Project Management Overview Flashcards
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)
The PMI publication that defines widely accepted project management practices. The CAPM and the PMP exam are based on this book.
Business value
A quantifiable return on investment. The return can be tangible, such as equipment, money, or market share. The return can also be intangible, such as brand recognition, trademarks, and reputation.
Application areas
The areas of expertise, industry, or function where a project is centered. Examples of application areas include architecture, IT, health care, and manufacturing.
Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
A person who has slightly less project management experience than a PMP, but who has qualified for and then passed the CAPM examination.
Cultural and social environment
Defines how a project affects people and how those people may affect the project. Cultural and social environments include the economic, educational, ethical, religious, demographic, and ethnic composition of the people affected by the project.
Deliverable
A product, service, or result created by a project. Projects can have multiple deliverables.
General management skills
These include the application of accounting, procurement, sales and marketing, contracting, manufacturing, logistics, strategic planning, human resource management, standards and regulations, and information technology
International and political environment
The consideration of the local and international laws, languages, communication challenges, time zone differences, and other non-collocated issues that affect a project’s ability to progress.
Interpersonal skills
The ability to interact, lead, motivate, and manage people
Iron Triangle of Project Management
A triangle with the characteristics of time, cost, and scope. Time, cost, and scope each constitute one side of the triangle; if any side of the Iron Triangle is not in balance with the other sides, the project will suffer. The Iron Triangle of Project Management is also known as the Triple Constraints of Project Management, as all projects are constrained by time, cost, and scope.
Physical environment
The physical structure and surroundings that affect a project’s work.
Process groups
A collection of related processes in project management. There are five process groups and 49 project management processes. The five process groups are Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing
Program
A collection of related projects working in unison toward a common deliverable. PgMP works with project managers to achieve benefits. this mini-project will not come to fruition if it doesn’t succeed.
Progressive elaboration
The process of gathering project details. This process uses deductive reasoning, logic, and a series of information gathering techniques to identify details about a project, product, or solution. example involves steps: will elaborate as more information comes in
- idea or concept
- formulate the idea
- business case
- feasibility study
- project
Project
A temporary endeavor to create a unique product, service, or result. The end result of a project is also called a deliverable.
Project benefits management plan
A documented created and maintained by the project sponsor and the project manager. The project benefits management plan defines what benefits the project will create, when the benefits will be realized, and how the benefits will be measured.
- target benefits: such as expected tangible and intangible value
- strategic alignment: the project benefits align with the business strategies
- timeframe: benefits by phase, short term, long term , and ongoing
- metrics: the measures to be used to show benefits realized, direct measures, and indirect measures
- assumptions: the factors expected to be in place or to be in evidence
- risks: the risks for realization of benefits
Project business case
Created and maintained by the project sponsor and shows the financial validity of why a project is chartered and launched within the organization. Typically, the project business case is created before the launch of the project and may be used as a go/no-go decision point
- economic feasibility study: can we afford the project
- validity of benefits the project will create: create value or not
- future project management decisions and actions
- maintained through the project
- project sponsor accountable for the development and maintenance
- project manager responsible for providing recommendations
- business case could be at the program level
Project environment
The location and culture of the environment where the project work will reside. The project environment includes the social, economic, and environmental variables the project must work with or around.
- physical location
- factors that influence the project like working condition, weather, constraints
Project Management Institute (PMI)
An organization of project management professionals from around the world, supporting and promoting the careers, values, and concerns of project managers.
Project life cycle
The phases that make up the project. Project life cycles are unique to the type of work being performed and are not universal to all projects. however, project management life cycle is always IPECC initialing, planning, executing, controlling, closing
Project management office (PMO)
A central office that oversees all projects within an organization or within a functional department. A PMO supports the project manager through software, training, templates, policies, communication, dispute resolution, and other services.
- support project managers
- manage shared resources across the PMO
- coaching, mentoring, and training
- conducting project audits
- developing and managing processes and procedures
- facilitating communications across projects
Project Management Professional (PMP)
A person who has proven project management experience and has qualified for and then passed the PMP examination.
Project portfolio management
The management and selection of projects that support an organization’s vision and mission. It is the balance of project priority, risk, reward, and return on investment. This is a senior management process.
Subprojects
A smaller project managed within a larger, parent project. Subprojects are often contracted work whose deliverable allows the larger project to progress.
Triple Constraints of Project Management
Also known as the Iron Triangle. This theory posits that time, cost, and scope are three constraints that every project has
Work performance data
Raw data, observations, and measurements about project components. Work performance data is gathered and stored in the project management information system
Work performance information
Work performance information is the processed and analyzed data that will help the project manager make project decisions.
Work performance reports
Work performance reports is the formatted communication of work performance information. Work performance reports communicate what’s happening in the project through status reports, memos, dashboards, or other modalities.
project initiation context
- regulatory, legal, or social requirements
- stakeholder requests
- technological advances
- create, improve, or fix products, processes, or services
what is project management
application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to meet the project requirements. there are 49 project management processes and five project management process groups: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring & controlling, closing
portfolio management
one big folder that holds all investments; programs, projects, and organizational projects. the goal is to maximize return on investment. considerations include management and oversight:
- scope
- change
- planning
- management
- success factors
- monitoring
PMO office types
three types:
- supportive: consultative role, templates, training
- controlling: compliance through a framework, specific forms and templates, governance
- directive: directly manages the project as the PMO owns and controls the project life cycle
organizational project management (OPM)
coordinate, manage, and control projects, programs, and portfolio management in a uniform, consistent effort. consistently deliver better.
- strategy goals and tactics
- portfolio value decisions
- program projects result delivery
- operations business value realization
project-based organizations
income from each project, structure differently. ex construction
project mangement and organizational governance
rules, framework, structure, adhere to
projects and organizational strategy
sync with each other, project must support strategy
tailoring the processes
- choose what processes should be used on a project
- what depth the processes should be used
- not every process is needed on every project
- the larger the project, the more processes are likely needed
predictive life cycles
- plan-drive
- waterfall approach
- predicts the project life cycle
- changes to scope are tightly controlled
iterative & incremental life cycles
- phases repeated through iterations
- iterations create deliverables
- detailed scope is elaborated for each iteration
- changes to the project scope are expected
- increments are little by little versus iterative go through to get final
adaptive life cycles
- change driven
- agile project management
- rapid iterations or project work
- backlog of requirements
- changes to the project scope are expected
- don’t know evreything upfront, adaptive to change
business documents
- project business case
- project charter
- project management plan
- benefits management plan
phase gates
before entering a new phase, a review of the phase is done before moving to the next phase that is called phase gates
business documents for project performance
- phase gates within the project
- actual performance compared to business documents
- decisions of comparison include:
- continue to the next phase
- continue to the next phase with modification
- end the project, or continue to complete project
- remain in the phase or
- repeat the phase or elements of it
business case: business needs
- what is prompting the need for action
- statement documenting the business problem or opportunity to be addressed including the value
- stakeholders affected
- identification of the scope
business case: situation analysis
- required to be fulfilled to address the problem or opportunity
- desired to address the problem or opportunity
- optional not essential
business case: recommendation for a project
- do nothing
- do the minimum
- do more than the minimum
project benefits management plan: document used to define
- create the project benefits
- maximize the project benefits
- sustain the project benefits
integration management areas
- develop project charter
- develop project management plan
- direct and manage the project work
- manage project knowledge
- monitor and control project work
- perform integrated change control
- close project or phase
- the gear of project management
scope management areas
- plan scope management
- collect requirements
- define scope
- create wbs
- validate scope
- control scope
schedule management areas
- plan schedule management
- define activities
- sequence activities
- estimate activity durations
- develop schedule
- control schedule
cost management areas
- plan cost management
- estimate costs
- determine budget
- control costs
quality management areas
- plan quality managment
- manage quality
- control quality
resource management areas
- plan resource management
- estimate activity resources
- acquire resources
- develop team
- manage team
- control resources
communication management areas
- plan communications management
- manage communications
- monitor communications
risk management areas
- plan risk management
- identify risks
- perform qualitative risk analysis
- perform quantitative risk analysis
- plan risk responses
- implement risk responses
- monitor risks
procurement management areas
- plan procurement management
- conduct procurements
- control procurements
stakeholders management areas
- identify stakeholders
- plan stakeholder engagement
- manage stakeholder engagement
- monitor stakeholder engagement
enterprise environmental factors (EEFs)
originate from outside of project and often outside of the enterprise. influence the project management approach.
organizational process assets (OPAs)
created for projects and by experience. can influence the project management approach
organizational systems
organizational systems play a big significant role in the life cycle of project. describe how work gets done in that structure
