Ch 7- Project Management Flashcards
(31 cards)
project
an interrelated set of activities with a definite starting and ending point which results in a unique outcome for a specific allocation of resources
3 main goals of any project
- Complete the project on time
- Don’t exceed the budget
- Meet the specifications to the satisfaction of the customer
project management
systemized, phased approach to defining, organizing, planning, monitoring, and controlling projects
program
interdependent set of projects that have a common strategic purpose
scope creep
Changes to scope that inevitably increase costs and delay completion. too many are primary causes of failed projects
2 steps of constructing a project network
- defining the work breakdown structure
2. diagramming the network
work breakdown structure
statement of all work that has to be completed
activity
the smallest unit of work effort consuming both time and resources that the project manager can schedule and control
network diagram
a network planning method - designed to depict the relationships between activities - that consists of nodes (circles) and arcs (arrows)
Program evaluation and review technique (PERT)
network planning method created for the US Navy’s Polaris missile project in the 1950s, which involved 3,000 separate contractors and suppliers
Critical path method (CPM)
network planning method developed in 1950s as means of scheduling maintenance shutdowns at chemical-processing plants
precedence relationship
relationship that determines a sequence for undertaking activities; it specifies that one activity cannot start until a preceding activity has been completed
path
sequence of activities between a project’s start and finish
critical path
the sequence between a project’s start and finish that takes the longest to complete
- determines the completion time of the project
activity slack
max length of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the whole project
- activities on the critical path have no slack
Gantt Chart
a project schedule - usually created by the project manager using computer software - that superimposes project activities with their precedence relationships and estimated duration times on a time line.
- don’t use with complex projects
- doesn’t clearly show inter-relationships among tasks (like PERT)
Total project costs
Sum of direct costs, indirect costs, and penalty costs
Normal time (NT)
Time necessary to complete an activity under normal conditions
Normal cost (NC)
the activity cost associated with the normal time
crash time (CT)
the shortest possible time to complete an activity
crash cost (CC)
the activity cost associated with the crash time
minimum-cost schedule
a schedule determined by starting with the normal time schedule and crashing activities along the critical path in such a way that the costs of crashing do not exceed the savings in indirect and penalty costs
risk-management plan
a plan that identifies the key risks to a project’s success and prescribes ways to circumvent them
Parkinson’s Law
If you give “x” amount of time, all o that time will be used
The solution: give less time to finish, leaving a cushion (basically don’t tell the employees the full time they have)
