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tester Flashcards

1
Q

What is an engineering project?

A

A temporary endeavor that DELIVERS change in the form of business or customer VALUE.

“deliberately undertaken endeavor to create something of value (using engineering); a temporary activity intended to create a product or a service”

“Any effort that meets the following criteria: 1. a FIXED OBJECTIVE(S) 2. a BUDGET 3. a SET TIME for achievement of the objective(s)

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2
Q

Project Triple Constraint

A

Scope (Objective) (top)
Time (Schedule) (left)
Quality (middle)
Cost (Budget) (right)

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3
Q

What are the engineering project’s quadruple constraints

A
  1. We must complete the project having built a product or service that has ALL REQUIRED CAPABILITIES
  2. We must complete the project on the END DATE that we promised
  3. We must complete the project within the AMOUNT OF MONEY that we promised
  4. We must manage the risks that will be encountered by the project, so as to AVOID CATASTROPHIC FAILURE
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4
Q

Good Business Outcomes

A

Project Manager
- Disciplined Phased Approach
- Clear Project Objectives
- Team Involvement

Project Management Best Practices

Key Stakeholder Involvement

Successful Projects Manage the Inputs

which deliver

The right project
- scope
- operable
- cost
- profitable
- time
- Safe

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5
Q

What are the main engineering project management approaches(Verify)

A

Predictive / Traditional / Waterfall
- Linear and Sequential process
– scope is fixed, time and cost are variables

Adaptive / Agile / Iterative
- Flexible and iterative process
– time and cost are fixed, scope is variable

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6
Q

What is a process?

A

A process is composed of Inputs, Tools & Techniques, Outputs
(ITTOs)

  • Input: raw materials needed to begin execution
  • Tools & Techniques: actions or methods used to transform raw
    materials into the output
  • Output: end result of efforts, may be the input to another process

systematic, repeatable methods for accomplishing specific tasks or objectives within an engineering project.
Key aspects of processes in this context include:
- Defined steps or stages
- Specific inputs and outputs
- Clear roles and responsibilities
- Measurable metrics for evaluation

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7
Q

What is the system for value delivery?

A

A system for value delivery is a comprehensive framework designed to optimize how organizations create and deliver value to their stakeholders. It encompasses several key components working together to transform strategic goals into tangible benefits.

Components of the Value Delivery System
- Portfolios
- Programs
- Projects
- Operations

These components work in concert to produce deliverables that generate outcomes and ultimately deliver value to the organization and its stakeholders

Importance of the Value Delivery System
The value delivery system is crucial because it:
- Ensures alignment between organizational strategy and project outcomes

  • Optimizes resource allocation across portfolios, programs, and projects
  • Facilitates effective decision-making and governance
  • Promotes continuous improvement through feedback loops
  • Maximizes the realization of benefits from project deliverables

By implementing a robust value delivery system, organizations can more effectively transform their strategic vision into tangible value for stakeholders.

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8
Q

How do projects differ from operations

A

Projects
- Temporary
- Unique
- Specific Time Frame
- Situational
- Project-specific measures
- Subtle performance indicators
- Focus is on creating something new
- changes the status quo

Continuous Business Operations
- Ongoing
- Repetitive
- Open-ended time frame
- Standardized
- Company-specific measures
- Clear performance indicators
- Focus is on reducing unjustified variation
- Is the status quo

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9
Q

12 Principles of Project Management

A

Stewardship
Team
Stakeholders
Value
Systems Thinking
Leadership
Tailoring
Quality
Complexity
Risk
Adaptability & Resilience
Change

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10
Q

Roles Of a Project Manager

A
  1. Technical Supervision
  2. Planning
  3. Organizing
  4. Staffing
  5. Directing
  6. Controlling
  7. Financial Management
  8. Marketing Assistance

OR

  1. Initiator
  2. Negotiator
  3. Listener
  4. Coach
  5. Working Member
  6. Facilitator
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11
Q

“Tao” Of Engineering Project Management

A
  • How to do it (Artisanship)
  • What could be (Vision/Art)
  • Who will do it with you (People)
  • Measurement & rigor (Math & Science)
  • What it should be (Philosophy & Judgement)
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12
Q

What are the processes of the project lifecycle?

A
  • Initiating
    • Project Charter
  • Planning
    • Project Management Plan
  • Executing
    • Activities -> Deliverables
  • Monitoring & Controlling
    • Throughout life cycle
  • Close out
    • administrative closure, lessons learned, disbanding the team, transition of deliverables
  • Feasibility Study
  • Customer Requirements
  • Build
  • Test
  • Translation
  • Define the goal.
  • List the activities, milestones, and deliverables (WBS)
  • Develop a schedule (duration estimates)
  • Define success (Acceptance criteria)
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13
Q

Stages of the Project Life-Cycle (Siegel’s)

A
  • The need and idea
  • Requirements
  • Design
  • Implementation
  • Integration
  • Testing
  • Production
  • Development. Use in actual mission operations
  • Logistics
  • Phase-out and disposal

“U” Diagram

left (define the parts of our system, and how they fit together)
- requirements
- design

bottom ( build those pieces)
- implementation

right (integrate the pieces to form the system, and test it)
- integration
- integration is complete when we have the entire system cycling & meet the success criteria
- execute the integration sequence, from small subsets to larger ones
- define an integration sequence (& success criteria) starting with small subsets
- take delivery of implemented system elements
- test

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14
Q

Implementation, Integration, & Testing Stages

A
  • Build all of the pieces of the system
  • Often involves assembling the hardware and software parts to work and talk together and sorts out any issues or bugs
  • Test to VERIFY that the system meets specification and test to VALIDATE that the system meets the users’ needs
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15
Q

The Need and the Idea Stage of Project Life Cycle

A
  • What is the stakeholder need and any constraints?
  • What is their mission? How do they do their mission today?
  • What is their product?
  • How do they do it? Why is that how they do it?
  • What constrains the possibilities?
  • What do they value? How do they measure that value?
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16
Q

Requirements Stage of Project Life Cycle

A
  • WHAT is the new system supposed to do and how well is it supposed to do it?

SMART
- specific
- measurable
- achievable
- realistic
- testable

4 step method
- editorial check
- soundness check
- substance check
- risk check

“Goodness” metrics:
- technical performance measures
- technical goals (objective) that must be met (reliability, speed, weight, power required)

  • operational performance measures
    • process goals (subjective) that must
      be met (e.g., efficiency, productivity, quality, customer satisfaction)
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17
Q

What is the 4 step method
of requirements stage

A
  • editorial check
  • soundness check
  • substance check
  • risk check
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18
Q

How to create the requirements?

A
  • identify who are the users and the other stakeholders
  • determine how the users and the other stakeholders define value
  • determine the needs and desires of the users and of the other stakeholders
  • capture what the users and other stakeholders can tell you about the requirements
  • identify all of the key functions of the system, using mission threads
  • use the mission threads to create a CONOPS document, which validates the completeness and correctness of the mission threads
  • transition each step in the mission threads into a set of actual requirements
  • organize those statements into a properly formatted requirements specification (shalls, separate paragraph numbers, etc)
  • Determine a candidate verification method for each requirement
  • Check the requirements, using the 4-step method
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19
Q

Decomposition Vs Specifications

A

Decomposition
- think about air transportation system
- airports
- airplanes
- engines
- compressor
- combustor
- passenger equipment

Specifications
- think system specifications
- each layer is a subsystem specification to specification for component

  • different levels
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20
Q

ITTOS for developing project charter

A

Inputs:
- biz documents
- agreements
- enterprise environmental factors
- organizational process assets

Tools & Techniques
- expert judgement
- data gathering
- interpersonal and team skills
- meetings

Outputs:
- project charter
- assumption log

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21
Q

What are elements of a project charter?

A
  • High level description of the
    project
  • Goals and deliverables of the
    project
  • Business case for the project
  • Name of the project manager
  • Name of the sponsor
  • Names of key stakeholders
  • Key milestones
  • Metrics for success
  • Budget estimate (or cap)
  • Other constraints
  • Risks to the project
  • Assumptions
  • Dependencies
  • Key resources / Make or buy
  • Contracts
  • Gap analysis
  • Outside of scope
  • PM approach (traditional or agile)
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22
Q

What are the project groups?

A

Initiating

Planning

Executing

Monitoring & Controlling

Closing out

Categories:
- Processes used once (e.g., develop Project Charter)
- Processes performed periodically (e.g., acquire
Resources)
- Processes performed continuously (e.g., define Activities)

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23
Q

What is Design Process?

A

HOW is all of this supposed to be accomplished?
- top level describes system as a whole, lower levels describe how smaller pieces work and interact, lowest level describes how each of the smallest pieces are to work internally

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24
Q

What is the N^2 Chart?

A

Diagonal elements of the matrix

how we tie engineering activities to project management activities

TODO

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25
Q

What is the Trade Study?

A

A trade study is a systematic decision-making process used to identify the best solution among a set of proposed alternatives.

flow:

  • Create operational performance measures
  • identify all the independent stimuli that can activate mission thread
  • define all the independently schedulable entities
  • create the mission threads
  • create alternative groupings of those entities into actual implementation groupings
  • postulate a set of candidate designs
  • identify the technical performance measures that you need to assess the candidate designs
  • assess the technical feasibility of each candidate design
  • create a methodology for ranking the candidate designs
  • traverse the trade space, and then scope and rank the candidate designs.
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26
Q

IDEF-0 representation of the design process

A
  • Organize policies and guidelines
  • customer-specified policies and guidelines

Inputs:
- requirements
- CONOPS (Concept of Operations)
- OPMS / TPMs (operational / technical performance measures)
- previous design patterns deemed suitable

Outputs:
- selected design, with rationale
- rejected designs with rationale
- documented trade study and other analysis results

Enablers:
- modeling and analysis tools
- organizational lessons-learned, and libraries of artifacts from past projects

These all point to :

Designing a system:
- define the pressure points
- perform the trade study
- perform detailed analysis of the selected candidate design; adapt & iterate, if required
- finalize selection. Document rationale, assessment findings for all candidates, archive all materials

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27
Q

Customer’s vs engineer’s coordinate system of value

A

customer’s
- usually non-technical in nature
- characterizes something about the mission
- captured in what I call operational performance measures
- measures the goodness of the design for the users

engineer’s
- usually technical in nature
- characterizes something about the technology that implements the system
- captured in what I call technical performance measures
- measures whether or not the design is feasible, and helps us estimate the schedule and cost needed to build the system

The two types of metrics should be linked; that is, we need to credibly and transparently show how changes in design (which change the technical performance measures) cause changes to the operational performance measures

Our degrees of design freedom are located in the engineer’s coordinate system of value, but we measure the goodness of the resulting design in the customer’s coordinate system of value.

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28
Q

Pre-Project Work

A
  • Needs Assessment
  • Biz Case
  • Benefits Management Plan
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29
Q

Post-Project Work

A
  • Operation
  • Maintenance
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30
Q

Effective Project Management helps to

A
  • Meet biz objectives
  • Satisfy stakeholder expectations
  • be more predictable
  • increase chances of success
  • deliver the right products at the right time
  • resolve problems and issues
  • respond to risks in a timely manner
  • optimize the use of organizational resources
  • identify, recover, or terminate failing projects
  • manage constraints (scope, quality, schedule, cost, resources)
  • respond to rapidly evolving markets
  • manage change using a controlled process

Gain Alignment

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31
Q

Poorly Managed Projects may result in

A
  • Missed requirements
  • Missed deadlines
  • cost overruns
  • poor quality
  • rework
  • waste
  • uncontrolled expansion of the project
  • loss of reputation for the organization
  • unsatisfied stakeholders
  • failure in achieving project objectives
32
Q

When is the project charter written / developed

A

Initiation Process

33
Q

When are stakeholders identified

A

Initiation Process

34
Q

When is the project management plan written?

A

Planning Process

35
Q

What is done during planning process

A
  • Develop Project Management Plan
  • Plan Scope Management
  • Collect requirements
  • define scope
  • create wbs
  • plan schedule management
  • define activities
  • sequence activities
  • estimate activity durations
  • develop schedule
  • plan cost management
  • estimate costs
  • determine budget
  • plan quality management
  • plan resource management
  • estimate activity resources
  • plan communications management
  • plan risk management
  • identify risks
  • perform qualitative risk analysis
  • perform quantitative risk analysis
  • plan risk responses
  • plan procurement management
  • plan stakeholder engagement
36
Q

What is done during executing process

A
  • direct/manage project work
  • manage project knowledge
  • manage quality
  • acquire resources
  • develop team
  • manage team
  • manage communications
  • implement risk responses
  • conduct procurements
  • manage stakeholders
  • engagement
37
Q

What is done during monitoring & controlling process

A
  • monitor/control project work
  • perform integrated change control
  • validate scope
  • control scope
  • control schedule
  • control costs
  • control quality
  • control resources
  • monitor communications
  • monitor risks
  • control procurements
  • monitor stakeholder engagement
38
Q

When are deliverables produced?

A

Executing Process

39
Q

What are the key project components

A
  • Project Life Cycle
    • the series of phases that a project passes through from its start to its completion
  • Project Phase
    • a collection of logically related project activities that culminates in the completion of one or more deliverables
  • Phase Gate
    • a review at the end of a phase in which a decision is made to continue to the next phase, to continue with modification, or to end a program or project
  • Project Management Process
    • a systematic series of activities directed toward causing an end result where one or more inputs will be added upon to create one or more outputs
  • Project Management Process Group
    • a logical grouping of project management inputs, tools, and techniques, and outputs. Including initiating, planning, executing, monitoring & controlling, and closing. Project Management Groups are NOT project phases.
40
Q

What are the components of a process?

A

Inputs, Tools, Techniques, and Outputs

41
Q

What is the difference between technical performance measures and operational performance measures?

A

technical performance measures
- technical goals (objectives) that must be met (reliability, speed, weight, power required)

operational performance measures
- process goals (subjective) that must be met (efficiency, productivity, quality, customer satisfaction)

42
Q

What is the difference between verification and validation

A

Verification
- Determines if the system is EFFECTIVE (objective)
- Does the system meet its formal and documented requirements?
- Are we therefore ready to deliver it, and request final payment?

Validation
- Determines if the system is SUITABLE (subjective)
- Does the system provide value and utility for its intended users?

TODO add table page 24

43
Q

What are the verification process steps?

A
  • Define the verification action (what will be inspected, measured, executed or simulated) for every mandatory requirement
  • Define the expected result (pass-fail criteria) for each verification action
  • create a procedure (step-by-step checklist and methodology) for executing the verification actions
  • Execute the procedures and record the results
  • Determine (objectively) which requirements pass and which fail
44
Q

What are the validation process steps?

A
  • Create a list of items to validate
  • define a validation action
  • define the user’s goals and expectation for each validation action
  • create a procedure (step-by-step checklist and methodology) for executing the validation actions
  • execute the procedures and record the results
  • determine (likely subjective in part) which items pass and which fail
45
Q

What is the principal test methods

A
  • inspection
    we look at something, but we do not operate or manipulate it
  • demonstration
    we operate a portion of our system and observe a visible indication
  • analysis
    we do not operate the system, but we subject a portion of it to a mathematical analysis
  • simulation
    we build a computer model of the system and use the predictions from that model to show compliance with a model
  • assessment via operation
    we operate / manipulate the system or item under test, we record data and results, and then process those data to check performance
46
Q

What is the test plan stage

A
  • Prepare the test verification matrix (e.g. select a test method for
    each requirement).
  • Define test levels for each requirement (which I discuss below).
  • Make a preliminary grouping of requirements into test cases
    (where each test case is a set of requirements that can be tested
    together, through a set of related actions).
  • Define scenarios, test data, stimulators/drivers, instrumentation,
    analysis tools for each test case. Look for similarities across test
    cases. Use information to improve groupings into test cases.
  • Develop sequencing of test cases and their interdependencies
    (e.g., one cannot start until another has completed).
47
Q

What is production, deployment, & Logistics stage

A
  • Make multiple copies of the system
  • put the system into service
  • use the system in actual operation
48
Q

Phase-out stage

A

When the system has reached the end of its usable lifetime and is taken out of service

49
Q

The end of a project is reached when

A
  • The project’s objectives have been reached
  • the objectives will not or cannot be met
  • funding is exhausted or no longer available to the project
  • the need for the project no longer exists (customer cancels project, a change in strategy or priority)
  • the human or physical resources are no longer available
  • the project is terminated for legal cause or convenience
50
Q

ITTO Identify Stakeholders

A

Inputs:
- project charter
- biz docs
- project management plan
- project docs
- agreements
- enterprise environmental factors
- organizational process assets

Tools & Techniques
- expert judgement
- data gathering
- data analysis
- data representation
- meetings

Outputs:
- stakeholder registry
- change requests
- project management plan updates
- risk management plan, stakeholder engagement plan, communications management plan, requirements management plan
- project documents updates
- risk register, issue log, assumption log

51
Q

Who are the key stakeholders

A

people who have a vital interest in the outcome of the project and can influence the project.

  • Customer
    • uses the project deliverables
  • Project Sponsor
    • provides resources and support
  • Functional Manager
    • controls resources
  • Project Manager
    • manages the project
  • Project Team
    • individuals completing the project

Others:
- competitor
- inspector
- employee
- share holder

INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS:
- project manager and team, customer, sponsor, investors, etc

EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS:
- regulators, consultants, sellers, end users, customers, partners, competitors, etc

52
Q

Who are users and why do we care?

A

Users
- people who will operate and/or employ the product or service resulting from the engineering project

  • To fulfill the PURPOSE of the engineering project.
    • An engineering project has no benefit if it does not meet the needs of the user / customer / stakeholder
53
Q

When do you conduct stakeholder analysis

A

Project Initiation
- crucial for understanding stakeholder needs, expectations, and influences on the project’s success

Planning Phase
- refine the project’s communication strategy, risk-management plans, and resource allocation to address stakeholder priorities and mitigate risks / stakeholder concerns.

Project Changes
- can alter stakeholder power, interest, or influence, necessitating adjustments in how they are managed

Project Reviews and Milestones
- ensure ongoing alignment with stakeholder expectations and can allow for adjustments to engagement strategies as the project progresses

Problem Identification
- identify the root causes, address concerns and minimize negative impacts.

54
Q

What is the stakeholder-salience model?

A

Power (Dormant)
- stakeholder’s ability to influence the project or its outcomes

Legitimacy (Discretionary)
- the perceived validity or appropriateness of the stakeholder’s involvement in the project

Urgency (Demanding)
- extent to which a stakeholder’s needs require immediate attention

  • PL: Dominant
  • LU: Dependent
  • PU: Dangerous
  • Center: Core
55
Q

What is the stakeholder cube?

A

X axis
- Interest

Y axis
- Attitude

Z axis
- Power

It’s a technique for prioritizing and analyzing stakeholders in a project.
The cube has three dimensions or axes:
* Attitude: Whether the stakeholder is for or against the project
* Power: The stakeholder’s ability to influence the project
* Interest: How much the stakeholder is impacted by the project

Stakeholders are mapped onto the cube based on their combination of these three factors.
This mapping helps categorize stakeholders into different groups, such as:
* Influential active backers
* Influential passive blockers
* Insignificant active allies
And others, depending on their position in the cube
The purpose of using the stakeholder cube is to:
* Understand the different types of stakeholders
* Prioritize stakeholder engagement efforts
* Develop appropriate strategies for managing each stakeholder group

56
Q

What is the power interest grid

A

Communication Mode

Y axis:
- Power / Importance
- indicates the degree to which a project cannot be considered successful if needs, expectations and issues are not addressed

X axis:
- Interest / Influence
- indicates a stakeholder’s relative power over and within a project

Top Right
- Manage Closely

Top Left
- Keep Satisfied

Bottom Left
- Monitor

Bottom Right
- Keep Informed

57
Q

What is the direction of influence?

A

TODO

Forward Strategy

Backward Monitoring

Sideward Colleagues

Outward Client, Supply Chain

Upward Sponsor

Downward Team

58
Q

What information is contained in the stakeholder register?

A

Identification
- Name
- Title
- Contact Information

Assessment
- Requirements
- Communication Needs and Frequency
- Expectations
- Power, interest, influence on the project

Classification
- attributes to stakeholders (internal, external, positive, supporter, resistor, or neutral)

Example:
Name: Brian
Role: Client
Group (Internal / External): External
Type: Positive
Group: Sponsor
Influence/Interest: High-Power/High-interest
Address: NY

59
Q

How to work with stakeholders successfully

A
  • identify all stakeholders as early as possible. Discovering them late can result in request changes that impact your project
  • determine their requirements and expectations before you start, including what stakeholders think will happen because of the project
  • Determine their interest to help you structure your work, roles, and responsibilities to maximize engagement
  • Understand their level of influence and authority. Leverage it to the benefit of the project
  • Create a plan to engage and communicate with stakeholders: Keep the stakeholders involved in the project. Get them to convey their thoughts and concerns to help prevent problems.

Stage in lifecycle:
- Initiation (identification)
- Planning
- Execution (Implementation)
- Controlling (Monitoring and Evaluation)
- Closing

Type of Participation:
- Inform
- Consult
- Partnership
- Control

60
Q

How to engage stakeholders?

A

V -> lifecycle time line

_ _
\ _ /

Extremely High Stakeholder involvement (top left of V _)
- Concept Exploration
- Systems Engineering Management Plan Framework

High Stakeholder involvement (decomposition and definition) (Level side of V )
- Concepts of operations
- system requirements
- subsystem requirements project arch (HLD)

Minimal Stakeholder involvement (bottom of the V _ )
- Component Level Design (Detailed)
- Software Coding Hardware fabrication
- Unit Testing

High Stakeholder involvement (integration and recomposition ) (right side of V /)
- Subsystem integration & verification
- system integration & verification
- system validation

61
Q

What makes a successful stakeholder engagement?

A

Aspire to make quantitative statements about the users’ value system

we translate qualitative statements about the users’ system of values into a quantitative metric (operational performance measure) that we could use to guide decision-making about our project

62
Q

How to design the user experience?

A
  • simplify the structure of tasks
  • make the appropriate things visible
  • devise an appropriate partitioning of tasks between the automation and the users
  • allow the system to continue to operate effectively even in the presence of errors, especially in the presence of human errors
63
Q

What are the elements of the user experience

A

Top-Down
- Completion to Conception
- Concrete to Abstract

Surface:
- brings everything together visually

Skeleton:
- Makes structure concrete

Structure
- gives shape to scope

Scope
- transforms strategy into requirements

Strategy
- is where is all begins

64
Q

What is the Want Factor?

A
  • Providing functionality, performance, or capacity that no
    competing product or system can provide
  • Value-for-money: a disruptive price–performance point
  • A higher level of safety, reliability, or other tangible benefit
  • Unusually well-suited for the intended purpose
  • Can be operated by the intended users
  • Style, look, aura, and other intangible factors
65
Q

What is the stakeholder management table?

A

Table

Process:
- Identify stakeholders
- Plan Stakeholder Engagement
- Manage stakeholder engagement
- Monitor Stakeholder Engagement

Process Group:
- Initiate
- Plan
- Execute
- Monitor & Contorl

Main Output:
- Stakeholder registry
- Stakeholder Management Plan
- Change Requests
- Work Performance Information Change Requests & Project Document updates

66
Q

How can you determine the number of communication channels?

A

Stakeholder Engagement Assessment:
- Unaware
- Resistant
- Neutral
- Supportive
- Leading

N(N-1)/2

67
Q

What is the stakeholder engagement assessment matrix?

A

Table:
- Name
- S1: Neutral (current) -> Leading (Desired)
- S2: Unaware(current) -> supportive (desired)

  • Unaware
  • Resistant
  • Neutral
  • Supportive
  • Leading
68
Q

What is a proposal?

A
  • is a response to a request for proposals (RFP) specifying, at a minimum, what the proposing team could provide, how long it would take, and how much it would cost

“is a written formal offer to
perform a specified piece of work, under specified conditions, to
create a specified set of deliverables (products, services, and
data), on a specified schedule, for a specified price, under a
specified set of payment terms and timing, and under a specified
set of contract terms (e.g. how to resolve disputes, etc.)”

69
Q

What are the steps leading to the commencement of an engineering project?

A
  • Step 1: Obtain authorization (and in some cases funds) to
    prepare a proposal.
    • understand the problem
    • how to solve the problem
    • How to measure the goodness of your solution
    • How to prove that you can solve the problem and achieve
      differentiation
    • How to show that it can be a viable business proposition
  • Step 2: Do what is needed so that you are allowed to submit the
    proposal.
    • Price to win
    • Time phasing of costs versus time phasing of revenues
    • Opportunity costs
    • Risks to the company
    • Probability of winning
  • Step 3: Win the competition.
    • Articulate well the value proposition.
      • Differentiators that we offer and Want factors – are there aspects
        of our offer that will make the customer prefer to select us over the
        other bidders?
      • Trust – Have we earned this customer’s trust?
      • Schedule – Is our proposed delivery date credible to the
        customer?
      • Budget – How much will it cost? Does the team have institutional
        support?
      • Contractual terms and Compliance
  • Step 4: Close the deal.
    • Even after you are selected, you must still sign a contract.
    • Creating a contract that both parties are willing to sign involves
      contract negotiations (topic of CLSE 602).
    • Contracts are detailed and legally binding.
    • The process involves the proposer, contract specialists, and
      attorneys.

User has a need
- Buyer prepares RFP

Buyer issues an RFP
- Your company finds and analyzes RFP

Vendor makes bid / no-bid decision
- Prepare win plan

Prepare Proposal

Presentation
- Buyer selects winner

Negotiation
- Reach agreement on terms

Sign the contract
- initiate project

70
Q

How does a request for information (RFI) differ from a request for proposal (RFP)

A

Request for Information (RFI)
* Purpose: To gather general information
* Timing: Early in the process
* Detail level: Basic, open-ended questions
* Commitment: Low, just exploring options
* Response: Brief, informational answers

Request for Proposal (RFP)
* Purpose: To get specific project proposals
* Timing: Later, when ready to buy
Detail level: Specific requirements and questions
* Commitment: Higher, intending to make a purchase
* Response: Detailed proposals with pricing and plans

71
Q

What are the Heilmeier questions?

A

(Meant for proposals) Approach 1

  • What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using
    absolutely no jargon.
  • How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?
  • What is new in your approach and why do you think it will be
    successful?
  • Who cares? If you are successful, what difference will it make?
  • What are the risks?
  • How much will it cost?
  • How long will it take?
  • What are the mid-term and final “exams” to check for success?
72
Q

What does Siegel mean by Positive Competitive differentiation?

A

(Meant for proposals) Approach 2

  • Understand the users’ coordinate system of value.
  • Define the design features that would make the customer want us
    to do the work.
  • Create differentiators and socialize them with users and stakeholders,
    especially the sponsor.
  • To the reviewers, your proposal must be the best submitted, where best
    is relative to the pool of applicants not an absolute quality standard.
  • Tell the story in a clear, comprehensive, easy-to-understand way.
  • Gather data on how to take measurements to prove success.
  • Depict the design using figures, tables, graphs.
  • Include contingency plans for mitigating risks.
  • Start early!
  • Build a strong relationship with the customer community.
  • Marshal strong and credible examples of good past
    performance, and how they are relevant to this proposal.
  • Understand the competition.
  • Select teaming partners to fill in your weaknesses and to
    strengthen your desired differentiators.
73
Q

What is the problem-gap-hook-solution approach?

A

(Meant for proposals) Approach 3

  • Introduce your audience to the topic by conveying your interest
    and excitement about the topic, the problem, and the ongoing
    conversation in the field.
  • Explain why there’s a barrier to progress, which is typically a
    gap in knowledge or thinking.
  • Present the stakes (consequences) if the gap goes
    unaddressed and the new circumstances/tools/approaches that
    create an opening to solve the gap that hooks the audience.
  • Describe the goal of your study that directly references the gap.
    The persuasiveness of your solution depends on how well you
    articulated the gap and the hook.

Problem: What’s wrong?
Identify a big scientific or real-world issue
Gap: What don’t we know?
Highlight a specific lack of knowledge or understanding
Hook: Why does it matter?
Explain the importance of filling this gap
Solution: How will you fix it?
Propose your research to address the gap
An easy way to remember this is the acronym “PGHS” or the phrase:
“People Get Hooked on Solutions”

Think of it as telling a story:
Start with a problem (the villain)
Identify the gap in our defenses
Hook the audience with why it’s crucial
Introduce your solution (the hero)

74
Q

NSF Review Criteria for proposal

A
  • Intellectual Merits – the potential to advance knowledge and
    understanding within its own field and/or across different fields
  • Broader Impacts – the potential to benefit society and contribute
    to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes.

Why is the proposed project worth doing?
* To what extent do the proposed activities suggest and explore creative,
original, or potentially transformative concepts?
Can the team can be trusted to implement the proposed project
on schedule and on budget?

  • Is the plan well-reasoned, well-organized, and based on a sound
    rationale? Does the plan incorporate mechanisms to assess success?
  • How well qualified is the principal investigator (PI) and team to conduct
    the proposed activities?
  • Is the proposed project feasible?
  • Are there adequate resources available to the PI (either at the home
    organization or through collaborations) to carry out the project?
  • Significance
    • Does this project address an important problem?
    • What impact is the project likely to have on the field?
    • What impact is the project likely to have on society?
  • Approach
    • Are study design and methods feasible and appropriate for the results
      desired?
    • Are the statistical methods sufficient to detect any possible results?
  • Innovation
    • Is the project original?
    • Does the project develop or use novel techniques or ideas?
  • Investigators
    • Are the investigators experienced in the performance of this type of
      project?
    • Is there appropriate senior investigator and/or consultant support,
      where necessary?
  • Environment
    • Is there appropriate institutional support and facilities to complete the
      project?
75
Q

Tips and Advice on writing proposal

A
  • Determine the suitability (fit) of the proposal to the RFP before
    writing.
    • The research must match the priority goals specified in the RFP.
  • Start early!
    • There is more than just the proposal description that needs to be
      submitted to the sponsor.
  • Be nice to the office of sponsored research staff.
    • They help with the budget and checking your proposal is compliant.
  • Proposals require persuasive writing that is accessible to a
    broad audience.
    • Your proposal is not about you, it is about your reviewers.
  • Think like a reviewer.
    • Make it easy for the reviewer to find what they need to rate your
      proposal.
    • Make it clear by simply explaining the project goal, central hypothesis,
      aims, and tasks. Help the reviewer get up to speed on the state of the
      science in your field and state explicitly the value of the proposed work.
    • Make the reviewers care so they advocate for your project to be funded.
  • Socialize your proposal.
    • Get colleagues to review your proposal and provide feedback before
      submission. This may also assist with finding typos or errors.
  • If at first you don’t succeed, try again.
    • Funding rates are low and perseverance can pay off.
76
Q

ITTOs

A

Inputs, Tools, Techniques, and Outputs

It’s a framework used in project management to help identify the resources, information, and plans needed to create and implement a project.

ITTOs are a helpful tool that can be used in conjunction with other tools, such as the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and the Gantt chart. Together, these tools can help create a more detailed picture of the project and help identify any potential risks or issues.

Here’s how ITTOs can be used:

Inputs: The ingredients needed to complete a task

Tools and techniques: The methods used to transform the inputs into the outputs

Outputs: The final product that is produced

engineering project management (2 decks)

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