PMBOK Scope and WBS Development 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A project manager is rolling out an ERP system in phases. To allow flexibility in future phases while maintaining control, which WBS element should be used for undefined future work?
- Work package
- Control account
- Planning package (Correct answer)
- Milestone
Correct answer: Planning package
A planning package is used when the scope is known but detailed planning cannot yet be completed, allowing structured flexibility.
Question 2: Prototyping is used as a requirements elicitation technique primarily because it:
- Reduces project budget by replacing documentation
- Allows stakeholders to provide feedback on a tangible model before final design (Correct answer)
- Eliminates the need for formal scope validation
- Assigns requirements directly to WBS work packages
Correct answer: Allows stakeholders to provide feedback on a tangible model before final design
Prototyping provides stakeholders with a working model to experiment with, enabling earlier and more accurate feedback on requirements.
Question 3: Scope verification (now called Validate Scope) differs from quality control because:
- Scope validation checks accuracy while quality control checks completeness
- Scope validation focuses on acceptance of deliverables; quality control focuses on correctness of deliverables (Correct answer)
- Quality control is performed by the customer; scope validation is performed internally
- Scope validation occurs before planning; quality control occurs after execution
Correct answer: Scope validation focuses on acceptance of deliverables; quality control focuses on correctness of deliverables
Validate Scope focuses on formally accepting completed deliverables with stakeholders, while quality control focuses on meeting quality requirements.
Question 4: A project manager discovers that the project scope statement is missing the product acceptance criteria. What risk does this create?
- The project charter will need to be reissued
- Stakeholders may disagree on what constitutes successful completion of deliverables (Correct answer)
- The WBS cannot be created until acceptance criteria are added
- The requirements traceability matrix becomes invalid
Correct answer: Stakeholders may disagree on what constitutes successful completion of deliverables
Without clear acceptance criteria, stakeholders have no agreed-upon definition of done, creating high risk of disputes during scope validation.
Question 5: Which of the following is an output of the Create WBS process?
- Requirements documentation
- Scope baseline (Correct answer)
- Change requests
- Stakeholder register
Correct answer: Scope baseline
The scope baseline—comprising the approved project scope statement, WBS, and WBS dictionary—is the key output of Create WBS.
Question 6: A project manager is told by a team member that a feature was added because 'the customer mentioned they would like it.' No formal change request was submitted. This is BEST described as:
- Proactive risk management
- Gold plating
- Scope creep (Correct answer)
- Value engineering
Correct answer: Scope creep
Scope creep is the unauthorized expansion of project scope; adding features based on informal stakeholder comments without change control is a classic example.
Question 7: When using the expert judgment technique in the Collect Requirements process, who would be the MOST valuable source?
- Project sponsor with budget authority
- Subject matter experts with domain experience relevant to the product (Correct answer)
- Legal counsel reviewing contracts
- Procurement team managing vendor relationships
Correct answer: Subject matter experts with domain experience relevant to the product
Subject matter experts with relevant domain experience can identify requirements that stakeholders may not think to articulate.
PMBOK Scope and WBS Development 5
A project manager is rolling out an ERP system in phases.
To allow flexibility in future phases while maintaining control, which WBS element should be used for undefined future work?