Chapter 2 - Managing a Project Flashcards
Adaptive life cycle
This is a project life cycle that anticipates many changes to the project scope and demands highly involved project stakeholders. Because change happens often, change control is managed tightly by the project manager. This approach is also known as the agile project management methodology,
Balanced matrix structure
An organization where organizational resources are pooled into one project team, but the functional manager and the project managers share the project power.
Composite structure
An organization that creates a blend of the functional, matrix, and projectized structures.
Customer/user
The person(s) who will pay for and use the project’s deliverables.
Deliverable
A verifiable, measurable product or service created by a phase and/or a project.
Functional structure
An organization that is divided into functions, and each employee has one clear functional manager. Each department acts independently of the other departments. A project manager in this structure has little to no power and may be called a project coordinator.
Influencers
Persons who can positively or negatively influence a project’s ongoing activities and/or the project’s likelyhood of success.
Kill point
The review of a phase to determine if it accomplished its requirements. A kill point signals an opportunity to kill the project if it should not continue.
Negative stakeholder
A stakeholder who does not want a project to succeed. He or she may try to negatively influence the project and help it fail.
Performing organization
The organization whose employees or members are most directly involved in the project work.
Phase
The logical division of a project based on the work or deliverable completed within that phase. Common examples include the phases within construction, software development, or manufacturing.
Phase exit
The review of a phase to determine if it accomplished its requirements. It signals the exiting of one phase and the entering of another.
Phase gate
The review of a phase to determine if it accomplished its requirements. Like a phase exit, a phase gate shows the qualifications to move from one phase to another.
Phase-end review
The review of a phase to determine if it accomplished its requirements. A phase-end review is also called a phase exit, a phase gate, and a kill point.
Positive stakeholder
A stakeholder who wants a project to exist and succeed. He or she may try to positively influence the project and help it succeed.
Predictive life cycle
A predictive life cycle, also called a plan-driven approach, is a life cycle that “predicts” the work that will happen in each phase of the project. The project plan, time, cost, and scope are defined early in the project and predict what is to happen in the project.
Product life cycle
The life cycle of the product a project creates. For example, a project can create a piece of software; the software then has its own life cycle until it becomes defunct.
Project life cycle
The collection of phases from the start of a project to its completion.
Project management office (PMO)
A business unit that centralizes the operations and procedures of all projects within the organization. The PMO supports the project manager through software, templates, and administrative support., A PMO can exist in any organized structure, but its most common in matrix and projectized structures.
Project management system
The defined set of rules, policies, and procedures that a project manager follows and utilizes to complete the project.
Project stakeholder
Anyone who has a vested interest in a project’s operation and/or its outcome.
Projectized structure
An organization that assigns a project team to one project for the duration of the project life cycle. The project manager has high-to-almost-complete project power.
Strong matrix structure
An organization where organizational resources are pooled into one project team, but the functional managers have less project power than the project manager.
Weak matrix structure
An organization where organizational resources are pooled into one project team, but the functional managers have more project power than the project manager.
