Level 0 exam — Microsoft Project

Exam — fresh questions

12 questions to validate your getting started with Meriem, a project manager at an engineering & construction (BTP) company in Algiers: the role of Microsoft Project, installation and licenses, the interface (ribbon, views, timescale) and project setup (calendar, start date).
Answer everything, then click Check: your score and explanations will appear.

0.1 · Recall

1. What does Microsoft Project let you do?

Plan, track and drive tasks and resources Create presentations and graphic mock-ups Replace a spreadsheet to do accounting Design technical blueprints of buildings

Project plans (tasks, durations, dependencies), assigns (resources, costs) and tracks progress, all in a Gantt chart.

0.1 · Application

2. Meriem hesitates between Project, Planner and Excel for a structured site. What does she choose?

Excel, to keep control over every cell Project desktop, to drive a structured project Planner, to manage the site in lightweight Kanban None: she manages the site from memory

A structured project (linked tasks, resources, budget, critical path) is driven in Project desktop, not in a spreadsheet or in Planner.

0.1 · Arbitration

3. A task slips by three days. Why does Meriem prefer Project to Excel?

Because Project colours late tasks better Because Excel forbids links between tasks Because Project recalculates the whole schedule automatically Because Project deletes unnecessary tasks

Project automatically propagates the impact of a delay onto the following tasks and onto the critical path; Excel forces you to touch up the dates by hand.

0.2 · Recall

4. Which desktop edition of Project allows shared resources and server connection?

Project Standard, in its basic version Project Plan 1, limited to the web Project Plan 5, without a desktop version Project Professional, more complete

Project Professional adds the resource pool, the Team Planner and the connection to Project Online/Server; Standard remains solo planning.

0.2 · Application

5. Meriem wants Project Professional on the desktop and the web version. Which plan does she target?

Project Plan 3, which includes both Project Plan 1, limited to the web only Project Plan 5, reserved for the portfolio Project Standard, without collaboration

Plan 3 includes Project Professional (desktop) + Project for the web; Plan 1 is limited to the web and Plan 5 adds the portfolio.

0.2 · Arbitration

6. Meriem's company already has an M365 subscription. What reflex before buying Project?

Buy a perpetual license immediately Check whether the subscription already includes Project Wait for a native macOS version Take Plan 1 without checking

Checking the existing subscription avoids a double purchase: an M365 subscription may already include Project.

0.3 · Recall

7. How do you enter tasks in the Gantt Chart view?

In the graphical area on the right, made for data entry In the ribbon only, with no grid at all In the task grid, on the left of the screen In the timeline, under the ribbon

You enter data on the left in the task grid (name, duration, dates, predecessors) and visualize on the right the bars on the timescale.

0.3 · Application

8. Meriem wants to see her teams' overallocations. Which view does she open?

The Gantt chart, which is always enough The timeline, designed for management The network diagram, without a timescale The resource graph, which reveals overallocations

Each view answers a question: the resource graph is precisely used to reveal overallocations.

0.3 · Arbitration

9. The schedule looks unreadable, too zoomed in. What does Meriem do?

She sets the timescale to step back She deletes tasks to lighten the view She switches to simpler software She hides the application's ribbon

The timescale is set to zoom in on detail or step back: that is the right lever, without touching the tasks.

0.4 · Recall

10. What does the project calendar define?

The list of resources assigned to the tasks The working days and hours, weekends and holidays The background colour of the Gantt chart The total budget planned for the site

The calendar defines the working days/hours, the weekends and the holidays; it serves as the basis for calculating all durations.

0.4 · Application

11. Meriem wants weekends and public holidays to be non-working. Where does she act?

In File > Options > General In the Gantt chart, by dragging the bars In Project > Change Working Time In the Network Diagram view

You customize hours, weekends and leave via Project > Change Working Time (the project calendar).

0.4 · Arbitration

12. A 5-day task must finish on a Friday but Project places it later. What does Meriem infer?

The software is buggy, she reinstalls Project She must delete the task then recreate it The budget has been exceeded, which shifts the task The calendar miscounts the working days or the holidays

Durations are calculated in working days: a misdeclared weekend or holiday shifts the finish date. The calendar must be corrected.

What's next?

Score ≥ 80%: move on to Level 1 — tasks, durations and scheduling with Meriem.
Score between 50% and 80%: review the section(s) you missed (0.1 role of Project, 0.2 installation and licenses, 0.3 interface, 0.4 setup), reread the lesson, then retake the test.
Score < 50%: reread the whole level 0 while applying each 48h challenge (choose your tool, choose your edition, navigate the interface, set the calendar) before trying again.
And then? Keep Meriem's reflexes (right tool, aligned edition, Gantt navigation, correct calendar): level 1 plugs them into entering tasks and durations.