PMP Practice Questions #93
You are the project manager of a complex urban development project. Recently, there have been several instances where updated designs and specifications were not communicated effectively across teams, leading to inconsistencies and rework. To address this challenge and improve coordination, which project management tool or document should you refer to and strengthen?
A) The Risk Management Plan, to better identify and mitigate the risks associated with miscommunication and design inconsistencies.
B) The Project Charter, to redefine the project’s objectives and deliverables in light of the recent challenges faced.
C) The Quality Management Plan, to enhance the quality control processes for design and specification approvals.
D) The Configuration Management Plan, to ensure effective management, tracking, and communication of all changes in project designs and specifications.
Analysis:
This scenario involves addressing communication and coordination challenges in a complex urban development project, where updated designs and specifications were not effectively communicated across teams, leading to inconsistencies and rework. The focus is on identifying the right project management tool or document to improve this situation.
Analysis of Options:
Option A: The Risk Management Plan, to better identify and mitigate the risks associated with miscommunication and design inconsistencies. This plan primarily deals with the identification, mitigation, and management of risks. While communication issues could be considered a risk, the core problem here relates more directly to managing project artifacts and their changes. Thus, the Risk Management Plan is not the most direct solution.
Option B: The Project Charter, to redefine the project’s objectives and deliverables in light of the recent challenges faced. The Project Charter outlines the project’s objectives and high-level information. It does not deal with the day-to-day management of project details like design updates, making it less relevant to the current challenge.
Option C: The Quality Management Plan, to enhance the quality control processes for design and specification approvals. This plan focuses on maintaining quality in the project, including quality control processes for design and specifications. However, while it contributes to ensuring quality, it doesn’t directly address the management and tracking of changes in project artifacts.
Option D: The Configuration Management Plan, to ensure effective management, tracking, and communication of all changes in project designs and specifications. This plan is specifically designed to manage and track changes in project artifacts, ensuring that all components are up-to-date and synchronized. This directly addresses the challenge of effectively communicating updated designs and specifications across teams.
Conclusion: Option D, referring to and strengthening the Configuration Management Plan, is the best choice for addressing the described challenge. It directly targets the need for effective management, tracking, and communication of changes in project designs and specifications. This aligns with the core issues of inconsistency and rework due to communication failures in the project. Enhancing the Configuration Management Plan would help ensure that all team members have access to the latest project artifacts, thus improving coordination and reducing the likelihood of inconsistencies. This option directly impacts the management of project artifacts, which is central to the problem described in the scenario.
PMP Exam Content Outline Mapping
| Domain | Task |
|---|---|
| Process | Task 12: Manage project artifacts |
Topics Covered
- Configuration Management System
- Configuration Management Plan
