You are a project manager leading a newly formed project team. Which factor should NOT influence your decision when assigning roles and responsibilities to your team members?
Why It's Not Relevant: The number of years in a post does not necessarily equate to competence or suitability for specific roles.
Key Factors:
Qualifications and experience ensure members can meet technical requirements.
Communication style is essential for collaboration.
SIMULATION
Explain how business-as-usual activities can impact the project schedule, considering each of the following elements:
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.
Which of the below would not usually be recorded within a change request?
Stakeholder opinion is generally gathered during requirements or stakeholder management but is not a standard part of a formal change request.
Change requests typically include areas of impact, cost estimates, and anticipated benefits.
During a project review, which of the following would be the best indicator of how the project outputs are progressing?
Earned Value: This is a key performance indicator (KPI) in project management that integrates cost, scope, and schedule. It provides a clear view of how much progress has been made against the work planned and money spent.
Unsuitable Options:
B: Benefits realization assesses post-project success, not ongoing progress.
C: Resource management is unrelated to deliverables progress.
D: Budget tracking only measures financial health without linking to project outputs.
SIMULATION
You are managing a project that is approaching its final phase and is soon to be handed over to the operations team. One of the critical aspects of this transition is the effective engagement of stakeholders.
Describe three key strategies you would use to engage stakeholders in agreeing to a transition plan (3 marks):
Regular communication: Conduct consistent updates to build trust and clarify expectations.
Collaborative workshops: Involve stakeholders in planning workshops to foster ownership.
Tailored stakeholder engagement: Address individual needs with customized communication.
Explain two ways you would ensure the transfer of risks is understood and accepted by all stakeholders involved in the transition (2 marks):
Documented risk register: Provide a clear and shared record of risks with mitigation strategies.
Risk workshops: Conduct sessions to explain residual risks and their management post-transition.
These strategies ensure stakeholder buy-in and alignment on the transition plan, reducing resistance. Workshops and a documented risk register provide clarity on responsibilities.
