differences of opinioni, determine the best choice. B. He should postpone further discussions, meet with each individual and and determine the best approach C. He should listen to the difference of opinions, encourage logical discussions, and facilitate an agreement. D.He should help the team focus on agreeable aspects of their opinions and build unity by using relaxation techniques and common focus team building. 20. The project is just starting out and consists of people from 14 different departments. The project charter was signed by one person and contains over 30 major requirements that must be met on the project .The sponsor has informed the project manager that the SPI must be kept between 0.95 and 1.1.A few minutes of investigation resulted in the identification of 34 stake holders,and the schedule objectives on the project are constrained. A project has just been hired .Which of the following types of project manager gain the co-operation of others? A. Formal B. Referent C. Penalty D. Expert 21. A project manager is trying to settle a dispute between two team members .One says the systems should be integrated before testing and the other maintains each system should be tested before integration. The project involves over 30 people, and 12 systems need to be integrated. The sponsor is demanding that integration happen on time.What is the BEST statement the project manager can make to resolve the conflict? A. Do it my way. B. Lets calm down and the job done C. Lets deal with this again next week after we all calm down. D. Lets do limited testing before implementation and finish testing after implementation. 22. A project is in the middle of the executing process when a stakeholder suggests a major change. This change will cause the third major overhaul of the project. At the same time, the project manager discovers that major work package was not completed because a team members boss moved him to anther project that had high priority .Which following is the best person for the project manager to address the issues with? A. Team B. Senior management C. Customer

Project Human Resource Management

D. Sponsor 23. Work on a project is ongoing when the project manager overhears two workers arguing over what a set of instruction mean. The project manager investigates and discovers that the instructions for the construction of the concrete footing currently being poured were poorly translated between the different languages in use on the project. Which of the following is the BEST thing for the project manager to do FIRST? A. Get the instruction translated by a more experienced party. B. Looking for quality impacts of the poor translation of the instructions for the footing. C. Bring the issue to attention of the team and ask them to look for other translation problems. D. Inform the sponsor of the problem in the next project report. 24. Conflict resolution techniques that may be used on a project includes confronting, smoothing, Forcing and; A. withdrawing B.directing C. organizing D.controlling 25. The installation project has a CPI of 1.03 and SPI of 1.0.There are 14 team members and each team member had input into the final project management plan.The customers has accepted the three deliverables completed so far without complaint and the responsibility assignment matrix has not changed since the project began .The project is being completed in a matrix environment and there are no contracts needed for the project. Though the sponsor is happy with status of the project, one of the team members is always complaining about how much time his project work is taking. Which of the following would be the BEST thing for the project manager to do? A. Review the reward system for the project. B. Try to improve schedule performance of the project. C. Meet with the customer to try to extend the schedule D. Gain formal acceptance in writing from the customer. 26. The project has been challenging to manager. Everyone has been on edge to complete the project on time .unfortunately, the tension has grown the point when team meetings have become shouting matches and little work is accomplished during the meetings.One team member asks to be excused from future team meetings,as all the shouting upset him.Meanwhile the sponsor has ask to attend team meetings in order to better understand how the project is going and the issues involved in completing the project, and the customer has started discussions about adding scope to the project. In this situation, it would best for the project manager to: A. ask the sponsor if the information needed could be send in a report rather than have him attend the meeting. B. inform the team member who asked to be excused from the meetings of the value

Project Human Resource Management

of communication in such meetings. C. create new ground rules for the meetings and introduce them to the team. D. hold a team building exercise that involves all the team members. 27. Project performance appraisals are different from team performance assessments in that project performance appraisals focus on: A. how an individual team member performing on the project. B. an evaluation of the project teams effectiveness C. a team building effort D. reducing the staff turnover rate. 28. A project manager had a complex problem to solve and made a decision about what needed to be done. A few months later, the problem resurfaced. What did the project manager most likely NOT do? A. Proper risk analysis B. Confirm that the decision solved the problem. C.Have the project sponsor validate the decision D.Use an Ishikam diagram 29. The project CPI is 1.02, the benefit cost ratio is 1.7 and the latest round performance reviews identified few needed adjustments. The project team was co-located into a new building when the project started .Everyone commented on how excited they were to have all new facilities. The sponsor is providing adequate support for the project and few unidentified risks have occurred. In an attempt to improve performance, the project manager spends part of the project budget on new chairs for the team members and adds the term senior to each team members job title. Which of the following is the MOST correct thing that can be said of this project or the project manager? A. The project manager has misunderstood Herzbergs theory. B. The project is slowly spending more money than it should. The project manager should begin to watch cost more carefully. C. The performance review should be handled better to find more adjustments. D. The project manager should use good judgment to determine which variances are important 30. You just find out that a major subcontractor for your project consistently provides deliverables late.The sub contractor approaches you and ask you to continue accepting late deliverables in exchange for a decrease project cost. This offer is an example of: A. confronting B. compromise C. smoothing. D. forcing.

Project Human Resource Management Human Resources Management Answer

1. Answer D Explanation When someone is given the job of project manager, they will have formal, reward and penalty power. But just having the position does not make the project manager either a technical or project management expert. 2. Answer D Explanation This question is asking which of the FOLLOWING is the highest. Selfactualization is not listed, so the next best choice is esteem. 3. Answer C Explanation Just because a person is good in his technical field does not mean he will also be a good project manager. 4. Answer B Explanation Team members are harder to motivate if their loyalty is to their functional organization rather than to the project team. 5. Answer D Explanation In a matrix organization, each team member reports to the project manager and the functional manager. Team members may therefore be worried about choices A,B and C. Since the same fringe benefits are given to all employees no matter what work they do, choice D is the exception. 6. Answer D Explanation Problem solving normally takes more time, but it gets buy-in from everyone, generating a more lasting solution. 7. Answer D Explanation The key words here are cross-disciplinary. Cross-disciplinary means that the project covers more than one department or technical area of expertise. In such a case, a matrix organization is needed with representatives from each department or discipline. 8. Answer B Explanation Know the top four sources (schedule, project priorities, resources and technical opinions), so you can answer questions such as this one. Dont be fooled because personalities is on the list. It is last. 9. Answer C. Explanation Delaying the issue is called withdrawal. 10. Answer A Explanation Time is shown on a schedule or bar chart. The responsibility assignment matrix maps specific resources against the work packages from the WBS. On a resource

Project Human Resource Management

Histogram, the usage of resources is shown individually or by groups over time. 11. Answer A Explanation The responsibility assignment matrix maps who will do the work. The resource histogram (choice B) shows the number of resources used in each time period. In its pure form, a bar chart (choice C) shows only activity and calendar date. An organizational chart (choice D) shows who reports to whom. 12. Answer B Explanation Did you forget that in a matrix organization the functional manager controls the resources? 13. Answer B Explanation The project schedule remains preliminary until resource assignments are confirmed. 14. Answer C Explanation Resource leveling refers to the maintaining the same number of resources on the project for each time period. Leveling has nothing to do with assigning activities or managing meetings. 15. Answer B Explanation Reward and expert are the best sources of power. Reward is not listed as a choice. 16. Answer C Explanation The job of the project manager includes providing or obtaining project-specific training for team members. This kind of training is a direct cost of the project. 17. Answer B. Explanation The act of both parties giving something defines compromise. 18. Answer D Explanation Those having the problem should resolve the problem. Having had to crash the critical path several times implies that team D has already dealt with these problems. In this case, the two team leaders need to meet. The extent of this situation requires the project managers involvement as well. 19. Answer C Explanation Do not get confused by the wordiness of the question. Ask yourself what is the best way to resolve any conflict and you can get the answer. Most of the situation is a distracter. Problem solving and compromising are the two most important conflict resolution techniques. Conflict management is a key general management.

Project Human Resource Management

20. Answer A Explanation Generally, the best forms of power are reward or expert. The project manager has not had time to become a recognized expert in the company (choice D) and reward is not included as a choice here. This leaves formal power (choice A) as the only logical answer. 21. Answer D Explanation Choice D is an example of compromising. 22. Answer D Explanation It is the sponsors role to prevent unnecessary changes and to set priorities between projects. The situation described in this question implies that such work is not being done and the project manager must therefore go to the rot of the problem; the sponsor. 23. Answer B Explanation Though all of these choices are correctly things to do, the question asks what to do first. What is the most immediate problem? Isnt it most urgent to find out whether the concrete footings meet your project requirements? Choice A could be done, but it does not address the immediate concern. Choice C is excellent, and something many project managers might never think of doing. However, it does not address the immediate problem. Choice D is also not taking action to solve the problem. Are the concrete footings adequate? Only choice B will help you answer that. 24. Answer A Explanation There is always the option to simply postpone dealing with the issue until later. This is withdrawing. 25. Answer A Explanation Improving schedule performance (choice B) relates to getting the project completed sooner. Though it would seem to always be a good idea to improve schedule performance, this projects performance is fine. The schedule has been approved as it is. It would be better for the project manager to spend more time controlling the project to make sure it finishes according to plan than to improve schedule performance. If you chose C, ask yourself why. There is nothing wrong with the schedule performance of the project that would require an extension. Did you think that the best way to deal with the complaining stakeholder was to give him more time? How do you know the team members activities are on the critical path? It is always important to gain formal acceptance from the customer, as it provides an opportunity for the team to check if everything is going well. It is always good idea to get such acceptance in writing. Choice D could be done, but there is a more important problem that takes precedence here. Read on. The only thing glaringly wrong in this situation is that the team member is complaining. If you read the situation completely, you will notice that the team member was involved and approved the project management plan, including his own involvement in

Project Human Resource Management

the project. Since the responsibility assignment matrix has not changed, the team member has not even been assigned different duties since the project began. There must be something else causing the team member to complain. The project manager should investigate and find out what part of the reward system is ineffective. 26. Answer C Explanation Here is a situation where all four choices could be done. Choice A could be done, but does not solve the root cause of the problem described. Choice B merely dismisses the concerns of the team member and might cause anger. A team building exercise would take planning and so could not be done right away. Remember, the sponsor might be attending the next meeting and at least one team member might not attend because of past problems. The best thing to do would be to set up new ground rules for the team governing behavior (choice C) and then plan a team building exercise (choice D). 27. Answer A Explanation Questions like this can drive one crazy on the exam because it is easy to get confused. The best thing to do is to look at the two terms used here (project performance appraisals and team performance assessment) and review in your mind what each means BEFORE looking at the choices. Choices B, C and D list aspects of team performance assessments. Only choice A is correct. Project performance appraisals deal with how each team member is performing work, rather than how well the team is working together. 28. Answer B Explanation Notice the phrasing of this question, most likely NOT do. Expect to see questions worded on the exam in ways that can cause you to misinterpret them. You will also see questions about things we forget to do in the real world. Who has time, you might say, to determine if each problem is really solved? One could respond with, Who has time not to do this? Who has time to deal with the same problem twice? The final steps of problem solving include: implement a decision, review it and confirm that the decision solved the problem. 29. Answer A Explanation Choice B includes the concept of cost to trick you into selecting it if you are unsure of the real answer. There is no indication that the costs are trending in any particular direction. There is no reason to think that performance reviews should turn up more adjustments (choice C). The project manager should always use good judgment (choice D) and nothing in this question talks about judgment regarding variances, so this cannot be the best choice. In this situation, the project manager is making great working conditions better. According to Herzbergs theory, fixing bed working conditions will help you to motivate, but making good ones better will not improve motivation. You need to focus on the motivating agents and not hygiene factors. 30. Answer B Explanation Both parties are giving up something. This is a compromise.