Project Management Flashcards
Project
A temporary activity with a defined end point that produces specific pre-defined deliverables
Project management
The application of knowledge/skills/tools to project activities to meet the project requirements
5 phases of project management
- Initiating
- Planning
- Executing
- Monitoring & Controlling
- Closing
What is ‘Initiating/Planning’ phase?
- Defining the Scope: Deliverables, Activities – Identifying Stakeholders – Identifying Resources (Constraints) – Establishing acceptable level of Risk/Quality
What do you do during the ‘Initiating/Planning’ phase?
– Work Breakdown Structure (WBS, Gantt)
– Budget
– Stakeholder/ Communication Map
– Roles & Responsibilities
What are the activities involved in the executing and monitoring phase of project management?
– Progress and Changes
– Stakeholder Communication
– Information
What do you do during the Executing/ Monitoring and Controlling phase?
– Updating WBS, financials
– Documenting
– Reporting
– Filing/ Housecleaning
What are the key deliverables at the end of a research project?
Questionnaires, data, analysis/publication, description of process including key decisions
Activities
Questionnaire development, human subjects, data collection, data management
Stakeholders
– Principal investigators (PIs) – Research team – Research subjects – Partner organization – Beneficiaries – Donors – The audience for our results – Potential future implementers
Resource (constriants)
– Personnel • RAs (Field and University-based) • RMs • Field Support teams • Staff Leadership • PIs – Infrastructure – Assets – Money – Time
Where do we need to think about quality?
- Experimental integrity
- Data
- Respect for Human Subjects
- Transparency/ Reproducibility
Where do we need to think about risks?
- Partner Delays
- Scope changes
- Acts of Nature (or Man)
- Surveyor fraud
What things might change on a Research Project?
– Scope
– Time
– Money
Project Log - how to use
• When emails with important decisions come in,
reference those emails and summarize in the project log
• Many decisions come as responses to your questions. So place your questions (perhaps from emails) into that log.
• As you create files, think about where their description would fit in the project log, and use that as a guide for where to file them
• Use to reorganize files
What does a Gantt chart have that is not typically included in a WBS?
‘Dependencies’ that link tasks together
Stakeholder matrix
Enlists how someone concerned with the project might potentially help or harm the project & documents who all are involved in the project indicating what their interest is
RACI Chart
Helps project personnel identify who is accountable for each task in the project; Ensures that the project keeps interested parties informed of the progress as required
The place to document all major decisions is:
The Project Log
What must you do if the intervention changes significantly in both content and duration?
Any changes in the content and duration of the project must first be documented clearly in the project log. Then, updated your WBS/Gantt, timelines and financials accordingly. Any major changes in the intervention require IRB approval and finally stakeholders need to be updated as per the RACI chart.
