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1. A new grocery store is being erected, which will demolish a neighborhood basketball court. Who would be an internal stakeholder? Who would be an external stakeholder? (p.119, Analyzing)

Internal stakeholders include anyone working on the project. External stakeholders could include neighborhood residents and/or anyone affected by either the project execution or the results of the project.

2. Think of a recent project you completed and choose three stakeholders. Prioritize them, using Bourne’s and Walker’s three criteria model. (p.120, Creating)

Answers will vary.

3. In your opinion, what is the single most important component of building relationships within a project team? Why? (p.124, Evaluating)

Answers will vary but should be supported.

4. In your opinion, what is the greatest benefit of having good communication between the project team and project stakeholders? Why? (pp124-126, Evaluating)

Answers will vary but should be supported.5. Imagine you are the project manager of a team tasked with building a new hotel. When brainstorming project communication plan considerations, what would you list under “purposes”? (pp.126-128, Applying)

Answers will vary and may include: authorization, status reporting, information seeking, etc.

6. Using the same scenario as Question 5, which timing schedule would you choose to use? Why? (p. 128, Evaluating)

Answers will vary among the three timing schedules listed but should be supported.

7. Create a project meeting agenda for an upcoming project (or class) meeting you have. (pp.130-132, Creating)

Student examples should use template given on p.131.

8. Betty, a project manager, sent out agendas before an upcoming meeting to everyone involved. During the meeting, she got a team member to take minutes. After the meeting, Betty followed up with team members to check their progress.

Evaluate Betty’s actions using the PDCA model. What, if anything, could she have done better? (p.131, Evaluating)

Betty neglected the “Check” step of the PDCA model, which entails having the team members evaluate the meeting itself.

9. You are working for a multinational organization and need to relay information to Japan. Which communication method would you chose to use and why? (pp.135-136, Analyzing)

Answers will vary but should be supported. The chart on p.136 says that the Japanese often value face-to-face interaction, so perhaps a video conference would be a good choice.

10. Give as many examples of cultural differences as you can, using information from the text and your own experiences. (pp.135-136, Applying)

Answers will vary and should include some of the examples listed on pp.135-136.

1) The “component of the project management plan that describes how project communications will be planned, structured, monitored and controlled” is the: a) Communication model b) Communications management plan c) Stakeholder register d) Organizational breakdown structure

Answer: b

Page 126 in textbook

Page 296 PMBOK 5th Edition

2) In order for a new grocery store to be erected, a neighborhood basketball court located on the building site will have to be demolished. The neighborhood children who liked to play basketball there could be considered as _________: a) Subject matter experts b) Internal stakeholders c) External stakeholders d) Customers

Answer: c

Page 119 in textbook

Page 394 PMBOK 5th Edition

3) According to the PMBOK® Guide, stakeholders can be prioritized by their potential impact on the project based on a determination of all of the factors below EXCEPT: a) Level of authority b) Level of concern c) Active involvement d) Political connections

Answer: d

Page 120 in textbook

Pages 395 - 397 PMBOK 5th Edition

4) The components of a project communications management plan should typically include the purpose of the communication, structure (format, content etc.), methods or technologies to be used, and _______: a) Work performance data b) Time frame and frequency c) Stakeholder priorities d) Lessons learned

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Answer: b

Pages 127-128 in textbook

Page 296 PMBOK 5th Edition a) Competencies b) Language c) Time zones d) Culture

5) Which of these is NOT a challenge of working on global and virtual teams?

Answer: a

Pages 134-135 in textbook

Pages 292 - 295 PMBOK 5th Edition a) Refreshments b) Business cards c) Meeting minutes d) Lessons learned

6) Most project meetings are formal, planned events between project stakeholders. Effective meetings typically have a purpose, a pre-arranged time and place, a list of attendees and their roles, and an agenda with topics and issues to be discussed. After the meeting, _______ are circulated.

Answer: c

Page 132 in textbook

Pages 84 and 295 PMBOK 5th Edition a) Stakeholder engagement matrix b) Organizational breakdown structure c) Stakeholder register d) Weighted scoring model

7) The “project document that includes the identification, assessment and classification of project stakeholders” is called the _____________.

Answer: c

Pages 121-122 in textbook

Pages 398 & 563, PMBOK 5th Edition a) Communication to the wrong audience b) Delay in message delivery c) Misinterpretation of the message communicated d) All of the above could be problems

8) Inadequate communications planning may endanger the success of the project. Which of these could be a problem resulting from poor communications planning?

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Answer: d

Pages 126-128 in textbook

Page 290 PMBOK, 5th Edition

9) One of the key responsibilities of a project manager is to manage stakeholder expectations. It is important for the project manager to have interpersonal or “soft” skills that include: overcoming resistance to change, resolving conflict, active listening and _____: a) Displaying confidence b) Subject matter expertise c) Ability to command and control d) Building trust

Answer: d

Pages 123-125 in textbook

Pages 407 - 408 PMBOK

10) The communication method that is used for large audiences or large volumes of information and requires recipients to access the content at their own discretion, is called communication. a) Push b) Pull c) Synchronous d) Interactive

Answer: b

Page 128 in textbook

Page 295, PMBOK 5th Edition

Develop a stakeholder analysis for your example project. Identify as many stakeholders as you can using Exhibit 5.3. List stakeholders by name and title where possible. Then prioritize the listed stakeholders as in Exhibit 5.4. Be very specific regarding what each stakeholder is interested in. Recognize some stakeholders may have an interest in multiple aspects of the project process or results. Create a Stakeholder Matrix (register) like exhibit 5.6.

Answers will vary, but students should have identified quite a few individuals, groups, or organizations as stakeholders, prioritized them as key or other, listed their interests, and have at least an idea for support and/or mitigation strategies for each.

Describe the activities you are using to build relationships both within your core team and with other stakeholders. Create a project decision-making guide for your project like Exhibit 5.7. List specific examples of decisions to the extent you can.

Again, answers will vary, but the more specific the students are, the better.

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

The students may struggle with this initially, but try to get them to realistically assess what the various stakeholder groups think about their project and how to improve those attitudes.

Develop a communications matrix for your project like Exhibit 5.11. Be sure to use considerations in Exhibit 5.10 for ideas regarding purpose, structure, method, and timing for each communication need.

This is the primary deliverable from Chapter 5. Most of the other work leads up to this. Since many projects experience problems due to poor communication, a workable communication matrix is quite valuable. The matrix should have all six columns shown in Exhibit 5.11. One big lesson for students is many stakeholders need to learn certain things from the project team, but need to supply the project team with very different information. Hence, check the learn from and share with columns for logic carefully.

Document a project meeting with an advance agenda, meeting minutes, issues log, and Plus Delta form of evaluation like Exhibits 5.11 through 5.14.

This can be a major assignment in itself or part of a communications plan assignment. I try hard to get the students to plan at least one meeting effectively, run it according to the agenda, capture minutes and issues, and then evaluate the meeting. If you only talk about this, but do not require it, many students will not do it. The learning comes from the practice, not being lectured.

1. Plan purpose – A brief description of why and how the plan was developed, and an overview of the overall team communication philosophy. Also states types of communications planned, for lateral, downward, and upward communication.

2. Identification of stakeholders – The “who” in the project that requires information, (i.e. team members, project sponsor, class professor, etc.) and also the responsible parties to receive and/or communicate information.

3. Information to be shared – The “what” in terms of project information communication. Describes types of information that the team uses to communicate amongst its own team members, and also to the agency sponsor and the class professor.

4. Frequency of information exchange – The “when” describes how often communications will be held (i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, as needed, etc.)

5. Location of information exchange – The “where” states the location of the meeting or other interactions

6. Purpose of communication – The “why” description assures that communications are held effectively.

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.