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SBL > Chapter 15 - Project management > Flashcards

Chapter 15 - Project management Flashcards

1
Q

Define project

A

An undertaking that has a beginning and an end and is carried out to meet established goals

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2
Q

What are the differences between projects and operations?

A
  • Operations are ongoing, projects have a defined beginning and end
  • Operations have resources used full time, projects have resources allocated specifically
  • Operations usually follow functional structure, projects cut across functional lines
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3
Q

Define project management

A

Combination of systems, techniques and people used to control and monitor activities undertaken within the project

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4
Q

Projects are considered successful if they meet three specified objectives. What are they?

A
  • Scope - the work that needs to be done
  • Time - agreed date
  • Cost - authorised spend
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5
Q

What are the challenges faced in projects?

A
  • Teambuilding
  • Expected problems - to be avoided by careful design
  • Unexpected problems - mechanisms should be in place to enable these to be resolved quickly
  • Delayed benefit - no benefit until work is finished, can cause strain
  • Potential for conflict - several parties with different interests
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6
Q

What is an effective way to assess projects?

A

SAF

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7
Q

What are the pre-initiating tasks?

A
  • Determination of objectives and constraints
  • Selecting project manager
  • Identifying project sponsor
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8
Q

What does the project manager do?

A

Takes responsibility for ensuring the desired result is achieved on time and within budget

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9
Q

What are the responsibilities of the project manager?

A
  • Ensure resources used efficiently
  • Keep management informed with timely communications
  • Behave ethically
  • Help new members integrate into team
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10
Q

What are the duties of the project manager?

A
  • Detailed planning - budgeting, activity scheduling
  • Obtain necessary resources
  • Team building
  • Communication
  • Monitoring and control - against plan, take corrective measures
  • Problem resolution
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11
Q

What does the project sponsor do?

A

Provides and is accountable for the resources invested into the project and is responsible for the achievement of the project’s objectives

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12
Q

What does the project owner do?

A

Review project plans and progress at regular intervals - hired if sponsor does not have capacity to provide supervision for the project manager

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13
Q

Define a business case

A

A key document for a project proposing a course of action to senior management for their consideration - it accounts why project is needed, what it will achieve and how it will proceed

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14
Q

What will a business case include?

A
  • Description of current issues
  • Analysis of costs and benefits including assumptions
  • Impact of project on organisation
  • Key risks and their significance
  • Recommendations
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15
Q

What does the project initiation document (project charter) do?

A

Complements business case - gives authorisation for work to be done and resources used

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16
Q

What will a project initiation document include?

A
  • Project title
  • Purpose and objectives
  • Start date and expected finish date
  • Details of sponsor
  • Authorisation by main stakeholders
  • Budget info
  • Scope
17
Q

What are the categories that benefits can be classified into?

A
  • Observable - measured by experience or judgement e.g. staff morale
  • Measurable - area of performance that can be measured but not possible to quantify how much performance will increase as a result of change
  • Quantifiable - level of benefit can be reliably forecast
  • Financial - quantified benefits that have had a financial formula applied
18
Q

What costs should be included as part of the project cost assessment?

A
  • Purchase costs - hardware, software, consultancy, materials
  • Internal systems development costs
  • Infrastructure costs
  • Costs of carrying out changes e.g. training, redundancy
  • Ongoing costs - new ways of working
19
Q

What techniques can be used for investment appraisal?

A
  • ARR - average profits generated as % of average investment
  • Payback period
  • NPV - sum of discounted value of net cash flows
  • IRR - discount rate that will produce NPV of 0
20
Q

Define work breakdown structure

A

Analysis of the work required to complete project broken down into manageable components

21
Q

Define project budget

A

Amount of resources allocated to a project

22
Q

What does a Gantt chart show?

A

The deployment of resources over time

23
Q

What does critical path analysis (network analysis) do?

A

Ensures progress of a project is completed in minimum amount of time

24
Q

What does a resource histogram show?

A

A view of project data in which resource requirements, usage and availability are shown against a time scale

25
Q

Define a gateway

A

A project review point at which certain criteria must be met before the project can pass through the gateway and proceed to the next stage

26
Q

What do gateways prevent?

A

Scope creep

27
Q

Define scope creep

A

When the scope of the project becomes expanded without proper consideration

28
Q

Define slippage

A

When a project is running behind schedule

29
Q

What can be done when project slippage occurs?

A
  • Do nothing
  • Add resources
  • Work smarter
  • Replan - assumptions of original plan invalid
  • Reschedule - change phase of deliverables
  • Incentives
30
Q

Define fast-tracking

A

Taking activities normally done in sequence and doing them in parallel instead

31
Q

Define crashing

A

Assigning additional resources to critical path

32
Q

What should be considered when considering a change in project?

A
  • Consequences of not implementing
  • Impact of change on time, cost, scope
  • Expected costs and benefits
  • Risks
33
Q

What could cause changes to original project plan?

A
  • New technology
  • Change in personnel
  • Change in environment
  • New legislation e.g. data protection
34
Q

How should risks be responded to?

A

TARA

35
Q

Define the completion report

A

Summarises the results of the project and includes client sign-off. Includes:

  • Outcomes compared with objectives
  • Final cost compared to budget
  • Time taken to complete work compared to schedule
36
Q

Define the post-project review

A

Formal review of the project that examines the lessons learned and used to benefit future projects

  • Was project achieved on time and within budget?
  • Was management successful or were there bottlenecks/problems?
37
Q

Define post-implementation review

A

Assessment of the completed working solution. Focuses on the output.

38
Q

What is the purpose of the post-implementation review?

A
  • Determine how well project met objectives
  • Improve working solution
  • Identify lessons that can be learned and fed back into output production process

SBL (15 decks)

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