Download CAPM Exam Essentials: Project Management Processes and Knowledge Areas and more Exams Business Informatics in PDF only on Docsity!
CAPM Exam 5 Project Management Process Groups: correct answer 1. Initiating- Processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing project by obtaining authorization to start the project or phase.
- Planning- Processes required to establish the scope of the project, refine the objectives, and define the course of action required to attain the objectives that the project was undertaken to achieve.
- Executing- Processes performed to complete the work defined in the project management plan to satisfy the project requirements.
- Monitoring/Controlling- Processes required to track, review, and regulate the progress and performance of the project; identify any areas which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding changes.
- Closing- processes performed to formally complete or close the project, phase or contract. The Processes within each Group (knowledge areas): correct answer 1. Integration: activities to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and pm activities w/in proj mant process groups.
- Scope: required to ensure the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the proj successfully.
- Schedule: required to manage the timely completion of the project.
- Cost: involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs so the project can be completed w/in the approved budget.
- Quality: incorporating the organization's quality policy regarding planning managing & controlling project and product quality requirements, in order to meet stakeholders expectations.
- Resource: identify acquire, and manage the resources needed for the successful completion of the project.
- Communications: ensure timely and appropriate planning collection creation distribution storage retrieval mant control monitoring and ultimate disposition of proj info.
- Risk: conducting risk mant planning identification analysis response planning response implentation and monitoring risk on a project.
- Procurement: Necessary to purchase or acquire products services or results needed from outside the proj team.
- Stakeholder Mant: required to identify the people groups organizations that could impact or be impacted by the project, to analyze stakeholder expectations and their impact on the project, and to develop appropriate mant strategies for effectively engaging stakeholders in proj decisions and execution. The Relationship among Project, Program, Portfolio, and Operational Management: correct answer Projects may be managed in three separate scenarios: as a stand-alone project (outside of a portfolio or program), within a program, or within a portfolio. Program and project management focus on doing programs and projects the right way; and portfolios management focuses on doing the right programs and projects. The Relationship among Project, Program, Portfolio, and Operational Management: Program Management: correct answer Focuses on interdependencies between projects and between projects and the program level to determine the optimal approach for managing them.
The Function and Importance of Tailoring for Different Projects: correct answer The Appropriate Project management Processes, inputs, tools techniques, outputs, and life cycle phases should be selected to manage a project. Tailoring is necessary because each project is unique; not every process, tool, technique, inputs, or output is required on every project. Should address the competing constraints of scope, schedule, cost, resources, quality and risk. The importance of each constraint is different for each project. the PM tailors the approach for managing these constraints based on the project environment, organization culture, stakeholder needs, and other variables. Identify the factors that may impact the outcome of a project. correct answer Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs): Refers to conditions, not under the control of the project team, that influence, constrain or direct the project. Can be Internal or External May have an impact at the organizational, portfolio, program or project level. Identify the ASSETS that may impact the outcome of a project. correct answer Organizational Process Assets (OPAs): The plans, processes policies procedures and knowledge bases specific to and used by the performing organization. These assets influence the mant of the project. Include any artifact, practice, or knowledge from any or all of the performing organizations involved in the project that can be used to execute or govern the project. the organizations lessons learned from previous projects and historical info. Completed schedule, risk data, and earned value data. Grouped in 2 categories: Processes policies and procedures/ Organizational knowledge bases Distinguish between Organizational Systems correct answer Governance Frameworks: Governance refers to organizational or structural arrangements at all levels of an organization designed to determine and influence the behavior of the organizations members.
Includes: consideration of people, roles, structures, and policies, and requires providing direction and oversight through data and feedback. Management Elements: The components that comprise the key functions or principles of general mant in the organization. The General mant elements are allocated w/in the organization according to its governance framework and the organization structure type selected. Organizational Structure Types: Determination of the appropriate organizational structure type is a result of tradeoffs between 2 key variables. The variables are the organizational structures types available for use and how to optimize them for a given organization. The final structure for a given organization is unique due to the numerous variables to be considered. Understand the Purpose and Activities of a Project Management Office correct answer PMO: is an organizational structure that Standardizes the project related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools and techniques. Responsibilities include providing proj mant support functions to the direct mant of 1 or more projects. Types: Supportive, Controlling, Directive Activities: make recommendations, lead knowledge transfer, terminate projects, take other actions required. Recognize the Hierarchy of Projects, Programs, portfolios correct answer Projects --> Programs (bunch of projects) -->Portfolios (bunch of Programs) State the Primary Functions of a Project Manager correct answer plays a role in leadership of a project team in order to achieve the project's objectives. Involved in project from Initiation--
Closing and in Evaluation and Analysis activities prior to project Initiation. Membership and Roles Responsibility for Team Knowledge and Skills
authorizes the existence of project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. Develop Project Management Plan- Defining, preparing and coordinating all plan components and consolidating them into an integrated proj mant plan. Direct and Manage Project work- Leading and Performing the work defined in the proj mant plan and implementing approved changes to achieve the projects objectives. Manage Project Knowledge- using existing knowledge and creating new knowledge to achieve the project's objectives and contribute to organizational learning. Monitor/Control Project work- Tracking, reviewing, and reporting overall progress to meet the performance objectives defined in proj mant plan Perform integrated change control- reviewing all change requests; approving changes and managing changes to deliverables organizational process assets, project documents, and project mant plan, communicating the decisions Close Project or phase- Process of finalizing all activities for the project phase or contract. Understand The Purpose of Project Integration Management and The Project Manager's Role within it. correct answer Project Integration Management includes the processes and activities to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project management activities within the Project Management Project Groups. These processes include making choices about: Resoure allocation, Balancing competing demands, Examining any alternative approaches, Tailoring the processes to meet the project objectives, and Managing the interdependencies among the Project Management Knowledge Areas.
The project manager is the one who combines the results in all the other Knowledge Areas and has the overall view of the project. The project manager is ultimately responsible for the project as a whole. Identify Tailoring Consideration in Project Integration Management and Recognize Key Documents. correct answer Project life cycle. What is an appropriate project life cycle? What phases should comprise the project life cycle? Development life cycle. What development lift cycle and approach are appropriate for the product, service, or result? Is a predictive or adaptive approach appropriate? If adaptive, should the product be developed incrementally or iteratively? Is a hybrid approach best? Management approaches. What management processes are most effective based on the organizational culture and the complexity of the project? Change. How will change be managed in the project? Governance. What control boards, committees, and other stakeholders are part of the project? What are the project status reporting requirements? Lessons learned. What information should be collected throughout and at the end of the project? How will historical information and lessons learned by made available to future projects? Benefits. When and how should benefits be reported: at the end of the project or at the end of each iteration or phase? Understand the 6 Project Mant Processes in Project Scope Knowledge Area. correct answer Plan Scope Mant- creating scope management plan that documents how the project and product scope will be defined, validated, and controlled. Collect Requirements- determining, documenting, and managing stakeholder needs and requirements to meet project objectives. Define Scope- developing a detailed description of the project and product. Create WBS- Subdividing project deliverables and project work into smaller, more manageable components.
management systems? What guidelines should the project manager establish for requirements to be reused in the future? Validation and control. Does the organization have existing formal or informal validation and control-related policies, procedures, and guidelines? Development approach. Does the organization use agile approaches in managing projects? Is the development approach iterative or incremental? Is a predictive approach used? Will a hybrid approach be productive? Stability of requirements. Are there areas of the project with unstable requirements? Do unstable requirements necessitate the use of lean, agile, or other adaptive techniques until they are stable and well defined? Governance. Does the organization have formal or informal audit and governance policies, procedures, and guidelines? Identify the Purpose of a Work Break Down Structure (WBS) for both Product and Project Scope correct answer The WBS organizes and defines the total scope of the project and represents the work specified in the current approved project scope statement. A hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to acommplish the project objective and create the required deliverables. Identify the Elements of a Work Break Down Structure (WBS) for both Product and Project Scope correct answer The Planned work is contained within the lowest level of WBS Components, which are called Work Packages. Work Package can be used to group the activities where work is scheduled and estimated, monitored and controlled. Work refers to work products or deliverables that are the result of activity and not the activity itself Decomposition- technique that allows you to divide project deliverables into small manageable parts.
Understand Project Scope Management for Agile/Adaptive projects, including the use of Prototypes correct answer In projects with evolving requirements, high risk, or significant uncertainty, ...agile methods deliberately spend less time trying to define and agree on scope in the early stage of the project and spend more time establishing the process for its ongoing discovery and refinement. Many environments with emerging requirements find that there is often a gap between the real business requirements and the business requirements that were originally stated. Therefore, agile methods purposefully build and review prototypes and release versions in order to refine the requirements. As a result, scope is defined and redefined throughout the project. In agile approaches, the requirements constitute the backlog. Define 6 Project Management Processes in Project Schedule Management knowledge area correct answer Plan Schedule Management: Establishing the policies procedures, and documentation for planning, developing, managing, executing, and controlling the project schedule. Define Activities: identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce project deliverables. Sequence Activities: identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities. Estimate Activity Durations: estimating the # of work periods needed to complete individual activities with the estimated resources. Develop Schedule: analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements, and schedule constraints to create the project schedule model for project execution, monitoring & controlling. Control Schedule: monitoring the status of the project to update the project schedule and manage change to the schedule baseline.
Identify Key Concepts of Project Cost Management correct answer [ongoing use costs] This knowledge area should also consider the effect of project decisions on the subsequent recurring cost of using, maintaining, and supporting project deliverables. [stakeholder expectations] Different stakeholders will measure project costs in different ways and at different times. Stakeholder requirements for managing costs should be considered explicitly. [outsource performance analysis or nah] Predicting and analyzing the prospective financial performance of the project's product may be performed outside the project, or it may be part of Project Cost Management. Identify Tailoring Considerations for Project Cost Management correct answer Knowledge management. Does the organization have a formal knowledge management and financial database repository that a project manager is required to use and that is readily acceeible? Estimating and budgeting. Does the organization have existing formal or informal cost estimating and budgeted-related policies, procedures, and guidelines? Earned value management. Does the organization use earned value management in managing projects? Use of agile approach. Does the organization use agile methodologies in managing projects? How does this impact cost estimating? Governance. Does the organization have formal or informal audit and governance policies, procedures, and guidelines? Identify Considerations for Agile/ Adaptive Environments for Project Cost Management correct answer Lightweight estimation methods can be used to generate a fast, high-level forecast or project labor csts, which can then be easily adjusted as changes arise. In cases where high-variability projects are also subject to strict budgets, the scope and schedule are more often adjusted to stay within cost constraints. Understand and Apply Basic Forecasting For Project Cost management correct answer Forecasting: The Project team may develop a forecast for the estimate at completion (EAC) that may differ from the Budget at Completion (BAC) based on the project performance
EAC's are typically based on the actual costs incurred for work completed plus an estimate to complete the remaining work (ETC) Earned Value Analysis (EVA) works well with manual forecasts of the required EAC costs. Most Common EAC forcasting approach is a manual bottom-up summation by the pm and project team. EAC= AC+ Bottom-up ETC. Understand and Apply Basic Earned Value Methods For Project Cost management correct answer EVA compares the performance measurement baseline to the actual schedule and cost performance. EVM integrates the scope baseline with the cost baseline and schedule baseline to form the performance measurement baseline. Variance Analysis: Cost- (CV=EV-AC) Schedule- (SV=EV-PV) Variance at Completion (VAC=BAC-EAC) Schedule Variance (how much a project is ahead or behind) SV=EV-PV Cost Variance (amount of budget deficit or surplus at a given point in time) CV= EV-AC SPI Schedule Performance Index (how efficient the project team is accomplishing work) SPI= EV/PV CPI Cost Performance Index (the cost efficiency of budgeted resources, expressed as a ratio of earned value to actual cost) CPI = EV/AC Understand the 3 Processes in the Project Quality Management correct answer Plan Quality Management- Identifying quality requirements and or standards for the project and its
Continual Improvement (Plan do check act) PDCA- is the basis for quality improvement. initiatives such as total quality management TQM, Six Sigma, and lean Six Sigma may improve both the quality of project management, as well as quality of the end product service or result. Management Responsibility Mutually beneficial partnership with suppliers Define the 6 Processes in the Project Resource Management correct answer Plan Resource Management: Defining how to estimate, acquire, manage, and utilize physical and team resources. Estimate Activity Resources: Estimating team resources and the type and quantities of material, equipment, and supplies necessary to perform project work. Acquire Resources: obtaining team members, facilities, equipment, materials, supplies and other resources necessary to complete project work. Develop Team: Improving competencies, team member interaction, and the overall team environment to enhance project performance. Manage Team: tracking team member performance, providing feedback, resolving issues and managing team changes to optimize project performance. Control Resources: Ensuring that the physical resources assigned and allocated to the project are available as planned, as well as monitoring the planned versus actual use of resources, and performing corrective action as necessary. Identify Key concepts of Project Resource Management correct answer [more than physical] Project resources include both physical resources (equipment, materials, facilities, and infrastructure) and team resources (individuals with assigned project roles and responsibilities). [resource types are different] Different skills and competencies are needed to manage team resources versus physical resources.
[leader + manager] The project manager should be both the leader and the manager of the project team, and should invest suitable effort in acquiring, managing, motivating, and empowering team members. [influences matter] The project manager should be aware of team influences such as the team environment, geographical location of team members, communication among stakeholders, organizational change management, internal and external politics, cultural issues, and organizational uniqueness. [development is key] The project manager is responsible for proactively developing team skills and competencies while retaining and improving team satisfaction and motiviation. [effectiveness and efficiency] Physical resource management is concentrated on allocating and utilizing the physical resources needed for successful completion of the project in an efficient and effective way. Failure to manager and control resources efficiently may reduce the chance of completing the project successfully. Identify Trends and Emerging Practices in Project Resource Management correct answer Resource Management Methods Emotional Intelligence Self-organizing Teams Virtual Teams/ Distributed teams Identify Tailoring Considerations in Project Resource Management correct answer Diversity. What is the diversity background of the team? Physical location. What is the physical location of team members and physical resources? Industry-specific resources. What special resources are needed in the industry? Acquisition of team members. How will team members be acquired for the project? Are team resources full-time or part-time on the project? Management of team. How is team development managed for the project? Are there organizational tools to manage team development or will new ones need to be established? Are there team members who have special needs? Will the team need special training to manage diversity? Life cycle approaches. What life cycle approach will be used on the project?
Collaborate/problem solve. Incorporating multiple viewpoints and insights from differing perspectives; requires a cooperative attitude and open dialogue that typically leads to consensus and commitment. This approach can result in a win-win situation. Identify Techniques for Resolving Resource Related Problems correct answer Alternatives analysis. Alternatives can be analyzed to select the best resolution for correcting variances in resource utilization. Cost-benefit analysis. This analysis helps to determine the best corrective action in terms of cost in case of project deviations. Perfromance reviews. Performance reviews measure, compare, and analyze planned resource utilization to actual resource utilization. Trend analysis. Trend analysis examines project performance over time and can be used to determine whether performance is improving or deteriorating. Understand Components of Resource Management Plan correct answer Identification of resources Acquiring resources Roles and responsibilities Project organization charts Project team resource management Training Team development Resource control Recognition plan Understand Data Representation Techniques for Managing Project Resources correct answer Hierarchical chartsWork breakdown structure (WBS)Organizational breakdown structure (OBS)Resource breakdown structure Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) (example: RACI chart) Text-oriented formats (example: outline)
Understand the 3 Processes in Project Communications Management correct answer Plan Communication Management: Developing approach and plan for project Communication activities based on the information needs of each stakeholder or group, available organizational assets, and the needs of the project. Manage Communications: Ensuring timely and appropriate collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, monitoring, and the ultimate disposition of project information. Monitor Communications: Ensuring the Information needs of the project and its stakeholders are met. Identify Key Concepts In Project Communications Management correct answer [the "s" matters] Communication is the process of exchanging information, intended or involuntary, between individuals and/or groups. Communications describes the measn by which information can be sent or received, either through activites, such as meetings and presentations, or artifacts, such as emails, social media, project reports, or project documentation. Project Communications Management address both the process of communication, as well as management of communications activities and artifacts. [build clear bridges] Effective communication creates a bridge between diverse stakeholders whose differences will generally have an impact or influence upon the project execution or outcome, so it is vital that all communication is clear and concise. [many types] Communication activities include internal and external, formal and informal, written and oral. [direction matters] Communication can be directed upwards to senior management stakeholders, downwards to team members, or horizontally to peers. This will affect the format and content of the message. [strategies and skills] Communication takes place consciously or unconsciously through words, facial expressions, gestures, and other actions. It includes developing strategies and plans for suitable communications artifacts, and the application of skills to enhance effectiveness. [effort required] Effort is required to prevent misunderstandings and miscommunication, and the methods, messengers, and messages should be carefully selected.
