Tools & Techniques Flashcards
Expert Judgment
Judgement provided based upon expertise in an application area, knowledge area, discipline, industry, etc.
Brainstorming
Data Gathering - technique used to identify a list of ideas for a short period of time. Conducted in a group environment and led by a facilitator. Contains idea generation and analysis
Focus Group
Data Gathering - bring together stakeholders and SMEs to learn about perceived project risk, success criteria and other topics in a conversational setting
Interviews
Data gathering - used to obtain information on high level requirements, assumptions, constraints and other info from direct conversations with stakeholders
Conflict Management
Interpersonal and team skills - can be used to help bring stakeholders into alignment
Facilitation
Interpersonal & Team Skills - ability to effectively guide a group event to a successful decision, solution or conclusion
Meeting Management
Interpersonal & Team Skills - Preparing the agenda, ensuring each stakeholder is represented, sending meeting minutes
Checklists
Data Gathering - many organizations have standardized checklists available based in their own experience or industry experience
Meetings
Held with team members and key stakeholders when appropriate
Project Management Information System (PMIS)
Provides access to IT software tools - automated gathering and reporting on key performance indicators (KPI)
Knowledge Management
Connect people so they can work together to create new knowledge, share tacit knowledge and integrate the knowledge of diverse team members
Information Management
Create and connect people to information
Alternatives Analysis
Data Analysis - used to select the corrective actions and preventative action when a deviation occurs - compares various levels of resource capacity/skills
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Data Analysis - helps to determine to best corrective action in terms of cost
Earned Value Analysis
Data Analysis - provides an integrated perspective on scope, schedule and cost performance
- shows schedule variance (SV) and schedule performance index (SPI)
- planned value (PV), earned value (EV), actual cost (AC)
Root Cause Analysis
Data Analysis - focuses on identifying the main reasons of a problem
Trend Analysis
Data Analysis - used to forecast future performance based on past results. Can be used in:
- charts, forecasts
Variance Analysis
Data Analysis - reviews the difference between planned and actual performance
- schedule variance (SV) = EV - PV
- cost variance (CV) = EV - AC
- Schedule performance index (SPI) = EV/PV (an SPI greater than 1.0 indicates that more work was completed than planned)
- Cost performance index (CPI) = EV/AC
Decision Making
Voting - includes decisions based on unanimity, majority or plurality
Change control tools
identify configuration item - provide a basis of project configuration
Record and report configuration item status
Perform configuration item verification and audit
Autocratic decision making
decision making technique - one individual takes the responsibility for making the decision for the entire group
multicriteria decision analysis
uses a decision matrix to provide a systematic analytical approach to evaluate the requested changes according to a set of predefined criteria
document analysis
assessing available documentation will allow identifying lessons learned and knowledge sharing for future projects
regression analysis
analyzes the interrelationships between different project variables that contributed to project outcomes to improve performance on future projects
questionnaires and surveys
written sets of questions designed to quickly accumulate information from a large number of respondents
benchmarking
comparing actual or planned products, processes and practices to those of comparable organizations to identify best practices
affinity diagrams
data representation - allow large number of ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis
mind mapping
data analysis - consolidates ideas through individual brainstorming sessions into a single map to reflect commonality and differences in understanding and generating new ideas
nominal group technique
interpersonal and team skills - enhances brainstorming with a voting process used to rank the most useful ideads
observation/conversation
interpersonal and team skills - provide a direct way of viewing individuals in their environment and how they person their jobs or tasks and carry out processes
context diagram
visually depict the project scope by showing a business system and how people and other systems interact with it
prototypes
a method of obtaining early feedback on requirements by providing a model
product analysis
can be sued to define products and services - includes asking questions about a product or service and forming answers to describe the use, characteristics and other relevant aspects of what is going to be devliered
decomposition
a technique used for dividing and subdividing the project scope and project deliverables into manageable parts. Work package = lowest level of WBS for which cost and duration can be estimated & managed
inspection
measuring, examining and validating to determine whether work and deliverables meet requirements and product acceptance criteria
rolling wave planning
iterative planning technique in which work to be accomplished in the near team is planned in detail, while work in the future is planned at a higher level - form of progressive elaboration applicable to work packages
Precedence Diagramming Method
technique used for constructing a schedule model in which activities are represented by nodes and are graphically linked by one or more logical relationships to show the sequence
mandatory dependencies
legally or contractually required - i.e. construction project
discretionary dependencies
preferred logic - established based on knowledge of best practices within a particular application
external dependencies
involve a relationship between project activities and non-project activities.
internal dependencies
involve a precedence relationship between project activities and are inside the project teams control
lead
Lead: the amount of time a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor activity
lag
the amount of time a successor will be delayed with respect to a predecessor activity
analogous estimating
technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity using historical data from a similar activity/project
Parametric estimating
uses an algorithm to calculate cost or duration based on historical data. Statistical relationship between historical data and other variables to calculate an estimate for activity parameters
three point estimating
tE (the expected duration) = (tO (the optimistic) + tM (the most likely) + tP (the pessimistic estimate)) / 3
bottom up estimating
aggregating the lower level components of the WBS - work activity is decomposed into more detail - durations are estimated and then summed
reserve analysis
used to determine the amount of contingency and management reserve needed for the project - used to account for uncertainty
schedule network analysis
technique used to generate the project schedule model. Employs the critical path method, resource optimization techniques and modeling techniques. iterative process
critical path method
Used to estimate the least possible amount of time to complete the project and determine the amount of flexibility (float) within the schedule
- arranging the necessary activities in a diagram
- creating a legend with the top center indicating the
duration
- Longest path = critical path = determines the shortest possible project duration = least total float
- total float (schedule flexibility) is measured by the amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed or extended from it’s start date
‣ ES/EF - early start/finish ‣ LS/LF - late start/finish ‣ F - float
resource leveling
start and finish dates are adjusted based on the resource constraints with the goal of balancing the demand for resources with the available supply
resource smoothing
adjusts the activities of a schedule model such that the requirements for resource on the project do not exceed predefined resource limits
what-if scenario analysis
data analysis - the process of evaluating scenarios in order to predict their effect
simulation
models the combined effect of individual project risks and other sources of uncertainty to evaluate their potential impact on achieving project objectives
Monte Carlo Analysis
risk and other uncertainty are used to calculate possible schedule outcomes for the total project. Involves calculating multiple work package durations and other representations of uncertainty
schedule compression
used to shorten the schedule duration without reducing the project scope. EX:
- crashing = shorten the schedule duration for the least incremental cost by adding resources
- fast tracking - activities/phases normally done in sequence are performed in parallel
Agile Release Planning
high-level summary timeline of the release schedule based on the product roadmap and the product vision
Iteration Burndown Chart
chart tracks the work that remains to be completed in the iteration backlog - it is used to analyze the variance with respect to an ideal burndown based on the work committed from planning
performance reviews
measure, compare and analyze schedule performance against the schedule baseline
resource optimization
involves the scheduling of activities and the resources required by those activities while taking into consideration both resource availability and the project time
work performance information
info on how the project work is performed compared to the schedule baseline
three point estimating - expected cost formulas
triangular distribution: cE = (c0 (optimistic) + cM (most likely) + cP (pessimistic) / 3
Beta distribution: cE = (c0 + 4cM + cP) / 6
cost of quality
evaluating the cost impact of additional investment in conformance verse the cost of nonconformance OR short-term cost reductions. Ex:
- prevention cost, appraisal (audit) costs, failure cost
cost aggregation
cost estimates are aggregated by work packages in accordance with the WBS
historical information review
historical information review can assist in developing estimates
funding limit reconciliation
the expenditure of funds should be reconciled with any funding limits on the commitment of funds for the project
financing
acquiring funding for projects
to-complete performance index
a measure of the cost performance that is required to be achieved with the remaining resources in order to meet a specified management goal
flowcharts
data representation - process maps that display the sequence of steps and branching possibilities that exist
Logical data model
visual representation of an organizations data
matrix diagrams
help to find the strength of relationships among different factors, causes and objectives that exist
test and inspection planning
a planned determination of how to test/inspect the product deliverable, service to meet the stakeholders needs & expectations
process analysis
identified opportunities for process improvements
cause-and-effect diagrams
breaks down the causes of the problem statement identified into discrete branches, helping to identify the main/root cause of the problem
histograms
graphical representation of numerical data. I.e. number of defects per deliverable
scatter diagrams
graph that shows the relationship between two variables
audits
independent process used to determine if the project activities comply with the organizational and project policies, processes and procedures
Design for X
set of technical guidelines that may be applied during the design of a product for the optimization of a specific aspect of the design
check sheets
(tally sheets) - used to organized facts in a manner that will facilitate the effective collection of useful data about a potential quality problem
statistical sampling
choosing a part of a population to measure controls and verify quality
testing/product evals
organized and constructed investigation conducted to provide objective information about the quality of a product/service under test in accordance with project requirements
control charts
used to determine whether or not a process is stable or has predictable performance
Hierarchical Charts
traditional organization chart structure can be used to show positions and relationships in a top-down graph. EX: work breakdown structure, organizational breakdown structure, resource breakdown structure
Assignment Matrix
shows the project resources assigned to each work package. Used to illustrate the connections between work packages, activities and project team members
Text Oriented Formats
team member responsibilities that require detailed descriptions can be specified in text-oriented formats
RACI Chart
responsible, accountable, consult, inform chart
organizational theory
provides information regarding the way people, teams and organizational units behave
pre-assignment
when physical or team resources for a project are determined in advance
virtual teams
groups of people with a shared goal who fulfill their roles with little or no time spent meeting face to face
colocation
placing many or all of the most active project team members in the same physical location to enhance their ability to perform as a team
communication technology
shared portal, video/audio conferencing, email
recognition & rewards
recognizing and rewarding desirable behavior to motivate people
training
all activities designed to enhance the competencies of the project team members
individual and team assessments
give the project manager and project team insight into areas of strengths and weaknesses
emotional intelligence
ability to identify, assess and manage the personal emotions of oneself and other people as well as the collective emotions of groups of people
communication requirements analysis
determines the information needs of the project stakeholders.
communication technology
methods used to transfer information among project stakeholders may vary significantly. Common Methods: conversations, meetings, docs, databases
Factors that affect choice: urgency of the need for information, availability and reliability of technology, ease of use, project environment, sensitivity and confidentiality of the information
Communication Models - sender/reciever
communication as a process that consists of two parties: sender/receiver:
1. encode - message is coded into a medium for transmission (text)
2. transmit message - message is sent via a communication channel
3. decode - data received is translated by the receiver
Sample interactive communication model
communication as a process consisting of two parties: sender/receiver - but the message needs to be understood
This can be done through: acknowledgement, feedback/response
communication method - interactive
multidirectional exchange of information in real time
communication method - push communication
sent or distributed directly to specific recipients who need to receive the information - IE text/email
communication method - pull communication
used for a large complex information sets - web portals, databases, repositories
stakeholder engagement assessment matrix
displays gaps between current and desired engagement levels of individual stakeholders. Classification:
- unaware, resistant, neutral, supportive, leading
stakeholder analysis
to determine the risk appetite of project stakeholders
assumption and constraint analysis
explores the validity of assumptions and constraints to determine which pose a risk to the project
SWOT analysis
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats perspectives
prompt lists
predetermined list of risk categories that might give rise to individual project risks
risk data quality assessment
evaluates the degree to which the data about individual project risks is accurate and reliable as a basis for quantitative risk analysis
risk probability impact assessment
considers the likelihood that a specific risk will occur
assessment of other risk parameters
considers other characteristics of risk when prioritizing individual project risks. EX:
- urgency, proximity, dormancy, manageability, controllability, detectability, connectivity, strategic impact, proinquity
risk categorization
risks to the project can be categorized by sources of risk, the area of the project affected to determine the areas of the project most exposed to the effects of uncertainty
representations of unceratainty
where the duration, cost or resource requirement for planned activity is uncertain, the range of possible values can be represented in the model as a probability distribution
sensitivity analysis
helps to determine which individual project risks or other sources of uncertainty have the most potential impact on project outcomes
decision tree analysis
used to support selection of the best of several alternative courses of action
influence diagrams
graphical aids to decision making under uncertainty - represents a project/situation within the project
strategies for threats
escalate - appropriate when the project team/sponsor agrees the risk is outside the scope of the project
avoid - eliminate the threat from its impact
transfer - shifting ownership of a threat to a third party to manage
mitigate - reduce the probability of occurrence and/or impact
accept - acknowledges the existence of a threat but no preventative action is taken
strategies for opportunities
escalate - when the opportunity is outside the scope of the project
exploit - when the organization want to ensure the opportunity is realized
share - transferring ownership of an opportunity to a third party
enhance - increase probability.impact of an opportunity
accept - acknowledges its existence but no proactive action is taken
contingent response strategies
only happen if certain events occur - make a response plan that will only be executed under certain predefined conditions
strategies for overall project risk - avoid
when the level of overall proj risk is significantly negative and outside the agreed upon risk thresholds for the project
strategies for overall project risk - exploit
when the level of overall proj risk is significantly positive and outside the agreed upon risk thresholds for the project
strategies for overall project risk - transfer/share
if the level of overall project risk is high but the organization is unable to address it effectively, a third party may be involved to manage the risk on behalf of the organization
strategies for overall project risk - mitigate/enhance
changing the level of overall project risk to optimize the changes of achieving the projects objectives
strategies for overall project risk - accept
where no proactive risk response strategy is possible to address overall project risk, the organization may choose to continue with the project as currently defined
technical performance analysis
compares technical accomplishments during project execution to the schedule of technical achivement
make-or-buy analysis
used to determine whether work or deliverables can best be accomplished by the project team or should be purchased from outside sources
least cost
source selection analysis - appropriate for procurements of a standard or routine nature where well-established practices and standards exist
qualifications only
source selection analysis - applies when time and cost of a full selection process would not make sense because the value of the procurement is relatively small
quality-based/highest technical proposal score
source selection analysis - the selected firm is asked to submit a proposal with both technical and cost details and is then invited to negotiate the contract
quality and cost-based
source selection analysis - allows cost to be included as a factor in the seller selection process
sole source
source selection analysis - buyer asked a specific seller to prepare technical and financial proposals, which are then negotiated. (no competition)
fixed budget
source selection analysis - requires disclosing the available budget to invited sellers in the RFP and selecting the highest-ranking technical proposal within the budget
advertising
communicating with users of a product, service or result
bidder conferences
meetings between the buyer and prospective sellers prior to proposal submittal
claims administration
contested changes and potential constructive changes are those requested changes where the buyer/seller cannot reach an agreement on compensation
power/interest, power/influence, impact/influence grid
supports a grouping of stakeholders according to their level of authority (power), level of concern about the projects outcomes (interest), ability to influence outcomes (influence)
stakeholder cube
model combines the grid elements into a 3-dimensional model that can be useful to project managers and teams in identifying and engaging their stakeholder community
salience model
describes classes of stakeholders based on assessments of their power (level of authority or ability to influence the outcomes of the project), urgency (need for immediate action), and legitimacy (their involvement is appropriate)
directions of influence
classifies stakeholders according to their influence on the work of the project. EX:
- upward - senior management of the performing organization or customer organization
- downward - the team or specialists contributing knowledge
- outward - stakeholder groups and their representatives outside the project teams
- sideward - peers of the project manager
prioritization stakeholders
prioritizing stakeholders may be necessary for projects with a lot of them
ground rules
defined in the team charter set the expected behavior for the project team members as well as other stakeholders with regard to the stakeholder engagement
