Question

A project has the CPI of 0.73 and SPI of 1.1. Two programmers on your project team are in conflict over the best approach to take now. A junior programmer wants to re-use some of the software components your company developed from a similar software application in the past. She supports her idea by claiming that this approach would save at least 1,000 hours of team effort. The opposing senior programmer wants to follow the current development plan because the new proposed approach would require major design changes.

As the project manager, what is the best way for you to proceed?

A.) Tell both programmers to work out the problem between themselves

B.) Consult the project management plan for guidance

C.) Tell them to follow the original design

D.) Analyze the idea and issue a change request if appropriate

Question provided by The PM Exam Simulator: www.pm-exam-simulator.com

Answer & Explanation

Correct Answer: D)

Since the CPI is 0.73 and SPI is 1.1 we can infer that the project is over budget but slightly ahead of schedule.

Accepting the idea will reduce the project duration. Don’t get carried away by the fact that because the SPI is greater than 1 that time is not an issue. A point to be considered here is that if we can reduce the total project time by 1,000 man-hours of team effort, we can significantly reduce the project cost as well. Although this benefit is not highlighted in the junior programmer’s claim, it is very obvious. It seems that taking her advice is a good idea.

But in order to weigh all the pros and cons we need to first analyze it further and then issue a change request.

Reference: PMBOK Guide 5th Edition, page 283 and page 82

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