Free PMP Course

Performance Tips&Tricks
BEN HAMOUDA CONSULTING
by Ahmed Ben Hamouda

PMP® SCT® SAFe®

 Assessing Project Performance
Tips & Tricks
● KPI’s can be for measurements from different project areas.
● When there is Performance Variance, find root cause/gap analysis and take corrective action
(with a CR) or preventive action.
● Earned Value (EV) Management Terminologies: Actual Cost (AC), Planned Value (PV), Budget At
Completion (BAC), Cost Variance (CV), Schedule Variance (SV), Cost Performance Index (CPI),
Schedule Performance Index (SPI).
● If CV and SV are > 0 / CPI and SPI are > 1, project is ahead of schedule and under budget =>
Resource leveling / Crashing can be considered if necessary.
● If CV and SV are < 0 / CPI and SPI are < 1, project is behind schedule and over budget. Crashing
and schedule extension are not possible. Consider fast-tracking.
● When TCPI is <1, project will be completed easily.
● Other Terminologies: Estimate At Completion (EAC), Estimate To Complete (ETC), Variance At
Completion (VAC), To Complete Performance Index (TCPI).
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● Earned Value Measurement formulas:
• BAC = cost baseline + contingency reserve.
• EV = % of work complete x BAC.
• PV = % of planned work to be completed at time of measurement x BAC.
CV = EV – AC SV = EV – PV
CPI = EV / AC SPI = EV / PV
• In case of variance EAC = BAC / CPI When variance will end EAC = AC + BAC - EV
In case of Updated Plan EAC = AC + ETC (bottom-up)
Other EAC = AC + ((BAC - EV) / (CPI x SPI))
• ETC = EAC - AC
• TCPI = (BAC - EV ) / (BAC - AC) (objective to complete within BAC)
When CPI < 1, TCPI = (BAC – EV) / (EAC – AC) (objective to complete within EAC) 3
● Use Cost-Benefit analysis to convince stakeholders of solution.
● Project with highest IRR is most beneficial.
● ROI: (net investment gain x 100)/invested cost
● NPV calculates value of future incomes in present. Negative NPV is bad.
● Payback period: how much time to break-even the invested amount.
● Time2Market: how much time until delivering the product/solution into the market.
● S-curve shows the cumulative cost of the project over a specific period of time.
● Business value is not just financial—it includes customer satisfaction, process efficiency,
compliance, and strategic alignment.
● Read carefully—Some questions include unnecessary data to distract you. Identify only
relevant details.

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10 Test Questions

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 Correct Answer

Question 1 D

A project team uses the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) occasionally to select the project
projected to be most beneficial to the company. On one such occasion the IRR figures for the
four projects were:
Project A = 5%, Project B = 0%, Project C = 3% , Project D = 10%.

Which of these projects should be selected based on these IRR figures provided?

A. Project A
B. Project B
C. Project C
D. Project D

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 Correct Answer

Question 2 A

Given the following burndown chart, select the iteration where the team was working with
more velocity than planned.

A. Iteration 1
B. Iteration 4
C. Iteration 2
D. Iteration 3

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 Correct Answer

Question 3 C

During project execution, a project manager discovers that the budget at completion has
shifted significantly and is higher than expected.

What should the project manager do?

A. Adjust the original budget estimates with the current cost variance.
B. Negotiate the project changes and adjust stakeholder expectations.
C. Perform a root cause analysis of the project performance.
D. Review the activity duration to reforecast the project completion date.

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 Correct Answer

Question 4 B

A project manager is leading a project which shows a trend to exceed the cost baseline.

What should the project manager do first to manage the budget?

A. Ask the project sponsor for assistance in getting the budget back on track.
B. Meet with the project team to analyze the actual cost to determine deviations.
C. Inform the stakeholders that the project will be finished over budget.
D. Issue a change request including the analysis to increase the budget

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 Correct Answer

Question 5 D

During the last sprint review, the stakeholder complained that the product was missing many
features they had been expecting. The project team argued that every increment met the
acceptance criteria and was approved by the stakeholder.
The cost performance index (CPI) of the project is 1.15 and the schedule performance index
(SPI) is 1.43.

What should the project manager do?

A. Ask the project team to perform the modifications since the project budget and schedule
can support them.
B. Ask the stakeholder to submit a change request to increase the budget and time for the
modifications requested.
C. Explain to the stakeholder that since the acceptance criteria for every increment were met
the project can be closed.
D. Analyze the reason for the gap in understanding with both sides and negotiate a solution.

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 Correct Answer

Question 6 C

You are managing a project which was budgeted at 1,250,000$ and scheduled to be completed
within six months. During project execution, the sponsor asked you about the status of the
project. You collected the needed data to calculate earned value measurements. You found
that the project is 35% completed although it should be 40% completed. You have already
spent 550,000$ to reach this point in the project.

What would you tell the sponsor?

A. The project is ahead of schedule and over budget.

B. The project is ahead of schedule and under budget.
C. The project is behind schedule and over budget.
D. The project is behind schedule and under budget.

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 Correct Answer

Question 7 B

During measuring project performance for a product development project against project
baselines, you found that the schedule performance index (SPI) of 0.93 and the cost
performance index (CPI) of 0.82.

Generally, What is the reason behind this?

A. A supplier went out of business and a new one needed to be found.

B. An equipment needed for a critical path activity was delayed and project team purchased a
more expensive one instead.
C. Additional equipment needed to be purchased.
D. The scope was changed.

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 Correct Answer

Question 8 A

The project manager is analyzing project performance using earned value management tool.
He determines that the cost variance is -$10,000.

What is the best thing to do?

A. Determine the schedule variance.

B. Make activities in parallel that are planned in series.
C. Ask for guidance from PMO.
D. Move resources from the project to one that is not failing.

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 Correct Answers

Question 9 A&D

A project manager is working in the fifth month of an implementation for a construction

project. The planner reported that the current schedule performance index (SPI) and cost
performance index (CPI) are 0.8 and 0.9, respectively.

Which two options will help to accelerate the project?

A. Adjust the working procedures to streamline and improve efficiency with the current
resources.
B. Change the critical path by replacing some critical path activities with activities that have
float.
C. Increase the number of resources to get more people involved and get activities done faster.
D. Rearrange the schedule so that some activities on the critical path can be done
concurrently to reduce the project duration.
E. Ask the resources to work overtime to accelerate the project and achieve better results.

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 Correct Answer

Question 10 A

You are managing a project that is experiencing cost overruns and schedule delays. The
Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is 0.85, and the Cost Performance Index (CPI) is 0.75.

Based on these values, which of the following statements is most accurate?

A. The project is over budget and behind schedule, and if this trend continues, the final cost
will be higher than planned.
B. The project is under budget but behind schedule, requiring corrective action to improve
schedule performance.
C. The project is ahead of schedule but over budget, requiring cost control measures.
D. The project is within budget and on track to meet the deadline, requiring no corrective
action.

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