Assessing project plan effectiveness: reasons for changes
Name:
Date:
Class:
A
Quick Questions
Shade in the A or B circle for each question.
1. A client adds a new login feature halfway through the project, so tasks are added to the Gantt chart. Which reason for change is this?
2. A task planned for 2 days took 6 days because the developer underestimated the work. Which reason for change is this?
3. A team member leaves mid-project and tasks must be reassigned. Which reason for change is this?
4. A third-party library stops working with the latest Python version and the schedule is pushed back. Which reason for change is this?
5. Which of these is a planning cause of change rather than an external cause?
B
Match the Pairs
Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.
| Left column | Right column | |
|---|---|---|
| 1Reason: scope creep | AA task took longer than planned because the original time estimate was too low, so the schedule was adjusted. | |
| 2Reason: poor estimate | BThe client asked for extra features after the plan was approved, so tasks were added and the plan changed. | |
| 3An external cause of change: a team member leaves part way through the project and tasks must be reassigned. | CPoor estimate: 5 of 7 changes | |
| 4A pattern of reasons: most logged changes were caused by poor estimates, which shows the original plan was not very effective. | DTechnical issues are an external cause, not a planning fault. Judging plan effectiveness needs both external and planning causes considered. | |
| 5Change 4: Reason: the plan was changed | EReason: personnel change | |
| 6Assessment: 'All changes were technical issues, so the plan was badly made.' | FThe reason does not classify the cause. It only restates that a change happened. It should state a category such as technical issues. |
C
Definitions
Reason for change
D
Fill in the Blanks
Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.
1.
reasons = ["scope creep", "technical"]
print(___(reasons))
2.
reason = "poor estimates"
if reason __ "poor estimates":
print("Planning cause")
3.
counts = {"scope creep": 3, "personnel": 1}
print(___(counts, key=counts.get))
4.
counts = {"scope creep": 2}
counts["scope creep"] __ 1
5.
external = ["personnel", "technical"]
reason = "personnel"
print(reason __ external)
E
Spot the Error
Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.
Question 1
A
reasons = ["scope", "tech"]
B
total = length(reasons)
C
print("Total changes:", total)
Question 2
A
external = ["staff", "tech"]
B
reason == "poor estimate"
C
if reason in external:
D
print("External cause")
E
else:
F
print("Planning cause")
Question 3
A
tally = {"scope": 0, "est": 0}
B
tally[scope] += 1
C
tally["est"] += 1
D
print(tally)
Question 4
A
total = "8"
B
scope = 4
C
share = scope / total * 100
D
print(f"Scope: {share}%")
Question 5
A
reasons = ["scope", "tech"]
B
for r in reasons:
C
if r == "scope":
D
print("New request"
E
else:
F
print("Other cause")
Answer Key
Assessing project plan effectiveness: reasons for changes
Section A: Quick Questions
Q1
A — Scope creep
Q2
B — Poor estimates
Q3
A — Personnel change
Q4
B — Technical issue
Q5
A — Poor estimates of task durations
Section B: Match the Pairs
Q1
Reason: scope creep → The client asked for extra features after the plan was approved, so tasks were added and the plan changed.
Q2
Reason: poor estimate → A task took longer than planned because the original time estimate was too low, so the schedule was adjusted.
Q3
An external cause of change: a team member leaves part way through the project and tasks must be reassigned. → Reason: personnel change
Q4
A pattern of reasons: most logged changes were caused by poor estimates, which shows the original plan was not very effective. → Poor estimate: 5 of 7 changes
Q5
Change 4: Reason: the plan was changed → The reason does not classify the cause. It only restates that a change happened. It should state a category such as technical issues.
Q6
Assessment: 'All changes were technical issues, so the plan was badly made.' → Technical issues are an external cause, not a planning fault. Judging plan effectiveness needs both external and planning causes considered.
Section C: Definitions
Q1
Reason for change — The cause of a plan change, classed as scope creep, personnel, technical issues or poor estimates. Patterns in these causes show how effective the original plan was.Section D: Fill in the Blanks
Q1
reasons = ["scope creep", "technical"]
print(len(reasons))Q2
reason = "poor estimates"
if reason == "poor estimates":
print("Planning cause")Q3
counts = {"scope creep": 3, "personnel": 1}
print(max(counts, key=counts.get))Q4
counts = {"scope creep": 2}
counts["scope creep"] += 1Q5
external = ["personnel", "technical"]
reason = "personnel"
print(reason in external)Section E: Spot the Error
Q1
B — Python has no length() function. Use len(reasons) to count how many reasons for change were logged.
Q2
B — == compares values, so reason is never created and a NameError follows. Assignment needs a single =.
Q3
B — The dictionary key must be the string "scope" in quotes. Without quotes Python looks for a variable called scope and raises a NameError.
Q4
A — total is stored as a string, so dividing by it causes a TypeError. It should be the number 8 so the percentage can be calculated.
Q5
D — The closing bracket is missing from the print() call, which is a syntax error. It should be print("New request").