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1 The information technology field is relatively stable and unchanging.

2 The gap between users and developers decreases as technology advances.

Most educational systems for information technology graduates promote strong technical skills over strong communication and social skills.

You can separate technical skills and soft skills when working on information technology projects.

5 The communications management plan will vary with the needs of the project.

6 The communications management plan should not address frequency of communication.

By analyzing stakeholder communications needs, you can avoid wasting time or money on creating or disseminating unnecessary information.

Consistent communication helps organizations improve project communications, especially for programs composed of multiple projects.

Many WBSs include a section for project communications to ensure that reporting key information is a project deliverable.

10

Getting project information to the right people at the right time and in a useful format is not as important as developing the information in the first place.

11

Instead of knowing the people working on their projects and developing a trusting relationship with them, many colleagues and managers should want to focus on getting

information by reading technical documents.

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12

It is not important to document any changes in technical specifications that might affect product performance.

13 People have a tendency to want to report bad information.

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Adding more people to a project that is falling behind schedule often causes more setbacks because of the increased complexity of communications.

15

You can assume that a task originally scheduled to take two months of one persons time can be done in one month by two people.

16 Rarely does the receiver interpret a message exactly as the sender intended.

17 Communicating badly exponentially increases the possibility of making fatal mistakes.

18 Status reports can take various formats depending on the stakeholders needs.

19

Many projects have each team member prepare a monthly or sometimes weekly progress report.

20

Team members often create consolidated progress reports based on the information received from team leaders.

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Project managers should lead their teams in developing norms for dealing with various types of conflicts that might arise on their projects.

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When using the confrontation mode, project managers directly face a conflict using a problem-solving approach that allows affected parties to work through their disagreements.

23 Project managers must realize that all conflict is bad.

24

Emotional conflict, which stems from personality clashes and misunderstandings, often depresses team performance.

25

It is common to find someone with a natural ability for both communication and technical skills.

26

Not understanding how to communicate effectively with other cultures and people of diverse backgrounds hurts projects and businesses.

27

It is not good practice to include time for informal meetings with customers to help develop relationships and provide staff to assist in relationship management.

28 Do not have a meeting if there is a better way of achieving the objective at hand.

29 E-mail is always an appropriate medium for all types of communications.

30 Project team members rarely need to see all project documentation.

____ 31. There are ____ main processes in project communications management. a. two c. four b. three d. five ____ 32. ____ involves determining the information and communications needs of the stakeholders. a. Reporting performance c. Managing stakeholder expectations b. Distributing information d. Planning communications

____ 33. The output of the ____ process is a communications management plan. a. reporting performance c. managing stakeholder expectations b. distributing information d. planning communications ____ 34. ____ involves making needed information available to project stakeholders in a timely manner. a. Reporting performance c. Managing stakeholder expectations d. Planning communications b. Distributing information ____ 35. ____ involves collecting and disseminating performance information, including status reports, progress measurement, and forecasting. c. Managing stakeholder expectations a. Reporting performance b. Distributing information d. Planning communications ____ 36. The communications management plan can be part of the team ____. a. WBS c. plan d. guidelines b. contract ____ 37. Having ____ review and approve all stakeholder communications analysis will ensure that the information is correct and useful. c. top management a. stakeholders b. project team members d. customers ____ 38. Information regarding the content of essential project communications comes from the ____. a. organizational chart c. work breakdown structure

(WBS)
b. communications management plan d. expectations management matrix ____ 39. The ____ serves as a good starting point for information distribution. c. communications management plan a. stakeholder communications

analysis
b. WBS d. status report ____ 40. Often, many non-technical professionalsfrom colleagues to managersprefer to ____ about project information to try to find pertinent information. a. read detailed reports c. read Web pages b. read e-mails d. have a two-way conversation ____ 41. ____ are often more effective, particularly for sensitive information. a. Electronic communications c. Telephone conversations d. Long face-to-face meetings b. Short face-to-face meetings ____ 42. Many people cite research that says in a face-to-face interaction, ____ percent of communication is through body language. a. 10 c. 58 b. 25 d. 85 ____ 43. Since information technology projects often require a lot of coordination, it is a good idea to have ____ meetings. a. long, frequent c. short, frequent b. short, infrequent d. long, infrequent ____ 44. According to the guidelines provided by Practical Communications, Inc., a(n) ____ is the only inappropriate method for expressing support/appreciation. a. phone call c. meeting b. e-mail d. Web site

____ 45. According to the guidelines provided by Practical Communications, Inc., a(n) ____ is the only method that is excellent for encouraging creative thinking. a. phone call c. meeting d. Web Site b. e-mail ____ 46. According to the guidelines provided by Practical Communications, Inc., a(n) ____ is the most appropriate method for giving complex instructions. a. phone call c. meeting b. e-mail d. Web Site ____ 47. Many users prefer ____ to learn how to use a new system. a. phone conversations c. e-mail conversations d. reading user guides b. face-to-face meetings ____ 48. As the number of people involved in a project ____, the complexity of communications ____. a. increases, decreases c. increases, stays constant b. decreases, increases d. increases, increases ____ 49. Two people have ____ communications channel(s). a. zero c. two d. three b. one ____ 50. Four people have ____ communications channel(s). a. one c. six b. four d. eight ____ 51. Many practitioners define project success as ____. a. meeting project scope goals c. satisfying the customer/sponsor b. meeting time goals d. meeting cost goals ____ 52. Project sponsors can usually rank scope, time, and cost goals in order of importance in a(n) ____. a. expectations management matrix c. issue log b. responsibility assignment matrix d. priority matrix ____ 53. ____ describe where the project stands at a specific point in time. a. Progress reports c. Forecasts d. Updates b. Status reports ____ 54. ____ describe what the project team has accomplished during a certain period. c. Forecasts a. Progress reports b. Status reports d. Updates ____ 55. ____ predict future project status and progress based on past information and trends. a. Progress reports c. Forecasts b. Status reports d. Updates ____ 56. ____ are a good way to highlight information provided in important project documents, empower people to be accountable for their work, and have face-to-face discussions about important project issues. a. Information retreats c. Information review meetings b. Status planning meetings d. Status review meetings ____ 57. ____ issues cause the most conflicts over the project life cycle. a. Project priority c. Cost b. Staffing d. Schedule ____ 58. The ____ mode is also called the problem-solving mode. c. smoothing a. confrontation b. compromise d. forcing

____ 59. With the ____, project managers use a give-and-take approach to resolving conflicts. a. confrontation mode c. smoothing mode d. forcing mode b. compromise mode ____ 60. When using the ____, the project manager deemphasizes or avoids areas of differences and emphasizes areas of agreement. a. confrontation mode c. smoothing mode b. withdrawal mode d. forcing mode ____ 61. When using the ____, project managers exert their viewpoint at the potential expense of another viewpoint. a. confrontation mode c. smoothing mode b. compromise mode d. forcing mode ____ 62. When using the ____, project managers retreat or withdraw from an actual or potential disagreement. a. confrontation mode c. smoothing mode d. forcing mode b. withdrawal mode ____ 63. Research indicates that project managers favor using ____ for conflict resolution over the other four modes. a. compromise c. confrontation b. smoothing d. forcing ____ 64. ____ employees are also more likely to enroll voluntarily in classes on the latest technology than those on developing their soft skills. c. Groups of a. Individual b. Service d. Team ____ 65. It takes ____ to help improve communication. a. timing c. leadership b. highly skilled employees d. outside consultants ____ 66. According to the guideline governing ____, many meetings are most effective with the minimum number of participants possible. a. determining if a meeting can be avoided

b. determining who should attend the meeting

c. defining the purpose and intended outcome of the meeting d. running the meeting professionally ____ 67. According to the guideline governing ____, designate someone to take minutes and send the minutes out soon after the meeting.

a. running the meeting professionally

b. providing an agenda to participants before the meeting c. determining who should attend the meeting d. building relationships ____ 68. The ____ line for any e-mail messages you write should clearly state the intention of the e-mail. a. to c. subject b. from d. cc ____ 69. Some items discussed in a(n) ____ include reflections on whether project goals were met, whether the project was successful or not, the causes of variances on the project, the reasoning behind corrective actions chosen, the use of different project management tools and techniques, and personal words of wisdom based on team members experiences. a. final project report c. audit report b. design document d. lessons-learned report ____ 70. ____ are a complete set of organized project records that provide an accurate history of the project.

a. Project archives
b. Project backups

c. Project databases d. Project notes

71. Many experts agree that the greatest threat to the success of any project, especially information technology projects, is a failure to ____________________. 72. The outputs of the ____________________ process are performance reports, organizational process assets updates, and change requests. 73. ________________________________________ involves managing communications to satisfy the needs and expectations of project stakeholders and to resolve issues. 74. A(n) ___________________________________ is a document that guides project communications. 75. The _________________________ analysis includes information such as the contact person for the information, when the information is due, and the preferred format for the information. 76. ____________________ can facilitate the process of distributing information, when used properly. 77. Many experts believe that the difference between good project managers and excellent project managers is their ability to nurture relationships and use empathic ____________________ skills. 78. It is important to put information in context, especially if it is ____________________ news. 79. Project managers should try to ____________________ the size of teams or sub teams to avoid making communications too complex. 80. Many information technology professionals work on ____________________ projects where they never meet their project sponsors, other team members, or other project stakeholders. 81. Many studies define project success as meeting project scope, time, and ____________________ goals. 82. The ______________________________ includes a list of measures of success as well as priorities, expectations, and guidelines related to each measure. 83. The ____________________ statement clearly defines mandatory requirements and optional requirements. 84. Understanding the stakeholders ____________________ can help in managing issues. 85. _________________________ keeps stakeholders informed about how resources are being used to achieve project objectives. 86. Team leaders often create consolidated ____________________ based on the information received from team members. 87. An important technique for performance reporting is the ____________________ review meeting. 88. When the stakes are high, ____________________ is never far away. 89. The ____________________ approach is the least desirable conflict-handling mode. 90. Project team members may become stagnant or develop ____________________conformance to the values or ethical standards of a groupif there are no conflicting viewpoints on various aspects of a project. 91. Communication skills training usually includes ____________________ activities in which participants learn concepts such as building rapport. 92. All meetings should have a(n) ____________________ and intended outcome. 93. Some professionals refuse to attend meetings if they do not have a(n) ____________________ ahead of time.

94. ____________________ e-mail that you do not need to save or respond to. 95. A(n) _________________________ is a reflective statement documenting important things a team has learned from working on a project.