Unit 6: Understand planning for success

Question 1

6.7 - Explain 3 benefits of the PMP

Answer 1

1. The PMP guides the project team through the deployment phase
2. The PMP allows progress to be measured
3. The PMP acts as a contract between the PS and the PM

Question 2

6.8 - Describe 2 typical sections in a PMP

Answer 2

Scope - Contains a description of the scope and the acceptance criteria

Risk management plans - how the PM will manage risks and opportunities to minimise threats and maximise opportunities.

Budget - The forecast costs of delivering the planned outputs as a cost breakdown structure (CBS) which shows how the budget has been allocated to the work. The budget is reached by defining the scope and estimating the costs.

Question 3

6.15 - 3 benefits of Earned Value Management

Answer 3

Supports better forecasting against time and budget. By calculating SCHEDULE PERFORMANCE INDEX (SPI) and COST PERFOMANCE INDEX (CPI) the project manager can use these indexes to support the forecasting of the estimates at completion for cost and time.

Earned value data can provide an early warning to the project manager.

By firstly getting an understanding of the percentage complete for a task from each task manager, the project manager can then turn this percentage complete into Earned Value for the task.

By subsequently calculating the cost and schedule variance, the PM can quickly understand whether the project is on track or not. The data will show if the cost is above or under and if the schedule is ahead or behind allowing the PM to place suitable control actions where necessary.