SIMULATION
You are overseeing a construction project for a new retail center. Midway through the project, the design team proposes a significant change to the building's layout, which they argue will improve overall functionality and therefore present better value for money. However, this change would require demolishing and rebuilding a section of the structure.
Given the proposed changes, outline five actions you would take to evaluate the change request to provide an appropriate recommendation.
Answer : A
Conduct a cost-benefit analysis.
Review the project scope and objectives.
Assess risks associated with the change.
Engage stakeholders for input and alignment.
Develop a recommendation document.
These actions ensure the proposed changes are evaluated thoroughly, balancing functionality improvement against potential costs, risks, and stakeholder concerns.
SIMULATION
Explain how business-as-usual activities can impact the project schedule, considering each of the following elements:
Answer : A
Cost: Additional operational expenses reduce project funding.
Quality: Competing priorities can lead to rushed deliverables, affecting quality.
Scope: Limited resources may result in deprioritizing certain scope items.
Risk: Overlapping activities introduce unforeseen risks.
Resource Allocation: Business-as-usual tasks strain shared resources, delaying progress.
Cost: Regular operations may consume budgetary reserves, requiring reallocation.
Quality: Lower prioritization of project tasks can lead to reduced standards.
Scope: Non-critical deliverables may be delayed or omitted.
Risk: Uncoordinated overlaps increase vulnerabilities.
Resource Strain: Teams split between routine and project tasks face inefficiencies.
SIMULATION
Quality control activities help to prevent problems being passed on to customers. State two quality control checks that may be carried out during a project:
Answer : A
Testing deliverables against specifications.
Conducting milestone inspections to identify defects.
Testing Deliverables: Ensures alignment with client expectations and standards.
Inspections: Prevents issues from escalating by catching them early in the lifecycle.
You are leading a large-scale information technology project to migrate your company's data to the latest hardware. The delivery is being led by third-party suppliers, who were not involved in the design phase. The supplier has completed their capacity planning and has raised a potential risk that the current data may exceed the storage capacity of the new hardware purchased.
What type of risk response would you choose to mitigate this risk?
Answer : C
The best approach is to use the contingency budget because:
Defined Risk Response: Contingency budgets are designed to handle identified risks without impacting the project's main budget.
Stakeholder Agreement: It avoids escalating disputes with suppliers by addressing the issue proactively.
Unsuitable Options:
A: Tolerating the risk is impractical when the risk is confirmed.
B: Re-forecasting creates unnecessary delays and increases costs.
D: Transferring risk to the supplier could damage partnerships.
You are managing a construction project aimed at developing a new eco-friendly office building. You are tasked with ensuring that sustainability measures are effectively monitored and reported.
At which point in the project life cycle should you implement sustainability measures?
Answer : C
Sustainability measures must be incorporated into the planning phase to ensure they are built into the project's design and delivery processes. Continuous monitoring ensures adherence to goals.
SIMULATION
You are managing a project to develop and deploy a new finance management software system for a client. The project has been deployed and is now in the post-deployment support phase. This phase requires ongoing technical support and maintenance after the software is deployed. The workload can vary significantly over time, is likely to evolve over time, and quick response times are essential.
Questio n: Based on the features of different contractual relationships and methods of supplier reimbursement, state the most appropriate contract type for the post-deployment phase. (1 mark)
Questio n: Explain four reasons why this would be the most suitable. (4 marks)
Answer : A
Most Appropriate Contract Type:
Time and Materials (T&M) Contract
The Time and Materials (T&M) contract is the most suitable for the post-deployment support phase of this project. This type of contract allows flexibility and is ideal for scenarios where workload can vary significantly, and the scope of work may evolve over time.
Four Reasons Why T&M is the Most Suitable Contract Type:
Flexibility to Accommodate Changing Workloads:
The nature of post-deployment support often involves unpredictable workloads that may vary significantly based on client issues, system updates, and evolving requirements. A T&M contract enables scaling of resources (both time and effort) up or down as needed, ensuring the flexibility required for such scenarios.
Adaptability to Evolving Scope:
Since post-deployment support tasks often change over time (e.g., addressing newly discovered bugs, implementing requested features, or handling unexpected incidents), a T&M contract is well-suited as it allows for adaptability without the need for renegotiation.
Cost-Effective for the Client:
Clients only pay for the actual time and materials used, making it cost-effective. This ensures that no money is wasted on fixed-price contracts where the estimated scope may not align with the actual effort required.
Enables Quick Response Times:
Post-deployment support often demands immediate attention to critical issues to maintain the software's reliability and performance. A T&M contract facilitates rapid allocation of resources as needed, ensuring prompt resolution of issues without delays caused by scope or cost discussions.
SIMULATION
A financial services company is launching a new banking product for which the sponsors have set a challenging timeline for an initial launch. The stakeholders have provided a list of conflicting requirements to be included in the new product design and build.
The project manager has decided to deliver the project in an iterative life cycle due to the time constraints.
Answer : A
Part A: State two reasons why an iterative approach would benefit solutions development in this scenario.
Faster delivery of prioritized features.
Flexibility to adapt to evolving stakeholder requirements.
Part B: Explain three requirement prioritization approaches the project team could focus on to meet the deadline in this scenario.
MoSCoW Method: Categorizes requirements as 'Must Have,' 'Should Have,' 'Could Have,' and 'Won't Have,' focusing on essential features.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Focuses on implementing high-value, low-cost features first.
Value-Risk Matrix: Balances high-value requirements with low risk to ensure a feasible and impactful scope.
Iterative approaches allow for incremental delivery and continuous stakeholder feedback, which is essential for resolving conflicting requirements within tight timelines. Prioritization techniques ensure limited resources are used effectively.