CAPM Practice Test 1 – 50 FREE MCQ Questions with Explanation

Stakeholders need to get involved early on during project planning and sometimes during the project initiation as well. Key stakeholders should also be involved during the quality control phase so that they can assess the project deliverables and recommend any changes before the official acceptance. Since the concerned key stakeholder is responsible for signing off the acceptance document, their power is considered high. Therefore, stakeholders who are identified to have high power using the power/interest grid should be managed closely and kept satisfied throughout the whole project.

To develop the Project Charter, the project manager needs business documents such as the project’s business case, benefits/strategic plan, and agreements. The Project Management Plan and the Cost Management Plan are developed once the project charter is signed.

Stage-gate or phase review meetings represent an opportunity for project stakeholders to review project progress along with planned future actions. In these meetings, project stakeholders can assess whether or not the project is on track to meet the organization’s expectations (PMBOK 7th edition, page 42). The project manager should schedule gate meetings at key milestones throughout the project to not only ensure it is on track but also demonstrate to the project stakeholders that the project is staying on course.

The issue log, also called an issue register, is a project document that records and tracks all issues that have a negative impact on the project (PMBOK 7th edition, page 185). Once created, it’ll be the project manager’s tool to monitor and communicate all that is going on in the project. Such issues may involve resources leaving the project, conflicting teams, or even individuals with low morale.

Options A & B: Problem log and dispute log are both made-up terms.

Option C: A change log is used to document all change requests.

Operations involve routine, ongoing activities that maintain and support the day-to-day functioning of an organization’s infrastructure and processes.

A project charter is an official document created by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the project’s initiation. It grants the project manager the authority to allocate organizational resources and undertake project activities.

Option D: While identifying risks and updating the risk register is important, the project cannot start without getting authorized.

The project manager should not close the project when key stakeholders are not satisfied. They should try to discuss, identify, and resolve any issues or misunderstandings first.

Programs are not big projects. While a program mainly focuses on maximizing the organization’s profits, project management targets the creation of deliverables that meet and satisfy stakeholder needs.

Interpersonal skills that are used frequently in projects include emotional intelligence, decision-making, and conflict resolution. These are the skills used to establish and maintain relationships with others (PMBOK 7th edition, page 24). Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, manage, and effectively be aware of the emotions of oneself and others. Throughout the project, daily decisions are made, therefore a project manager should exhibit the right choice of decision-making technique and approach. Moreover, Conflict management is crucial as it’s the ability to handle and resolve conflicts within a project team.

A Project-oriented organization, or a projectized organization, is one in which a considerable part of its processes and activities take place in the form of projects. There is no defined hierarchy; resources are brought together specifically for the purpose of a project. Once the project is finished, they’re either moved to a new project or released.

In portfolio management, a group of related or non-related programs and projects are managed in coordination (PMBOK 7th edition, page 244). Portfolio management is intended to reduce the gap between strategy and implementation by aligning projects to attain business objectives.

The project manager most likely failed to engage stakeholders adequately, leading to poorly defined requirements and dissatisfaction. Effective stakeholder engagement is needed for identifying needs and aligning the project scope with expectations.

You should identify all project stakeholders, regardless of their number, and then analyze each one of them in order to prioritize the engagement (The PMBOK Guide 7th Edition, page 12).

A risk register contains a list of all identified risks, their description, planned responses, probability, impact, risk owner, etc. (PMBOK 7th edition, page 185). In the described scenario, the change in the composition of the steering committee is considered a risk and the name of the person responsible for managing it should be noted in the risk register. Once the risk occurs, it becomes an issue.

A constraint is a limiting factor that restricts the options for managing a project, program, portfolio, or process. In this case, the following is a budget constraint that limits the project spending.

Option C: An issue is a present condition or situation that can potentially affect the project’s objectives.

When an immediate response is required and the information you’re communicating is sensitive and could be misinterpreted, you should use interactive communication. It involves one or more people sharing thoughts and ideas, with participants responding in real time. Interactive communication can take place through teleconferences or face-to-face contact. When using communication media such as emails, the project manager can’t pick up on stakeholders’ facial expressions and body language.

Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs) refer to conditions, not under the control of the project team, that influence, constrain, or direct the project. These conditions could be internal or external to the organization. Organizational Culture is classified as an internal EEFs (PMI Process Groups, page 38).

Options A, C, D: Organization’s policies, lessons learned, and work performance data are organizational process assets, not Enterprise Environmental Factors.

Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix is a matrix that shows stakeholder engagement levels.

Accuracy describes how close a measurement is to an accepted value. Precision describes the statistical variability of produced measurement (it can be far off the accepted value) (PMBOK 7th edition, page 55).

Many industries, such as infrastructure, aerospace, and automotive, use program management guides and frameworks. A program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually. Programs are broader in scope and often focus on achieving long-term objectives (PMBOK 7, page 224).

The phases include initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closing, and they guide a project from inception to delivery and closure.

High-performing teams prioritize collaboration, shared goals, and collective success rather than individual accomplishments.

A resilient team is one that can adapt and recover from setbacks. Encouraging the team to learn from failures fosters a growth mindset and helps them to handle challenges with flexibility and perseverance.

A. Keep Satisfied: Due to their influence, stakeholders with high power and low interest should be kept satisfied. But, because they don’t have a high interest in your project, they can get bored if you over-communicate with them.

B. Manage Closely: Stakeholders with high power and high interest are the most important to your project, and you should make sure to keep them happy by managing them closely.

C. Monitor: Stakeholders with low power and low interest should be kept informed periodically without overdoing it.

D. Keep Informed: You’ll want to keep stakeholders with low power and high interest informed by checking in with them regularly to make sure they are not experiencing any issues or problems.

Please note that in the real exam such a question usually comes in the form of “drag & drop”.

A leader’s primary role involves inspiring, motivating, and influencing team members to work towards a shared vision or common goal. Leadership focuses on people and their development, aiming to foster collaboration, build trust, and guide the team toward successful outcomes.

The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is used to define the scope of the first release by identifying the requirements that would deliver value to customers (PMBOK 7th edition, page 243).

Calculating a project’s Net Present Value (NPV) requires knowing its discount rate (i):

Net Present Value (NPV) = Future payment (F) / [ (1 + Discount rate (i) ) ^ number of periods in the future the cash flow is (n) ]. Since this is not an option in the described scenario, the project manager should rely on the Return On Investment (ROI) and pick the project with the highest value (The PMI Guide to Business Analysis, page 90).

The Internal Rate of Return is the annual rate of growth a project is expected to generate. The higher the IRR, the more desirable an investment is. Project B has a higher IRR, thus it will obviously be selected over Project A.

In case of ambiguity, the project manager should first ask for clarifications from the customer before making any further decisions.

Option C: The project involves unclear requirements and objectives. Thus, it’s not appropriate to start planning project work or acquire a team without first creating a clear vision of what the project consists of.

A product roadmap is a strategic plan that highlights the key components of a product that are scheduled for delivery across a portfolio, program, or several project iterations or releases, including the likely order in which these components will be delivered (The PMI Guide to Business Analysis, page 55). The product roadmap indicates where the product is headed in both the short and long terms. In agile organizations, the product roadmap serves as a guide rather than a project plan.

A cost-benefit analysis evaluates the financial return of implementing the solution by comparing the expected benefits against the costs. It’s an effective way to assess the business value of a solution.

The traceability Matrix is a document that maps requirements as well as other aspects of the project. It’s used as evidence to confirm that requirements have been fulfilled, as it typically documents those requirements along with issues and test results (PMBOK 7th edition, page 189).

Delphi is a consensus-building method that consolidates anonymous input from subject matter experts (SMEs) using rounds of voting (The PMI Guide to Business Analysis, page 22

In the Execution Phase, the project team develops, implements, and delivers the solution to the business. This phase involves carrying out the work defined in the project plan, managing resources, and ensuring that the deliverables meet the project’s objectives.

First and foremost, the project manager has to understand why the project is being created in the first place; aka its business case. Moreover, the project manager should be aware of the project’s predefined goals. These two elements along with the main deliverables are all defined in the project charter.

Story mapping is a technique for sequencing user stories based on their business value and the typical user sequence. It helps teams gain a shared understanding of the product to be built and communicates the features and components to be delivered. Initially, stories may be written at a high level as epics, which are later broken down into smaller stories.

In agile, the product owner should be in charge of managing the product roadmap since they are responsible for the product’s success. The Product Owner’s primary responsibility is to represent the business, which involves the creation and maintenance of the Product Vision and Roadmap, as well as the Product Backlog.

A situation statement is an objective summary of a problem or opportunity, explaining its effect on the organization and its impact. It is part of the business case and helps reviewers understand the challenge before evaluating potential solutions. It is the output of the “identify problem or opportunity” process.

Business goals and objectives define the specific outcomes a portfolio, program, or project is expected to achieve, they are the output of of the “determine future state” process and focus on targeted business outcomes Feasibility study results are the summarized findings from the feasibility analysis, compiled into a package to aid executive review and decision-making. Feasibility study results are the output of the process “determine viable options and provide recommendation”. (PMI Guide to Business Analysis, page 96)

A process flow visually outlines the steps or tasks involved in job functions or interactions with a product. It forms the foundation for training materials on new procedures and may include additional flows to detail the transition processes, helping the project manager understand what needs to be done.

Solution requirements outline the specific attributes of a solution, including the features and functionalities of a product. These requirements address both business and stakeholder needs and must be detailed enough to guide the design and development of the solution effectively. Solution requirements have two subcategories: functional and non-functional requirements.

Behavior-driven Development (BDD) involves defining acceptance criteria through a collaborative process, ensuring that conditions are clear and measurable through user stories and scenarios (PMI Guide to business analysis, pages 218 & 219).

Use case diagrams are used to identify the list of both the users of the solution and the possible scenarios of how each user will use the solution (The PMI Guide to Business Analysis, page 206).

The business analyst needs to understand the current situation before determining the causes of the problem. Data collection allows for an evidence-based analysis of potential issues related to the user experience, website functionality, and customer trends, providing a foundation for future steps.

Pausing development and conducting a root cause analysis ensures that the business analyst properly investigates the underlying issue before moving forward with the solution.

The business analyst is conducting the “Evaluate Solution Performance” process. This process is used to determine whether the implemented solution or solution component is delivering the business value as intended (The PMI Guide to Business Analysis, page 280).

Stakeholder engagement focuses on identifying stakeholders, understanding their needs, and engaging them throughout the project. Additionally, Needs assessment concentrates on identifying business problems or opportunities and determining the steps necessary to reach a future state.

Option B: Traceability and Monitoring is focused on ensuring that requirements and solutions are aligned throughout the project, tracing their status, and monitoring their progress. It does not involve identifying problems or engaging with stakeholders.

Option C: Although analysis involves examining data, processes, and models, it deals with creating and analyzing models and requirements, not with directly identifying problems or engaging stakeholders.

Option E: This area is focused on assessing how well the implemented solution meets the stakeholders’ needs and project objectives, which is something that occurs after the solution is developed, not during the initial phases of identifying problems or needs.

Interviews are the most appropriate elicitation technique when seeking in-depth information from subject matter experts. This approach allows for detailed, one-on-one discussions, enabling the business analyst to gather specific, expert insights that other techniques, like collaborative games or questionnaires, may not capture as effectively.

Expert judgment involves using knowledge and expertise accumulated from prior projects and situations to make informed decisions, ensuring that solutions are aligned with both business goals and technical constraints.

Business analysis focuses on defining the product scope, which includes understanding business needs, gathering requirements, and ensuring the final product features and functions align with stakeholder expectations (PMI Guide to business analysis, page 17).

The Kano model is an approach to prioritizing product functionalities based on their implementation cost versus their potential to satisfy customers