By understanding the root cause of the issue, the project manager may avoid this type of problem later on in this and other projects.

Control charts are used to determine whether or not a process is stable or has predictable performance.

The stories will NOT be considered complete until associated small tasks are triggered and completed.

Misalignment is caused by missing dependencies between the tracks. The purpose of the network diagram is to sequence activities based on dependency. The Scrum equivalent of a task start dependency is the Definition of Ready, and the equivalent of the task exit criteria are the Definition of Done.

Scrum of Scrums is the most effective way to coordinate work between teams working on interrelated products.

SPI is calculated as stories completed/stories planned (78/77 = 1.01) and CPI as earned value /actual cost (3090K/2950K = 1.05).

Erratic progress curve variations are typical of inconsistent or uninformed story point estimates. Backlog refinement can ensure that overly complex stories are broken down and that past progress informs new story estimates.

FDD provides the most complete set of methods specifically for the needs of large software development projects.

eXtreme Programming practices include pair programming (2 per workstation), planning poker, test-first programming, and metaphor naming of processes.

When stories CANNOT be completed within one iteration, it is typically because the story is NOT broken down into small enough goals.

Using the Beta Estimate = (Optimistic + (4 X Most Likely) + Pessimistic)/6 = (8 + (4*14) + 32)/6 = 96/6 = 16 days

Using a Triangular Estimate = (Optimistic + Most Likely + Pessimistic)/3 = (18 + 29 + 46)/3 = 93/3 = 31 days

Bottom-up estimating is a method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating the estimates of the lower-level components of the WBS.

While there is no direct relationship between A and B, both must be completed before C can start. So, of the choices, the only response that makes sense is FF.

The product owner acts as the sponsor in agile projects and therefore has the authority to decide if conditions warrant termination of a project.

The resource management plan is used to help determine how resources allocated to agreed-upon risk responses will be coordinated with other project resources. This will provide guidance as to how the project manager can negotiate with the resource’s manager.

Since the project is over budget and the trend analysis shows that this will continue, the best course of action is to redo the cost baseline of the project and manage it.

The cost performance index (CPI) is above 1; therefore, the project is spending money at a rate lower than planned. Since the project is behind schedule, its schedule performance index (SPI) is less than 1. In order to increase the SPI to 1, there will most likely be an increase in costs, perhaps from crashing activities on the critical path that will lower the CPI towards 1. This will most likely increase risks associated with the project when trying to do more in a shorter time.

In agile projects, the customer is the highest priority, because this leads to end-user satisfaction and focus on delivery; administrative processes such as performance reviews are a lower priority. The product owner is NOT needed at every daily meeting.

A corrective action, such as the iterative approach, is required here. Introducing adaptive steps in a heavily predictive environment is never easy and the stakeholders should be involved in this process.

A professional relationship with end users is assumed, so that option is assumed to be in place already. However, managing stakeholder engagement efficiently is key to ensuring that stakeholders clearly understand the project goals, objectives, benefits, and risks for the project, as well as how their contribution will enhance project success. Listening to their feedback is an important part of this engagement.

Both leadership and analytical project management tools are important in this scenario. The stakeholders need to earn trust in your team, but you—NOT the team—are the main point of contact. The best choice to facilitate trust is an effective leadership style that emphasizes the needs of your stakeholders. Since the project has started, you should already know their needs, so a questionnaire is NOT helpful. However, you need information about the stakeholders. In a complex environment such as this one, the salience model of categorization is a good choice, as it helps leaders navigate frequently changing, complex relationships that involve several parties.

Assuming a particular solution does NOT empower the team. Surveying the team and finding common consensus is a key part of servant leadership.

Both the stakeholder register and the stakeholder engagement plan need updating. The stakeholder register identifies all stakeholders and their involvement in the project. The stakeholder engagement plan is updated to reflect any processes, procedures, tools, or techniques that affect the engagement of stakeholders in project decisions and execution.

Managing stakeholder engagement helps to ensure that stakeholders clearly understand the project goals, objectives, benefits, and risks for the project, as well as how their contribution will enhance project success. Listening to their feedback is an important part of this engagement.

To facilitate timely, productive discussion and decision making, the project manager should use their facilitation skills as well as conflict management to help the stakeholders agree on a shared vision of the project goals.

The first version of the stakeholder engagement plan is developed after the initial stakeholder community has been identified by the Identify Stakeholder process. The stakeholder engagement plan is updated regularly to reflect changes to the stakeholder community.

Project leaders stay updated with stakeholders’ needs and expectations and ensure that they are aligned with the project’s overall goals and desired outcomes. Monitor Stakeholder Engagement is the process of monitoring project stakeholder relationships and tailoring strategies for engaging stakeholders through modification of engagement strategies and plans. The key benefit of this process is maintaining or increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of stakeholder engagement activities as the project evolves and its environment changes. You should perform this process throughout the project.

Plan Stakeholder Engagement is the process of developing approaches to involve project stakeholders based on their needs, expectations, interests, and potential impact on the project. The key benefit is that it provides an actionable plan to interact effectively with stakeholders.

In this case, the risk was missed deadlines, and the response to the risk was to change suppliers. Part of an effective risk management strategy is making sure that the risk response is effective—in this case, that the replacement supplier would supply quality glass on time. The Monitor Risks process uses performance information generated during project execution to determine if the response was effective. In this case, the response was NOT effective.

Speeding up a project does NOT come without risks. In this case, work may be completed much more quickly, but these risks need to be identified in the risk log for the project.

While this is NOT an issue yet, it is a risk that should be entered in the risk log and managed appropriately.

The project manager needs to be proactive and work with both partners to identify risks and their mitigation strategies. Even when one party has a higher risk threshold than the other, because they are in a partnership, both parties should be consulted.

The first step is to update the risk register and then analyze the new risks. This information can then be presented to stakeholders who will help determine a response plan for each risk.

The risk ranking is devised by multiplying the probability with the impact factors. Larger numbers indicate higher risks. Therefore, these risks are ranked in the following order: A, C, B, D.

The project manager and the project team should evaluate the newly discovered risk. The project manager should also update the risk register, analyze and prioritize the risk, and plan the response.

Risk responses to identified risks should be outlined as part of the risk management plan.

With three weeks left and most of the work done, hiring a new vendor is NOT ideal. Since project delivery is the prime focus as well as budget for cost overruns, the project manager needs to assess alternatives without concern for the potential budget impact. Once a viable alternative is identified, they can present their case to the sponsor for a decision—but immediate escalation is NOT warranted.

The project manager needs to use a proactive and decisive, informed approach. This risk was previously added to the risk register and considered a low risk. Since the project manager already has a successful relationship with the union stakeholder, finding a solution through positive leadership is possible. If a resolution CANNOT be found, then you should update the risk register and communicate with the appropriate stakeholders, so that the team will be able to devise an appropriate risk response.

New projects should utilize organizational process assets such as lessons learned so they do NOT repeat the same mistakes. Updating the list on the risk register with this risk will leave a trail of useful information for future projects.

Having a dispersed project team does NOT come without risks. These risks need to be identified in the charter, even if only at a high level.

The risk described here is a loss of potential subsidy that would reduce the cost of the project. So, this risk amounts to the project requiring much more in future operating costs.

The project manager needs to be proactive and familiar with as many project risks as possible. The risk assessment needs to occur before the risk is encountered.

The project manager must check the risk register to verify if these three risks are new and then to verify if action was already planned to address them.

Risk severity is calculated by multiplying probability and impact. For example, Risk A has a probability of 1 and an impact of 5 (1 x 5 = 5). The higher the value, the higher the risk is rated.

These new requirements will impact the project in various ways, as well as pose additional risks. These impacts and risks need to be identified and assessed and then the appropriate responses need to be identified.

If you plan to deliver a product and the team does NOT possess the skills required, this is a risk. The risk should be documented in the project charter so its impact can be analyzed before project initiation.

The project manager is mitigating the risk of violating the contract by including the delivery work in the scope and increasing budget to mitigate the risk of difficult access.

The risk to the project was posed by insufficient resources. The risk was mitigated by hiring additional resources.

The root problem is that impactful information in the agile team was NOT passed to the predictive team quickly enough to prevent the test failure. Instant messaging of issue log updates can reach the full project immediately after the issue is logged, and act as an alert.

Before meeting with the new stakeholder, you should review the stakeholder engagement plan and communication plan to verify the strategy for the change. The change includes a compliance issue, which you will need to understand and incorporate into project strategy. You need to do this first before allowing a team member to help. Finally, once you understand the change and talk with the new stakeholder, then you will know if a change to scope or budget is required.

The project manager should first verify if the processes were followed in communicating project changes to stakeholders. If they were, then the project manager should revise the communications and/or the stakeholder engagement plans based on stakeholder needs. These two plans help establish how communication will be managed and how the stakeholders will be engaged.

At this phase of a project, the project team and stakeholders should benefit from good communications. Working directly with each stakeholder group—in this case thanking the direct customers and using project data to show the franchise group that the prototype fulfils both requirements and agreed quality metrics.

Since this platform was NOT part of the original communications plan, it should NOT be used unless it can be added. However, you need to understand the stakeholder’s concern to evaluate whether it is valid. You also need to understand the reason why the team is communicating on an outside platform instead of the “approved” ones. Evaluate this use and the communication plan. If the team needs this, or a similar communication channel, in order to do their work, then you should find one that can offer the benefits they need.

Communications outside of those covered by the communications management plan can lead to additional risks and issues.  However, since the team seemed to have a need for it, the project manager should assess the communications management plan for any gaps.  The project manager should also establish ground rules with the team for the blog.

Meetings are used to develop an understanding of project stakeholders. Since there is a new stakeholder on the project, the stakeholder engagement plan should be reviewed and revised to include them.

The project manager needs to be proactive and respond to this change. The same communication that was planned for a single sponsor will NOT necessarily work for this steering committee.

The best approach is to send the draft of the project management plan in advance to the entire stakeholder team and then have a meeting to gain approval. Gaining approval from some, but not all, stakeholders, or getting approval of parts of the plan is less ideal.

The Monitor Communications and stakeholder engagement processes can trigger an iteration of the Plan Communications Management and/or Manage Communications processes to improve effectiveness of communication through additional and possibly amended communications plans and activities. Such iterations illustrate the continuous nature of the Communications Management and stakeholder engagement processes. Issues or key performance indicators, risks, or conflicts may trigger immediate revisions.

A communications management plan is developed to ensure that the appropriate messages are communicated to stakeholders in various formats and various means as defined by the communication strategy. Even in a project with high security protocols, provisions may be in place to share information.

Releasing a more basic version of a product early enables the company to obtain value from the work more quickly. With regard to planning, the team needs to figure out how to prioritize the backlog so that a product with basic functionality—and which also represents value to the customer—can enter the market.

The requirement to be first to market implies use of an MVP, which will then be enhanced with feature requirements as quickly as possible after launch.

The product bundling goes from least number of features (Basic) to the highest (Premium). An incremental approach allows to release the Basic product quickly to mitigate competitive time pressure, and gradually release each bundle by adding the next set of features.

Rework can often be caused by trying to do too much in too little time—or it can be an issue of the quality of work. If time is the issue, then time boxing or spikes are great techniques to focus work efforts. If quality is the issue, then you need to assess resources, materials, skill level, and so on. But you need to understand what is causing the rework first.

If the customer asks the project manager to make a change, regardless of how small or little impact, the change needs to go through Perform Integrated Change Control. The first step would be to submit a change request and then analyze the impact.

Defining the minimum viable product would allow the team to release business value within timelines by focusing only on the must-have items that the business stakeholders need.

To execute the project more quickly, the project team should discuss with the stakeholders if there can be any reduction of scope and find out the way to complete activities at the individual level within a shorter time, if possible.

An action needs to be taken in this scenario, NOT a deferral of any kind. The product owner needs to be involved, and this change needs to be added to the backlog. Backlog refinement is controlled by the product owner but requires a team effort. The product owner also can change the Definition of Done or include the changes in the acceptance criteria.

The conflict, based on a misunderstanding or an unstated assumption, is a sign that the team ground rules are incomplete. Agile teams should self-organize and collaborate to determine their own ways of working, so situations like this should really NOT arise often.

A Kanban board would provide timely progress reporting, and bi-weekly retrospective calls would be a forum for sharing recent experiences and lessons for improvement. The Definition of Done is wrong because it focusses only on completion criteria, while backlog refinement and Scrum of Scrums would only be valid if all PMs are working on a common product.

Standing meetings limited to one webcam per group have been shown to reduce meeting times without losing efficiency.

This is a project where confidentiality and security are critical—thus, permanent monitoring of remote resources is necessary. Only the fishbowl window solution would have the required field of view on a permanent basis. Radiators only display content, on-demand video conferencing would NOT be a permanent video feed, and mirroring only displays one (1) computer screen, NOT the environment.

Great leaders have a growth mindset. Always aim to capitalize on cultural differences, focus on developing and sustaining the project team throughout the project life cycle, and promote working together interdependently in a climate of mutual trust. In this case, you can NOT assume that there is a language barrier, as the team members may be bilingual. This answer also does NOT demonstrate a growth mindset.

In this case, forcing the contractors to work less efficiently may jeopardize the project. Work with the whole team to find the best solution that will NOT jeopardize the project. Escalation is NOT required unless the team is unable to find a solution. Teams need to acknowledge the diversity of its members and promote an environment of inclusiveness. Each team is unique in its character, makeup, and tolerance levels, but the high-performing teams are self-aware.  Commonly agreed ground rules always make together easier, especially in heterogeneous groups.

As the functionality has NOT been built, the project manager should facilitate building common understanding and empowering the team to evaluate the impact of a possible change, thus avoiding re-work.

The project manager and the team should work with the customer to identify the reasons for rejecting the deliverable. Iteration reviews are designed to show the customer what the team has produced in that iteration. This is a perfect opportunity for the customer to raise their concerns, ask questions, and request changes. However, when this is NOT possible, as in this case, then seek a deeper understanding of the objection or concern and address it with all parties.

The product owner has ultimate authority on the scope of the product. Thus, product owner engagement is critical when considering scope changes or any changes that may have an impact on the scope.

Running market research spikes supports the product director and helps build and diversify team skills. If the team is idle, it means they are NOT working on stories/features in the backlog. Reducing output means negative productivity, and the team’s ideas would NOT provide market facts needed to make informed product development decisions.

Valid agile methods to secure on-time delivery include backlog reprioritization at every sprint, impact mapping for feature-level view, and incremental testing to secure progressive development. Roadmaps and epics are high-level, NOT detailed views—so these will NOT work.

The director is understandably concerned, given the negative performance of version 6.0 in the customer market. Base your interactions in a shared sense of responsibility for the failure, whether it is a real failure, whether it was predicted or probable, or whether it is a temporary or unexpected event. Avoid performing actions again that your team already made; likewise, avoid being defensive by reminding them that they had a role in approving a failed product. Neither of these will help the company achieve its strategic goals—which is what both parties are supposed to be committed to doing.

Even an inexperienced project manager should understand that terms and conditions should be agreed before engaging a contractor to actually do project work. The procurement plan and the agreement/contract hold all data reference contracts and are the sources to guide payment activities.

In this case, the stakeholder’s concern should be researched before any action is taken. Once the project manager has determined the correct number and type of resources for the project, then they should use negotiation skills to achieve the proper support for the work of the project and its outcome.

The customer was NOT engaged enough in the project. The iteration review is the best mechanism for the team to demonstrate the product and for the customer to give feedback to ensure that expectations are met and that final stakeholder approval will be given.

Project manager B has the authority to reschedule or reallocate the resources, once it will NOT jeopardize project B. Going directly to the resources themselves undermines the functional manager, so this is unethical. The resources have been identified as the solution to the problem, so it is best to attempt to make this solution work first. The other options of the project sponsor and working with project team members would be secondary and tertiary options which would probably NOT work as well.

In this scenario, the project manager’s first action is to attempt to make the stakeholder cooperative with the project. One way of doing this is presenting the data that supports the business decision.

If stakeholders remain resistant despite the project manager’s efforts, then escalation may be required.

The servant leader should work within the organization to simplify processes affecting the team as much as possible. However, large companies typically need internal processes, so these can rarely be eliminated altogether.

A project manager is a servant leader. Servant leadership means listening and acting with empathy. Especially in virtual teams, facilitating servant leadership can be a challenge. Replacing the key team member is a unilateral action that project team members and others may perceive as drastic, considering the circumstances. Asking others, such as HR or the functional manager, to intervene is a good idea, but the team member should be consulted first, and asking the team to work overtime is always a gamble. Given all of this, the project is the priority here. Speak with the team member first, using emotional intelligence and empathy, but with a firm approach to completion of work as a priority.

Communication in virtual teams can be challenging. Being direct may NOT leave a good first impression and revising a service agreement may be perceived as hostile by the vendor. This vendor is critical to the success of the project and important to the business, and the team may be getting demoralized by their unsuccessful attempts to manage the vendor. Be attentive of these factors using active listening and emotional intelligence. Creating a workspace that enables everyone on the project team to see the project work and be accountable for delivering their work on time is the best option here. Including the product owner in the virtual work space as an informed party is wise.

“May cause a delay” does NOT mean the task completion will be delayed. To improve the probability of success, the team should collaborate and find a solution. They know their work best, and despite working virtually, they should be able to find a solution.

The team member has been away from work after a natural disaster. In addition to that, the team is working virtually, so communication is already different than when everyone was co-located in the office. Empathy is required here. Take action without being intrusive or asking others to intervene. There could be many reasons for the absence, and while the team member is your responsibility, completing the project work is your first priority.

In an agile virtual team, the project manager needs to keep work visible so that the team can see progress. This is essential. Changing the way the team works together in the middle of a project can be very disruptive. In this case, they are lucky that a problem did NOT arise. The project manager needs to protect the team against impediments and allow them to focus on their work.

The project manager should first confirm with the technical resource manager whether a resource is available.

In agile or adaptive environments, the product owner and the team should prioritize and reprioritize tasks they know will or might impact other work. Always consider risk exposure when prioritizing tasks.

Loss of skills is one of the most disruptive factors to a team. Knowledge-sharing workshops would mitigate this and help develop the team to be more cross-functional.

Without seeing performance first-hand, there is no available proof to the hearsay. Therefore, meet with the new resource to learn about their qualifications for work and introduce them to the team as you would with any other new resource.

The project manager should know how to handle key personnel changes and keep the team motivated and productive.

Agile projects require “T” shaped team members. That is, individuals who are cross-functional and understand the importance and value of collaboration across functional areas. In this case, the team needs the addition of skilled resources and people who collaborate.

Without seeing performance first-hand, the rumor has no validity. In general, any third-party information—hearsay or rumors, for example—is a danger to relationships in a project, as it may create strained relationships. Always investigate any suspected problems and find out the facts.

The project manager should know how to handle key personnel changes and keep the team motivated and productive.

The use of virtual teams creates new possibilities when acquiring project team members. Virtual teams can be defined as groups of people with a shared goal who fulfill their roles with little or no time spent meeting face to face. The availability of communication technology such as email, audio conferencing, social media, web-based meetings, and video conferencing has made virtual teams feasible.

It is the project manager’s responsibility to make sure that the new members are adequately trained. This approach provides that training.

In situations with time constraints, the most efficient option is expanding the team to include skilled resources. Training is also an option if resources have the capability to learn within the timeframe. The project sponsor has already made their request, so it is up to the project manager to realize it. Agile projects are designed to function in highly complex and unpredictable environments, so suspending or cancelling the project hardly ever is an option.

It is the project manager’s responsibility to make sure that the new members are adequately trained. This approach provides that training.

The project manager must ensure the junior members are properly trained and ensure that all team members are doing the work that they are supposed to be doing. Implementing training and keeping everyone’s work visible is the most comprehensive option to achieve both goals.

The product owner typically has sole authority to prioritize and plan the backlog according to business needs. Refinement also requires prioritization. Adding items can be delegated, and the product owner would prioritize at a later time.

The Scrum master has the role of ensuring that the team’s working conditions, including workload, are appropriate and sustainable.

Agile teams must have accountability for the results of their work. In this case, valuable lessons learned and context of error are shared. The team will have to collaborate on ways to prevent the problem by updating the Definition of Done—for example, adding checks on external conditions.

By including T-shaped members, teams can collaborate better to complete work, and members will NOT need to reassign tasks to others.

Refinement results in smaller, less complex stories, which allows the team to complete them faster.

Overly complex stories can cause prolonged periods of testing. Backlog refinement is used to break down complex stories into smaller packages.

The feature burn-up chart can be used as a common measure of progress, and lessons learned are recorded in retrospectives. Information radiators are physical displays used to share up-to-date information across the organization. They are NOT live cams exclusively (fishbowl and webcam distractors) and the information is NOT on demand (Wiki page).

Story point estimates would be used measure progress in an agile project, and actual hours worked would NOT be apparent unless readjusted. However, as an important note, an agile team is self-organized and the emphasis is on team output, NOT individual effort.

The most important factor to effectively collaborate between teams in a Scrum of Scrums is to understand the work across all teams. This knowledge promotes effective coordination to identify and resolve dependencies and impediments. The other qualities are mainly important within the team (expertise and influence).

Servant leaders must promote professional development through challenges and help team members build bridges with external groups. They also educate stakeholders on the business value of agile methodology.

The key problem of the team is that specialists are outside of their comfort zone. Mentoring and diversifying the team so that it is more cross-functional is the most efficient measure. Relying on the team’s existing skill set to perform a spike or boosting their motivation or prolonging iterations will NOT address the root problem of specialization.

Facilitation is the ability to effectively guide a group event to a successful decision, solution, or conclusion. A facilitator ensures effective participation, that participants achieve a mutual understanding, that all contributions are considered, that conclusions or results have full buy-in according to the decision process established for the project, and that the actions and agreements achieved are appropriately dealt with afterward.

The primary goal of a project manager in relation to supporting a high-performing project team is to ensure that the team has the right skills and knowledge to complete the work and to keep them motivated to do their best work. These actions potentially optimize project outcomes.

Daily standups are important meetings for agile teams. The project manager should coach the team in how a daily standup meeting is run and what is discussed. Teams run their own standups, and when run well, they can be very useful. Daily standups are typically 10-15 mins and three questions are answered: 1) What did you do since the last standup? 2) What will you do today? 3) Are there any impediments or roadblocks? Hold separate meetings to discuss the blockers and find the solutions.

Personal influence is a leadership skill that enables project teams and individuals to use existing relationships, building on them to further project activities and goals. In this case, team member C has an existing relationship that may help the project team to understand more quickly the needs of the project sponsor.

A team meeting is the best solution because it encourages every team member to participate and results in a clear set of guidelines for the team.

In this case, the R&D executive stakeholder is bypassing the product owner and creating disruption. A working agreement between the executive and the product owner is needed to restore order.

The requirement is to devote 40% of effort (story points) to each of the four (4) niche units at every iteration.

Group by unit: 4 niche + 6 mainstream

40% story points / 4 units = 10%

The source of this conflict is a lack of communication, as well as inaction to prevent delay. The most comprehensive response is to ensure constant communication between the team and product owner.

The project manager is addressing the conflict with a collaborate/problem approach, first ensuring all viewpoints are expressed and then inviting suggestions on how to resolve the dispute. If you remind the team about one person’s authority and/or reprimand the protesting member, you are using a force/direct approach, which is not compatible with agile principles, and which is, in any case, a last resort. On the other hand, if you only calm or placate, then you may NOT reach a compromise, which is the goal.

The Forming phase is when the team members meet and learn about the project and their formal roles and responsibilities. Team members tend to be solitary and independent in this phase.

Conflict should be addressed in private in order to better understand the concern being raised. Exploring the concern after the meeting gives the project manager an opportunity to verify it and determine next steps without disrupting the meeting.

The collaborate/problem solve approach incorporates multiple viewpoints and insights from differing perspectives. It requires a cooperative attitude and open dialogue that typically leads to consensus and commitment. This approach can result in a win-win situation.

The project manager needs to resolve this issue quickly. A face-to-face meeting is the best choice to resolve this conflict. Any other communication choice is NOT direct enough.

Consistent communication is important for ensuring a lower probability of issues and successfully addressing existing risks.

During the norming phase, team members begin to work together and adjust their work habits and behaviors to support the team. The team members learn to trust each other.