Intro

Question 1

project

Answer 1

a temporary endeavor to create a unique deliverable (product, service, or result). this differs from operational work in that projects are not ongoing and repetitive. projects are typically undertaken to achieve an organization’s strategic plan

an example of a project is the launch of a website. website maintenance is operational work

other projects: building a house, a quarterly publication, an office move, or developing a training course

Question 2

project management

Answer 2

the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and resources to obtain the desired product, service, or result. to achieve desired level of quality, scope, time, and budget (triple constraint) must be balanced.

Question 3

triple constraint

Answer 3

scope, time, and budget

when one of these factors changes, at least one other is likely to be affected

Question 4

program

Answer 4

a group of related projects coordinated strategically to benefit the organization

Question 5

portfolio

Answer 5

a group of projects and programs facilitating the completion of strategic objectives. projects within a portfolio are not necessarily interdependent or directly related

Question 6

project management office (PMO)

Answer 6

a centralized unit that coordinates projects based on the organization’s overall business objectives. Responsibilities can include: administrative support, training, resource alignment, and implementing tools to facilitate better project management practices. the influence of a PMO may vary based on organizational structure and maturity to be supportive, controlling, or directive

Question 7

operations management

Answer 7

provides support for the oversight, direction, and control of day-to-day business operations. this subject area of ongoing endeavors is outside the scope of project management. however, there is a relationship of intersection between the two, such as during phase closure, product lifecycle management, or operations process improvement

Question 8

stakeholder

Answer 8

any individual or organization that influences or is affected by the execution of the project. stakeholder influence can be positive or negative

Question 9

project manager

Answer 9

a member of the performing organization and is responsible for the achievement of project objectives

Question 10

project management staff

Answer 10

a group of individuals who suppot the project by performing project management functions. examples include a project scheduler, cost controller, or technical lead

Question 11

project staff

Answer 11

carry out the work defined by the scope statement to generate project deliverables

Question 12

project sponsor

Answer 12

provides the authorization (championing) of the project based on its strategic relevance to the organization. they develop and/or approve the project charter, provide resources and financial support to the project, and may serve as a conduit between project delivery and the requesting organization (customer)

Question 13

customer

Answer 13

receives and manages the final product, service, or result

Question 14

end users

Answer 14

will use the final deliverable and may contribute differently to requirements gathering and acceptance than the customer

Question 15

performing organization

Answer 15

employees which are most closely involved in project work

Question 16

external stakeholders

Answer 16

may be affected by project execution in a positive or negative way. examples include: government entities or special interest groups

Question 17

functional organization

Answer 17

staff is grouped by specialty (department) and has one clear supervisor (department manager). in this type of organization, project managers must coordinate across the functional department managers. may have a project expeditor who cannot personally make or enforce decisions

Question 18

weak matrix

Answer 18

functional managers have the majority of power over resource time. a project coordination may have limited power in decision making

Question 19

balanced matrix

Answer 19

the organization recognized the need for project management; however, the project and resource managers share power over resources and funding.

Question 20

strong matrix

Answer 20

project manager has strong influence on project priorities and resource time

Question 21

projectized organization

Answer 21

an organization’s management is focused around projects. staff is hired full-time to each project, reporting directly to the project manager. project managers have nearly total authority and access to resources

Question 22

composite matrix

Answer 22

an organization that shares qualities of wak and strong matrix for different projects within the organization

Question 23

project lifecycle

Answer 23

the collection of project phases that connect the start of a project to the completion. the review and acceptance of deliverables, commonly referred to as Phase Gate, often marks the completion of one project phase and the beginning of the next

Question 24

project phases

Answer 24

collections of logically related project activities, usually culminating in the completion of a major deliverable. a project phase is a component of a project life cycle. project phase should not be confused with project management process groups

Question 25

deliverable

Answer 25

a measurable work product such as a specification, design document, or prototype

Question 26

how time affects a project

Answer 26

at the beginning of a project cost and staffing levels are low, and stakeholder influence and risk are high

over time, the cost of changes will increase while stakeholder influence and risk decrease

Question 27

predictive life cycles

Answer 27

the project team determines the scope, schedule, and budget early in the project. this approach is preferred when the deliverable is understood and can be well defined

two styles include:
sequential relationship
overlapping relationship

Question 28

sequential relationship

Answer 28

a phase can only begin when the preceding phase is complete. this relationship reduces risk (uncertainty), but may prevent opportunities for schedule compression

Question 29

overlapping relationship

Answer 29

a phase may begin before the preceding phase has been fully completed. overlapping phases can reduce the project schedule, however, it will increase risk. change in the completion in one phase may create costly rework in the following phase

Question 30

iterative and incremental life cycles

Answer 30

the project team intentionally repeats one or more project activities or phases to gain product improvements. each iteration follows all the project management process groups incrementally, building deliverables until exit criteria are achieved. while a high-level vision should be established early on, detailed-scope may be determined one iteration at a time

Question 31

adaptive life cycles

Answer 31

also known as change-driven or agile methods. these can be used when stakeholders are not able to agree to requirements early in the project lifecycle. this approach borrows the concept of the iterative approach, using very rapid 2-4 week iterations and with a variable scope and a fixed time and cost. after a set of requirements is determined, it is prioritized into a backlog list that can be used to determine the scope of each iteration. this style may be preferred when the project environment is rapidly evolving

Question 32

process

Answer 32

a series of actions performed to generate a desired result

Question 33

initiating

Answer 33

defines and authorizes a new project or phase and begins assessing the stakeholder environment

Question 34

planning

Answer 34

defines and refines the project objectives and plans HOW other processes should be performed to attain the objectives of the project

Question 35

executing

Answer 35

integrates resources to perform work according to the project management plan

Question 36

monitoring and controlling

Answer 36

measures progress to identify changes that can bring future performance closer in line with the plan

Question 37

closing

Answer 37

finalizes all activities across all the other process groups to formally close each phase and project