Chapter 1 Flashcards
What are the four domains the Project+ exam will test you on?
- Project Management Concepts
- Project Life Cycle Phases
- Tools and Documentation
- Basics of IT and Governance
Why do projects exist?
To bring about or fulfill the goals of an organization
A set of processes and standards
Project Management
A temporary endeavor that has definite beginning and ending dates, and it results in a unique product, service, or result.
Project
When is a project considered a success?
When the goals it sets out to accomplish are fulfilled and the stakeholders are satisfied with the results.
What do projects bring about?
A product, a service or a result that never existed before
There is no limit to what can be considered a project as long as it fits the following criteria:
Unique
Temporary
Reason or Purpose
Stakeholder Satisfaction
When does a project start?
Once it’s been identified
When the objectives have been outlind in the project charter
When Appropriate stakeholders have approved of the project plan
When does a project end?
When a projects goals have been met to the satisfaction of the stakeholder
What are the next steps after you identify the project?
Validate the project
Write the project charter
Obtain approval for the charter
Projects are sometimes managed as part of a _________ or _________
Program or Portfolio
A group of related projects that are managed together using coordinated processes and techniques
Program
True or False
Each project within the program has a project manager
True
Does the collective management of a group of projects bring about benefits that wouldn’t be achievable if the projects were managed seperately?
Yes
Who do project managers report to?
a Program manager who is responsible for all the projcets within their program
Collections of programs and projects that support strategic business goals or objectives
Portfolios
May consist of projects that are not related
A. Programs
B. Portfolios
Portfolios
What is the overall objective of a program or project?
To meet the strategic obectives of the portfolio
What is the overall objective of a portfolio?
To meet the strategic objectives of the business unit or corporation
What are ongoing and repetitive?
Operations
What typically involves ongoing functions that support the production of goods or services?
Operations
What comes about to meet a specific, unique result and the conclude?
Projects
Everyday tasks staff members perform after the project is complete is an example of what?
Operations
Brings together a set of tools and techniques-performed by people-to describe, organize, and monitor the work of project activities.
Project Management
PMs
Project Managers
The people reponsible for applying tools to the various project activities.
Project Managers
Whos primary purpose is to integrate all the components of the project and bring it to a successful conclusion?
Project Managers
Whos responsible for dealing with competing needs for you resources?
Project Managers
Whos responsible for interacting with stakeholders?
Project Managers
Whos responsible for staying on schedule?
Project Managers
Whos responsible for obatining adequate budget dollars?
Project Managers
Whos responsible for identifying risks?
Project Managers
Whos responsible for managing to the project requirements?
Project Managers
Whos responsible for ensuring a quality product?
Project Managers
PMBOK
Project Management Body of Knowledge
PMI
Project Management Institute
The de facto standard in project management worldwide.
PMI (Project Management Institute)
When you have to repeat some of the processes found in the Planning phase and then re-perform the Executing phase activities once the changes have been made, what is this known as?
An Iterative Approach
What are the five phases of a Project Life Cycle?
Discovery/Concept
Initiating
Planning
Executing
Closing
What is the foundation of Project Management?
The Five Phases:
Discovery/Concept
Initiating
Planning
Executing
Closing
SEC
Securities and Exchange Commission
It is important that who investigates specific industry regulations and requirements?
Project Managers
Who must the project managers communicate industry reguilations and requirements and their impact on the project score to?
Stakeholders
Where are the “Needs or Demands” usually documented?
Business Case
Validating a project is a ___________ process.
Two-step
What is the first step in validating a project and in the Discovery phase?
Creating a business case explaining the justification for the project
What is the second step in validating a project and in the Discovery phase?
Analyzing the project stakeholders
What is a written document that describes the justification for the project and includes financial analysis that will help determine the benefits and rewards of performing the project?
Business Case
Who should create the business case?
Project Requestor
Who has a vested interest in implementing the project and can best articulate why the project is important to the organization?
Project Requestor
Who is the executive in the organization who authorizes the project to begin and has the ability and authority to assign funds and resources to the project?
Project Sponsor
What should include an analysis of the benefits and rewards of the varying solutions?
Alternative Solutions
Analysis of the benefits and rewards of the varying soultions are typically done using ___________
Financial Analysis
A means to compare the benefits obtained from project requests by evaluating them using the same criteria?
Financial Analysis
Who is anyone who has a vested interest in the project?
Stakeholder
Who is the executive in an organization who authorizes the project to begin and has the ability and authority to assin funds and resources to the project?
Project Sponsor
What compares the cost to produce the product or service to the financial gain (or benifit) the organization stands to make as a result of executing a project?
Cost-Benefit Analysis
What should you include when calculating total costs?
Development Costs
Marketing Costs
Technology Costs
Ongoing Support
The action or activity of gathering information about consumers’ needs and preferences
Market Research
What has a predefined list of criteria against which each alternative solution or project is rated?
Scoring Model
Each criterion is given both a ________ and a _________.
Scoring Range
Weighting Factor
What finds the difference in importance of the various criteria?
Weighting Factor
Who are weights determined by?
The Organization
What is obtained by calculating the rating and weighting factor of each criterion?
The Final Score
A cash flow technique that identifies the length of time it takes for the organization to recover all the costs of producing the project.
Payback Period
What provides data on the overall financials of the alternative solutions or projects?
Cash Flow Techniques
What is the Future Value formula?
FV = PV (1+i) to the power of the number of the payback/investment periods
FV
Future Value
PV
Present Value
The rate of return the organization might earn if they chose to invest in something other than the project
Cost of Capital
Which Cash Flow Technique compares the value of the future worth of the project’s expected cash flows to today’s dollars, know as present value?
Discounted Cash Flow
What is the Discounted Cash Flow formula?
PV = FV / (1+i) to the power of the number of payback/investment periods
NPV
Net Present Value
A cash flow technique that takes into account the differences in the value of money over time by calculating the revenues or cash flows the organization expects to receive over the life of the project in today’s dollars.
Net Present Value
Should you accept or reject the project is the NPV is greater that 0?
Accept
ROI
Return on Investment
Measures the profitability of an investment and is often used to compare one investment to another.
Return on Investment
What is the Return of Investment formula?
ROI = (Current Value - Cost of Investment) / Cost of the Investment
IRR
Internal Rate of Return
The discount rate when the present value of the cash inflows equals the original investment
Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
What states the profitability of an investment as an average percent over the life of the investment?
Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
A form of performance analysis that compares today to the anticipated future state if the project/change/business process is undertaken.
Current State vs. Future State
Documents that are created during the life of the project (aka historical data)
Artifacts
A list of vendors that have already been approved by the organization
Prequalified Vendor List
Who prepares Prequalified Vendor Lists?
Procurement Department
Partner companies that have been certified by a large organization to work with their product or service
Predetermined Clients
Active contracts in place in the organization that you can utilize to procure resources for your project
Preexisting Contracts
What is used to determine which proposed projects should receive approval and move forward?
Project Selection Methods
A formal method of project selection that helps selection committees decide among competing projects
Decision Model
There are two primary categories of decision models:
Benefit Measurement Methods
Constrained-Optimization Models
Mathematical decision models that are used when comparing highly complex projects and require a detailed understanding of statistics and other mathematical concepts.
Constrained Optimization models
What relies on those who have previous experience to help reach a decision regarding project selection?
Expert Judgement
