Quiz — Foundations¶
At a glance
- Modules: 01–02
- Questions: 10
- Estimated time: 30 minutes
How to use this quiz¶
Answer every question in writing before revealing the answer. Compare your reasoning, not just your conclusion. If you are unsure how to self-assess, read How to Self-Assess.
Part A — Vocabulary (questions 1–4)¶
A1. What two properties distinguish a project from ongoing operations?
Answer
It is temporary — it has a definite beginning and end — and it produces a unique product, service, or result. Operations are ongoing and repetitive.
A2. Define a programme and explain how it differs from a portfolio.
Answer
A programme is a group of related projects managed together to obtain benefits that managing them separately would not produce. A portfolio is a selected collection of projects and programmes, managed together to meet strategic objectives and balance investment. Programmes group related work for benefits; portfolios select work for strategy.
A3. What is a stakeholder?
Answer
Any individual or group who affects, is affected by, or believes they are affected by the project. The "believes they are affected" part matters: it is why stakeholders must be identified rather than assumed.
A4. Distinguish a constraint from an assumption.
Answer
A constraint is a fixed fact the project cannot change (a deadline, a required integration, a budget ceiling). An assumption is something believed to be true but not confirmed, and which may therefore turn out to be false.
Part B — Application (questions 5–7)¶
B1. A stakeholder asks you to add a feature, insisting that the deadline, budget, and team stay exactly as they are. What is the honest response, and why?
Answer
Point out that the constraints are linked: with time, cost, and people fixed, added scope must come from somewhere — usually by dropping existing scope or accepting lower quality. The honest response is to make the trade-off explicit and let whoever owns priorities choose. Silently absorbing the extra work is how projects slip.
B2. Your project is one of five funded together from a single annual IT budget. At which level of organisation is this grouping, and what question does that level answer?
Answer
The portfolio level. It answers where should we invest at all? — selecting and balancing work against strategic objectives.
B3. You are given a one-line idea for a system and asked to start building immediately. Name two things you should establish before writing code, and say why each matters.
Answer
Any two of: (a) purpose and success criteria — so "done" is defined and testable; (b) scope boundary, including explicit exclusions — to prevent different people assuming different things; (c) stakeholders and who approves changes — so decisions and escalation are clear; (d) constraints and assumptions — so you know what is fixed and what you are betting on. Each matters because finding these out during construction is far more expensive than finding them out first.
Part C — Judgement (questions 8–10)¶
C1. "A project that delivers on time and on budget has succeeded." Do you agree? Explain your reasoning with at least one counter-consideration.
Answer
No, not on its own. A project can be on time and on budget and still fail if it does not deliver the intended value, is not used, or causes harm — for instance, it meets the schedule but the users cannot do their jobs with it. Equally, a project that overruns but delivers substantial, durable value may be judged a success. Reasonable answers may argue that time and budget are necessary but not sufficient conditions. Credit sound reasoning that weighs more than one dimension of success.
C2. A project finishes a month early. Give a situation in which this is not good news, and explain who would see it that way.
Answer
If another project (or system) is a prerequisite for the finished work to be useful, or if the early finish releases specialists the wider organisation still needs, the programme manager may see it as a problem: the benefit the programme is pursuing may not arrive any sooner, and capacity may have been misallocated. This shows that success is defined relative to the level at which you are judging.
C3. You join a project in week 6 and find no charter, no written scope, and no risk register. Which single artefact would you produce first, and what do you expect it to reveal?
Answer
Most defensible: a charter (or an equivalent written statement of scope and success criteria) — produced quickly and validated with the sponsor and key stakeholders. Expect it to reveal disagreements: people will describe the scope, deadline, and success criteria differently. That divergence is the real finding, and it is much cheaper to discover it at week 6 in a document than at week 12 in a missed launch. A strong answer also notes you would keep it short so it actually gets read and agreed.
Scoring guide¶
| Section | Points | What it checks |
|---|---|---|
| A | 4 | Vocabulary and definitions |
| B | 3 | Applying concepts to a situation |
| C | 3 | Reasoning and judgement |
Interpretation: 8+ suggests you are ready to continue. 5–7 is fine — revisit the sections you missed. Below 5, re-read Module 01 and Module 02 before moving on.