Chapters 5-6 Flashcards
A planning heuristic for creating the WBS. This rule states that the work package in a WBS must take no more than 80 hours of labor to create and no fewer than 8 hours of labor to create.
8/80 rule
The observer interacts with the worker to ask questions and understand each step of the work being completed. In some instances, the observer could serve as an assistant in doing the work.
active observation
When stakeholders create a large number of ideas, you can use ___ to cluster similar ideas together for further analysis.
affinity diagrams
A scope definition process of finding alternative solutions for the project customer while considering the customer’s satisfaction, the cost of the solution, and how the customer may use the product in operations.
alternatives generation
A decision method where only one individual makes the decision for the group.
autocratic
This approach encourages participants to generate as many ideas as possible about the project requirements. No idea is judged or dismissed during the ___ session.
brainstorming
Documented in the scope management plan, this system defines how changes to the project scope are managed and controlled.
change control system (CCS)
This subsidiary plan defines how changes will be allowed and managed within the project.
change management plan
A numbering system for each item in the WBS. The PMBOK is a good example of a ___, as each chapter and its subheadings follow a logical numbering scheme. For example, PMBOK 5.3.3.2 identifies an exact paragraph in the PMBOK.
code of accounts
This subsidiary plan defines how changes to the features and functions of the project deliverables will be monitored and controlled within the project.
configuration management plan
These diagrams show the relationship between elements of an environment. For example, a ___ would illustrate the networks, servers, workstations, and people that interact with the elements of the environment.
context diagram
A moderator-led requirements collection method to elicit requirements from stakeholders.
focus groups
This is the study of the functions within a system, project, or, what’s more likely in the project scope statement, the product the project will be creating. ___ studies the goals of the product, how the product will be used, and the expectations the customer has of the product once it leaves the project and moves into operations. ___ may also consider the cost of the product in operations, which is known as life-cycle costing.
functional analysis
Most projects have a determined budget in relation to the project scope. There may be a qualifier on this budget, such as plus or minus 10 percent based on the type of cost estimate created.
funding limit
A requirements collection method used to elicit requirements from stakeholders in a one-on-one conversation.
interviews
A group decision method where more than 50 percent of the group must be in agreement.
majority
This approach maps ideas to show the relationship among requirements and the differences between requirements. The map can be reviewed to identify new solutions or to rank the identified requirements.
mind mapping
As with brainstorming, participants are encouraged to generate as many ideas as possible, but the suggested ideas are ranked by a voting process.
nominal group technique
The observer records information about the work being completed without interrupting the process; sometimes called the invisible observer.
passive observation
A group-decision method where the largest part of the group makes the decision when it’s less than 50 percent of the total. (Consider three or four factions within the stakeholders.)
plurality
This project scope statement component works with the project requirements, but focuses specifically on the product and what the conditions and processes are for formal acceptance of the product.
product acceptance criteria
A scope definition technique that breaks down a product into a hierarchical structure, much like a WBS breaks down a project scope.
product breakdown
This is a narrative description of what the project is creating as a deliverable for the project customer.
product scope description
Defines the product or service that will come about as a result of completing the project. It defines the features and functions that characterize the product.
product scope
A ___ is a factor in the planning process that is held to be true but not proven to be true.
project assumption
A ___ clearly states what is included with the project and what’s excluded from the project. This helps to eliminate assumptions between the project management team and the project customer.
project boundary
A ___ is anything that limits the project manager’s options. Consider a predetermined budget, deadline, resources, or materials the project manager must use within the project— these are all examples of ___.
project constraint
These are the measurable goals that determine a project’s acceptability to the project customer and the overall success of the project. ___ often include the cost, schedule, technical requirements, and quality demands.
project objectives
These are the demands set by the customer, regulations, or the performing organization that must exist for the project deliverables to be acceptable. __ are often prioritized in a number of ways, from “must have” to “should have” to “would like to have.”
project requirements
This defines all of the work, and only the required work, to complete the project objectives.
project scope
This project management subsidiary plan controls how the scope will be defined, how the project scope statement will be created, how the WBS will be created, how scope validation will proceed, and how the project scope will be controlled throughout the project.
project scope management plan
This documentation of what the stakeholders expected in the project defines all of the requirements that must be present for the work to be accepted by the stakeholders.
requirements documentation
This subsidiary plan defines how changes to the project requirements will be permitted, how requirements will be tracked, and how changes to the requirements will be approved.
requirements management plan
This is a table that maps the requirements throughout the project all the way to their completion.
Requirements traceability matrix (RTM)
The project customer may have specific dates when phases of the project should be completed. These milestones are often treated as project constraints.
schedule milestones
Undocumented, unapproved changes to the project scope.
scope creep
The formal inspection of the project deliverables, which leads to project acceptance.
scope validation
A scope definition process where the project management team interviews the stakeholders and categorizes, prioritizes, and documents what the project customer wants and needs. The ___ is to determine, quantify, and prioritize the interests of the stakeholders. ___ demands quantification of stakeholder objectives; goals such as “good,” “satisfaction,” and “speedy” aren’t quantifiable.
stakeholder analysis
A scope definition approach that studies and analyzes a system, its components, and the relationship of the components within the system.
systems analysis
This project scope statement creation process studies how a system should work, designs and creates a system model, and then enacts the working system based on the project’s goals and the customer’s expectations. Systems engineering aims to balance the time and cost of the project in relation to the scope of the project.
systems engineering
A group decision method where everyone must be in agreement
unanimity
As with value engineering, this approach examines the functions of the project’s product in relation to the cost of the features and functions. This is where, to some extent, the grade of the product is in relationship to the cost of the product.
value analysis
This approach to project scope statement creation attempts to find the correct level of quality in relation to a reasonable budget for the project deliverable while still achieving an acceptable level of performance of the product.
value engineering
A WBS companion document that defines all of the characteristics of each element within the WBS.
WBS dictionary
A prepopulated WBS for repetitive projects. Previous projects’ WBSs are often used as templates for current similar projects.
WBS template
A deliverables-oriented breakdown of the project scope.
work breakdown structure (WBS)
The smallest item in the WBS.
work package
Status of the deliverables: the work that’s been started, finished, or has yet to begin.
work performance information
The primary output of breaking down the WBS work packages.
activity list
The identification of more than one solution. Consider roles, materials, tools, and approaches to the project work.
alternative analysis
A somewhat unreliable estimating approach that relies on historical information to predict what current activity durations should be. ___ is more reliable, however, than team member recollections. ___ is also known as top-down estimating and is a form of expert judgment.
analogous estimating
The most accurate time-and-cost estimating approach a project manager can use. This estimating approach starts at “the bottom” of the project and considers every activity, its predecessor and successor activities, and the exact amount of resources needed to complete each activity.
bottom-up estimating
A WBS entry that considers the time, cost, and scope measurements for that deliverable within the WBS. The estimated performance is compared against the actual performance to measure overall performance for the deliverables within that control account. The specifics of a ___ are documented in a ___ plan.
control account
A predetermined range of acceptable variances, such as +/–10 percent off schedule. Should the variance exceed the threshold, then project control processes and corrected actions will be enacted.
control threshold
A schedule compression approach that adds more resources to activities on the critical path to complete the project earlier. When ___ a project, costs are added because the associated labor and sometimes resources (such as faster equipment) cause costs to increase.
crashing
The path in the project network diagram that cannot be delayed, otherwise the project completion date will be late. There can be more than one critical path. Activities in the critical path have no float.
critical path
These dependencies are the preferred order of activities. Project managers should use these relationships at their discretion and should document the logic behind the decision. ___ allow activities to happen in a preferred order because of best practices, conditions unique to the project work, or external events. Also known as preferential or soft logic.
discretionary dependencies
The earliest a project activity can finish. Used in the forward pass procedure to discover the critical path and the project float.
early finish
The earliest a project activity can begin. Used in the forward pass procedure to discover the critical path and the project float.
early start
As the name implies, these are dependencies outside of the project’s control. Examples include the delivery of equipment from a vendor, the deliverable of another project, or the decision of a committee, lawsuit, or expected new law.
external dependencies
A schedule compression method that changes the relationship of activities. With ___, activities that would normally be done in sequence are allowed to be done in parallel or with some overlap. ___ can be accomplished by changing the relation of activities from FS to SS or even FF or by adding lead time to downstream activities. However, ___ does add risk to the project.
fast tracking
An activity relationship type that requires the current activity to be finished before its successor can finish.
finish-to-finish
An activity relationship type that requires the current activity to be finished before its successor can start.
finish-to-start
A representation of a project network diagram that is often used for outsourced portions of a project, repetitive work within a project, or a subproject. Also called a subnet.
fragnet
This is the total time a single activity can be delayed without affecting the early start of its immediately following successor activities.
free float
Logic that describes activities that must happen in a particular order. For example, the dirt must be excavated before the foundation can be built. The foundation must be in place before the framing can begin. Also known as a mandatory dependency.
hard logic
Internal relationships to the project or the organization. For example, the project team must create the software as part of the project’s deliverable before the software can be tested for quality control.
internal dependencies
Positive time that moves two or more activities further apart.
lag time
The latest a project activity can finish. Used in the backward pass procedure to discover the critical path and the project float.
late finish
The latest a project activity can begin. Used in the backward pass procedure to discover the critical path and the project float.
late start
Negative time that allows two or more activities to overlap where ordinarily these activities would be sequential.
lead time
A percentage of the project duration to combat Parkinson’s Law. When project activities become late, their lateness is subtracted from the ___.
management reserve
These dependencies are the natural order of activities. For example, you can’t begin building your house until your foundation is in place. These relationships are called hard logic.
mandatory dependencies
A project simulation approach named after the world-famous gambling district in Monaco. This predicts how scenarios may work out, given any number of variables. The process doesn’t actually churn out a specific answer, but a range of possible answers. When ___ is applied to a schedule, it can examine, for example, the optimistic completion date, the pessimistic completion date, and the most likely completion date for each activity in the project and then predict a mean for the project schedule.
Monte Carlo analysis
A quantitatively based duration estimate that uses mathematical formulas to predict how long an activity will take based on the quantities of work to be completed.
parametric estimate
A theory that states: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” It is considered with time estimating, because bloated or padded activity estimates will fill the amount of time allotted to the activity.
Parkinson’s Law
A WBS entry located below a control account and above the work packages. A ___ signifies that there is more planning that needs to be completed for this specific deliverable.
planning package
A network diagram that shows activities in nodes and the relationship between each activity. Predecessors come before the current activity, and successors come after the current activity.
precedence diagramming method
Calendars that identify when the project work will occur.
project calendars
This is the total time the project can be delayed without passing the customer-expected completion date.
project float
A diagram that visualizes the flow of the project activities and their relationships to other project activities.
project network diagram
An update to the work breakdown structure.
refinement
This is a hierarchical breakdown of the project resources by category and resource type. For example, you could have a category of equipment, a category of human resources, and a category of materials. Within each category, you could identify the types of equipment your project will use, the types of human resources, and the types of materials.
resource breakdown structure (RBS)
Calendars that identify when project resources are available for the project work.
resource calendars
A method to flatten the schedule when resources are overallocated. Resource leveling can be applied using different methods to accomplish different goals. One of the most common methods is to ensure that workers are not overextended on activities.
resource-leveling heuristic
The imminent work is planned in detail, while the work in the future is planned at a high level. This is a form of progressive elaboration.
rolling wave planning
A subsidiary plan in the project management plan. It defines how the project schedule will be created, estimated, controlled, and managed.
schedule management plan
The activities don’t necessarily have to happen in a specific order. For example, you could install the light fixtures first, then the carpet, and then paint the room. The project manager could use ___ to change the order of the activities if so desired.
soft logic
An activity relationship that requires an activity to start so that its successor can finish. This is the most unusual of all the activity relationship types.
start-to-finish
An activity relationship type that requires the current activity to start before its successor can start.
start-to-start
A representation of a project network diagram that is often used for outsourced portions of projects, repetitive work within a project, or a subproject. Also called a fragnet.
subnet
A previous project that can be adapted for the current project and forms that are pre-populated with organizational-specific information.
template
An estimating technique for each activity that requires optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates to be created. Based on these three estimates, an average can be created to predict how long the activity should take.
three-point estimate
This is the total time an activity can be delayed without delaying project completion.
total float
The smallest item in the work breakdown structure.
work package
