General / Overall Flashcards
What is a project?
- Temporary group activity designed to produce a unique product or service or result within a finite time.
- Defined start and end date
- funding limits
- to manage human and non-human resources (money, people, equipment)
How does a project differ from an operation?
An operation has
- ongoing execution of activities
- produces the same output repeatedly
- has to earn a profit
What is project management?
The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from a project
What is a stakeholder?
A person or organisation who has an interest or stake in the performance or outcome of the project
What is a knowledge area?
A group of processes that fall within a single discipline.
List the PMBOK Knowledge areas
- Project integration
- Scope management
- Time management
- Cost management
- Project communications
- Project quality
- Project Risk
- Human Resources
- Project procurement
- Stakeholder management
What are the PM Phases
- Selection and initiation
- Planning
- Monitoring and controlling
- Closing - closing iteration, closing project
What is the role of the Project Manager?
- manage scope
- manage HR
- manage comms
- manage the schedule
- manage quality
- manage costs
What is the project sponsor?
- A project sponsor has a senior management role in the organisation in which the project is running
- Role involves approving and supporting the allocation of resources, defining goals, assessing success
- May be the champion for the project
- Critical to the success of the project
Why does a project manager need to apply systems thinking?
Projects operate within organisations and the wider context. Systems thinking is required in order to view the project in the context of the organisation and the system in which it operates
Name and describe different types of organisational structures
- functional, project / dynamic, matrix
1. Functional - traditional, can have good comms channels, good resources, issues are the placement of the project manager
2. Project / Dynamic - driven by org. structure, all work is characterised through projects, each has its own P&, cost centre
3. Matrix - combo of functional and dynamic, typically have a project office
How do organisational structure influence projects?
- PMgr authority and role
- resource availability
- control of budget
- PMO staff
Describe portfolio management
- collection of projects or programmes of work grouped together to meet strategic business objectives
- not necessarily interdependent
- centralised managemnet -> id, prioritise, authorise, manage and control
Project management vs. product management
- product is anything that can be offered to a market that may satisfy an unmet want or need
- a product has a lifecycle and many projects may be initiated, executed and closed throughout the lifecycle
What is a SDLC?
- Approach to building IT systems.
- Consists of a standard set of phases, each producing an approved set of deliverables e.g. waterfall, spiral, iteratives
- Predictive (scope clearly articulated)
- Adaptive (requirements not clearly expressed)
Describe Waterfall model
- linear life cycle model with feedback loops
- cannot easilty accomodate constant change
- Stages -> Requirements, Design, Construction & Unit Testing, Integration & Systems Testing, Operation
User Story
- Agile requirements document written in plain English, - ‘As a user I need xx, so that yy’
- Plan, build, test is done over and again to add features each time
Backlog
Agile - Collection of user stories
- prioritised to do valuable work first