PM Fundamentals
This phase formally establishes a project and identifies why the work should be undertaken.
What is Initiation?
his individual is accountable for providing executive support, removing major organizational barriers, and championing the project.
What is Project Sponsor?
Sending this before a project meeting helps participants understand why they're attending and what they should prepare for.
What is agenda?
A project team member hasn't completed an action item for two consecutive meetings. What should the PM do?
Follow up outside the meeting, identify the barrier, clarify accountability and establish a new commitment/date.
True or False: The project manager's primary responsibility during meetings is taking notes and documenting what everyone else discusses.
FALSE! The PM should facilitate, create clarity, drive decisions, establish accountability and maintain momentum.
This information or artifact defines what is —and often what is not— included in a project.
What is project scope/scope statement?
This person owns the coordination, organization, communication, and momentum of the project but does not make every project decision.
What is Project Manager?
A stakeholder dominates the meeting while two key SMEs haven't spoken. What's one thing the PM should do?
Facilitate the conversation and intentionally invite input from the SMEs.
A leader asks to add something significant to the project that wasn't included in the original scope. What should happen first?
Assess the requested scope change and its impact. Submit a change order request to leadership.
Finish the sentence: A project meeting should end with clarity around decisions, action items, _____, and _____.
Owners and due dates.
A project task cannot begin until another task finishes. This is known as this type of relationship.
What is a dependency/predecessor?
A stakeholder says, "You're the project manager—just decide what workflow we're going to use." The workflow decision requires clinical/operational expertise. Who should make or own that decision?
The appropriate operational owner/SME/business leader, facilitated by the PM.
Your meeting ends with a great discussion—but nobody knows who's doing what next. What was missing?
Clear action items, owners, and due dates.
Your project is technically "green," but stakeholders repeatedly aren't responding, decisions are delayed, and milestones are starting to get tight. Is this really green?
No. Stakeholder engagement and delayed decisions represent project risk and should be reflected in status reporting.
What's wrong with this status update?
It doesn't identify what is needed, who owns it, when it's due, what follow-up has occurred, or what impact the delay has on the project.
Your project is on schedule today, but a vendor has warned that an upcoming delivery might be delayed. Where should this be documented?
What is the risk log/register?
The project is complete, but the new process needs ongoing monitoring and improvement. Who should ultimately own that work?
You're scheduled for a recurring one-hour project meeting tomorrow. There are no decisions needed, no overdue actions, and nothing requiring group discussion. What should you do?
Cancel or shorten the meeting and communicate why.
A project team member updates the project plan without telling the PM, changing several dates. What's the real problem?
Governance/change control and lack of communication, not simply that someone touched, changed or has access to the plan.
You inherit a project and discover nobody can clearly explain what success looks like. What's your first priority?
Reestablish alignment on objectives, scope, success measures/KPIs and stakeholder expectations.
A project has officially gone live. Name three things that should happen before the PM considers the project closed.
Transition to operations, acceptance/sign-off, lessons learned, final documentation, outstanding-item transition, KPI/benefit monitoring plan, stakeholder communication, archive project artifacts.
Name the tool that clarifies who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed.
What is RACI?
Two department leaders disagree strongly about the direction of the project and ask the PM to choose a side. What should the PM do?
Facilitate the decision using project objectives, requirements, data, risks and organizational priorities; clarify decision authority; escalate to the appropriate sponsor/governance body if consensus cannot be reached.
Your sponsor says, "Why isn't this project moving faster?" Your project team says, "We're waiting for leadership to make three decisions." What should the PM have already done?
Made the decision dependencies visible, assigned decision owners/dates, communicated their impact, followed up proactively, and escalated appropriately before they affected the timeline.
A great project manager doesn't just track the work. A great project manager ________.
"Drives the work forward." Other appropriate answers: leadership, accountability, organization, communication, and momentum.