Stryker - PM Flashcards
What is a project?
A temporary undertaking to create a unique product or service
What are the project constraints and their significance in project management?
The project constraints (scope, budget, schedule, risk, quality and resource), are critical
and related to the each other. In fact, changing one almost inevitably changes one or all of
the others. From the first day of the project, these factors that make up the project
constraint are competing with each other. As the project manager, you must understand
the limitations that each aspect of the project constraint imposes and then work to find and
maintain the balance among them.
List and briefly describe the four phases of a generic project life cycle?
Initiation: project authorization (scope definition and needs analysis)
Planning: defining objectives and selecting the best courses of action (build the WBS,
budget, schedule, resource requirements, and so on)
Implementation: project execution (carrying out the project) and monitoring and
controlling (measuring progress and taking corrective steps when necessary)
Closeout: formalizing project acceptance and bringing the project to an orderly end
Name and briefly describe the various roles that project managers are expected to perform
Define project scope and clarify requirements.
Select, build, and lead the project team.
Identify/assess stakeholders.
Develop the project plan, including the budget and schedule.
Manage and control project risks.
Manage all project changes.
Manage the project constraints.
Monitor and report project progress and status.
Manage expectations and watch for and react to future trends.
Name the five elements that characterize well-developed objectives.
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Agreed-upon
R = Realistic
T = Time-bound
What is a work breakdown structure (WBS)?
A hierarchical structured grouping of project elements that organizes and defines the total
scope of the project.
Define the following key WBS terms and explain how they differ from one another?
Work package
Control account
Planning package
Planning package:
Work package: This is the level at which the project manager can assign resources and
track progress, without getting bogged down in too much detail. As a rule of thumb, a work
package should be small enough to assign to an individual or small team.
Control account: This is typically one level above the work package. It is a level where
costs are accrued, monitored, and used for management reporting.
Planning package: This is an undefined work package(s) below the control account, used
for planning known work when work package detail is not yet available. The planning
package is a critical component of rolling wave planning.
What are three-point estimates and PERT, and how do they differ? Include the formula for
each.
A three-point estimate and PERT are both estimating practices. Both are tools designed to
assist the project manager in getting good estimates for duration, cost, effort, and
resources.
A three-point estimate is a simple average used to estimate task durations:
(O + ML + P) / 3
O = optimistic estimate
ML = most likely estimate
P = pessimistic estimate
On the other hand, PERT is a weighted average estimate for task durations:
[O + (4 x ML) + P] / 6
What is float and why is it significant to project managers?
Float is the amount of time that an activity or chain of activities can be delayed without
delaying the project finish date. Float is not planned into projects—it is calculated from the
network diagram after completing a backward pass by subtracting early finish from late
finish (or early start from late start).
Float is significant because it indicates the amount of flexibility the project manager has to
adjust the timing of a particular activity.
What types of cost should the project manager include in the project’s cost estimate?
All costs associated with completing the individual work packages, as well as costs for
overhead, contingency reserves, and other indirect expenditures should be included in the
project’s cost estimate.
Identify and briefly define the risk response strategies for threats.
Accept
Passive: Accept the consequences; do nothing.
Active: Develop a contingency plan.
Mitigate
Probability: Lower the probability of the occurrence.
Impact: Lower the impact of the occurrence.
Transfer: Shift the risk to a third party; deflect.
Avoid: Eliminate the cause of the threat.
Identify and briefly define the risk response strategies for opportunities.
Accept (accept opportunity is the same as accept risk)
Passive: Accept the consequences; do nothing.
Active: Develop a contingency plan.
Enhance
Probability: Maximize the probability of the opportunity’s occurrence.
Impact: Maximize the value of the impact.
Exploit: Ensure the opportunity occurs.
Share: Allocate ownership to a third party
What is the project management plan and why is it important in project management?
The project plan is a formal, approved document or set of documents for the purpose of
managing project execution and project control. The project plan provides the road map
for the Implementation phase of the project. Typical elements include:
Key decisions
Project baselines (schedule, scope, cost performance)
Subsidiary plans
Change management plan
Configuration management plan
Scope management plan
Requirements management plan
Schedule management plan
Cost management plan
Quality management plan
Human resource management plan
Communication management plan
Risk management plan
Procurement management plan
Process improvement plan
What is a project baseline? Include the three typical baselines and give examples of each.
A project baseline is the original plan, including any approved changes, against which the
performance of the project (and project manager) will be judged. In fact, the overall project
plan actually consists of three baselines that reflect the three aspects of the triple
constraint:
Scope baseline (scope statement, WBS)
Cost performance baseline (cumulative cost curve, project budget)
Schedule baseline (network diagram, Gantt chart)
What are the two methods for assessing project performance?
Monitoring and evaluating
