MIS 578 Project Management Chapter 1

Question 1

What is project?

Answer 1

A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.

The broader answer is: a project is an endeavor that requires an organized set of work efforts that are planned in a level of detail that is progressively elaborated as more information is discovered. Projects are subject to limitations of time and resources such as money and people. Projects should follow a planned and organized approach with a defined beginning and ending. Project plans and goals become more specific as early work is completed. The output often is a collection of a primary deliverable along with supporting deliverables such as a house as the primary deliverable and warranties and instructions for use as supporting deliverables. Each project typically has a unique combination of stakeholders – “persons or organizations … that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by … the project” PMBOK®Guide 376. Projects often require a variety of people to work together for a limited time and each needs to understand that completing the project will require effort in addition to their other assigned work.

Question 2

Stakeholders

Answer 2

Persons or organizations . . . that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by . . . the project.

Question 3

Project Management

Answer 3

The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.

This includes work processes that initiate, plan, execute, control, and close work. Project management includes both administrative tasks for planning, documenting, and controlling work and leadership tasks for visioning, motivating, and promoting work associates.

Question 4

Project vs. Operations

Answer 4

Projects are temporary and unique while other work, commonly called operations, is more continuous.

Question 5

Soft skills and hard skills

Answer 5

Soft skills - communication and leadership activities.

Hard skills -risk analysis, quality control, scheduling, budgeting, and so forth.

Question 6

Authority and responsibility

Answer 6

A project manager will frequently be held accountable for work that she/he cannot order people to perform.

Question 7

Project life cycle

Answer 7

Initiating, planning, executing, closing

Question 8

Project Goals

Answer 8

Scope and quality

Question 9

Scope

Answer 9

The sum of all products, services, and results to be provided by the project.

Question 10

Quality

Answer 10

The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements.

Question 11

PMI

Answer 11

Project Management Institute

Question 12

PMBOK

Answer 12

Project Management Body of Knowledge

Question 13

5 Process Groups

Answer 13

1) Initiating
2) Planning
3) Executing
4) Monitoring & Controlling
5) Closing

Question 14

10 Knowledge Areas

Answer 14

1) Integration management
2) Scope management
3) Time management
4) Cost management
5) Quality management
6) Human resources management
7) Communications management
8) Risk management
9) Procurement management
10) Stakeholder management

Question 15

Project Roles

Answer 15

Executive Roles
Managerial Roles
Associate Roles

Question 16

Executive Roles

Answer 16

Steering team, Chief Projects Office, Sponsor

Question 17

Managerial Roles

Answer 17

Project Manager, Functional Manager, facilitator, Customer

Question 18

Associate Roles

Answer 18

Core Team Member, Subject Matter Expert

Question 19

What tradeoffs need to be made when managing a project?

Answer 19

Tradeoffs must be made among the scope (size), quality (acceptability of the results), cost, and schedule.

Question 20

Why are more people spending more of their work time on projects?

Answer 20

With increased international competition, customers are demanding to have their products and services developed and delivered better, faster, and cheaper. Since project management techniques are designed to manage scope, quality, cost and schedule, they are ideally suited to this purpose.

Question 21

How do you define project success?

Answer 21

Project success is creating deliverables that include all of the agreed upon features (meet scope goals). The outputs should satisfy all specifications and please the project’s customers. The customers need to use the outputs effectively as they do their work (meet quality goals). The project should be completed on schedule and on budget (meet time and cost constraints).

Project success also includes other considerations. A successful project is one that is completed without heroics – that is, people should not burn themselves out to complete the project. Those people who work on the project should either learn new skills and/or refine existing skills. Organizational learning should take place and be captured for future projects. Finally, the parent organization should reap business level benefits such as development of new products, increased market share, increased profitability, decreased cost, etc.

Question 22

How do you define project failure?

Answer 22

Project failure is not meeting all of the success criteria listed above. Serious project failure is when some of the success criteria are missed by a large amount and/or when several of the success criteria are missed by even a small margin.

Question 23

What are the nine project management knowledge areas?

Answer 23

The nine knowledge areas as paraphrased from the PMBOK®Guide, pages 9 and 10 are: scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communications, risk, procurement, and integration.

Question 24

What forces are contributing to the importance of project management?

Answer 24

Rapid growth and changes in industries – particularly information and communications technology.
• Increasing customer demands for rapid introduction of new products and technologies.
• Global competition driving down prices.
• Increasingly complex products and services.

Question 25

At what stage of a project life cycle are the majority of the “hands-on” tasks completed?

Answer 25

Executing.

Question 26

At what stage of a project life cycle does the project become officially sanctioned?

Answer 26

Initiating.

Question 27

What two project dimensions are components of project performance?

Answer 27

Scope and quality.

Question 28

What types of constraints are common to most projects?

Answer 28

Time and cost.

Question 29

List at least four common causes of project failure.

Answer 29

• Not enough resources are available for project completion,
• Not enough time has been given to the project,
• Project expectations are unclear,
• Changes in the scope are not understood or agreed upon by all parties involved,
• Stakeholders disagree regarding expectations for the project, and
• Adequate project planning is not done.

Question 30

What are three common means of classifying projects?

Answer 30

Projects can be classified by industry, size, when scope can be determined with confidence, and type such as organizational change, quality and productivity improvement, R&D, information systems (IS), and construction.

Question 31

Steering Team

Answer 31

A steering or leadership team for an organization is often the top leader (CEO or other) and his or her direct reports.

Question 32

Chief Projects Officer

Answer 32

The chief projects officer is the keeper, facilitator, and improver of the project management system.

Question 33

Sponsor

Answer 33

The sponsor has a financial stake in the project, charters the project, reviews project progress, is often part of the steering team, and often mentors the project manager.

Question 34

Project Manager

Answer 34

The project manager: is directly accountable for the project results, schedule, and budget; is the main communicator; and often must get things done through the power of influence since his or her formal power may be limited.

Question 35

Functional Manager

Answer 35

The functional managers are department heads that determine how the work of the project gets accomplished; often supervise that work and often negotiate with the project manager regarding which workers are assigned to the project.

Question 36

Facilitator

Answer 36

A facilitator is sometimes assigned to complex or controversial projects to assist the project manager with the process of running meetings and making decisions.

Question 37

Senior Customer Representative

Answer 37

The senior customer representative ensures that the needs and wants of the various constituents in the customer’s organization are identified and prioritized and that project progress and decisions continually support the customer’s desires.

Question 38

Core Team Members

Answer 38

Core team members are assigned to the project for its entire duration if possible and jointly make decisions with the project manager.

Question 39

Subject Matter Experts

Answer 39

Subject matter experts are brought in as needed to help with specific project activities.

Question 40

What is a challenge in managing subject matter experts?

Answer 40

A challenge with these subject matter experts is they were not present during the charter development and signing and, therefore, may have neither the dedication to nor detailed knowledge of the project.

Question 41

What document is critical because most other planning is based upon it?

Answer 41

The project charter.

Question 42

What needs must a project manager simultaneously champion?

Answer 42

The project manager needs to simultaneously champion the needs of the project, the team, and the parent organization.

Question 43

What makes a person or group a project stakeholder?

Answer 43

Stakeholders are people or organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by either the process of performing the project or the project results.