CAPM Terms 1 Flashcards
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)
• The PMI publication that defines widely accepted project management practices. The CAPM and the PMP exam are largely based on this book.
Abusive manner
• Treating others with conduct that may result in harm, fear, humiliation, manipulation, or exploitation. For example, berating a project team member because they have taken longer than expected to complete a project assignment may be considered humiliation.
Acceptance
• A risk response appropriate for both positive and negative risks, but often used for smaller risks within a project.
Acceptance test driven development
• A method used to communicate with business customers, developers, and testers before coding begins.
Acknowledgment
• The receiver signals that the message has been received. An acknowledgment shows receipt of the message, but not necessarily agreement with the message.
Active listening
- The message receiver restates what has been said to understand and confirm the message fully, and it provides an opportunity for the sender to clarify the message if needed.
- The receiver confirms that the message is being received through feedback, questions, prompts for clarity, and other signs of confirmation.
Active observation
• The observer interacts with the worker to ask questions and understand each step of the work being completed. In some instances, the observer could serve as an assistant in doing the work.
Active problem solving
• Active problem solving begins with problem definition. Problem definition is the ability to discern between the cause and effect of the problem. Root-cause analysis looks beyond the immediate symptoms to the cause of the symptoms—which then affords opportunities for solutions.
Activity list
• The primary output of breaking down the WBS work packages.
Activity network diagram
• These diagrams, such as the project network diagram, show the flow of the project work.
Actual Cost (AC)
• The actual amount of monies the project has spent to date.
Adjourning
• Once the project is done, either the team moves onto other assignments as a unit, or the project team is disbanded, and individual team members go on to other work.
Adaptive leadership
• A leadership style that helps teams to thrive and overcome challenges throughout a project.
Affinity diagram
- This diagram breaks down ideas, solutions, causes, and project components and groups them together with other similar ideas and components.
- When stakeholders create a large number of ideas, you can use an affinity diagram to cluster similar ideas together for further analysis.
Affinity estimation
• A method used to quickly place user stories into a comparable-sized group.
Agile
• To develop a goal through periodic experimentation in order to fulfill the need of a complex decision.
Agile adaptation
• To adapt the project plan continuously through retrospectives in order to maximize value creation during the planning process.
Agile coaching
• To help achieve goals that is either personal or organizational.
Agile experimentation
• To use the empirical process, observation, and spike introduction while executing a project to influence planning.
Agile manifesto
- A statement that reflects agile philosophy that includes:
1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
2. Working software over comprehensive documentation
3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
4. Responding to changes over following a plan
Agile manifesto principles
• A document that describes the twelve principles of the Agile Manifesto.
Agile manifesto: Customer satisfaction
• To satisfy customers through early and continuous delivery of products, to test and receive feedback, to inform customers on progress, and to fulfill the customer’s value by completing priority requirements.
Agile manifesto: Welcome changes
• To allow quick responses to changes in the external environment, and late in development to maximize the customer’s competitive advantage.
Agile manifesto: Frequent delivery
• To deliver software frequently to the customer, allowing for a quicker product release, faster provision of value to the customer and shorter delivery timeframe.
Agile manifesto: Collocated team
• To have individuals work together daily on a project to implement osmotic communication, focus, and receive instant feedback to achieve a common goal.
Agile manifesto: Motivated individuals
• To give individuals the empowerment, environment, support, and trust needed to complete a task successfully.
Agile manifesto: Face-to-Face conversation
• The most efficient and effective way to communicate in order to receive direct feedback and influence osmotic communication.
Agile manifesto: Working software
• Working software enables the measurement of progress, enhance customer satisfaction, and maintain and improve the quality of the software to help support project goals.
Agile manifesto: Constant pace
• To help team members establish a healthy work-life balance, remain productive, and respond to changes swiftly for progress during a project.
Agile manifesto: Continuous attention
• To enhance agility and time spent on work requirements in order to retain a well-balanced work environment.
Agile manifesto: Simplicity
• Allows team members to focus on what is necessary to achieve the requirements needed to create and deliver value to the project and customer.
Agile manifesto: Self-organization
• A team that knows how to complete tasks effectively, has dedication to the project, and is expert on the process and project.
Agile manifesto: Regular reflection
• This allows a team to learn how to become more effective, what changes need immediate implementation, and behavior that needs adjustment.
Agile mentoring
• To pass on and teach based on experience, knowledge, and skills to other individuals in the team or that work for the organization.
Agile methodologies
• A way to complete a goal effectively and efficiently. Examples of Agile Methodologies include XP, Scrum, and Lean.
Agile modeling
• A workflow depiction of a process or system a team can review before it is turned into code. Stakeholders should understand the model.
Agile planning
• The most important aspect of the Agile project. Planning happens at multiple levels such as strategic, release, iteration, and daily. Planning must happen up-front and can change throughout the project.
Agile practices
• To make use of the Agile principles through activities.
Agile projects
• A project that occurs based on the Agile Manifesto and Agile Principles.
Agile smells
• Symptoms or indicators of problems that affect Agile teams and projects.
Agile space
• A space that allows team members to establish collaboration, communication, transparency, and visibility.
Agile themes
• Themes used to help the team focus on the functions of iteration.
Agile tooling
• To increase team morale with software or artifacts.
Alternative analysis
• The identification of more than one solution. Consider roles, materials, tools, and approaches to the project work.
Alternative dispute resolution
• When there is an issue or claim that must be settled before the contract can be closed, the parties involved in the issue or claim will try to reach a settlement through mediation or arbitration.
Alternatives generation
• A scope definition process of finding alternative solutions for the project customer while considering the customer’s satisfaction, the cost of the solution, and how the customer may use the product in operations.
Ambiguity risks
• Risks that have an uncertain, unclear nature, such as new laws or regulations, the marketplace conditions, and other risks that are nearly impossible to predict.
Analogous estimating
- An approach that relies on historical information to predict the cost of the current project.
- Analogous estimating is more reliable, however, than team member recollections.
- Analogous estimating is also known as top-down estimating and is a form of expert judgment. It is the least reliable of all estimating approaches.
Analysis
• To develop possible solutions by studying the problem and its underlying need and to understand the information provided.
Application areas
• The areas of expertise, industry, or function where a project is centered. Examples of application areas include architecture, IT, health care, and manufacturing.
Approved Iterations
• After the deadline of iteration is reached, the team and stakeholders conduct a meeting for approval. Stakeholders approve the iteration if the backlog used supports the product increment.
Artifact
• A process or work output; e.g., documents, code
Assumption log
• An assumption is something that is believed to be true or false, but it has not yet been proven to be true or false. Assumptions that prove wrong can become risks for the project. All identified project assumptions are recorded in the assumption log for testing and analysis, and the outcomes are recorded.
Authority power
• Project management team members may have authority over other project team members, may have the ability to make decisions, and perhaps even sign approvals for project work and purchases.
Autocratic
• A decision method where only one individual makes the decision for the group.
Automated testing tools
• These tools allow for efficient and strong testing. Examples: Peer Reviews, Periodical Code- Reviews, Refactoring, Unit Tests, Automatic and Manual Testing.
Avoidance
• A risk response to avoid the risk.
Avoiding power
• The project manager refuses to act, get involved, or make decisions.
Balanced matrix structure
• An organization where organizational resources are pooled into one project team, but the functional managers and the project managers share the project power.
Being agile
• To work in a responsive way to deliver the products or services a customer needs and when they want the products or services.
Benchmarking
• Comparing any two similar entities to measure their performance.
Benefit/Cost Ratio (BCR) models
• This is an example of a benefits comparison model. It examines the benefit-to-cost ratio.
Bid
• From seller to buyer. Price is the determining factor in the decision-making process.
Bidder conference
• A meeting of all the project’s potential vendors to clarify the contract statement of work and the details of the contracted work.
Bottom-up estimating
- The most accurate time-and-cost estimating approach a project manager can use. This estimating approach starts at “the bottom” of the project and considers every activity, its predecessor and successor activities, and the exact amount of resources needed to complete each activity.
- This estimating approach starts from zero, accounts for each component of the WBS, and arrives at a sum for the project. It is completed with the project team and can be one of the most time- consuming and most reliable methods to predict project costs.
Brain writing
• A data-gathering technique that’s similar to brainstorming, but provides brainstorming meeting participants with the questions and topics for brainstorming before the stakeholder identification meeting.
Brainstorming
- This approach encourages participants to generate as many ideas as possible about the project requirements. No idea is judged or dismissed during the brainstorming session.
- The most common approach to risk identification; usually completed by a project team with subject matter experts to identify the risks within the project.
- An effective and efficient way of gathering ideas within a short period of time from a group.
Budget estimate
• This estimate is also somewhat broad and is used early in the planning processes and also in top-down estimates. The range of variance for the estimate can be from –10 percent to +25 percent.
Burn-down chart
• A chart used to display progress during and at the end of iteration. “Burning down” means the backlog will lessen throughout the iteration.
Burn rate
• The rate of resources consumed by the team; also cost per iteration.
Burn-up chart
• A chart that displays completed functionality. Progress will trend upwards, as stories are completed. Only shows complete functions, it is not accurate at predicting or showing work-in- progress.
Business risks
• These risks may have negative or positive outcomes. Examples include using a less experienced worker to complete a task, allowing phases or activities to overlap, or forgoing the expense of formal training for on-the-job education.
Business value
• A quantifiable return on investment. The return can be tangible, such as equipment, money, or market share. The return can also be intangible, such as brand recognition, trademarks, and reputation.
Cardinal scales
• A ranking approach to identify the probability and impact by using a numerical value, from .01 (very low) to 1.0 (certain).
Cause-and-effect diagrams
• Diagrams that show the relationship between variables within a process and how those relationships may contribute to inadequate quality. The diagrams can help organize both the process and team opinions, as well as generate discussion on finding a solution to ensure quality.
CARVER
• An acronym to measure the goals and mission of the project with each letter meaning: Criticality, Accessibility, Return, Vulnerability, Effect, and Recognizeability.
Ceremony
• A meeting conducted during an Agile project that consists of daily stand-up, iteration planning, iteration review, and iteration retrospective.
Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
• A person who has slightly less project management experience than a PMP, but who has qualified for and then passed the CAPM examination.
Change
• To change requirements that increase value to the customer.
Change Control Board (CCB)
- A committee that evaluates the worthiness of a proposed change and either approves or rejects the proposed change.
- The change control system communicates the process for controlling changes to the project deliverables. This system works with the configuration management system and seeks to control and document proposals to change the project’s product.
Change Control System (CCS)
• Documented in the scope management plan, this system defines how changes to the project scope are managed and controlled.
Change log
• All changes that enter into a project are recorded in the change log. The characteristics of the change, such as the time, cost, risk, and scope details, are also recorded.
Change management plan
- This plan details the project procedures for entertaining change requests: how change requests are managed, documented, approved, or declined.
- This subsidiary plan defines how changes will be allowed and managed within the project.
Charismatic leadership
• The leader is motivating, has high-energy, and inspires the team through strong convictions about what is possible and what the team can achieve. Positive thinking and a can-do mentality are characteristics of a charismatic leader.
Charter
• A document created during initiation that formally begins the project. The document includes the project’s justification, a summary level budget, major milestones, critical success factors, constraints, assumptions, and authorization to do it.
Checklist
• A simple approach to ensure that work is completed according to the quality policy.
Chicken
• An individual involved but not committed to an agile project.
Choice of media
• The best modality to use when communicating that is relevant to the information being communicated.
Claims
• These are disagreements between the buyer and the seller, usually centering on a change, who did the change, and even whether a change has occurred. Claims are also called disputes and appeals and are monitored and controlled through the project in accordance with the contract terms.
Closure processes
• This final process group of the project management life cycle is responsible for closing the project phase or project. This is where project documentation is archived and project contracts are also closed.
Coach
• A team role that keeps the team focused on learning and the process.
Code of accounts
• A numbering system for each item in the WBS. The PMBOK is a good example of a code of accounts, as each chapter and its subheadings follow a logical numbering scheme. For example, PMBOK 5.3.3.2 identifies an exact paragraph in the PMBOK.
Coercive power
• The project manager has the authority to discipline the project team members. This is also known as penalty power.
Collaborate/Problem solving
• This approach confronts the problem head-on and is the preferred method of conflict resolution. Multiple viewpoints and perspectives contribute to the solution.
Collaboration
• A method of cooperation among individuals to achieve a common goal.
Collective bargaining agreement constraints
• Contracts and agreements with unions or other employee groups may serve as constraints on the project.
Collective code ownership
• The entire team together is responsible for 100% of the code.
Collocation
• The entire team is physically present, working in one room.
Command & Control
• Decisions created by higher up individuals in the organization and handed over to the team.
Commercial database
• A cost-estimating approach that uses a database, typically software-driven, to create the cost estimate for a project.
Common cause
• An issue solved through trend analysis because the issue is systematic.
Communication
• To share smooth and transparent information of needs.
Communication assumptions
• Anything that the project management team believes to be true but hasn’t proven to be true. For example, the project management team may assume that all of the project team can be reached via cell phone, but parts of the world, as of this writing, don’t have a cell signal.
Communication barrier
• Anything that prohibits communication from occurring.
Communication channels formula
• N(N –1)/2, where N represents the number of identified stakeholders. This formula reveals the total number of communication channels within a project.
Communication constraints
• Anything that limits the project management team’s options. When it comes to communication constraints, geographical locales, incompatible communications software, and even limited communications technology can constrain the project team.
Communications management plan
- A project management subsidiary plan that defines the stakeholders who need specific information, the person who will supply the information, the schedule for the information to be supplied, and the approved modality to provide the information.
- This plan defines who will get what information, how they will receive it, and in what modality the communication will take place.
Competency
• This attribute defines what talents, skills, and capabilities are needed to complete the project work.
Compliance
• To meet regulations, rules, and standards.
Compromising
• This approach requires that both parties give up something.
Cone of silence
• An environment for the team that is free of distractions and interruptions.
Configuration identification
• This includes the labeling of the components, how changes are made to the product, and the accountability of the changes.
Configuration management plan
• This plan is an input to the control scope process. This subsidiary plan defines how changes to the features and functions of the project deliverables will be monitored and controlled within the project.
Configuration management system
• This system defines how stakeholders are allowed to submit change requests, the conditions for approving a change request, and how approved change requests are validated in the project scope. Configuration management also documents the characteristics and functions of the project’s products and any changes to a product’s characteristics.
Configuration status accounting
• The organization of the product materials, details, and prior product documentation.
Configuration verification and auditing
• The scope verification and completeness auditing of project or phase deliverables to ensure that they are in alignment with the project plan.
Conflict
• Disagreements in certain areas between individuals.
Conflict of interest
• A situation where a project manager may have two competing duties of loyalty. For example, purchasing software from a relative may benefit the relative, but it may do harm to the performing organization.
Conflict resolution
• An agreement made after a conflict.
Context diagram
• These diagrams show the relationship between elements of an environment. For example, a context diagram would illustrate the networks, servers, workstations, and people that interact with the elements of the environment.
Continuous improvement
• To ensure that self-assessment and process improvement occurs frequently to improve the product.
Continuous integration
• To consistently examine a team member’s work. To build, and test the entire system.
Contingency reserve
• A contingency allowance to account for overruns in costs. Contingency allowances are used at the project manager’s discretion and with management’s approval to counteract cost overruns for scheduled activities and risk events.
Contract change control system
• This defines the procedures for how the contract may be changed. The process for changing the contract includes the forms; documented communications; tracking; conditions within the project, business, or marketplace that justify the needed change; dispute resolution procedures; and the procedures for getting the changes approved within the performing organization.
Contract closure
• The formal verification of the contract completeness by the vendor and the performing organization.
Contract Statement of Work (SOW also CSOW)
• This document requires that the seller fully describe the work to be completed and/or the product to be supplied. The SOW becomes part of the contract between the buyer and the seller.
Control account
• A WBS entry that considers the time, cost, and scope measurements for that deliverable within the WBS. The estimated performance is compared against the actual performance to measure overall performance for the deliverables within that control account. The specifics of a control account are documented in a control account plan.
Control chart
• A quality control chart that maps the performance of project work over time.
Control quality
• An inspection-driven process that measures work results to confirm that the project is meeting the relevant quality standards.
Control threshold
• A predetermined range of acceptable variances, such as +/–10 percent off schedule. Should the variance exceed the threshold, then project control processes and corrected actions will be enacted.
Coordination
• To organize work with the goal of higher productivity and teamwork.
Cost aggregation
• Costs are parallel to each WBS work package. The costs of each work package are aggregated to their corresponding control accounts. Each control account is then aggregated to the sum of the project costs.
Cost baseline
• This is the aggregated costs of all of the work packages within the work breakdown structure (WBS). It is time-lapse exposure of when the project monies are to be spent in relation to cumulative values of the work completed in the project.
Cost budgeting
• The cost aggregation achieved by assigning specific dollar amounts for each of the scheduled activities or, more likely, for each of the work packages in the WBS. Cost budgeting applies the cost estimates over time.
Cost change control system
• A system that examines any changes associated with scope changes, the cost of materials, and the cost of any other resources, and the associated impact on the overall project cost.
Cost management plan
• This plan details how the project costs will be planned for, estimated, budgeted, and then monitored and controlled. • The cost management plan dictates how cost variances will be managed.
Cost Performance Index (CPI)
• To measure the cost spent on a project and its efficiency. Earned Value / Actual Cost = CPI
Cost of conformance
• This is the cost associated with the monies spent to attain the expected level of quality. It is also known as the cost of quality.
Cost of nonconformance to quality
• The cost associated with not satisfying quality expectations. This is also known as the cost of poor quality.
Cost of poor quality
• The monies spent to recover from not adhering to the expected level of quality. Examples may include rework, defect repair, loss of life or limb because safety precautions were not taken, loss of sales, and loss of customers. This is also known as the cost of nonconformance to quality.
Cost of quality
• The monies spent to attain the expected level of quality within a project. Examples include training, testing, and safety precautions.
Cost plus award fee contract
• A contract that pays the vendor all costs for the project, but also includes a buyer-determined award fee for the project work. • A contract that requires the buyer to pay for the cost of the goods and services procured plus a fixed fee for the contracted work. The buyer assumes the risk of a cost overrun.
Cost plus incentive fee
• A contract type that requires the buyer to pay a cost for the procured work, plus an incentive fee, or a bonus, for the work if terms and conditions are met.
Cost plus percentage of costs
• A contract that requires the buyer to pay for the costs of the goods and services procured plus a percentage of the costs. The buyer assumes all of the risks for cost overruns.
Cost Variance (CV)
• The difference of the earned value amount and the cumulative actual costs of the project. The formula is CV = EV –AC.
Cost-benefit analysis
• A process to study the trade-offs between costs and the benefits realized from those costs.
Crashing
• A schedule compression approach that adds more resources to activities on the critical path to complete the project earlier. When crashing a project, costs are added because the associated labor and sometimes resources (such as faster equipment) cause costs to increase.
Critical path
• The path in the project network diagram that cannot be delayed; otherwise, the project completion date will be late. There can be more than one critical path. Activities in the critical path have no float.
Cross-functional team
• Teams that consist of members who can multi-task well and complete various functions to achieve a common goal.
Crystal family
• An adaptable approach that focuses on interaction between people and processes that consists of families that vary based on team size, system criticality, and project priorities.
Cultural and social environment
• Defines how a project affects people and how those people may affect the project. Cultural and social environments include the economic, educational, ethical, religious, demographic, and ethnic composition of the people affected by the project.
Cultural norms
• Cultural norms describe the culture and the styles of an organization. Cultural norms, such as work ethics, hours, view of authority, and shared values, can affect how the project is managed.
Cumulative flow diagram
• A chart that displays feature backlog, work-in-progress, and completed features.
Customer
• The end-user who determines and emphasizes business values.
Customer-valued prioritization
• To deliver the maximum customer value early in order to win customer loyalty and support.
Cycle time
• The time needed to complete a feature (user story).
Daily stand up
• A brief meeting where the team shares the previous day’s achievements, plans to make achievements, obstacles, and how to overcome the obstacles.
Data precision
• The consideration of the risk ranking scores that takes into account any bias, the accuracy of the data submitted, and the reliability of the nature of the data submitted.
Decide as late as possible
• To postpone decisions to determine possibilities and make the decision when the most amount of knowledge is available.
Decision tree
• A method to determine which of two or moredecisions is the best one. The model examines the costs and benefits of each decision’s outcome and weighs the probability of success for each of the decisions.
Decoder
• The device that decodes a message as it is being received.
DEEP
• The qualities of a product backlog which include: detailed, estimate-able, emergent, and prioritized.
Definitive estimate
• This estimate type is one of the most accurate. It’s used late in the planning processes and is associated with bottom-up estimating. You need the WBS in order to create the definitive estimate. The range of variance for the estimate can be from –5 percent to +10 percent.
Deliverable
• A product, service, or result created by a project. Projects can have multiple deliverables.
Delphi Technique
• An anonymous method of querying experts about foreseeable risks within a project, phase, or component of a project. The results of the survey are analyzed by a third party, organized, and then circulated to the experts. There can be several rounds of anonymous discussion with the Delphi Technique, without fear of backlash or offending other participants in the process. The goal is to gain consensus on project risks within the project.
Design of experiments
• An approach that relies on statistical scenarios to determine what variables within a project will result in the best outcome.
Direct costs
• Costs are attributed directly to the project work and cannot be shared among projects (for example, airfare, hotels, long-distance phone charges, and so on). • These are costs incurred by the project in order for the project to exist. Examples include the equipment needed to complete the project work, salaries of the project team, and other expenses tied directly to the project’s existence.
Discretionary dependencies
• These dependencies are the preferred order of activities. Project managers should use these relationships at their discretion and should document the logic behind the decision. Discretionary dependencies allow activities to happen in a preferred order because of best practices, conditions unique to the project work, or external events. Also known as preferential or soft logic.
Disaggregation
• To separate epics or large stories into smaller stories.
Dissatisfaction
• The lack of satisfaction among workers such as, work conditions, salary, and management- employee relationships. Factors known as demotivators.
Distributive negotiation
• To reach a deal through tactics so both parties receive the highest amount of value possible.
Done
• When work is complete, and meets the following criteria: complies, runs without errors, and passes predefined acceptance and regression tests.
Dot voting
• A system of voting where people receive a certain number of dots to vote on the options provided.
Duty of loyalty
• A project manager’s responsibility to be loyal to another person, organization, or vendor. For example, a project manager has a duty of loyalty to promote the best interests of an employer rather than the best interests of a vendor.
Dynamic Systems Development Model (DSDM)
• A model that provides a comprehensive foundation for planning, managing, executing, and scaling agile and iterative software development projects based on nine principles that involve business needs/value, active user involvement, empowered teams, frequent delivery, integrated testing, and stakeholder collaboration.
Early finish
• The earliest a project activity can finish. Used in the forward pass procedure to discover the critical path and the project float.
Early start
• The earliest a project activity can begin. Used in the forward pass procedure to discover the critical path and the project float.
Earned Value (EV)
• Earned value is the physical work completed to date and the authorized budget for that work. It is the percentage of the BAC that represents the actual work completed in the project.
Effective listening
• The receiver is involved in the listening experience by paying attention to visual cues from the speaker and para lingual characteristics and by asking relevant questions.
8/80 Rule
• A planning heuristic for creating the WBS. This rule states that the work package in a WBS must take no more than 80 hours of labor to create and no fewer than 8 hours of labor to create.
Emergent
• Stories that grow and change overtime as other stories reach completion in the backlog.
Emotional intelligence
• An individual’s skill to lead and relate to other team members.
Encoder
• The device that encodes the message being sent.
Enhancing
• A risk response that attempts to enhance the conditions to ensure that a positive risk event will likely happen.
Enterprise environmental factors
• Conditions that affect how the project manager may manage the project. Enterprise environmental factors come from within the project, such as policy, or they are external to the organization, such as law or regulation.
Epic story
• A large story that spans iterations, then disaggregated into smaller stories.
Escalating
• A risk response that is appropriate for both positive and negative risk events that may outside of the project manager’s authority to act upon.
Escaped defects
• Defects reported after the delivery by the customer.
Estimate To Complete (ETC)
• An earned value management formula that predicts how much funding the project will require to be completed. Three variations of this formula are based on conditions the project may be experiencing.
Expectancy theory
• An individual chooses to behave in a particular way over other behaviors because of the expected results of the chosen behavior.
Exploratory testing
• To inquire how software works with the use of test subjects using the software and asking questions about the software.
Expected Monetary Value (EMV)
• The monetary value of a risk exposure is based on the risk’s probability and impact in the risk matrix. This approach is typically used in quantitative risk analysis because it quantifies the risk exposure.
Expert power
• The project manager has deep skills and experience in a discipline (for example, years of working in IT helps an IT project manager better manage IT projects) • The project manager’s authority comes both from experience with the technology the project focuses on and from expertise in managing projects.
Explicit knowledge
• Knowledge that can be quickly and easily expressed through conversations, documentation, figures, or numbers is easily communicated.
Exploit
• A risk response that takes advantage of the positive risks within a project.
External dependencies
• As the name implies, these are dependencies outside of the project’s control. Examples include the delivery of equipment from a vendor, the deliverable of another project, or the decision of a committee, lawsuit, or expected new law.
External QA
• Assurance provided to the external customers of the project.
External risks
• These risks are outside of the project, but directly affect it—for example, legal issues, labor issues, a shift in project priorities, or weather. “Force majeure” risks call for disaster recovery rather than project management. These are risks caused by earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, civil unrest, and other disasters.
Extreme persona
• A team-manufactured persona that exaggerates to induce requirements a standard persona may miss.