Chapter 1
Project Basics (Domain 1.0)

THE FOLLOWING COMPTIA PROJECT+ EXAM OBJECTIVES ARE COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER:

• 1.1 Summarize the properties of a project.
  • Temporary
  • Start and finish
  • Unique
  • Reason/purpose
  • Project as part of a program
  • Project as part of a portfolio
• 1.2 Classify project roles and responsibilities.
  • Sponsor/champion
    • Approval authority
      • Funding
      • Project charter
      • Baseline
      • High-level requirements
    • Control
    • Marketing
    • Roadblocks
    • Business case/justification
  • Project manager
    • Manage team, communication, scope, risk, budget, and time
    • Manage quality assurance
    • Responsible for artifacts
  • Project coordinator
    • Support project manager
    • Cross-functional coordination
    • Documentation/administrative support
    • Time/resource scheduling
    • Check for quality
  • Stakeholder
    • Vested interest
    • Provide input and requirements
    • Project steering
    • Expertise
  • Scheduler
    • Develop and maintain project schedule
    • Communicate timeline and changes
    • Reporting schedule performance
    • Solicit task status from resources
  • Project team
    • Contribute expertise to the project
    • Contribute deliverables according to schedule
    • Estimation of task duration
    • Estimation of costs and dependencies
  • Project Management Office (PMO)
    • Sets standards and practices for organization
    • Sets deliverables
    • Provides governance
    • Key performance indicators and parameters
    • Provides tools
    • Outlines consequences of non-performance
    • Standard documentation/templates
    • Coordinate resources between projects
• 1.3 Compare and contrast standard project phases.
  • Initiation
    • Project charter
    • Business case
    • High-level scope definition
    • High-level risks
  • Planning
    • Schedule
    • Work breakdown structure
    • Resources
    • Detailed risks
    • Requirements
    • Communication plan
    • Procurement plan
    • Change management plan
    • Budget
  • Execution
    • Deliverables
  • Monitor and control
    • Risks/issues log
    • Performance measuring and reporting
    • Quality assurance/governance
    • Change control
    • Budget
  • Closing
    • Transition/integration plan
      • Training
    • Project sign off
    • Archive project documents
    • Lessons learned
    • Release resources
    • Close contracts
• 1.4 Identify the basics of project cost control.
  • Total project cost
  • Expenditure tracking
  • Expenditure reporting
  • Burn rate
  • Cost baseline/budget
    • Plan vs. actual
• 1.5 Identify common project team organizational structures.
  • Functional
    • Resources reporting to Functional Manager
    • Project Manager has limited or no authority
  • Matrix
    • Authority is shared between Functional Managers and Project Managers
    • Resources assigned from Functional area to project
    • Project Manager authority ranges from weak to strong
  • Projectized
    • Project Manager has full authority
    • Resources report to Project Manager
    • Ad hoc resources
• 1.6 Given a scenario, execute and develop project schedules.
  • Work breakdown structure
  • Scheduling activities
    • Determine tasks
    • Determine task start/finish dates
    • Determine activity/task durations
    • Determine milestones
    • Set predecessors
    • Set dependencies
    • Sequence tasks
    • Prioritize tasks
    • Determine critical path
    • Allocate resources
    • Set baseline
    • Set quality gates
    • Set governance gates
      • Client sign off
      • Management approval
      • Legislative approval
• 1.7 Identify the basic aspects of the Agile methodology.
  • Readily adapt to new/changing requirements
  • Iterative approach
  • Continuous requirements gathering
  • Establish a backlog
  • Burndown charts
  • Continuous feedback
  • Sprint planning
  • Daily standup meetings/SCRUM meetings
  • SCRUM retrospective
  • Self-organized and self-directed teams
• 1.8 Explain the importance of human resource, physical resource, and personnel management.
  • Resource management concepts
    • Shared resources
    • Dedicated resources
    • Resource allocation
    • Resource shortage
    • Resource overallocation
    • Low quality resources
    • Benched resources
    • Interproject dependencies
    • Interproject resource contention
  • Personnel management
    • Team building
    • Trust building
    • Team selection
    • Skill sets
    • Remote vs. in-house
    • Personnel removal/replacement
    • Communication issues
    • Conflict resolution
      • Smoothing
      • Forcing
      • Compromising
      • Confronting
      • Avoiding
      • Negotiating

1. 1. What are the defining characteristics of a project? (Choose two.)

   1. A group of related tasks
   2. Temporary in nature
   3. Operational activities
   4. Reworking of an existing project
   5. Creation of a unique product or service

2. 2. The project team is responsible for all of the following EXCEPT

   1. Providing governance on the project
   2. Contributing to the deliverables according to the schedule
   3. Contributing expertise to the project
   4. Estimating costs and dependencies​

3. 3. What is a work breakdown structure?

   1. A task-oriented decomposition of a project
   2. A deliverable-oriented decomposition of a project
   3. A graphic representation of tasks and their sequence
   4. A high-level outline of milestones on a project

4. 4. What elements are explained in a business case? ​

   1. Justification by identifying the organizational benefits
   2. Alternative solutions
   3. Alignment to the strategic plan
   4. All of the above
   5. A and C

5. 5. Of the following, which are considered key activities of the Monitor and Control phase?

   1. Performance Measuring and Reporting
   2. Develop the Quality Plan
   3. Perform Quality Assurance
   4. Monitor the Budget
   5. Develop the Change Control Plan​
   6. Develop the Project Charter

6. 6. What plan determines the information needs of the stakeholders, format of information delivery, delivery frequency, and the preparer?

   1. Stakeholder Analysis Plan
   2. Project Charter
   3. Human Resources Plan
   4. Communications Plan

7. 7. Which type of cost estimating uses a mathematical model to compute costs?

   1. Top-down estimating
   2. Bottom-up estimating
   3. Parametric estimating
   4. Three-point estimating​

8. 8. A project has an earned value of $2,500 and an actual cost of $2,275. The cost variance for this project would be which of the following?

   1. $2,275
   2. $225
   3. $2,500
   4. $−225

9. 9. During an Agile daily stand-up meeting, what are three questions that are asked and answered?

   1. What did I accomplish yesterday? What will I do today? What are the necessary next steps?
   2. What did I accomplish today? Who will I be working with today? What obstacles are preventing progress?
   3. What did I accomplish yesterday? Who will I be working with today? What obstacles are preventing progress?
   4. What did I accomplish yesterday? What will I do today? What obstacles are preventing progress?

10. 10. Marcus works for Wigitcom, and he has been assigned to work on a project. Marcus’s regular boss pulls him back to work on assignments and will conduct his performance review. What type of organizational structure is Wigitcom using?

    1. Agile
    2. Functional
    3. Matrix
    4. Projectized

11. 11. A project has a key contributor who is absent from meetings, not meeting deadlines, and affecting the morale of other individuals on a team. There is no other person within the company with the expertise needed to perform the tasks assigned to this team member. Which of the following would be the appropriate action for the project manager?

    1. Bring the team member in for a counseling session.
    2. Leave the employee alone and distribute work to other team members.
    3. Remove the team member from the project...