[0:00]Hello everybody, my name is Kshipra Singh and I welcome you all to this video on Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers from Career Ride. Project Manager is an important role in every industry as this is the position that keeps the whole project team and resources together. Ultimately taking the project to completion successfully. So, definitely a role that's here to stay. In this video, let's see some conceptual and situational questions usually asked to the candidates interviewing for this role. In addition to this, we'll also see some questions based on the evolving work trends in the market that impact this role. To ensure that you are able to crack your next interview, watch the complete video without skipping any parts of it. Ready? Fantastic. Let's start. Question number one. Discuss the process of project management life cycle? Okay, so now as you can see, this is a very direct question related to your profile. To answer this question you can say, the process of project management life cycle is divided into phases. The important phases from starting to end include: Number one, Initiation. This is where the project begins, where you try to understand the feasibility of the project, its scope, deliverables, and you also try to identify the key stakeholders. Then you move on to planning. In the planning phase, you break down the project into smaller tasks, and plan time, cost and resources. The main steps here include, identifying the timeline, estimating the budget, building the team, and identifying the issues etcetera. In the third phase, you start executing. The execution phase is about turning the plan into action now and achieving the project's objectives. In this phase, the project manager's job is to keep the work on track, review the project, monitor the quality of work you are going to deliver, and keep the project streamlined. In terms of assets and resources both. Once your team has finished the work, you enter the closure phase. In this phase, the project manager's role is to get the customer, accept the final delivery, bring out the project reports and evaluate how well has the project performed. Moving on to Question number two now. What is a Project Charter? Okay, so this is a very basic yet important question that may be asked to you. Pay attention. A project charter is an official document that acknowledges the existence of a particular project in an organization. It provides a project manager the authority to begin working on the project. This document works as a reference through the complete life cycle of the project. It contains details like, project's goal, viability, stakeholders, requirements, constraints, milestones, cost, deliverables, communication channels, return on investment, risks involved, everything. Now, it is important to understand why is this charter so important for you as a project manager. So, see, signing a charter formally authorizes the project manager to use the organization's resources and execute the project. That is why, this is a very, very important document. Moving on to question number three now. Which factors do you consider when conducting the feasibility study for a new project? Again, a very, very important question for any project manager. A feasibility study tells a project manager clearly if it is worth investing your time, efforts and resources on a particular project or not. While carrying out a feasibility study, you try to look at the project from various angles. Such as, if there's a demand for that particular product or service in the market or not, who are the competitors, how can you have an edge over them? Is the project financially viable or not? What are the expectations for initial investment, operating expenses, return on investment etcetera? Do you have the required technology and skills available with you or not? If not, can you acquire them at what cost? Are there any legal implications of this project? Can we meet its compliance requirements or not? Can you have a continuous flow of the required resources, including the raw materials, skills, technology, everything that you require to complete the project? Are there any risks involved at any stage of the project life cycle or not? When you have answers to such questions as a project manager, You'll be able to make the right choices, pick up the right kind of projects and have a backup plan also just in case you hit the fall. Okay, now our question number four is about a very important tool that is often used in project management. The question is, what is Work Breakdown Structure? Now, Work Breakdown Structure is also referred to as WBS many a times. It is a project management tool that decomposes a large project into smaller pieces that can be completed step by step, leading to the completion of the whole project. WBS can be deliverables based or phase based depending upon the project. Now, if you look at a WBS, you'll see that it has a leveled structure and would look to you like a tree. Following the 100% rule at each level. This means that level one represents the 100% of the project. Each level below it breaks down the project into smaller tasks but would always sum up to 100% of the project. The main advantages of having a WBS in place are: Number one, it breaks down a large project into smaller, achievable and measurable tasks. Then it also provides a road map to different teams that are working on the project. It helps you measure how much of the project has been completed and also helps you recognize that you have now achieved a milestone. That is why WBS is a very, very crucial thing for any project manager. Okay, moving on to another very important question for any project manager. And the question is, tell us something about Project Scope. So, project scope is a way to set boundaries on your project. Before you begin to work on a project, you want to clearly understand what your project will do and more importantly, what it will not do. This clear understanding ensures that you stay focused and are able to deliver your project within the agreed time frame and budget without having to overwork or compromise on the quality. Having a project scope that has been agreed upon by all the stakeholders in place, ensures that all the parties are on the same page and they have the same expectations and understanding about the project. A well written project scope clearly outlines things like, projects objectives, resources, which includes human resources, capital, time, everything. Any constraints, deliverables with clear timelines, and things that are out of the scope of this project. If anything needs to be changed between, it should allow for a change control process also. So that the authorized changes can be consciously considered. Not having a proper project scope in place makes the project go haywire and the project scope usually creeps. Moving on to question number six now. What are the most common challenges you have experienced during Project Management? So, some of the most common challenges project managers face during a project are: number one, scope creep. This happens when the scope of the project goes beyond its original goals. In such cases, the budget and the timeline of the project go for a toss. The solution to this is set up clear goals and define the project scope before you begin the actual work. Another major hiccup in any project is poor communication. All of us have observed things like, the message didn't reach all the stakeholders on time, it was unclear, team doesn't have a way to approach the boss on time, performance feedback is not provided on time, project progress is not communicated regularly. All of these are the examples of poor communication in a project that delay the work. What's the solution to this? The solution is, this is the age of technology. Incorporate it efficiently wherever you can. In fact, depending on the project, you may even have to adapt your communication style also. As a project manager, be open to it. Other than these, poor budgeting, unrealistic deadlines, skill and technological gap, insufficient risk analysis, stakeholder disengagement and lack of accountability in the team members, uncertainty are some of the most common other problems that any project faces. So, you can talk about these also to make your answer complete. Okay, now our question number seven is a follow up to the previous one. And the question could be, can you name some common methods that are used for Risk Assessment? So, some of the common methods that are used for risk assessment are decision tree method, the bow tie method, the failure modes and effect analysis, the risk matrix, swift analysis, which stands for structured what if analysis, etcetera. I would highly recommend quickly brushing up upon all of these concepts also before the interview. Now, when you discuss about risk assessment, there's a possibility of getting a question on Crawford Slip method also. The question could be, have you ever heard of the Crawford Slip method of identifying risks? Now, Crawford Slip method used for risk identification needs very limited time resources and training. We all use this method many a times, but we just don't know its name. How it works is, when you face a concern or issue with the project and have very limited time, You try to take inputs from the people who already know something about it. So, you try to gather the team members who have some information of what's the concern. Then, you phrase your concern in the form of an easy to understand question to be put in front of the participants for their inputs. You schedule a meeting and request the participants to write down their thoughts and solutions about the question at hand on the paper slips that are provided to them. More the number of slips, larger will be the volume of the insights you receive. The slips are then put up on the board. If one slip is similar to another, they are stuck on top of each other. By the time the exercise finishes, you generate a lot of segregated insight on the issue. The method is popular because it is not at all costly and needs a very little time. Moving on to Question number nine now. What is Fish Bone Diagram? Now, the fish bone diagram is also called as Ishikawa diagram or cause and effect diagram. It is a visualization tool that covers all potential causes of the problems. Depending upon their nature, the root causes are grouped into categories like, man, machine, method, material, environment, etcetera. This allows the team members to look into every category and focus on the causes of the problem. Okay, now our question number 10 is a very simple but an important one. The question is, what do you know about Pareto Principle? So, this Pareto Principle is also called as 80-20 rule. It states that 80% of the output can be attributed to 20% of the inputs. This observation applies to project management also. While solving the issues you'll realize that 80% of the errors or problems in your project arise only from a few issues. It could be an erratic line of code, a problematic stakeholder, an uncooperative team leader, or anything else but there would be too few. Our question number 11 is, what do you know about Decision Matrix? So, decision matrix, which is also called as decision grid or Pugh matrix, is a decision making tool or method that assesses and prioritizes a list of options. Look at the example matrix that I have got for you here. A list of weighted criteria is formulated and each option is assessed against that criteria. The options are listed as rows on a table and the criteria or the factors as columns. Each of the criteria is assigned a weight and a total score is calculated for each of these options. Okay, let's move on to Question number 12 now. What is Trend Analysis? Now, trend analysis in project management, as the name suggests, is a mathematical technique that is used to predict the future happenings based on the historical data that you have. It helps the project managers and other concerned parties understand how various project metrics are evolving over the time. Which of them could represent potential issues needing attention and which of them presents an opportunity? The data that is analyzed depends on the project and can be related to project schedule adherence, budget variances, resource utilization, task completion rates, etcetera. This helps the project managers in making informed decisions and presenting this analysis in the form of visual reports makes them easy to understand for the stakeholders also. Question number 13. Explain Earned Value Management. Now, earned value management or EVM is a very powerful methodology that is used in project management to measure the performance of a project. It integrates schedule, cost and scope to do all this and works on the basis of planned and actual values. It helps you compare and benchmark the current state against the project baseline, identifying critical paths based on the data and intervene ahead of time. Some other terms that are closely associated with EVM are planned value, actual value, schedule variance, cost variance, schedule performance index and cost performance index. You can expect questions on all of these terms also and the questions can be something like, Tell us something about Planned Value, Actual Cost and Earned Value. Here, planned value or PV is the budgeted cost of scheduled work, which you abbreviate as BCWS. This value depends upon the scope of the work in consideration and the point where you are currently at in the overall schedule. So, PV or Planned Value is equal to total project cost multiplied by percentage of planned work. Suppose your scheduled cost for a 12 months project is 60,000. At the end of three months, your PV will be 60,000 multiplied by 25%. That is equal to 15,000 because at the moment you are at three months. Right? If you look at actual cost, it is also referred to as actual value of the work performed. This accounts for all the activities done from the beginning of the project to date or over a specific period of time. This is the actual cost. Now, let's talk about earned value. And this is where the actual fun begins. Suppose you plan to complete 45% of the work by the end of a given time. But in reality, you could actually complete only 35% of the work. The reasons could be any. So, what is the budgeted cost of this work that you have performed or BCWP? This cost is earned value and is computed with the formula EV is equal to total project cost multiplied by percentage of actual work that you have performed. With all of these calculations, what comes into picture is the analysis of the variance here. And your next question could be about those variances. And the question could be, what do you know about Schedule Variance and Cost Variance? So, let's deal with schedule variance first. It is denoted by SV. It indicates how much does the project currently diverge from the initially planned schedule. A negative SV indicates that the project is running behind the schedule. A positive SV indicates ahead of the schedule. And zero SV, it indicates as per the schedule. If you see it mathematically, SV is equal to EV minus PV. That is earned value minus planned value. Now, if you go to talk about cost variance, it is denoted by CV. It indicates a divergence from the initially planned budget. Negative CV indicates we are running over the budget. Positive CV indicates we are under the budget. And zero CV indicates that is you are in tandem with the budget. So, CV, if you see the formula, is equal to EV minus AC, that is earned value minus actual cost. Okay, now as a project manager, ensuring the performance and efficiency of a project is one of your primary responsibilities. And your next question could be about that. The question could be, name two key performance indicators you would use to measure the efficiency and performance of a project? So, if I were to talk about two performance indicators, I would choose SPI and CPI. Okay, now SPI here stands for Schedule Performance Index. It is a metric that is used to understand how efficiently is the time being utilized in the project. Mathematically, SPI is equal to EV divided by PV. If the value of SPI is greater than one, the project is moving ahead of the schedule. If this value is less than one, the project is behind the schedule. And if SPI is equal to one, the project is moving as per the schedule. So, these are three important values that you have to keep in mind. The second metric that I would choose is CPI, that is Cost Performance Index. This metric is used to measure the cost efficiency of a project. Mathematically, CPI is equal to EV divided by AC, that is actual cost. If the value of CPI is greater than one, it means my AC is smaller, my actual cost is smaller. It means the project is spending less than the planned. If my CPI is less than one, it means AC is larger, the denominator is larger here. The project in this case is going over budget for the work that is done. Monitoring these indices lets the project managers take proactive decisions and corrective actions also. Right? That is why these two indices are very, very important for me. Okay, now let us see some questions related to man management and management of situations that project managers usually face during the interviews. And your first question in this context could be, if a conflict arises in your team due to the ego clashes between two senior team members, how would you handle the situation? Now, see, this is a very common situation for a project manager to face. You must be already realizing that. The sample answer to this question that I would provide would look something like this. Well, I have been in a situation where the two team leaders with strong personalities couldn't agree to each other's approach. Both wanted the work to be done in their way. I noticed this problem during a weekly team meeting and realized that if this issue is left on the back burner, the situation might explode in some days, delaying the project ultimately. I have experienced that in such situations, rather than giving the solution, it is better to work as a mediator and give the two parties an opportunity to listen to and understand each other's point of view and approach. Which they usually avoid doing on their own somehow. In a personal meeting with both the parties separately, I realized that this is a problem of ego clash because both of them meant well for the project. So, I decided to call a joint meeting where both the parties could present their approach and ask for clarifications. The simple exercise made them come to the conclusion themselves. Sometimes, just an open communication in the presence of a senior is sufficient to sort the things out.
[21:07]And once an agreement was reached, I asked them to formalize it, decide their roles and complete the task in a time frame that we agreed to. So, this is a simple answer from my side. You must have been in such situations yourself also. So, just try to recollect them and explain what did you do to come out of them. And rather than focusing on the problem, let the focus of your answer be on the solution. Discuss the role of communication, formalizing things, right to use of your authority etcetera and you'll be good to go. Okay, let's move on to Question number 19 now. How would you handle a situation where the client is continuously increasing or changing the requirements? Now, see, this is one of the trickiest situations for a project manager, because changing and increasing requirements don't just impact the timeline and budget, but also burn the team out.
[24:04]And such questions are a test of your experience with the process. To deal with this situation, organizations in every industry carry out a proper business analysis and sign an agreement, which states the addition and change management process very clearly. Despite this, new requirements do keep emerging. So, to answer this question, emphasize on the importance of following things in your answer. Discuss the importance of establishing a proper channel for the new requirements to be communicated. Because you want to ensure that the new requirements don't just come randomly to anyone in your team through anybody from client's team. They need to come to the authorized person through another authorized person in the client's team. One thing that has really worked for me always is requesting detailed documentation. What this does is, it makes them think at length whether this is just a good to have type of a requirement or a real necessity. You would notice that many a times they would not send in the requirement only. And if the requirement is vital and the product can't get operational without it, Or the client presses that this requirement has to be worked upon in the current cycle itself. Carry out an impact analysis and find out how this will impact the current state of the product, the budget and the timeline also. Also, talk about the importance of prioritization and trade-offs, which means if the project can't be completed on time with the request for new additions, Having a clear discussion about any features that can be traded off to be worked up on the in the next phase really helps. Now, also remember to talk about the importance of communication, where you clearly tell the client how these new expectations are going to impact the timeline and budget. At the same time, it is important to keep the team also informed, where you agree to include any such request for new features. It helps in ensuring that the team doesn't feel burnt out with the request for changes and additions. So, these are certain things that you must include in your answer to this type of a question. Okay, with this, let's move on to our question number 20 now. How do you ensure high level of team engagement and productivity in a Remote Working environment? Now, see, while remote working works for all the parties involved, the lack of personal interaction with the colleagues, isolation, communication barriers and digital fatigue, contribute to low motivation level in the employees. The low employee engagement doesn't just lead to low productivity, it also results in high attrition rate, making you lose out on your top talent. All the project managers have got their own ways to deal with this. So, to answer this question, If you have experienced this situation yourself as a project manager, talk about your own strategy. But if you're someone who's just taking up this responsibility for the first time, try to recollect what did you notice your boss doing in such a situation? Some of the key things that are commonly practiced by all the project managers and deliver results are: Number one, setting up clear expectations and communicating them clearly at team level and individual level both. Because having a sense of purpose gives them a direction and minimizes distractions. It is also very important to clearly outline the role and responsibility of each team member. Set realistic deadlines, outline communication protocols, availability hours, response time on a task, escalation protocol, collaboration tools, everything.
[27:48]Secondly, conduct regular meetings, both one on one and team meetings. These meetings allow the team members to discuss the progress, challenges they are facing, ask for any clarifications they may need and overall bond together. These meetings can be a combination of virtual and in person meetings both. Another thing that really does wonders is recognize achievements and appreciate. This is something that often goes missing in a remote work setup. It is a very effective way to keep your team motivated and energetic both. Promote virtual team building exercises and a hybrid work model. Provide opportunities for professional development. Help them stay up to date with the latest industry trends, develop new skills, etcetera. Provide them an access to some training material, webinars that are happening online. Staying transparent and open to feedback also helps. Provide regular updates on company goals, progress and changes within the organization. This helps the team members see a bigger picture and understand the role of their contribution to the company. Listening to the employee feedback and acting quickly when needed, also ensures they feel heard and valued. Okay, now another development that we hear of every single day is AI and Automation. It is sure to bring a major change in the word of project management also. So, do expect a question on this emerging trend as well. And the question could be, what role do you think would AI and automation play in the coming years in the field of Project Management? Now, see, all of us know how AI and automation has begun to change the way the work is done in the market. Project management is also not untouched by it. In the coming years, it will make its impact felt even more strongly. Certain things we'll notice are, better decision making with improved predictive analytics, improved risk mitigation, AI powered virtual assistant helping the project managers with admin tasks will soon become a reality. Automated task management will help with jobs like resource allocation, real-time monitoring and reporting also. Improved accuracy will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the project further. So, these are certain changes that will witness with the use of AI in Project Management. And your Question number 22 in this regard could be, Give an example of how project managers can use the power of data analytics to identify potential risks and opportunities during a project. Okay, so all of us are aware of how data analytics helps in running the projects in IT domain. Let me try to show you how powerful can it be in the non-IT domain. So, purposely, I'm sharing with you an example from the construction domain now. Let's suppose that a construction project has to begin. And the historical data shows the project managers that in a particular type of topography, The excavation machine breaks down after working for x number of hours. This information can immediately alert the project manager and let him think proactively that, okay, our next project is in this particular topography. We must prioritize the maintenance of excavation machine after these many hours, if you want to avoid the breakdown and delay. And this single alert can save a lot of time from the machine breaking down.
[31:34]Now, if you belong to a domain other than construction, I encourage you to look for such examples of how data analytics influences project management in your domain. These kind of things don't occur to anybody on the spot. They need preparation. And now that you know the question in advance, take efforts to prepare a good answer to give to the interviewers. Okay, now sustainability is another term that you must be hearing every now and then since last some years. In fact, it is making its presence felt in every business, be it fashion, construction, hospitality, or any other sector for that matter. So, this is another trend which you must expect to be discussed during the interview as a project manager. And the question for you can be, what do you understand by Sustainable Practices in Project Management? So, first of all, to begin with, sustainable practices in project management refer to integrating such practices in project life cycle that are environmentally and socially responsible. Integrating practices based on such principles is not just a moral responsibility anymore. In most of the cases, it has become a legal binding, so that your project can get approved and accepted. For example, when you construct green buildings in the construction industry that are energy efficient, consume less water, use raw material that is environment friendly or when your building produces its own energy with solar panels, Your project agrees with sustainable practices. Okay, now with so much of digitization and automation happening all around, cybersecurity is a major concern irrespective of the sector. And your final question could be about that. The question could be, what proactive measures should the project managers take to integrate cybersecurity into their project? Now, this is a very, very important question. Pay attention. Some of the important cybersecurity components that a project manager must incorporate in his plan are: Number one, conducting a thorough assessment of cybersecurity risk at the beginning of the project itself. Engage some cybersecurity experts and have a clear set of guidelines that takes into account the industry standards and regulatory compliances. Have a cybersecurity governance framework in place that clearly establishes the role, responsibility and authority of various people in the cybersecurity team and otherwise. Conduct regular training and awareness programs. Train your team regularly to identify potential attacks and inform them to the relevant people. Here, it is very important to have a clear protocol in place and fix the responsibilities, because a cyber attack can be really costly. And a project manager is directly responsible here. Conduct regular security audits to identify any loopholes in the system and fix them right there. So, these are certain things related to cybersecurity that you must be aware of as a project manager. You may work in any domain, but these are really important. So friends, this is all from my side in this video and I sincerely hope that whatever we have learned in today's video is going to be helpful to you in your career. If you have found the video useful, do give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends also. And if you want to keep receiving the notifications about more such videos from us, subscribe to the channel today. I'll see you very soon with a new one till then, bye bye and take care.
