Project Management Flashcards
What are 4 types of work described in the Phoenix Project?
The four types of work in the Phoenix project are Business projects IT projects Changes (affect overall system) Unplanned work (bad)
What characteristics do companies with low turnover have?
Companies with low characteristics consist of
Jelled teams
Sense of pride
Quality
What is methodological weight of a project?
The methodological weight of a project consist of the Number of activities and Tightness of deadlines
Describe diseconomies of scale
The diseconomies of scale states that as project scope expands, cost per deliverable increases
Describe Phoenix Project’s Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints.
Goldratts Theory of Constraints states to Improve bottleneck, only
What key concern does critical chain scheduling account for that critical path scheduling does not?
Critical chain scheduling uses Buffers to account for delays
What is the cardinal rule for meetings a la Drucker?
Druckers cardinal rule for meetings is Don’t waste people’s time
What are the basic requirements for effective human relations a la Drucker?
According to Drucker, the basic requirements for effective human relations is Communication Teamwork Self-development Co-development
What are 2-4 of Ury’s five-step program for negotiation?
Brainstorm for value
Standardize value
Evaluate BATNA
Describe the difference between t-shirt sizing and story points.
Cost and benefits
Costs
Meyer argues that Agile YAGNI principle conflicts with Agile emphasis on embracing change. Explain the argument.
Anything not needed is goldplatting. This isn’t flexible a la Agile.
What are the types of project retrospectives a la Barrett?
Barret states that the type of project retrospectives are Social and Metric
How can one manage processes?
Bach states that process can be managed via Experiments
and Past projects
What makes a good QA?
Good quality assurance consist of Feasible Measureable Testable Traceable
What is the difference between a leader and a manager?
The difference between a leader and a manager is a leader sets goals and a manager sets tasks.
How can one manage time a la Drucker?
According to Drucker, one manages time by recording it, managing it and consolidating time.
What is the most powerful word in a negotiation a la Charles Voss?
According to Charles Voss, the most powerful word in negotiation is fair because of emotions.
What are Sutherland’s definitions of done?
According to Sutherland, the definition of done is that the project has met the requirements and tested acceptance.
Yourdon describes five attributes of a death march project. Name two.
Some attributes of the death march project are Compressing schedule < 50%
Downsizing due to new tool
What are the essential elements in a contract.
The essential elements in a contract are
Offer
Consideration
Acceptance
What activity is the second largest category of systems development work, taking 30% of a large project’s time a la Capers Jones?
Paperwork takes 30% of a large projects time
Name some Thomsett negotiation games?
Negotiation games are Double dummy split,Reverse double and Gotcha.
Name, and briefly describe, the types of proposals that Ury recommends formulating prior to a negotiation.
Ury recommends formulation proposals that are minimal, acceptable and ideal prior to a negotiation.
What questions can one ask regarding wasted time a la Drucker?
According to Drucker one can ask the following questions with regards to time.
Am I wasting my time? [delegate]
Am I wasting subordinates time?
How does one actively listen a la Ury?
According the Ury, one must paraphrase to actively listen.
Describe base-rate fallacy.
Base-rate fallacy is High detection rate and low false alarms are a difficult happy medium
What, a la Lewis, is the single most important element of any effective communication?
According to Lewis the single most important element of any effective communication is Empathy
How can a project’s methodological weight increase a la Cockburn?
Cockburn states that a projects methodological weight increases with more tools and more processes
Describe Meyer’s definitions of done.
Meyers definition of done is that a project meets requirements and acceptance testing
Describe a well-rounded employee a la Drucker?
A well rounded employee is a myth; strong people have strong weaknesses
2 mediocrities don’t equal 1 strength
How should project properties be converted to estimates of required effort a la McConnell; to trump guestimation?
Project properties can be converted by Revisiting Counting Computing Judging
What situations led to opportunities a la Drucker?
According to Drucker, the situations that led to opportunities are Technology, Innovation and Demographics
What is the three-point estimation a la McConnell?
According to McConnel the three point estimation are
Worst-case estimate
Expected estimate
Best-case estimate
What are the goals of a software project a la Cockburn?
According to Cockburn the goals of a software project are Deliverables and maintenance.
How does one deflect attacks a la Ury?
To deflect attacks ignore and reframe
Describe Phoenix Project’s Goldratt’s WIP.
WIP: wasted capital until done
What are the essential elements in a contract.
The three essential elements in a contract are offer, consideration and acceptance.
What must be known for a decision to be put into practice a la Drucker?
According to Drucker the following must be known for putting a decision into practice. Who must know Who must do What action What result
Why are teams formed a la DeMarco and Lister?
Teams are formed for Alignment according to DeMarco and Lister
What are ways to effect change a la DeMarco and Lister?
A few ways to effect change are Celebrating old as help and making failure feel ok
What are the essential habits of the mind for executives to become effective a la Drucker?
According to Drucker the essential habits of the mind for executives to become more effective are Schedule Contribute Strengthen Prioritize Decide
What element in production is targeted a la Goldratt?
The element in production that is targeted is the Work Center → it dictates output of entire system
Describe Phoenix Project’s takt time.
Takt time is the time it takes to meet customer demand
Name some contract torts.
Some examples of contract torts are Copyright,Trademark
and Defamation
How can one throttle a bottleneck a la Erik of The Phoenix Project?
To throttle a bottleneck Identify the constraint Exploit it Subordinate it Evaluate Find next constraint
How does one determine WBS granularity a la Burress?
To determine WBS granularity use
Summaries are for requirements
Leaves are for summaries
What are the primary and secondary goals of a project a la Cockburn?
According to Cockburn, the primary and secondary goals of a project are the Delivery of software and Set up new projects
What are the questions that are to be asked of each participant in the daily Scrum meeting?
Questions that should be asked at each Scrum meeting are:
What’s been done
What’s due
What’s wrong
What Scrum meetings are time-limited?
Scrum meetings that are time limited are planning, sprints and retrospective.
What is a false challenge project a la DeMarco and Lister?
A false challenge project is setting goals to get project finished cheap and quick
What are the types of WBSs?
The three types of work breakdown structure are
Process – breaks down a process
Product – breaks down a product
Hybrid – process produces a product
Characterize Meyer’s assessment of Agile focus on minimalist software development.
Focus on productivity more-so than quality
How does one “go to the balcony” a la Ury?
One goes to the balcony by pausing and rewinding
What is the difference between system 1 and system 2 thinking a la Weinschenk?
System 1 thinking is Effortless browsing → provide error checking
System 2 thinking Questionnaires → use difficult font
Describe Phoenix Project’s 3 ways.
The three ways in the Phoenix project are
Maximizing flow
Amplifying feedback loops
Continual improvement
What are opportunity cost?
Opportunity cost equal missed opportunities
4 strategies for managing threats?
Avoid - change plan to eliminate threads
Mitigate - change plan to reduce threat’s impact/probability
Transfer - shift some or all impact to another party
Accept - do nothing special
4 strategies for managing opportunities?
Exploit - change plan to ensure opportunity is realized
Enhance - change plan to increase probability
Share - allocate some or all of the benefit to another party
Accept - do nothing special
McConnell’s definition of:
Estimate
A statement about the likelihood of achieving a target at a specific level of quality with a specific amount of resources by a specific date
McConnells’s “Three Points” estimation
For each task, develop: a worse, an expected, and a best case estimation of effort
What are all methodologies based on?
All methodologies are based on fear
Name some personality types
Grenade • Think they know it all • Yes person • Maybe person • Tank • No person • Martyr • Whiner
5 styles of leadership
Authoritarian • Consensus • Delegation • Consultation • Democracy
How are W-models different from V-model development?
W = waterfall V = verification & validation
In V model Development and testing is done parallelly , while in Waterfall Model Development is done and after development Testing is Done
What 3 questions are asked at a Daily scrum meeting?
What have you done since last Scrum?
What do you plan to do for next Scrum?
What is impeding you in your work?
