Quiz #1

Q.1 The boss calls you into her office, gathers up a pile of papers, hands them to you and says, ‘I want you to lead the X Project and, by the way, it’s got to be done by the end of the third quarter.’ What’s the very next thing you say?

1. ‘Sure’ or ‘OK’.
2. ‘I’ll have a look at it.’
3. ‘No’.
4. ‘Why?’

Q.2 You’re at a meeting. Suddenly some important person eyeballs you and says, ‘How long do you think that would take?’ What’s your answer?

1. ‘Oh, about three months give or take.’
2. ‘How long is a piece of string?’
3. ‘It’ll take as long as it takes.’
4. ‘I’d have to have a look at it.’

ANSWERS

Q.1

1. 0 points. No, no, no, no, no! If you say this, you’ve already committed to Sep 30 [‘end of the third quarter’]. On what basis did you just do that?
2. 5 points. Is the correct answer. It’s what any sensible profession would do.
3. 0 points. We’re project managers. Our job us to do projects.
4. 1 point. It’s useful intelligence to find out why the deadline is September 30 but it’s not the most important thing to do or find out.

Q.2  

1. 0 points. No, no, no, no, no! Don’t ever, ever do that.  
2. 2 points. Not that useful but a hell of a lot better than (a).
3. 2 points. Not that useful but a hell of a lot better than (a).
4. 5 points. Of course.

SCORES

10 points         Fair enough, but the questions weren’t that difficult.

1-7 points        Be careful out there. The world can be a scary place if you’re a project                               manager.

0 points           Not a great result.