Chapter 1 part 1

Question 1

What is a Project?

Answer 1

A project is a temporary endeavor that has definite beginning and ending dates, and it results ina unique product, service, or result.

Question 2

What are the 4 criteria’s that a project must fit in.

Answer 2

Unique, Temporary, Reason or Purpose, Stakeholder Satisfaction.

Question 3

What did Henry Gantt create?

Answer 3

The Gantt chart is popular type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule and has become a common technique for representing the phases and activities of a project so they can be understood by a wide audience.

Question 4

What does PERT stand for and how does it work?

Answer 4

The program evaluation and review technique (PERT) was developed by Booz-Allen and Hamilton as part of the United States Navy’s Polaris missile submarine program. PERT is basically a method for analyzing the tasks involved in completing a project, especially the time needed to complete each task, the dependencies among tasks, and the minimum time needed to complete the total project

Question 5

What does CPM stand for and how does it work.

Answer 5

The critical path method (CPM) was developed in a joint venture by DuPont Corporation and Remington Rand Corporation for managing plant maintenance projects. The critical path determines the float, or schedule flexibility, for each activity by calculating the earliest start date, earliest finish date, latest start date, and latest finish date for each activity.

Question 6

True or False:
CPM can help you figure out how long your complex project will take to complete and which activities are critical, meaning they have to be done on time or else the whole project will take longer.

Answer 6

True

Question 7

What’s the difference between an operation and a project?

Answer 7

Operations are ongoing and repetitive & a project is completed when its goals and objectives are accomplished.

Question 8

Define project?

Answer 8

A project as a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.

Question 9

List the 4 criteria of a project.

Answer 9

1- Projects are unique.
2- Projects are temporary in nature and have a definite beginning and ending date.
3- Projects are completed when the project goals are achieved or it’s determined the project is no longer viable.
4- Stakeholder Satisfaction. A project ends when the goals have been met to the satisfaction of the stakeholders.

Question 10

True or False:

Applying good project management discipline is the way to help reduce the risks.

Answer 10

True.

Question 11

On any project, you will have a number of project constraints that are competing for your attention. What are they?

Answer 11

They are cost, scope, quality, risk, resources, and time.

Question 12

Define Cost.

Answer 12

Cost is the budget approved for the project including all necessary expenses needed to deliver the project.

Question 13

Define Scope.

Answer 13

Scope is what the project is trying to achieve. It entails all the work involved in delivering the project outcomes and the processes used to produce them. It is the reason and the purpose of the project.

Question 14

Define quality.

Answer 14

Quality is a combination of the standards and criteria to which the project’s products must be delivered for them to perform effectively.

also:
The product must perform to provide the functionality expected, solve the identified problem, and deliver the benefit and value expected. It must also meet other performance requirements, or service levels, such as availability, reliability, and maintainability, and have acceptable finish and polish.

Question 15

Define risk.

Answer 15

Risk is defined by potential external events that will have a negative impact on your project if they occur.

Question 16

Define resources.

Answer 16

Resources are required to carry out the project tasks. They can be people, equipment, facilities, funding, or anything else capable of definition (usually other than labor) required for the completion of a project activity.

Question 17

Define time.

Answer 17

Time is defined as the time to complete the project.

Question 18

What is triple constraint and what does it consist of.

Answer 18

“triple constraint,” traditionally consisted of only time, cost, and scope. Any change to one constraint will affect the other. For example, if scope increases, cost and time may increase disproportionately. Alternatively, if the amount of money you have for your project decreases, you may be able to do as much, but your time may increase.

Question 19

What are the areas of expertise that a project manger should bring to the team.

Answer 19

1- Application knowledge, standards & regulations.
2- Understanding the project environment.
3- Management knowledge & skills
4- Interpersonal skills.

Question 20

What are application areas made up of? Give 2 examples.

Answer 20

Application areas are made up of categories of projects that have common elements. They can be defined by industry group (pharmaceutical, financial, etc.), department (accounting, marketing, legal, etc.), technology (software development, engineering, etc), or management specialties (procurement, research and development, etc.).

Question 21

What are application areas usually concerned with?

Answer 21

These application areas are usually concerned with disciplines, regulations, and the specific needs of the project, the customer, or the industry. For example, most government agencies have specific procurement rules that apply to their projects that wouldn’t be applicable in the construction industry.

Question 22

What are the main influences/factors of a Project environment?

Answer 22

1- Cultural - people, demographics, and education
2- Social
3- Political
4- International  
5- Physical - time zones

Question 23

List 6 interpersonal skills.

Answer 23

Communication
Leadership
Negotiation
Influence
Motivation
Problem solving

Question 24

Characteristics of a good communicator are?

Answer 24

Good communicators, promoting clear, unambiguous exchange of information.

Question 25

To have influence you have to understand what?

Answer 25

Every organization is different in its policies, modes of operations, and underlying culture.

Question 26

Define leadership.

Answer 26

Leadership is the ability to motivate and inspire individuals to work toward expected results. Leaders inspire vision and rally people around common goals.

Question 27

Define a project managers role as a motivator.

Answer 27

Motivation helps people work more efficiently and produce better results. Motivation is a constant process that the project manager must guide to help the team move toward completion with passion and a profound reason to complete the work.

Question 28

What is one way you can motivate a team?

Answer 28

Motivating the team is accomplished by using a variety of team-building techniques and exercises. Team building is simply getting a diverse group of people to work together in the most efficient and effective manner possible. This may involve management events as well as individual actions designed to improve team performance.

Question 29

Define problem solving.

Answer 29

Problem solving is the ability to understand the heart of a problem, look for a viable solution, and then make a decision to implement that solution?

Question 30

What is the starting point of problem solving?

Answer 30

The starting point for problem solving is problem definition. Problem definition is the ability to understand the cause and effect of the problem; this centers on root-cause analysis.

Question 31

What is root-cause analysis?

Answer 31

Root-cause analysis looks beyond the immediate symptoms to the cause of the symptoms, which then affords opportunities for solutions. Once the root of a problem has been identified, a decision must be made to effectively address the problem.

Question 32

What are portfolios?

Answer 32

Portfolios are collections of programs, subportfolios, and projects that support strategic business goals or objectives. Unlike programs, portfolios may consist of projects that are not related.

Question 33

What is a program?

Answer 33

A program is a group of related projects that are managed together using coordinated processes and techniques.

Question 34

Define project management.

Answer 34

Project management brings together a set of tools and techniques-performed by people-to describe, organize, and monitor the work of project activities.

Question 35

Who are project managers and what is their purpose?

Answer 35

Project managers are the people responsible for applying project management tools to various project activities. Their primary purpose is to integrate all the components of the project and bring it to a successful conclusion.

Question 36

What is a portfolio?

Answer 36

A protfolio is a collection of programs, subportfolios and projects that support strategic business goals or objectives. They may consist of projects that are not related.

Question 37

Define Reason/Purpose?

Answer 37

A project comes about to fulfill a purpose. this might include introducing a new product, fulfilling a business objective or strategic goal, satisfying a social need, and any number of other reasons.

Question 38

What is stakeholder satisfaction?

Answer 38

A project starts once it’s been identified, the objectives have been outlined in the project charter, and appropriate stakeholders have approved the project plan. The project ends when those goals have been met to the satisfaction of the stakeholders.

Question 39

Define Operations.

Answer 39

Operations are ongoing and repetitive. They don’t have a beginning date or an ending date, unless you’re starting a new operation or retiring an old one. They involve ongoing functions that support the production of goods or services.

Question 40

What is project management?

Answer 40

Project management brings together a set of tools and techniques-performed by people-to describe, organize, and monitor the work of a project activities.

Question 41

Who are project managers?

Answer 41

Project managers are the people responsible for applying project management tools to the various project management activities.

Question 42

PMBOK stands for?

Answer 42

A Guide to the Project management Body of Knowledge. 700k members. PMP and CAPM certifications.

Question 43

Describe functional organizations?

Answer 43

Functional organizations are hierarchical in nature and they are organized along departmental lines: IT, Marketing, Sales, Finance, Human Resources, Public Relations, legal, customer support. It is the most common organizational structure.

Question 44

True or False?

Project managers have the greatest formal authority in a functional organization.

Answer 44

False.

Question 45

Disadvantages of functional organizations.

Answer 45

1- PM has limited authority
2- Multiple projects compete for the same limited resources.
3- Resources are generally committed part time and not full time to a project.
4- Issues resolution follows the department chain of command.
5- Project team members are loyal to the functional manager.

Question 46

Describe a matrix organization.

Answer 46

Matrix organizations organized along departmental lines but resources assigned to a project are accountable to the PM for all associated to the project.

Functional managers assign employees to the project, while PM’s assign tasks associated with the project to the employee.

Question 47

What are the three types of Matrix organizations?

Answer 47

Strong
Weak
Balanced

Question 48

Strong Matrix.

Answer 48

Strong Matrix emphasizes project work over functional duties. PM has the majority of the power.

Question 49

Weak Matrix.

Answer 49

Weak Matrix focuses on functional work over project work and it’s more like a functional hierarchy. Functional managers have a majority of the power.

Question 50

Balanced Matrix.

Answer 50

Balance Matrix shares an equal emphasis between project and functional work. Both PM and FM share the power.

Question 51

Describe the project organization.

Answer 51

The project organization is far less common. The focus of the organization is projects rather than functional units.