Introduction to Project Management Flashcards
What is a project?
A project is a temporary endeavor with a specific goal and a defined beginning and end.
Creates a unique product, service and result.
What do projects have?
- Scope
- Resources
- Timeframe
- Specific objective
What is a program?
Group of related projects.
What is a portfolio?
Collection of projects & programs to facilitate management of work to meet the strategic objectives of the organization / division of the company.
What is a task?
A specific actionable unit of work with a defined outcome
What are the four project management methodologies?
Waterfall, Spiral, Agile, Big-Bang.
What are some of the Waterfall Methodology’s characteristics?
Linear progression with an emphasis on planning.
Clear roles, requirements and responsibilities.
Predictable timelines and budgets.
Less adaptable to change.
What are some of the Agile Methodology’s characteristics?
Iterative and incremental with cross functional teams.
Focuses on working software with continuous learning and it is used when requirements are not understood.
What are the five Agile Methodologies?
Scrum, Kanban, Extreme Programming, Feature Driven Development (FDD) and Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)
What is scrum?
Iterative and incremental framework.
What is Kanban?
Kanban focuses on visualizing workflow and limiting work in progress.
What is Extreme Programming?
Extreme Programming emphasizes customer satisfaction and engineering practices.
What are the challenges for the Waterfall methodology?
Adaptability, feedback loop, innovation, speed and agility, emergent needs.
What is a scope?
The work that needs to be accomplished to deliver a project.
Identifies what is
* In Scope – included in the project
* Out of Scope – not included
What is a schedule?
A structured framework that outlines the planned start and finish dates for:
* Project activities
* Milestones
* Deliverables
What is a budget?
A budget:
- Outlines the expected costs for different components of a project
- Used to ensure that the project stays within its financial limits.
- Often presented with time phased estimates
- Shows when the money is expected to be spent
What is the Spiral methodology?
A risk-driven iterative software development model that combines elements of the waterfall and prototyping models with a focus on risk management and mitigation. It is adaptable to changing requirements and priorities.
What is Big Bang methodology?
Big Bang is minimal planning with no formal phases and rather, relying on continuous development and adaption.
Highly code-centric, it focuses on rapid coding and iteration. Works best for one to two developers and can be fast and efficient but also prone to errors and rework.
Why is agile becoming the dominant approach?
- Adaptability
- Faster time to value
- Empowered Teams
- Continuous Learning
- Reduced Risk
- Cost-Effectiveness
What is Agile’s philosophy and what is it characterized by?
Agile is a mindset that enables organizations to be more responsive to change.
Characterized by:
- Iterative development
- Adaptability
- Customer collaboration
- Willingness to accept and embrace change
What are the four core agile values governing projects?
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Software over Documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
What are the three roles in Agile and what do they do?
Scrum Master (process expert and ensures team meets objectives while removing any hurdles), Product Owner (business interface and key-decision maker, prioritizing backlog), Deliver Team (developers).
What are the main concepts driving Agile Project Management?
- Sprint (usually 2 to 3 weeks, a fixed time period in which work gets done and delivers a working increment)
- Product Backlog (prioritized by product owner, it is a list of stories, bugs and issues).
- Sprint planning (Based on prioritized items, team picks work, delivery team and scrum master commit based on resources and estimates of stories)
What are the Agile Ceremonies that form part of the agile process?
Standups, Backlog Grooming, Sprint Planning, Retrospective
What are standups
Daily meeting that is typically, about 10 to 15 minutes in duration. Simple and Informal.
Delivery team identifies any roadblock. Scrum Master
responsible for removing roadblock.
What is backlog grooming?
Done by the Product Owner working with the Team and Stakeholders. Product Owner Cleans, Organizes, and Prioritizes the existing Backlog.
What is sprint planning?
Attended by Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Delivery Team. Done prior to Sprint Start. Team identifies the scope of the Sprint and people responsible for delivering.
What is retrospective?
Occurs after each sprint. Serves as a reflection on what went well and what can be improved. Key ceremony for continuous improvement.
What do pre-initiation tasks include?
- Determining the scope, time and cost.
- Identify the project sponsor.
- Identify the project manager.
- Review the process and expectations.
- Divide the project into smaller projects.
What is project initiation?
It is the First Phase in the Project Management Lifecycle where the Project’s Value and Feasibility are measured.
What are the key components of project initiation?
- Project charter
- Stakeholder Identification
- Initial Scope Statement
- Business Case
What is the project charter?
Formal document that authorizes the project.
What are the elements of the project charter?
Project purpose, scope overview, project team, stakeholders, risks and management, and preliminary project objectives, roles, and resources.
What is stakeholder identification?
The process of identifying all individuals, groups, or organizations impacted by the project or who can impact the project.
What are the three key steps to stakeholder identification?
Identify, Analyze, Classify
What is the scope statement?
A document outlining the project’s deliverables, boundaries, requirements and acceptance criteria.
What are the key parts to scope statements?
- Project Objectives
- Deliverables
- Boundaries
- Requirements
- Acceptance Criteria
- Constraints and assumptions
What is an Agile Vision Statement?
A brief statement that provides a clear, long-term direction for the Agile Project team, fostering a shared understanding of the project’s purpose and goals.
What are the key parts of an agile vision statement?
Target audience, needs, product and rationale.
What is product backlog?
An ordered list of
* Features
* Enhancements
* Bug fixes
* Technical work
* Knowledge acquisition
needed to create a product, prioritized based on business value and customer needs.
What are user stories?
User stories are short, simple descriptions of a feature told from the perspective of the user or customer.
What is the syntax for a user story?
As a [type of user], I want [an action] so that [benefit/value].
What is requirements gathering?
The process of collecting, analyzing, and documenting the needs and expectations of stakeholders to define clear, concise, and actionable requirements.
What is the criteria for creating effective user stories?
- Independent: Standalone with no inherent dependencies
- Negotiable: Up for discussion and not a rigid contract
- Valuable: Delivering value to the end-user
- Estimable: Clear enough to estimate time and effort
- Small: Small enough to be completed in a sprint
- Testable: Can be used to create acceptance tests
What is backlog grooming?
The ongoing process of reviewing, updating, and prioritizing items in the product backlog to ensure they are relevant, detailed, and estimated.
What are the key elements for project planning?
- Scope
- Schedule
- Resources
- Risk Management
- Cost Management
What is prioritization (Moscow Method)?
A prioritization technique used to categorize items into four groups: Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have.
What is a GANTT chart?
A visual representation of the project schedule. It displays the start and finish dates of all tasks and facilitates tracking progress and identifying dependencies.
What are the benefits of a GANTT Chart?
Real-time visibility into task statuses, resource assignments and timelines.
It also enhances communication and clarity among stakeholders
What is a budget?
A project budget is the total sum of money allocated for the particular purpose of the project for a specific period of time.
What are the key components of a budget?
Direct costs (materials, labor).
Indirect costs (utilities, administrative costs).
Contingency reserves (funds set aside to address changes and risks).
What is the budget development process?
Estimation: estimate projects costs.
Aggregation: summing estimate costs for total budget.
Approval: approval from stakeholders to finalize budget.
What is a resource plan?
A resource plan outlines the physical, financial, and human resources needed to complete a project, ensuring efficient allocation and utilization.
What are the key components of resource plans?
Human, Material and Financial resources.
What is the Resource Plan Development process?
Identify Resources, Estimate Quantities, Allocate and Schedule.
What do story points provide a measure of?
Effort, complexity and uncertainty.
What are some characteristics of story points?
Unique to each team and allows them to be more flexible and adaptable.
What is the velocity of a team?
Velocity is a measure of the amount of work a team can complete in a single sprint and is calculated in story points.
Why is velocity important?
- Indicative of the team’s future performance (it is a planning tool, not a performance indicator).
- Allows teams to estimate how much backlog they can turn into an increment during a sprint.
What is Story Mapping?
Agile story mapping is a visual representation of the user’s journey through a product, helping teams to prioritize and focus on creating value for the end-user.
What are the key elements for story mapping?
User activities: the tasks or goals users are trying to achieve.
User tasks: the smaller tasks contributing to completing a user activity.
User stories: Specific features or functionalities supporting user tasks.
What are the key steps to create a story map?
- Identify user personas (understand needs and characteristics of users).
- Outline user activities (list activities users undertake to achieve their goals).
- Detail user tasks (break down activities into specific tasks).
- Develop user stories (created to fulfill those tasks).
What are the benefits of story maps?
- Offers a holistic view of the product from the user’s perspective.
- Enhances prioritization and iteration planning
- Promotes stakeholder alignment and consensus
What is a sprint?
The heartbeat of a scrum project, it is a time-boxed iteration in agile scrum where:
- Specific work is selected from the product backlog.
- Completed to produce a deliverable.
- Often a working product increment
How long is a sprint?
Typically between 1-4 weeks but ideally is two weeks, shorter duration sprints are harder to maintain, longer duration sprints tend to go to waterfall.
What are the key components of releases?
Release Planning:
- Identifying the Scope, Timeline, Features of the upcoming release.
Incremental Development:
- Building and improving the product in small, manageable increments.
Feedback Integration:
- Incorporating user and stakeholder feedback for continuous improvement.
What are the key components of sprints?
Sprint planning
- Selecting and prioritizing work items from the backlog.
- Select work items based on priority & velocity in story points.
- Use team velocity to forecast how much work can be completed.
Sprint Execution:
- Developing, testing, and refining the selected work items.
Sprint Review:
- Evaluating the deliverable with stakeholders.
Sprint Retrospective:
- Reflecting on the sprint, identifying improvements for the next sprint.
What is a release?
Agile releases involve deploying a version of the product that has incremental improvements or new features, delivering enhanced value to users regularly.
What are the four strategies for effective schedule management
Work breakdown structure, critical path method, GANTT chart and risk management.
What are the four key components for managing a schedule?
Project timeline, milestones, dependencies, resource allocation.
What are the benefits of releases?
- Accelerated time-to-market.
- Enhanced adaptability and responsiveness to change.
- Increased user satisfaction through regular value delivery.
What is the critical path method?
Identify the longest path of tasks to determine the project’s minimum completion time.
What is a GANTT Chart?
GANTT Chart is a visual representation of a Project Schedule, displaying tasks/subtasks along a timeline.
What are the three estimating techniques?
Analogous, Parametric and Bottom-Up
What is Analogous Estimating?
Quick and less accurate, it uses the cost of similar past projects to estimate the cost of the current project.
What is Parametric Estimating?
More accurate than analogous but requires robust data, it utilizes statistical modeling and historical data to calculate cost.
What is Bottom-Up Estimating?
Time-consuming but highly accurate, it breaks down the project into individual tasks and estimating each.
What is the best practice for accurate estimation?
Involve team members, use historical data, apply contingency, review and adjust.
What is a three point estimate?
An estimate that includes an optimistic, most likely and pessimistic estimate.
What are the key components of a GANTT Chart?
Tasks/Subtasks (to do list for tasks), timeline (duration of tasks, start and end), and progress (visual indicator of what percentage of tasks have been completed).
What are the essentials of progress tracking?
Key metrics, tools and techniques, regular updates, adjustments.
What are the four agile estimation techniques?
Planning poker, t-shirt sizes, the bucket system, affinity estimation.
What is planning poker?
Team members provide effort estimates by playing numbered cards face-down, then discussions follow to reach consensus.
What is t-shirt sizes?
Tasks are categorized into sizes (S, M, L, XL) to estimate effort.
What is the bucket system?
Similar to Planning Poker but uses larger sets of numbers
What is affinity estimation?
Grouping similar user stories together to quickly estimate effort.
What is the smart criteria?
Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound.
What is the definition of project resource management?
Process of planning, allocating, and monitoring resources to optimize project execution.
What are the characteristics of agile self-organized teams?
Cross-functional, autonomous, collaborative.
What is this?
Steady progress below ideal burndown.
What is this?
Sharp Decline, Then Parallel to Ideal Burndown
What is this?
Consistent Above Ideal, But Reaching Target
What is this?
Flatline then to normal progress
What is this?
Erratic progress, crossing ideal line multiple times.
What is this?
No progress followed by steep decline.
What is this?
Ideal line trends up mid-sprint.
What is this?
Ideal line trends down mid sprint.
What is the Fibonacci sequence?
In Agile project management, the Fibonacci sequence is often used for estimating the effort or complexity of tasks in a project, particularly during sprint planning sessions. The sequence (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, etc.) helps teams assign relative size estimates to user stories or tasks, making it easier to gauge the amount of work involved.
