tactics to handle external scope creep

COURSE 2- PROJECT INITIATION: STARTING A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT QUIZ ANSWERS

Week 2: Defining Project Goals, Scope and Success Criteria

Google Project Management: Professional Certificate

Coursera Answers & Study Guide

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Defining Project Goals, Scope and Success Criteria INTRODUCTION

This Coursera Google Project Management: Professional Certificate module explores strategies for defining project goals, tactics to handle external scope creep, and success criteria. Learners will receive the tools and information needed to create a successful project plan. The module includes an introduction to understanding project goals, setting measurable deliverables, defining work that is in-scope or out-of-scope, identifying potential sources of scope creep, and assigning success criteria.

Throughout the course, learners will have ample opportunity to review their knowledge through practice activities. Upon completion of this course, learners will understand how to define and create measurable project goals and deliverables.

Learning Objectives

  • Define and create measurable project goals and deliverables.
  • Define project scope and differentiate among tasks that are in-scope and out-of-scope.
  • Explain how to manage scope creep to avoid impacting project goals
  • Define and measure a project’s success criteria.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE: IDENTIFYING PROJECT GOALS

1.What’s a project goal?

  • A desired outcome of a project that is clear and specific (CORRECT)
  • A vague, yet inspiring outcome of a project
  • A report that team members can present to stakeholders

Correct: A project goal should tell the team what the end of the project will look like. The goal should also be clear and specific.

2. What’s a project deliverable?

  • A team brainstorming session
  • A roadmap to completing the project
  • A tangible outcome produced at the end of a task (CORRECT)

Correct: Project deliverables can be an item or report that teammates present to stakeholders, such as a presentation, chart, or graph.

3. What can help create a measurable goal? Select all that apply.

  • Metrics (CORRECT)
  • Benchmarks (CORRECT)
  • Deadlines
  • Contracts

Correct: It’s important for project managers to set well-defined goals. That’s why SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Metrics, such as figures or numbers, make goals measurable. The accuracy of metrics are confirmed with points of reference, called benchmarks.

Correct: SMART goals are well-defined goals that help keep projects on track. They’re specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. SMART goals are measured with figures or numbers known as metrics. Benchmarks are used to help confirm the accuracy of metrics.

4. How should you use the rubric in peer-review assignments? Select all that apply.

  • To grade your classmates’ work (CORRECT)
  • To understand how your assignment will be graded (CORRECT)
  • To submit more than one assignment
  • Define and determine SMART project goals

Correct: For the peer-grading process, you will follow a rubric to grade your classmates’ work. Since the rubric outlines what each assignment needs to include and how many points each item is worth, it also helps you understand how your assignment will be graded.

Correct: The rubric is a checklist of items your assignment must include. Each item is worth a certain number of points. You can review a rubric to understand how your assignment will be graded and to grade others’ work.

5. Which part of an OKR defines what needs to be achieved?

  • Metric
  • Key results
  • SMART method
  • Objective (CORRECT)

Correct: OKR is an acronym for objectives and key results. Objectives define what needs to be achieved and describe a desired outcome. Key results define how the project team knows whether or not they have met their objective.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE: DEFINING PROJECT SCOPE

1. Which of the following best describes the difference between in-scope and out-of-scope?

  • Problems the project manager can easily recognize and problems the project managers cannot recognize
  • Items within the project boundaries that are contributing to the project’s overall goal and items that are not (CORRECT)
  • Goals you believe your team needs to meet and goals the stakeholders believe the team needs to meet
  • Tasks you believe your team should complete first and tasks the team believes they should complete first

Correct: It’s your job as a project manager to set firm boundaries for the project so the team can stay on track.

2. Which of the following best describes scope creep?

  • Changing a project after it begins
  • Cancelling a project after it has begun
  • Adding members to a project team
  • Changing a project before it begins (CORRECT)

Correct: Having a clear idea of project success helps keep stakeholders Correct: Scope creep refers to changes, growth, and uncontrolled factors that affect a project scope at any point after the project begins.

3. What are some tactics to handle external scope creep? Select all that apply.

  • Tell team members to ignore outside requests that will add project tasks.
  • Define the project’s requirements. (CORRECT)
  • Suggest alternative solutions to your customer’s or stakeholder’s proposed changes. (CORRECT)
  • Limit communication outside the team once the project begins

Correct: To ensure the project team agrees on the project’s goal, ask stakeholders for feedback on what the project will produce, what resources are necessary, what costs are involved, and how long the project will take. Then, document these requirements.

Correct: Providing alternative solutions to your customer or stakeholder might result in their deciding against their proposed changes. You can also help them consider how their proposed changes might create additional risks, and perform a cost-benefit analysis, if necessary.

4. A designer on your project team suggests making changes to the product’s logo just prior to launch. What’s a strategy that could help avoid this internal scope creep?

  • Push back the product’s launch date to allow time for the design to implement changes to the logo.
  • Have the designer begin to implement the logo design changes immediately.
  • Remind the designer about the project’s scope and the effects of internal scope creep. (CORRECT)
  • Assign some of the designer’s tasks to someone else so they can begin working on the logo changes.

Correct: Any changes to the product or processes can affect the bottom line or schedule and risk successfully completing the project.

5. Which three questions should you ask yourself to make a goal specific?

  • Can it be reasonably reached?
  • What do I want to accomplish? (CORRECT)
  • Who is involved? (CORRECT)
  • Where should it be delivered? (CORRECT)

Correct: When crafting a goal, you want to explain what will be done.

Correct: When creating your goal, you’ll want to state who the goal involves.

Correct: When writing a goal, you may want to include where exactly the goal will be delivered.

6. Which of the following is an example of a measurable goal? Select all that apply.

  • Increase market reach
  • Reduce employee turnover
  • Increase product revenue by 5% (CORRECT)
  • Achieve a 20% improvement in customer satisfaction ratings based on post-support survey results (CORRECT)

Correct: Measurable goals generally include metrics, like figures and numbers, that help the project team determine when the objective is met.

Correct: Measurable goals allow you to assess the success of your project based on quantifiable or tangible metrics, such as dollar amounts, percentages, number of outputs, and quantities.

7. What’s a strategy to determine if a goal is attainable?

  • Hire a goal-setting coach
  • Ask the stakeholders
  • Break down the goal into smaller parts (CORRECT)
  • Post the goal on a project management forum for feedback

Correct: Taking a complicated goal and breaking it down into smaller, achievable steps can help you determine if it seems reasonable for your team to accomplish.

8. What can you do to determine if a goal is relevant?

  • Compare it to the project goals of the organization’s three closest competitors.
  • Consider if the goal matches the organization’s other needs and priorities. (CORRECT)
  • Ask a project manager on another team.
  • Compare it to goals the organization set in previous years.

Correct: The goal needs to align with the organization’s other goals, priorities, and values. Everyone involved should feel like the goal is worth supporting.

9. Which of the following are examples of key results? Select all that apply.

  • Implement online ordering
  • Increase the number of website visitors by 25% (CORRECT)
  • Successfully process 50 online orders (CORRECT)
  • Launch a website redesign

Correct: A key result details how to tangibly measure the success of the objective. This is an example of a key result for the objective: launch a new website.

Correct: A key result details how to tangibly measure the success of the objective. This is an example of a key result for the objective: implement online ordering.

10. Which of the following are objectives and key results (OKRs) development best practices? Select all that apply.

  • OKRs are a resource that should be linked to the project plan. (CORRECT)
  • Objectives should be motivational and inspiring.
  • Key results should be tactical and specific. (CORRECT)
  • Each key result should have 2-3 objectives

Correct: The project manager should document all OKRs and link to them in the project plan for visibility.

Correct: Key results should challenge the project manager and the team to stretch their abilities and achieve more.

11. What does project scope refer to?

  • The project resources
  • The project completion deadline
  • The project documentation
  • The project charter
  • The project boundaries (CORRECT)

12. At what time during a project should defining project scope happen?

  • When stakeholders start to make requests for additional changes
  • During the initial project planning phase (CORRECT)
  • After receiving feedback from the first few deliverables

Correct: Defining scope before a project starts helps mitigate the risk of big changes later on.

13. What is scope creep?

  • Plans, proposals, and ideas from project stakeholders about how to change a project’s boundaries before the project begins
  • Changes, growth, and uncontrolled factors that affect a project scope at any point after the project begins (CORRECT)
  • Suggestions from team members or stakeholders about how to improve a project’s workflow to increase efficiency
  • Disruptions in the supply chain that impact the distribution of project deliverables after the project ends

Correct: Scope creep includes changes, growth, and uncontrolled factors that affect a project scope at any point after the project begins. Scope creep is a common problem, and it’s not always easy to control.

14. When using the triple constraint model, what are the three restrictions a project manager refers to? Select all that apply.

  • Cost (CORRECT)
  • Goals
  • Scope (CORRECT)
  • Time (CORRECT)

Correct: Cost includes the budget, resources, and people who will work on the project.

Correct: Scope includes the clearly defined and mapped out boundaries of a project.

Correct: Time refers to the project schedule and deadlines.

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PROJECT INITIATION: STARTING A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT WEEKLY CHALLENGE 2

1. As a project manager, you’re using the SMART criteria to craft goals for your team. During the process, you ask yourself if a goal is aligned to the organization or the company’s goals. Which SMART criteria does this question represent?

  • Measurable
  • Time-bound
  • Specific (CORRECT)
  • Attainable
  • Relevant

2. Which of the following demonstrates a project manager keeping the project in scope? Select all that apply.

  • The key stakeholder and the project manager clearly define the project scope in the initial planning stage. The project manager documents all the details to be referred to throughout the project life cycle. (CORRECT)
  • The key stakeholder clearly states the project needs to be completed in six months and must stay within scope. The project manager has not been able to keep the project on schedule and has yet to inform the key stakeholder of the delay.
  • The key stakeholder has had to meet with the project manager several times to define the project scope. The project manager is delaying meetings and is unclear about project tasks.
  • The key stakeholder meets with the project manager to set the scope and deliverable agreements in writing. The project manager keeps the key stakeholder informed while communicating with project team members. (CORRECT)

3. Fill in the blank: The goal of a project helps to determine the _____.

  • stakeholders
  • deliverables (CORRECT)
  • presentation
  • culture

4. What is part of a project launch?

  • Defining and managing the project scope.
  • Presenting the final deliverable to the client. (CORRECT)
  • Measuring the success of the project.
  • Budgeting the deliverables for success.

5. Consider the following scenario: The Director of Product requests a project cost reduction of 25%. However, they also state that the product’s final result needs to look and function as originally agreed with no additions to project workload.

Using the triple constraint model, what trade-off could the project manager use to meet the Director of Product’s request?

  • Change the timeline (CORRECT)
  • Change the project goal
  • Change the team
  • Change the project scope

6. Define success criteria.

  • The process to determine if tasks are in-scope or out-of-scope.
  • The standards by which the project will be judged once it’s been delivered to customers. (CORRECT)
  • The availability of funds for the project.
  • The use of the triple constraint to manage project restrictions.

7. Which of the following is an adoption metric?

  • An increase in customer satisfaction score.
  • A 20% increase in the amount of tasks completed.
  • A 35% increase in first-time customers. (CORRECT)
  • Double the amount of time participating within an app.

8. A project manager launches a project to streamline a local city’s school bus route schedule to reduce the amount of time students are on the bus by 30%. What scenario below demonstrates that the project manager landed at the intended goal?

  • The project manager hands over the project to the client with all of the plans and documents and considers the project a success.
  • The project manager reviews the data in 3 months to determine if they reduced the amount of time students spend on the bus by at least 30%. (CORRECT)
  • The project manager completes the research and development required for the plan and adds another county to compare success rates for the project.
  • The project manager surveys the team members to ask how they feel about the project success; their feedback is reviewed and determines the next team.

9. Suppose as a project manager you’re receiving requests from stakeholders to add new features to the product you’re developing. How would you deal with this external scope creep?

  • Agree on who can make formal requests and how your team will evaluate and act on those requests. (CORRECT)
  • Ignore the requests because the project is already underway.
  • Take a team vote to decide if the team should add the new feature to the product.
  • Implement the initial stakeholders’ requests and then ban all future requests.

10. Fill in the blank: Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) combine both a goal and a _______ to determine a measurable outcome.

  • consensus
  • vision
  • metric (CORRECT)
  • budget

11. Consider the following scenario:

The Janco Car Company is about to deliver new cars to its affiliate dealerships. Right before shipping, several dealerships say they cannot receive the cars because of showroom schedules. Janco had not planned for the various dealerships’ showroom schedules. The dealerships ask for Janco to reorganize the car shipping schedule, costing Janco hundreds of thousands of dollars.

  • Which of the following steps could Janco have taken to help prevent scope creep?
  • Send the shipping schedule to all of the dealerships after it’s finalized.
  • Use legal avenues to make the dealerships alter showroom schedules. (CORRECT)
  • Include product delivery scheduling in the project scope.
  • Move the cars via airlines to keep the timelines in place.

12. Fill in the blank: The difference between a goal and a deliverable is that the goal is the desired outcome of the project and the deliverable is a _____ of the project.

  • SMART method
  • success criteria
  • tangible outcome (CORRECT)
  • progress

13. Which of the following scenarios best represents project launch?

  • The website development team researches a specific audience through sales data analysis.
  • The project manager works with stakeholders to develop project goals and deliverables.
  • The project team releases a new product. (CORRECT)
  • The client agrees to the initial timeline and budget.

14. Consider the following scenario: The Director of Product requests the project manager to add a new product feature. However, they also state that the team cannot push back the project delivery date.

Using the triple constraint model, what trade-off could the project manager use to meet the Director of Product’s request?

  • Change the timeline
  • Change the budget. (CORRECT)
  • Change the team
  • Change the project goal

15. Which of the following indicate whether a project manager accomplishes what they set out to do?

  • Accuracy standard
  • Success criteria (CORRECT)
  • Launch standard.
  • Deviation criteria

16. Which of the following is an engagement metric?

  • Double the amount of initial orders.
  • Number of new customer sign-ups for a subscription. (CORRECT)
  • A 20% increase of participation time within an app.
  • A 35% increase of first-time customers.

17. How will you quantify if you’re landing a project at its intended goal?

  • Check if the project meets the initial success criteria. (CORRECT)
  • Send out feedback surveys to team members
  • Solicit stakeholders for their opinions
  • Ask the clients if they’re happy with the result

18. Suppose as a project manager you receive a request from a team member to change a process they believe will make their work more efficient. However, you know that the change may increase the workload for other team members and extend the project’s completion date. How do you best address this potential internal scope creep?

  • Remind the team that any process changes will change project scope and may create unknown risks for the project. (CORRECT)
  • Request from stakeholders an additional team member to take on the additional work.
  • Try it out as a test because the team member making the request has seniority.
  • Ask the team member who requested the change to take on the additional work from affected team members.

19. Consider the following scenario: A new company project isn’t going well. The company hires outside evaluators to review the project. The evaluators tell the company that its plan has too many delays and that the company won’t be able to complete the project on time. They also identify one issue causing a delay is the company and the investors (stakeholders) have different expectations of what the completed project should be.

  • What step could the company have taken to avoid scope creep?
  • Have stakeholder involvement before the project begins. (CORRECT)
  • Make the investors adopt the company’s project expectations.
  • Hire a different organization to review the project.
  • Require more detailed bids from the evaluators in writing.

20. As project manager, you approve a team member’s request to change the order of their tasks because they think it will be more efficient. However, this change disrupts another team member’s work process: they need to do two additional tasks not related to the project’s goal. What is happening on this project?

  • The project is becoming more efficient.
  • The project is iterating.
  • The project is staying in-scope.
  • The project is going out-of-scope. (CORRECT)

21. Once a team launches a project, there’s still work to be done. Which of the following scenarios would occur in the landing phase? Select all that apply.

  • Work with stakeholders on the prioritization and documentation before building a new product.
  • Check that forms and processes are collecting the necessary data to evaluate project success. (CORRECT)
  • Gather the project team to discuss what they learned during the project and how to improve the process. (CORRECT)
  • Decide how to deliver an organization-wide announcement and campaign for the project.

22. What’s a main difference between the adoption and engagement metrics?

  • Adoption replaces a business metric. Engagement compliments other business metrics.
  • Adoption requires more expensive tools. Engagement requires less expensive tools.
  • Adoption is generally a one-time occurrence. Engagement is ongoing. (CORRECT)
  • Adoption is an external metric. Engagement is an internal metric.

23. Which scenario demonstrates project landing?

  • The car company Janco launches a new car series called the Cruiser ST. The launch is successful and all the dealerships request more models.
  • The project manager considers positive feedback from the project sponsor as enough evidence to assume success and reports the project complete.
  • The project manager checks back on the project in five years to see if the training program produces a 20% increase in the county’s recycling rate. (CORRECT)
  • The Director of Product requests to reduce the budget by 25% but the final outcome still needs to look and function as originally agreed.

24. Which of the following is true about Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)?

  • There are typically 2–3 objectives for every key result.
  • OKRs are rarely used to determine a project’s success criteria.
  • OKRs are mainly for team-based metrics and not for individuals.
  • Adoption and engagement are often used as metrics to measure results. (CORRECT)

25. Which of the following scenarios best represents a project that is going out-of-scope?

  • The deliverable to present your project’s pre-launch event at a three-day, in-person conference is now an online conference. The switch reduces the costs associated with event space, travel, and people resource time.
  • During the project weekly meeting, the project sponsor adds a new deliverable requirement that costs $10,000 USD. This addition surpasses the budget by $5,000 USD. (CORRECT)
  • The manufacturer of one of the project deliverables just lost power after a large storm. They don’t expect to be in production for one week, delaying the project timeline.
  • During the project weekly meeting, the project manager learns the main vendor will increase the cost of raw materials by 20% due to an international shortage.

26. Consider this Office Green scenario: A member of the marketing team suggests allowing customers to choose from an additional three plant colors.

  • What can help prevent project scope creep in this scenario? Select all that apply.
  • Get clarity on project requirements. (CORRECT)
  • Go along with the member’s suggestion.
  • Create a plan for dealing with out-of-scope requests. (CORRECT)
  • Make project plans visible. (CORRECT)

27. Fill in the blank: Deliverables help project managers, team members, and stakeholders _____ and realize the impact of the project.

  • Quantify (CORRECT)
  • compare
  • rank
  • adjust

28. Consider the following scenario: The Director of Product requests that the project manager do what they can to finish the project early. However, the Director also states that they cannot spend any additional funds.

Using the triple constraint model, what trade-off could the project manager use to meet the Director of Product’s request? 

  • Change the team
  • Change the budget
  • Change the project scope (CORRECT)
  • Change the project goal

29. Which two of the following are examples of success criteria?

  • Meet company-wide objective of $50M in revenues. (CORRECT)
  • Deliver training to all appropriate teams to ensure at least 98% of the teams are using the new tool. (CORRECT)
  • Create a new product feature that will satisfy customers.
  • Implement a training service to meet company objectives.

30. What is the project management term for delivering the final result of your project to the client or user?

  • Kickoff
  • Launch (CORRECT)
  • Landing

Correct: The launch is when you finish building or creating your project and you’re ready to present it to the client.

31. What is the project management term for meeting the success criteria you establish at the beginning of the project?

  • Kickoff
  • Landing (CORRECT)
  • Feedback

Correct: While the launch is when you complete your project, the landing is once you determine it works and you satisfy your success criteria.

32. Which of the following terms tells you whether or not the project is successful?

  • Success standards
  • Success criteria (CORRECT)
  • Deviation criteria

Correct: Stakeholders and the project manager define the success criteria at the beginning of a project.

33. Which two terms are customer-related metrics to consider for success criteria?

  • Product defects and delays
  • Adoption and engagement (CORRECT)
  • Production and output

Correct: Adoption refers to how the customer uses the product without any issues. Engagement refers to how often customer interaction happens over time.

34. Who will ultimately judge if the project meets its goals, deliverables, requirements, and other success criteria?

  • Stakeholders and customers (CORRECT)
  • Production team
  • Project sponsor

Correct: The success criteria should be clearly agreed upon at the beginning of the project. The stakeholders and customers ultimately judge if the team meets the success criteria.

35. Which of the following define success criteria? Select all that apply.

  • Outlines specific details of project goals, deliverables, requirements, and expectations (CORRECT)
  • Indicates whether or not the project is successful (CORRECT)
  • Specifies the scope, time, and cost restriction of a project
  • Sets the standards by which stakeholders and customers can judge the project once it’s delivered (CORRECT)

36. What’s a main difference between the adoption and engagement metrics?

  • Adoption requires more expensive tools. Engagement requires less expensive tools
  • Adoption is an external metric. Engagement is an internal metric
  • Adoption is generally a one-time occurrence. Engagement is ongoing (CORRECT)
  • Adoption replaces a business metric. Engagement compliments other business metrics.

37. Consider the following scenario:

The Janco car company is about to deliver new cars to its affiliate dealerships. right before shipping, several dealerships say they cannot receive the cars because of showroom schedules. Janco had not planned for the various dealerships’ showroom schedules. the dealerships ask for Janco to reorganize the car shipping schedule, costing Janco hundreds of thousands of dollars. which of the following steps could Janco have taken to help prevent scope creep?

  • Include product delivery scheduling in the project scope.
  • Move the cars via airlines to keep the timeline in place.
  • Use legal avenues to make the dealerships alter showroom schedules (CORRECT)
  • Send the shipping schedule to all of the dealerships after it’s finalized.

Defining Project Goals, Scope and Success Criteria CONCLUSION

You now know how to define and create measurable project goals and deliverables, how to scope a project including differentiating in-scope from out-of-scope tasks and avoiding scope creep, as well as how to define and measure success criteria. These are essential skills for any Project Manager that will help you complete successful projects.

Join Coursera today to improve your career prospects or simply learn more about effective project management!

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