Module 3 Project Management Terminology Flashcards
What is a project?
PMI defines it as a temporary endeavor to produce a unique product or service.
There should be a beginning and an end.
What is project management?
The tasks, capabilities, and handling of resources in order to manage a project.
What are key project management roles?
Project manager: The person who owns responsibility for keeping the effort on time and budget, managing risk, dealing with documentation, etc.
Project coordinator: Someone who is tracking the status of projects but does not have much power or resources. Limited decision making authority.
Project expeditor: Someone helping to manage a project but is not the person who signs off. Indicates a hierarchical structure. Basically a staff assistant.
Senior management: Anyone who is higher on the org chart than the project manager. They have a vested interest.
Sponsor: Senior manager who authorizes the project by signing the project charter.
PMP: Project management office. This is where meetings probably take place. Where the PM sits.
Stakeholders: Anyone with a vested interest in the project. Can be positive or negative (protestors).
What are different types of project management organizations?
Functional organizations: PM has no power or resources. Has to beg, borrow, or steal. A project expeditor exists in such orgs.
Matrix organization: “Borrowed resources, two bosses.” If a strong matrix, the PM has authorities and resources, but is still a functional manager. A weak matrix is close to functional. Balanced is in the middle.
Projectized/Project-oriented: PM is in charge. People do nothing but work for you.
Organic: Team gets slapped together. PM does not have much authority.
Composite: Based on the project’s needs as it goes.
For the exam, you are in a strong matrix unless told otherwise. “Strong” means strong matrix or project-oriented. “Weak” means functional or weak matrix.
What skills should a PM have?
Must be a good leader.
Charismatic.
Emotional intelligence.
Understand motivational theory and conflict negotiation.
Be a good communicator—formal and informal, verbal and written.
Negotiator.
Problem-solver.
What are the three key constraints?
Time, cost, and scope. If you change one, it affects the others. For example, if you want to finish faster, you either have to spend more or reduce the scope.
Quality is now considered a constraint as well. Another is people.
What is the project lifecycle?
Defining, planning, executing, and delivering are the key stages. AKA conceptual, planning, construction, testing, implementation, and closure.
Stakeholder influence is highest at the beginning and goes down.
In Agile, can make changes until Stage H.
What does work authorization refer to?
It is part of the Project Management Information System (PMIS). Makes sure work gets done at the right time. Built into the WBS and the Schedule Baseline.
What is the Project Management Plan?
The most important part of a Predictive project. It is an aggregation of all the other sub-plans you make. There will be a scope plan, risk plan, and stakeholder engagement plan—all that gets rolled up into the project management plan.
The project manager and team own the plan. The project sponsor owns the project charter, which authorizes work to begin.
The plan is not always formal. It can be an actual compilation of documents with no signatures. However, if every possible component is used, there are 19 parts—10 knowledge areas and nine other baselines.
Describe process inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs.
The PMBOK breaks 49 processes into five process groups: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing. All 49 areas are in verb-noun format. Each process has an input, tools and techniques, and outputs.
An input could be documents, data, or deliverables. Tools and techniques are what you do with the inputs. The result is an output.
Every input should have an output.
What are Enterprise Environmental Factors?
EEFs are what impact your project that are not part of your project. Consider PESTLE and TECOP (Technical, Economic, Commercial, Organizational and Political) factors.
In practice, EEFs include organizational structure, corporate culture, laws and regulations, marketplace conditions, and infrastructure.
What are Organizational Process Assets?
These are things the organization possesses that can help accomplish projects. Typically divided into processes, procedures, and corporate knowledge. Examples include templates for documents, previous project documents, and software.
What is the project charter?
Every project needs one. Someone needs to authorize the project. It should be a formal document (and signed). You can do planning before it is signed, but no execution should take place. It should be written by the sponsor and the customer.
It has its own process (Develop Project Charter). It should name the project manager and document the overall risk. High-level requirements, budget, and schedule. Summarizes a lot.
