Certification Insider

The To-Complete-Performance-Index (TCPI) allows a projection of the anticipated performance required to achieve a goal.

As a simple example: You are driving in your car to a friends house. You promised that you would arrive at 3pm. It is now 2:15pm and you have 30 miles to go. Your TCPI is the speed that you need to drive in order to arrive on time. (This is obviously not a perfect example for the TCPI, but it gets the point across: The TCPI defines the performance required in order to achieve a previously set goal.)

The PMBOK Guide Fourth Edition defines TCPI as the calculated projection of cost performance that must be achieved on the remaining work to meet a specified management goal, such as the budget at completion (BAC) or the estimate at completion (EAC). That is is why there are two formulas - one calculates the TCPI to achieve the BAC and one to achieve the EAC.

TCPI can also be compared with the Cost Performance Index (CPI). This can provide additional performance information. For example, if the TCPI is greater than the current CPI then future efficiency must improve if the project is to achieve the BAC or EAC.

If the comulative CPI falls below the baseline plan, all future work of the project will need to immediately be performed in the range of the TCPI (BAC) to stay within the authorized BAC. Whether this level of performance is achievable is a judgement call based on a number of considerations, including risks, schedule, and technical performance. Once management acknowledges that the BAC is no longer attainable, the project manager will prepare a new estimate at completion (EAC) for the work, and once approved, the project will work to the new EAC value.

Review the complete definition plus examples from the PMBOK Guide Fourth Edition starting at chapter 7.3.3

The following PMP® exam sample question is taken from the Free PMP Exam Simulator at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com - The answer is at the very bottom:

Project Integration Management consists of all of the following activities except?

A.) Develop Project Charter
B.) Develop Project Management Plan
C.) Perform Integrated Change Control
D.) Collect Requirements

 

Hint:

Project Integration Management includes the processes and activities to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate various processes and activities.


All our questions are updated to the latest PMBOK® Guide standard. Stop by at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com and try the PMP Exam Simulator free for 3 days. We also offer 110 free questions at http://www.free-pm-exam-questions.com. We are a PMI Registered Education Provider.
 

ANSWER AND EXPLANATION:

The correct answer is D
Explanation: Collect Requirements is not a process in Project Integration Management. This process is contained in Project Scope Management.
Reference: PMBOK Guide 4th Edition, page 71

One of the more obscure terms that you need to know for the PMP Exam is the "Tornado Diagram". Basically, the tornado diagram is a typical display format of the sensitivity analysis. Let's look at this in more detail.

A Tornado diagram, also called tornado plot or tornado chart, is a special type of Bar chart, where the data categories are listed vertically instead of the standard horizontal presentation, and the categories are ordered so that the largest bar appears at the top of the chart, the second largest appears second from the top, and so on. They are so named because the final chart appears to be one half of a tornado. This diagram is useful for sensitivity analysis - comparing the relative importance of variables. For example, if you need to visually compare 100 budgetary items, and identify the largest ten items, it would be nearly impossible to do using a standard bar graph. However, in a tornado diagram of the budget items, the top ten bars would represent the top ten largest items.

This is applicable to wide range of project domains – Financial, Constructions, Software, Sales, Services, etc. Tornado diagram can be used for analyzing sensitivity in other project constraint (cost, time, quality and risk) objectives also. The longer the bar the greater the sensitivity of the project objective to the factor. The factor that have the greatest impact is located at the top, and the bar ends indicate the low and high value of the factor. It assists the project manager in focusing on the most critical variable of the project, sort and prioritize the variable according to their impact on the project objective, realize how much the value of the project is impacted by the uncertainties of the project, and decide where you need to invest any additional efforts.

You can find the Tornado Diagram in the PMBOK Guide 4th Edition starting in section 11.4.2.2 as part of the sensitivity analysis.

We uploaded a new video to YouTube: http://bit.ly/IGWUHr in which we present the secret behind having a brain dump sheet, because The PMP Exam is a ‘closed’ book exam. That means the only reference material you are allowed to carry into the testing facility has to be contained in your brain. A Brain Dump is a proven and effective way to bring reference material into the testing facility and it will help you to think clearer while you’re taking the PMP exam. But there’s another secret to it, too…

The following PMP® exam sample question is taken from the Free PMP Exam Simulator at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com - The answer is at the very bottom:

Your sponsor asked you to quickly complete all your project planning processes and start the project by next week. One week later you were working on your Communications Management Plan when your sponsor asked for a project update. He was unhappy to hear that you were still working on project planning. What reasons should you give your sponsor in support of communications management planning?

A.) A Communications Management Plan is mandatory on a project.
B.) A Communications Management Plan will reduce conflicts.
C.) A Communications Management Plan will reduce project risk.
D.) A Communications Management Plan will reduce project time.
 

Hint:

All of the choices are correct but there is a best answer that you must give to your sponsor.


All our questions are updated to the latest PMBOK® Guide standard. Stop by at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com and try the PMP Exam Simulator free for 3 days. We also offer 110 free questions at http://www.free-pm-exam-questions.com. We are a PMI Registered Education Provider.

 

ANSWER AND EXPLANATION:

The correct answer is B
Explanation: All of the choices are correct. However, only choice B is the best. The best thing you can tell your sponsor is that since a Communications Management Plan will set project communication rules and requirements it will help to control and reduce stakeholder conflicts.
Reference: PMBOK Guide 4th Edition, page 252