PMI-SP PMI Scheduling Professional Free Practice Exam Questions (2025 Updated)

Rolling wave planning is a technique to plan and do the most imminent project work before moving onto the details that are far off in the project schedule and project plan. Rolling wave planning is a technique for performing progressive elaboration planning where the work to be accomplished in the near future is planned in detail at a low level of the work breakdown structure. The work to be performed within another one or two reporting periods in the near future is planned in detail as work is being completed during the current period.

Answer options B and A are incorrect. These are not valid project management terms.

Answer option D is incorrect. Decomposition is the process of breaking down work packages into the activity list.

The code of accounts is a hierarchical numbering system that uniquely identifies each deliverable of the WBS and segments the WBS by levels of numbering.

Answer option C is incorrect. Component numbering is not a valid term for project management.

Answer option B is incorrect. A chart of accounts is a financial tracking and assignment tool for common deliverables and activities an organization performs for its customers.

Answer option D is incorrect. Activity linkage sequencing is not a valid project management term.

Fred should add lag time to each painting activity. Since lag time is waiting time, Fred will have to wait twenty-four hours after the priming is finished before he can start painting. What is a lag? A lag directs a delay in the successor activity. Lags require the dependent activity to have added either to the start date or to the finish date of the activity. For example, in a project of making radio-controlled airplanes, after applying glue and pasting stickers, it requires twenty-four hours to dry the glue. Any activity can be started after that only. This period, of twenty-four hours, is a lag.

Answer option C is incorrect. There is no reason to add an intermediary task as waiting. Adding lag time is the most appropriate as there are fewer activities to manage.

Answer option D is incorrect. Priming all of the room first and then painting all of the rooms would cause Fred to readjust the entire sequencing of activities. In addition, we do not know the reason why Fred has scheduled all the rooms to be primed and then painted. There may be successor activities in the project that need to enter each room, such as carpeting, as soon as a room has been painted. If that were the case the additional activities would have to wait for all of the priming to be completed and then the sequential rooms to be painted before they could start.

Answer option A is incorrect. Lead time actually moves activities closer together rather than farther apart. Lead time would cause the painting and priming activities to overlap, something that Fred does not want to happen. What is a lead? A lead allows an acceleration of the successor activity. It works just the opposite of lag. For example, in a software application project, before designing is fully completed for first phase, a program development group can start this phase programming. This overlapping of timing is a lead.

The limit on each work is an organizational policy for each project. Policies, rules, and organizational requirements are the enterprise environmental factors.

Answer option D is incorrect. Organizational process assets are things that have been created for the project manager, such as software, templates, guidelines, and other resources that will assist the project manager in completing the project.

Answer option C is incorrect. While this could be a resource limitation, it is not a valid project management term. Resource leveling heuristics or a project constraint would have been acceptable answers.

Answer option A is incorrect. Expert judgment happens, when the project manager relies on someone with more knowledge on a topic to help the project manager make the best project decision.

According to the question, the schedule variance (SV) of the project is 25, which is a positive value. The positive SV depicts that the project is ahead of the planned schedule. What is SV? Schedule variance (SV) is a measure of schedule performance on a project. The variance notifies that the schedule is ahead or behind what was planned for this period in time. The schedule variance is calculated based on the following formula: SV = Earned Value (EV) - Planned Value (PV) If the resulting schedule is negative, it indicates that the project is behind schedule. A value greater than 0 shows that the project is ahead of the planned schedule. A value of 0 indicates that the project is right on target.

Answer option A is incorrect. The negative SV means that project is behind the schedule.

Answer option C is incorrect. The zero SV means that project is right on target.

Answer option B is incorrect. This result can be drawn by looking at the cost variance (CV) of the project. What is CV? Cost variance (CV) is a measure of cost performance on a project. The variance notifies if costs are higher than budgeted or lower than budgeted. The cost variance is calculated based on the following formula: CV = Earned Value (EV) - Actual Cost (AC) A positive value means that spending is less than budgeted, whereas a negative value indicates that costs are higher than originally planned for the project.

A three-point estimate records the optimistic, most likely, and the pessimistic duration and then records an average for the predicted duration. Three-point estimate is a way to enhance the accuracy of activity duration estimates. This concept is originated with the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). PERT charts the following three estimates: Most likely (TM): The duration of activity based on realistic factors such as resources assigned, interruptions, etc. Optimistic (TO): The activity duration based on the best-case scenario Pessimistic (TP): The activity duration based on the worst-case scenario The expected (TE) activity duration is a weighted average of these three estimates: TE = (TO + 4TM + TP) / 6

Duration estimates based on the above equations (sometimes simple average of the three estimates is also used) provide more accuracy.

Here it is,

TE = ( 24 + 28*4 + 36) / 6

= 272/6

= 29 (approx)

Answer options B, D, and A are incorrect. These are not the valid answers for this question.

Because this project needs the specific resource of Henry, the application developer, and Henry is not available, it is considered as a resource constraint. Recall that a constraint is anything that limits the project manager's option.

Answer option C is incorrect. A resource requirement is simply the need for an application developer.

Answer option B is incorrect. This is likely a matrix organization, but it is not the best answer for this question.

Answer option A is incorrect. While there may be some competition for skilled resources, such as Henry, the application developer, it is not the best answer for this question.

The integrated change control process reviews proposed changes and determines what effect the change will have on the entire project. This includes scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, and procurement. Integrated change control is a way to manage the changes incurred during a project. It is a method that manages reviewing the suggestions for changes and utilizing the tools and techniques to evaluate whether the change should be approved or rejected. Integrated change control is a primary component of the project's change control system that examines the affect of a proposed change on the entire project.

Answer option A is incorrect. Scope change control focuses only on the effect of the change on the project scope.

Answer option B is incorrect. Schedule change control focuses only on the effect of the change on the schedule.

Answer option D is incorrect. The Change Control Board is a committee of key stakeholders, usually management, the project manager, and the project customer, to evaluate proposed changes. This board, however, is not a project process.

A salience model uses three values to classify stakeholders: power, urgency, and legitimacy in the project. The salience model is a technique for categorizing stakeholders according to their importance. The various difficulties faced by the project managers are as follows: How to choose the right stakeholders? How to prioritize competing claims of the stakeholders communication needs? Stakeholder salience is determined by the evaluation of their power, legitimacy and urgency in the organization. Power is defined as the ability of the stakeholder to impose their will. Urgency is the need for immediate action. Legitimacy shows the stakeholders participation is appropriate or not. . The model allows the project manager to decide the relative salience of a particular stakeholder.

Answer option D is incorrect. This is a description of a power/interest grid.

Answer option B is incorrect. This is a description of an influence/impact grid over the project.

Answer option C is incorrect. This is a description of a power/impact over the project.

The project calendar needs to be updated to reflect the 24-hour time period rather than the 8-hour time period. The project calendar is used to define the working and nonworking days and times for tasks. This calendar is usually used to represent an organization's traditional working hours. Project uses this calendar to schedule tasks that do not have resources assigned or that have a task type of fixed duration. By default, the Standard base calendar is used as the project calendar. A user can also reflect alternative schedules by using other base calendars. The working days and hours in the project calendar reflect the working days and hours for the whole project. A user can also specify special days off, such as company holidays. A user can also indicate other nonworking times to reflect periods when the whole team will be working on nonproject activities, such as company meetings or department retreats.

Answer option D is incorrect. The schedule management plan will reference to the project calendar and the resource calendar. It does not need to be updated directly as a result of the time period change.

Answer option C is incorrect. The resource calendar does not need to be updated as this document defines when resources are available.

Answer option B is incorrect. The activities of the project are not changing, only the time periods of the project calendar.

These are some communication activities that Tom uses to communicate with the team and the stakeholders. Communications skills are part of general management skills and are used to exchange information. Communication has many dimensions: Written and oral, listening, and speaking Internal (within the project) and external (customer, the media, the public) Formal (reports, briefings) and informal (memos, ad hoc conversations) Vertical (up and down the organization) and horizontal (with peers) Communication is the most important skill that a project manager must posses. It is the single most important characteristics of a top-class project manager. Project managers must communicate well in order to integrate and maximize the performance of team members. Oral and written communications are the backbone of every successful project. During different phases of a project, a project manager requires to communicate through different manners (for example, documentation, meeting updates, etc.) and he must ensure that the information communicated is explicit, clear, and complete.

Answer option C is incorrect. It is a technique to resolve conflict that arises while communicating with different parties.

This is an example of a weighting system as the values you're measuring are weighted towards experience.

Answer option B is incorrect. A preferred vendors list describes the vendors you're allowed to choose from in the organization.

Answer option A is incorrect. A screening system sets qualifiers in place, such as the vendor must have a PMP on staff, in order to qualify for the project.

Answer option C is incorrect. The benefits-cost analysis defines the total number of benefits to the number of costs the project requires.

The Identify Stakeholders process identifies all people or organizations that are impacted by the project. It also documents relevant information regarding their interests, involvement, and impact on project success. Stakeholder register and stakeholder management strategy are outputs of this process.

Answer option C is incorrect. Project charter is one of the inputs of the Identify Stakeholders process.

Answer option A is incorrect. Scope baseline is one of the outputs of the Create Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) process.

Answer option B is incorrect. Project scope statement is one of the outputs of the Define Scope process.

The project's Communications Management Plan defines what information will be distributed, when it will be distributed, to whom it will be distributed, and the modality of the information.

Answer option D is incorrect. The Schedule Management Plan defines the project work, when the project work will happen, resource utilization, and how the schedule will be monitored and controlled.

Answer option C is incorrect. There is a stakeholder management strategy, but not a Stakeholder Management Plan.

Answer option A is incorrect. The project's Scope Management Plan defines how the scope will be created, how the changes will be allowed, how the scope will be executed, monitored and controlled, and finally closed.

The precedence diagramming method is not a tool and technique that will be used during the activity definition process. Precedence diagramming method (PDM) is used in critical path methodology for building a project schedule network diagram that uses boxes or rectangles, referred to as nodes, to represent activities, and join each other with arrows that show the logical relationship that exists between them. The tools and techniques used in defining the activity process are as follows: Decomposition: It is used to further divide the project work package into a more smaller and convenient form called activities. Rolling Wave Planning: It is a form of progressive elaboration planning where the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail and future work is planned at a higher level of WBS. Templates: It is an activity list or a part of the activity list taken from the previous project and used in a new project. Expert Judgement: The skilled members in a project team or other experts who develop project scope statements can help provide knowledge in defining activities.

The schedule performance index is found by dividing the earned value by the planned value. In this instance, the planned value is ten percent more than where the project is forty percent of the budget at completion. Schedule performance index (SPI) is the measure of schedule efficiency on a project. It is used in trend analysis to predict future performance. SPI is the ratio of earned value to planned value. The SPI is calculated based on the following formula: SPI = Earned Value (EV) / Planned Value (PV) If the SPI value is greater than 1, it indicates better than expected performance, whereas if the value is less than 1, it shows poor performance. The SPI value of 1 indicates that the project is right on target.

Answer option C is incorrect. 0.95 is the project's cost performance index.

Answer options A and D are incorrect. An index is a decimal value.

The schedule variance is found by subtracting the planned value from the earned value. In this instance, it is $447,000 minus $558,750. Schedule variance (SV) is a measure of schedule performance on a project. The variance notifies that the schedule is ahead or behind what was planned for this period in time. The schedule variance is calculated based on the following formula: SV = Earned Value (EV) - Planned Value (PV) If the resulting schedule is negative, it indicates that the project is behind schedule. A value greater than 0 shows that the project is ahead of the planned schedule. A value of 0 indicates that the project is right on target.

Answer option C is incorrect. $7,000 is the cost variance for this project.

Answer option A is incorrect. $11,667 is the variance at completion for this project.

Answer option B is incorrect. 1.02 is the cost performance index for this project.

Activity I can actually take all the way to Day 30 to complete. Note in the figure that Activity I does not need to be completed before Activity K can begin. This allows Activity I to take until Day 30 to complete as its late finish.

Answer option C is incorrect. This is the earliest Activity I may finish.

Answer options B and A are incorrect. These are not the valid calculation.

Cost performance index (CPI) is used to calculate performance efficiencies. It is used in trend analysis to predict future performance. CPI is the ratio of earned value to actual cost. The CPI is calculated based on the following formula: CPI = Earned Value (EV) / Actual Cost (AC) If the CPI value is greater than 1, it indicates better than expected performance, whereas if the value is less than 1, it shows poor performance. The CPI value of 1 indicates that the project is right on target. In this instance, the actual costs are $125,000 more than what the work is worth, which means you'll need to find the earned value, $795,024 and add $125,000 to find the actual costs of the project, which are $920,024.

Answer option A is incorrect. This is a trick as 86 is not the same value as .86. On your PMP exam pay attention to these little details.

Answer option C is incorrect. .90 is slightly more than the Schedule Performance Index of this project.

Answer option B is incorrect. This value represents the actual cost of the project.