Chapter 3: Project Life cycles and initiating projects

Question 1

Iterative and incremental development approaches

Answer 1

Iterative: customer provides feedback after every iteration, often done in a set amount of time “the whole evolves”

Incremental: each increment builds on top of the previous one “adding completed parts”

Question 2

Project life cycles

Answer 2

• Is a series of phases that a project passes through form its start to its completion
• A project phase is a collection of logically projected activities that culminates in the completion of one or more deliverables

Question 3

Project Management process groups

Answer 3

• Project management process groups progress from initiating activities to planning activities, executing activities, monitoring and controlling activities and closing activities
• A process is a series of actions directed toward a particular result

Question 4

Initiating processes

Answer 4

include actions to begin projects and project phases

Question 5

Planning processes

Answer 5

include devising and maintaining a workable scheme to ensure that the project meets its scope, time and cost goals as well as organizational needs

Question 6

Executing processes

Answer 6

include coordinating people and other resources to carry out the project plans and produce the deliverables of the project or phase

=> Deliverable is a product or service produced or provided as part of a project

Question 7

Monitoring and controlling processes

Answer 7

measure progress toward achieving project goals, monitor deviation from plans, and take corrective action to match progress with plans and customer expectations

Question 8

Closing processes

Answer 8

include formalizing acceptance of the project or phase and bringing it to an orderly end

Question 9

Characteristics of the process groups

Answer 9

• The level of activity and length of each PG varies for every project
  => Executing tasks require the most resources and time, followed by planning tasks
  => Monitoring and controlling is done throughout the project’s life span
  => Initiating and closing tasks => usually the shortest and require the least amount of resources and time
  => Every project is unique => so exceptions
  => Process groups apply to entire projects as well as to project phases

Question 10

A phase ?

Answer 10

distinct stage in project development and most projects have distinct phases

Question 11

The importance of top management commitment

Answer 11

• Without it, many projects will fail
• Some projects have a senior manager (sometimes called a champion) => acts as a key proponent for a project
• Projects are part of the lager organizational environment and many factors that might affect a project are out of the project manager’s control
• How top managers can help project managers to succeed:
• Provide adequate resources
• Approve unique project needs in a timely manner
• Encourage cooperation and deal with political issues
• Mentor and coach them on leadership issues
• Develop and enforce organizational standards
• Support a project management office (PMO)

Question 12

Project managers lead efforts to

Answer 12

• Identify and understand project stakeholders
• Create the project charter and assumption log
• Hold a kick-off meeting

Question 13

Pre-initiating processes

Answer 13

• After a project is approved => senior managers should meet to accomplish the following tasks:
• Determine scope, time, and cost constraints
• Identify the project sponsor
• Select the project manager
• Develop a business case for the project
• Review processes/expectations
• Determine if the project should be divided into two or more smaller projects

Question 14

Scope Goals

Answer 14

• Investigate and document the training taken in the last 2 years by all internal employees
• Determine what courses were taken, the costs of all training, the process for approving/assigning training and the evaluation of the training by participants if available
• Survey employees to get their input on what training they believe they will need in the next 2 years, also hold focus groups to determine training needs
• Recommend how to provide the most valuable training for global construction employees in the next 2 years
• Determine the scope, time and cost goals for the development and implementation of the just-in-time training phase II project

Question 15

Business Case for a project

Answer 15

Is a document that provides financial justification for investing in a project

Typical contents:
* Introduction/Background
* Business objective
* Current situation and problem/opportunity statement
* Critical assumptions and constraints
* Analysis of options and recommendations
* Preliminary project requirements
* Budget estimate and financial analysis
* Schedule estimate
* Potential risks
* Exhibits

Question 16

Initiating processes

Answer 16

• Identifying project stakeholders
• Creating the project charter
• Creating the assumption log
• Holding a kick-off meeting

Question 17

Identifying stakeholders

Answer 17

Project stakeholders => people involved in or affected by project activities

• Internal project stakeholder: include the project sponsor, project team, support staff and internal customers for the project (top management, other functional managers and other project managers)
• External project stakeholders: include the project’s customers (external to the organization) competitors, suppliers and other external groups (government officials, concerned citizens)

Question 18

Contents of a project charter

Answer 18

• The project’s title and date of authorization
• The project manager’s name and contact information
• A summary schedule or timeline, including the planned start and finish dates; if a summary milestone schedule is available, it should also be included or referenced
• A summary of the project’s estimated cost and budget allocation
• A brief description of the project objectives, including the business need or other justification for authorizing the project
• Project success criteria or approval requirements, including project approval requirements and who signs off on the project
• A summary of the planned approach for managing the project, which should describe stakeholder needs and expectations, overall project risk, important assumptions and constraints
• A roles and responsibilities section
• A sign-off section for signatures of key project stakeholders
• A comments section in which stakeholders can provide important comments related to the project

Question 19

Contents of an assumptions log

Answer 19

• Is a document used to record an tracks assumptions and constraints throughout the project life cycle
• Aids in communicating information to key stakeholders and avoids potential confusion
• Most projects include several assumptions that affect scope, time, cost, risk and other knowledges areas
• Important to document and validate these assumptions

Question 20

Holding a project Kick-off meeting

Answer 20

• Crucial to get projects off to a great start
• Meeting held at the beginning of a project so that stakeholders can meet each other, review the goals of the project and discuss future plans
• Preparing:
• Invitation (date, time, venue or virtual setup)
• Agenda
• Review and/or prepare project charter
• Clarify roles
• Dress professional

Question 21

Scrum Pillar and values

Answer 21

Based on
* Transparency
* Inspection
* Adaptation

It also emphasizes 5 values:
* Commitment
* Focus
* Openness
* Respect
* Courage

Question 22

Identify key stakeholders

Answer 22

• Product owner: is responsible for maximizing the value of the product created by the development team by managing the product backlog
• Scrum master: responsible for promoting and supporting the Scrum process as defined in the scrum guide
• The development team (developers): professionals who do the work of delivering a potentially releasable increment of a product at the end of each sprint

Question 23

Product vision Statement

Answer 23

• Describes the desired future state that would be achieved by developing and deploying a product
• Format: for (target customer) who (statement of need or opportunity) the (product name) is a (product category) that (key benefit, reason to buy) unlike (primary competitive alternative) our product (statement of primary differentiation)

Question 24

Product strategy

Answer 24

• High level plan describing what the organization hopes to accomplish with its product and how it plans to do so
• Strategy is depicted in a product roadmap

Question 25

Creating an initial product backlog and estimating size

Answer 25

• The product owner (with the team and stakeholder) creates an initial product backlog => is an emergent, ordered list of what is needed to improve the product
• Contents of the product backlog include a priority number, ID, description (user story) and an estimate
• Agile approaches to estimating are often done in terms of relative size

Question 26

Product release plan

Answer 26

• Is a tactical document that spans only a few months and is used internally for the development teams
• Product release plans evolve based on the initials sprint and feedback from the teams and other stakeholders