important terms/docs Flashcards
Project Charter
- links the PJT to the organization’s goals
- establishes formal approval
- shows importance to PJT team
- contains high-level information of the project, and is signed off by the Project Sponsor
Business Case
study of feasibility of a PJT
Content of PMP
- 10 sub plans
- ## PJT baselines (scope, schedule, cost)
Content of scope baseline
Scope Statement, WBS, and WBS Dictionary
schedule baseline
initial planned project schedule
Cost Baseline
Initially planned & approved project budget
Change Management Plan
Outlines the process for how Change Requests are created, reviewed & approved
Configuration Management Plan
Focused on controlling the specification level of specific items
Performance Measurement Baseline
integrates the baselines for the triple constraints of scope, schedule, and cost
What is included as part of a Change Request
- Corrective & Preventive Actions
- Defect Repair
- Updates to project documents
Work Performance Data
raw data points, observations, or measurements collected while your team’s work is being completed
Deliverables
- what is it?
- types of deliverables?
- outcomes of your project
- include reports, documents, protocols, engineering drawings, project management plans, etc, in order to complete your project
Knowledge Management vs Information Management
- Knowledge Management -> This is about sharing what people know (meetings, discussion)
- Information Management -> is about creating information (lesson register, online repository)
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Which corrective action gives you the best Return on your Investment given how much it will cost to implement?
Alternative Analysis
which alternative is the best to put into place?
Variance Analysis
What is the difference between our Planned & Actual Performance?
- Compares your initial baseline to the actual performance of your project
Earned Value Analysis
Evaluates the monetary value associated with work being performed vs what was planned
Configuration Management Plan
lists which project artifacts require revision control and approval through Change Requests
Change Control
process for the review and approval of updates to project baselines and documents
Configuration Control
Focuses on the specifications of project deliverables and the process
trend analysis
mathematical technique that uses historical results to predict future outcome
Rss calendar
specifies when and how long identified rss will be available. it is an input to Estimate Activity Duration
Analogous estimating
technique for estimating duration or cost of an activity or PJT using historical data from a similar PJT
Nominal Group Technique
more structured version of brainstorming, because it includes a voting process to rank & prioritize everyone’s ideas
Context Diagram
visual diagram which shows what the scope of your product will be, and how it interacts with the business processes & users.
Requirements Traceability Matrix
Think of this as your ‘excel sheet’ or ‘table’ that links each product requirement to the business goals and project deliverables
– This is a document that Project Managers use to track and manage the product’s scope & requirements throughout the entire project life cycle
Requirements Documentation
different than the Requirements Traceability Matrix. Think of this as a list of requirements to fulfill for your project, and how they meet the goals of the organization. Unlike the RTM, this does not provide traceability or linkage to any of the project deliverables
[RTM for PM / Requir Docs to satisfy business needs]
What’s included in the Scope Statement #4
Scope Description, Key Deliverables, Assumptions and Constraints, Acceptance Criteria, and Exclusions
what is Product Analysis?
This technique involves continuously asking questions to determine the characteristics of your final product
– Translate this information and decompose this into the detail you need to create the final product requirements
what is the lowest level of a WBS?
a WP
What is the difference between Control Quality & Validate Scope?
> > Control Quality is focused on making sure that the deliverables are correct and that they meet all quality requirements, before they are presented to the customer.
Validate Scope focuses on ensuring that the deliverables are accepted by the customer
what is the development approach?
document used to establish what approach/methodology will be used for managing the PJT (waterfall, iterative, agile, hybrid)
- Part of PMP
- used as an input into plan scope and risk mgt
What T&T is used during Collect Requirements to obtain customer’s early feedback by using small-scale products, 3d models or mock simulations
Prototypes
what is affinity diagram
a data representation technique used to organize and group ideas collected during a brainstorming session
what is facilitation?
- Interpersonal and Team Skill and is required to ensure that meeting, particularly brainstorming meetings are productive
- used to reach a common understanding btw all stakeH
what is multi criteria decision analysis?
decision making tool that analyses and evaluates different criteria (eg schedule, costs, isk, etc) to refine the scope of the PJT
Mandatory Dependencies vs Discretionary Dependencies
> > Mandatory Dependencies: dependencies which are REQUIRED
|»_space; Discretionary Dependencies: dependencies which are ‘PREFERRED‘, are NOT REQUIRED,
Lag vs lead
Lag – The amount of time (days) that a Successor Activity will be delayed
Lead – The amount of time (days) that a Successor Activity can begin before the Predecessor Activity is completed
Parametric Estimating
relies on parameters and a statistical relationship in order to calculate the duration & cost estimates for each activity
Three-Point Estimating
creates a range for an estimated duration, using the following formula:
Estimate = (Optimistic + Most Likely + Pessimistic) / 3
Contingency Reserves vs Management Reserves.
- Contingency Reserves – These are used to account for any uncertainties in the project’s schedule, and are allocated for the known unknown risks. (could be a % of the estimated duration/cost)
- Management Reserves – As its title suggests, using Management Reserves requires approval from Management, and is specifically allocated to address unknown-unknowns (not included in the schedule/cost baselines)
crashing vs fast tracking
- Crashing – Adding more resources to an activity to help expedite or shorten an activity’s duration
- Fast Tracking – Instead of completing activities in sequence, fast-tracking forces activities to be completed in parallel with each other
Agile Release Planning
High-level overview of the schedule for releasing iterations of the product/software through a certain number of “sprint” iterations.
Critical Path
Longest path through the network diagram. All activities on the Critical Path have zero float
Free Float
Amount of time that an activity can be delayed without impacting the start date of a succeeding task
Resource Optimization
Modifying the Planned Start & Planned Completion Dates based upon resource constraints
Resource Levelling
If you have limited resources or if you have to share critical resources across projects, this technique adjusts the start and finish dates for tasks to ensure that resources are used at an appropriate level
-Activities that will lose/lend resources will also see their duration increase
Resource Smoothing
This Resource Optimization technique “smoothens” out resources so that they stay below their limits, WITHOUT changing the Critical Path.
-It simply uses float to delay the activity to a start date that resolves a resource issue/conflict
Project Calendar
shows what business days are available to work on each activity
Cost mgt plan (content)
- In what format and how frequently will cost reports be sent
- What guidelines do we follow for using Earned Value Analysis?
- How far above or below the Planned Approved Project Budget is acceptable? Cost Thresholds are established
- Units, used for reporting: hours, days, weeks, etc
- Precision: How do we round our Cost Estimates?
- Accuracy: What is the tolerance range that we will use for our cost estimates? (e.g. +/- 5%)
precision vs accuracy
Accuracy refers to how close a measurement is to the true or accepted value.
Precision refers to how close measurements of the same item are to each other
direct vs indirect costs
- Direct Costs – Costs which can be ‘directly’ associated with the project (Example: Labor, Equipment, Material)
- Indirect Costs – Costs which are not directly tied to a specific project. (Example: overhead costs)
Rough Order of Magnitude
At the very beginning, your estimates will not be as accurate and therefore, have a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM Estimate, typically with a range of -25% to +75%.
Definitive Estimate
A more accurate estimate than the ROM Estimate, and is typically between -5% to +10% over the Estimate
cost baseline
- sum of all activity budget + contingency reserves
Funding Limit Reconciliation
technique in which you determine… is there any variance between your Planned Costs and your Actual Spending Limits?
Project Funding Requirements
include projected expenditures + anticipated liabilities
Cost of Quality
Category 1: Cost of Conformance (Cost to prevent failures from occurring)
(1) Appraisal Costs: Evaluating the Quality through tests and inspections
(2) Prevention Costs: Building quality into the design & process
Category 2: Cost of Non-Conformance (Cost due to failures)
(1) Internal Failure Costs (From the project: rework, scrap)
(2) External Failure Costs (From customer: Liabilities, warranties, lost sales)
Quality Metrics
These metrics determine which variables should be measured as part of Control Quality and Manage Quality
» Examples of Quality Metrics: # of non-conformances, % of tasks completed on time, # of defects/day
what does RACI stand for?
R = Responsible: Who is the one actually performing the work? A = Accountable: Typically, only one person is held Accountable for the completion of an activity. For example, the Engineer’s Manager. C = Consult: Who are Subject Matter Experts or other team members you can reach out to while working on the execution of this task? I = Inform: Who do you notify that the work is being completed?
Organizational Theory
This explains how people and teams behave and interact with each other
Pre-assignment
This is when you assign your stakeholders to your project IN ADVANCE
Project Team Assignments
Assigning the roles & responsibilities of your team members
Resource Calendars
What are the actual working business days that resources are available?
Tuckman Ladder – 5 Stages of Team Development
1) Forming – The ‘introduction’. Your Team Members meet each other and learn about the project and their assigned responsibilities & roles. Everyone is a little ‘shy’ in the beginning.
2) Storming – You are STARTING to work on the project now! Everyone starts looking into the work required for the project, and you begin taking technical decisions.
» This is where the ‘storm’ hits, and people disagree, since the team members may not be collaborative or open to each other’s ideas. This makes the environment counterproductive.
3) Norming – This is the period where the team dynamics goes to ‘normal’ and everyone builds a normal relationship with each other.
» Your Team now starts being collaborative and supporting & trusting each other. Your goal is to move from Storming to Norming as soon as possible, so that everyone trusts each other and works effectively.
4) Performing – This is when you have the DREAM TEAM and everyone is ‘performing’ at their best, like a well oiled machine! All issues are worked through independently. Think, Peak Performance!
5) Adjourning – Closing out the project and releasing the team members from the project.
Team Charter
Outlines the guidelines for how the team will operate
Conflict Resolution Techniques
- Withdraw/Avoid – Avoiding and backing away from the situation
- Smooth/Accommodate - Highlights the areas that everyone agrees upon and considers everyone’s viewpoint to maintain the relationship
- Compromise/Reconcile – Keep everyone happy! This is a ‘middle-ground’ or neutral zone. Brings some satisfaction to everyone [lose-lose]
- Force/Direct
- Collaborate/Problem Solve – Best approach to solve conflicts. You need to have open dialogue in order to incorporate different viewpoints, and address everyone’s points. Leads to ‘win-‘win/consensus
5C’s of Written Communication
1- Clarity (Have a clear purpose) – Is it CLEAR?
2- Conciseness (Be short and to the point) – Is it CONCISE?
3- Correctness (Is the grammar correct?) – Does it have CORRECT grammar & punctuation?
4- Cohesiveness – Is it COHERENT? Does everything flow together?
5- Control (Is the writing well coordinated?) – Is there a CONTROLLED flow of words? Is it logical?
formula to calculate # of Comm channels
(N x (N-1) )/2
Communications Management Plan content
Establishes the communication needs of stakeholders and how those needs will be addressed:
– What are we communicating and why?
– Between which team members?
– What is the best communication method to deliver this information?
– Who is responsible for communicating the information?
– When should this information be communicated and When?
Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix
Assesses the gaps between the Current & Desired engagement level for your stakeholders
Different levels of StakeH Engagement
Unaware, Resistant, Neutral, Supportive, and Leading
Communication Styles Assessment
What are the gaps in stakeholder engagement that would require communication tailored to specific stakeholders?
MODELS OF COMMUNICATION
(1) Basic Linear: Sender + Receiver
» Steps: Encode > Transmit Message > Decode
(2) Interactive: Sender + Receiver + Feedback
» Steps: Encode > Transmit Message > Decode > Acknowledge > Feedback/Response
(3) Complex: Incorporates the human elements of sending & receiving
Project Reporting vs Project Communications
Project Reporting – This is focused on collecting & sharing project information, and produces the key deliverable of Project Communications (reports, presentations, etc)
Communications Management Plan vs Stakeholder Engagement Plan
- Communications Management Plan – What is the strategy for how we will collect, create, and distribute information to the team?
- Stakeholder Engagement Plan – What communication strategies will we use to engage stakeholders?
factors influencing Comm Technology
Urgency, easy of use, PJT environment (location of ppl, languages used), sensitivity, readily available
audit vs process analysis
process analysis - identify where improvements can be made to project processes
audits - process used to determine if PJT activities comply with the organization and pjt policies and procedures [think ‘compliance’]
OBS vs RAM
OBS -> representation of the PJT organization , which shows the relationship btw pjt activities and groups of ppl performing the activities
RAM - grid that shows the pjt rss assigned to each WP
Risk Management Plan
Outlines how the team will conduct Risk Management Activities. It covers the following:
(1) What will our approach be?
(2) Frequency of Risk Management Activities? During which phases of the project will Risk Mgmt be conducted?
(3) Which stakeholders will be involved & what are their risk appetites?
(4) Budgeting for contingency & management reserves
(5) Decomposition of risks into a hierarchy of categories (Risk Breakdown Structure)
(6) Definition of levels for Risk Probability & Impact
(7) What will our process be for reporting and formally tracking risks?
Probability & Impact Matrix (P&I)
A matrix which assigns numerical or descriptive scoring, based upon…
–> Probability of the Risk coming to fruition
–> Impact of the Risk
This results in a Risk Probability-Impact Score (either numerically such as 3; or, descriptive such as High-High, Medium-Medium, etc)
Assumption & Constraint Analysis
Which Assumptions or Constraints pose a risk to the project? Are any assumptions incorrect? Can any constraints be made more flexible to help provide opportunities to minimize/mitigate risks?
Risk Report
Report summarizing the project risks overall - does not typically record responses and owners
Prompt List
An already established list of Risk Categories to facilitate with Risk Brainstorming Identification Sessions. Examples include
–> PESTLE (political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental)
–> TECOP (technical, environmental, commercial, operational, political)
–> VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity)
Risk Data Quality Assessment
How accurate and reliable is the data that was generated for the risks?
Risk Probability & Impact Assessment
Evaluate the Likelihood of Occurrence and Impact of each Risk;
» What is the Impact on the goals of project? Cost, Schedule, Quality, Performance
Risk Categorization
Categorize risks based upon Root Causes, project phase, team owners, budget, areas of the project
Representations of Uncertainty
This is a technique which uses a Probability Distribution Curve to analyze the likely values for duration, cost, and/or resources required.»_space; Examples of probability distributions used are beta, discrete, triangular, lognormal, normal, uniform, and triangular
Decision Tree Analysis
Technique which calculates the Expected Monetary Value to help you and your Team determine the best path to follow, when taking into consideration activity costs
Sensitivity Analysis
This technique is used to determine which risks have the BIGGEST impact on your project’s goals.
» A commonly used example is the Tornado diagram, which shows activities or risks in descending order based upon the strength of correlation
Monte Carlo Analysis
This is a technique which runs SIMULATIONS many times over and over in order to calculate the probability and impact if a risk occurred, and displays this information in an S-Curve graph (i.e. cumulative probability distribution)
Can also be used in schedule mgt -> eg: assess the feasibility of the schedule
STRATEGIES FOR NEGATIVE RISKS
- Accept – Accept that there is a risk, however you don’t take any action
- Avoid – Removing the threat, preventing it from happening, or shielding the project from its consequence
- Escalate – If the risk is NOT under your control, you will “ESCALATE” this risk concern to Management and your PMO
- Mitigate – This is about decreasing the risk’s LIKELIHOOD and/or IMPACT that it will have on the project
- Transfer – You’re giving a third party the full ownership for managing the risk, as well as the consequence if the risk occurs (If you don’t have sufficient resources, staff, equipment, or technical knowledge in the area)
STRATEGIES FOR POSITIVE RISKS
- Accept – We do nothing. It will happen or it won’t happen.
- Enhance – Increasing the likelihood that an Opportunity will occur, as well as its impact.
- Escalate – “Escalating” the risk to management
- Exploit – Doing EVERYTHING you possibly can so that the opportunity happens
- Share – Transferring ownership to a third-party so they also share in some of the benefits
Secondary Risks vs Residual Risk
Secondary Risks – Risks which occur after implementing a Risk Response
Residual Risk – The leftover risk after you’ve implemented your Risk Response Strategy
Reserve Analysis
determine budget -> process to determine a realistic amount of funds to set aside for uncertainty
monitor risk -> assess if remaining reserve is enough to complete PJT
Knowledge management techniques
bring people together so that they can collaboratively create and share knowledge. Networking, via social activities or online platforms, is an effective way of sharing and gaining knowledge through conversation.
Assessment of other risk parameters (Qualit risk analysis technique)
assess risks on characteristics other than probability and impact
Other factors -> ‘urgency, proximity, dormancy, manageability, controllability, detectability, connectivity, propinquity
iterative vs incremental
iterative -> dvpt through a series of repeated cycles / doing sthg over and over again (usually to improve it) / Lean is iterative
incremental -> deliverable is complete only after the final iteration / an increase or addition / Scrum is incremental
Schedule data
the collection of info for describing and controlling the schedule / output of Develop Schedule
Corrective action vs defect repair
Corrective action - activity that realigns the performance of pjt work with the PMP
Defect repair - activity to modify non-conforming product (should be considered first if an audit results in a non-conforming product
regression analysis
statistical method that allows you to examine the relationship between two or more variables of interest
Data analysis technique for Close PJT/phase process
PSOW
included as part of the procurement documentations. It describes the procurement item in sufficient detail to allow prospective sellers to determine if they are capable of providing the products, services, or results. The procurement SOW may include the following information: specifications quantity desired quality levels performance data period of performance work location other requirements
Ingratiation
Ingratiating is a psychological technique in which an individual attempts to influence another person by becoming more likeable to their target
Force Field Analysis
tool that enables a practitioner to visually map and analyze the driving AND resisting forces behind a project or initiative
recognition and awards / training
- mentioned in rss mgt plan
- T&T in Develop Team
Root cause analysis
Root cause analysis in a data analysis technique used to determine the basic underlying reason that causes a variance, defect, or risk. When identifying risks, this technique is used to identify problems, learn the underlying causes, and develop preventative actions.
Project staff assignments
not to confuse with a WP where work is assigned
A Project staff assignment is a list of the human rss needed
risk register is the output of…?
Identify Risks (along with risk report)
Risk Breakdown Structure
part of the Risk mgt plan
- hierarchical representation of POTENTIAL categories/sources of risk
Work Performance Data
Work performance data consists of raw measurements related to project activities. This includes information such as the actual project costs, the number of defects encountered, and the planned and actual start and finish dates for scheduled activities.
Work Performance Report
Work performance reports are the physical or electronic representation of work performance information compiled in project documents and intended to generate decisions, actions, or awareness. Work performance reports are used when managing communications and they include status information
