Module 7: Predictive Approaches Flashcards
Questions for a Predictive approach
@ Are the requirements stable?
@ Will the customer not be able to provide feedback during development?
@ Is a single point of delivery possible with limited refinements?
@ Is the development and delivery process well understood with low risk of change?
@ Would incremental delivery and feedback be difficult to arrange?
Agile suitability filter assessment tool
A wheel that assists in choosing a project management approach. It assesses based on…
Team - team size, experience, access
Culture - buy-in, trust, decision-making
Project - changes, criticality, delivery
Process Groups in Predictive Approach
Initiating - defining the new project, authorization for a project
Planning - establish scope, objectives, and develop plan of action
Executing - completing the work outlined
Monitoring & Controlling - tracking, reviewing, and regulating progress and performance
Closing - closing out project, phase, or contract
Factors to Consider (Tailoring a Predictive Approach)
Product/Deliverable
Project Team
Org Culture
Product/Deliverable Factors (Tailoring a Predictive Approach)
Compliance/Criticality - how much quality assurance (documentation, testing, etc)?
Type of Product/Deliverable - physical (subject to less change) or intangible (subject to more change)?
Industry/Market - changing or regulated market?
Technology - well established or rapidly changing?
Timeframe - short vs long duration?
Stability of Requirements - subject to change?
Security - is confidentiality needed?
Incremental Delivery - repeated check-ins or not until end of project?
Project Team (Tailoring a Predictive Approach)
Project Size - # of people, part time vs full time
Project Team Geography - where are team members located?
Org Distribution - where are stakeholders located?
Project Team Experience - team member experience amount
Access to Customers - can we get customer feedback?
Organization Culture (Tailoring a Predictive Approach)
Buy-In - acceptance & support for project?
Trust - high levels of trust and commitment on the team?
Empowerment - is the team trusted, supported, and encouraged?
Org Culture - do org values align with the project?
Project Charter
A document issued by the project initiator/sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities
Provides a high level description of the project’s who, what, when, where, why, and how
Project Charter Template
Introduction
Problem Statement
Scope Outline
Definition of Success
Risk Summary
Constraints and Assumptions
Business Cases
Schedule
Deliverables Schedule
Budget
Team Structure
Organizational Structure
Project Approach
Steering Committee Decision
Resource Planning includes…
Team members
Supplies
Materials
Equipment
Services
Facilities
Resource Calendar
A calendar identifying the working days, shifts, start, and end of normal business hours, weekends, and public holidays when each specific resource is available
Resource Management Plan
Guides how project resources should be categorized, allocated, manage, and eventually released
Phases of Team Development
Forming
Storming
Norming
Performing
Adjourning
Procurement Management
The process of acquiring goods and services from external resources to meet a project/organization’s needs
Procurement Contract
A mutually binding agreement that obligates the seller to provide specific products and services in exchange for compensation in return
Fixed-Price Contract
(aka Lump Sum Contract)
A contract where the price is set and agreed upon upfront, regardless of actual costs
Used when there is a well-defined scope and requirements
Seller has the greatest risk
Cost-Plus Contract
A contract where the buyer agreed to reimburse the seller for actual costs incurred plus an additional fee for profit
Best for projects where scope and costs are uncertain
Buyer has the greatest risk
Time and Materials Contract
A contract where the buyer pays for actual labor hours (time) and the materials used
Best for projects with uncertain scope or when quick hiring is needed
Buyer has the greatest risk
Bid Document
A formal document to solicit offers from vendors/contractors for goods, services, or projects. Can provide details about the requirements, scope, and evaluation criteria.
Request for Information (Bid Document)
Used to gather general information from vendors related to the product, service, or seller capability
Request for Proposal (Bid Document)
Used when a buyer needs a customized or recommended solution and vendors must submit detailed proposals on how they will meet the requirements
Request for Quotation (Bid Document)
Used when the buyer knows exactly what they need and is primarily looking for pricing information
Statement of Work (SOW) (Bid Document)
Defines the scope, deliverables, and expectations for a project between a company and a vendor, contractor, or service provider
Project Management Plan
A document that describes how the project will be executed, monitored & controlled, and closed
Project Roadmap
A high-level visual summary that outlines the project’s goals, timeline, key milestones, and major deliverables
Key features:
Project goal & objectives
Major deliverables
Timeline
Dependencies
Key Stakeholders
Baselines & Baseline Types
Baseline: a reference to track progress over time
Types:
Scope - defines what work is included in the project
Schedule - approved version of the project schedule
Cost - approved budget for the project
Change Management Plan
Describes how the change requests throughout the project will be formally evaluated
Configuration Management Plan
Describes how the information about the items of the project will be recorded and updates for the project’s components remain consistent
Requirement
A condition of capability that is necessary to be present in a product, service, or result to satisfy a business need
Scope
The sum of the products, services, and results to be provided in the project
Scope Creep
The uncontrolled expansion of a product or project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources
Scope Baseline
The approved version of a scope statement, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), and the work breakdown structure dictionary that can be changed using formal change control procedures, and is used as a baseline to compare the actual results to
Sources of Requirements
Project Charter
Project Management Plan
Product Documents
Business Documents
Agreements
Enterprise Environmental Factors
Organizational Process Assets
Sources for Gathering Scope
Expert judgement
Data gathering
Data analysis
Decision making
Data representation
Interpersonal/team skills
Context diagram
Prototypes
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
A hierarchical breakdown of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables
The lower you go in the WBS the more detailed the solution will be
Mostly used in predictive approaches
Decomposition in a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
The process of breaking down project work into smaller, management components
Steps:
Identify & analyze
Structure and organize WBS
Decompose upper part of WBS
Develop and assign codes to the WBS components
Verify the degree of composition
Milestone
A significant point or event in a project, program. or portfolio
Dependencies
When one activity’s start depends on another activity
Types of Dependencies
Finish to Start: activity 1 must be completed before activity 2 starts
Start to Start: activity 1 cannot start until activity 2 has started
Finish to Finish: activity 1 cannot complete until activity 2 is completed
Start to Finish: activity 1 cannot start until activity 2 is completed
Analogous Estimation
An estimation technique that relies on a comparison to similar activities n the past
Parametric Estimation
An estimation technique that uses metrics that are known from projects in the past
Three-Point Estimation
An estimation technique that uses three estimates to consider uncertainty
Optimistic - the best case scenario
Pessimistic - worst case scenario
Most likely - the most probable scenario
Triangular Estimation = (O + M + P)/3
Beta Estimation = (O + 4M + P)/6
Beta estimation is used more since it makes the most likely estimate more heavy
Crashing (to shorten duration)
Used to shorten duration by adding people/equipment (resources) to critical activities to shorten their durations
Fast Tracking (to shorten duration)
Used to shorten duration by overlapping critical activities rather than working on them strictly in a sequence
Critical Path
The sequence of activities that represents the longest path through a project, which determines the shortest possible duration (earliest path a project could be finished)
Float
The amount of time a scheduled activity can be delayed or extended without delaying the project finish date (like wiggle room)
all activities on the critical path are critical, BUT not all critical activities are on the critical path
Steps to Create a Project Budget
Estimate costs
Review - add up all the estimates
Add Extras - add contingency and management reserves
Set Tolerances - set variance’s
Get Approval
Standard
Guidelines that are used as a benchmark for measuring/comparing something
Regulations
Requirements imposed by a governing body
Quality Management Plan
A plan the describes how the organization’s processes, approaches, and standards will be implemented in the project
Appraisal Cost
Costs associated with measuring and monitoring the quality of products or services to ensure they meet required standards
Prevention Costs
Costs that are incurred to prevent defects from occurring in the first place
Internal Failure Costs
Costs associated with defects that are identified and corrected BEFORE the product/service gets to the customer
External Failure Costs
Costs associated with defects that are identified and corrected AFTER the product/service gets to the customer
Risk
An uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, can have a positive or negative effect on one or more project objectives
Risk Management & Steps
The process necessary to increase the probability and impact of positive events and decrease the probability and impact of negative events
Steps:
Identify
Classify
Analyze
Evaluate
Responses to Threats
Escalate - pass the threat to someone better suited to handle it
Avoid - act to eliminate or protect against the threat
Transfer - shift responsibility of the threat to a third party
Mitigate - take steps to reduce the likelihood or impact of the threat
Accept - acknowledge the threat and choose not to take action
Responses to Opportunities
Escalate - pass the opportunity to someone better suited to handle it
Exploit - take full advantage of the opportunity to capture its benefits
Share - transfer ownership to a third party to share the benefits
Enhance - increase the potential benefits and impact of the opportunity
Accept - acknowledge the opportunity but choose not to take action
Risk Identification Techniques
Brainstorming
Fishbone Diagrams
Delphi Technique - speak with SMEs and have members adjust their answers based on feedback
Interviews
Prompt Lists - PESTLE, TECOP, SPECTRUM
Questionnaires
Root Cause Analysis
