Question Answer Breakdown

Question 1

Explain two reasons why projects are structured in phases in a linear project lifescycle

Answer 1

1) improved management of risks.
smaller more manageble chunks
period of consideration smaller, easier to identify
mitigations conducted quickly & efficiently by the PM
risks reveiwed in decision gates at the end of the stage, approval from sponsor to continue

2) improved stakeholder commitment
early sucsess in phases will help improve confidence
relevant for stakeholders who are not fully committed
achive quick wins to demonstrate sucsess

Question 2

Explain 3 differences between Linear & Iterative Lifecycles

Answer 2

1) Management of project scope
- linear have fixed scope
cannot be changed without formal change control, approval from sponsor which can be length
time and cost constraints flex within tolerance in response to fixed scope
- Iterative approach to scope more adaptive
scope is origionally estimated and refined
Scope is flexible so time and cost is fixed

2) Direct User Feedback
Iterative builds on user feedback within sprints to determine prioratisation
Product Owner uses MOSCOW
priority placed onto must have requirments before moving onto product backlog
- Mop example
Linear lifecycle only receive feedback at the end of the cycle
increased risk project buisness case no longer viable and scope no longer meets needs of the customer

3) Delivery of outputs
linear is sequential, outputs delivered at end of the project
each phase of the linear lifecyle uses specilist skills to deliver desired output
project output goes into operation at the end of transition
Iterative lifecycle outputs are delivered at the end of each timebox
high level requirments in definiton phase and developed, build, tested, and possibley released by team members at end of each timebox
- IT system example

Question 3

Describe 2 benefits of an embedded PMO

Answer 3

1) Staff are directlt imbedded into project team
considred full time on the specified project and one line of authority, the project manager
roles and responsabilities clearly defined. reduced chance of misunderstanding
workload is dictated by PM and not across multiple lines of authority
increases PM control

2) use of specilist skills
Embedded PMO provide specilist knowledge on plannign tools and processes
can be directly used to help project move through the project lifecycle phases
this resource can be allocated effecitivley, increasing the speed of servicing requests

Question 4

Select 2 phases of the project lifecycle and explain how role of the sponsor and project manager differ

Answer 4

1) Concept Phase
Project manager will create the business case
contains time, cost, qulity, scope and intended benefits & outputs
PM has overall responsability for delivering the project
Sponsor is responsable for approving/signing off the business case
sponsor is responsable for funding and ensuring perceived benefits greater than any risks

2) Defintion phase
creation of the PMP
Project manager responsable for creating the PMP with stakeholder input
contains RACI, risk register, takeholder map
Whilst the PM owns the PMP the sponsor approves at the end of the definition phase.
The sponsor is then responsable for communicating with key stakeholders
PMP then creates contract for the PM to deliver to the sponsor

Question 5

State Four sources of conflict within a project

Answer 5

1) incomplete & inaccurate data
team members to follow different course of action
if PM gives different people different info could result in confusion
could occur in definition phase, impact on time

2) ineffective methods
confusion over roles and responsabilities, result in frustration or duplication of work
may result in schedule delay or going over cost tolerance
vital a clear RACI developed by PM and included in PMP developed in definition phase

3) unattainable objectives
- conflict over which is objective or requirment is to take priority
- may accour in iteratice deployment when discussing project backlog - product owner and pm
- vital to gain clear direction from sponsor

4) Negative feeling
may be a result of lingering resentment from previous project that was not dealt with
previous between sposor and pm could result in poor communication channels or negative impact on the share of information

Question 6

explain 3 ways conflict can be adressed

Answer 6

1) competeing
might makes right
one party has significantly higher power than the other (sponsor over PM)
power overrides the concern of the other
scenrio where appoach of PM impacts saftey, saftey must never be compramised so power of sponsor and saftey overides the pm apprach

2) collaboration
two heads are better than one
two parties of the same power (two stakeholders requirments)
working together builds both parites commitment to project sucsess
commonly seen in definition phase where final scope is agreed, eg look and feel of a new product

3) Avoidence
leave well alone
scenario one memeber significantly lower power
lower power lets go of concerns
unlikley raising the concern would have sucsessful outcome and raising the concern may cause greater negative ill feeling between individuals than negative outcome of concern

Question 7

Explain two characteristics of an effective team

Answer 7

1) shared goal
commitment to this goal that encourages communication
developing a relationship and shared conciousness
relationship enables informed decison making
appreciation of others strengths and weeknesses

2) Definable membership
enables individuals to know there roles and responsabilites
outline in a RACI by the PM and included in PMP
without this no clear line of authority
lack abaility to make decisions as no defined structure on how to reach the objectives

Question 8

Two elements that need to be considered when allocating resource to a project follwoing a linear lifecycle

Answer 8

1) Type of resource
renewable or reusable
reusable - people and equipment.
resource management needed as resource can be shared
renweable (money) used up and more would need to be sourced
In linear lifecycle activaties can not overrun, more resource

2) Critical path
activaties that have total float can be delayed to allow prioratisation of those that have no float

Question 9

Explain 3 of the steps of the Benefits Management process
- Identification
- Definition
- Planning
- Tracking
- Realisation

Answer 9

**1) Identification **
- requirments are outlined within the concept phase
- workshops with stakholders and sponsor
- benefits both negative & positive (dis-benefit)
- tangible and intangible but both must be measurable & estimation of value in business case
- in this instance benefit may be ‘icrease sales’

2) Defintion
- requirments are detailed
- DOAM
- ‘increase sales’ benefit would now be ‘incease sales traffic by 10% from business quarter 3 to quarter 4, reveiwed every 4 weeks’
- detail must be updated in the business case
- forms part of baseline in which benefit realisation will take place

3) Benefits Planning
- approach to achiveing the benefit outlines in the benefits realisation plan
- outlines activitiesmust happen and their owner
- ensuer business carrys out these activities to ensure realisation
- E.g benefit related to cost saving from X amount redundanicies
- benefits planning oulines key milestones that benefits shouls be realised against the baseline
- the measurement baseline enables comparission pre and post change to track benefits