D.5 Programme and project management Flashcards
Employ appropriate, effective, and efficient programme and project management methodologies.
Define a project.
A temporary form of organisation created to deliver products or services according to specified parameters with defined start and end dates.
What is a program?
A longer-term form of organisation that groups related projects and activities to collectively deliver business outcomes without necessarily having specified end dates.
What constitutes a portfolio?
An organisation of programs and/or projects under a management structure.
What distinguishes a project from routine activities?
A project is deliberately framed and recognized as such by the organisation, having identifiable start and finish dates.
List the key characteristics of a project.
- Deliberately framed as a project
- Has a start and finish
- Has inputs, activities, and outputs
- Governed as a project
Do projects produce outcomes as well as outputs?
They may produce outcomes, but often outcomes occur after the project is completed.
Why manage something as a project?
To explicitly recognize that activities are not ‘business as usual’, allowing for resource aggregation and visibility of activities.
What are some advantages of organizing activities as a project?
- Recognition of change
- Cross-organizational resource gathering
- Isolation of workstreams
- Visibility of activities
- Ability to measure and evaluate
What are the implications of declaring something a project?
- Responsibility for achieving outcomes
- Additional reporting and governance
- Visibility challenges
- Change management challenges
What does PRINCE2 stand for?
Projects In Controlled Environments
What is the focus of the PRINCE2 methodology?
It guides project management practitioners on what to do without prescribing how to undertake the project work.
What are the major steps in PRINCE2?
- Project start-up
- Initiation
- Controlling
- Monitoring
- Closure
What are the seven principles of PRINCE2?
- Ongoing business justification
- Learning from experience
- Definition of roles and responsibilities
- Management by stages
- Management by exception
- Focus on products
- Tailoring to the environment
What does PMBOK stand for?
Project Management Body of Knowledge
List the five process groups defined in PMBOK.
- Initiating
- Planning
- Executing
- Monitoring and controlling
- Closing
What are the ten knowledge areas in PMBOK?
- Integration management
- Scope management
- Time management
- Cost management
- Quality management
- Human resource management
- Communications management
- Risk management
- Procurement management
- Stakeholder management
What is PRiSM?
Projects Integrating Sustainable Methods, focusing on integrating sustainability into project processes.
What are the five measured elements of PRiSM’s Sustainability Management Plan?
- People
- Planet
- Profit
- Process
- Product
What are the six principles of sustainable change delivery in PRiSM?
- Commitment and accountability
- Ethics and decision-making power
- Integration and transparency
- Development of resources
- Social and ecological equity
- Economic prosperity
What is Agile project management?
An incremental approach focusing on prioritization and planning to deliver high value outputs early.
What is the Agile Manifesto?
A document defining the values and principles that Agile practitioners should follow.
True or False: Agile project management assumes change is the norm.
True
What types of projects are best suited for Agile management?
- High innovation
- Complexity
- Aggressive delivery deadlines
What is the Agile Manifesto?
Defines the values and principles that practitioners of the agile methodology should follow.
What percentage of software developments adopted Agile according to the 2021 State of Agile Report?
86%
What percentage of IT projects adopted Agile according to the 2021 State of Agile Report?
63%
Name three project management methodologies in the Agile camp.
- Scrum
- DevOps
- PRINCE2 Agile
What is Scrum?
A project management approach that fixes projects’ time and cost requirements using time boxes, backlogs, and meetings.
What does DevOps focus on?
Iterative, automated development processes executed within a more extensive, automated and iterative development lifecycle.
What is PRINCE2 Agile?
A combination of Agile and PRINCE2 that blends structure and governance with agile approaches.
What percentage of respondents identified Scrum as their primary methodology in the 2021 State of Agile Report?
66%
What is the ‘information management paradox’?
The tendency for stakeholders to be more knowledgeable of their requirements as the project progresses.
What are some considerations relevant to the choice of project management method?
- Stability of requirements
- Degree of confidence in estimation
- Nature of the end-user base
- Aggressiveness of timelines
- Scale of the project
- Project management knowledge and skills of the organization
What did the Standish Group’s Chaos Reports define as ‘success’?
Time, budget, target (scope), goal achievement, value, and user satisfaction.
How does Agile compare to Waterfall in project success rates according to the 2020 Chaos Report?
Agile outperforms Waterfall, with 42% of Agile projects successful compared to 13% of Waterfall projects.
What are work breakdown structures?
Tree and branch representations of the subdivision of activities required to achieve a project objective.
What is a Gantt chart?
A bar chart depicting a project schedule, organized around project activities.
What does the critical path method (CPM) identify?
The collection of activities that determine the shortest time in which the project can be completed.
What does PERT stand for?
Program Evaluation and Review Technique.
What is project governance?
A set of structures, processes, goals, and objectives established to direct a project.
What are some functions of project governance?
- Ensuring project requirements align with organizational priorities
- Managing stakeholders and project resources
- Adhering to relevant constraints
- Establishing controls for accountability
What is ISO 21500:2021?
A standard specifying the organizational context and underlying concepts for project, program, and portfolio management.
How does program management differ from project management in terms of duration?
Program management is longer-term, while project management is temporary.
What is the goal orientation of program management?
More strategic, while project management tends to be tactical.
What are the three major phases of the program management lifecycle according to PMI?
- Program definition
- Program delivery
- Program closure
What is portfolio governance?
A set of practices, functions, and processes to optimize investments and meet organizational strategic goals.
What are the six domains for managing the performance of portfolios?
- Governance
- Capacity and capability management
- Stakeholder engagement
- Value management
- Risk management
- Strategic management
What are the four stages of the portfolio lifecycle?
- Initiation
- Planning
- Execution
- Optimization
