APM EXAM REVISION ADVANCED TEST 2024

Gate Reviews - answer• A formal decision point; go or no go • Marks the end of the first phase Stage Reviews - answerSimilar to Gate Reviews but occur during longer stages eg. Development Project Evaluation Review - answerA progress review Post Project Review - answerOccurs in Handover and Closure Benefits Review - answerOccur throughout the entire lifecycle, mostly during Operation phase Audit - answerExternal Shadowing - answerInternal; Peer Project Lifecycle - answerConcept Definition Development Handover and Closure Extended Project Lifecycle - answerConcept Definition Development Handover and Closure -Benefits Realisation -Operation Product Lifecycle - answerConcept Definition Development Handover and Closure -Benefits Realisation -Operation Termination Business Case - answer• Created in Concept phase • Background • Options Appraisal • Benefits • Commercial • Aspects • Risks / Requirements • Timescale Business Case: Requirements - answerMusts O Shoulds Coulds not essential) O Won'ts Components of the P3 budget - answer• The base cost estimate • Contingency • Management Reserve Base Cost Estimate consists of: - answer• Resourcing • Accommodation • Consumables • Expenses • Capital items 4 types of project cost: - answer• Direct • Indirect • Fixed • Variable What is the project budget? - answer• Identifies the planned expenditure • Used as a baseline against which actual expenditure and predicted work cost can be reported Direct costs - answerBasic costs exclusive to the project, such as resource Indirect costs - answerOverheads and other charges shared across the organisation Fixed costs - answerDoes not change, such as the purchase of an item Variable costs - answerWill fluctuate according to how much resources used, such as salary Tracking costs - answerGive a fair, accurate picture of where you are with your spend Types of tracking costs - answer• Actual • Accrued • Committed - Sunk Actual costs - answerMoney paid out already Accrued costs - answerWhere the work is done but no invoice has been received yet; the cost is transferred to the next financial period Committed costs - answerWhere the cost is promised, such as a contract Sunk costs - answer• Under committed costs • Where the money is paid out already irrespective of whether the work has been done Cost Baseline - answer• Will be of the most interest to the PM and sponsor • produced bottom up • this is what is approved for the project Baseline project budget structure - answer• Project budget • 2 X Reserves • Cost Baseline • Control Accounts • Work Package estimates • Activity estimates Baseline project budget: 2 X Reserves - answerContingency Management Contingency Reserve - answerFor knowns and identified risks Management Reserve - answerFor the unknowns and unpredicted risks Baseline budget - answer• Everything is reported and measured against the baseline • Allows expectation of project spending Things are always liable to change resulting in: - answer• An inaccurate baseline - scope is mapped against costs Benefits of a project review - answer• Allow for more informed decision-making • Increases stakeholder confidence • Allow for timely implementation of corrective action • Allows for an objective review of the project health • Sharing of lessons learned • Increased chance of project success • Rigorous governance Configuration Management activities: - answer• Identification • Control • Status Accounting • Audit and Verification Configuration Management: Identification - answerEach baseline configuration item requires some form of unique identification as well as the documenting of any related attributes, such as type of item, owner, status, version, relationship with other items Configuration Management: Control - answerChanges to the configuration baseline must only be implemented and approved by the authorised parties. Storage of CI's must be controlled and access to be restricted where appropriate, including archived items Configurations Management: Status Accounting - answerCurrent status and version of each item must be recorded and monitored, any changes must be documented to enable tracking of an item status during its development. A PM might typically use a register of assets, also known as a product status account, to ensure that the status is clearly visible Configuration Management: Audit and Verification - answerAssets should be reviewed at each stage gate to ensure that their status aligns with the presently authorised version. This is important at handover as it insures that the latest version of each project as it is delivered