Key Terms and Introduction to Project Management Flashcards
Difference between Projects and Operations
Projects are temporary and unique, whereas operations have no start date, no end date and are not unique
Progressive Elaboration
Discovering greater levels of detail as the project moves toward completion
Examples of phase gates
Phase reviews, stage gates, kill points
Phase gates
Held at the end of each phase of a project to determine if the project is meeting its goals and if the project should continue
Process Group
A set of processes the project manager may be doing at a certain time; initiating, planning, executing, monitoring & controlling and closing
Program
A collection of projects containing a common goal managed by a program manager.
Portfolio
A collection of projects and programs that are implemented to achieve a strategic business goal managed by a portfolio manager; identify, prioritize, authorize, manage and control a collection of projects and programs
Three baselines that you measure the performance of the project against
Scope, time and cost (aka budget)
Baselines
The original plan plus all approved changes
Project governance
The framework, functions and processes that a company will follow in order to complete a project
Supportive PMO
Supports the project manager by providing templates and training; low authority on the project
Controlling PMO
Supports the project manager by giving them a particular framework they need to follow and templates they will have to use; moderate authority on the project
Directive PMO
Direct the project manager on what they should be doing, and is generally in control of the project; the project manager will report to the PMO and the PMO is usually high in authority
Project Coordinator
A stakeholder who cannot make budget decisions, but can assign resources; common in functional or weak matrix organizations
Project Expeditor
A stakeholder who has less power over a project than either a PM or a coordinator; help to organize the project work and have no power or responsibility to follow a budget; staff with no formal authority
Organic or simple organizational structure
Tends to involve a small business where the role of the project manager does not exist; Project management is often part time and the organization owner or operator controls most of the budgets; small businesses’ and start ups
Virtual Organizational Structure
Project management is done virtually using different types of computer technology such as virtual meetings and chats
Functional Organization
Resources are controlled and managed by a functional manager, even the project manager. When the project is done, the resource goes back to their function
Virtual Organizational Structure | PM’s Role
Project manager’s authority is low to moderate and they will share resources with the functional manager; project management can be either full or part time
Functional Organization | PM’s Role
Project manager has very little power. Project management is part time and is done when you have extra time in the day
Project Oriented Organization
Business where the project manager controls all of the resources and there are no functional managers
Project Oriented Organization | PM’s Role
PM has 100% control of the resources
Full-time position for the PM
Matrix Organizational Structure
Middle ground between the functional and the project oriented organizations
Weak Matrix | PM’s Role
PM has a little more power than he/she did in the functional organization, but power is still low and is managed by the functional manager
Balanced Matrix | PM’s Role
PM’s power is almost equal to the functional manager for the control of resources; full time project management
Strong Matrix | PM’s Role
PM has the most power over resources; full time project management; PM’s power is moderate to high - there is a functional manager but with very little power
Hybrid Organizational Structure
When a company uses more than one of the different types of structures
Organic or Simple - Project Manager’s Authority
Little or none
Virtual Org Structure - Project Manager’s Authority
Low to moderate
Functional Org - Project Manager’s Authority
Little or none
Project Oriented - Project Manager’s Authority
High to full control
Weak Matrix - Project Manager’s Authority
Low
Balanced Matrix - Project Manager’s Authority
Low to moderate
Strong Matrix - Project Manager’s Authority
Moderate to high
Organic or Simple - Who Controls the Resources
Owner
Virtual Org - Who Controls the Resources
Mixed
Functional Org - Who Controls the Resources
Functional Manager
Project Oriented Org - Who Controls the Resources
Project manager
Weak Matrix - Who Controls the Resources
Functional manager
Balanced Matrix - Who Controls the Resources
Shared
Strong Matrix - Who Controls the Resources
Project manager
Organic or Simple Org - PM’s Work Shift
Little or no time
Virtual Org - PM’s Work Shift
Full time or part-time
Functional - PM’s Work Shift
Part time
Project Oriented - PM’s Work Shift
Full time
Weak Matrix - PM’s Work Shift
Part time
Balanced matrix - PM’s Work Shift
Part time
Strong Matrix - PM’s Work Shift
Full time
Constraint
All projects are constrained by their scope, time, cost, quality, resources and risk, i.e., all projects are limited to these things; includes customer satisfaction
Project governance
The management framework in which project decisions are made; the role is to provide a decision making framework that is logical, robust and repeatable to govern an organization’s capital investments.
