Quiz: What's Your Project-Management Savvy?

Missed deadlines, cost overruns, inferior workmanship and changing requirements are problems all project managers will encounter during their careers. But if the success rate of technology projects is any indication, forewarned doesn't necessarily mean forearmed. Consultant Lou Russell, coauthor of IT Leadership Alchemy (Prentice Hall, 2003), recommends starting from the ground up.

"The successful projects are the ones that implement the basics well," she says. "They have a clear sponsor, they understand the business case, they have the scope documented—and documented doesn't mean frozen." If the project scope changes, the changes need to be mutually agreed upon by business and technology managers. "Every time we go in to look at a troubled project, it's never something really tricky that's gone wrong. It's very basic stuff."

Test yourself on the fundamentals below in our online quiz.

1. There's no way your team can get up to speed on this new database and still meet the project's deadline. You decide to:
A. Hire experts—they can finish up and coach your programmers
B. Reduce the scope—not everything needs to be up on Day One anyhow
C. Ask for more time—better late that never

2. The expenses for your project are going to exceed your estimates. You're most likely to:
A. Ignore it—projects always go over budget
B. Get rid of the fancy interface—it'll still work
C. Ask for an increase—the worst they can do is say no

3. You're about to deliver when the customer asks for improvements. Your first reaction:
A. Outline the impact—maybe they'll change their mind
B. Tell them you need more people—neither Rome nor SAP was built in a day
C. Delay the launch to fine-tune—that's what beta testing is for

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