Project Planning- Ressource, Risk, quality

Question 1

Project resource management

Answer 1

is concerned with making effective use of the people involved with a project as well as physical resources (materials, facilities, equipment, and infrastructure)

Question 2

The main outputs produced as part of project resource management planning are: (2 point)

Answer 2

-Project resource management plan (can be separated into a team management plan and a physical resource management plan)

-Team charter

Question 3

Team Management Plan (key components)

Answer 3

-Project organizational chart
-Responsibility assignment matrix
-Resource histogram
-Staffing management plan

Question 4

a project organizational chart

Answer 4

is a graphical representation of how authority and responsibility is distributed within the project

Question 5

The size and complexity of the project determines..

Answer 5

how simple or complex the organizational chart is

Question 6

A responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) is ..

Answer 6

a matrix that maps the work of the project as described in the work breakdown structure (WBS) to the people responsible for performing the work

Question 7

For smaller projects, it is best to assign….

Answer 7

WBS activities to individuals

Question 8

for larger projects, it is more effective to assign the work..

Answer 8

to organizational units or teams

Question 9

RACI charts

Answer 9

are a type of RAM that show Responsible (who does the task), Accountable (who signs off on the task or has authority for it), Consulted (who has information necessary to complete the task), and Informed (who needs to be notified of task status/results) roles for project stakeholders

Question 10

A resource histogram

Answer 10

is a column chart that shows the number of resources required for or assigned to a project over time

Question 11

In planning project staffing needs

Answer 11

senior managers often create a resource histogram in which columns represent the number of people needed in each skill category. By stacking the columns, you can see the total number of people needed each month

Question 12

After resources are assigned to a project, you can view ..

Answer 12

a resource histogram for each person to see how his/her time has been allocated

Question 13

A staffing management plan

Answer 13

describes when and how people will be added to
and removed from a project

Question 14

team charters

Answer 14

help promote teamwork and
clarify team communications.After core project team members have been selected

Question 15

After core project team members have been selected..

Answer 15

they meet to prepare a team
charter to guide how the team will function.

Question 16

It is crucial to emphasize the importance..

Answer 16

of the project team throughout the
project’s life cycle, and the team charter should be updated as needed.

Question 17

Estimating activity resources involves..

Answer 17

estimating the type, quantity and characteristics of team resources and physical resources (i.e., materials, equipment, and supplies) required to complete the project.
–> This process is closely related to estimating activity durations and costs.

Question 18

What is important when we do the “estimating activity resources”?

Answer 18

It is important that the people who help determine what resources are necessary include people who have experience and expertise in similar projects and with the organization performing the project.
–>Resource estimates should be updated as needed during the project.

Question 19

Important Questions to Answer in Activity Resource Estimating

Answer 19

How difficult will it be to perform specific activities on this project?
* Is there anything unique in the project’s scope statement that will affect resources?
* Are there specific resources better suited to perform the activities?
* What is the organization’s history in doing similar activities? Have they done similar activities before? What level of personnel did the work?
* Does the organization have appropriate people, equipment, and materials available for performing the work? Are there any organizational policies that might affect the availability of resources?
* Does the organization need to acquire more resources to accomplish the work? Would it make sense to outsource some of the work? Will outsourcing increase or decrease the amount of resources needed and their availability?
* What assumptions have been made or need to be made?

Question 20

Empathic Listening

Answer 20

-Good project managers are empathic listeners they listen with the intent to understand!

Question 21

Why project professionals should develop empathic listening?

Answer 21

Project professionals need to develop empathic listening and other people skills to improve relationships with users and other stakeholders

Question 22

Tuckman model of team development

Answer 22

1. Forming involves the introduction of team members, either at the initiation of the team or as new members are introduced. This stage is necessary, but little work is actually achieved.
2. Storming occurs when team members have different opinions for how the team should operate. People test each other, and there is often conflict within the team.
3. Norming is achieved when team members have developed a common working method, and cooperation and collaboration replace the conflict and mistrust of the previous phase.
4. Performing occurs when the emphasis is on reaching the team’s goals rather than working on team process. Relationships are settled, and team members are likely to build loyalty toward each other. At this stage, the team is able to manage tasks that are more complex and cope with greater change.
5. Adjourning involves the break-up of the team after it successfully reaches its goals and completes the work.

Question 23

Agile Resource Planning

Answer 23

One of the biggest differences in resource planning between predictive and agile projects is that instead of having a project manager assign people to tasks,
agile teams self-manage, meaning they decide who will work on tasks themselves.

• The team should have all the skills and authority to complete the work in the product backlog. This makes selecting the team very important.
• Creating resource histograms and cross-training employees can help agile organizations ensure they have adequate and skilled workers.

Question 24

Project Risk Management definition

Answer 24

defines a project risk as an uncertainty that can have a negative or positive effect
on meeting project objectives

Question 25

The main planning processes are..

Answer 25

planning risk management, identifying risks, performing qualitative risk analysis, performing quantitative risk analysis, and planning risk responses

Question 26

A risk management plan documents the procedures for …

Answer 26

managing risk throughout
the life of a project

Question 27

Risk Management essentials

Answer 27

1) Planrisk management
2) Identify risk
3) Assess risk (qualitative or quantitative) 4) Respondtorisk
5) Monitor&controlrisk

Question 28

Plan risk management

Answer 28

‘Deciding how to approach, plan and execute the risk management activities for the project’

Question 29

Identify risk

Answer 29

1. using interviewing techniques
2. structured approach

Question 30

Identify risk (1): using interviewing techniques

Answer 30

is an appropriate technique to find out about the risks that expose
people’s activities.

Question 31

Risk events

Answer 31

refer to specific, uncertain events that may occur to the detriment or
enhancement of the project

Question 32

Negative risk events

Answer 32

include the performance failure of a product produced as part of a project, delays in completing work as scheduled, increases in estimated costs, supply shortages, litigation against the company, and strikes

Question 33

Positive risk events

Answer 33

include completing work ahead of schedule or at an unexpectedly reduced cost.
or at an unexpectedly low cost, working with suppliers to produce better products, and
suppliers to produce better products, and getting good publicity for the project.

Question 34

Assess risk

Answer 34

-qualitative or quantitative

Question 35

Respond to risk (‘Risk Mitigation’)

Answer 35

Four T’s to respond to risk
 Take (or Tolerate)
–> accept the risk
 Treat
–> take cost effective actions to reduce the risk
 Transfer
–> let someone else take the risk
(e.g., by insurance or passing responsibility for the risk to a contractor)
 Terminate
–> agree that the risk is too high and do not proceed with the project or activity

Question 36

Contingency plans are

Answer 36

predefined actions that the project team will take if an identified
risk event occurs

Question 37

Fallback plans are

Answer 37

are developed for risks that have a high impact on meeting project objectives, and are put into effect if attempts to reduce the risk are not effective; sometimes called contingency plans of last resort

Question 38

Contingency reserves or contingency allowances are

Answer 38

funds held by the project sponsor (part of the cost baseline) that can be used to mitigate cost or schedule overruns if known risks occur

Question 39

Management reserves are

Answer 39

funds held for unknown risks that are used for management control purposes – not part of the cost baseline, but are part of the project budget and funding requirements

Question 40

Monitor & control risk (Risk Register)

Answer 40

Translate the risk assessment including the related response into actions
that are clearly assigned to ‘risk owners’

Question 41

Risk-Related Contract Decisions

Answer 41

Work done by outside suppliers or sellers should be well documented in contracts, which are mutually binding agreements that obligate the seller to provide the specified products or services, and obligate the buyer to pay for them

Question 42

Project managers should include clauses in contracts to help manage project risks by using:

Answer 42

-Incentive or penalty clauses

-Certain types of contracts, such as fixed-price contracts, to reduce their risk of
incurring higher costs than expected

-Competition for supplying goods and services to help reduce negative risks and enhance positive risks on projects

Question 43

Agile Risk Planning

Answer 43

• Emphasizing value to the customer, prioritizing work, and collaborating as a team focused on one sprint goal at a time helps to address potential risks.
• Teams should openly discuss impediments as part of their daily Scrum meetings, and the Scrum master or project manager should work hard to remove impediments so the teams can focus on accomplish meaningful work.
• Many agile teams also use risk registers, as described earlier in this chapter.

Question 44

Project quality management

Answer 44

ensures that the project will satisfy the stated or implied needs for which it was undertaken

Question 45

Key outputs produced as part of project quality management include

Answer 45

a quality management plan, quality metrics, and updates to the project management plan and project documents

Question 46

What Is Quality?

Answer 46

defines quality as “the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements”

Other experts define quality based on conformance to requirements and fitness for use.
* Conformance to requirements means that the project’s processes and products meet written specifications
* Fitness for use means that a product can be used as it was intended

–> The customer ultimately decides that the quality level is acceptable

Question 47

Quality planning includes

Answer 47

identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and how best to satisfy those standards
–> It also involves designing quality into the products of the project as well as the processes involved in managing the project

Question 48

A metric (quality Metrics)

Answer 48

is a standard of measurement

Question 49

Metrics allow..

Answer 49

organizations to measure their performance in certain areas and to compare them over time or with other organizations

Question 50

Example of common metrics

Answer 50

used by organizations include failure rates of products produced, availability of goods and services, and customer satisfaction ratings

Question 51

Sample Tools (2 tools)

Answer 51

-Cause-and-Effect Diagrams
-Pareto Charts

Question 52

Cause-and-Effect Diagrams

Answer 52

trace complaints about quality problems back to the responsible production operations
–> They help you find the root cause of a problem
–> Also known as fishbone or Ishikawa diagrams
–> You can also use the 5 whys technique where you repeated ask the question “Why” (five is a good rule of thumb) to peel away the layers of symptoms that can lead to the root cause

Question 53

A Pareto chart

Answer 53

is a bar chart that can help you identify and prioritize problem areas

Question 54

Pareto analysis

Answer 54

is also called the 80-20 rule, meaning that 80 percent of the problems are often due to 20 percent of the causes

Question 55

Agile Quality Planning

Answer 55

-Definition of Done: a list of criteria which must be met before a product increment often a ‘user story’ is considered ‘done’.

-Practice transparency by making your work visible to key stakeholders
–> Big Visible Charts (BVC), or “Information Radiators”, the generic term for any of a number of handwritten, drawn, printed or electronic displays which a team places in a highly visible location, so that all team members as well as passers-by can see the latest information at a glance (i.e., make it easy accessible)