Yerrr Flashcards
What is a project performance Domain?
A project performance domain is a group of related activities that are critical for the effective delivery of project outcomes.
What are the different project domains?
Stakeholders,
Team,
Development Approach and Life Cycle,
Planning,
Project Work,
Delivery,
Measurement, and
Uncertainty.
T/F: The performance domains are present in every project
T
What are the steps for gaining effective stakeholder engagement?
Identify
Understand
Analyze
Prioritize
Engage
Monitor
What are some aspects that should be considered when analyzing stakeholders?
Attitudes & beliefs
Power
Degree of influence
Proximity to project
Interest in project
*Other aspects that impact their stakeholder interaction
T/F: As the project goes on, there will be no need to reprioritize stakeholders.
F
Explain push vs pull communication
Push - one way information “pushed” to stakeholders by project team.
Pull - Information intentionally sought by stakeholders.
What are some techniques to optimize the env for the tailoring process?
Lean methods
Reviewing lessons learned
Determining the best place to spend funding
T/F: Most times, project managers have contracting & procurement authority.
F, they typically work w/in the organizational policies for procurement and they work with contracting officers for contracts.
What steps are included in the bid process?
Developing and publicizing bid documents
Bidder conferences
Selecting a bidder
What three documents cover the majority of bidding needs?
Request for information
Request for proposal
Request for quote
In [predictive/adaptive] projects, only approved projects are added to the baseline.
In [predictive/adaptive] projects, new work can be added to the product backlog, as needed
- Predictive
- Adaptive
Explain explicit vs tacit knowledge
Explicit - can be readily codified using words, pictures, or numbers. Ex: manuals, registers, web searches, and databases
Tacit - comprised of experience, insights, and practical knowledge or skill. Ex: networking, interviews, job shadowing, discussion forums, etc
Which domain addresses activities and functions associated with establishing project processes, managing physical resources and fostering a learning environment.
The project work performance domain
Which domain addresses activities and functions associates with delivering the scope & quality that the project was created to achieve?
Delivery performance domain
Define “project delivery”.
meeting the requirements, scope, and quality expectations needed to produce the expected deliverables that drive the intended outcomes
T/F: Business cases always have the same format.
F. format of this business case varies based on the development approach and life cycle selected
When ___ requirements, it’s important to document and gain stakeholder agreement.
Eliciting
What are some consequences of ineffective requirements management?
rework, scope creep, customer dissatisfaction, budget overruns, schedule delay, and overall project failure.
The ____ is defined as the sum of the products, services, and results to be provided by the project.
Scope
A ____ can be used to decompose the scope into lover levels of detail.
work breakdown structure
How can a work breakdown structure benefit a project team?
WBS hierarchically breaks down the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.
What are the different ways to describe component or project completion?
Acceptance or completion criteria.
Technical performance measures.
Definition of done.
The definition of done is used with ____ approaches, particularly in software development projects.
Adaptive
T/F: The faster the project is completed, it decreases the likelihood of “done drift” (the done goal being pushed).
T
What are the four categories of costs associated with quality, per the cost of quality (COQ) methodology?
Prevention
Appraisal
Internal failure
External failure
Why are prevention costs incurred and what are some related activities?
They keep defects and failures out of a product and are planned and incurred before actual operation.
Ex: product/service requirements, quality planning & assurance, training
Why are appraisal costs incurred and what are some related activities?
Appraisal costs measure and monitor activities related to quality. Ex: verification, quality audits, supplier rating
Why are internal failure costs incurred and what are some related activities?
Internal failure costs are associated with finding and correcting defects before the customer receives the product. Ex: Scrape, waste, rework,
Why are external failure costs incurred and what are some related activities?
External failure costs are associated with defects found after the customer has the product and with remediation.
Ex: Repairs and servicing for returned products, warranty claims, customer complaints, returns, reputation
T/F: Early inspection and review work are good investments
T. They optimize delivered value
The delivery cadence is based on the way work is structured in the ______Performance Domain
Development Approach and Life Cycle
Project completion metrics are identified in the ____ Performance Domain.
Planning Performance Domain
The ____ Performance Domain addresses measures and metrics that are used during the project.
Measure
What are the benefits of effective measures?
Can communicate project status
Help improve project performance
Reduce the likelihood of performance deterioration.
What are the two types of KPIs?
Leading indicators and lagging indicators.
What is a leading indicator?
Leading indicators predict changes or trends in the project.
What are lagging indicators?
Lagging indicators measure project deliverables or events.
Which of the two types of KPIs are easier to measure?
Lagging indicators are easier to measure than leading indicators.
What are some examples of leading indicators?
Lack of a risk management process, Stakeholders who are not available or engaged
Poorly defined project success criteria
Which are tools for fully defining the scope?
WBS Dictionary
Acceptance Criteria
Scope statement
The____ Performance Domain is addresses activities associated with assessing project performance and taking appropriate actions to maintain acceptable performance.
Measure
What are some common categories of metrics?
Deliverable metrics,
Delivery,
Baseline performance,
Resources,
Business value,
Stakeholders, and
Forecasts.
What are some customary measures for the products, services, or results being delivered?
Information on errors or defects
Measures of performance.
Technical performance measures.
What characterizes a measure of performance & what are some examples?
Measures of performance characterize physical or functional attributes relating to the system operation.
Examples include size, weight, capacity, accuracy, reliability, efficiency, and similar performance measures.
How does a technical performance measure benefit the project?
The measures are used to ensure that system components meet technical requirements.
_____ measurements are associated with work in progress and frequently used with the ____ approach.
delivery, adaptive
What is cycle time?
cycle time indicates the amount of time it takes the project team to complete a task.
T/F: Longer cycle times & lead times make a more productive team.
F. Shorter cycle time & lead times
____ states that queue size is proportional to both the rate of arrival in the queue and the rate of completion of items from the queue.
Little’s Law
How is process efficiency calculated?
calculates the ratio between value-adding time and non-value-adding activities
The most common baselines are __ and ___
cost and schedule
How can comparing start & finish dates be helpful?
measure the extent to which work is accomplished as planned
looking at performance on the critical path determines…
simple schedule variance
What does burn rate measure?
Also referred to as “cost compared to planned cost” & measures just that
What does Cost performance index (CPI) measure?
An earned value management measure that indicates how efficiently the work is being performed with regard to the budgeted cost of the work.
What are the two measures for resource management?
Planned resource utilization compared to actual resource utilization & Planned resource cost compared to actual resource cost.
What is the purpose of business value measurements?
used to ensure the project deliverable stays aligned to the business case and the benefits realization plans.
Cost-benefit ratio, Planned benefits delivery compared to actual benefits delivery, Return on investment (ROI) & Net present value (NPV) represent what type of metrics?
financial business value metrics
How do you calculate Net present value?
The difference between the present value of inflows of capital and the present value of outflows of capital over a period of time
What metrics can be used to measure stakeholder satisfaction?
Net Promoter Score(NPS)
Mood chart
Morale Survey
Turnover
What does a Net Promoter Score (NPS) measure?
measures the degree to which a stakeholder (usually the customer) is willing to recommend a product or service to others. It measures a range from -100 to +100 and also indicates customer loyalty
What measures can be used for Quantitative forecasts?
Estimate to complete (ETC)
Estimate at completion (EAC)
Variance at completion
To-complete performance index (TCPI)
Regression analysis.
Throughput analysis.
Estimate to complete (ETC) vs Estimate at completion (EAC)
ETC forecasts the expected cost to finish all the remaining project work while EAC forecasts the expected total cost of completing all work
Budget at completion (BAC) minus the estimate at completion (EAC) = ?
Variance at completion (VAC)
i.e the amount of budget deficit or surplus
The ratio of the cost to finish the outstanding work to the remaining budget is called…?
To-complete performance index (TCPI)
T/F: Regression analysis can be used to infer future performance.
T
What are the benefits of Information radiators?
They are visible, physical displays that provide information to the rest of the organization, enabling timely knowledge sharing
Burnup vs burndown charts
A burnup chart can track the amount of work done compared to the expected work that should be done. A burndown chart can show the number of story points remaining or the amount of risk exposure that has been reduced.
What is meant by “velocity” in project management?
Velocity measures the productivity rate at which the deliverables are produced, validated, and accepted within a predefined interval.
T/F: A team that only has their output measured may be influenced to focus on creating a large volume of deliverables rather than focusing on deliverables that would provide higher customer satisfaction.
T. This is an example of the Hawthorne effect.
What are some potential negative affects that can arise from measurements?
Hawthorne effect.
Vanity metric
Team Demoralization
Misusing the metrics.
Confirmation bias.
Correlation versus causation.
What is the purpose of an exception plan?
It’s an agreed-upon set of actions to be taken if a threshold is crossed or forecast.
T/F: Exception plans are formal.
F. They can be as simple as calling a stakeholder meeting to discuss the matter.
What are some good guidelines to follow in terms of determining which metrics to measure?
The metrics chosen should do the following:
Allow the project team to learn,
Facilitate a decision,
Improve some aspect of the product or project performance,
Help avoid an issue,
Prevent performance deterioration.
Threats vs Opportunities OR Negative risk vs positive risk
Potential outcomes that benefit the project objectives are known as opportunities; potential outcomes that have a negative effect on objectives are called threats.
What are some methods to mitigating general uncertainty?
Gather information
Prepare for multiple outcomes.
Set-based design (aka, having multiple project designs)
Build in resilience
Conceptual ambiguity vs situational ambiguity
Conceptual ambiguity is the lack of effective understanding & occurs when people use similar terms or arguments in different ways.
Situational ambiguity surfaces when more than one outcome is possible.
What are some methods to mitigating ambiguity?
Progressive elaboration
Experiments
Prototypes
____ is a characteristic of a program, project, or its environment, which is difficult to manage due to human behavior, system behavior, or ambiguity.
Complexity
What are the different types of complexity?
Systems-based
Process based
Need reframing
What are some methods to mitigate systems-based complexity?
Decoupling - disconnecting parts of the system to both simplify the system and reduce the number of connected variables
Simulation - using similar though unrelated scenarios to simulate components of a system
What are some methods to mitigate complexity that needs reframing?
Diversity - viewing the system from diverse perspectives.
Balance - using various data types
What are some methods to mitigate process based complexity?
Build iteratively
Engage stakeholders
Fail safe- build in redundancy or elements that can provide a graceful degradation of functionality in the event of a critical component failure
What environment does volatility need?
environment that is subject to rapid and unpredictable change.
T/F: Volatility usually impacts cost and schedule
T
What are some methods to mitigate volatility?
Alternatives analysis
Reserve - can be used to cover budget overruns due to price volatility
What are some methods to mitigate threats?
Avoid
Escalate
Transfer
Mitigate
Accept
What are some methods to handle opportunities?
Exploit
Escalate
Share
Enhance
Accept
How does the “escalate” strategy work for opportunities & threats?
For opportunities and threats, the “escalate” strategy is appropriate when the project team or the project sponsor agrees that a threat is outside the scope of the project or that the proposed response would exceed the project manager’s authority.
How does the “accept” strategy work for opportunities & threats?
For opportunities and threats, accepting an opportunity or threat acknowledges its existence but no proactive action is planned.
Management Reserve vs Contingency Reserve
A contingency reserves is to in case identified risks occur. Management reserves are set aside for unplanned events.
What are some benefits of tailoring?
More commitment from project team who participated in the tailoring process
More focus on the customer
More efficient resource usage
What aspects of the project can be tailored?
Life cycle and development approach selection
Processes
Engagement
Tools
Methods and artifacts
How can a process be tailored after selecting the life cycle and development approach?
Process tailoring determines what should be:
Added, Modified, Removed , Blended and/or Aligned.
What is included in tailoring engagement for the people involved in the project?
People
Empowerment
Integration
What are the typical step in the tailoring project?
- Choose development approach best for the project
- Modify based on organization
- Adjust further based on project details like size, criticality, etc
- Implement and improve as needed.
T/F: there is a tool that help project determine which development approach to use.
T. The suitability filter is an informational tool that combines its assessment with other data and decision-making activities so that the tailored approach is appropriate for each project
T/F: Many organizations have no stake in the tailoring process.
F. Organizations that have established process governance need to ensure tailoring is aligned to policy.
What are some attributes that influence project tailoring?
Product/deliverable
Project team
Culture
What are some attributes that influence project tailoring that are associated with the deliverable/product?
Compliance/criticality
Time frame
Type of product/deliverable
Stability of requirements
Industry market
Security
Technology
Incremental delivery
What are some attributes that influence project tailoring that are associated with the project team?
Size
Geography/Location
Experience
Access to customer
What are some attributes that influence project tailoring that are associated with org culture?
Buy in
Trust
Empowerment
Org culture
T/F: There is no tailoring of the work involved in performance domains
F. Work associated with each performance domain can also be tailored
What are the types of associated costs tied to the use of models, methods, and artifacts?
Time, level of expertise/proficiency in use, impact on productivity, etc.
What is the purpose of a model?
A model helps to explain how something works in the real world
T/F: Leadership styles can also be tailored.
T.
Describe the elements of Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership II model.
It measures project team member development using competence and commitment. Leadership style evolves as the project team member’s competence and commitment evolve.
Utilizing Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership II model, what would be the different leadership phases as a team member’s competence and commitment grows?
The leadership style evolves from directing to coaching to supporting to delegating
What are the contributing factors to the OSCAR model.
Outcome
Situation
Choices/consequences
Actions
Review
Which leadership model was designed to help individuals adapt their coaching or leadership styles to support individuals who have an action plan for personal development?
The Oscar model
Who developed a communication model that incorporates the idea that how a message is transmitted by the sender & received by the receiver influenced by many factors, such as knowledge, experience, language, thinking, and communication styles, etc
Browaeys and Price
Who developed a communication model that describes communication channels along the axes of “effectiveness” and “richness”
Alistair Cockburn
What is the definition of “richness”, as it pertains to communication?
Richness in communication allows a broad spectrum of information to be conveyed rapidly.
T/F: Situations that entail complex, complicated, and personal information benefit from richer communication channels, such as an email or note.
F. Face-to-face communication is the richer communication channel
Who developed a communication model that describes the difference between the intention of a user and what the item allows them to do or supports them in doing
Donald Norman
Gulf of Execution vs Gulf of Evaluation
gulf of execution as the degree to which an item corresponds with what a person expects it to do
gulf of evaluation is the degree to which an item supports the user in discovering how to interpret the item and interact with it effectively
What are examples of some motivational factors?
Content of the work, such as achievement, growth, and advancement.
T/F: Frederick Herzberg believed that insufficient motivational factors lead to dissatisfaction
T
T/F: In the long run, extrinsic motivation is more effective.
F, intrinsic motivators are far longer lasting and more effective
What are the types of intrinsic motivators?
Autonomy, mastery, purpose