Project+ Flash Cards
360-degree appraisal
A performance review completed by a person’s peers, managers, and subordinates. It’s called a 360-degree appraisal as it’s a circle of reviews by people at different levels of an organization.
Acceptance
This is a response to a risk event, generally made when the probability of the event and/or impact are small. It is used when mitigation, transference, or avoidance are not selected.
Active Listening
This occurs when the receiver confirms the message is being received by feedback, questions, prompts for clarity, and other signs of having received the message.
Activity attributes
Activities that special conditions, requirements, risks, and other conditions should be documented.
Activity cost estimates
The cost of resources including materials, services, and when warranted, labor should be estimated.
Activity lists
A listing of all of the project activities required to complete each project phase or the entire project. This list is an input to the project network diagram.
Activity on node
A network diagramming approach that places the activities on a node in the project network diagram.
Activity sequencing
The process of mapping the project activities in the order in which the work should be completed.
Actual Costs
The amount funds the project has spent to date. The difference between actual costs and the earned value will reveal the cost variance.
Adjourning
The final stage of team development; once the project is done, the team moves onto other assignments either as a unit or the project team ream is disbanded and individual team members go onto other work.
Affinity diagram
Clusters like ideas together and allows for decomposition of ideas to compare and contrast project requirements.
Analogous estimating
This relies on historical information to predict estimates for current projects. Analogous estimating is also known as top-down estimating and is a form of expert judgment.
Application areas
The areas of discipline that a project may center upon. Consider technology, law, sales, marketing, and construction among many others.
Assumption log
A document that clearly identifies and tracks assumptions that are made in the project. All assumptions need to be tested for their validity and the outcome of the test should be recorded.
Updated 12/3/2015
Autocratic
The project manager makes all of the decisions.
Avoidance
This is one response to a risk event. The risk is avoided by planning a different technique to remove the risk from the project.
Benchmarking
A process of using prior projects within or external to the performing organization to compare and set quality standards for processes and results.
Benefit measurement methods
Project selection methods that compare the benefits of projects to determine which project the organization should select for investment.
Benefit/cost analysis
The process of determining the pros and cons of any project, process, product, or activity.
Benefit/cost ratios
Shows the proportion of benefits to costs; for example 4:1 would equate to four benefits and just one cost.
Bid
A document from the seller to the buyer. Used when price is the determining factor in the decision-making process.
Bidder conferences
A meeting with prospective sellers to ensure all sellers have a clear understanding of the product or service to be procured. Bidder conferences allow sellers to query the buyer on the details of the product to help ensure that the proposal the seller creates is adequate and appropriate for the proposed agreement.
Bottom-up estimating
A technique where an estimate for each component in the WBS is developed and then totaled for an overall project budget. This is the longest method to complete, but it provides the most accurate estimate.
Brainstorming
The most common approach to risk identification; it is performed by a project team to identify the risks within the project. A multidisciplinary team, hosted by a project facilitator, can also perform brainstorming.
Budget at completion
The predicted budget for the project; what the project should cost when it is completed. Budget at completion represents 100 percent of the planned value for the project’s completion.
Cause-and-effect diagrams
Used for root cause analysis of what factors are creating the risks within the project. The goal is to identify and treat the root of the problem, not the symptom.
Centralized contracting
All contracts for all projects need to be approved through a central contracting unit within the performing organization.
Change control board
A group of decision makers that review proposed project changes.
Change control system
A predefined set of activities, forms, and procedures to entertain project change requests.
Change log
As changes to the project time, cost, or scope enter the project they should be recorded in the change log for future reference.
Change management plan
When changes are approved for a project, including time, cost, scope, or contract, then there needs to be a plan on how the project team will manage these new changes within the project.
Chart of accounts
A coding system used by the performing organization’s accounting system to account for the project work.
Checklists
A listing of activities that workers check to ensure the work has been completed consistently; used in quality control.
Closing
The fifth of five project management process groups. It contains the processes responsible for closing a project, a project phase, or the procurement relationships.
Coercive power
The project manager uses fear and threats to manage the project team.
Collective bargaining agreements
These are contractual agreements initiated by employee groups, unions, or other labor organizations; they may act as a constraint on the project.
Communications formula
The formula “N (N – 1) / 2” shows the number of communication channels in a project. N represents the total number of stakeholders.
Communications management plan
A plan that documents and organizes the stakeholder needs for communication. This plan covers the communications system, its documentation, the flow of communication, modalities of communication, schedules for communications, information retrieval, and any other stakeholder requirements for communications.
Composite structure
An organizational structure that uses a blend of the functional, matrix, or projectized organization to operate and manage projects.
Compromising
An organizational structure that uses a blend of the functional, matrix, or projectized organization to operate and manage projects.
Confidentiality
A project manager should keep certain aspects of a project confidential; consider contract negotiations, human resource issues, and trade secrets of the organization.
Configuration management
The control and documentation of the project’s product features and functions.
Conflict of interest
A situation where the project manager could influence a decision for personal gain.
Constrained optimization methods
Complex mathematical models to determine the likelihood of a projects’ success. These models are used to determine which project an organization should choose for investment.
Constraints
Anything that limits the project manager’s options; for example, time, cost, and scope are always project constraints.
Contingency reserve
A time or dollar amount allotted as a response to risk events that may occur within a project.
Continuous process improvement
A goal of quality assurance to improve the project’s processes and deliverables; meshes with the project’s Process Improvement Plan.
Contract
A legal, binding agreement, preferably written, between a buyer and seller detailing the requirements and obligations of both parties. Must include an offer, an acceptance, and a consideration.
Contract administration
The process of ensuring that the buyer and the seller both perform to the specifications within the contract.
Contacts change control system
Defines the procedures for how contracts may be changed. Includes the paperwork, tracking, conditions, dispute resolution procedures, and the procedures for getting the changes approved within the performing organization.
Contract close out
A process for confirming that the obligations of the contract were met as expected. The project manager, the customer, key stakeholder, and, in some instances, the seller complete the product verification together to confirm the contract has been completed.
Contract file
A complete indexed set of records of the procurement process incorporated into the administrative closure process. These records include financial information as well as information on the performance and acceptance of the procured work.
Control charts
These illustrate the performance of a project over time. They map the results of inspections against a chart. Control charts are typically used in projects or operations that have repetitive activities such as manufacturing, test series, or help desk functions. Upper and lower control limits indicate if values are within control or out of control.
Cost baseline
This shows what the project is expected to spend. It’s usually shown in an S-curve and allows the project manager and management to predict when the project will be spending monies and over what duration. The purpose of the cost baseline is to measure and predict project performance.
Cost budgeting
A process of assigning a cost to an individual work package. This process shows costs over time. The cost budget results in an S-Curve that becomes the cost baseline for the project.
Cost change control
This is part of the Integrated Change Control System and documents the procedures to request, approve, and incorporate changes to project costs.
Cost control
An active process to control causes of cost change, to document cost changes, and to monitor cost fluctuations within the project. When changes occur, the cost baseline must be updated.
Cost estimating
The process of calculating the costs, by category, of the identified resources to complete the project work.
Cost management plan
Explains how variances to the costs of the project will be managed. The plan may be based on a range of acceptable variances and the expected response to variances over a given threshold.
Cost of conformance
The cost of completing the project work to satisfy the project scope and the expected level of quality. Examples include training, safety measures, and quality management activities. Also known as the cost of quality.
Cost of no conformance
The cost of not completing the project with quality; includes wasted time for corrective actions, rework, wasted materials. This could mean loss of business, loss of sales, lawsuits. Also known as the cost of poor quality.
Cost performance index
The process of calculating the costs, by category, of the identified resources to complete the project work.
Cost plus awards fee
This contract requires the buyer to pay for all the project costs and give the seller an award fee based on the project performance, meeting certain project criteria, or other goals established by the buyer. The award fee can be tied to any factor the buyer determines and the factor doesn’t have to be exact.
Cost variance
The difference between the earned value and the actual costs.
Cost-reimbursable contracts
A contract that pays the seller for the product. In the payment to the seller, there is a profit margin the difference between the actual costs of the product and the sales amount.
Crashing
A duration compression technique that adds project resources to the project in an effort to reduce the amount of time allotted for effort- driven activities.
Critical chain method
A network diagramming approach that considers the availability or project resources and the project’s promised end date to determine the critical path(s) in the project.
Critical path method
A network diagramming approach that identifies the project activities which cannot be delayed or the project completion date will be late.
Cultural norm
The accepted practices, culture, ideas, vision, and nature of an organization.
Culture shock
The initial reaction a person experiences when they’re in a foreign environment.
Decision tree analysis
A type of analysis that determines which of two decisions is the best. The decision tree assists in calculating the value of the decision and determining which decision costs the least.
Decoder
This is a part of the communications model; it is the inverse of the encoder. If a message is encoded, a decoder translates it back to usable format.
Decomposition
The breakdown of the project scope statement into the project’s work breakdown structure. The smallest item of the project’s decomposition into the WBS is called the work package.
Deliverable
A thing that a project creates; projects generally create many deliverables as part of the project work.
Delphi technique
A method to query experts anonymously on foreseeable risks within the project, phase, or component of the project. The results of the survey are analyzed and organized and then circulated to the experts. There can be several rounds of anonymous discussions with the Delphi technique The goal is to gain consensus on project risks, and the anonymous nature of the process ensures that no one expert’s advice overtly influences the opinion of another participant.
Democratic
The project team is involved in the decision- making process.
Design of experiments
This relies on statistical “what-if” scenarios to determine which variables within a project will result in the best outcome; it can also be used to eliminate a defect. The design of experiments approach is most often used on the product of the project, rather than the project itself.
Dictatorship
A group decision process where the person with the most power forces the decision even though the rest of the group may oppose the decision.
Direct costs
Costs incurred by the project in order for it to exist. Examples include equipment needed to complete the project work, salaries of the project team, and other expenses tied directly to the project’s existence.
Discretionary dependencies
The order of the project activities do not have to completed in a particular order so they can be done in the order of the project manager or the project team’s discretion.
Duration estimates
The prediction of how long the project work will take to complete.
Earned value
The value of the work that has been completed and the budget for that work: EV=%Complete X BAC.
Earned value management
Earned value management integrates scope, schedule, and cost to give an objective, scalable point-in-time assessment of the project. EVM calculates the performance of the project and compares current performance against plan. EVM can also be a harbinger of things to come. Results early in the project can predict the likelihood of the project’s success or failure.
Effective listening
The receiver is involved in the listening experience by paying attention to visual clues by the speaker and to paralingual intentions and by asking relevant questions.
Encoder
Part of the communications model; the device or technology that packages the message to travel over the medium.
Enhance
To enhance a risk is to attempt to modify it probability to and/or its impacts to realize the most gains from the identified risk.
Estimate at completion
A hypothesis of what the total cost of the project will be. Before the project begins, the project manager completes an estimate for the project deliverables based on the WBS. As the project progresses, there will likely be some variances between what the cost estimate was and what the actual cost is. The EAC is calculated to predict what the new estimate at completion will be.
Estimate to complete
Represents how much more money is needed to complete the project work: ETC=EAC-AC.
Estimating publications
Typically a commercial reference to help the project estimator confirm and predict the accuracy of estimates. If a project manager elects to use one of these commercial databases, the estimate should include a pointer to this document for future reference and verification.
Ethics
Describes the personal, cultural, and organizational interpretation of right and wrong; project managers are to operate ethically and fairly.
Ethnocentrism
Happens when individuals measure and compare a foreigner’s actions against their own local culture. The locals typically believe their own culture is superior to the foreigner’s culture.
Evaluation criteria
Used to rate and score proposals from sellers. In some instances, such as a bid or quote, the evaluation criterion is focused just on the price the seller offers. In other instances, such as a proposal, the evaluation criteria can be multiple values: experience, references, certifications, and more.
Exceptional
The project manager only pays attention to the top ten percent of the project performers and the bottom ten percent of the project team performers.
Executing
The project management process group that carries out the project management plan to create the project deliverables.
Expectancy theory
People will behave on the basis of what they expect as a result of their behavior. In other words, people will work in relation to the expected reward of the work.
Expert power
A type of power where the authority of the project manager comes from experience with the area that the project focuses on.
Exploit
The organization wants to ensure that the identified risk does happen to realize the positive impact associated with the risk event.
Facilitated workshops
A collection of stakeholders from around the organization that come together to analyze, discuss, and determine the project requirements.
Fast tracking
A schedule compression technique that allows phases to overlap in order to compress the schedule and finish the job faster. Fast tracking does increase project risk.
Feedback
Sender confirmation of the message by asking questions, requesting a response, or other confirmation signals.
Finish-to-finish
A relationship between project activities where the predecessor activities must finish before successor activities may finish.
Fixed costs
Costs that remain the same throughout the project.
Fixed price with economic price adjustment contracts
A contract for long-term projects that may span years to complete the project work. The contract does define a fixed price with caveats for special categories of price fluctuation.
Fixed-price contracts
Fixed-price contracts are also known as Firm- Fixed-Price and Lump-Sum contracts. These contracts have a pre-set price that the vendor is obligated to perform the work or provide materials for the agreed price.
Float
A generic term to describe the amount of time an activity may delayed without delaying any successor activities start date.
Flowcharting
A chart that illustrates how the parts of a system occur in sequence.
FNET
A project constraint that requires an activity to finish no earlier than a specific date.
Focus groups
A conversation of stakeholders led by a moderator to elicit project requirements.
Force majeure
A powerful and unexpected event, such as a hurricane or other disaster.
Forcing
A conflict resolution method where one person dominates or forces their point of view or solution to a conflict.
Forecasting
An educated estimate of how long the project will take to complete. Can also refer to how much the project may cost to complete.
Formal power
The type of power where the project manager has been assigned by senior management to be in charge of the project.
Forming
The initial stage of team development; the project team meets and learns about their roles and responsibilities on the project.
Fragnets
A portion of the project that is usually contracted to a vendor to complete yet the project work is still represented in the project network diagram.
Function analysis
Related to value engineering, this allows team input to the problem, institutes a search for a logical solution, and tests the functions of the product so the results can be graphed.
Functional managers
The managers of the permanent staff in each organizational department, line of business, or function such as sales, finance, technology. Project managers and functional managers interact on project decisions that affect functions, projects, and operations.
Functional structure
An organization that groups staff according to their expertise. Entities that have a clear division regarding business units and their associated responsibility. Project managers in functional organization have little power and report to the functional managers and the project team all exist within one department.
Future value
A formula to predict the current amount of funds into a future amount of funds. The formula is: Future Value = Present Value(1+i)n where i is the value of return and n is the number of time periods.
Halo effect
When one attribute of a person influences a decision.
Hard logic
The project activities must be completed in a particular order; this is also known as mandatory dependencies.
Herzberg’s theory of motivation
Posits that there are two catalysts for workers: hygiene agents and motivating agents. Hygiene agents do nothing to motivate, but their absence demotivates workers. Hygiene agents are the expectations all workers have: job security, paychecks clean and safe working conditions, a sense of belonging, civil working relationships, and other basic attributes associated with employment. Motivating agents are components such as reward, recognition, promotion, and other values that encourage individuals to succeed.
Histogram
A bar chart; A Pareto diagram is an example of a histogram.
Historical Information
Any information created in the past that can help the current project succeed.
Human Resources plan
Defines the management of the project human resources, timing of use, and enterprise environmental factors the project manager must adhere to in the organization when it comes to human resources management.
Inappropriate compensation
The project manager is avoiding compensation, such as bribes. The project manager is to act in the best interest of the project and the organization.
Indirect costs
These costs can be shared across multiple projects that use the same resources—such as for a training room or piece of equipment.
Influence diagram
An influence diagram charts out a decision problem. It identifies all of the elements, variables, decisions, and objectives—and how each factor may influence another.
Initiating
The start and authorization of the project; the project manager is identified, the project is authorized through the charter, and the stakeholders are identified.
Internal rate of return
A benefit measurement formula to calculate the when the present value of the cash inflow equals the project’s original investment.
Interviews
A requirements elicitation process to collect requirements from the project stakeholders.
Invitation for bid
A document from the buyer to the seller. Requests the seller to provide a price for the procured product or service.
Iron triangle
A term used to describe the three constraints of every project: time, cost, and scope. The sides of the Iron Triangle must be kept in balance or the quality of the project will suffer.
ISO 9000
An international standard that helps organizations follow their own quality procedures. ISO 9000 is not a quality system, but a method of following procedures created by an organization.
Issue log
Issues are decision that are usually in disagreement among two or more parties. Issues are recorded in the issue log along with an issue owner designation, an issue date for resolution, and the eventual outcome of the issue.
Issues
Any point of contention, debate, or decision that has not yet been made in the project that may affect the project’s success.
Iterative relationship of project phases
Ideal for projects like research. The next phase of the project is not planned until the current phase of the project is underway. The direction of the project can change based on the current work in the project, market conditions, or as more information is discovered.
Kill point
An opportunity to halt the project based on project performance in the previous phase. Kill points typically come at the end of a project phase and are also known as phase gates.
Knowledge areas
There are ten knowledge areas within project management; each knowledge area is a specific portion of the project, and all ten project management knowledge areas are interrelated.
Lag
Time added to a project activity to delay its start time; lag time is considered positive time and it is sometimes called waiting time.
Laissez faire
The project manager has a hands-off policy and the team is entirely self-led regarding the decision-making process.
Lead
Time added to activity to allow its start time to begin earlier than scheduled; lead time is negative time as it moves the activities closer to the project’s start date.
Lessons learned
Ongoing collection of documentation about what has and has not worked in the project; the project manager and the project team participate in lessons learned creation.
Letter of intent
Expresses the intention of the buyer to procure products or services from the seller. This is not a contract, but express intent to purchase so the seller can prepare for the work.
Majority
A group decision process where a vote is offered and the majority wins.
Make-or-buy analysis
Used in determining what part of the project scope to make and what part to purchase.
Management by products
An organization that uses projects to move the company forward is using the Management by Projects approach. These project-centric entities could manage any level of their work as a project.
Mandatory dependencies
Project activities must happen in a particular order due to the nature of the work; also known as hard logic.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
A theory that states that there are five layers of needs for all humans; physiological, safety, social, esteem, and the crowning jewel, self- actualization.
Matrix structure
An organization that groups staff by function but openly shares resources on project teams throughout the organization. Project managers in a matrix structure share the power with functional management. There are three types of matrix structures: weak, balanced, and strong to describe the amount of authority for the project manager.
McClelland’s theory of needs
People have three needs: achievement, affiliation, and power. One of the needs drives the person’s actions.
McGregor’s theory of X and Y
This theory states that “X” people are lazy, don’t want to work, and need to be micromanaged. “Y” people are self-led, motivated, and strive to accomplish.
Medium
Part of the communications model; this is the path the message takes from the sender to the receiver. This is the modality in which the communication travels typically refers to an electronic model, such as e-mail or the telephone.
Mind mapping
A visual representation of like and opposing ideas, thoughts, and project requirements.
Mitigation
Reducing the probability or impact of a risk.
Monitoring and controlling
The project management process group responsible for ensuring that the project execution is completed according to the project management plan and expectations.
Monte Carlo analysis
A what-if scenario to determine how scenarios may work out given any number of variables. The process doesn’t actually create out a specific answer, but a range of possible answers. When Monte Carlo is applied to a schedule, it can present, for example, the optimistic completion date, the pessimistic completion date, and the most likely completion date for each activity in the project.
Murder boards
A group of decision makers that may determine to “kill” a proposed project before it is officially launched based on the board’s findings on the likelihood of the project’s success.
Net present value
A benefit measurement formula used for projects that span multiple years or quarters.
NPV calculates the present value for each year or quarter of the project.
Network templates
A network diagram based on previous similar projects that is adapted for the current project work.
Nominal group techniques
A group creativity technique that follows the brainstorming model but ranks each brainstorm idea.
Nonverbal
Approximately 55 percent of oral communication is non-verbal. Facial expressions, hand gestures, and body language contribute to the message.
Norming
Project team members go about getting the project work, begin to rely on one another, and generally complete their project assignments.
Observation
A requirements elicitation process where the observer shadows a person to understand how they complete a process. Observers may be a participant observer or an invisible observer.
Oligopoly
A market condition where the actions of one competitor affects the actions of all the other competitors.
Operational definitions
The quantifiable terms and values used to measure a process, activity, or work result. Operational definitions are also known as metrics.
Operations
The ongoing work of the business. Operations are a generic way to describe the activities that support the core functions of a business entity.
Operations management
Operation managers deal directly with the income-generating products or services the company provides. Projects often affect the core business so these managers are stakeholders in the project.
Organizational breakdown structure
Though these charts are similar to the WBS, the breakdown is by department, units, or by team.
Organizational charts
These show how an organization, such as a company or large project team, is ordered, reporting structures, and the flow of information.
Finish to start
A relationship between project activities where the predecessor activities must finish before the successor activities may start; this is the most common network diagramming relationship type.
Ouchi’s Theory Z
This theory posits that workers are motivated by a sense of commitment, opportunity, and advancement. Workers will work if they are challenged and motivated.
Overlapping relationship of phases
Allows project phases to overlap to compress the project duration. This is also known as fast tracking.
Paralingual
The pitch, tone, and inflections in the sender’s voice affect the message being sent.
Parametric estimating
Ideal for projects with repetitive work where a parameter, such as five hours per unit, is used to estimate the project duration.
Parametric modeling
A mathematical model based on known parameters to predict the cost of a project. The parameters in the model can vary based on the type of work being done. A parameter can be cost per cubic yard, cost per unit, and so on.
Pareto Diagrams
A Pareto diagram is related to Pareto’s Law: 80 percent of the problems come from 20 percent of the issues (this is also known as the “80/20 rule”). A Pareto diagram illustrates problems by assigned cause, from smallest to largest.
Parkinson’s law
Work expands to fill the amount of time allotted to it.
Payback period
The duration of time it takes a project to earn back the original investment.
Performance reports
These formal reports define how the project is performing on time, cost, scope, quality and any other relevant information.
Performing
If a project team can reach the performing stage of team development, they trust one another, work well together, and issues and problems get resolved quickly and effectively.
Planned value
The worth of the work that should be completed by a specific time in the project schedule.
Planning
The iterative process group where the intention of the project is determined and documented in the project management plan.
Plurality
A group decision process approach allows the biggest section of a group to win even if a majority doesn’t exist.
PMBOK Guide
The abbreviate definition for PMI’s A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge.
PMI Code of Ethics and Professional conduct
A PMI document that defines the expectations of its members to act responsibly, respectfully, fairly, and honestly in their leadership of projects and programs.
