Unit 14

Question 1

Project

Answer 1

A project is defined/characterized by:
Multiple activities
Dependencies among activities
Interdisciplinary activities
Team-based execution
Risk
Budgets

Question 2

Principles of Project Management:

The Need for Project Management

Answer 2

Categories of project success
Successful projects –on time, within budget, on scope
Challenged projects –failure in one area
Failed projects –cancelled or not used
Recent years have seen some improvement, but still 1/3 to 1/2 of projects are challenged or fail

Question 3

The Need for Project Management

Answer 3

Reasons for failure
Undefined project management practices
Poor IT management and poor IT procedures
Inadequate executive support for the project
Inexperienced project managers
Unclear business needs and project objectives
Inadequate user involvement

Question 4

Project Manager Responsibilities

Answer 4

Internal Responsibilities Developing the project scheduleRecruiting and training team membersAssigning work to teams and team membersAssessing project risksMonitoring and controlling project deliverables and milestones

External ResponsibilitiesReporting the project’s status and progressWorking directly with the client (the project’s sponsor) and other stakeholdersIdentifying resource needs and obtaining resources

Question 5

Additional Project Stakeholders

Answer 5

Client
the person or group that funds the project

Oversight Committee
clients and key managers who review the progress and direct the project

Users
the person or group of people who will use the new system

Question 6

PMBOK

Answer 6

Project Management Body of Knowledge

Question 7

What are the 10 Project Mnagaement Body of Knowledge Areas

Answer 7

Project Integration Management
Project Scope Man.
Project Time Man
Project Cost Man.
Project Quality
Project Human Resource Man.
Project Communications Man. 
Project Risk Man.
Project Procurement Man.
Project Stakeholder Man.

Question 8

Schedule the Work

Answer 8

Gantt Chart
Shows task, duration, start date, predecessors, and resourcesGenerates chart graphically showing dates, predecessors, tasks, and critical path

Question 9

PERT/CPM chart

Critical Path

Answer 9

Earliest start time – the earliest time that a task can begin due to predecessor durations
 Latest start time – the latest time that a task can start to maintain the schedule
 Slack time – the amount of time a task or leg of sequential tasks can be delayed without impacting the project schedule

Question 10

Uncertainty in Duration Estimations

Answer 10

The duration is expressed using
OptimisticPessimisticMost likely times
Some assumptions about distributions
PERT analysis gives details such as the probability of completing the project in a given number of periods

Question 11

Staff and Allocate Resources

Answer 11

Staffing activity tasks consists of 5 tasks:
Developing a resource plan for the project
Identifying and requesting specific technical staff
Identifying and requesting specific user staff
Organizing the project team into work groups
Conducting preliminary training and team-building exercises

Question 12

Evaluate Work Processes:Retrospective

Answer 12

Are our communication procedures adequate? How can they be improved?Are our working relationships with the user effective?Did we hit our deadlines? Why or why not?Did we miss any major issues? How can we avoid this in the future?What things went especially well? How can we ensure it continues?What were the bottlenecks or problem areas? How can we eliminate them?

Question 13

Monitor Project Progress and Make Corrections

Answer 13

Process to monitor and control project execution

Question 14

Monitor Project Progress and Make Corrections 2

Answer 14

Sample Issues-Tracking Log

Question 15

Project Schedule

Answer 15

Tracking Gantt Chart