Project Management 3351 - Midterm Flashcards
1
Q
project management is an application of skills that ensures a project is delivered: (3 things)
A
on time, on budget, to specs
2
Q
What 4 areas define a project?
A
temporary, defined purpose, time frame, resources
3
Q
What are the 3 constraints in “The Triple Constraint”
A
scope, schedule, budget
4
Q
What are ITPM roles?
A
project stakeholders, project manager, project sponsor, technical experts, subject matter experts
5
Q
What is the difference between a project portfolio and program?
A
portfolio - collection of project managed collectively to align with organization strategy
program - collection of projects within a portfolio whose activities are coordinated
6
Q
Which of the following is considered a major attribute?
- deliverable
- lessons learned
- stage gate
- time frame
- baseline plan
A
time frame
7
Q
which of the following variables an influence selection of IT projects?
- culture
- environment
- politics
- strategy
- all
A
all
8
Q
the triple constraint suggest that stakeholders and sponsors must communicate effectively?
A
false
9
Q
the triple constraint refers to:
A
scope, budget, schedule
10
Q
having subject matter experts on the dev team is better than teaching technical experts the subject matter
A
true
11
Q
assumptions are what help determine scope, schedule and budget when assessing project risk
A
true
12
Q
what is a “challenged project”?
A
a project that was completed over budget, over schedules and did not meet all specifications
13
Q
what is an “impaired project”?
A
a project that is cancelled before completion
14
Q
according to the CHAOS study most IT project are completed on time but over budget?
A
false
15
Q
what are the two main aspects of the socio-technical approach?
A
- business and organizational aspects must be addressed as well (not just technical)
- end users and stakeholders should be involved early to ensure a vested interested in the project
16
Q
what is the premise behind the value-driven approach to it projects?
A
decision whether or not to invest in IT should be based on the value its completion adds to the organization
17
Q
what defines the project management approach to IT projects
A
predefined processes, resource control, communication systems in place
18
Q
what is the knowledge management approach?
A
lessons learned, best practices, shared knowlege
19
Q
According to the CHAOS study how many projects were cancelled before completion? complete but challenged?
A
31%, 53%
20
Q
what are the common phases of the project life cycle ?
A
define project goal, plan project, execute project plan, close project, evaluate project
21
Q
what is the deliverable for the define project goal phase?
A
a business case
22
Q
the project charter clarifies the projects goal and objectives in terms of what?
A
scope, schedule, budget, quality objectives
23
Q
what is the deliverable for the project charter phase?
A
project charter & plan
24
Q
what are the deliverable for the execute and control the project phase?
A
requirement doc, software testing doc, design doc, software system
25
what is the deliverable for the close project phase?
final report and presentation
26
what are the four areas of focus for the evaluate project success phase?
first) project manager - what went well with the team, what could have been done better
second) evaluation between pm and individual team members
third) outside party review of project, pm and project team
fourth) project evaluation in terms of value added
27
what are phase exits, stage gates and kill points?
phase-end reviews of key deliverables, with immediate actions resulting from them
28
what is fast tracking?
starting next phase before approval is obtained for current phase
29
what are the system development life cycle stages?
requirement elicitation, analysis, system design, object design, implementation, testing, delivery, maintenance
30
what is the SDLC?
software design life cycle
31
what phase does the SDLC fall into within the gerater project life cycle?
execute and control the project
32
how are project management processes and product-oriented processes connected?
project management processes support all activities involved in the product oriented process
33
what happens when only project management processes are focused on?
the projects scope is not well defined and a quality system is difficult to achieve due to lack of expertise
34
what happens when only the product oriented processes are focused on?
work isn't completed on time, budget isn't set, and specifications are forgotten or not met
35
what are the 5 PMBOK project management process groups?
initiating, planning, executing, controlling, closing
36
what are the 7 processes of PRINCE2?
start project, initiate project (more detail), direct project, control stage, manage project delivery, manage stage boundaries, close project
37
what are the 7 PRINCE2 themes to aid with project goal achievement?
business case, organization, risk, quality, planning, change, describe the progress
38
what are the 7 PRINCE2 Universal guiding principles?
business case driven, product focus, lessons learned, manage the stage, adapt to project, manage by exception, accountability
39
what are the four stages of learning cycles?
1. understand and frame problem
2. plan
3. act
4. reflect and learn
40
what 3 criteria are used to assess team learning?
speed, depth, breadth (impact)
41
IT project methodology provides a strategic level plan for managing and controlling IT projects?
True
42
a business case is a deliverable that outline a projects goal and several alternatives or options
true
43
project management processes include scope, schedule, budget and quality
false
44
the sdlc is a deliverable from the project charter
false
45
the project charter is a key deliverable for the second phase
true
46
scope and schedule are examples of
project management objectives
47
the correct sequence of the generic project life cycle is:
definition, planning, execution, closing, evaluation of the project
48
which of the following is not a characteristic of prototyping?
- iterative
- deployed when developing high volume transaction processing system
- deployed when requirements of new system are not well understood
- RAD approach
deployed when...
49
what does MOV stand for?
measurable organizational value
50
what 4 pillars support the MOV?
scope, schedule, budget, quality
51
what is the process for developing the MOV?
- identify area of impact
- identify desired value of the project
- develop appropriate metric
- set time frame
- verify a get agreement from project stakeholders
- summarize MOV
52
what are some questions to ask when identifying the desired value of the project?
better? faster? cheaper? do more?
53
the MOV should be adjusted at each phase of a project to align with execution
false
54
the MOV should explicitly name what tech the project will require
false
55
a projects scope is a list of resources available to the projects team
false
56
project management processes recommended by PMBOK include scope, schedule, budget, and quality
false
57
under PRINCE2 the project board is accountable for project's success or failure
true
58
what is the purpose of a business case?
to provide senior management with all information needed to make a decision regarding project funding
59
what are the 3 steps to considering risk?
identification, assessment, response
60
what is included in total cost of ownership?
direct costs (upfront)
ongoing costs
indirect costs
61
what are examples of benefits of ownership?
increasing high value work, improving accuracy and efficiency, improving decision making, improving customer service, etc
62
what is the focus of most financial models related to projects?
cash flow
63
what is the formula for payback
initial investment / net cash flow
64
what is the ROI formula
total expected profit / total expected costs
65
does a business case provide a project budget?
false
66
a business case provides a feasibility analysis
true
67
a business case is the key deliverable for which phase?
1
68
early identification of project team is a reason for recruiting a core team to develop the business case
false
69
enhanced credibility is a reason for recruiting a core team to develop the business case
true
70
alignment with organization goals is a reason for recruiting a core team to develop the business case
true
71
a shared sense of ownership is a reason for recruiting a core team to develop the business case
true
72
access to real costs is a reason for recruiting a core team to develop the business case
true
73
determining whether employees will be able to adapt to planned change is __________ feasibility
organizational
74
determining whether the proposed solution will work within the software architecture is a measure of _______ feasibility
technical
75
TCO includes only direct/upfront costs and ongoing expenditures
false
76
feasibility focuses on what can go wrong and what must go right
false
77
feasibility focuses on whether or not an alternative is worth pursuing
true
78
TBO should address the benefits of an alternative over its entire useful life
true
79
all cash flows over the useful life of a project must be included in payback analysis
false
80
payback analysis is often a failure due to what consideration that is failed to be taken into account/
the time value of money
81
npv takes into account all relevant cash flows and a companys irr
true
82
riskier project alternatives has lower breakeven points
false
83
breakeven is always expressed in currency
false
84
a scoring model uses weights and scores based on people judgements to evaluate qualitative items
true
85
each phase ought to have at least one deliverable at the end
true
86
a baseline plan defines what?
the scope, schedule and budget of a project
87
a project that increases market share impacts what area of an organization
strategic
88
a project that increases profit impacts what area of a business
financial
89
a system developed using the projet life cycle methodology is called a legacy system
false
90
a tangible and verifiable product of work is called a _____
deliverable
91
what are the differences between a project charter and a project plan?
a project charter acts as a sort of contract between the pm and the organization sponsoring the project - it outlines project infrastructure and resources, summarizes budget and schedule
a project plan is a tactical plan detailing how the project resources will be used in order to develop a budget and schedule
92
a project charter serves as a ________ between _______ and ________
contract, project manager, projet sponsor
93
a project charter documentes a projects _____, summarized the details of _________, show explicit ________ to the project
MOV, the project plan, committment
94
things that should be included in charter:
identification, stakeholders, description, mov, scope, schedule, budget, quality issues, resources, assumptions, risk, administration, acceptance, approval, references, terminology
95
a project charter and project plan make up the projects strategic plan
false
96
the project sponsor is responsible for creating the project charter
false
97
the project charter and project plan should be delopped side by side (at the same time
true
98
the project charter + project plan are a _____ plan?
tactical
99
things that must go right in order for the project plan to be completed are what?
assumptions
100
a kickoff meeting is held to develop the project plan
false
101
what is a baseline plan
an approved project plan
102
what are the benefits of a kick off meeting?
bring closure to planning phase, signal initiation of next phase, energizes stakeholders
103
why must the MOV be finalized during the project planning phase?
because any changes afterwards will require the plan to be fundamentally revised
104
define "scope"
product or services to be provided by the project - includes all project deliverables
determines what is part of the projects team work and what is not
105
what is the baseline plan used for primarily?
a benchmark for success
106
what are the steps in the scope management process?
initiation, planning, definition, verification, change control
107
what is project oriented scope?
deliverables that support the management and development of the project itself
108
what are product oriented scope?
deliverables that support the actual application system solution
109
what are the headers for a deliverable definition table?
deliverable, structure, standards, approval needed by, resources required
110
what can be developed once deliverables have been defined through a DDT?
a deliverable structure chart (DSC)
111
what does the deliverable structure chart define?
detailed work packages
112
what is a context dataflow diagram (DFD)
a modeling tool used to refine scope boundaries - high level representation of a system depicting all inflows and outflows of data and information between system and external entities
113
what are the items on the scope verification checklist
MOV, deliverables, quality standards, milestones, review and acceptance
114
what is scope grope?
scope poorly defined - can't get a handle of the scope of the product
115
what is scope creep?
adding to the scope without considering impact on resources
116
what is scope leap?
huge sudden changes in scope
117
a projects scope is a list of resources?
false
118
scope planning is an area of scope management, where authority and resources commit to developing the scope management plan
FALSE
119
scope change control protects the scope boundary form expanding
true
120
no new features can be addded once the scope has been officialy defined
false
121
scope statement documents clients needs and expectations
true
122
the scope includes both what is and is not part of the pojrect teams work
true
123
project scope is a statement detailing the features and functions that must support the it solution
false
124
project scope is statement detailing the deliverables and activities that support the it solution
true
125
actors are the people or external systems that are elements of a DFD
false
126
context level data flow diagrams are an example of a __________ oriented scope definition tool
product
127
a tangible verifiable work product is called a?
deliverable
128
a significant event or achievement is called a?
milestone
129
what is the risk of too little details in WBS
overly optimistic schedule and buget
130
what ist he risk of too much detail in WBS
micromanagement
131
what six characteristics must an activity possess to be considered complete?
measurable status, bounded, deliverable, time/cost can be estimated, acceptable duration, independent work assigments
132
what is one way to ensure the the WBS has the approriate level of detail?
involve the people who do the work in the development
133
the WBS is subdivided into smaller components called ?
work packages
