PRINCE2Practitioner Certification Exam Questions

1. Based on lessons from previous projects that used the ABC Company standard development model, the project board has set low cost and time tolerances for stage 2. As a result, the project manager plans to set very low tolerances for time and cost for all work packages to be carried out during stage 2. Is this an appropriate application of the ‘manage by exception’ principle, and why?

2. During stage 4, a work package was authorized for the ‘delivered pilot courses’ to be completed by the end of week 2. The ‘finalized materials’ work package will start in week 3. Both work packages have zero tolerances, and finalizing the materials is dependent on feedback from the pilot courses.

During week 1, there were some problems with the pilot courses, so at the start of week 2 the team manager rescheduled the courses to week 3, and reported this in the weekly checkpoint report as the end of week 2.

Should the team manager have reported this delay previously as an issue, and why?

3. The project is now closed. The expected increase in revenue is not being achieved. It has been agreed with the team manager for the ‘marketing materials’ that additional marketing activities will be undertaken to achieve the expected increase in revenue.

Who should be responsible for monitoring the results of the marketing activities, and why?

4. MANAGING A STAGE BOUNDARY

The ABC Company trainers have been accredited and the course booking procedures have been amended. The ‘managing a stage boundary’ process is taking place at the end of stage 3.

Which activity should occur during the ‘update the business case’ activity?

5. Towards the end of stage 2, the stage 3 plan is being prepared. This includes the work required to promote the new courses to other training companies. In addition to the current ways of marketing the courses, the Sales Director wants to advertise in trade magazines. The likely costs involved and the opportunities it may bring have been identified.

As part of the ‘update the project plan’ activity, what should the project manager be responsible for?

6. All the products that are due in stage 3 have been completed, apart from the ‘updated corporate quality procedures’. The work has been completed but the product has not yet been approved. The executive has been told that it will be signed off before the end of the project. In response to an exception report, the executive has instructed the project manager to plan to obtain approval of the product in stage 4.

Is this appropriate application of the report management stage end’ activity, and why?

7. CLOSING A PROJECT

Benefits relating to income and business reputation after the project has closed cannot be shown at project closure.

Which statement describes how the ‘closing a project’ process makes provision for this?

8. The Health and Safety Training Project is closing as planned. According to the contract terms, suppliers must submit all invoices within one week of project closure. The project manager will issue a project closure notification informing all suppliers of this invoicing deadline as part of the ‘recommended project closure’ activity.

Is this appropriate, and why?

9. The project is at the start of stage 3, and there will be six teams working on product delivery. In order to exercise control, the project manager has asked each team to submit a detailed team plan for approval. The external team manager for the ‘e-learning course’ has agreed to submit a summary to the project manager, but will submit the detailed team plan to the senior supplier to review and approve.

Is the team manager’s response appropriate, and why?

10. The project is in stage 2. The project manager is reviewing stage status and has collected the checkpoint reports from the team managers. These show that the products are being completed on schedule. However, project support has raised issues that quality reviews have not been completed as agreed. The project manager reports in the highlight report that the stage is progressing well.

Is this appropriate, and why?

11. MANAGING PRODUCT DELIVERY

The team manager for the production of the ‘marketing materials’ has identified that they will not be ready within the timescale agreed in the work package. The team manager has sufficient tolerance to take corrective action. As a result, additional resources have been assigned to this work package.

Which theme is being applied?

12. In order for ABC Company to achieve the expected sales of the health and safety training course, the senior user will need to ensure that all staff understand the objectives and target audience for the course.

In addition, these sales will need to be added to each individual’s sales targets. These activities have been included in the benefits management approach.

Is this appropriate, and why?

13. A quality review of the ‘marketing materials’ has started. The team manager for the ‘marketing materials’ has been unhappy with the team’s workload throughout the project and refuses to attend the review meeting to present the material. The team manager suggests that a new marketing team member make the presentation. However, the chair decides to represent the marketing team and makes a list of actions to resolve later.

Is this an appropriate approach to the quality review, and why?

14. The delivery of the pilot courses has been split into two separate products: ‘planned pilot courses’ and ‘delivered pilot courses’. ‘Planned pilot courses’ will be produced during stage 3, and the ‘delivered pilot courses’ will take place during stage 4. This will allow the project board to approve the plan for the pilot courses before the resources are committed to delivering the pilot courses.

Why is this an appropriate application of the plans theme to control the project?

15. ABC Company carried out a similar project two years ago, in response to changes in health and safety legislation for the health service. The experiences from that project were used to refine the corporate risk management policy. For that reason, the project board decided to use the corporate risk management policy in the risk management approach for this project.

Is this appropriate, and why?

16. An external consultant has signed a contract and agreed a work package to accredit the trainers. The Purchasing Manager will monitor the contract, which states the requirement to organize the accreditation with the Training Delivery Manager. The Training Delivery Manager has tried to contact the consultant but there has been no response. The project manager believes there is a risk that the consultant is prioritizing other clients’ work.

The Purchasing Manager has been assigned as the risk owner. Is this an appropriate approach to managing this risk, and why?

17. The project’s change control approach states that PRINCE2’s recommended issue and change control procedure will be used. The senior user has requested that a new set of marketing materials and marketing channels be introduced to support the launch of the training course. The senior user has suggested that this should be managed informally.

Where should the project manager record the issue, and why?

18. The external team manager for the ‘e-learning course’ has reviewed the quality register to ensure all quality activities have been completed. The ‘e-learning course’ has been approved and accreditation has been achieved. As a result, the team manager updated the work package to notify the project manager that it is complete, and updated the team plan.

Is this appropriate, and why?

19. ABC Company uses a standard development model to develop courses and uses PRINCE2 to manage these projects. The objectives from the Health and Safety Training Project have been documented in the business plan of ABC Company. This business plan has triggered this project. As a result, to save time, the executive has decided to simplify the ‘starting up a project’ process. The project mandate will be adapted and becomes the project brief.

Is this appropriate, and why?

20. ABC Company has decided to include the Health and Safety Training Project in a programme to support their strategy to deliver globally. The programme team has provided the detailed business justification and, as a result, the project board has decided that the business case will not need refining further during the ‘initiating a project’ process.

Is this an appropriate action for the project board, and why?