5.3 Scenario Practice for Project Organization
Key Takeaways
- Read the stem for the role's interest: business value points to the Executive, requirements/benefits point to the Senior User, and quality/technical feasibility points to the Senior Supplier.
- If a question asks who decides on a request for change within delegated limits, the answer is the Change Authority (or the Board if none was appointed).
- Tasks involving registers, logs, filing and tool support are Project Support, never Project Assurance.
- Authorising a stage or the project is always a Project Board decision; the Project Manager requests, the Board grants.
- When a scenario describes representing multiple distinct user communities, multiple people may share the Senior User role — but never combine Senior User with Senior Supplier.
A Reading Method for Role Questions
Most Organizing questions describe an action and ask whose responsibility it is. Work the stem in three quick passes:
- Interest: Is this about business value/funding (Executive), requirements/benefits/user buy-in (Senior User), or quality/technical feasibility/supplier resources (Senior Supplier)?
- Level: Is it directing (authorise, approve, set tolerance), managing (plan a stage, assign work, report up), or delivering (build the product, report a checkpoint)?
- Delegation: Does the stem mention a limit or delegated authority? That usually signals a Change Authority or Project Support answer rather than the Board.
This ordering resolves most distractors. A stem that says "ensures the project continues to represent value for money" is business + directing = Executive. A stem about "confirming the delivered products meet the specified user needs" is user assurance. A stem about "maintaining the issue register and risk register" is managing-support = Project Support.
Worked Scenarios
Scenario 1. A change is requested that will add cost within the limit the Board delegated. Who decides?
The Change Authority decides, because the Board delegated authority over changes up to a defined cost/severity threshold. Only if the change exceeds that limit — or no Change Authority was appointed — does it return to the Project Board.
Scenario 2. The project spans three different departments, each of which will use the product differently. The sponsor asks how to represent them.
Appoint multiple Senior Users, one per community, because the Senior User role can be shared among several people. You would not fold these interests into the Senior Supplier, because user and supplier interests conflict.
Scenario 3. A team member offers to also perform assurance checks on their own Work Package.
Reject it. Project Assurance cannot be performed by the Project Manager, Team Manager, team members or Project Support — it must remain independent of the people doing the work.
Scenario 4. The Project Manager wants to begin the next stage because the current stage is on track.
The Project Manager must request authorisation from the Project Board via the Managing a Stage Boundary outputs. Starting a new stage is a directing-level decision the Project Manager cannot self-approve.
Quick-Match Cue Table
Use this lookup when a stem describes an action and you must name the role.
| Cue in the stem | Most likely role |
|---|---|
| "value for money", "funding", "the business case" | Executive |
| "user requirements", "benefits", "user acceptance" | Senior User |
| "quality standards", "technical integrity", "supplier resources" | Senior Supplier |
| "independent check that the project is run well" | Project Assurance (matching perspective) |
| "approve a change within a delegated limit" | Change Authority |
| "maintain registers, logs, filing, tools" | Project Support |
| "day-to-day management, plan the stage, report up" | Project Manager |
| "build the products, report a checkpoint" | Team Manager |
The single most common error is choosing the Project Board (or the Project Manager) for a task that the framework deliberately delegates — assurance, change decisions, or administrative support. Train yourself to spot the words independent, delegated limit, and register/log, which redirect the answer away from the obvious senior role.
More Worked Scenarios
Scenario 5. Senior management asks who should confirm that the products being built will actually meet the agreed user requirements, independently of the Project Manager.
This is user assurance, the Senior User's perspective of Project Assurance. It is independent of the Project Manager and checks the project from the user's point of view, distinct from the Senior User's own directing duties.
Scenario 6. A small in-house project has one administrator who keeps the risk and issue registers up to date and also helps the Project Manager run planning tools. What role is the administrator filling?
Project Support. Maintaining registers, logs and tools is administrative support. Note this person must not also perform Project Assurance, because support and assurance must stay independent of each other.
Scenario 7. During delivery, a Team Manager realises a Work Package will overrun its agreed time tolerance. What should they do first?
Escalate to the Project Manager — the Team Manager reports to the Project Manager, not the Board. The Project Manager then decides whether the stage tolerance is threatened and, if so, raises an exception to the Board.
Scenario 8. The customer wants ongoing confidence that the project still represents value for money. Whose assurance perspective covers this?
Business assurance, reflecting the Executive's interest in the Business Case and value for money. It is one of the three assurance perspectives alongside user and supplier assurance.
Reading the Stem Backwards
When two options both look plausible, identify which interest the question protects and which level the action sits at, then eliminate. If the action is 'authorise', the level is directing (Board). If it is 'decide a change within a limit', it is the Change Authority. If it is 'check independently', it is assurance. If it is 'keep the records', it is support. This backward read — from action to level to role — resolves almost every two-answer tie in this domain.
A scenario states that the project will serve three separate operational departments, each with different needs. How should the Senior User interest be represented?
A request for change will cost less than the limit the Project Board delegated for change decisions. Who should decide whether to approve it?
The Project Manager believes the current stage is complete and wants to start the next stage. What is the correct action?
A stem asks who provides an independent check that the products being built will meet the agreed user requirements. Which role and perspective is this?