Knowledge Area Test: Project Stakeholder Management

Question 1

1. Organizational process assets are key inputs to the Manage Stakeholder Engagement process. The key elements of the organizational process assets that are used during this process are organizational communication requirements, issue management procedures, and the change control procedures. Which of the following is also a key organizational process asset that must be considered during this process?

Answer 1

Historical information about previous projects

All of the given choices are organizational process assets. However, the organizational policies and templates are more relevant during the planning phase of the project. For the Manage Stakeholder Engagement process, a process from the executing process group, historical information about previous projects is considered a critical input from the organizational process assets. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Page 526]

Question 2

2. The stakeholder engagement plan is a subsidiary plan of the project management plan. It includes the strategies required to effectively engage project stakeholders. An ineffective stakeholder engagement strategy can lead to project failure. The stakeholder engagement plan:

Answer 2

Can be formal or informal, highly detailed or broadly framed

According to the PMBOK® Guide, the stakeholder engagement plan can be formal or informal, highly detailed or broadly framed. [PMBOK® 6th edition, Page 522]

Question 3

3. Jennifer has recently been asked to manage an office refurbishment project. She finds out that the chief financial officer of the company is resisting the project. The chief financial officer is a key project stakeholder. What must Jennifer do first?

Answer 3

Analyze options that might change or influence the chief financial officer‘s perception

In this scenario, the chief financial officer is a resistant key stakeholder. The chief financial officer must be turned into a project supporter in order to ensure success. Any of the given choices could be the solution to this problem. However, Jennifer should first identify all of the available options and analyze them before selecting the best option. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Page 521]

Question 4

4. The enterprise environmental factors play an important role during the development of the project stakeholder engagement plan. The following list gives the most significant enterprise environmental factors considered during the Plan Stakeholder Engagement process except one. Which one is it?

Answer 4

Organizational communication requirements

Organizational communication requirements should be considered during project stakeholder engagement plan development. However, these are part of organizational process assets and not enterprise environmental factors. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Pages 519, 520]

Question 5

5. Sandra is managing a software development project. The project has many stakeholders having a negative attitude toward the project. Sandra knows she can’t keep everybody happy but still can try her best to manage them. Which of the following can help Sandra manage these negative stakeholders better?

Answer 5

Engage them in project decisions

Regardless how bad the situation is, send inaccurate project reports is never an option. Further ignoring the negative stakeholders is not recommended. Sending periodic project updates will help but the best way to reduce the negative bias towards the project is to involve the negative stakeholders in project decisions so they get a sense of ownership. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Pages 504-506]

Question 6

6. PMBOK® Guide offers a number of tools and techniques for all the project management processes. These tools and techniques must be carefully applied in order to meet the objectives of any process. Which of the following is not a tool or technique of the Plan Stakeholder Engagement process?

Answer 6

Interpersonal skills

‘Interpersonal skills’ is not a tool or technique of the Plan Stakeholder Engagement process. The rest of the choice are valid tools or techniques. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Page 516]

Question 7

7. Mark is managing an airport construction project. He is currently identifying his project stakeholders, and he has compiled a long list of stakeholders already. Managing expectations of every project stakeholder is not practical. What should he do in this situation?

Answer 7

Project stakeholders should be prioritized based on their influence and interest.

When the stakeholders list becomes unmanageable, the project stakeholders should be prioritized to ensure the efficient use of effort and time to manage their expectations. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Page 512]

Question 8

8. You have recently taken over an organizational transformation project that is halfway through execution. Although significant time was spent on project planning, you discover that the project’s stakeholder register is no longer accurate. What should you do?

Answer 8

Review the stakeholder register and carry out the Identify Stakeholders process.

The Identify Stakeholders process is an iterative process. During any stage of the project, if the stakeholder register is found to be out of date, it must be updated. The stakeholder register is not a part of any of the project’s baselines. Updating the stakeholder register does not require issuing a change request. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Page 507]

Question 9

9. It is not practical, and usually not necessary, to engage with all stakeholders with the same level of intensity at all times. A project manager must prioritize stakeholders depending upon on who they are, what level of influence they have on the project, and what their interests are. Which of the following techniques helps in stakeholder prioritization?

Answer 9

Stakeholder classification models

Stakeholder classification models are used during stakeholder analysis to rank stakeholders based on their power, influence, interest, and impact. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, Page 512]

Question 10

10. George is managing an enterprise workflow automation project. The project is currently in planning and detailed product requirements are being collected to finalize the product and project scope. The project team notices that one group of stakeholders is lobbying against the project and wants the project to fail. Successful engagement and collaboration with these stakeholders are important for the success of the project. What must George do first?

Answer 10

Conduct a detailed stakeholder engagement assessment followed by updating the stakeholder management plan.

A stakeholder engagement assessment using a stakeholder engagement assessment matrix supports comparison between the current engagement levels of stakeholders and the desired engagement levels required for successful project delivery. Using the results of this assessment we can devise effective stakeholder management strategies. [PMBOK® Guide 6th edition, page 521]