Chapter 2 - Managing a Project

Question 1

Adaptive life cycle

Answer 1

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,

Question 2

Balanced matrix structure

Answer 2

An organization where organizational resources are pooled into one project team, but the functional manager and the project managers share the project power.

Question 3

Composite structure

Answer 3

An organization that creates a blend of the functional, matrix, and projectized structures.

Question 4

Customer/user

Answer 4

The person(s) who will pay for and use the project’s deliverables.

Question 5

Deliverable

Answer 5

A verifiable, measurable product or service created by a phase and/or a project.

Question 6

Functional structure

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

Influencers

Answer 7

Persons who can positively or negatively influence a project’s ongoing activities and/or the project’s likelyhood of success.

Question 8

Kill point

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

Negative stakeholder

Answer 9

A stakeholder who does not want a project to succeed. He or she may try to negatively influence the project and help it fail.

Question 10

Performing organization

Answer 10

The organization whose employees or members are most directly involved in the project work.

Question 11

Phase

Answer 11

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.

Question 12

Phase exit

Answer 12

The review of a phase to determine if it accomplished its requirements. It signals the exiting of one phase and the entering of another.

Question 13

Phase gate

Answer 13

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.

Question 14

Phase-end review

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

Positive stakeholder

Answer 15

A stakeholder who wants a project to exist and succeed. He or she may try to positively influence the project and help it succeed.

Question 16

Predictive life cycle

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

Product life cycle

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Project life cycle

Answer 18

The collection of phases from the start of a project to its completion.

Question 19

Project management office (PMO)

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

Project management system

Answer 20

The defined set of rules, policies, and procedures that a project manager follows and utilizes to complete the project.

Question 21

Project stakeholder

Answer 21

Anyone who has a vested interest in a project’s operation and/or its outcome.

Question 22

Projectized structure

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

Strong matrix structure

Answer 23

An organization where organizational resources are pooled into one project team, but the functional managers have less project power than the project manager.

Question 24

Weak matrix structure

Answer 24

An organization where organizational resources are pooled into one project team, but the functional managers have more project power than the project manager.