CompTia Project Terms - Part 01 Flashcards
The decision to tolerate the defects that are found as a result of the quality testing. This is also a tool for risk response planning.
acceptance
The process and the criteria that will be used to determine whether the deliverables are acceptable and satisfactory.
acceptance criteria
Identifying the activities of the project that need to be performed to produce the product or service of the project.
activity definition
A list of all the activities required to complete the work of the project that also includes an identifier code and the WBS code it?s associated with. Activities are broken down from the work package level of the WBS.
activity list
Sequencing activities in logical order and determining whether dependencies exist among the activities.
activity sequencing
The cost to complete a component of work in a given time period. Actual costs include direct and indirect costs.
actual cost (AC)
A type of project ending that occurs when projects evolve into ongoing operations.
addition
A process that involves gathering and disseminating information to formalize project closure. The completion of each project phase requires Administrative Closure also. The primary purpose of this process is to gather lessons learned and distribute the notice of acceptance.
Administrative Closure
An estimating technique that uses the actual duration of a similar, completed activity to determine the duration of the current activity. This is also called top-down estimating.
analogous estimating
Costs of quality that cover the activities that keep the product defects from reaching the client, including inspection, testing, and formal quality audits.
appraisal costs
An event or action believed to be true for planning purposes. Project assumptions should always be documented.
assumption
A conflict-resolution technique that occurs when one party refuses to talk anymore about the issue and physically leaves. This is an example of a lose-lose conflict-resolution technique. This technique is also known as withdrawal.
avoiding
Calculating late start and late finish dates by starting at the end of a network diagram and working back through each path until reaching the start of the network diagram. This is part of critical path method (CPM), which is a mathematical technique to develop the project schedule.
backward pass
Compares previous similar activities to the current project activities to provide a standard to measure performance against. It?s often used to derive ideas for quality improvements for the poject
benchmarking
A type of decision model that compares the benefits obtained from a variety of new project requests by evaluating them using the same criteria and comparing the results.
benefit measurement methods
A meeting held by the buyer with potential vendors during the procurement process to allow vendors to ask questions and get clarification on the project.
bidder conference
Individually estimating each work package, all of which are then rolled up, or added together, to come up with a total project estimate. This is a very accurate means of estimating, provided the estimates at the work package level are accurate.
bottom-up estimating
The total amount of the project budget for a work package, control account, or schedule activity, or for the project.
budget at completion (BAC)
The person in charge of understanding the business unit?s needs when assessing a project request. The business analyst might be assigned directly from the business unit itself or may be part of the IT organization.
business analyst
Formally documents components of the project assessment, including a description of the analysis method and the results.
business case
Applying changes to an IT system and putting those elements into place based on a project request and a business analyst?s examination of the workflow?how people handle their work relative to the request.
business process reengineering
The requirements that describe how the business objectives of the project will be met.
business requirements
A Quality Control technique that shows the relationship between the effects of problems and their causes. This is also known as an Ishikawa diagram and a fishbone diagram.
cause-and-effect diagram
A board responsible for reviewing and approving, denying, or delaying change requests. The change control board is usually made up of stakeholders, managers, project team members, and others who might have an interest in the project.
change control board (CCB)
A process that concerns completing and settling the terms of the contract and documenting its acceptance.
Close Procurements
A process that documents the final delivery and acceptance of the project and is where hand-off occurs to the operational unit. Lessons learned are performed during this process, and project team members are released.
Closing
When team members work together at the same physical location.
collocated
Describes a software application that is purchased from a reseller, vendor, or manufacturer.
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
Variances that come about as a result of circumstances that are common to the process you?re performing and are easily controlled at the operational level. The three types of common cause variances are random, known or predictable, and variances that are always present in the process.
common causes of variances
plan Documents the types of information needs the stakeholders have, when the information should be distributed, and how the information will be delivered.
communications management plan
Determines the communication needs of the stakeholders, when and how the information will be received, and who will receive the information.
communications planning
Integrates all planning data into one document that the project manager can use as a guidebook to oversee the project work during the Executing and Controlling phases.
comprehensive project plan
A conflict-resolution technique where each party involved gives up something to reach a resolution. This is not generally a permanent solution.
compromise
Describes the characteristics of the product of the project and ensures the description is accurate and complete. Controls changes to the characteristics of an item and tracks the changes made or requested and their status. It is usually a subset of the change control process in most organizations, or it may serve as the change control system.
configuration management
A conflict-resolution technique that is also known as problem solving. This is the best way to resolve conflicts and involves fact finding to bear out the solution. This is a win-win conflict-resolution technique.
confronting
Decision models that use complex principles of statistics and other mathematical concepts to assess a proposed project.
constrained optimization models
Anything that either restricts the actions of the project team or dictates the actions of the project team.
constraint
An amount of money or time set aside and dedicated to the project to be used to cover unforeseen costs or time that was not identified as part of the planning process.
contingency reserve
A legally binding document that describes the work that will be performed, how the work will be compensated, and any penalties for noncompliance.
contract
The process of monitoring vendor performance and ensuring all the requirements of the contract are met
contract administration
The process of completing and settling the terms of the contract and determining whether the work described in the contract was completed accurately and satisfactorily.
contract closeout
A graph of the variance of several samples of the same process over time based on a mean, an upper control limit, and a lower control limit.
control chart
A type of change request that typically occurs during the Monitoring and Controlling processes. Corrective actions bring the work of the project back into alignment with the project plan.
corrective actions
The total approved, expected cost of the project created in the planning process. It ? s used as a comparison to actual project expenses throughout the remainder of the project.
cost baseline
A commonly used benefit measurement method that calculates the cost of producing the product, service, or result of the project and compares this to the financial gain the project is expected to generate
cost-benefit analysis
Assigning cost estimates to activities and creating the cost baseline, which measures the performance of the project throughout the project ? s life.
cost budgeting
A process that measures the project spending to date, determines whether changes have occurred to the cost baseline, and takes action to deal with the changes. This process monitors the budget and manages changes to the cost baseline.
cost control
Developing an estimation of the cost of resources needed for each project activity.
cost estimating
The cost of all of the work required to assure the project meets the quality standards. The three costs associated with the cost of quality are prevention costs, appraisal costs, and failure costs.
cost of quality
Measures the value of the work completed at the measurement date against actual cost. This is the most critical of all EVM measurements. The formula is CPI = EV / AC.
cost performance index (CPI)
Provides the seller with payment for all costs incurred to deliver or produce the product or service requested
cost-reimbursable contract
The difference between a task ? s value at the measurement date and its actual cost. The formula is CV = EV ? AC.
cost variance
This is a schedule compression technique that adds resources to the project to reduce the time it takes to complete the project
crashing
The longest path through the project. Activities with zero float are considered critical path tasks.
critical path (CP)
A schedule development method that determines a single early and late start date, early and late finish date, and the float for each activity on the project.
critical path method (CPM)
Elements that must be completed in order for the project to be considered complete. Critical success factors that are not satisfactory can lead to project failure.
critical success factor
The recipient of the product or service created by the project. In some organizations this stakeholder may also be referred to as the client .
customer
A formal method of project selection that helps managers make the best use of limited budgets and human resources. Includes benefit measurement methods and constrained optimization models.
decision model
The process of breaking project deliverables down into smaller, manageable components of work so that work packages can be planned and estimated.
decomposition
A type of change request that typically comes about during the Monitoring and Controlling process group. Defect repairs either correct or replace components that are substandard or are malfunctioning.
defect repairs
An estimating technique that assigns a cost estimate to each work package in the project WBS. This is the most accurate of the cost estimating techniques, which typically falls within 5 percent and +10 percent of the actual budget.
definitive estimate
An output or result that must be completed in order to consider the project complete or to move forward to the next phase of the project. Deliverables are tangible and can be measured and easily proved.
deliverable
The relationship between project activities
dependencies
The type of dependency between two activities and the specific relationship between the activities
dependency relationships
Compares the value of the future cash flows of the project to today ? s dollars.
discounted cash flow (DCF)
A type of dependency that the project manager and project team choose to impose on the project schedule, such as the use of an established corporate practice.
discretionary dependency
Defines how revisions are made, the version numbering system, and the placement of the version number and revision date.
document control process
The use of techniques such as fast - tracking or crashing to shorten the planned duration of a project or to resolve schedule slippage.
duration compression
The earliest date an activity may finish as logically constrained by the network diagram.
early finish
The earliest date an activity may start as logically constrained by the network diagram.
early start
The value of the work completed to date as it compares to the budgeted amount for the work component.
earned value (EV)
EVM is a tool and technique of the Cost Control process that compares what you ? re received or produced as of the measurement date to what you ? ve spent. The three measurements needed to perform earned value measurement are planned value (PV), actual cost (AC), and earned value (EV).
earned value measurement (EVM)
A type of benefit measurement method. It is a series of financial calculations that provide data on the overall financials of the project and is generally used as a project selection technique.
economic model
A project that will be used by users throughout the enterprise.
enterprise project
(a) Resources such as servers, specialized test equipment, or additional PCs that are required for a project. (b) One of the categories of project resources. It includes test tools, servers, PCs, or other related items required to complete the project.
equipment
A forecast of the total cost of the project based on both current project performance and the remaining work. The formula is EAC = AC + ETC.
estimate at completion (EAC)
The cost estimate for the remaining project work. This estimate is provided by the project team members.
estimate to complete (ETC)
This project process group is where the work of the project is performed.
executing
A technique used in project selection, determining estimates, and determining other related project information that relies on the knowledge of those with expertise on the requested subject matter. Expert judgment can come from stakeholders, other departments, consultants, team members, vendors, or industry groups.
expert judgement
A type of dependency where a relationship between a project task and a factor outside the project, such as weather conditions, drives the scheduling of that task.
external dependency
This is a type of project ending that occurs when the project is completed and accepted by the stakeholders.
extinction
The cost if the product fails, including downtime, user support, rework, and scrapping the project.
failure costs
A schedule compression technique where two activities that were previously scheduled to start sequentially start at the same time. Fast - tracking reduces schedule duration.
fast-tracking
Undertaken to determine whether the project is a viable project, the probability of project success, and the viability of the product of the project.
feasibility study
A project task relationship in which the finish of the successor task is dependent on the finish of the predecessor task.
finish-to-finish
A project task relationship in which the successor task cannot begin until the predecessor task has completed.
finish-to-start
A contract that states a fixed fee for the work that the vendor will perform.
fixed-price contracts
The amount of time the early start of a task may be delayed without delaying the finish date of the project. Also known as slack time .
float time
A diagram that shows the logical steps that must be performed in order to accomplish an objective. It can also show how the individual elements of a system interrelate.
flowchart
This is a conflict - resolution technique where one party forces their solution on the others. This is an example of a win - lose conflict resolution technique.
forcing
Planned communications such as project kickoff meetings, team status meetings, written status reports, or team - building sessions.
formal communications
The process of working from the left to the right of a network diagram in order to calculate early start and early finish dates for each activity.
forward pass
A form of organizational structure. Functional organizations are traditional organizations with hierarchical reporting structures.
functional organization
These define what the product of the project will do by focusing on how the end user will interact with the product
functional requirements
These explain the major characteristics of the product and describe the relationship between the business need and the product requested. This is also referred to as a product description .
high-level requirements
The people with the background and skills to complete the tasks on the project schedule.
human resources
Defining team member roles and responsibilities, establishing an appropriate structure for team reporting, securing the right team members, and bringing them on the project as needed for the appropriate length of time.
human resources planning
The consequences imposed if a risk event occurs on the project.
impact
Unplanned or ad hoc communications, including phone calls, emails, conversations in the hallway, or impromptu meetings.
informal communications
Providing stakeholders with information regarding the project in a timely manner via status reports, project meetings, review meetings, email, and so on. The communications management plan is put into action during this process.
informal distribution
The first process in a project life cycle and the first of the five project process groups. This is the formal acknowledgment that the project should begin. The primary result of this process is the project charter.
initiating
A quality control technique that includes examining, measuring, or testing work results.
inspection
A process that influences the factors that cause change, determines that a change is needed or has happened, and manages and monitors change. All other change control processes are integrated with this process.
integrated change control
A type of project ending where the resources of the project are reassigned or redeployed to other projects or other activities within the organization.
integration
The discount rate when the present value of the cash inflows equals the original investment. Projects with higher IRR values are generally considered better than projects with lower IRR values. Assumes that cash inflows are reinvested at the IRR value.
internal rate of return (IRR)
A Quality Control technique that shows the relationship between the effects of problems and their causes. This is also known as a cause - and - effect diagram and fishbone diagram
Ishikawa diagram
Any process that is repeated more than once. The five process groups are repeated throughout the project ? s life because of change requests, responses to change, corrective action, and so on.
iterative process
Help you determine whether the project is on track and progressing as planned by monitoring the project against predetermined criteria.
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
The latest date an activity can complete without impacting the project end date
late finish
The latest date an activity can start without impacting the project end date.
late start
Information gathered throughout the project (and again at the end of a project phase or the end of the project) that documents the successes and failures of the project. This information is used to benefit the current project and future projects.
lessons learned
A mathematical formula that determines the number of lines of communication between participants in a meeting. The formula is n (n ? 1) / 2, where n represents the number of participants.
lines of communication
A rate used for cost estimating of human resources that includes a percentage of the salary to cover employee benefits, such as medical, disability, or pension plans.
loaded rate
The dependency relationships that may exist between tasks. Finish - to - start is the most common logical relationship
logical relationships
Determines the cost effectiveness of producing goods or services in - house vs. procuring them from outside the organization.
make-or-buy analysis
An amount of money set aside by upper management to cover future expenses that can ? t be predicted during project planning.
managerial reserve
A type of dependency where the relationship between two tasks is created by the type of work the project requires.
mandatory dependency
A catchall category of project resources that includes software, utility requirements such as electricity or water, any supplies needed for the project, or other consumable goods.
materials
Calculating theoretical early and late start and finish dates for all project activities.
mathematical analysis
An organizational structure where employees report to one functional manager and at least one project manager. Functional managers assign employees to projects and carry out administrative duties, while project managers assign tasks associated with the project to team members and execute the project.
matrix organization
