APM Flashcards
What is a programme?
A programme is a collection of interdependent projects that contribute towards the organisational strategic objectives and success.
What is a project?
A unique, transient endeavour that is designed to bring organisational change. Seeks to deliver benefits as a result of products & outcomes. Benefits are usually seen in profit.
What is a portfolio?
The organisational governance and view over its projects and programmes.
When is portfolio required?
Hollistic view of workload is needed
Organisiational capacity needs understanding
Standardisation and consistency is required
Management of organisational risk is needed
Coordination of the impact on BAU
Whats the difference between projects and programmes
Projects usually deliver one core output/product and one core benefit at a unique set time. Programmes deliver outputs and benefits throughout.
Projects usually have one customer.
Programmes usually have multiple, related projects.
Projects are usually standalone.
Programmes tend to be strategic whereas projects are tactical.
What is the core aim of governance?
Bridges the gap between the organisation and the project environment. Provides or expands upon an existing, organisational framework which will support govern and structure the way the project is managed, delivered.
What are the four main areas of governance?
Portfolio Direction
PM Capability
Disclosure and reproting
Project Sponsorship
What are the benefits to good, effective project governance?
Consistency Clarity Capability Continuity Communications Helps identify risks Align to organisational strategy Ensure clear accountability
What is project management methodology and what are its contents?
PM methodology is a set of standards which controls how a project operates within its environment. Two types; public or proprietary (aligned to organisational governance, systems, processes etc).
Contents: People Products Processes Document Templates Tools
Name 5 responsibilities of a project manager?
Raising change requests Ensuring project staff follow governance Develop staff Advise and support staff Escalate issues Input into project reviews Writes the business case Writes the PMP Manages stakeholders Create budgets
Name 5 responsibilities of a project sponsor?
Advises the PM Assesses and decides outcomes of change Influences stakeholders Chairs gate reviews Chairs stage reviews Own the business case Identify strategic risks
Name 5 responsibilities of a project team?
Create metrics Liaisie with stakeholders Identify risks Identify change Identify issues Delivers product to project constraints and parameter s
What is the Thomas Killmann conflict model?
Describes conflict styles people may show depedning on the situation, cooperativeness and assertiveness: Compromising Competitive Collaborative Accomodating Avoidiing
What are the four types/categories of negotiation?
Competitive
Collaborative
Formal
Informal
What is the negotiation process?
Includes five stages;
Identify need for negotiation Plan Discuss Propose and Agree Document/Review
What are the 3 stages of the benefits management process?
Identify
Manage
Realise
What are the sections and supporitng aspects of the business case?
Core sections: Strategic case Economic Case Financial Case Commercial Case Management Case
Supporting information: Risks Depedencies Assumptions Plan Success criteria Budgets
What is Maslows hierarchy of needs?
Motivational factors that come in levels of priority/need:
Pyschiological Safety and Security Love and Belonging Esteem Self actualisation
What is Herzbergs two factor theory?
Two set of factors that are interdependable on each other to provide effective satisfaction and motivation amongst employees:
Hygeine - environment, security, salary
Motiviation - recognition, responsibility, development
What is the PRAM process?
Project, Risk, Analysis, Management:
- Initiate
- Identify
- Assess
- Plan Responses
- Update Plans/Review
What are the 4 approaches/responses to risks and opportunities?
Risks/Threats: Accept Reduce Transfer Avoid
Opportunities: Exploit Enhance Share Reject
What is Tuckmans model for team development?
Describes the stages a team goes through:
Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjourning
What are the 4 main breakdown strucutres?
Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) - Describes all the products/outputs the project will produce
Work Breakdown Strucutre (WBS) - Describes all the associated work required to produce the outputs/products.
Organisational Breakdown Structure (OBS) - Describes all the people required and involved in undertaking the work and producing the specified outputs.
Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS) - Describes all the associated costs with the work, whos doing it, materials etc.
What is scope?
Describes what the project will / won’t do.
Describes all the associated work and outputs
Describes all the expected benefits which will arise as a result from the outputs.
What’s the difference between estimates and budgets?
Estimate = a forecast on how much something will cost to produce / how long something will take. Estimates are between two figures. Estimates are subjective and differ between people depending on certain factors such as; SQEP, previous data, experience, assumptions, known risks.
Budgets = An amount of allocated money to a project task or activity. Budgets are assigned by the PM and given to Team managers which are then used at work package level. Budgets are a total forecast on how much something should cost, they’re not always right though.
What are the 6 steps in a typical procurement process?
Make or buy? Contractual Relationship Supplier Reimbursement method Supplier Selection (ITT, analyse etc) Contract Administration Feedback and Review
What is Crosby’s view on Quality?
‘Cost of Quality’ - Quality pays for itself through proactive management.
As the prevention costs rise, the failure and prevention costs will fall.
Through organisational maturity, LFE, continuous improvement etc.
What is the Pareto Analysis?
80:20 rule.
80% of faults are cause by 20% of the root causes.
Therefore by focusing attention to the root causes, and identifying these is most effective.
What are Belbin’s team roles?
9 roles that exist within every team, someone may be more than one: Plant Resource investigator Co-ordinator Shaper Monitor Evaluator Teamworker Completer Finisher Specialist Implementer
What are the 5 stages of the requirements management process?
Idenitfy / Capture Analyse Jusitify Document Test
What are the 5 stages of the configuration management process?
Planning Identification Control Status Accounting Audit
What are the 5 stages when raising a Change Request?
Submit Change Request Initial Assessment Impact Assessment Decision / Recommendation Update plans & implement change
What is the importance of change and configuration management practises/processes?
Change control - implements the change.
Configuration management - manages the change and its impact on other products.
Ensures only beneficial changes are made
Analyses the change
Ensures revisions are updated
Ensures requirements are still met
Ensures appropriate governance, control and accountability
Helps identify new risks
Provides clarity between departments/functions
Provides assurances to stakeholders over on-going changes
Ensures products work as expected with interrelated products
Changes are formally documented and recorded regardless of the outcome
Ensures the project scope is managed and baselines are secure
What are the disadvantages of change control?
Process may be long and delay the project
May cause conflict between the person who raised it and rejected it
Costly to implement, manage and upkeep
People might have the urge to cut corners and deviate from the process
What are the 3 common investment appraisal methods?
Payback period - length of time to payback
Internal Rate of Return - Calcuates different discount factors to show potential values of money overtime.
Net Present Value - Calculates the value of money overtime
What are the general advantages and disadvantages of investment appraisal techniques?
Advantages:
NPV & IRR take into account the future value of money
Looks at the whole project lifecycle
Calculates a single percentage, figure or time period.
Payback period is quick and easy to calculate.
Disadvantages:
NPV and IRR can be complex to calculate
Payback period doesn’t take into account future value of money
Payback period doesn’t take into account income after payback period.
NPV is reliant on what % is used
What should typically be included in the Information Management Plan (PMP)
Scope Roles and responsibilities Tools and Techniques Process Audit
What are the 6 core aspects relating to information management?
Collection Storage Dissemination Archiving Destruction Reporting
What are the 4 information principles?
Accurate
Relevant
Clear
Timely
What are the 4 steps in the reporting cycle?
Gather data
Collate and Analyse
Information
Make decisions
What are the 9 plans within the PMP?
Stakeholder Communications Resource Information Quality Change/Configuration Risk Schedule Procurement
What should the PMP answer?
Who What When Where Why How much
How are the PMP and Business case used throughout the project life cycle?
Business Case:
Used as a reference point to judge and evaluate progress
Used to decide project viability
Helps handover and closure to ensure requirements have been met
Acts as a form of governance
Compare forecasts to actuals
PMP:
Communication tool
Used to refer back to for processes, techniques, practises
Acts as a governance document to compare actual management with expected management
Regularly reviewed to reflect current project state and business case
What are the 4 PERT estimating techniques?
PERT = Programme, Evaluation, Review, Technique
Three point estimating
Comparitive
Bottom up
Parametric
What is the stakeholder management process?
Idenitfy
Assess
Develop communication plans
Engage and influence
What are common communication barriers?
Language Commitments Loyalties Culture Location Technology Attitude
What are the impacts of not managing stakeholders effectively?
Project gets a bad reputation
Stakeholders influence the project negatively
Risks not fully identified
Scope not fully captured
Makes it difficult for future cooperation
Benefits not fully understood
What are some common resource management techniques?
Smoothing Levelling Crashing Splitting Overtime Reduction of scope
What is the difference between total and free float?
Total float = Amount of time an activity can be delayed without impacting upon the project end date
Free float = Amount of time an activity can be delayed without impacting upon the succeeding activity’s start/end date.
What is the criticial path?
The sequence of activities with the lowest amount of float - which is usually 0.
What is the difference between smoothing vs levelling
Resource Levelling = Managing and utilising resources to avoid peaks and troughs. When resource constraints are paramount.
Resource smoothing = When time constraints take priority. Use of float and maximising efficiencies to manage resources without delaying the project end date.
What are the advantages and disadvantages to the use of software for planning?
Advantages: Quicker Automatic calculations No calculation errors Supports what if scenarios Compatible with organisational systems Produce reports User friendly and intuitive
Disadvantages:
Expensive
Time and money to buy, implement and update
Overreliance on systems
Potentially hinder innovation
Can make staff more naive to implications.
What are the benefits to budgeting and cost management?
Clear documentation of all costs
Effective governance
Helps forecast performance
Helps prepare cash flow
Compare vs initial forecasts and estimates
Provides assurance to stakeholders over expenditure
Easier to spot deviations
Makes it easier to request and justify extra funding
What is earned value?
Calculating the project current performance vs what was initially forecasted in the given time frame.
Calculation provides a quantitative figure in terms of money and time.
Forecasts future performance based on current
Indicates potential problems causing performance issues
Acts as a KPI
What are the advantages and disadvantages of earned value?
Advantages:
Provides quantitative figures in terms of time and cost
Shows actual performance vs what was forecasted
Shows what might be going wrong
Can be presented clearly in graphs
Forecast future performance based on current performance
Disadvantages: Complex to calculate Difficult to explain details Doesn't account for quality Relies on honesty Relies on accurate data Requires tight control of costs Reliance on % of work complete. May be difficult when producing software.
What are the 4 core aspects of quality?
Quality Planning
Quality Control
Quality Assurance
Continuous Improvement
Why is proactive risk management required?
Defines how risks are dealt with
Establishes a risk culture
Helps achieve continuous improvement
Creates contingencies
Attempts to reduce the impact and probability
Forms a part of governance
Creates clarity between project and organisation/customer over on-going risks
What are the common failures with issue management?
Not escalating issues
Issues not being dealt with once esclated
Contingencies not being used
Losing track of accountability
What other functions does Quality interact and depend on?
Configuration Management
Change Control
Requirements Management
What’s the difference between quality assurance and control
Assurance:
Process associated with demonstrating and providing confident to all stakeholders that the quality requirements will be achieved.
Assures that plans, processes, procedures and practises are being followed.
Control:
Techniques used to ensure and maintain the quality in the project’s outputs, products, processes etc.
What are some quality assurance methods?
Audits
Training
Supplier accreditation
LFE
What are some quality control methods?
Inspection & measurement
Walk throughs
Pareto Analysis
Process control charts (documenting results throughout)
What are the benefits of a quality management plan?
Reduces the chances of quality issues Reduces defects Reduces re-work Increases motivation Increases reputation Ensures continuous improvement Provides confidence when producing safety critical systems Provides assurance assurance to stakeholders and governance due to clear documentation, strategies and procedures.
What are the main types of reimbursement methods?
Fixed price
Cost plus
Target cost
Time and materials
What are common types of contractual relationships?
Single
Parallel
Sequential
Prime
What are the 6 main stages to a supplier selection process?
Research the market Shortlist potential suppliers Invitiation to Tender (ITT) Answer queries Analyse bids Award the contract
What is the Hersey and Blanchard Leadership model?
Situational leadership. Describes different styles that can be used depending on the situation, person, readiness and commitment.
Directing
Coaching
Supporting
Delegating
What are the most common type of leadership styles?
Democratic Autocratic Paternal Consulative Laissez Faire
What are the implications of poor leadership?
Low motivation High labour turnover Difficulty to recruit new staff Impact on quality Higher absence rate Conflict
What is a functional organisation?
An organisation which revolves around the functions (BAU) and projects are prioritised second.
Consists of heads of.. finance, HR etc
They control resources, act as line managers.
What is a project organisation?
Organisations structured around projects. Project managers have full responsibility and are given a project team.
What are common laws/legislation that projects operate under?
Environmental / Waste & Disposal Employment rights Working conditions Freedom of Information Act Official Secrets Data protection act Health and Safety
What are the phases involved in a project lifecycle and extended life cycle?
Concept
Definition
Development
Handover and Closure
Extended life cycle:
Benefits Realisation
Operations
Termination
What are matrix organisations?
Combination of both functional and project organisation.
There are functional managers with project managers embedded within the function.
Project managers have control over resources and are usually prioritised.
Workers tend to report to both their project manager and their functional manager.
What are the strengths / weaknesses of matrix organisations?
Advantages: Utiliise staff Visibility of resource availability PM holds authority Specialist skills are maintained
Disadvantages: Sophisticated resource management required Conflict between loyalties Conflict between priorities Good communication required
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a project based organisation?
Advantages:
Clear focus and objectives
Clear hierarchy
Clear roles and responsibilities
Disadvantages: Little job security Cause duplication Under utilisation Expereince tends to leave organisation once complete
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a functional based organisation?
Advantages:
Specialist skills developed
Stability and security
Clear reporting structure
Disadvantages:
Less flexible
Doesn’t provide variety
Lead to under utilisation
What information should be included within the communication plan?
Who What Why How much When Where
List key attributes of a good leader?
Patience Adaptable Risk taker Communicator Clear Honest Influential Motivational Energy/Drive Commitment Efficient
What are the benefits of a team?
Produce more Be more efficient in communications Provides reassurance to stakeholders Rewarding place of work Develop constructive conflict
Whats the purpose of the PMP?
Explain nature of project Communicate strategies and processes Provide a baseline Form a contract between the PM and sponsor Basis for continuity throughout project Acts a form of governance
What are the difficulties of making an estimate?
Element of the unknown: Subjective Not knowing risks Not knowing who will do the work Assumptions Dependencies Lack of previous data
What are the two main types of resources?
Consumable - raw materials, petrol
Reusable - people, equipment
What are the considerations a PM must take when managing resource?
Availability Cost Constraints Training Lead time
