Chapter 3 Flashcards
finish day/date
The time that task is scheduled to be
finished.
concurrent task
If tasks can be completed at the same
time they are said to be concurrent, or
parallel.
critical path
A series of events and activities with no slack time. If any activity along the critical path falls behind schedule, the entire project schedule is similarly delayed.
Project planning
Project planning includes identifying
project tasks and estimating completion
time and costs
Qualitative risk analysis
Evaluating risk by estimating the
probability that it will occur and the
degree of impact.
Microsoft Project
A powerful, full-featured program that
holds the dominant share of the project
management software market.
Brooks’ Law
This interesting concept was stated by Frederick Brooks, Jr. an IBM engineer, who observed that adding manpower to a late software project only makes it later
event
An event, or milestone, is a reference
point that marks a major occurrence.
Events are used to monitor progress
and manage a project.
worst-case estimate
The most pessimistic outcome is called
the worst-case estimate.
task
A task, or activity, is any work that has a
beginning and an end, and requires the
use of company resources including
people, time, and/or money. Examples
include conducting a series of
interviews, designing a report, selecting
software
Critical Path Method (CPM)
The Critical Path Method (CPM) was developed by private industry, and shows a project as a network diagram. The activities are shown as vectors, and the events are displayed graphically as nodes
activity
An activity, or task, is any work that has
a beginning and an end, and requires
the use of company resources including
people, time, and/or money.
task name
A brief descriptive name for a task,
which does not have to be unique in the
project.
structured walk-through
A review of a project team member’s work by other members of the team. Generally, systems analysts review the work of other systems analysts, and programmers review the work of other programmers, as a form of peer rev
duration
The amount of time it will take to
complete a task.
Project scheduling
Project scheduling involves the creation of a specific timetable to facilitate completion of a project. Scheduling also involves selecting and staffing the project team and assigning specific tasks to team members.
network diagram
A PERT chart also is referred to as a
network diagram.
weight
Weight is an important value that
managers add to estimates so they can
be analyzed.
dependent tasks
A task is said to be dependent when it
has to be completed in a serial
sequence
Program Evaluation Review Technique
PERT
The Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) was developed by the U.S. Navy to manage very complex projects, such as the construction of nuclear submarines.
Project monitoring
Project monitoring requires guiding,
supervising, and coordinating the
project team’s workload.
Risk identification
Listing each risk and assessing the
likelihood that it could affect a project
PERT/CPM
The Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) was developed by the U.S. Navy to manage very complex projects, such as the construction of nuclear submarines. At approximately the same time, the Critical Path Method (CPM) was developed by private
task pattern
A logical sequence of tasks in a work breakdown structure. Task patterns can involve sequential tasks, multiple successor tasks, and multiple predecessor tasks.
task box
In project management, a task box is a component of a PERT/CPM chart that contains important scheduling and duration information about a task. Each task in a project is represented by its own task box in the PERT/CPM chart.
project triangle
The three major components of a
project: cost, scope, and time. A project
manager tries to find the optimal
balance among these factors.
milestone
A milestone, or event, is a reference
point that marks a major occurrence.
Milestones are used to monitor progress
and manage a project.
task group
In task groups, each task represents
several activities.
Risk management
The process of identifying, evaluating,
tracking, and controlling risks to
minimize their impact.
design reviews
A design review, or structured walkthrough, is a review of a project team member’s work by other members of the team. Generally, systems analysts review the work of other systems analysts, and programmers review the work of other programmers
open source
Software that is supported by a large
group of users and developers
Testing reviews
A testing review, or structured walkthrough, is a review of a project team member’s work by other members of the team. Generally, systems analysts review the work of other systems analysts, and programmers review the work of other programmers
Project reporting
Project reporting tasks include regular
progress reports to management, users,
and the project team itself.
risk response plan
A proactive effort to anticipate a risk and describe an action plan to deal with it. An effective risk response plan can reduce the overall impact by triggering a timely and appropriate action
predecessor tasks
Often, two or more concurrent tasks
depend on a single prior task, which is
called a predecessor task.
work breakdown structure (WBS)
Breaking a project down into a series of
smaller tasks.
Gantt chart
A horizontal bar chart that illustrates a schedule. Gantt charts were developed many years ago by Henry L. Gantt as a production control technique and still are in common use
project coordinator
The project coordinator handles administrative responsibilities for the development team and negotiates with users who might have conflicting requirements or want changes that would require additional time or expense.
risk management plan
Includes a review of the project’s scope, stakeholders, budget, schedule, and any other internal or external factors that might affect the project. The plan should define project roles and responsibilities, risk management methods and procedure
code reviews
A code review, or structured walkthrough, is a review of a project team member’s work by other members of the team to spot logic errors. Generally, systems analysts review the work of other systems analyst
best-case estimate
The most optimistic outcome is called
the best-case estimate.
successor task
Each of the concurrent tasks of a
predecessor task is called a successor
task.
Slack time
The slack time for an event is the amount of time by which an event can be late without delaying the project. The slack time for an event is the difference between its latest completion time (LCT) and earliest completion time (ECT).
risk
An event that could affect the project
negatively
task ID
A number or code that uniquely
identifies a task
person-day
The amount of work that one person
can complete in one day.
quantitative risk analysis
Evaluating risk in terms of the actual
impact in terms of dollars, time, project
scope, or quality.
probable-case estimate
The most likely outcome is called a
probable case estimate.
start day/date
The time that a task is scheduled to
begin.
bottom-up technique
A bottom-up technique analyzes a large,
complex project as a series of individual
tasks, called project tasks
dependent task
A task is said to be dependent when it
has to be completed in a serial
sequence
gateway
(1) In business processing modeling notation, a fork in the process, allowing the flow to go one way or another. (2) A router or other network device used to connect to a larger, dissimilar type of network, such as the Internet.
predecessor task
Often, two or more concurrent tasks
depend on a single prior task, which is
called a predecessor task
project creep
The process by which projects with very
general scope definitions expand
gradually, without specific
authorization.
project management
The process of planning, scheduling,
monitoring, controlling, and reporting
upon the development of an
information system.
