L2 - Business project management

Question 1

What is a project?

Answer 1

A project is a temporary (clear ending and beginning) endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.

Unique means that the product or service is different and can be distinguished from the
regular, day-to-day operations or other projects

Question 2

What are the different types of projects?

Answer 2

Compliance - must be performed

Operational - support current day-to-day operations

Strategic - meant to provide a competitive advantage to the organisation

Question 3

What is project management and why is it important?

Answer 3

Project management is managing projects with the goal of completing them successfully. That means: on time, within budget and with the agreed scope.

It is important as good project management ensures more efficient execution and if you have to change the course of the project later on, you can incur extra costs. Going towards the same goal.

Question 4

What are the major trade-offs in project management, and why do they exist?

Answer 4

The major trade-offs are between scope, time and cost. They exist as these are the constraints on the quality of the project.

Question 5

What is a program?

Answer 5

A program involves several projects closely related and designed to accomplish a common goal but performed as individual projects

When all projects are completed, the program is completed

Question 6

What is a portfolio?

Answer 6

A portfolio is a large number of projects or programs that an organisation is concurrently performing or considering

All projects or programmes are not necessarily related, but all managed with the knowledge of all projects in a way that can effectively help the organisation achieve its strategic business objectives

Question 7

What is portfolio management?

Answer 7

Portfolio management - the process of selecting and coordinating projects in the whole organisation, thereby creating an overview of all projects, which can effectively
help the organization achieve its strategic business objectives, by balancing

› Strategic goals, leading to selection of different classifications of projects
› Risks and costs across projects
› Utilization of resources across projects

Question 8

What are three types of projects?

Answer 8

Compliance - must be performed

Operational - support current day-to-day operations

Strategic - meant to provide a competitive advantage to the organisation

Question 9

Explain the trade-offs in project management (the triangle)

Answer 9

Changes in any of the sides of the triangle affect one or both of the other side

However, you can increase the scope without increasing time and costs - only scope as humans have a learning curve (scope creep - increasing the scope after the project has begun)

Therefore - trade-off

The project stakeholders decide on the overriding “key success factor” (i.e., time, cost or scope).
The project manager is responsible for demonstrating to stakeholders the impact of
the key success factors on the project.
Progress is measured by tracking time, cost, scope, resources, quality, and risks.

Every project should be performed to the best quality possible given the constraints of time, cost, and scope of the project.

Scope - the deliverable at the end of the project. What needs to be accomplished by the end of the project

Question 10

What are the steps in the IS project management lifecycle?

Answer 10

1. Project definition
2. Project planning
3. Project execution
4. Project closing

Question 11

What does step 1 in the project management lifecycle entail?

Answer 11

1. Project definition

Develop project charter and scope statement

Establish project organization

Identify project stakeholders

Establish primary responsibilities
› E.g., in a responsibility matrix listing deliverables with who is responsible etc.

Question 12

What does step 3 in the project management lifecycle entail?

Answer 12

3. Project execution

The project manager spends considerable time managing the team members, tracking the project progression, performing quality control, and communicating with the stakeholders.

Question 13

What does step 4 in the project management lifecycle entail?

Answer 13

4. Project closing

Important to evaluate, i.e. identify main successes and failures and from that develop list of lessons
Documentation and user training

Question 14

What does step 2 in the project management lifecycle entail?

Answer 14

2. Project planning

Estimating costs (budgets), schedules (Gantt charts), resources and risk

Break down deliverables in Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)

Also, important: develop communication plan and prepare risk management plan

Question 15

What is the communication plan?

Answer 15

The communication plan identifies all the stakeholders in the project and provides a plan for what information each stakeholder needs to receive as the project progresses, where this information comes from, how it is going to be disseminated, and who is responsible for sending the information.

Question 16

What are the steps of risk management?

Answer 16

Step 1: Identify the risks

Step 2: Qualify the risks

Step 3: Plan for risks by creating a watch list of risk triggers and how to handle the risk if it does occur

Step 4:Monitor and manage risks

Question 17

Projects involving IT are a certain type of business project

Answer 17

The more complex the IT aspect of the project, the higher risk of failure of the project

Projects involving IT are difficult to estimate

Additional resources may or may not speed up the process
› Additional resources mean more communication and coordination

Adding people to a late project can delay the project even more

Question 18

What is the project charter?

Step 1 in IS project management cycle

Answer 18

1. Project definition

The project charter (or agreement) - typically created by the project sponsor, and approved by key stakeholders

Defines the responsibilities and boundaries of the project manager and the project

Content varies between organizations, for example:
› Project title
› Project manager – responsibilities and level of authority
› Objectives and constraints of the project
› Envisioned solution - deliverables
› High level schedule, cost estimates, resource needs
› Business case
› Organizational standards for project process, reporting, templates, reviews etc.
› Key stakeholders

Question 19

What is the scope statement?

Step 1 IS project management life cycle

Answer 19

1. Project definition

The scope statement - Developed by the project manager together with the team – based on the project charter. Responds in larger detail to the project charter, which was developed by the sponsor before initiation.

Includes objectives, deliverables and milestones, technical requirements, and limits and exclusions. Lists stakeholders and identifies who will review the project from the client side. Proposed solution, project justification

Example:
Objectives:
› The customers should be able to track their shipments by April 1st, 2021.

Deliverables and milestones:
› Web-based interface finished by January 1st, 2021
› Integrated to warehouse system and shipping agent by March 1st, 2021

Technical requirements:
› Needs to be compatible with the warehouse system.

Limits and exclusions:
› Will not allow interfacing to our inventory system.

Question 20

Gantt chart and network diagram

Answer 20

Ways to view the interdependence of tasks - Gantt Chart or network diagram

The Gantt chart shows the start and finish date of each task, their relationship to each other and the critical tasks.

The network diagram shows the interdependencies between the tasks and the critical path (defined as the shortest duration path possible through the schedule).

Question 21

What are the roles in thep roject organisation?

Answer 21

Project manager – the person responsible for accomplishment of the project

Project team – the people who are to cooperate about finishing the project

Project sponsor – the general manager who provides the resources and benefits from the result of the project

Stakeholders - the individuals and organizations that are affected by or can affect the project, e.g.:
›The project manager, project team, and the project sponsor.
› The customer – the individuals or organizations who are to use the project’s product. Different types may be involved.
› Suppliers
› The IT department, and the department which will operate the
system

Question 22

What is three point estimating?

Answer 22

Can be used in connection with step 1 of the IS project management cycle

Constructing an estimate, E, with the standard deviation, SD:

E = (a + 4m + b) / 6

SD = (b − a) / 6

› a = the best-case estimate
› m = the most likely estimate
› b = the worst-case estimate

Confidence level in E value +/- SD is approximately 68%

Confidence level in E value +/- 2 × SD is approximately 95%

Confidence level in E value +/- 3 × SD is approximately 99.7%

Example:
Calculating an estimate E with the standard deviation SD:
 Estimate E = (a + 4m + b) / 6
 Standard deviation SD = (b − a) / 6
› a = 30 hours
› m = 40 hours
› b = 90 hours
 Estimate, E = 46.7 hours. Standard deviation, SD = 10 hours
 68% confidence that the amount of time used falls between 36.7 hours and 56.7 hours
 95% confidence that the amount of time used falls between 26.7 hours and 66.7 hours
 99.8% confidence that the amount of time used falls between 16.7 hours and 76.7 hours

Question 23

Man hours vs. calendar hours

Answer 23

Man-hours is the measure for the time it takes to complete a certain task, e.g. Task A has an estimate of 8 man-hours = 8 hours efficient and effective work.

Calendar hours is the time the task in reality takes. Here is taken into account that the work day might already be partially booked for other tasks, meetings and handling emails, e.g.: The employee can work on task A task 2 hours a day => Task A should be completed after four calendar day

Question 24

4 responses to risk

Risk response matrix

Answer 24

4 Responses to risk: mitigation (reducing risk (likelihood and impact)), avoidance (change project plan to reduce risk), transference (paying a premium to pass risk to another party), or (conscious) acceptance

Exploit risks with a positive impact, by looking for ways to make the risk happen or increase the impact if it does.

Use risk response matrix perhaps:

Assess each risk for impact to the
project if it does occur

Assess the likelihood of the risk
occurrence

Question 25

Define project team and expain what teamwork should

Answer 25

A project team consists of those people who work together to complete the project

Teams fail because members don’t understand the nature of the work required

Teamwork should:
› Clearly define the team’s objectives
› Define each member’s role in achieving these objectives
› Have norms about conduct, shared rewards, a shared understanding of roles,
and team spirit

Project managers should leverage team member skills, knowledge, experiences, and
capabilities

Team members should share information about their departments