Week 4 - Project Management 1 Flashcards
What is the valley of death in business?
It is an image that shows how businesses fail and how funds are wasted
What do projects need to be a success?
Funding and the right ideas at the right time
What is disruptive innovation?
This is a new offering that disrupts an existing market. It eventually makes the old service or business model obsolete.
What is the Iron Triangle?
It is the interdependence between cost, time and scope
What is the waterfall approach to development?
It is the traditional approach where steps take place one after the other.
What are the 4(?) stages of the waterfall approach?
Design
Build
Test
Release
What are stages of the agile life cycle?
Envision, Speculate, Explore, Adapt, Close
The stages between speculate and adapt are iterative
What is different about the agile method to the waterfall method?
Agile involves iterations, stages can be repeated, with waterfall, it is hard to move back up the waterfall, hence the name.
What type of projects is the waterfall method more suited to?
They suit repeatable projects
What type of projects is the agile method more suited to?
Projects where innovation is an element
What is a project champion?
They are (usually) a senior executive who makes the case for a project
What are benefits of having a project champion?
Senior executives have the power to fight for the project
They can gain access to resources
They can communicate with multiple areas of firms
What are the risks of project championing?
Having the role of champion may cloud judgement about the project
Others may fear challenging a senior executive
What does MVP stand for?
Minimum Viable Product
What is the MVP in the agile process?
It is the minimum viable product, it is what you develop in a stage and then improve it with continuous improvement
Who can be involved to help gain commitment with a project?
The customers and the suppliers
Why is it good to involve the customer when securing commitment?
They are often best able to identify the required performance capabilities and minimum service requirements of a new product. Customers can also be businesses that sell to the end consumer, who are knwon as gatekeepers.
Why is it good to involve suppliers when securing commitment?
Involving suppliers as an alliance partner can improve product design, development, efficiency, reduce cost
What is a project?
A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result
Give some features of a project
They are complex, one time processes
They are limited by budget, schedule and resources
They are developed to resolve a goal or set of goals
They are customer focused
What are some general project characteristics?
They are ad hoc with a clear lifecycle
They are building blocks in the design and execution of strategies
They entail crossing functional and organisational boundaries
Outcomes of a project are the satisfaction of customer requirements within constraints
What are the differences between a project and a process?
A project is new - processes are repeated
A project has a one shot limited life, a process is ongoing
A project is more heterogeneous, a process is more homogenous
A project has greater uncertainty, a process has greater certainty
A project is outside of line organisation, a process is a part of it
A project upsets the status quo, a process supports it
What are the project success rates?
Software and hardware projects fail at a 65 percent rate
One of six IT projects has an overrun cost of 200 percent, schedule overrun of 70
What are the project lifecycle stages?
Conceptualisation
Planning
Execution
Termination
What is the quadruple constraint of project success?
Budget, Client Acceptance, Performance, Time, leading to success
What are the responsiblilities of a project manager?
Selecting a team Developing objectives and plan Performing risk management Cost estimating and budgeting Scheduling Managing resources
What are project stakeholders?
Individuals or groups who have an active stake in the project and can potentially impact (positively or negatively) its development
List some project stakeholders
Parent organisation External environment Top management Project team Accountant Clients Other functional managers
What can have an impact on your project management?
Your organisational culture - autocratic vs democratic, telling vs participating vs delegating
What must you do before choosing a project?
You must screen it!
What are the 4 stages of screening a project?
Risk
Commercial
Internal operating (changes needed to firm operations)
Additional
What does the risk stage of screening a project involve?
Technical, financial, safety, quality, legal
What does the commercial stage of screening involve?
Expected return on investment, payback period, potential market share, long term dominance, initial cash outlay, ability to generate future business
What does the internal operating stage of screening involve?
The need to develop/train employees, changes in workforce size or composition, changes in physical environment, changes in manufacturing or service operations
What is involved in the additional stage of screening a project?
Patent protection, impact on company’s image, strategic fit, prioritisation
What is the payback period?
It is a way of determining how long it takes a project to reach a breakeven point
How do you calculate the payback period?
Payback Period = Investment / Annual Cash Savings
What does Net Present Value forecast?
It forecasts the current value of a project
What is the internal rate of return?
It is the minimum rate of return a project must meet before it is worthy of consideration - the higher the better
What is leadership defined as?
The ability to inspire confidence and support among the people who are needed to achieve organisational goals
What is the difference between managers and leaders?
Leaders do the right thing, managers do things right
Leaders innovate, managers administer
Leaders command respect, focus on people and inspire trust, managers demand respect, focus on systems and strive for control.
Leaders focus on potential and have long term goals, managers focus on the bottom line and have a short term view
What are the 9 characteristics of an effective project manager?
Leads by example Visionary Technically competent Decisive A good communicator A good motivator Stands up to top management Supports team members Encourages new ideas
What are hard details when discussing what project managers actually manage?
These are technical details
What are soft details when discussing what project managers actually manage?
These are people issues
What is critical for a project manager to do?
Maintain strong contact with all stakeholders
What does emotional intelligence refer to?
A leaders ability to understand that effective leadership is part of the emotional and relational transaction between subordinates and themselves
What are the 5 elements of emotional intelligence?
Self-awareness Self-regulation Motivation Empathy Social skills
What is the PMI?
The Project Management Institute
What are the 4 things the PMIs code of ethics say project managers consist of?
Responsibility
Respect
Fairness
Honesty
What should be established when starting a project?
A scope statement
What does WBS stand for?
Work Breakdown Structure
What is the Work Breakdown Structure?
It is a hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the project deliverables
What are the six main purposes of the WBS?
Echoes project objectives Organisation chart for the project Creates logic for tracking costs, schedule and performance specifications Communicates project status Improves project communication Demonstrates control structure
What does the scope statement consist of?
Goal criteria
Management plan
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Scope baseline
What is a Project Work Package?
It forms the lowest level in WBS, it has a deliverable result, has one owner, may be considered a project itself, may include milestones, should fit organisational procedures and culture, size may be expressed in labour hours, calendar time, cost…
What do effective project teams have?
Clear sense of mission, productive interdependency, cohesiveness, trust, enthusiasm, results orientation
Why do project teams fail?
Unclear goals, poorly defined team roles, lack of motivation, poor communication and leadership, turnover among project members, dysfunctional behaviour
What does Tuckman say about teamwork?
It is a developing process with a number of stages before a team becomes more efficient and effective
What are the 5 stages of Tuckmans teamwork process?
Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning
What happens in the forming stage of Tuckmans model?
Goals are defined as well as acceptable behaviour
What happens in the storming stage of Tuckmans model?
Conflict concerning ideas
What happens in the norming stage of Tuckmans model?
Closer relationships and cohesiveness forms, agreements
What happens in the performing stage of Tuckmans model?
The team gets on with tasks
What happens over time with Tuckmans model?
Teams start of as immature, inefficient and ineffective, but they become more mature and therefore efficient and effective
What is conflict?
A process that begins when you perceive that someone has frustrated or is about to frustrate a concern of yours.
What is principled negotiation?
Separating the people from the problem
Focusing on interests not positions
Inventing options for mutual gain
Insisting on using objective criteria
What are some sources of organisational conflict?
Reward systems
Scarce resources
Uncertainty
Differentiation
What are some interpersonal sources of conflict?
Faulty attributes
Faulty communication
Personal grudges and prejudices
What are the two areas for sources of conflict?
Organisational and interpersonal
What are the stages for avoiding latent conflicting?
Conflict emergence, conflict escalation, stalemate, de-escalation (negotiation), dispute settlement, post-conflict peacebuilding
