Project Management Professional (PMP) Flashcards
Preparation & study to successfully complete PMP certification exam
RACI Chart
A common type of responsibility assignment matrix that uses responsible, accountable, consult and inform statuses to define involvement of stakeholders in project activities.
Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)
RASIC - Responsible, Accountable, Support, Informed, Consulted
Virtual Teams
Need:
Servant Leadership
A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong.
Team Charter
Team ground rules/norms.
A document that records the team values, agreements, and operating guidelines, as well as establishing clear expectations regarding acceptable behavior by project team members. Meetings times, frequency and forums.
Conflict Resolution Methods
Avoid, Force/Direct (Win-Lose), Compromise/Reconcile (Lose-Lose), Smooth/Accommodate, Collaborate/Problem Solve (Win-Win)
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
A contract between a service provider (internal or external) and the end user that defines the level of service expected from the service provider.
Go-Live Black-Outs
A ‘blackout period’ is a time when no systems are available to users to process standard transactions. Any urgent transactions that have to be processed before systems are live again must be prepared offline and entered into the system once it is available.
Lessons Learned Register
A project document used to record knowledge gained during a project so that it can be used in the current project and entered in the lessons learned repository.
*This should be a continuous process, not just conducted at the end of the project.
MoSCoW Analysis
A four-step approach to prioritizing which project requirements will provide the best return on investment (ROI).
Must Have
Should Have
Could Have
Will Not/Won’t Have
The o’s were added to make the acronym more pronounceable.
100 Points Method
Participants apply their 100 points on the options/items deemed most important. Options/items with highest point totals move forward.
Roman Voting
Another set of hand signals that can be used in projects is called “Roman voting”—everyone votes simultaneously. Thumbs up signify a “yes” (or agreement), while thumbs down mean a “no” (or disagreement). Then, count the number of thumbs up and thumbs down.
Planning Poker
Planning poker, also known as “scrum poker” and “pointing poker”, is a gamified technique that development teams use to guess the effort of project management tasks. These estimations are based on the entire group’s input and consensus, making them more engaging and accurate than other methods.
Retrospective
The Agile method for reviewing lessons learned. A regular check on effectiveness of quality processes, root cause analysis, evaluate trial processes.
3 Point Estimate
Traditional: Use hours of Effort. Most optimistic, most pessimistic, most likely. Take average of the three.
Agile: Story Points (Avoids absolute time estimates) uses relative terms (i.e. small, medium, large, extra large) and compare to known value (i.e. hour, day, week, month)
Way of Working (WoW)
Agile method to determine way of working by the situation.
XP Metaphor
In agile methods, especially eXtreme Programming, a metaphor of the project is developed to help guide a team toward a good architecture and a clearer way to discuss the structure of the software with the client.
Paired programming. Two individuals working on a single task/activity. Leads to higher quality and knowledge transfer/sharing.
Sprint
A sprint is a short, time-boxed period/iteration when a scrum team works to complete a set amount of work. Sprints are at the very heart of scrum and agile methodologies, and getting sprints right will help your agile team ship better software with fewer headaches.
T-Shaped Skillsets
Cross-functional skills across team members improves team’s efficiency and improve likelihood of achieving objectives.
Vertical Bar - Depth of Knowledge
Horizontal Bar - Breadth of Knowledge
Sprint Planning/Iteration Planning
Sprint planning is an event in scrum that kicks off the sprint. The purpose of sprint planning is to define what can be delivered in the sprint and how that work will be achieved. Sprint planning is done in collaboration with the whole scrum team.
Sprint Review (Demo)
The Sprint Review is a working session and the Scrum Team should avoid limiting it to a presentation. The Sprint Review is the second to last event of the Sprint and is timeboxed to a maximum of four hours for a one-month Sprint. For shorter Sprints, the event is usually shorter.
Fibonacci Sequencing
The Fibonacci sequence is one popular scoring scale for estimating agile story points. In this sequence, each number is the sum of the previous two in the series. The Fibonacci sequence goes as follows: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89… and so on.
Pre-Assignment Tools
Attitudinal Surveys, Specific Assessments, Structured Interviews, Ability Tests, Focus Groups
Stakeholder
An individual, group or organization that may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity or outcome of a project, program or portfolio.
Physical Resources
Material, equipment, facilities, rooms, and/or accesses required for a project.
Ground Rules
Expectations regarding acceptable behavior by project team members.
Brainstorming
A method/technique for ideation.
Resources Calendars
Identify working days, shifts, and when specific resources are made available to the project. this includes both human and physical resources.
Expert Judgement
judgement provided based upon expertise in an application area, knowledge area, discipline, industry, etc.
Kano Model
An approach to prioritizing features on a product roadmap based on the degree to which they are likely to satisfy customers.
Basic Performance Excitement Indifferent Reverse
Paired Comparison Analysis
Compare every option against each other. Effective when dealing with a small number of options/items.
Fist of Five
Fist to five, also called fist of five, is a technique used by agile software development teams to poll team members and help achieve consensus. Fist to five is similar to thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs sideways.
Polling/Voting
Voting is a collective decision-making technique and an assessment process having multiple alternatives with an expected outcome in the form of future actions. These techniques can be used to generate, classify, and priori-tize product requirements.
Dot Voting
As the Scrum Master, you give every member of the team a set number of votes (typically three), called dots. Solutions are written on individual note cards and placed on a table. The individual team members will take their votes, in the form of a dot, and place it on a note card they favor.
SWOT Analysis
A study undertaken by an organization to identify its internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as its external opportunities and threats.
Story Points
Story points in Agile are abstract measurements that developers use instead of hours. Points are relative values, so a story with a value of four is twice as hard as a story with a value of two. The actual numbers don’t matter — you could assign values between 1,000,000 and 5,000,000 if you want.
Nominal Group Technique (NGT)
A method to analyze second-pass ideas during brainstroming.
Project Charter
A document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.
*A project does NOT exist until a project charter is approved. (PMI definition)
Scrum
Scrum is a framework that helps teams work together. … Often thought of as an agile project management framework, scrum describes a set of meetings, tools, and roles that work in concert to help teams structure and manage their work.
Product/Vision Box Exercise
In this exercise, teams create the physical “box” that sells their idea—whether that idea will ultimately become a tangible product or not. By imagining the package for their idea, the teams make decisions about important features and other aspects of their vision that are more difficult to articulate.
Daily Standup (Daily Scrum)
A daily stand-up meeting is a short, time-boxed team status check, held every day, usually at a set time. The Scrum framework calls the daily stand-up a ‘Daily Scrum’.
Kanban Board
An agile project management tool designed to help visualize work, limit work-in-progress, and maximize efficiency (or flow). It can help both agile and DevOps teams establish order in their daily work. Kanban boards use cards, columns, and continuous improvement to help technology and service teams commit to the right amount of work, and get it done!
Japanese for “Visual Signal”.
Module 1 Topic A: Build A Team
What to Know:
Identify Stakeholders; Create a Stakeholder Register; Create a Skills List; Develop a RACI Chart; Understand Pre-Assignment Tools; Develop a Resource Management Plan; Manage Virtual Teams; Assign Project Responsibilities; Ensure Knowledge Transfer
PMBOK Knowledge Areas (10) Mneumonic
Integration Integrating Scope Scope and Schedule Time will Cost Cost our Quality Quality Resources HR to Communications Communicate with Risk Risk of Procurement Procuring Stakeholder Stakeholders
Module 1 Topic B: Define Team Ground Rules
What to Know:
The PMI Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct (Responsibility, Respect, Fairness, Honesty); How to Create a Team Charter; Team Charter Components; Negotiating Skills, Manage Conflict, Manage Team Communications, Guidelines for Managing & Rectifying Ground Rule Violations
Ethical Decision Making Framework (EDMF)
Module 1 Topic C: Negotiate Project Agreements
What to Know:
Types of Agreements (Contracts, MOU/As, SLAs, SOW, SOS, Verbal); Service Level Agreements; Prioritization Techniques; Performance Reporting; Resource Calendars; “Go-Live Black-Out times”
Module 1 Topic D: Empower Team Members & Negotiate Project Agreements
What to Know:
Team Decision Making Tools; How to Perform a SWOT Analysis; Estimating Concepts; How Task Accountability will be Tracked & Managed; How to Conduct a Retrospective; Levels of Decision-making Authority
Module 1 Topic E: Train Team Members & Stakeholders
What to Know:
Training & Mentoring Plan; Training Gap Analysis; Training Calendar & Budget; Training Delivery Method; Pairing & Mentoring; Types of Training Options; Certifications; Baseline & Post-training Assessment
Engage & Support Virtual Teams
What to Know:
Collaboration Technology; Assessment of Virtual Team Member Engagement; Know What the PM can do to make Virtual Team Effective; Communications Plan; Variance Analysis; Timeboxed Meetings
Module 1 Topic G: Build Shared Understanding About a Project
What to Know:
The Vision Statement & Project charter; Components of the Project Charter; Product Box Technique; Basic Agile Ceremonies; Kickoff Meetings; The Benefit of T-shaped Skills; Techniques to Gain Consensus; Agile Estimating Techniques; Planning Poker
Communication Channels Calculation
N*(N-1)/2=Number of Communication Channels
*Don’t for get to include your self
Generalized Specialist
The agile community calls team members who are capable of working in a variety of roles generalized specialists. A generalized specialist is not a jack of all trades. It is an individual with deep knowledge in a particular specialization who also has learned to be productive in other team roles.
Organizational Process Assets
Those assets/things that help you (i.e. templates, list of stakeholders from previous projects, etc.)
Enterprise Environmental Factors
Those things that get in your way (i.e. regulatory requirements, policies, industry guidelines, availability of resources, etc)
*You just have to live with these
Definition of Done
The Definition of Done (DoD) represents the organization’s formal definition of quality for all Product Backlog Items (PBIs). If an organization does not have one, the Scrum team should set its own. The Definition of Done is the commitment contained within the Increment artifact.
Clearly defined acceptance criteria but not necessarily just for a specific deliverable. Can be specified for the project, releases, iterations and user stories.
Milestone
A milestone is the planned completion of a significant event in the project. A milestone is not the completion of every task in the project.
A point in time; Interim before project complete/deliverable(s) received.
Escape Defect
During testing, the developers identify defects or bugs that can be addressed by adding them to the Scrum Backlog. After the software product has been released and the user finds a defect of the software, then this defect will be called an escaped defect.
An Agile term that puts any defect in the customers hands.
Project Manager Powers
1) Formal Authority — The ability to gain support because project personnel perceive the project manager as being officially empowered to issue orders.
2) Reward Power — The ability to gain support because project personnel perceive the project manager as capable of directly or indirectly dispensing valued organizational rewards (e.g., salary, promotions, future work assignments, etc.).
3) Penalty Power — The ability to gain support because project personnel perceive the project manager as capable of directly or indirectly dispensing penalties that they wish to avoid. Penalty power usually derives from the same sources as reward power, with one being a necessary condition for the other.
4) Expert Power — The ability to gain support because project personnel perceive the project manager as possessing special knowledge or expertise; that is, he is perceived as possessing functional expertise that they consider important.
5) Referent Power — The ability to gain support because project personnel feel personally attracted to him or to the project.
The influence the project manger has with team members, stakeholders, groups, organizations.
Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix
Compares current and desired stakeholder engagement level. Develop strategies to move stakeholders to desired engagement level.
Business Case/Business Needs
Business Case documents the economic feasibility study, establishes benefits of project components and provides a basis for authorization of further project activities.
Business Needs documents high-level deliverables,
Project Implementation Plan
A project implementation plan (also called a strategic plan) is a combination of strategy, process, and action. It outlines the steps a team will use to achieve a shared objective. An implementation plan covers all aspects of a project including budget, timeline, and personnel.
Rolling Wave Planning
An iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail, while work further in the future is planned at a higher level.
Used in Agile and Predictive approaches.
Progressive Elaboration
The iterative process of increasing the level of detail in a project management plan as greater amounts of information and more accurate estimates become available.
Types of Life Cycles
Life Cycles advance a project from Start to Finish. Life Cycles and methodologies focus on the work of the project.
Predictive (Waterfall, Traditional, Classic): Also called a fully plan-driven cycle, the project scope, and the time and cost required to deliver that scope, are determined as early in the life cycle as possible; Phases - Planning, Design, Build, Test/QA, Implement/Go Live (Stage Gates)
Iterative - Develop the product through a series of repeated cycles, while increments successively add to the functionality of the product.
Incremental - Deliverable is produced through a series of iterations that successfully add functionality within a predetermined time frame.
Agile (Adaptive) - Structured series of stages that a product goes through as it moves from beginning to end. It contains six phases: concept, inception, iteration, release, maintenance, and retirement.
Hybrid - The team takes a pragmatic approach to delivering the project, using the techniques that are best going to work for each phase.
Stacey Matrix
The Stacey Matrix was developed and published by Ralph Douglas Stacey. It is designed to help understand the factors that contribute to complexity and choose the best management actions to address different degrees of complexity.
Agile Manifesto
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
- Working software over comprehensive documentation.
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
- Responding to change over following a plan.
12 Principles
1 Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
2 Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
3 Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
4 Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
5 Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
6 The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
7 Working software is the primary measure of progress.
8 Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
9 Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
10 Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done–is essential.
11 The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
12 At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
Agile Leader/Scrum Master
Servant Leader Protect the Team Remove Impediments Facilitate Process Protect the Process Facilitate outside interactions
Information Radiators
An information radiator, also known as a Big Visible Chart (BVC), is a large graphical representation of project information kept plainly in sight within an agile development team’s shared workspace.
Examples
Scrum board.
A Kanban board is perhaps the most well-known example of an information radiator. It places cards or sticky notes into separate columns to denote project progress. For example, the left-hand column could be ‘Planned,’ the middle column could be ‘In Progress,’ and the right-hand column could be ‘Completed.
Burndown charts are used to predict your team’s likelihood of completing their work in the time available. A burndown chart shows the amount of work that has been completed in an epic or sprint, and the total work remaining.
Stand-up Meeting
Brief & effective meeting where each participant answers three questions: What did you do/complete yesterday? What are you going to do/complete today? What is in your way?
Iteration-based vs Flow-based Agile
Iteration-based is same size and timeboxed (sprint).
Flow-based predicated on the amount of work based on work/features desired and each increment timeframe will likely vary.
Scrum Roles - Product Owner, Team and Scrum Master
Product Owner - Provides the vision, owns scope, owns the product, and prioritizes backlog.
Team - Self-organizing, creates the product(s), cross-functional, estimates & commits.
Scrum Master - Servant leader, facilitate process, protects team, owns “blocks/blockers”.
Scrum Ceremonies
Scrum defines several events (sometimes called ceremonies) that occur inside each sprint: sprint planning, daily scrum (also called daily stand-up metting), sprint review, and sprint retrospective.
Scope, Project Scope & Product Scope
Scope - The sum of all work required to meet project objectives
Project Scope - Work required to create the products, services, and or results of the project. Project deliverables.
Product Scope - Features and functions that characterize a product, service or result. Product deliverables.
Scope Creep
Any unauthorized expansion of project scope.
Changes, continuous or uncontrolled growth in a project’s scope, at any point after the project begins.
Gold Plating
Giving the customer more than what they asked for. Unauthorized expansion of scope usually introduced by the team, typically not requested by the customer.
User Story/Stories
User stories are short descriptions of a small piece of desired functionality, written in the user’s language. Agile Teams implement small, vertical slices of system functionality and are sized so they can be completed in a single Iteration. Stories are the primary artifact used to define system behavior in Agile. User Stories can be used in other project approaches.
Story Cards contain the three Cs - Card, Conversation, Confirmation
- As A ____________
- I Want ____________
- So That ____________
Story Points
Abstract measurements that developers use instead of hours. Points are relative values, so a story with a value of four is twice as hard as a story with a value of two. The actual numbers don’t matter — you could assign values between 1,000,000 and 5,000,000 if you want.
Scope Management Plan
A component of the project or program management plan that describes hoe the scope will be defined, developed, monitored, controlled and validated. This is a “How To” document.
Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs)
Conditions (internal or external) not under the immediate control of the team, that influence, constrain, or direct the project, program or portfolio.
Organizational Process Assets
Plans, processes, policies, procedures, and knowledge bases that are specific to and used by the performing organization.
Requirements Collection Techniques
Document Analysis Focus Groups Questionnaires and Surveys Benchmarking Interviews Observations Facilitated Workshops
Requirements Data Representation
Mind Mapping Affinity Diagram Context Diagram Storyboarding Prototyping
Group Decision Making Techniques
Voting - Collective decision making
Autocratic Decision Making - One team member makes decision
Multicriteria Decision Analysis - Systemic, analytic approach with criteria to evaluate and rank
Types of Requirements
Functional Requirements
- Business
- Stakeholder
- Transition & Readiness
- Quality
- Project
- Solutions
Non-Functional Requirements
- Availability
- Capacity
- Continuity
- Security
Requirements Traceability Matrix
A component of the project or program management plan that describes how requirements will be analyzed, documented and managed.
Project Scope Statement
Description of the project scope, major deliverables, acceptance criteria and exclusions (more detailed).
Not the same as the Project Charter Scope Statement (high level).
Scoping Tools & Techniques
Expert judgement Facilitation Product Analysis Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Alternative Analysis
Think in terms of nouns/deliverables.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
A hierarchical decomposition (top down) of a project’s total scope of work to accomplish project objectives and create the required deliverables.
The lowest level of a WBS is a work package. Code of Accounts is the number system. Noun focused.
Project Title
Control Accounts
Planning Package (placeholder until sufficient detail is collected to create a work package)
Work Packages (i.e. Requirements, Design, Schedule, Budget)
100% Rule
If not represented in the WBS it is NOT in scope and will NOT be done.
The WBS represents all product and project work, including project management work. The total of the work at the lowest levels should roll up to the higher levels so that nothing is left out and no extra work is performed. This is sometimes referred to as the 100% rule.
Decomposition
A technique of dividing and subdividing the project scope and deliverables into smaller, more manageable parts.
Control Account
A management control point where scope, budget, actual cost, and schedule are integrated and compared to earned value for performance measurement.
Planning Package
A WBS component below the control account with known work content but without detailed schedule activities.
Work Package
The work defined at the lowest level of the WBS for which cost and duration are estimated and managed.
Product Backlogs
Is a list of the expected work to deliver the product.
Iteration Backlog
Items from the product backlog that can conceivably be completed with the time period based on the team’s capacity.
Scope Baseline
Approved version of a scope statements, WBS, and its associated WBS dictionary, that can be changed using formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for the comparison to actual results.
components include: Project Scope Statement WBS Work Packages Planning Packages WBS Dictionary
Verifying Scope Tools & Techniques
Definition of Done Definition of Ready Acceptance Criteria Iteration Reviews Variance Analysis Trend Analysis
Schedule Management Plan
A component of the project or program management plan that establishes the criteria and activities for developing, monitoring and controlling the schedule. This is a “How To” document.
Features & Epics
In a sense, epics in agile are similar to epics in film or literature. Epics can be broken down into specific pieces of work, called Features. These are based on the needs and requests of customers or end users and is sized or split as necessary to be delivered by the Agile teams.
Feature - a set of related requirements that allows the user to satisfy a business objective or need.
Epic - A very large collection of user stories. Epics can be spread out across many sprints.
