Test paper for Project Leader
No. 2
Date: 6 Aug 2005
Name:....................................
Time limit: 60’ Group:...................................
Guideline: For each question choose ONE option Mark:......................................
Maximun mark per question: 5, Total mark: 150, Pass mark: 100
1. Managing Subcontractors
Q.1 Your subcontractor has a good track record. However, on this project there’s a definite lack of
visibility of the final of the final deliverables. There have also been a succession (i.e., at one stage five
in a row) of missed status reports. What do you do?
(a) Ask the subcontractor if everything’s okay and if it is, trust him or her to deliver, given his or
her track record as a good and true magician.
(b) Wade in. Ask to see everything, if necessary poisoning the relationship in the process.
(c) Wait for more evidence.
(d) Stress again – this time in writing – the need for more visibility and that there must be no
more missed status reports.
Q.2 The best way to start a subcontracted project out on the right foot is:
(a) Tell the subcontractor that your style is to micromanage everything.
(b) Convince the subcontractor you’re a hard ass – your industry’s answer to General George
Patton.
(c) Ask the subcontractor to present its plan to a punch of you for review.
(d) Convince the subcontractor you’re a nice guy.
Q.3 The best way to run a subcontracted project is:
(a) Micromanage everything.
(b) Be a hard ass.
(c) Be a nice guy.
(d) Get weekly non-day-at-the-beach status reports.
2. The Organization-Wide Status Report (OSR)
Q.1 The strategic objectives of your organization and the day-to-day operations are completely
aligned with one another. How true is this statement for your organization?

(d) Because they said they would.
Q.3 Take any if the people who report to you. How much would you bet that this person will make his
or her piece if the plan happens?
(a) Pass – I can think of plenty of other ways to blow my money.
(b) $5.
(c) $20.
(d) $100 or more.
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4. Figuring Out Where You Are
Q.1 Your organization consists of you as leader, five direct reports, and a team of 30 people. How
much time is this going to need from you in term of management?
(a) All your time (i.e., it’s a full-time job).
(b) Half of your time.
(c) It’s the work of three people.
(d) Dunno, but I seem to work harder every year.
Q.2 You run your own company. You started it several years ago; it’s grown rapidly, and now
conscious of your own limitations, you feel the times has come to “strengthen your management
team.” What do you do?
(a) Enroll them all in the local gym.
(b) Hire a hotshot CEO.
(c) Figure out a management structure, use the rule of thumb from the answer to question 1 to
calculate how much effort is needed where, write profiles for the various positions, and fill
them form new or existing staff, focusing on trying to get the closest match to the profile.
(d) Enroll all of your current managers in MBA programs or other training.
Q.3 You’ve just joined a new company, and the organization you’re going to run definitely needs a
new management structure. How do you do it - that is, how do you “figure out a management
structure”?
(a) Buy the latest and greatest management bestseller - it’ll tell you.
(b) Use a hierarchical structure, but a somewhat flat one – that is, not with to many layers
(c) Use a matrix structure with dotted line reporting, where necessary.

that could have huge benefits – financially and in terms of growth – for you. The downside is that it
will put a huge stress on your finances and your people’s ability to cope. You will be so close to the
wire, for at least a year, that quite small slip-ups could sink you. What do you do?
(a) Do it anyway – it’s what got you where you are.
(b) Pass – it’s just too hairy.
(c) Get additional funding to cushion you – giving away equity, if necessary.
(d) Really go for broke. DO this and a few other things besides.
Q.2 What is the most common reason that project management improvement initiatives fails in
organizations?
(a) Lack of management commitment.
(b) Lack of funding.
(c) Reluctance to change on the part of the staff.
(d) Reluctance to invest in project management tools.
Q.3 If you build a culture of project management in your organization, among its negative effects will
be:
(a) The disappearance of “stretch goal” – objectives that really test your people’s metal.
(b) Boredom brought on by an almost complete absence of fire-fighting.
(c) Endless time spent creating and updating Gantt charts.
(d) Mind-numbing predictability.
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7. The Lazy Manager’s Weekly Routine
Q.1 Your natural management style is one of micromanagement, where you want to know the detail
on everything. You have a superstar manager reporting to you . By this I mean he or she is totally
reliable - just give him or her the job and you consider it done. What management style should you
use in these circumstances?
(a) Your natural one. A loepard can’t change its spots.
(b) As in (a) but do so with the intention of learning how he or she does it, so you can see if you
can pass that learning onto others.
(c) Leave him or her to it.
(d) Go with micromanagement – just to be sure.