PMP Prep Deck- SW 2022 Flashcards
What is the term for an individual who is involved with and or impacted by a project?
Stakeholder
INITIATING PHASE
Project success measures define in clear terms the criteria by which project success will be evaluated. What 3 questions do detailed and well-constructed project success measures answer?
- what does success look like?
- how will success be measured?
- what factors may impact my success?
What is the definition of a project?
a. permanent endeavor that produces repetitive outputs??
b. temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result
c. temporary endeavor that produces repetitive outputs
d. temporary endeavor undertaken to create a temporary business or product
b. temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result
Name the two processes in the initiating process group
Develop project charter and ID stakeholders
Which doc describes the necessary info to determine if a project is worth the required investment?
a. service level agreement
b. cost baseline
c. memorandum of understanding
d. business case
d. business case
Who is the person assigned by the performing org to be responsible for achieving the project’s objective?
a. program mgr
b. project mgr
c. functional mgr
d. portfolio mgr
b. project mgr
Power, urgency, and legitimacy are attributes of which stakeholder classification model?
a. salience
b. influence-impact
c. power-interest
d. power-influence
a. salience
Without approval from the project sponsor, there is no project? True or false?
True
The business case is used to record all assumptions and constraints known at any point during the project, True or false?
False
- the assumption log is used to record all assumptions
It is critical to identify all stakeholders as early as possible. True or false?
True
The stakeholder register is rarely updated throughout the life of a project. True or false?
False
- updated as often as new stakeholder info is discovered
What is the definition of the project charter?
Formally documents the high level details of a project as well as several key elements that structure and organize the formation of a project
What is the assumption log and in which process is it created?
Used to record all assumptions and constraints known at any point during the project. It is one of the major outputs of the develop project charter process
What is the project stakeholder register and in which process is it created?
A document used to record pertinent info on every stakeholder, including each stakeholder’s function, title, level of interest in the project, and level of influence. It is created during the identify stakeholders process
What is the difference between a project charter and business case?
Project charter formally documents the high level details of a project and after approval by the sponsor, formally authorizes the project
The business case help define the objectives, purpose, and assumptions of a project. It is used prior to starting a project to determine if the benefits of achieving the objectives are worth the investment
Which of the following is not a goal of the initiating process group?
a. define the project
b. obtain project approval
c. define the scope
d. identify and start to understand the stakeholders
c. define the scope
- scope is defined in the planning process group
What is the main goal of the develop project charter (4.1) process?
Focuses on developing and gaining sponsor approval of the project charter
What is the main goal of the identify stakeholders (13.1) process?
The identify stakeholders process identifies, analyzes, and classifies all stakeholders that could impact, or be impacted by, the project
Which of the following is not an input to the deliver project charter process?
a. business case
b. project mgmt plan
c. agreements
d. EEFs and OPAs
b. project mgmt plan
Early in the project, what are two important inputs to identify stakeholders?
Project charter and business case
Stakeholder_______ and _______ helps the team design ways to appropriately engage each stakeholder
Identification and analysis
Which of the following is a method of eliciting info from groups or individuals, such as team members or subject matter experts?
a. brainstorming
b. data analysis
c. bidder conference
d. EEF
a. brainstorming
Which of the following is a method of eliciting info from groups or individuals, such as team members or subject matter experts?
a. brainstorming
b. data analysis
c. bidder conference
d. EEF
a. brainstorming
What is a mapping technique used to identify where stakeholders are perceived to be relative to their power and interest in the project?
Power-interest grid
How should stakeholders with high power and high interest be classified and managed?
Closely
PLANNING PHASE
List the following processes in the order in which they should be completed:
- create WBS
- collect requirements
- plan scope mgmt
- define scope
Although iterative, general order is
- plan scope mgmt
- collect requirements
- define scope
- create WBS
A project ____ meeting is a common practice to clearly communicate project objectives and build team and stakeholders buy in
kick off
What is the major output created by the four scope mgmt processes in the planning process group?
Scope baseline
_____ defines all the necessary work that is required t complete the project
Project scope
A ____ is a condition or capability that must be present in the finished product to satisfy a business need
Requirement
Why is the collect requirements (5.2) process completed before the define the scope process?
The collect requirements process transforms high level requirements into clear objectives required to define the scope if the project
What is the difference between requirements documentation and requirements traceability matrix?
The requirements doc serves to clearly define all potential project requirements needed for creating the scope baseline
The requirements traceability matrix organizes and presents the requirements in visual manner that links each requirements to the individual deliverables that satisfy it
A trained facilitator is often used in the _____ process to obtain requirements from stakeholders and others with expert judgment
collect requirements
What is the definition of an affinity diagram?
Classifies requirements into distinct groups for review and analysis
____ a model of the potential products and providing it for review can ne a fast and inexpensive method for obtaining feedback on requirements
Prototyping
A well defined scope statement creates clear boundaries, reducing ____
Scope creep
What is the project scope statement?
Detailed definition of the project and product scope, major deliverables, assumptions and constraints. The statement clearly defines what is and is not in the project scope
The documents compromise the scope baseline:
Scope statement
Work breakdown structure (WBS)
WBS dictionary
List the following processes in the order in which they should be completed:
- define activities
- plan schedule mgmt
- sequence activities
- develop schedule
- estimate activity durations
- plan schedule mgmt
- -define activities
- sequence activities
- estimate activity durations
- develop schedule
The _____ process describes the actions that deliver the deliverables created by the create WBS (5.4) process
Define activities
An ____ is a distance, scheduled portion of work to be performed
Activity
______ moves a successor LEFT (earlier); _____ moves a successor RIGHT (later)
Lead, Lag
______ are calculated in terms of the number of work periods to complete an activity
Duration estimates
Which of the following estimating techniques is less costly and time consuming, but also the least accurate ?
Analogous estimating
- analogous estimating uses historical data from similar projects to produce a grossvalue of estimate for a projects activity duration
Which of the following estimating techniques uses statistical or numerical relationship to calculate activity durations?
Parametric estimating
_______ estimating requires significant resources and time, but can be very accurate.
Bottoms-up analysis
- This technique aggregates estimates of individual lower-level activities
Which of the following estimating techniques uses the triangular distribution mathematical equation to incorporate risk and uncertainty into the estimate?
- bottom-up estimating
- parametric estimating
- three-point estimating
- analogous estimating
- three-point estimating
What’s the difference between contingency reserves and mgmt reserves?
Contingency reserves address know-unknowns ( ex: the PM expects rework but the exact amount is unknown
Mgmt reserve address unknown-unknowns (unforeseen work
When creating the cost baseline in the determine budget process, _____ reserves are included in the baseline, but ___ reserves are not included
Contingency reserves (included) Mgmt reserves (not icluded)
After the time, scope and cost baselines are defined within the project mgmt plan, all future changes can be made only through the ____ process
Perform integrated change control process (included in the monitoring and controlling process group)
List the following processes in the order in which they should be completed:
- identify risks
- plan risk mgmt
- perform qualitative risk analysis
- plan risk responses
- perform quantitative risk analysis
- plan risk mgmt
- identify risks
- perform qualitative risk analysis
- perform quantitative risk analysis
- plan risk responses
Which document visually translates the project deliverables into small manageable components?
Work breakdown structure (WBS)
What is the definition of a requirement?
A condition/capability that must be present in the finished product to satisfy a need
What is scope creep?
The expansion of project work beyond the project boundaries
What is the key output of the define the scope process?
Project scope statement
- Provides a detailed definition of the project and product scope, major deliverable, assumptions, and constraints
“work” refers to the deliverable produced, not the activities that produce the deliverables
True
- to dig a ditch, the work would be defined as the complete ditch, not the activities required to dig the ditch
Name the technique used to create the WBS by dividing the scope into progressively smaller, more manageable parts
Decomposition
Define a work package
the lowest level of the WBS. It is the smallest amount of work for which cost and duration can be estimated and managed
The schedule management processes in the planning process group progressively translate the ____ of the scope baseline into logically sequenced work schedule
Deliverables
What are 3 key outputs produced by the define the activities process
Activity list, activity attributes and milestone list
What is the definition of an activity?
A distinct schedule portion of work to be perfromed
_____ extend the description of activities in the activity list, providing details on the effort type and work location
Activity attributes
- evolve and deepen in description as the project progresses
The _____ document frames the schedule constraints impacting the project
Milestone list
- created as an output of the define the activities process. The defined milestones identify significant points/events that are used in creating the detailed schedule
The ____ process aims to organize the activities into a schedule network diagram that graphically shows the order in which work will be completed
Sequence activities
What is the key output produced by the sequence activities process?
Project schedule network diagram
- shows the logical relationships of all activities start to finish
The ____ process brings depth and perspective to the network diagram by defining the amount of effort and resources each activity demands
Estimate activity durations
The ____ is the approved version of the schedule model used to evaluate actual vs planned progress throughout the project
Schedule baseline
All project baselines must be approved by the project sponsor
True
What is the difference between crashing activities and fast tracking activities?
Crashing: refers to the addition of resources to reduce the time required to complete an activity
Fast tracking: refers to the reorganization of sequential activates into parallel activities to reduce the time required to complete the activities
What is the largest negative impact of crashing that must be evaluated and accounted for?
Additional cost (more resources)
The ____ explains the logic behind each cost estimate, allowing the team to understand how the costs were derived
Basis of estimates
The determine budget process creates the project’s budget and baseline by ____ the cost estimates into time-phased view
Aggregating
The project budget and cost baseline are different
True
- project budget includes the mgmt reserve; the cost baseline doesn’t
Which type of reserve accounts for identified risks?
Contingency reserve accounts for identified risks. In comparison, the mgmt reserve accounts for unplanned work
The cost of preventing mistakes is _____ than the cost of correcting mistakes found by inspection or use
Less
The ____ describes the activities and resources necessary for the project team to achieve the project’s quality objectives
Quality mgmt plan
- also defines procedures for addressing nonconformance, corrective actions and continuous improvement
What two components comprise the cost of quality?
Cost of conformance and nonconformance
The cost of conformance includes what two types of costs?
Prevention and appraisal costs
- prevention are those associated with building quality into a products (training, equipment)
- appraisal are those associated with assessing the quality (testing, destructive testing loss, inspection)
The cost of quality (COQ) only considers the cost incurred while completing the project’s physical work
False
- includes all quality-related costs over the entire life of the project
What is the difference between project charter and team charter
The project charter is the foundational doc that authorizes the existence of the project
the team charter defines the team’s agreed upon operating guidelines
The ____ organizes the resource estimates into hierarchical chart that can be used to help acquire and monitor resources
Resource breakdown structure
Throughout the resource estimating process, various options must be evaluated to determine the optimal resource solution given the project’s constraints. Which data analysis technique does this describe?
Alternative analysis
Define the steps in a basic sender-receiver communications model
Encode, transmit, decode
Name the 3 most common communication methods
Interactive: multidirectional communication
Push: sent to specific recipients, but no confirmation that the info is understood
Pull: allows content access at the user’s own discretion
____ is anything compromising the understanding of a communicated message
Noise
- caused by a receiver being distracted or lacking adequate perception and/or knowledge
What is the equation for calculating communication channels?
Communication channels = N x (N - 1) / 2
N= # of stakeholders
List the following processes in the order in which they should be completed:
- plan risk mgmt
- plan risk responses
- perform qualitative risk analysis
- identify risks
- perform quantitative risk analysis
- plan risk mgmt
- identify risks
- perform qualitative risk analysis
- perform quantitative risk analysis
- plan risk responses
Which document is created during the identify risks process to record specific details on every individual project risk
Risk register
- a key output of the identify risk process
What are the two key outputs of the identify risk process?
Risk register and risk report
Once created, the risk register and risk report are not adjusted. True or false?
False
- continually adjusted to deepen the understanding of the current risk profile and to include addl risks identified
What factors are used to evaluate each risk on the risk register during the qualitative risk analysis process?
Perception of probability of occurrence and impact
- qual risk analysis is subjective, as it based on perception of each risk’s probability of occurrence and impact
An S-curve is produced by which type of risk analysis
Monte carlo analysis
- the S-curve from a monte carlo risk analysis visually shows the probability of achieving any project outcome
What is the purpose of a tornado diagram?
Used in quantitative risk analysis determines which individual risk has the greatest potential impact by correlating variation in project outcomes
Which analysis method is used to select the best of several alternative course of action?
Decision tree analysis
- a mathematical method in which alternate decision paths are shown and evaluated for their overall expected monetary value. The net path value is calculated for each and the decision path with the best value is selected
Which of the following is not a desired characteristic of a proper risk response plan?
- appropriate
- cost effective
- timely
- realistic
Timely
What are the five alternative risk strategies that must be considered when planning for threats?
- escalate, avoid, transfer, mitigate, accept
Which output produced in the plan procurements mgmt process defies the procurement need in detail sufficient to allow the sellers to assess if they are capable of providing the work?
Procurement statement of work
Which type of contract is used when the scope of work is expected to change significantly during the proect?
Cost-reimbursable contract
- seller is reimbursed for all allowable costs (per contract)
Which docs produced as outputs of the plan procurement mgmt. process must not be provided to the potential sellers?
Source selection criteria: objective to eval each proposal
independent cost estimates: frame of reference for eval bids
The stakeholder engagement matrix is used to compare which two levels of stakeholder engagement
Current vs desired enagagement
EXCUTING SECTION
The direct and manage project work process ensures both the planned project and ____ are executed
Approved change requests
- both planned project work and approved change requests are inputs to the direct and manage project work process
The deliverables produced by the direct and manage project work process are evaluated to conform they meet quality standards during which process?
Control quality
The direct and manage project work process is where the “rubber meets the road” as the team executes ____ defined in the project plans
planned project activites
What are the raw observations/measurements produced as an output of the direct and manage work process??
Work performance data
- passed onto the processes in the monitor and control process group for analysis. Through analysis, the data are converted into work performance info
When a change request is approved in the perform integrated change control process, it flows back to the ____ process as an output
direct and manage project work
Which output doc should the project team use to record problems, gaps, inconsistencies, and conflicts that occur during the direct and manage project work process?
Issue log
Throughout the entire project, both best practices and problems must be codified and recorded on the ____
Lessons learned register
The ____ process translates the quality mgmt plan into executable activates that integrate quality policies into the project
Manage quality process
What data representation technique used in the manage quality process breaks down the causes of a problem and organizes them into discrete branches, allowing root cause identification?
- flow chart
- cause and effect diagram
- affinity chart
- scatter diagram
cause and effect diagram
- also known as the fishbone or ishikawa diagram
The scatter diagram graphically shows the relationship between two variables. True or false?
True
- tool and technique used in the manage quality process that graphically shows the relationship between two variables
What is the term used to describe a set of structured observation techniques used to determine if project activities comply with policies, processes and procedures?
Quality audit
What is the key objective of the 3 resource mgmt processes in the executing process group?
Obtain, develop and manage a team. resources and procurements to complete all the project work
Explain what the resource calendar does?
Defines the exact time frames when each project resource is available to the project
Does a weak-matrix or strong-matrix organizational structure offer project managers less access/control of resources?
Weak-matrix
- closer to the projectized structure. Therefore the project mgr has less authority to control resources
Which mgmt plan instructs the way in which external resources are obtained?
Procurement mgmt plan
- instructs the way in which internal resources are obtained and the procurement mgmt plan instructs how to obtain external resources
____ decision tools allow the project team to evaluate resource options and select the optimal mix to meet the project’s needs
Multicriteria
In order, name the five stakes of the Tuckman ladder, which is used to evaluate the team development
Forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning
Which key output produced by the develop team process allows the current status of team development to be addressed and tracked?
Team performance assessments
The team’s overall performance can be improved through which 4 actions?
Training, coaching, mentoring, change requests
The ___ defines in clear terms the team’s value and operating guidelines
Team charter
- input to the 9.4 develop team process
___ is the ability to identify, assess and manage emotions of oneself, others and groups
Emotional intelligence
Name the 5 conflict resolution techniques identified in the manage team process
Withdraw/avoid smooth/accommodate compromise/reconcile force/direct collaborate/problem solve
In which conflict resolution technique does the project manager retreat from the conflict?
Withdraw/avoid
- may cause an issue to worsen if the issue is not rectified
By leveraging which conflict resolution technique would you push your viewpoint through power, often creating a win-lose situation?
Force/direct
Name the conflict resolution technique aimed at creating a win-win situation where both parties viewpoints are shared and incorporated
Collaborate/problem solve
What is the potential downside of using the smooth/accommodate conflict resolution technique?
Risk of the issues not being adequately addressed
- smooth/accommodate involves emphasizing agreement while ignoring/conceding differences in hopes of maintaining harmony
The manage communication process is conducted only once. True or false?
False
- is an iterative process that is constantly collecting, evaluating, storing and distributing info from updates, issues, and changes of other processes
The ____ is the software by which project information is distributed
Project mgmt information system (PMIS)
What are the key objectives of the implement risk responses process?
To minimize a project’s risk exposure and maximize opps by implementing agreed-upon risk response plans
What is the name of the individual responsible for ensuring the risk response plans for a specific risk are fully implemented?
Risk owner
During which process is the final agreement and contract with a seller completed?
Conduct procurements
What types of meeting is used to provide prospective contractors the oppty to gain a deeper understanding of the procurement statement of work?
Bidder conference
Which of the following is not a characteristic of a bidder conference?
- defined meeting to provide detailed info
- allows all sellers the oppty to ask questions
- each seller can only hear the responses to their questions
- NDAs are often required
- each seller can only hear the responses to their questions
What is the term for a potential list of sellers within a competitive range?
Select sellers
The person authorized to sign legal agreements is often a purchasing or legal rep, not the project mgr
True
Which of the following docs are not provided to potential contractors?
- source selection criteria
- RFP
- procurement SOW
- source selection criteria
The manage stakeholder engagement and ____ processes work in concert, each focuses effort on aligning stakeholders and assisting in better decision making
Manage communications
- these two work together to achieve a similar goal of ensuring constant and appropriate flow of info to and from stakeholders
Which doc is most likely used to record problems and concerns with project communications effort?
- issue log
- assumptions log
- stakeholder register
- communications mgmt plan
issue log
- both an input and output of the manage stakeholder engagement process
MONITORING AND CONTROLLING SECTION
Which of the following is not an objective of the monitoring and controlling process group?
- track, review and regulate project progress and performance
- identify areas in which changes to the plans are required and initiate change requests where needed
- objectively evaluate and formally accept project deliverables
- deliver project deliverable, once completed, to the customer
deliver project deliverable, once completed, to the customer
- this is in the close project or phase process
Which of the following is not produced during the monitoring and controlling process group?
- work performance data
- work performance info
- work performance reports
- schedule and costs forecasts
work performance data
- performed during the executing process group by direct and mamage project work process
The monitor and control project work process provides insight into the health of a project by tracking, reviewing and reporting on actual vs expected progress. True or false?
True
- to maintain a clear understanding of how the project is progressing against the project baseline and project plans
Which doc, produced as a key output of the monitor and control project work process, summarizes project performance and forecasts?
Work performance reports
- summarize work perf info concisely and are critical to keep stakeholders aware of the project’s progress and to generate decisions or actions
____ are submitted to correct current and potential project performance issues
Change requests
How are work performance date translated into work performance info?
Data analysis
- one of the primary activities that occur in the monitor/control process group
What is the desired impact of the work performance reports generated as an output of the monitor and control project work process?
Maintain stakeholder awareness and generate decision or actions
Which type of analysis identifies the difference between planned and performance and actual performance?
Variance analysis
- key tool and technique used during the M/C project work process to determine the condition of the project
Any change request that potentially impacts a project baseline must be evaluated using the formal ____ process
Perform integrated change control
Change requests can only be implemented after they are transformed into ___
Approved change requests
____ is the process of obtaining the customer’s formal acceptance of completed project deliverables
Validate scope
- to obtain the customer’s formal acceptance of the completed project deliverables
The verified deliverables that are produced as outputs by the ____ process are the main inputs leverage by the validate the scope process
Control quality
- are what ar evaluated for formal customer acceptance in the validate scope progress
____ is the formal document signifying that the customer has accepted a deliverable as complete and satisfactory
Accepted deliverable
Which document produced in the planning process group links the project requirements to the deliverables that satisfy them?
Requirements traceability matrix
is produced in the collect requirements process visually displays the deliverables that must be satisfied
Which analysis technique used during the control scope process determines if project performance is improving or deteriorating by examining historical results?
Trend analysis
How does the variance analysis work and what type of actions could it facilitate?
Compares the baseline to the actual results . If the variance exceeds a threshold, then corrective or preventative action may be developed. If the actions impact the baseline, then a change request will be generated
The control scope process is conducted throughout the lie of the project? True or false?
True
- after scope baseline is defined, the control scope process must be conducted throughout the entire project. Essential as it helps monitor the success of the project and prevention of scope creep
How do schedule variance (SV) and schedule performance (SPI) differ when analyzing a project’s performance?
SV defines the amount a project is ahead/behind the schedule baseline
SPI defines hw efficiently the team is completing the work
By which standard is the actual schedule performance evaluated during the control schedule process?
Schedule baseline
- is the standard by which schedule progress is evaled during the control schedule process
The control costs process centers on understanding both the total amount spent and the ___ of the money spent to complete project activities
Effectiveness
- analysis conducted during the control cost process determines the effectiveness of the money spent on a project by analyzing the total amount spent and value generated from the spend
Which variable defines the total budget amount allocated for the project?
Budget at completion (BAC)
Planned value (PV) defines the value of work that_____ done
should be
- PV defines the vale of the work that should be done and is the standard by which progress will be measured
Earned value (EV) defines the value of the work that ____ done
Is
- EV defines the value that is done. This is often used toc calculate the projects completion %
Scheduled variance (SV) determines the amount a project is ahead/behind the schedule baseline. What does a negative schedule baseline indicate?
Project is behind schedule
- a negative SV behind, positive is ahead
At the completion of a project, what will the SV be?
Zero
- SV will always be 0 at end because all of the work planned is complete
Your project team has been more efficient that originally projected in completing project work. what would you expect the SPI value to be?
Above 1
- SPI values above 1 indicate that more work has been completed than planned at the period of time (indicating that the team has been more efficient than expected)
The ____ variable determines if the project is ahead or behind the budget defined in the cost baseline
Cost variance (CV) - determines the amount of a budget deficit or surplus at a given time
Which EVM variable calculates the expected total cost of the project at the completion of all project work?
Estimate at completion (EAC)
- determines the expected total cost at the completion of all project work
The estimate to complete (ETC) calculates the expected cost to finish all the remaining project work. True or false?
True
ETC = EAC - AC
The ____ variable determines the CPI that must be achieved with the remaining resources to meet a specific mgmt goal
To-complete performance index (TCPI)
- evals the current performance and determines the CPI rate that must be maintained to hit a defined mgmt goal. Two equations exist to calculate the TCPI to meet the mgmt goals of BAC or EAC
Is a TCPI above or below 1 more difficult to complete?
Above 1
- values above 1 are more difficult to meet because the team must perform at a level more efficient than originally planned in the project cost baseline
Deos earned value mgmt (EVM) confuse or scare you?
Check out course EVM Made Easy
What is the purpose of the control quality process?
to ensure project outputs are complete, correct, and satisfactory to customers by monitoring and recording quality results
Control quality determines if the project outputs do what they were intended to do. True or false?
True
Which data gathering technique uses a smaller sample to measure quality and infer the total quality of a larger population?
Statistical sampling
Name the simple, yet powerful, date gathering technique used to gather attribute date while performing inspections
Check sheets
When a quality issue is identified, which type of data analysis technique is often leveraged to investigate the case?
Root cause analysis
- aims to ID the core problem driving an issue so that it can be eliminated
The team has used a chart to determine whether or not a process is stable. Which chart have they leveraged?
Control chart
What is the goal of the control resources process?
Right resources, right place, right time
Which project document shows when resources are available to the project?
Resources calendar
Define the purpose of the monitor communications process
Provides a realistic eval of the success of actual communication and quickly initiates changes to improve results when needed
What are 4 ways in which the team achieves the goal of ensuring each stakeholders communications needs are met?
- monitoring the actual comms
- evaluating the effectiveness
- understanding changes on stakeholders needs
- triggering changes to the comms plan
The ____ matrix provides the desired stakeholders engagement level that the communications mgmt plan was designed to achieve
Stakeholder engagement matrix
Which of the following is not one of the key objectives of monitor risk response?
- monitor the implementations of risk response plans
- track identified risks
- identify and analyze new risks
- assign individuals to implement new corrective actions to eliminate new risks identified
- assign individuals to implement new corrective actions to eliminate new risks
___ is the term that describes the approaches and contingencies that project mgmrs build into their risk processes
Project resilience
The control procurements process focuses on all of the following except:
- establishing contracts with buyers
- ensuring that both parties meet contractual obligations
- confirming that the appropriate buyer [arties approve deliverables
- resolving all conflicts in a positive manner
establishing contracts with buyers
- control procurements process evals contract progress and results and manages the procurement relationship to improve the likelihood of project success
When conflicts/issues occur on the fulfillment of a contract, what is the most optimal method of action?
Negotiations
If negotiations are unable to rectify contractual issues, what method should be leveraged?
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
What are the key outputs of the control procurement process?
close procurements, work performance information, change requests, document updates
As a project evolves, it is often necessary to modify the methods used to engage stakeholders. True or false?
True
The monitor stakeholder engagement process aims to ___ and ___ engagement activities as the project evolves
adapt and improve
____ involves listening and then using your words to clarify and confirm the message that was heard
Active listening
CLOSING SECTION
Define the key objectives of the Close Project or Phase process
- finalize all activities of the project phases or contract
- archive all project or phase info
- formally close the project, phase or contract
- release all or team resources
In executing te close project process, you have created a final project report, transferred the final product to the ownership of the customer, and dismissed your project team. You believe that you can now formally close the project. What activity have you forgotten to complete?
- obtain approval from the project sponsor
- formally acknowledge the success of the team
- complete and archive the lessons learned register and all project docs
- close the charter document
complete and archive the lessons learned register and all project docs
In closing the project, the project mgr reviews the ____ to ensure that all project work is complete and the project has met its objectives
Project mgmt plans
While developing the final report for formal project closure. you utilize which project doc to demonstrate compliance with the project scope?
Requirements documentation
- created during the collect requirements process describes how individual requirements meet the business need for the project
Due to a company reorg, the project sponsor was recently terminated and the project was canceled. What action should the project mgr take first upon being informed this?
Conduct Lessons learned
- regardless of whether a project is completed fully or terminated before completion. lessons learned must be ca[tured and recorded. These lessons learned help to inform future projects
The Close Project or phase process is the ____ finalization of all process and process groups
Forma finalization
Which 3 outputs must be completed before a project is properly closed?
- final product, service, or results transferred to customer
- project docs updates and marked as final
- final report created
Of the 4 data analysis techniques used in the close project or phase process, which technique is focused on identifying learned and knowledge sharing opps to help improve future projects? - document analysis - regression analysis trend analysis - variance analysis
Document analysis
- technique that helps identify lessons learned for future projects
When using ____ ; the interrelationships between project variables are analyzed to identify opps to improve the performance of future projects
Regression analysis
You inform your team that a critical output of the close project process is the completion and archival of the lessons learned register. What is the main reason why ensuring that the register is updated and archived?
To identify and make easily available improvement ideas that can be used on comparable projects
After all project work is complete, it is proper to release all team members
False
- not unit project closure is over
What is the purpose of the final report and what does it contain?
Summarizes the project performance elements such as benefit, cost, quality, schedule. Should follow communication plan to ensure proper dissemination is achieved. Delivered to project sponsor and stakeholders
AGILE PROJECT MGMT SECTION
Who is responsible for the business decisions and maximizing the value of the product?
Product owner
What are the characteristics of those who make up the team in agile?
- self organized
- cross functional
- build or maintain the product
What are the roles of the facilitator in an agile environment?
- facilitator of processes
- coach
- conscience
- defender
The scrum master (facilitator) tells the team how to do the work. True or false?
False
Who owns the product backlog?
Product owner
What is the difference between sprint backlog and product backlog?
Sprint: what the team will work to complete in the current sprint
Product: the queue of work to be completed for the overall project
Something that provides customer value, functionality, and is tested and accepted while only being a smaller subset of the total project outcome is defined as:
An increment
What are artifacts of agile?
- product backlog
- sprint backlog
- increment
Define the “time boxed” and advise what is the most common time box for a sprint
- time boxed: there is a predetermined and defined length
- most common length of a sprint is 2 weeks
When does the sprint planning take place?
At the beginning of the sprint
Who determines what is put onto the sprint backlog during sprint planning?
Product owner and the team collaborate to determine what items to pull into the sprint to maximize value creation
How long is the daily stand up?
15 min
What is another term for sprint review?
Demo
What is the difference between a sprint review and a sprint retrospective?
Sprint review: focuses on inspection of the product, getting customer feedback, and gaining a better understanding of what the customer needs
Sprint retrospective: focuses on processes and product devt to look at what went well, what did not, and how it can be improved in the next sprint
Sprint planning is used on the ____. All sprint planning should start with a _____
Product backlog, blank slate
During sprint planning the product owner asks them to “consider” items and then the team comes up with how to complete them
True
The purpose of collaborative sprint planning is to produce _____
optimal value creation
What should be communicated during a daily scrum/stand up?
- what works was communicated yesterday
- what issues were experienced
- what will be completed today
What is the purpose of the daily scrum/stand up?
- achieve fast cycles of learning
get a better plan to deliver the value
What is the purpose of a sprint review (demo)?
- determine is the product meets the customer needs
- determine if the product is for for purpose
- give the team learning feedback and update the product backlog
What is the purpose of a sprint retrospective?
- for the team to determine what they can do better next time
- not about blame but about finding root causes and planning action items
Describe the planning process in an agile life cycle
Team plans and replans as more info becomes available from the review from frequent deliveries
What are the two types of agile life cycles?
- iteration based agile
- flow based agile
A team works in timeboxes of equal duration. Is this iteration base agile or flow based agile?
iteration based
A team pulls from the backlog based on its capacity to start work. Is this iteration base agile or flow based agile?
Flow based
A team works on features in order of importance. Is this iteration base agile or flow based agile?
iteration bases
The team and business stakeholders determine the most appropriate schedule for planning, product reviews and retrospectives. If this iteration base agile or flow based agile?
Flow based
A project that uses some agile approaches like short iterations, daily stand ups, and retrospectives but also uses upfront estimation work assignment, and progress tracking is considered:
- agile
- hybrid
- predictive
- none
hybrid
Agile is about ____ delivery on a frequent basis. That delivery creates ____ for the team
- customer bases
- feedback
A ____ helps teams to visualize the flow of work, make impediments easily visible, and allow flow to be managed by adjustingwork in process limits
kanban board
AGILE MANIFESTO SECTION
What are the 4 values of the agile manifesto?
- individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- working software over comprehensive documentation
- customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- responding to change over following a plan
What is the highest priority in agile?
Satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software
What do agile processes harness for the customer’s competitive advantage?
Change
Agile prefers delivering software in a couple months vs a couple weeks
False
- deliver SW frequently, from a couple weeks to a couple months, with a preference for shorter timescale
Based on the principles of agile, who must work together daily throughout the project?
Business professionals and developers
In agile, we build projects around motivated individuals and give them the environment, support and trust they need to get the job done
True
- 5th principle of agile manifesto
What is the most efficient method of conveying info to/within a devt team?
Face to face
What is the primary measure of progress based on agile principles?
Working software
In agile principles what do they mean by sustainable devt?
Sponsor, developers and users should be able to maintain a consistent pace indefinitely
You are in the process of collecting and disseminating performance information to the stakeholders in the project. You want to predict the future performance of the project based on the current information. This performance information includes status reports, current status of risks, and summary of changes approved in the period. Which of the following methods will help you in predicting the future performance of the project?
- forecasts
- run chart
- WBS
- pareto chart
Forecasts
Forecasts are estimates or predictions of conditions and events in the project’s future based on information and knowledge available at the time of the forecast. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 104] (Domain: Process, Task 5)
Based on agile principles, what enhances agility?
Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
In agile, simplicity, the art of maximizing the work left to do is essential
False
- simplicity is the art of maximizing the amount of work to be done
Where do the best architecture reqs and designs come from in agile?
self-organizing teams
Based on agile principles, at regular intervals the team reflects on how to become more effective. The team then tunes and adjusts behaviors. True or false?
True
According to the 12 principles of the agile manifesto, a team should value ____ and ____ delivery to satisfy the customer
Early and continuous
Why, according to the 12 principles of the agile manifesto, should a team welcome change?
Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage
According to the 12 principles of the agile manifesto, describe the desired timescales
Deliver working products frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale
Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project
True
Those on agile team should possess what characteristics?
Build projects around motivated individuals while providing an environment, support system, and trust system they need to complete the job
What is the most efficient and effective method of communicating info to/within a team?
Fact to fce
What is the primary measure of progress?
A working product
Describe the type of devy that an agile environment should promote
Sustainable devt.
SERVANT LEADERSHIP SECTION
What do servant leaders promote?
- Self awareness
- environment of safety, respect and trust
- service to others
What do servant leaders have to do day-to-day?
Facilitate and collaborate, facilitating collaboration
How do servant leaders help streamline efforts?
By identifying and removing obstacles for the team
Servant leaders_____ an environment for team’s success
Create
What characteristics should servant leaders value?
Self-awareness, safety, respect, trust, and service to others
Servant leader should help the people on their team grow by: ____, _____, and _____.
Listening, coaching and facilitating
As a servant leader you want to approach project work in a specific order; purpose, _____ and then process
People
Servant leaders manage _____ to build communication and coordination with the team
Relationships
When project managers act as servant leaders, the emphasis shifts from ____ to ____
Managing coordination to facilitating collaboration
As a servant leader of an agile team, you are responsible for helping to streamline processes that are impeding a team’s ability to do work. True or false?
True
THE AGILE UMBRELLA SECTION
Name the agile framework for developing and sustaining complex products, with specific rules, events and artifacts
Scrum
Describe the difference between behavior driven devt (BBD) and eXtreme programming (XP)
BBD: a system of design and validation that uses test first principles and English like scripts
XP: A SW build technique based on frequent cycles. XP is most known for popularizing a comprehensive set of practices intended to improve the results of SW projects
What are crystal methods?
A family of methodologies that are designed to scale and provide a selection of methodology rigor based on project size and criticality
Scrumban is an agile approach originally designed to go from _____ to _____
Scrum to kanban (evolved into a hybrid framework)
Feature driven devt (FDD) was developed to meet what size of SW devt project?
Large
What are the 6 primary roles in FDD?
- PM
- chief architect
- devt mgr
- chief programmer
- class owner
- domain expert
Dynamic systems devt method is designed to add more ____ to existing iterative methods
Rigor
This agile process features more accelerated cycles and less heavyweight processes
Agile unified process
When would you need to uses scrum of scrums?
When two or more scrum teams consisting of three to nine member need to coordinate their work
What does the scaled agile framework do?
Focuses on providing a knowledge base of patterns for scaling devt work across all levels of the enterprise
What does large scale scrum (LeSS) accomplish?
Organizes multiple devt teams toward a common goal
Why would it make sense that a whole org, not a singular product team, use enterprise scrum?
A method that is used at the org level because it advises organizational leaders to extend the use of scrom across all aspects of the org
What are the principles of disciplined agile (DA)?
- people first
- learning oriented
- full delivery life cycle
- goal driven
- enterprise awareness
- scalable
What concepts exist under the agile umbrella?
- scrum and BDD
- XP and FDD
- crystal and XP
- kanban and DSDM
- all
All
UNDERSTANDING AGILE TEAM ROLES SECTION
In agile, 3 common roles are:
- cross functional team member
- product owner
- team facilitator
Describe a cross functional team member
Team member with the necessary skills to produce a working product. They produce a potentially releasable product consistently and in the shortest amount of time with high quality
Describe a product owner
Responsible for guiding the directiona product goes- rank the work based off the business value
Describe a team facilitator
Servent leader of the team. Also called the product mgr, srum master, team lead, coach, etc.
Describe a T-shaped person
One area of deep expertise and a broad ability in the remaining skills required by the team
A product owner is a committee responsible for maximizing the value of a product
False
How long is the product owner responsible for the product?
Entire life cycle
What is the product owner’s ability ultimate responsibility?
Guiding the direction of the product to deliver max value
The product owner ______ the work based on its _____
Ranks, business value
The product owner owns, maintains, and organizes the ____ to help the team see how to deliver the highest value without creating waste
Product backlog
AGILE TEAM EXPLAINED SECTION
What are two key features of agile teams?
Cross-functional and self-managing
Team members may change as the project progresses
True
What is the definition of colocation?
An organizational placement strategy where the project team members are physically located close to one another in order to improve communication, working, relationship nd productivity
What does it mean when team are self-managing?
Team decides what work they are pulling into the print and decides on the right team members at the right time to complete it
Agile teams focus on ____ product development so they can obtain ____
rapid, feedback
What are the 5 attributes of successful agile teams?
- dedicated people
- cross functional
- colocation or ability to manage location challenges
- mixed team of generalists and specialists
- stable work env
A servant leader’s role is to do whatever the team asks them
False
SCRUM MASTER EXPLAINED SECTION
How does the scrum master serve the team?
- improv team mgmt
- encourage cross-functionality
- keep team focused on increments that meet the definition of done
- facilitate impediment removal
- ensure agile/scrum events take place and are proper
How does the scrum master serve the product owner?
- help find techniques for product goal and backlog mgmt
- help team understand the need for clear concise product backlog
- help improve the product planning process
- encourage stakeholder collaboration
How does the scrum master serve the org?
- lead, train, coach in agile principles
- plan and advise on agile implementation
- help employees understand and apply empirical approach to work
- remove barriers between stakeholders and the scrum team
A scrum master should ensure agile/scrum events take place and are proper. True or false?
True
A scrum master facilitates betweenwhat 3 entities?
- team
- prodcut owner
- org
AGILE ROLES 3 PERSPECTIVES SECTION
What is the difference between an I shaped persona nd a T shaped person in terms of skills?
I: has depth of skill but not a lot of breadth
T: defined specialization but has the skills, versatility and aptitude to help other people when necessary
A person who multitasks between 2 projects equally will give 50% effort on each project. True or false?
False
- due to the cost of task switching, they will end up giving 20%-40% on each project
In an agile environment, the team is focused on the ___
Work
In an agile environment, the product owner is focused on the overall ___ lifecycke
Product
AGILE PROJECT CHARTER SECTION
What is the purpose of an agile project charter?
To align the team to a common understanding
What are the two types of charters in agiile?
Project charter and team charter
In an agile project charter where does it answer the question of “why” we are doing this project?
Project vision
What is the social contract of how the team will work together in accomplishment of the overall team goals?
Team charter
What are the 4 components of a team charter?
- team values
- working agreements
- ground rules
- grou norms
Meeting times and standards are an example of what component of the team charter?
group norms
What are some examples of working agreements in a team charter?
What “ready” means
WIP standards
Sustainable pace and core hours are examples of what component of a team charter?
Team values
What is the project release criteria?
What being “done” looks like
At minimum, an agile project charter answers the following 4 questions:
- Why we are doing this project? )vision)
- Who benefits and how? (vision / purpose)
- What does done mean for the project? (release criteria)
- How are we going to work together? (intended flow of work)
PRODUCT BACKLOG PREP SECTION
The product backlog is a static fully detailed list of all the high-level features that will be included in the product. True or false?
False
- list is how the owner sees it today
User stories on the backlog need to be detailed enough for the team do do what?
Understand, estimate and complete them (through further convos)
What is the product backlog?
An ordered list of high level features as the product owner sees it today in user story format
It is detailed enough for the team to understand, estimate and complete
What is a product roadmap and who typically produces it?
The anticipated sequence of deliverable and is typically created by product owner
What is the purpose of backlog refinement meetings?
To refine enough stories so that the team understand them and how they relate to each other
From a high-level, explain how the scope is developed differently in an agile environment than in predictive
Agile: spends less time definitively defining the complete scope at the beginning of the project. It instead focuses on the plan and process for its ongoing discovery and refinement
TEST PREP / RESEARCH
USER STORIES SECTION
What are the 3 C’s of a user story?
- card, conversation, confirmation
What is a user story?
A brief description of deliverable value for a specific user. It is a promise for a convo to clarify details
What is the “conversation” in regards to user stories?
The second C of user stories is the details that come out via discussion with the product owner, it helps to get a deeper understanding. It is used for the cards at the top of the product log
When we are talking about acceptance criteria in user stories, which C are we talking about?
Confirmation
- expectations of “done” from product owner
How are user stories structured?
As a ______ (user(who)), I want to be _____ (value(what)), so that I can _____ (reason(why))
We take every user story as soon its created and we immediately add in depth details to fully understand and plan fo all the product requirements. True or false?
False
- we only get details with follow up questions when needed. Don’t want to waste time so focus on the user stories of highest value
PRODUCT BACKLOG REFINEMENT SECTION
Why do we rank and refine user stories during backlog refinement?
So that the most important work is visible and ready to work in the next iteration
How do we evaluate each card in the backlog refinement?
Having focused discussion between the Product owner, team and SMEs to understand what the intention is, the potential challenges, the dependencies, and create an estimate in relation to the other cards
Backlog refinement is continual. True or false?
True
- looking for of most value. ones with higher priority have more refinement
What is the length of a backlog refinement meeting in and iteration based agile project?
2-3 hrs
What do refinement discussion drive?
Understanding
Where do we use the acceptance criteria in the refinement discussion?
Becomes the product owner’s script for the product demo/review
SPRINT PLANNING AND BACKLOG SECTION
What initiates the sprint?
Sprint planning, where we select the work to be performed in the sprint
The product owner decides what work will be performed in the print. True or false?
False
- team and product owner
How long is a sprint planning meeting for a two week sprint?
2 week iteration it would be a focused four hour time boxed meeting
What is the key thing to discuss in a sprint planning meeting?
The most important backlog items and how they map to product goals
What are the 3 main topics discussed in a sprint planning?
- why is this print valuable?
- what can be done in this sprint?
- how will chosen work get done?
In iteration-based agile, when teams gave reduced capacity they only plan for work that meets that capacity. True or false?
True
- teams estimate what they can complete. They cannot be 100% sure what they can deliver since they don’t know the unexpected. Smaller stories allows team to see progress in the form of a finished product and they learn what they will be able to accomplish in the future
DAILY STAND UPS SECTION
A daily stand up is just a daily status meeting
False
-a synchronization meeting that helps work through flow and get our print goal
What is the purpose of a daily stand up?
To commit to each other, uncover problems, and ensure work flows smoothly through the team
A daily stand should be no longer than ___ minutes
15 min
In an iteration-based agile daily stand up, what 3 questions does everyone answer in the round robin fashion?
- What did I complete since the last stand up?
- what am I planning to complete between now and the next stand up?
- What are my impediments (risks/problems)?
Flow based agile has a different approach to stand up. Explain the difference between a daily stand up in flow vs iteration based agile
Flow: focuses on the team’s throughput. the team assesses the board from left to right
- what do we need to do to advance this piece of work?
- is anyone working on something that is not on the board?
- what do we need to finish as a team?
- are there any bottlenecks or blockers to the flow of work?
KANBAN BOARD SECTION
What is a Kanban board?
A visual board that helps make flow work
Why would we use a Kanban board in agile projects?
To limit WIP (work in progress) to align processes and to highlight bottlenecks
What are the 5 key elements of a kanban board?
Visual signals (user story cards), columns (make a workflow), commitment point, delivery point and WIP limits
How is the kanban board used?
Visualization tool that enables improvements to the flow of work by making bottlenecks and work quantitatives visible
DEMO/REVIEW SECTION
When are demos/reviews held?
At the end of every sprint (or when needed if you are in flow based agile)
Who attends the demo/review?
Scrum master, product owner, other stakeholders as needed
The demo/review is really a chance for the team and stakeholders to inspect and adapt the product. True or false?
True
As the team completes the features, usually in the form of user stories, the team periodically demonstrates the working product. The ____ sees the demonstration and accepts or declines the features/stories.
Product owner
When does a demonstration happen in flow-based agile?
When time to do so and when enough features have been completed to give an understanding of the product
As a general rule, demos should occur at least once every ____ weeks
2
RETROSPECTIVE SECTION
During which part of the sprint do we do the retrospective?
At the end of every sprint
How long is the max time allowed for a retrospective in a two week sprint?
One and a half hours
What is the goal of the retrospective?
Reflect on progress and improve- one-two improvements
A retrospective is about figuring who is to blame for issues that occurred during the sprint. True or false?
False
- not blame, improvement
Why is the retrospective the single most important agile project practice?
Allows the team to learn about, improve, and adapts its process
Retrospectives help the team learn from its ____ work on the project
Previous
What are the core values of XP?
XP’s foundational core values are communication, simplicity, feedback, courage and respect. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 102] (Domain: People, Task 3)
MEASURING AGILE PROGRESS
How is a burndown chart used to measure progress in agile?
A graphic representation of how quickly the team is working through the user stories visualizing the amount of story points remain
How is a burnup chart used to measure progress in agile?
Graphic representation of how much work has been completed visualizing how many story points have been completed
What is the difference between lead time and cycle time in flow-based agile?
LT: amount of time to complete an item, from the time it has added to the time it’s delivered
Cycle: time to process an item and only includes the time the item was actually being worked on. It does not include the time it was sitting to be worked on
What is the term that refers to the time an item waits ready until it’s started in flow-based agile?
Response time
Agile favors _______ and ______ measurements instead of predictive measurements
Empirical, value based
Why are baselines not used in agile?
Team limits its estimation to the next few weeks, not completion of the project
Define velocity in an iterative-based agile environment
Sum of story points sizes for features completed in an iteration
What is a “reliable velocity” in an iterative based agile?
Avg stories or story points are able to be completed in an iteration. This allows the team to predict project length
What chart can a team use to measure Earned Value (EV) in an agile environment?
Burn up chart where the left Y axis represents story points as scope and the right Y axis represents project spend
How do you calculate the schedule performance index (SPI) in agile terms?
SP= completed features / planned features
For example, if a team planned to complete 50 story points in an iteration, but only completed 30, then the SPI is 30/50 or .6- this means that the team is only working at 60% of the rate planned
How do you calculate cost performance index (CPI) in agile terms?
CPI- Earned value / actual costs (to date)
*EV= completed features to date
AGILE PROCUREMENTS AND CONTRACTS
Because the agile manifests value “customer collaboration over contract negotiation”. procurement should be collaborative process that pursues shared ______ relationship
Risk-reward
Describe the following contracting technique that can formulate a shared risk reward relationship in an agile environment:
(multi-tiered structure)
- be more flexible
- document different elements of the project in different docs
- can have a master service agreement and then add on extra elements as the project progresses
- then can amend the schedule of services to meet your current needs
- use a SOW if need more formal ways of defining scope elements
makes it easier to make changes and gives more options of how to work together
Describe the following contracting technique that can formalize a shared risk reward relationship in an agile environment: emphasize value delivered
Contract payments are staggered based on the delivery of particular artifacts
Describe the following contracting technique that can formulize a shared reward relationship in an agile environment:
fixed-price increments
Instead of nailing down entire budget and scope in a single agreement, scope is decomposed into smaller fixed price micro deliveries (such as user stories). This allows the customers to have control over how the money is spent. Suppliers benefit by not overcommitting to a single feature
Describe the following contracting technique that can formulize in an agile relationship:
not to exceed time and materials
Overall budget is limited to a fixed amount. this allows the customer to implement new ideas and innovations within an already established capacity
Describe the following contracting technique that can formulize a shared risk reward relationship in an agile environment:
graduated time and materials
The supplier may be rewarded with a higher hourly rate when delivery is earlier than the contracted deadline
Describe the following contracting technique that can formulize a shared risk reward relationship in an agile environment:
early cancellation option
Customer can buy the remainder of the project for a cancellation fee. This way the customer limits how much of the budget is impacted and the supplier still can earn money for services no longer required
Describe the following contracting technique that can formulize a shared risk reward relationship in an agile environment:
dynamic scope options
if the budget is fixed, a supplier may give the customer the option to change the project as a specific agreed upon points in the project
Describe the following contracting technique that can formulize a shared risk reward relationship in an agile environment:
Team augmentation
Funding the team rather than a specific scope- this still gives the customer control over what should actually be done
Describe the following contracting technique that can formulize a shared risk reward relationship in an agile environment:
Favor full-service suppliers
Choosing suppliers that can deliver full value rather than using a multisupplier strategy (eeach supplier only does one thing)
PMP COURSE CARDS SECTION
Value Delivery
There are components such as portfolios, projects, programs, and
operations to name a few that when used either individually or
collectively help create value for an organization to meet its strategic
goals and objectives
Information Flow
The value delivery system is at its best when there is open and constant
flow of information and feedback that is being shared by the key
components within the system.
Organizational Governance
is a structured approach to provide the
needed direction and control through the use of policies and processes
so that meet defined strategic and operational goals.
• Enforce legal, regulatory standards and compliance requirements
• Define operational, risk, and legal polices.
Project Governance
is the framework, functions, and processes that give
the project the needed guidance and control to execute the activities
needed by the project to achieve the organizational, strategic, and
operational goals.
• Guiding and overseeing the project work by evaluating changes, issues and
risks
• Enforcement of polices, standards, and guidelines.
Cost of Quality
Cost of quality (COQ) methodology, which identifies four categories of cost, is used to find the appropriate balance of investing in quality
prevention and appraisal to avoid defect or product failure.
• Prevention.
• Appraisal.
• Internal failure.
• External failure.
Measurement Performance Domain
The performance domain that addresses activities and functions associated with assessing project performance and taking appropriate actions to maintain acceptable performance.
Effective Measures
KPIs (Key performance indicators): leading and lagging indicators
SMART: specific, meaningful/measurable/achievable/relevant, realistic, reasonable/timely,time bound
What to measure?
deliverable metrics, delivery, baseline performance, resources, business value, stakeholders, forecasts
Measurement Pitfalls
• Hawthorne effect. The Hawthorne Effect is used to describe a change in the behavior of an individual that results from their awareness of being observed..
• Vanity metric. The Vanity metric is a measure that shows data but does not provide any useful information for making a decision
• Demoralization. If goals are set that are not achievable team morale will fall as they continually fail to meet their targets.
• Misusing the metrics. One definition is that data that is misunderstood is then misused. Another is that data can be distorted to focus on the wrong thing.
• Confirmation bias. The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values.
• Correlation versus causation. Correlation simply means that there is a statistical association or pattern between two variables, while causation not only implies a specific kind of relationship, known as
a cause-and-effect relationship. This means that a change in one variable is causing a change in the
other.
Uncertainty Performance Domain
The Uncertainty Performance Domain addresses activities and functions associated with risk and uncertainty.
Effective execution of this performance domain results in the
following desired outcomes:
An awareness of the environment in which projects occur, including, but not limited to, the technical, social, political, market, and economic environments.
Proactively exploring and responding to uncertainty.
An awareness of the interdependence of multiple variables on the project.
The capacity to anticipate threats and opportunities and understand the consequences of issues.
Project delivery with little or no negative impact from unforeseen events or conditions.
Opportunities are realized to improve project performance and outcomes.
Cost and schedule reserves are utilized effectively to maintain alignment with project objectives
Risk Strategies
Threats/negatives: avoid, escalate. transfer, mitigate, accept
Opportunities/positives: exploit, escalate, share, enhance, accept
Risk Review: Establishing a constant cadence of review and feedback on risks be it in a daily stand up or weekly status meeting to ensure that the effort of risk management remains relevant to the current state of the project.
Tailoring
is the deliberate adaptation of the project management approach, governance, and processes to make them more suitable for the given environment and the work at hand
The goal of tailoring is to increase the commitment of the team to the
project, be more focused on the needs of the customer and to be
efficient with the use of the project resources.
Tailoring Steps
- select approach
- tailor for the org
- tailor for the project
- implement ongoing improvement
Model
is a thinking strategy to explain a process, framework, or phenomenon.
Method
is the means for achieving an outcome, output, result, or project deliverable.
Artifact
can be a template, document, or project deliverable.
Motivation Models
- Hygiene and Motivational Factors.
- Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation.
- Autonomy.
- Mastery.
- Purpose.
- Theory of Needs.
- Achievement.
- Power.
- Affiliation.
- Theory X, Y and Z.
Change Models
Managing Change in Organizations: • Formulate change. • Plan change. • Implement change. • Manage transition. • Sustain change.
ADKAR Model:
- Awareness.
- Desire.
- Knowledge.
- Ability.
- Reinforcement.
Kotter’s 8 Step Process for Leading Change: 1. Create urgency. 2. Form a powerful coalition. 3. Create a vision for change. 4. Communicate the vision. 5. Remove obstacles. 6. Create short-term wins. 7. Build on the change. 8. Anchor the changes in corporate culture.
Change & Complexity Models
Virginia Satir Change Model: • Late status quo. • The foreign element. • Chaos. • The transforming idea. • Practice and integration. • New status quo.
Transition Model:
• Ending, losing and letting go.
• The neutral zone.
• The new beginning
Cynefin Framework. • a problem-solving tool defined by cause-and-effect relationships in a variety of situations to categorize a problem or decision and respond accordingly
Stacey Matrix. • designed to help understand the factors that contribute to complexity and choose the best management actions to address different degrees of complexity.
Project Team Development Models
Tuckman Ladder • Forming. • Storming. • Norming. • Performing. • Adjourning.
Drexler/Sibbet Team Performance Model
- Orientation.
- Trust building.
- Goal clarification.
- Commitment.
- Implementation.
- High performance.
- Renewal.
Conflict Models
- Confronting/problem solving.
- Collaborating.
- Compromising.
- Smoothing/accommodating.
- Forcing.
- Withdrawal/avoiding.
Negotiation Models
- Win-win.
- Win-lose / Lose-win.
- Lose-lose.
Process Groups Models
- Initiating.
- Planning.
- Executing.
- Monitoring and Controlling.
- Closing.
Strategy Artifacts
- Business case.
- Business model canvas.
- Project brief.
- Project charter.
- Project vision statement.
- Roadmap.
Logs & Registers Artifacts
- Assumption log.
- Backlog.
- Change log.
- Issue log.
- Lessons learned register.
- Risk-adjusted backlog.
- Risk register.
- Stakeholder register.
Plans Artifacts
- Change control plan.
- Communication management plan.
- Cost management plan.
- Iteration plan.
- Procurement management plan.
- Project management plan.
- Quality management plan.
- Release plan.
- Requirements management plan.
- Resource management plan.
- Risk management plan.
- Scope management plan.
- Schedule management plan.
- Stakeholder management plan.
- Stakeholder engagement plan.
- Test plan.
Hierarchy Charts Artifacts
- Organizational breakdown structure.
- Product breakdown structure.
- Resource breakdown structure.
- Risk breakdown structure.
- Work breakdown structure.
Baseline Artifacts
- Budget.
- Milestone schedule.
- Performance measurement baseline.
- Project baseline.
- Scope baseline.
Visual Data and Information Artifacts
• Affinity diagram. • Burndown / burnup charts. • Cause-and-effect diagram. • Cumulative flow diagram (CFD). • Cycle time chart. • Dashboards. • Flowchart. • Gantt chart. • Histogram. • Information radiator. • Lead time chart. • Prioritization matrix. • Project schedule network diagram. • Requirements traceability matrix. • Responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) • Scatter diagram. • S-curve. • Stakeholder engagement assessment matrix • Story map. • Throughput chart. • Use case. • Value stream map. • Velocity chart.
Reports Artifacts
- Quality report.
- Risk report.
- Status report.
Agreements and Contracts Artifacts
- Fixed-price contracts.
- Cost-reimbursable contracts.
- Time and materials (T&M).
- Indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ)
- Memorandum of understanding
- Memorandum of agreement
- Service level agreement
- Basic ordering agreement
Other Artifacts
- Activity list.
- Bid documents.
- Request for information (RFI).
- Request for quotation (RFQ).
- Request for proposal (RFP).
- Metrics.
- Project calendar.
- Requirements documentation.
- Project team charter.
- User story.
A System for Value Delivery
Creating Value. Organizational Governance Systems. Functions Associated with Projects. Project Environment. Product Management Considerations.
Functions Associated With Projects
Provide oversight and coordination. Present objectives and feedback. Facilitate and support. Perform work and contribute insights. Apply expertise. Provide business direction and insight. Provide resources and direction. Maintain governance.
Projects are influenced by both internal and external environments to varying degrees.
The influence can be positive, challenging, or neutral to the project objective, stakeholders, and team members
Internal Environment
- Process assets.
- Governance documentation.
- Data assets.
- Knowledge assets.
- Security and safety.
- Organizational culture, structure, and governance.
- Geographic distribution of facilities and resources.
- Infrastructure.
- Information technology software.
- Resource availability.
- Employee capability.
External Environment
- Marketplace conditions.
- Social and cultural influences and issues.
- Regulatory environment.
- Commercial databases.
- Academic research.
- Industry standards.
- Financial considerations.
- Physical environment.
Product
Product is an artifact that is produced, is quantifiable, and can be either an end item itself or a component item.
Product management
Product management involves the integration of people, data, processes and business systems to create, maintain, and develop a product or service throughout its lifecycle.
True or False: Product lifecycle is the same regardless of industry or product. Project lifecycle, on the other hand, can vary across both
True
What are the 12 principles of project management which are in full alignment and complementary with the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct?
- Be a diligent, respectful, and caring steward.
- Create a collaborative project team environment.
- Effectively engage with stakeholders.
- Focus on value.
- Recognize, evaluate and respond to system interactions.
- Demonstrate leadership behaviors.
- Tailor based on context.
- Build quality into processes and deliverables.
- Navigate complexity.
- Optimize risk response.
- Embrace adaptability and resiliency.
- Enable change to achieve the envisioned future state.
One PM principles is Be a Diligent, Respectful, and Caring Steward. What is stewardship?
Stewards act responsibly to carry out activities with integrity, care, and trustworthiness while maintaining compliance with internal and external guidelines. They demonstrate a broad commitment to financial, social, and environmental impacts of the projects they support.
One PM principles is Create a Collaborative Project Team Environment. What is a project team?
Project teams are made up of individuals who wield diverse skills, knowledge, and experience. Project teams that work collaboratively can accomplish a shared objective more effectively and efficiently than individuals working on their own.
One PM principles is Effectively Engage with Stakeholders. What is need to effectively engage with a stakeholder?
The identification, analysis, prioritization, and engagement of stakeholders happens from start to end of the project to ensure success.
Engagement of stakeholders involves awareness of others and their perspectives, building and maintaining of relationships which relies on interpersonal skills.
The purpose of engagement of stakeholders helps project detect, collect, and evaluate information, data, and opinions.
Strong stakeholder engagement throughout the project increases positive impacts, performance, and outcomes for the project.
One PM principles is Focus on Value. What is needed for this?
Continually evaluate and adjust project alignment to business objectives and intended benefits and value.
One approach to initiate a project is to detail the intended value contribution of the project outcome in a business case. The business case should include the following elements:
Business need: provides the rationale for the project, explaining why the project is undertaken. reflected
in the project charter or other authorizing document. It provides details about the business goals and objectives
Project justification: connected to business need. It explains why the business need is worth the investment and why it should be addressed at this time. The project justification is accompanied by a cost-benefit analysis and assumptions
Business strategy. the reason for the project and all needs are related to the strategy to achieve the value
One PM principles is Recognize, Evaluate, & Respond to System Interactions. What is needed for this?
Systems Thinking- Recognize, evaluate, and respond to the dynamic circumstances within and surrounding the project in a holistic way to positively affect project performance.
One PM principles is Demonstrate Leadership Behaviors. What is needed for this?
Demonstrate and adapt leadership behaviors to support individual and team needs.
One PM principles is Tailor Based on Context. What is needed for this?
Design the project development approach based on the context of the project, its objectives, stakeholders, governance, and the environment using “just enough” process to achieve the desired outcome while maximizing value, managing cost, and enhancing speed.
What are some benefits of Tailoring?
Organization Benefits.
• Deeper commitment from project team members.
• Being more efficient with the use of project resources.
Positive Outcomes of Tailoring.
• Increased team efficiency, innovation and productivity.
• Continuous improvement of the organization’s practices, methods and methodolgy.
• Increased flexibility for the organization long-term.
One PM principles is Build Quality into Processes and Deliverables. What is needed for this?
Maintain a focus on quality that produces deliverables that meet project objectives and align to the needs, uses, and acceptance requirements set forth by relevant stakeholders.
What are the dimensions of quality?
Performance. Conformity. Reliability. Resilience. Satisfaction. Uniformity. Efficiency. Sustainability.
One PM principles is Navigate Complexity. What is needed for this?
Continually evaluate and navigate project complexity so that approaches and plans enable the project team to successfully navigate the project life cycle.
What are some Common Sources of Complexity?
HUMAN BEHAVIOR.
SYSTEM BEHAVIOR.
UNCERTAINTY AND AMBIGUITY.
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
One PM principles is Optimize Risk Responses. What is needed for this?
Continually evaluate exposure to risk, both opportunities and threats, to maximize positive impacts and minimize negative impacts to the project and its outcomes.
One PM principles is Embrace Adaptability and Resiliency. What is needed for this?
Build adaptability and resiliency into the organization’s and project team’s approaches to help the project accommodate change, recover from setbacks, and advance the work of the project.
What are some Capabilities That Support Adaptability & Resilience
Tight feedback loops to adapt as needed.
Continuous improvement through inspection and adaptation of project work.
Transparent planning that engages both internal and external stakeholders.
Leverage new ways of thinking and working.
Act on learnings from past similar projects.
One PM principles is Enable Change to Achieve the Envisioned Future State. What is needed for this?
Prepare those impacted for the adoption and sustainment of new and different behaviors and processes required for the transition from the current state to the intended future state created by the project outcomes.
What are the 8 Project Performance Domains?
- STAKEHOLDERS.
- TEAM.
- DEVELOPMENT APPROACH AND LIFE CYCLE.
- PLANNING.
- PROJECT WORK.
- DELIVERY.
- MEASUREMENT.
- UNCERTAINTY.
What are the 4 project life cycles?
- Predictive
- Iterative
- Incremental
- Agile
Servant leaders approach projects in this order
Purpose, People, Process
In agile, 3 different roles are used
Cross functional team member,
Product owner,
Team facilitator
Definable vs. High Uncertainty Work
• Definable projects have clear and well understood procedures and
processes that have a proven track record of success on similar projects.
• High uncertainty projects have high rates of change, complexity, and risk.
Agile Manifesto
- Individual and Interaction Over Process and Tools
- Working Product Over Comprehensive Documentation
- Customer Collaboration Over Contract Negotiation
- Responding to Change Over Following the Plan
12 Agile Principles Behind Agile Manifesto
(insert screenshot)
Uncertainty and Life Cycle Selection is derived from the Stacey Complexity Model. True or false?
True- insert screenshot
Agile approaches and Agile methods / practices are umbrella terms that cover a variety and methods in the Agile guide. True or false?
True
Role of project manager in Agile
- With an Agile project the role is somewhat of an unknown as most frameworks do not address the role.
- Project managers shift from being the center to serving the team and management.
- We are servant leaders, changing the focus to coaching people, fostering greater collaboration on the team and keep aligning the needs of stakeholders.
Characteristics of predictive life cycle
- Take advantage of high certainty around requirements, a stable team, and low risk.
- The team requires detailed plans to know what to deliver and when.
- Team leaders try to minimize change.
Characteristics of iterative life cycle
- Improve the product or result through successive prototypes or proofs of concepts which provides new stakeholder feedback.
- Teams may use timeboxing on a given iteration.
- Benefits projects when complexity is high, have frequent changes, or when the scope is subject to differing stakeholder views.
Characteristics of incremental life cycle
- Optimize work for delivering value to sponsors or customers more often than a single final product.
- Teams plan initial deliverables before beginning their work.
- The degree of change and variation is less important than ensuring customers get value as soon as possible.
Characteristics of agile life cycle
- Team expects requirements to change.
- Iterative and Incremental approaches provide feedback to better plan the next project.
- Incremental uncovers hidden or misunderstood requirements.
- Agile life cycles fulfill the principals of the Agile Manifesto.
What is the scrum framework?
• Single team process framework used to manage product development.
• Framework consists of Scrum roles, events, artifacts, and rules, and uses an iterative approach to deliver working product.
• Based on concepts on industrial process theory
• Self organization
• Emergence - progressive elaboration - change
as we learn
What are sprints and iterations?
Slotted time in scrum framework
What are the Agile roles?
Agile Team(s), Product Owner, Scrum Master (Servant Leader)
What is the product owner in Agile?
• The Product Owner is also accountable for
effective Product Backlog management,
which includes:
• Developing and explicitly communicating the Product Goal and Business Value;
• Creating and clearly communicating Product Backlog items;
• Ordering Product Backlog items based on the business value communicated
by stakeholders; and,
• Ensuring that the Product Backlog is
transparent, visible and understood.
• For Product Owners to succeed, the entire
organization must respect their decisions.
• The Product Owner is one person, not a
committee.
What is the scrum master in Agile?
• The Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team in several ways, including:
• Coaching the team members in self-management and cross functionality;
• Helping the Scrum Team focus on
creating high-value Increments that meet the Definition of Done;
• Causing the removal of
impediments to the Scrum Team’s progress; and,
• Ensuring that all Scrum events take place and are positive, productive, and kept within the timebox.
What are themes?
are long-term strategic objectives with a broader scope.
• They provide context for decision-making and help navigate the product strategy within the organization.
• Agile themes sit on top of the work breakdown hierarchy and drive the
What are epics?
are collections of tasks or user stories.
• Epics break down development work into shippable components while keeping the daily work connected to the larger theme.
• Epics are more specific than themes and can be measured so that PMs can observe their contribution to the organization’s overall goal.
What are user stories?
are the smallest piece of work in the agile framework.
• A user story is a brief explanation of a product feature written from the end user’s perspective that articulates how the user will experience value.
• Some organizations may classify larger user stories (stories that can’t be delivered within a single sprint) as epics.
• Alternatively, larger stories could be broken down into sub-tasks.
Consist of role, goal, benefit
What is Scrum – Product Backlog?
- Prioritized list of items to be delivered
- Relatively independent of each other
- Items = User Stories
- Backlog may be reprioritized at any time
- New requirements are prioritized by your project stakeholders and added to the stack
- Product Owner (PO) is responsible for representing all stakeholders - One voice for the team
What is Scrum – Release Planning?
Release Planning Meeting
• Team, Scum Master, Product Owner get together to review Vision and Backlog
• Break backlog down to the user stories
• No user story is larger than a sprit -must be broken-down
• Need to determine how long a Sprint will be
What is Scrum – Daily Scrum?
• 10 to 15 minute for the team to
report to the team
• Focus on answering the key questions
• What did we get accomplished yesterday?
• What are we going to get done today?
• Do you have any blockers?
• Held same time every day - never gets skipped
• Stand up to update Team Board -Visual artifact
• Scrum Master is the facilitator of meeting
What is Scrum – Retrospective?
Key meeting results:
• Discussing what worked in the current sprint.
• Identifying challenge areas.
• Suggesting process improvements.
• Establishing best practices to be implemented in the next sprint.
What is a Sprint Review?
• Attendees include the Scrum Team and key stakeholders invited by the Product Owner;
• The Developers demonstrate the work that it has “Done” and answers questions about the Increment;
• The Product Owner discusses the Product Backlog as it stands. He or she projects likely target and delivery dates based on progress to date (if needed);
• The entire group collaborates on what to do next, so that the Sprint Review provides valuable input to
subsequent Sprint Planning;
• The result of the Sprint Review is a revised Product Backlog that defines the probable Product Backlog items for the next Sprint.
What are the Agile estimating techniques?
Story Point, Planning Poker, Buckets Theory, Dot Voting, T-shirt Size Method
What is a story point?
Story points are a unit of measure for expressing an estimate of the overall effort that will be required to fully implement a product backlog item or any other piece of work.
• When we estimate with story points, we assign a point value to each item.
• The raw values we assign are unimportant. What matters are the relative values.
• A story that is assigned a 2 should be twice as much as a story that is assigned a 1. It should also be two-thirds of a story that is estimated as 3 story points.
• Because story points represent the effort to develop a story, a team’s estimate must
include everything that can affect the effort. That could include:
• The amount of work to do
• The complexity of the work
• Any risk or uncertainty in doing the work
What is planning poker?
Planning poker is an agile estimation technique that makes use of story points to estimate the difficulty of the task at hand.
• It is based on the Fibonacci sequence; the story point values that can be assigned either following the Fibonacci or a modified Febonacci numbering sequence.
• Each of these represent a different level of complexity for the overall project.
What is buckets theory?
Similar to planning poker, the bucket technique aims for consensus through discussion, and by assigning
values to each task.
• This method relies on placing different values on a table. We call the placements ‘buckets’, but you can just use cards. The values are generally
0,1,2,3,4,5,8,13,20,30,50,100 and 200
• Discussion is key to make sure everyone agrees before the final estimates are set.
What is dot voting?
- This one is fairly simple: each person gets a number of dots and uses them to vote on which projects are big and small.
- More dots mean more time and effort is required. Fewer dots indicate a fairly straightforward and quick item.
What is the T-shirt Size Method?
- The items are estimated in standard tshirt sizes (i.e., XS, S, M, L, and XL).
- It can give a quick and rough estimate for how much work is expected for a project. The sizes can be converted into numbers at a later stage – when the team assigns a relative size to the project on hand.
- If estimators propose sizes that do not match up, then the team voices their opinions on the topic and must eventually reach a consensus.
- This is a pretty informal method that is great to use for a large number of items.
What are some agile information radiators?
Task board, Product and Sprint Backlog, Backlog Grooming, Burndown & Burnup Charts, Velocity
What is velocity?
• At the end of each iteration, the team adds up
effort estimates associated with user stories that were completed during that iteration. This total is called velocity.
• Knowing velocity, the team can compute (or revise) an estimate of how long the project will take to complete, based on the estimates associated
with remaining user stories and assuming that velocity over the remaining iterations will remain approximately the same.
What is disciplined agile?
• Disciplined Agile — a tool kit that harnesses hundreds of Agile practices to guide you to the best way of working for your team or organization. More of a hybrid approach
• The Disciplined Agile (DA) tool kit provides straightforward guidance to help organizations streamline their processes in a context-sensitive
manner, providing a solid foundation for business
agility.
What is extreme programming- XP?
Extreme programming (XP) is a software development methodology intended to improve software quality and responsiveness to changing customer requirements. As a type of agile software development,[1][2][3] it advocates frequent releases in short development cycles, intended to improve productivity and introduce checkpoints at which new customer requirements can be adopted.
What is Kanban?
• Kanban is a lean method to manage work.
• This approach aims to manage work by balancing demands with available capacity, and by
improving the handling of systemlevel bottlenecks.
• Work items are visualized to give participants a view of progress and process, from start to finish.
• Work is pulled as capacity permits, rather than work being pushed into the process when requested.
What is needed to assemble a project team?
- estimate, aquire and manage teams of people as well as human resources required outside of the team
What is a stakeholder?
An individual group or org that may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project, programs, or portfolio
What is a stakeholder register?
a list of individuals or orgs who are actively involved in the project, whose interests may be negatively or positively affected by the performance or completion of the project and whose needs or expectations need to be considered
What is a resource management plan?
Project doc that identifies resources and how to acquire, allocate, monitor and control them
Contains:
Role/responsibilities: Defines roles, authority, responsibility, competence
whats in the plan: project org chart, resource mgmt, training strategies, team devt methods, resource controls, recognition plan
What is a RACI chart?
A common type of responsibility assignment matrix (RAM)
Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed statuses define the involvement of stakeholders in project activities- outlaid in table with R A C or I assigning to roles and tasks
What is a team skills appraisal?
Enable the team to holistically identify its strengths and weaknesses, assess opportunities for improvement, build trust, and establish effective communication
What are the pre-assignment tools?
Helps assess candidates before assigning and confirming team roles
Attitudinal surveys, specific assessments, structured interviews, ability tests, focus groups
What is a team charter?
A document that enables the team to establish its values, agreements, and its practices as it performs its work together
A team charter includes:
shared values, guidelines for communication, decision making guidelines, conflict resolution measures, meeting time/frequency and channel
What are ground rules?
clear expectations regarding the code of conduct for team members
What is conflict managment?
Apply strategies or resolutions methods to deal with disagreements
What are some conflict management approaches?
Withdrawal/avoid: smooth/accommodate: compromise/reconcile: force/direct: collaborate/problem solve:
Project agreement objectives
Reporting and verification criteria for objectives are an important part of the project agreement. the project mat also specify a Definition of Done
Traditional: identify each deliverable and objective acceptance criteria for each
Agile: deliverable will vary as the product backlog is added to, reprioritized and so forth
What is an agile negotiation strategy?
Exact deliverables will vary as the customer modifies, adds, and reprioritizes items in the product backlog
What is an traditional negotiation strategy?
An important objective clearly designates the project’s intended deliverables and how they will be measured and compensated
Prioritization techniques to determine objectives
Can include: review product backlog, kano model, MoSCoW (MSCW) analysis, paired comparison analysis, 100 points method
Resource calendars
Identify working days, shisfts and when specific resources are made available to the project
Lessons learned register
A project document used to record knowledge gained during a project so that it can be used in the current project and entered in the lessons learned repository
Special intervals when projects may require scheduled down time for various reasons
Examples:
Black out times when deliverables are handed over for implementation
Go Live- occurs at end of project timeline
Agile- uses iterations or numerous releases of aspects of the solution over the projects timeline
What are the methods to reach consensus?
Fist of five: closed fist disagreement, fist of 5 complete agreement
Roman voting: thumbs up or down (sometimes sideways for neutral)
Polling: hear opinions then vote
Dot voting: distribute dots equally, then each person allocates dots according to highest preference
What is consensus?
A collaborative process to reach a decision that everyone can support
What is the formula for 3 point estimating?
Asks the estimators to provide most likely (tM); optimistic (tO); and pessimistic (tP) estimates then divide by 3
tE= (tO + tM + tP) / 3
time estimated= (optimistic + most likely + pessimistic) / 3
Should you avoid using absolute time estimates in an agile approach?
Yes, Story Point techniques uses points, NOT time units, to estimate the difficulty of implmenting a user story. It’s an abstract measure of effort required to implment work
What’s another term for standard deviation?
One sigma
What is retrospective?
- A regular check on the effectiveness of quality processes
- look for the root cause of issues then suggest trials of new approaches to improve quality
- evaluate any trial processes to determine if they are working and should be continued, need adjusting or discontinued
What are the 5 phases of retrospective?
- set the stage
- gather and share data
- generate insights
- make decisions
- close
What are T shaped skills?
measured off of breadth of knowledge and depth of knowledge
T- Generalist
I- Specialist
What is the project vision?
A clear vision of the desired objectives and how it aligns with the orgs strategic goals. Might include:
- key desired objectives
- key features/benefis
- differentiators
Formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities
Project charter
What are the project charter contents?
- Assigned PM and responsibility / authority level
- name and authority of project sponsor
- requirements, objectives, risk, etc
What is the project overview statement?
Communicates enterprise -wide the intent and vision of the project
- written with brevity and clarity
- captures objective, problem of oppty, criteria for success
What does the kickoff meeting consist of?
Meeting goals:
- establish project context, assist in team formation, ensure team alignment to the overall project vision
Activities:
- define vision statement, estimation of effort, prioritization, product backlog
What is iteration planning?
A collaborative agile ceremony, sometimes called sprint planning, for the team and the customer to:
- review the highest prioritized user stories or key outcomes
- ask questions
- agree on forecasts for story completion in the current iteration
What are some Agile Ceremonies?
Scrum Sprint planning meeting Sprint Daily standups Sprint review Print retrospective
what are sprint boards?
help to visualize work and enable the team and stakeholders to track progress as work is performed
promote visibility and maximize efficiency and accountability
What is a product box collaboration game?
Techniques used to explain an overarching solution. Helps to understand:
- different types of users of a solution
- their priorities and likes/dislikes
- key aspects of a solution that drive the most critical value aspects
What is a business case?
- documented economic feasibility
- establishes benefits of project components
- provide a basis for authorization of further project activities
Business needs document contain
- provide high-level deliverables
- prerequisite of formal business cases
- describe requirements- what needs creating and or performing
Project implementation plan
- consider all stakeholders, schedules, risks, budgets, quality standards
- identify deliverables- due at end of project
- identify project outputs- delivered throughout the project
Rolling wave plan
an iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail, while work further in the the future is planned at a higher level
Rolling wave planning is
- used in agile or predictive approaches
- a form of progressive elaboration applied to work packages, planning packages, and release planning
- decompose work down to the known level of detail during strategic planning
- decompose work packages into activities as work progresses
Progressive elaboration
The iterative process of increasing the level of detail in a project mgmt plan as greater amounts of info and more accurate estimates become available
What is the agile PM methodology?
- team works collaboratively with the customer to determine the project needs
- the coordination of the customer and the team drives the project
What is the predictive / plan driven PM methodology?
- project needs, requirements and constraints are understood and plans are developed accordingly
- plans drive the project forward
What is the hybrid driven PM methodology?
- combines strategies from the agile or predictive as required
- can switch approaches based on need, changing work requirements or circumstances
Insert details on life cycles
Scope management plan is..
A component of the project or program management plan that describes how the scope will be defined, developed, monitored, controlled and validated
Scope management plan contains..
- should include processes to prepare a project scope requirement
- enables the creation of WBS from the detailed project scope statement
- establishes how the scope baseline will be approved and maintained
- specifies how formal acceptance of the completed project deliverable will be obtained
- can be formal or informal, broadly framed or highly detailed
What are the scope management tools and techniques
- expert judgement
- alternative analysis
- meetings
Project requirements
The actions, processed, or other conditions the project needs to meet e.g. milestone dates, contractual obligations, contraints, etc.
Product requirements
The agreed upon conditions or capabilities of a product, service, or outcome that the project is designed to satisfy
Project scope
The work performed to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions
Product scope
The features and functions that characterize a product, service or result
Project and product scope contain..
- Predictive: the scope baseline for the project is the approved version of the project scope statement, WBS, and associated WBS dictionary
- Agile-Backlogs: including product requirements and user stories, reflect current project needs
- Measure completion of project scope against the project mgmt plan
- measure completion of the product scope against product requirements
Risk Tolerances…
Risk Appetite is the degree of uncertainty an organization or individual is willing to accept in anticipation of a reward. In other words, Risk Appetite is the amount of risk that an organization is prepared to pursue
Risk tolerance indicates the sensitivity of an organization to risks. Critical projects force organizations to take more risks than uncritical projects.
Risk Threshold is “The level of risk exposure above which risks are addressed and below which risks may be accepted.”
Enterprise environmental factors (EEFs)
Conditions (internal or external) not under the control of the project team, that influence, constrain, or direct the project at organizational, portfolio, program or project level
Organizational process assets (OPAs)
Plans, processes, policies, procedures and knowledge bases specific to and used by the performing org. these assets influence the mgmt of the project
EEFs and OPAs..
- projects exist and operate in environments that may influence them, favorably or unfavorably
- are two major categories of project influences
What are some internal and external Enterprise environmental factors (EEFs)
include all policies, practices, procedures, and legislation that exist both inside and outside of the organization that will impact the way you manage a project.
This ranges from environmental, anti-discrimination, and occupational health and safety legislation to the choice of the project management system used by the organization, its personnel management policies, and PMI’s Code of Ethics. Some elements of the EEF are mandatory, while others represent good practice or cultural norms.
What are some assets for Organizational process assets (OPAs)
OPAs comprise of information, tools, documents, or knowledge that your organization possesses. Assets are a useful or valuable thing, person, or quality. These assets, along with your PMP®, will assist the Project Manager to meet the project objectives and endeavors.
OPAs are broken into categories of processes, procedures, and corporate knowledge. Some examples of OPAs are:
Previous Project Plans Software Tools Database of Project Information Lessons Learned Knowledge Base Organizational policies and procedures Historical Information Project Templates
Document analysis
Technique used to gain project requirements from current documentation evaluation
Focus groups
An elicitation technique that brings together prequalified stakeholders and subject matter experts to learn about their expectations and attitudes about a proposed product, service, or result
Questionnaires and surveys
Benchmarking
Comparison of actual or planned products, processed, and practices to those of comparable orgs to identify best practices, generate ideas for improvement and provide a basis for measuring performance
Benefits of benchmarking
- Evaluates and compares a business or project’s practices with others
- Identifies best practices in order to meet or exceed them
Interviews
A formal or informal approach to elicit info from stakeholders by talking with them directly
Benefits of interviews
- Helps to identify a stakeholder’s reqs, goals, or expectations for a project
- use to identify/define features and functions of desired projects deliverables
What are some group decision making techniques?
Voting:
Autocratic decision making:
Multicriteria decision analysis:
Types of voting
Unanimity:
Majority:
Plurality:
Agile methods:
What are 2 types of data representation?
Mind Mapping
Affinity Diagram
What does mind mapping do for data representation?
Consolidates ideas created through individual brainstorming sessions into a single map to reflect commonality and differences in understanding and to generate ideas
What does an affinity diagram do for data representation?
Allows large numbers of ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis
Observations
A technique used to gain knowledge of a specific job role, task, or function in order to understand and determine project reqs
Facilitated workshops
Organized working sessions led by qualified facilitators to determine project requirements and to get all stakeholders together to agree on project outcomes
Context diagrams
Visual depiction of product scope, showing a business system (process, equipment, computer system, etc.) and how people and other systems interact with it
Storyboarding
a prototyping method using visuals or images to illustrate a process or represent a project outcome
Prototyping
Assists in the process of obtaining early feedback on reqs by providing a working model of the expected product before building
Requirements documentation
- describes how individual reqs meet prject business needs
Types of requirements
- business
- stakeholder
- transition and readiness
- quality
- project
- solutions (functional and non-functional)
What are 4 types of nonfunctional requirements?
- availability
- capacity
- continuity
- security
Requirements management plan
A component of the project or program mgmt plan that describes how requirements will be analyzed documented and managed
Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM)
Links product requirements from their origin to the deliverables that satisfy them
What is involved in collecting project requirements?
Review
- scope mgmt plan
- reqs mgmt plan
- stakeholder engagement plan
- project charter
- stakeholder register
Project scope statement
The description of the project scope, major deliverables, assumptions and constraints
What are some scope tools and techniques?
- Expert judgement:
- Facilitation:
- Product analysis:
- Multi criteria decision analysis
- Alternatives analysis
Product Analysis
Tool to define scope by asking questions about a product and forming answers to describe the use, characteristics and other relevant aspects of the product
Product analysis consists of..
Product breakdown: Requirement analysis: Value analysis: Value engineering: Systems engineering: Systems analysis:
Work breakdown structure (WBS)
A hierarchical decomposition of a project’s total scope of work to accomplish project objectives and create the required deliverables
Code of accounts
Numbering system that uniquely identifies each component of WBS
WBS dictionary
Provides detailed deliverable, activity, and scheduling info about each component in the WBS
Decomposition
A technique of dividing and subdividing the project scope and deliverables into smaller more manageable parts
Control account
A mgmt control point where scope, budget, actual cost and schedule are integrated and compared to earned value for performance measurement
Planning package
A WBS component below with the control account with known work content but without detailed schedule activities
Work package
the work defined at the lowest level of the WBS for which cost and duration are estimated and managed
Scope baseline
Approved version of a scope statement, WBS and its associated WBS dictionary, that can be changes using formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison to actual results
Scope baseline components include
Project scope statement, WBS, work packages, planning packages, WBS dictionary
Product backlog
A list of the expected work to deliver the product
Iteration backlog
include items from the prodcut backlog that can conceivably be completed within the time period based on the team’s capability
User stories
Short descriptions of required functionality; told from user’s POV
User stories do what?
- Help teams fopcus on that value provided to the user
- suggest who will benefit from the work and how
- driven by description instead of technical specifications to give holistic view
Tools and techniques for verifying scope are..
- Definition of done
- Definition of ready
- Acceptance criteria
- Iteration reviews
- Variance analysis
- Trend analysis
Definition of done
checklist of required critera for a deliverable to be considered ready for customer use
Definition of ready
checklist for a user-centric requirement with all required info to begin work
Acceptance criteria
a set of conditions to meet before acceptance of deliverables
Iteration reviews
interval at or near the conclusion of a timeboxed iteration when the project team shares and demonstrates the work produced during the iteration with stakeholders
Variance analysis
technique for determining the cause and degree of difference between the baseline and actual performance
Trend analysis
an analytical technique that uses the mathematical models to forecast future outcomes based on historical results
Schedule management plan
A component of the project or program mgmt plan that establishes the criteria and activities for developing, monitoring, and controlling the schedule
Benefits of schedule management plan are
- describes how activities will be defined and elaborated
- identifies a scheduling method and scheduling tool to be used
- determines the format of the schedule
- establishes criteria for developing and controlling the project schedule
Components of the schedule management plan
- accuracy of activity duration estimates
- project schedule model used
- organizational procedure links used with the WBS
- units of measure to be used
- rules of performance measurements to be used
- process descriptions to explain how schedule mgmt processes are to be documented throughout project
- reporting formats to be used
- control thresholds to be used for monitoring schedule performance
Iterative scheduling with backlog benefits
- delivers business value early and incrementally
- allow changes during the entire project
- does not work well with projects featuring complex dependency relationships
Iterative scheduling with backlog process
- use progressive elaboration (rolling wave) to schedule activities
- use a specific time window
- define reqs in user stories
- prioritize stores
- select based on priority and time box
- add remaining stories to backlog
- construct later based on their priority
On demand scheduling
- does not use traditional schedules
- team members “pull” work from a queue when available
based on Kanban and lean methodologies - provides incremental business value
- levels out work of team members
- works best when activities can be divided into equal amounts
- does not work well with projects comprised of complex dependency relationships
Project activity
a distinct, schedule portion of work performed during a project
A work package is the lowest level of the WBS. True or false?
True
A task refers to the project mgmt software. True or false?
True
Feature
a set of related requirements that allows the user to satisfy a business objective or need
Epic
a very large collection of user stories. Epics can be spread across many sprints
Benefits of working with features
- scheduling aligned to features ensure associated work is coordinated
- estimating features offers visibility to when blocks of functionality can be released to the business and end users
- progress can be measured by drawing a ration of accepted to remaining features
Milestones
a significant point or event in a project, program or portfolio
Milestone chart
- provides the summary level view of project milestones
- uses icons or symbols
- useful for upper mgmt who only require an overview
Activity Dependency
a logical relationship that exists between two project activities
determine the precedence relationships
Types of activity dependencies
- Mandatory
- Discretionary
- External
- Internal
Mandatory activity dependency
a relationship that is contractually required or inherent in the nature of the work
Discretionary activity dependency
a relationship that is established based on knowledge of best practices with a particular application area or an aspect of the project where a specific sequence is desired
External activity dependency
a relationship between activities and non-project activities
Internal activity dependency
contingent on inputs within the project team’s control
Precedence Relationship
- express a logical dependency in precedence diagramming methods
- it is a logical relationship between activities that describes what the activity sequence should look like
- always assigned to activities bases on the dependencies of each activity: predecessor activity drives the relationship, successor activity is driven by the relationship
Activity Duration Estimates Types
- Activity duration
- Elapsed time
- Effort
Activity duration estimate
The quantitative assessment of the likely numver of time periods that are required to complete an activity
Elapsed time
The actual calendar time required for an activity from start to finish
Effort estimate
The number of labor units required to complete a scheduled activity or WBS component, often expressed n hours, days, or weeks. Contrast with duration
Gantt Chart
A bar chart of schedule inof where activities are listed on the vertical axis, dates are shown on the horizontal axis, and the activity durations are shown as horizontal bars placed accordingl to start and finsih dates
Gantt chart useful for
- start and end dates, duration and order
- precedence relationships
- % completion and actual progress
- presentation of project status to team and mgmt
Critical path method
Estimates the minimum project duration and determines the amount of schedule flexibility on the logical network paths with the schedule model
critical path activity
Any activity on the critical path in a project schedule
Use the critical path method..
- sequence activities to represent the longest path through the project
- goal is to determine the shortest possible project duration
- use early start (ES); early finish (EF); late start (LS); and late finish (LF) dates for all activities
- Do not factor in resource limitation
Forward path math always takes the highest # / input
True
Backwards path math always takes the smallest number
True
Features and epics
- usually described as short phase
- includes activities and efforts such as documentation, bug fixes, testing, and quality/defect repairs
Milestone list
identifies all project milestones and indicates whether the milestone is mandatory, such as those are optional or required by contract
What are the different types of float?
- Float
- Total Float
- Free Float
What is float?
The amount of time an activity can be delayed from its early date without delaying the project finish date or consecutive activities
What is total float?
The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed or extended from its early start date without delaying the project finish date or violating a schedule constraint
What is free float?
The amount of time that a scheduled activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any successor or violating a schedule constraint
What is agile release planning?
High-level timeline of the release schedule based on product roadmap and vision for the product’s evolution
What does agile release planning do?
- Determines the number of iterations or sprints in the release
- Allows product owner and team to decide how much needs to be developed and how long it will take to have a releasable product
Ongoing progress based on traditional methodology
Measure progress according to schedule by:
- Monitoring project status to update the schedule
- Managing changes to schedule baseline
Ongoing progress based on agile methodology
Evaluate progress by:
- Comparing the total amount of work delivered and accepted to the amount estimated for the current time period
- Reviewing work in regular spring demos
- Conducting scheduled reviews to record lessons learned (or retrospectives)
- Determine the rate at which deliverables are produced, validated and accepted
Smoothing techniques
- Adjusts the activities of a schedule model to keep resource reqs within the predefined resource limits and within free and total floats
- Does not change the critical path or delay the completion date
- May not optimized all resources
Levelling techniques
- Adjusts start and finish dates based on resource constraints
- Goal is to balance demand for resources with available supply
- Use when shared or critically required resources have limited availability or are overallocated
- Can change the critical path
Levelling and Smoothing techniques help
use resource optimization to adjust the start and finish dates
What are some schedule compression techniques?
- Crashing
- Fast-tracking
Cost estimates
- Develop an approximation of the cost for each activity in project
- Use logical estimates to provide a basis for making sound decisions and they establish baselines
What are some cost / estimating techniques?
- Analogous estimating
- Parametric estimating
- Bottom up estimating
What are some advantages and disadvantages for analogous estimating?
Adv: can ensure no work is inadvertently omitted from work estimates
Dis: can sometimes be difficult for lower-level managers to apportion cost estimates
What are some advantages and disadvantages for parametric estimating?
Adv: is not time consuming
Dis: may be inaccurate depending on the integrity of the historical info
What are some advantages and disadvantages for bottom-up estimating?
Adv: is very accurate and gives lower-level mgrs for responsibility
Dis: may be very time consuming. Can be used only after the WBS has been well-defined
Project compliance plan is
A sub-plan of the project management plan to classify compliance categories, determine potential threats to compliance, analyze the consequences of noncompliance and determine the necessary approach and action to address compliance needs
Lessons learned register
- is used during and after projects
- starts with budgets from previous, similar projects
- contain valuable cost-estimating info, both successes and shortcomings
Cost baseline
Is the approved version of the time-phased project budget, excluding any mgmt reserves.
It can only be changes though a formal change control and is basis for comparison to actual results
Cost baseline helps
- monitor and measure cost performance
- includes budget contingency
- is tailored for each project
Funding limit reconciliation
Is the process of comparing the planned expenditure of project funds against and limits of the commitment funds for the project to identify and variances between the funding limits and the planned expenditures
- balance the check book (look at how much spent)
Quality
Is the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements
Standards are
Documents established as a model by an authority, customer or by general consent
Regulations are
Reqs that can establish product, process or service characteristics including applicable administrative provisions that have govt-mandated compliance
De facto regulations
regulations that are widely accepted and adopted through use
De jure regulations
regulations that are mandated by law or have been approved by a recognized body of experts
ISO 9000 Series
is a quality system standard that can be applies to any product, service or process in the world
Quality mgmt plan
is a component of the project mgmt plan that describes how applicable policies, procedures and guidelines will be implemented to achieve the quality objectives
What are benefits of a quality mgmt plan?
- decisions based on accurate info
- sharper focus on projects value prop
- cost reductions
- mitigate schedule overruns from rework
Cost of quality (CoQ)
is all costs incurred over the life of the product by investment in preventing nonconformance to reqs, appraisal of the products or service for conformance to reqs and failure to meet reqs
Quality metrics
A description of a project ort product attribute and how to measure it
Tolerance
quantified description of acceptable variation for a quality req
Quality audit
a structured , independent process to determine if project activities comply with organizational and project policies, process and procedures
What are some control quality tools?
- data gathering
- data analysis
- data representation
What are types of data gathering?
- questionnaires and surveys
- checklists
- statistical sampling
What are types of data analysis?
- performance reviews
- root cause analysis
Performance reviews
technique that is used to measure, compare, and analyze actual performance of work in progress on the project against the baseline
Root cause analysis
Analytical technique used to determine the basis underlying reason that causes a variance, defect or a risk
- FMEA (failure mode and effect analysis)
What are 4 types of data representation for quality?
- cause and effect diagram
- scatter diagram
- control chart
- pareto chart
Cause and effect diagram
Breaks down the causes of the problem statemen identified into discrete branches, helping to identify the main or root cause of the problem
- also called (ishikawa or fishbone diagram)
Cause and effect diagram is also called
Fishbone diagram, why why diagrams. or Ishikawa diagrams
Scatter diagram
Graph that shows the relationship between 2 variables
- demonstrated a relationship between any element of a process, environment, or activity on one axis and a quality defect on the other axis
Control chart
A tool used to determine the predictability, behavior and stability of a process over time. A graphic display of project data against established control limits to reflect both the ma and min values
- rule of 7 means frequency outside of mean (below or above) where it is 7 in a row: possibility of it going back to above or below mean is not likely
what are some benefits of a control chart?
- gives visibility to where corrective actions can prevent further problems
- ideal for repetitive processes with predictable results
Pareto chart
a histogram used to rank causes of problems in a hierarchical format that is used to help determine the most frequent defects, complains, or other factors that affect quality
- reflects back to 80/20 rule
What are some characteristics of a pareto chart?
- demonstrates the frequency of occurrence
- analyzes data sets related to a specific problem or issue
- does not define the root cause of a problem
Integration management
assessment and coordination of all plans and activates that are built, maintained, and executed throughout a project that helps get an integrated view of all the plans and can identify and correct gaps or conflicts
Project management information system (PMIS)
an information system consisting of tools and techniques used to gather, integrate, and disseminate the outputs of project mgmt processes (ex. Microsoft project)
Configuration mgmt plan
identify and account for project artifacts under configuration control and how to record and reprt changes to the,
- identification, maintenance, status, reporting and verification of configurable items
Change mgmt plan
provided direction for managing the change control process and documents the roles and responsibilities of the change control board (CCB)
- identification, impact analysis, documentation and approving or rejecting of change requests
What are some approaches for managing change?
- disciplined agile (DA)
- scrum of scrums
- scaled agile framework (SAFe)
Disciplined agile (DA)
a hybrid tool kit that harnesses hundreds of agile practices to devise the best “way of working” (WoW) for your team or organization
Scrum of scrums
a technique for operation of scrum at scale for multiple team working on the same product, coordination discussions of progress on interdependencies, and focusing on how to integrate the delivery of software
Scaled agile framework (SAFe)
a knowledge base of integrated patterns for enterprise-scale, lean-agile development
Procurement strategy
The approach by the buyer to determine the project delivery method and the type of legally binding agreements that should be used to deliver the desired results
Delivery solution
Planning and analysis–> detailed design–> implementation or installation–> testing–> training–> handover–> support an maintenance
Make or buy analysis
the process of gather and organizing data about product reqs and analyzing them against available alternatives including the purchase or internal manufacture of the product
Make or buy decisions
decisions made regarding the external purchase or internal manufacture of a product
Statement of work (SOW)
a narrative description of products, services, or results to be delivered by the project
Procurement SOW
describes the procurement item in sufficient detail to allow prospective sellers to determine if they are capable of providing the products, services or results
Procurement mgmt plan
a component of the project or program mgmt plan that describes how a project team will acquire goods and services from outside of the performing org
What are some benefits of a procurement mgmt plan?
- specifies the type of contracts that will be used
- describes the process of obtaining and evaluating bids
- mandates standardized procurement docs
- describes how providers will be managed
Source selection criteria
A set of attributes desired by the buyer which a seller is required to meet or exceed to be selected for a contract
Bidder conferences
meeting with prospective sellers prior to the preparation of a bid or proposal to ensure all prospective vendors have a clear and common understanding of the procurement
What are some different types of traditional contracts?
- fixed price
- cost reimbursable
- time and material
Fixed price contract
sets the fee will be paid for a defined scope of work regardless of the cost or effort to deliver it
- also known as lump sum contract
- provides a max protection o buyer but requires a lengthy prep
- for projects with a high degree of certainty about parameters
Cost-reimbursable contract
involving payment to the seller for the seller’s actual costs, plus a fee typically representing the seller’s profit
- includes incentives for meeting certain objectives, such as costs, schedule, targets
- suited for projects when parameters are uncertain
Time and material (T&M) contract
hybrid contractual arrangement containing aspects of both cost-reimbursable and fixed-price. combined a negotiated hourly rate and full reimbursement for materials
- suite for projects when a precise statement of work cannot be prescribed
What are some agile contract types?
- capped time and materials contract
- target cost contracts
- incremental delivery contracts
Capped time and material contract
works like a traditional T&M contractt however has an upper limit set on customer payment
- customer pay up front for the capped cost limit
- suppliers benefit in case of early time-frame changes
Target cost contract
supplier and customer agree on final price during project cost negotiation
- primarily for mutual cost savings if runs below budget
- may allow both parties to face addl costs if budget exceeds
Incremental delivery contracts
customers review contracts during the contract life cycles at pre-negotiated designated points of the contract lifecycle
- customers can make required chances, continue to terminate the project at these points
Control procurements process
Process of managing procurement relationships, monitoring contract performance, making changes and corrections as appropriate and closing out contracts
Project governance
the framework, functions and processes that guide project mgmt activities in order to create a unique product, service, or result to meet organizational, strategic and operational goals
Phase gates
a review at the end of a phase in which a decision is made to continue to the next phase, to continue with modification, or to end a project/program
- also called gate, tollgate. kill point
What are some types of phase-to-phase relationships?
- sequential relationships
- overlapping relationships
Sequential relationship
contain consecutive phases that start only when the previous phase is complete
- reduces the level of uncertainty
Overlapping relationship
contain phases that start prior to the previous phase ending
- increases the level of risk and may cause rework if something from the previous phase directly affects the next phase
Knowledge mgmt
a store of historical information about lessons learned in projects
Risk
An uncertain event or condition that if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on one or more project objectives
Trigger condition
An event or situation that indicates that a risk is about to occur
Project risk mgmt
Includes the processes if conducting risk mgmt planning, identification, analysis, response planning, response implementation, and monitoring risk on a project
Risk mgmt plan
A component of the project, program, or portfolio mgmt plan that describes how risk mgmt activities will be structured and performed
What are some risk identification techniques?
- expert judgement
- data gathering
- data analysis
- interpersonal and team skills
- prompt lists
- meetings
What are some risk classification approaches?
- effect-based risk classification
- source-based risk classification
What are the components of effect-based risk classification approach?
Schedule, cost, quality, scope
What are the components of source-based risk classification approach?
Internal. external, technical, non-technical, industry-specific, generic
What are the 4 types of risk classification?
- known known: info that is fully studied and well understood
- known unknown: info that is understood to exist but is not in the possession of the person seeking it
- unknown unknown: something unforeseeable
- unknown known: info that an individual or org has in its possession but whose existence, relevance or value has not been realized
Risk threshold
The max amount of risk, and the potential impact of that risk occurring, that a project manager or key stakeholder is willing to accept
Risk appetite
The degree of uncertainty an organization or individual is willing to accepting anticipation of a reward
Risk tolerance
The level of risk exposure above which risks are addressed and below which risks may be accepted
Qualitative risk analysis
Process of prioritizing individual project risks for further analysis or action by assessing their profitability of occurrence and impact as well as other characteristics
What are some benefits of qualitative risk analysis?
- focuses on high priority risks
- subjective based on team’s perception of risks
- provides the list of prioritized risks for further actions
Probability and impact matrix
A grid of mapping the probability of each risk occurrence and its potential impact on project objectives (x and y axis with probability and impact)
Quantitative risk analysis
What are some characteristics / benefits of quantitative risk analysis?
- provides addl quantitative risk info to support risk response planning
- best for large/complex projects, strategically important projects, when required by contract or key stakeholder
Contingency response strategies
Responses which may be used in the event that a specific trigger occurs. also known as contingency plan or fallback plan
Business value
Net quantifiable benefit derived from a business endeavor. Benefit may be tangible, intangible or both
Product roadmap
Strategic doc and plan which guides why the product will be delivered and how the product will meet objectives and the product vision
- mostly used in agile approaches
What are benefits of incremental delivery?
- enables value delivery sooner
- get higher customer value and increased market share
- allows partial delivery to customers
- enables early feedback for the project team allowing for adjustments to the direction, priorities, and quality
Minimum viable product (MVP)
Smallest collection of features that can be included in a product for customers to consider it functional
- “bare bones” or “no frills” functionality in Lean
What are some benefits of minimum viable product (MVP)?
- allows stakeholders to see and experience project outcomes
- channel feedback and idea generation
- provides inspiration to team and models urgency
Minimum business increment (MBI)
In disciplined agile- the smallest amount of value that can be added to a product or service that benefits the business
- all releases that are after the MVP
What are advantages of minimum business increment (MBI)?
- enable project team to deliver value sooner
- help team validate improvements
- enables team to incrementally build on success or pivot as needed
What are benefits of cycles and timeboxes?
- timeboxes allow for better telemetry over time
- timeboxes create a sense of urgency
- cycling the project through similar timeboxes provides progress measurement from one timebox to the next
- more predictable measurements
Communications mgmt plan
A component of the project, program, or portfolio mgmt plan that describes how, when and by whom info about the project will be administered and disseminated
Communication models
A description, analogy, or schematic used to represent how the communication process will be performed for the project
Communication methods
A systematic procedure, technique, or process used to transfer info among project stakeholders
What are 2 communication methods?
- push, pull: Push communication method is suitable when the urgent response is not required. However, the recipient takes some action on receipt of the message. Pull communication is an informational type of communication. Senders convey the message through websites, bulletins, etc.
- interactive: most efficient method of communication to ensure a common understanding as it is real time. Interactive communication should be used when an immediate response is required and when the communication is sensitive or likely to be misinterpreted
What are the stakeholder categories?
Sponsors, customers and users, sellers, functional managers, organizational groups, business partners, other stakeholders
Stakeholder register
Includes but is not limited to: identification info, assessment info, and stakeholder classification
Stakeholder engagement assessment matrix
A matrix that compares current and desired stakeholder engagement levels
Project artifacts examples to agile projects
Product backlog, increment, roadmap, vision statement, release plan, sprint backlog
Configuration mgmt
A tool used to manage changes to a product t service being produced as well as changes to any project docs
Configuration mgmt system
A collection of procedures used to track project artifacts and monitor and control changes to these artifacts
What are the benefits of configuration mgmt?
- controls product iterations
- controls the steps for reviewing and approving product prototypes, testing, standards and blueprints
- ensures that the product specification are current
Version control
A system that records changes to a file in a way that allows you to retrieve previous changes made to it
What are some causes of project changes?
- inaccurate initial estimates
- specification changes
- new regulations
- missed reqs
Change control systems
A set of procedures that describes how modification to the project deliverables and documentation are managed and controlled
What are some change control systems?
Forms, tracking methods, processes, approval levels
Change control board
A formally chartered group responsible for reviewing, evaluating, approving, delaying or rejecting changes to the project, and for recording and communicating such deliveries
Approved change requests
Requests that have been received and approved in accordance with the integrated change control plan and are ready to be schedule for implementation
What are types of change requests?
- corrective action: adjusts the performance of the project work with the project mgmt plan
- preventative action: ensures future performance of the project work with the project mgmt plan
- defect repair: modifies a non-conformance within the project
- update: modifies a project doc or plan
What are the differences between risks and issues?
Risks: focused on the future, can be positive or negative, are documented in risk register, response is called a risk response
Issues: focused on the present, will always be negative, are documented in the issue log, Response is called a workaround
Issue log
A document where info about issues is recorded and monitored
What are the different types of knowledge types and their differences?
Explicit: can be codified using symbols such as works, numbers and pics. Can be documented and shared with others
Tacit: personal knowledge that can be difficult to articulate and share such as beliefs, experience and insights
Servant leadership
The practice of leading through services to the team, by focusing on understanding and addressing the needs and development of team members in order to enable the highest possible team performance
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
Metrics used to evaluate an orggs progress toward meeting its goals and objectives
Team development stages (Tuckman ladder)
- forming
- storming
- norming
- performing
- adjourning
What are some performance tracking techniques?
- scrum/agile/kanban boards
- throughput metrics
- cycle time
- quality metrics
- earned value
- bar charts
- velocity
Scrum/agile/kanban boards
Based on the Japanese mgmt method of pulling cards to various stages as they are work on, physical or electronic boards can track work as it progress across various stages or categories
Throughput metrics
measurement of the team’s work that has moved from one stage to another stage over a certain time
Cycle time
Measurements of work that has progressed all the way from plan to completed or delivered
Quality metrics
Various measurements to track quality deliverables, defects and acceptable output
Earned value
Tracking cost and effort performance against a planned value
Bar charts (gantt)
Using the project schedule to track performance over time
Velocity
Measurement of total output from an iteration to attempt to predict iteration outputs
Earned value mgmt (EVM)–> insert addl details from course snapshots
A methodology that combines scope, schedule, and resource measurements to assess project performance and progress
In projects that use Earned value mgmt (EVM), the cost baseline is referred to as the performance measurement baseline. True or false?
True
Planned value (PV), earned value (EV), and actual cost (AC) determine..
Schedule and cost variance
Planned value
The authorized budget assigned to the scheduled work
Earned value
The measure of work performed expressed in terms of the budget authorized for that work
Actual cost
The realized cost incurred for the work performed on an activity during s specific time period
What are the Earned value mgmt (EVM) measures for schedule control?
Schedule variance (SV) Schedule performance index (SPI)
Schedule variance (SV)
A measure of schedule performance expressed as the difference between the EV and PV
(SV=EV-PV)
- a positive SV indicates a project is ahead of schedule
- a 0 SV indicates a project is on schedule
- a negative SV indicates a project is behind schedule
Schedule performance index (SPI)
A measure of schedule efficiency expressed as the patios of EV to PV
(SPI=EV/PV)
- SPI greater than 1.0 indicates a project is ahead of schedule
- SPI of 1.0 means it is on schedule
- SPI is less than 1.0 means it is behind schedule
What are some Earned value mgmt (EVM) measure for cost control?
- Cost variance (CV)
- Cost performance index (CPI)
Cost variance (CV)
The amount of budget deficit/surplus at a given point in time, expressed as the difference between EV and AC
(CV=EV-AC)
- a positive CV indicates a project is ahead of schedule
- a 0 CV indicates a project is on schedule
- a negative CV indicates a project is behind schedule
Cost performance index
A measure of cost efficiency of budgeted resources expressed as the ration of EV to AC
(CPI= EV/AC)
- CPI greater than 1.0 indicates a project is ahead of schedule
- CPI of 1.0 means it is on schedule
- CPI is less than 1.0 means it is behind schedule
Estimation at completion (EAC) analysis
The current projected final cost of the project
- based on the current spending efficiency (CPI)
- calculated from the following formula where BAC is the projected budget at completion (BAC)
EAC = BAC / CPI
Estimate to complete analysis (ETC)
The amount of money needed to complete the project
- based on the current spending efficiency of the project
ETC = EAC - AC
What are some performance report types?
- information radars
- burndown chart
- burnup chart
- earned value mgmt reports
- variance analysis reports
- work performance reports
- quality reports
- dashboards
- task boards
Information radiators
Big visual boards to display in high traffic public locations about the project and the advancement of the project. Aim is to radiate info to all about the project work
Burndown chart
A graph to show the progress by plotting the burning down of work during an iteration or other time period
Burnup chart
A graph to show the progress and gains made by the project team over time
Earned value mgmt reports
Graphs and values based on the earned value mgmt equations
Variance analysis reports
Graphs and their analysis comparing actual results to expected results
Work performance reports
The physical or electronic representation of work performance info compiled in project docs, intended to generate decisions, actions, or awareness
Quality reports
Charts and reports based on the qulaity metrics collected
Dashboards
Physical or electronic summaries of the progress, usually with visuals or graphics to represent the larger data set
Task boards
Physical or electronic depictions of the work that must be done and their current state
What does crashing technique do?
Shortens schedule duration for the least incremental cost by adding resources *overtime, addl resources
- works only for activities on critical path
- does not always produce a viable alternative and may result in increased risk and cost
What does fast-tracking do?
Perform activities in parallel to reduce time
- May result in rework, increased risk, and cost
Value stream map
A lean enterprise technique used to document, analyze and improve the flow of info or material required to produce a product or service for a customer
Retrospectives and lessons learned do..
- gather data on improvements and recognize successes
- review what went well and what could have been better
- involve everyone and respect their input
- avoid the blame game and focus on improvements
Agile retrospectives are held
as necessary throughout the project
Lessons learned are held
at the end of projects
Impediments
situations, conditions and actions that slow down or hinder progress
- track with issue log, kanban board, SW applications
Obstacles
Barriers that should be able to be avoided or overcome with some effort or strategy
Blockers
Events or conditions that cause stoppages in the work or advancement
Daily standup (daily scrum)
A brief, daily collab meeting in which the team reviews progress from the previous day, declares intentions for the current day, and highlights any obstacles encountered or anticipated
What are some causes of conflict?
- competition
- difference in objectives, value and perceptions
- disagreements on role reqs, work activities, approached
- communication breakdowns
Conflict mgmt
application of one or more strategies to deal with disagreements
What are some conflict mgmt appproaches?
- smooth / accommodate
- withdrawal / avoid
- collaborate / problem solve
- force / direct
- compromise / reconcile
Smooth / accommodate conflict mgmt approach
- emphasizes areas of agreement
- concede position to maintain harmony and relationships
Withdrawal/avoid conflict mgmt approach
- retreat from the situation
- postpone the issue
Collaborate / problem solves conflict mgmt approach
- incorporate multiple viewpoints
- enable cooperative attitudes and open dialogue to reach consensus and commitment
Force / direct conflict mgmt approach
- pursue your viewpoint at the expense of others
- offer only win/lose solutions
Create card for EVM and applicable formulas / tips
Stakeholder engagement plan
Identifies the strategies and actions required to promote productive involvement of stakeholders in project or program decision making and execution
What are some self-regulating elements?
- self control
- trustworthiness
- innovation
- adaptability
- conscientiousness
Empathy
the ability to understand feelings of another, to see from their point of view
Organizational theory
The study of how people, teams, and orgs behave
What are 5 characteristics of organizational theory?
- self actualization
- esteem
- belonging
- safety
- physiological
What are 4 theories of organizational theory?
- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- McGregor’s theory x and theory y
- McClelland’s achievement theory
- Herzberg’s motivation theory
What are 3 characteristics of active listening?
- reflecting: repeat message, verify understanding
- attending: eye contact, lean towards
- following: non verbal gesture or verbal response, questions
Why should you use a risk register?
- to track and manage risks
- validate legal and regulatory compliance for deliverables
- perform a summary check of compliance before end of project
For compliance-related risks, include..
- the identified risk
- risk owner
- impact of realized risk
- risk responses
Configuration mgmt system allows to
- track, versioning and control
- records deliverable components
- includes compliance info, including proof of validation
- records deliverable components
- is handed over with the deliverables
Variance analysis
create regular reports on project variance and details of actions taken to control and keep the project on track
- should include identification of the variant, plans for bringing the project or deliverable back into compliance, any proposed changes required to meet compliance reqs
What are some potential threats to compliance?
- identification of new vulnerabilities
- changes in legal or regulatory reqs
- errors in testing and validation to confirm compliance
- error or bugs in deliverables
- lack of awareness of compliance reqs
What are some implications of not remediating compliance issues?
- negative impact on the timeline
- cost overruns
- increased risks
Quality mgmt plan
a component of the project mgmt plan that describes how applicable policies, procedures, and guideline will be implemented to achieve the quality objectives
Quality mgmt plan does what?
- describes resources and activities needed to achieve the necessary quality objectives
- sets expectations for the project’s quality reqs
Control quality process outputs
- verifies they meet functional and nonfunctional reqs
- identifies and suggests potential improvements
- validates alignments with compliance reqs
- provides feedback on any identified variances
Quality audits
process conducted by an external team that confirms the implementation of approved change requests including updates, corrective actions, defect repairs and preventive actions
Sampling is used when
QA cant inspects every product or deliverable to ID quality issues
- can provide similar results and reduce cost of quality
What are 2 types of sampling?
- Attribute sampling
- variable sampling
Attribute sampling
result either conforms or does not conform
- yes or no, specific
Variable sampling
result is rated on a continuous scale that measures the degree of conformity
- not within yes or no- within scale,
Business value
the net quantifiable benefit derived from a business endeavor, the benefit of which may be tangible, intangible or both
Benefits mgmt plan
a document that describes how and when the benefits of a project will be derived and measured
What are the components of a benfits mgmt plan?
- target benefits: tangible and intangible business value to be realized
- strategic alignment: how the benefits align with the orgs business strategies
- timeframe: when the benefits will be realized
- benefits owner: person that monitors, records and reports the benefits
- metrics: diret and indirect measurements of realized benefits
- risks: risks associated
What are sprint reviews and demos?
At end of each iteration or sprint, team does a print review or demo
- in early stages, help obtain the product owner’s acceptance of the story and any feedback
- focus on completing whole user stories in each sprint
- verify that the capability is “potentially shippable”
Disciplined agile
A hybrid tool kit that harnesses hundreds of agile practices- agile, lean and traditional sources- to guide you to the best way of working for team/org
You should use disciplined agile (DA) approaches to support dynamic work environments. True or false?
True
What are some advantages pf disciplined agile (DA) approaches?
- feature or capability assessment
- improve org tolerance for change
- a time cadence for subsequent releases
Benefit cost analysis
A systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives used to determine options which provide the best approach to achieving benefits while preserving savings
What are some characteristics of a benefits cost analysis?
- frequently used to compare potential projects to determine which one to authorize
- select the alternative which demonstrates that benefits outweigh costs by the greatest amount
- alternative should not be chosen when costs exceed benefits
- accuracy of the estimates of cost and benefits determines the value of the benefit cost analysis
Present value (PV)
Current value of a future sum of money or stream of cash flows given a specific rate of return
Present Value (PV) calculation
PV= FV / (1 + R)^n
Ex: if you need $3000 in three yrs and can invest your money at 8% interest
$2381.5= $3000 / (1 + .08)^3
r=rate, n=periods, PV=present value
Net present value
I financial tool used in capital budgeting comparing the value of a currency unit today to the value of the same currency unit in the future, after taking inflation and discount rate into account
- Present value of all cash outflows minus the present value of all cash inflows
- PV cashflows minus PV cash inflows
- bigger is better
Internal rate of return (IRR)
The discount rate at which the NPV of the project is 0. it is calculated iteratively by setting up the NPV calculation in a spreadsheet or other software and changing the discount rate until the NPV equals 0
- The interest rate that makes the net present value of all cash flow equal to 0. IRR is also a financial tool often used in capital budgeting
bigger is better
Net promoter score (NPS)
a metric used in customer experience programs to measure customer loyalty
A/B Testing
Used in marketing, is a method for determining user preferences. different sets of users shown similar services and asked to determine the difference which is the independent variable
- used to optimize the solution you provide to users
Monte carlo simulation
analysis technique in which a computer model is iterated many times, with the input values chosen at random for each iteration driven by the input data, including probability distributions and probabilistic branches
- outputs are generated to represent the range of possible outcomes for the project
Simulation
analytical technique that models the combined effect of uncertainties to evaluate their potential impact on objectives
Difference between Stakeholder engagement plan and Stakeholder mgmt plan:
Stakeholder engagement plan: how to
Stakeholder mgmt plan: ??
What are some skills related to emotional intelligence?
Personal
- self awareness
- self regulation
- motivation
Interpersonal
- social skills
- empathy
What are some elements of self-awareness?
- emotional intelligence
- accurate self-assessment
- self confidence
Maslow hierarchy of need
states that people are motivated by having a purpose of contribution via pyramid structure
- physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, self-actualization
McGregor’s Theory X and Y
X: Early 1900s indiustrial revolution mgmt approach
- people are last in the chain behind money, material, equipment’s
- workers seen as self-centered, lazy
- need stric supervision
Y: enlightened approach
- willing and eager to accept responsibility and work to org objectives
- work without supervision and direct own efforts
- recognition of potential in people
- can delegate
McClelland theory of needs
most motivated by one of 3 needs
- need for achievement: drive to excel and succeed, challenges
- need for affiliation: be liked and belong, collaborative
- need for power: control and status, competitive
Herzbergs. Motivator Hygien Theory
Money does not create motivation. 2 main factors for workplace success
- hygiene factors:” areas related tp workplace (pay, stable job, environment)
- motivating agents: focused on non financial characteristics of work (do more, education, etc.
Decision tree analysis
a diagramming and calculation technique for evaluating the implications of a chain of multiple options in the presence of uncertainty
decision tree analysis characteristics
- support selection of the best several action options
- branches represent different decisions or events, each of which can have costs and risks
- the end points of branches in the tree repreent the outcome from following that path, negative or positive
- calculate the expected monetary value of each branch
What does PESTLE stand for?
- Political
- economic
- social
- technical
- legal
- environmental
What does PESTLE do?
Identifies the external business environment factors that can affect the value and desired outcomes of a project
- help better understand the external factors that can introduce risk, uncertainty, provide opps
- TECOP (technical, environmental, commercial, operational, political)
- VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity)
Backlog reprioritization
re-prioritizes the backlog as stories or reqs change
- business value determines the priority in changes
Benefit cost ratio
Compares the benefit to the cost of the initiative
- bigger is better
- format is 4:1 which means benefit outweighs the cost
Opportunity cost
associated with taking another oppty. what you give up or leave on the table to take another oppty
- the biggest amount not chosen
Payback period
amount of time needed to earn back the original investment on the project
- select the project with the shortest payback period
Expected monetary value (EMV)
total threats - total opptys = contingency reserves
Project mgmt office (PMO)
A mgmt structure that standardizes the project related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools and techniques
- types: supportive, controlling, directive
Continuous improvement
Ongoing effort to improve products, services or processes
- includes improving business strategy, business results, and customer, employee, and supplier relationships
Characteristics of continuous improvement
- aim for small, incremental improvements or large breakthroughs
- a business strategy that is developed at the org level for projects to adopt and use
- might be implemented by an orgs PMO
W. Edwards Deming’s philosophy of improving quality
Aims to reduce expenses, increase productivity, and thus increase market share. 4 concepts
- better design
- higher level
- improvement
- greater sales
Total quality mgmt (TQM) mgmt and employees focus on ways to improve quality
Pioneers of quality
- W Edward Deming
- ## Joseph Curan
Plan- do - check - act (PDCA)
Model frame from Deming for continuous improvement
Continuous improvement (Kaizen) / lean manufacturing
the deliver of customer value to the customer with the least amount of waste in short period of time
Joseph Duran top pricniple
- top mgmt involvement
- widespread training in quality
- project by project approach to quality improvement
Duran 80/20 and pareto principle
80% of problems due to 20% problem causes
Fitness for use
Real needs of the customers and stakeholders are defined and then attempted to satisfy
- main goal is to ID and satisfy the real need of each
Zero defects
doing it right the first time believes can avoid defects that focused on prevention
insert quality theorist info here
refer to notes
Kaizen
- many small changes or improvements
- small changes less likely to require major expenses
- ideas come from workers
- all emplyees should improve their performance
- all encouraged to take ownership
Two types of continuous improvement approaches
- Kaizen
- plan do study act
What are some continuous improvement tools?
- lessons learned register
- retrospectives
- experiments
Models Across different performance domains
Methods Across different performance domains
Artifacts Across different performance domains
Project Lifecycles Snapshot
The agile scrum framework
What’s the difference between Configuration control and change control?
Configuration control is focused on the specification of both the deliverables and the process, whereas change control is focused on identifying, documenting, and controlling changes to the project. A configuration management system with integrated change control provides a standardized and effective way to centrally manage approved changes within the project.
What are the different types of risk strategies?
- Avoidance strategies that seek to remove threats are actually aiming to eliminate uncertainty. The upside equivalent is to exploit identified opportunities—removing the uncertainty by seeking to make the opportunity definitely happen.
- Risk transfer is about allocating ownership to enable effective management of a threat. This can be mirrored by sharing opportunities—passing ownership to a third party best able to manage the opportunity and maximize the chance of it happening.
- Mitigation seeks to modify the degree of risk exposure, and for threats this involves making the probability and/or impact smaller. The opportunity equivalent is to enhance the opportunity—increasing its probability and/or impact to maximize the benefit to the project.
- The accept response to threats includes the residual risk in the baseline without special measures. Opportunities included in the baseline can similarly be ignored—adopting a reactive approach without taking explicit actions.
TEST PREP / RESEARCH
What is rolling wave planning?
Rolling Wave Planning is an iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail, while the work in the future is planned at a higher level. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 153] (Domain: Process, Task 9)
What is refactoring?
Refactoring is a product quality technique whereby the design of a product is improved by enhancing its maintainability and other desired attributes without altering its expected behavior. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 153] (Domain: Process, Task 7)
What are the core values of XP?
XP’s foundational core values are communication, simplicity, feedback, courage and respect. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 102] (Domain: People, Task 3)
Where are work packages within the WBS?
They are always at the lowest level of the WBS
What is a fishbowl window?
A fishbowl window is a long-lived video conferencing link between two or more locations. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 46] (Domain: People, Task 11)
What is a spike?
Spikes are time-boxed research experiments and are useful for learning and may be used in circumstances such as estimation, acceptance criteria definition, and understanding the flow of a user’s action through the product. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 56] (Domain: Process, Task 7)
What is a Persona?
A persona defines an archetypical user of a system, an example of the kind of person who would interact with it. The idea is that if you want to design effective software, then it needs to be designed for a specific person. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 153] (Domain: Process, Task 8)
What is technical debt?
Technical debt refers to the deferred cost of work not done at an earlier point in the product life cycle. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 154] (Domain: Process, Task 5)
PDM includes four types of dependencies or precedence relationships:
- Finish-to-start. The initiation of the successor activity depends upon the completion of the predecessor activity.
- Finish-to-finish. The completion of the successor activity depends upon the completion of the predecessor activity.
- Start-to-start. The initiation of the successor activity depends upon the initiation of the predecessor activity.
- Start-to-finish. The completion of the successor activity depends upon the initiation of the predecessor activity.
According to the precedence diagramming method (PDM), what is the most and least common type of precedence relationship?
Most: Finish-to-start (FS)
Least: Start-to-finish (SF)
What is fast tracking?
the decision is to work several tasks in parallel that were scheduled to be run consecutively
What are two types of schedule compression techniques?
- Crashing and Fastr-tracking
What is crashing?
Crashing is a specific type of project schedule compression technique performed by taking action to decrease the total project schedule duration. Typical approaches to crashing a schedule include reducing activity durations and increasing the assignment of resources. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 59] (Domain: Process, Task 6)
What is scrumban?
Scrumban is an Agile approach originally designed as a way to transition from Scrum to Kanban. As additional Agile frameworks and methodologies emerged, it became an evolving hybrid framework in and of itself where teams use Scrum as a framework and Kanban for process improvement. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 108] (Domain: Process, Task 13)
What is the role of an agile coach?
An Agile coach is usually responsible for helping the management of an organization to understand the advantages of Agile practices, tools and techniques. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 150] (Domain: Process, Task 1)
What is the purpose of time-boxing?
durations during which the team works steadily toward completion of a goal. Time-boxing helps to minimize scope creep as it forces the teams to process essential features first, then other features when time permits. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 62] (Domain: Process, Task 6)
Which of the following components of a project scope statement is useful in reducing scope creep?
Exclusions
Project exclusions identify what is excluded from the project. Explicitly stating what is out of scope for the project helps manage stakeholders’ expectation and can reduce scope creep. Other choices cannot help more in this regard. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 246] (Domain: Process, Task 8)
Project scope statement
This document describes the project’s deliverables in detail and the work that is required to create those deliverables. It also forms the baseline for evaluating whether requests for changes are within or outside the project’s boundaries. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 84] (Domain: Process, Task 8)
What are prevention costs?
The activities such as measuring, examining, and verifying to determine whether work and deliverables met requirements and product acceptance criteria are variously referred to as inspections, audits, reviews, product reviews, and walkthroughs. Prevention is not a valid term to describe these activities. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 88] (Domain: Process, Task 7)
What does decomposition do?
The decomposition technique allows the project manager to create smaller and more manageable pieces of work from the larger work packages. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 84] (Domain: Process, Task 8)
Requirements Traceability Matrix
Requirements Traceability Matrix is used for tracing requirements to project scope, objectives, and test strategy. Tracing requirements to project risk is not a valid use. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 83] (Domain: Process, Task 8)
What is a context diagram?
A context diagram defines the boundary between the system and its environment. This diagram is a high-level view of a system. The context diagram is an example of a scope model. In this case, the context diagram is showing the scope of the project. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 84] (Domain: Process, Task 6)
Variance analysis refers to cost performance measurements used to determine the magnitude of variation in comparison to the original cost baseline. What is the trend on the percentage range of acceptable variances as the project progresses?
The percentage range of acceptable variances will tend to decrease as the project progresses.
At the start of the project, larger percentage variances are acceptable. However, as more work is accomplished, the percentage range of acceptable variances will tend to decrease. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 105] (Domain: Process, Task 5)
You are conducting a feasibility analysis of multiple available options to deliver a certain capability to the organization. Each of the available options involves an upfront initial investment followed by periodic maintenance costs. Further each option promises a different revenue stream for the business. Which of the following analytical techniques evaluates investment potential considering time-value of money?
Discounted cash flow
Discounted cash flow analysis uses future free cash flow projections and discounts them to arrive at a present value estimate, which is used to evaluate the potential for investment. The rest of the choices are incorrect because Pareto analysis is carried out to identify the most significant factors out of many; earned value management is carried out to monitor and control cost of an ongoing project; while the Monte Carlo is a simulation technique used to analyze project risks. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 102] (Domain: Process, Task 5)
Your project is running behind schedule and so far the cost performance hasn’t been that good. You have been requested to present the project progress to the steering committee and pay special attention to the project’s cost performance during your presentation. You need to calculate a metric that would indicate the required cost performance in order to complete the project on budget. Which of the following metrics would you use to demonstrate this?
- EAC
- CPI
- TCPI
- SPI
TCPI
The To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI) indicates the required cost performance in order to complete the project on budget. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 105] (Domain: Process, Task 5)
What is a burndown chart?
A burndown chart is a graphical representation of work left to do versus time. The outstanding work is shown on the vertical axis and time along the horizontal. It is useful for predicting when all of the work will be completed. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 109] (Domain: Process, Task 6)
What is Technical Performance Analysis
Technical performance analysis is used to compare the planned and actual technical achievements, schedules, and other performance criteria. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 98] (Domain: People, Task 3)
What is the formula for ?three-point estimate (based on beta distribution)?
Estimate = (Optimistic + (Most Likely *4) + Pessimistic)/6. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 178] (Domain: Process, Task 5)
What is a control chart?
Control charts graphically display the interaction of process variables on a process. Control charts have three lines: a center line which gives the average of the process, an upper line designating the upper control limit (UCL) and showing the upper range of acceptable values, and a lower line designating the lower control limit (LCL) and showing the lower range of acceptable values. Points that fall outside of this range are evidence that the process may be out of control.
What are the 4 types of dependencies?
Mandatory Dependencies are either required by the law or contract and sometimes they are inherent in the nature of the work. Due to these, the work must be done in a certain order. They are also called Hard Logic.
Discretionary Dependencies are defined by the Project Team as a certain order of activities is more suitable for the nature of work. These are also called Preferred Logic, Preferential Logic or Soft Logic.
External Dependencies are defined between project activities and non-project activities. The project activities are done by the Project Team. The non-project activities are done by people who are external to the Project Team e.g. representatives from Client’s organization, Vendors’ organization or any other external groups within the same organization.
Internal Dependencies are defined between two project activities. Generally, the Project Team has complete control over the project activities.
Which of the following Agile methods provides a product development framework that is an adaption of Toyota Product System (TPS) principles and practices to the software development domain and is based on a set of principles and practices for achieving quality, speed, and customer alignment?
Lean Software Development (LSD) is an adaption of Toyota Product System (TPS) principles and practices to the software development domain and is based on a set of principles and practices for achieving quality, speed, and customer alignment. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 152] (Domain: Process, Task 13)
Which of the following is a model of skills acquisition that describes progression from obeying the rules, through consciously moving away from the rules, and finally through steady practice and improvement finding an individual path?
The Shu-Ha-Ri model of skills acquisition describes progression from obeying the rules (Shu means to obey and protect), through consciously moving away from the rules (Ha means to change or digress), and finally through steady practice and improvement finding an individual path (Ri means to separate or leave). [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 119] (Domain: People, Task 12)
Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS)
The Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS) is a hierarchical presentation of the project risks sorted by risk categories. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 122-127] (Domain: Process, Task 3)
Which of the following organizational improvement models consist of five phases: initiating, diagnosing, establishing, acting and learning?
IDEAL is an organizational improvement model that is named for the five phases it describes: initiating, diagnosing, establishing, acting, and learning. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 152] (Domain: Process, Task 13)
You are aware that cost and schedule risks are prevalent in your project. You want to compare the technical accomplishments during the project to the schedule of technical achievements and identify the deviations. What should you perform to provide this information?
Technical performance analysis is used to compare the planned and actual technical achievements, schedules, and other performance criteria. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 98] (Domain: People, Task 3)
What is an information radiator?
An information radiator is a physical display that provides information to the rest of the organization enabling up-to-the-minute knowledge sharing without having to disturb the team. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 152] (Domain: People, Task 3)
Which of the following is the method of collaboratively creating acceptance test criteria that
are used to create acceptance tests before delivery begins?
Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATTD) is the method ofcollaboratively creating acceptance test criteria that are used to create acceptance tests before delivery begins. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition,
Page 150] (Domain: Process, Task 13)
In a cost plus contract, do you add the desired profit to the budget?
No, just the contingency and mgmt reserves
Which of the following requires system-level testing for end-to-end information, unit testing
for the building blocks, and, in between, determines if there is a need for integration testing?
“Test at all levels” employs system-level testing for end-to-end information, unit testing for the building blocks, and, in between, determines if there is a need for integration testing. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 56]
(Domain: Process, Task 7)
Which of the following is a product quality technique whereby the design of a product is improved by enhancing its maintainability and other desired attributes without altering its expected behavior?
Refactoring is a product quality technique whereby the design of a product is improved by enhancing its maintainability and other desired attributes without altering its expected behavior. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition,
Page 153] (Domain: Process, Task 7)
Control charts exhibit all the following characteristics except:
The specification limits are determined using
standard statistical calculations.
The control limits for a control chart are statistically determined. However, the specification limits are based on the customer requirements
Which of the following is a collection of lightweight Agile software development methods focused on adaptability to a particular circumstance?
The Crystal family of methodologies is a collection of lightweight Agile software development methods focused on adaptability to a particular circumstance. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 151] (Domain: Process, Task 13)
Which of the following arrangements allows least flexibility to the buyer to alter the contracted scope of works?
A not-to-exceed time and materials allows replacing original scope with new scope. The dynamic scope option allows scope adjustments at specified points in the project. The early cancellation option allows termination halfway through the project. The fixed-price arrangement is the least flexible option. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 78] (Domain: Process, Task 11)
Some projects may require tailoring to Agile approaches. However, a team that is new to Agile approaches needs to start using established Agile approaches before tailoring these approaches or to invent a new custom approach. This concept is in line to which of the following improvement model?
The Shu-Ha-Ri model of skills acquisition describes progression from obeying the rules (Shu means to obey and protect), through consciously moving away from the rules (Ha means to change or digress), and finally through steady practice and improvement finding an individual path (Ri means to separate or leave). [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 119] (Domain: Process, Task 13)
A team of engineers is reviewing a scatter diagram to determine how the changes in two variables in a new type of automobile tire are related. The closer the points on the diagram are to a diagonal line, _______________.
The more closely they are related
A scatter diagram shows the pattern of relationship between two variables. The closer the points are to a diagonal line, the more closely they are related. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 189] (Domain: Process, Task 7)
Which of the following is a simplistic version of the Rational Unified Process (RUP) and is an understandable approach to developing business application software using Agile techniques and concepts?
Agile Unified Process
Agile Unified Process is a simplistic version of the Rational Unified Process (RUP) and is an understandable approach to developing business application software using Agile techniques and concepts. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 150] (Domain: Process, Task 13)
Your organization requires a comprehensive business analysis activity to precede project initiation for all complex and high value projects. In complex and high value projects, which of the following activities will typically be performed by a business analyst prior to the project initiation?
Typical business analyst’s responsibilities would include determining problems, identifying business needs, and recommending viable solutions for meeting those needs. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition - The Standard for Project Management Page 13] (Domain: Process, Task 1
Monte Carlo Analysis
Monte Carlo Analysis is a technique that computes or iterates the project cost or the project schedule many times, using input values selected at random from probability distributions of possible costs or durations. In this way, one can calculate a distribution of possible total project costs or completion dates. [PMBOK® Guide 7th edition, Page 177] (Domain: Process,
Task 3)
Which of the following is the practice of using a lightweight set of tests to ensure that the most important functions of the system under development work as intended?
Smoke testing is the practice of using a lightweight set of tests to ensure that the most important functions of the system under development work as intended. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 154] (Domain: Process, Task 7)
Which of the following arrangements allows least flexibility to the buyer to alter the contracted scope of works?
Fixed-price arrangements
A not-to-exceed time and materials allows replacing original scope with new scope. The dynamic scope option allows scope adjustments at specified points in the project. The early cancellation option allows termination halfway through the project. The fixed-price arrangement is the least flexible option. [Agile Practice Guide, 1st edition, Page 78] (Domain: Process, Task 11)
