Download Project Management Study Guide: Key Concepts and Definitions and more Exams Project Management in PDF only on Docsity!
Guide Edition.
Virtual Teams - Answer: >> Team members are located in different places and connect via electronic communications. Time zones can be an issue. So can cultural differences. Newsletters or blogs can help people connect. When some team members are co-located, watch out for "us vs. them" scenarios. Monitoring Scope - Answer: >> Monitoring performance to ensure approved scope will be met. Done through regular status reporting and meetings comparing activities and knowledge to the baseline. Monitoring Project Schedule - Answer: >> Monitor Activity Completion status >>> Analyze Variances >> Propose changes to Schedule or Plan Monitoring Project Costs - Answer: >> Monitor Scope >> Analyze Variance
Propose Changes to Scope or Plan Risk Register - Answer: >> List of potential risks, how they will be monitored, and what action to take if they occur Four categories of change - Answer: >> Change can impact Function, Cost, Schedule.
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Scope Changes - Common when requirements are incomplete Contingency Changes - Pre-Planned responses to events that may occur Improvement Changes - Things that can make the outcome better Change Caused by External Events - Events beyond our control Change Management Process - Answer: >> A way to formally identify, evaluate, decide, and communicate project changes. Identify Change - Answer: >> Having a process in place to document changes as soon as they are identified. Evaluate Change - Answer: >> Ensuring the appropriate stakeholders provide input to identify the costs and benefits of the change. Decision - Answer: >> Project leadership and the customer decide if the proposed change will be implemented. Communicate Change - Answer: >> Notifying the project team of the change, updating the plans to incorporate the change, and implementing the change. Change Management - Prosci's 3-Phase Change Management - **Answer:
** 1. Prepare for Change
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A review of the fully defined project requirements to ensure they are feasible and suitable. Quality control - Answer: >> The process of monitoring and changing project execution to ensure that activities are being executed as planned and will result in meeting the customer's requirements. A set of steps taken to ensure standards set during quality management and assurance are met. Earned Value Management - Answer: >> Using measurement of the value of work completed to make comparisons to the baseline budget and schedule. Earned Value - Answer: >> The total dollar budget of the work that has been completed. Compare with actual expenditures and budgeted expenditures to assess project's forward completion. Measures both cost and performance. Assessment can be done at any time, normally done several times. Actual Cost - Answer: >> Total dollar value of costs to date.
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Planned Value - Answer: >> Dollar value of all work scheduled to have been completed to date. Budget at Completion - Answer: >> Approved total baseline budget for the completed project. 50/50 Rule - Answer: >> Assigning 50% complete as soon as an activity is started; assigns 100% upon completion. Every activity is either 0, 50, or 100 0/100 Rule - Answer: >> Assign 0% to projects that are not started or in progress, and 100% to completed projects. Cost Variance - Answer: >> Compares difference between EV and AC to determine if project is meeting budget expectations Cost Performance Index - Answer: >> A ratio to measure cost efficiency. 1. (100%) or greater is a good result. Cost Variance - Answer: >> CV = EV - AC Cost Performance Index - Answer: >> CPI = EV/AC Schedule Variance - Answer: >> SV = EV - PV
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Estimate to Completion - Answer: >> Estimate of how much money will be needed to complete project. Estimate to Completion - Answer: >> ETC = (BAC - EV) / CPI Lessons Learned - Answer: >> Describe what worked well and what didn't work well in the project to avoid unnecessary expenditure of resources on future project. What did we do right? What can we do better? What went wrong? How can we prevent what went wrong from going wrong next time? After Action Review - Answer: >> What the military calls lessons learned. Vendor Closing Checklist - Answer: >> Useful for verifying that products and services ordered were delivered on time and as ordered. Ensure all required actions and activities have been addressed PMBOK Process Groups - Answer: >> Initiating - Setting a vision of what to accomplish.
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Planning - Establishing the total scope of the project. Executing - Doing the work. Monitoring & Controlling - Processes to track, review, and regulate the progress and performance of the project, identify areas in which changes are required, and initiating the corresponding changes. Closing - Formally close the project, get sign of and acceptance from customer, final payment, archive records, lessons learned, release team. Items included in Scope Baseline - Answer: >> Scope Baseline includes: Work breakdown structure WBS dictionary Project scope statement Advantages of Checklist Scoring Model - Answer: >> Operational impact has been built in. Strategic impact has been integrated Projects - Answer: >> A temporary activity that creates a unique result. Initiatives with specific goals and start and end dates. Develops a new product or service, reduce costs, add technology, etc. Operations - Answer: >> Day-to-day activities in an organization. Continuous & ongoing.
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Portfolio - Answer: >> A group of initiatives (projects and programs) that a company engages in to improve its operations. Charter - Answer: >> The definition of a project according to stakeholders. Defines how customer will determine if project met expectations. Includes a beginning, work steps, and clear and defined end. Business Case - Answer: >> The justification for a project - Explains the business need. Project Life Cycle Phases - Answer: >> Defining, Planning Executing, Closing Defining - Answer: >> Where detailed planning occurs. Level of detail aligns with complexity of project. Use Work Breakdown Structure to identify outcomes needed. Can require significant time for large projects. Typically ends when baselines for scope, budget, and schedule are approved by customer and/or sponsor and project team. Executing - Answer: >> Where most of the work is done.
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Deliverables are completed. Progress is monitored and actions taken as needed to stay on track. May return to planning phase as needed if objectives can't be met, to modify budget, schedule, or scope. Critical to be careful of scope creep—don't add functionality without considering impact. This phase is complete when all work activities and deliverables are ready to be delivered to customer/sponsor. Closing - Answer: >> When project outcomes are delivered to the customer and/or sponsor. Project Manager ties up loose ends:
- Reassign project resources back to company
- Document project results and lessons learned
- Close out procurement activities
- Verify completed project is transitioned to customer SMART Goals - Answer: >> Specific Measurable
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Integration management - includes processes/activities needed to identify, define, and coordinate various processes and project management activities. Scope management - includes the processes that ensure that all the work required is identified to complete the project successfully. Time management - includes the processes required to manage the timely completion of the project. Cost management - includes the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, managing, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget. Quality management - includes processes/activities that determine quality policies, objectives, and responsibilities. Human resource management - includes the processes that organize, manage, and lead the project team. Communication management - includes processes to ensure timely and appropriate planning, creation, distribution, management, control, and monitoring of project information. Risk management - includes the processes of conducting risk management planning, identification, analysis, response planning, and controlling risk on a project. Procurement management - includes the processes necessary to acquire products, services, or results needed from outside the project team. Stakeholder management - includes the processes required to identify all people or organizations impacted by the project, analyzing stakeholder expectations, and developing appropriate strategies for effectively engaging stakeholders in project decisions and execution.
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Triple Constraints - Answer: >> Cost Time Scope Working PM vs Dedicated PM - Answer: >> Working project managers - PM also responsible for operational delivery project. Dedicated project managers - PMs who have a distinctly separate role in organization and can be the functional manager for project for duration of project. Problems with working project managers Usually wearing multiple hats Lack of time, may also have lack of PM skills and training People from other disciplines may not report directly to you but you are responsible for their work in project. Communication Plan - Answer: >> Communication with project stakeholders, including: Management at all levels and users of the system Everyone hoping develop deliverables - workers, suppliers, etc Stockholders of business Other project partners
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Stakeholder Analysis - Answer: >> Understand who the stakeholders are, their responsibilities, and their communication needs. Develop a matrix to guide communications. Change requests (CR) - Answer: >> Changes in scope, schedule, or funding that need approval. Change control board (CCB) - Answer: >> Those with authority to approve changes. Ensures change doesn't negatively impact the project's triple constraint of time, cost, and scope. Can be a small group of individuals from within a project team. Project Reports - Answer: >> Communicate the current status of the project, risks team is facing, and direction to the team for the immediate work period. Project the future performance of the project as known at this point. Clear and concise regarding who is doing what and what the deadlines are. Collaboration Tools - Answer: >> Software products to help manage the creating and communication of the plan and tasks to be performed. MS project is one example. Virtual teams often work in shared threaded discussions (better than IM) Google Drive also useful.
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Work Breakdown Structure - Answer: >> A tool to ensure people understand what is expected of them and how they will be held accountable. Breaks work down into measurable components. Conflict Management - Answer: >> 80% of all problems come from poor communication Establish Expectations for team members - what to do, how to communicate, how to resolve issues Address Conflict Immediately - Make it safe. Listen and hear issues and stay professional. Don't take sides. Stay Focused on Project and Goals - don't take on more than project was designed for Remember you're dealing with people - They have own motivation. Know their WIFM and how it aligns with the project. Conflict is an opportunity to learn and grow. PMI - Answer: >> Project Management Institute Largest project management organization in the world - 400,000 members. Publishes foundational and practice standards. Foundational standards give frameworks and process for program, project, portfolio management Practice standards focus on topics like risk management scheduling, and estimating.
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Ineffective for projects. Org doesn't focus on solving business-wide issues. Sharing resources across functions can be difficult. Project customer not only focus; customer response can be slow. Can lead to information silos. Matrix Org - Answer: >> PROS Project is central focus PMs have access to lots of technically skilled people, SMEs as needed Team members have less anxiety about futures Customer response is fast No duplication in admin personnel Team organization is flexible CONS Requires cooperation, coordination among managers SMEs not in daily contact with other SMEs to share knowledge Decision making authority not always clear Resource balancing is simpler, but can lead to friction Closeouts can be difficult Division of authority is complex
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Strong/Weak Matrix Org - Answer: >> Weak - similar to functional org; functional managers retain authority for own parts of projects. Strong - attempt to provide appearance of project team in matrix org Projectized Org - Answer: >> PM is manager/leader for specific projects. SMEs from different functional units report to PMs for specific projects Cross-functional cooperation promoted. At project end, resources return to home depts. Collaboration is KEY PROS PM has full authority Response to customers/stakeholders faster, clearer Timely decisions on project issues Org structure simple, flexible, easy to understand CONS Must keep SMEs busy or risk losing to another project Can be expensive - duplication of personnel Policies/procedures may be inconsistent Team members may be anxious when released from project
