PMP Flashcards
(304 cards)
1
Q
What is the difference between “individual Project Risk” and “Overall Project Risk”?
A
Individual project risk is a single uncertain event or condition that can impact the project.
Overall project risk is the risk exposure of the project as a whole
2
Q
What is the difference between “risk appetite” and “risk tolerance”
A
Risk appetite is the amount of risk you are willing to take for a reward
- ex: not willing to go to vegas because you don’t want to take that risk
Risk tolerance is the amount of volume of risk you are willing to take
- ex: how much you are willing to play in the slot machine
3
Q
What is a “known-known” risk?
A
Risk that you know about and generally know how to respond to it
4
Q
What is a “Known-Unknown” risk
A
risks that you know about but you haven’t analyzed to the full extend.
5
Q
What is an “unknown-unknown” risk
A
a risk you don’t know about but it could happen
6
Q
What is the difference between Variability Risk and Ambiguity Risk?
A
Both Non-Event Risks
Variability risk is some aspect of a planned task or situation that is uncertain. E.g.: productivity targets, error during testing, weather patterns
Ambiguity Risks are uncertainties arising from lack of knowledge or understanding. e.g. future regulations
7
Q
What is Project Resilience
A
Ability to handle risk that was not known. Ability to handle unknowable-unknowns
8
Q
What are the three types of contracts?
A
Fixed-Price, Cost-reimbursable, Time and Material
9
Q
Tell me about a Fixed Price (Lump Sum) contract
A
- Buyer pays one flat price (lump sum) for all work in the contract
- includes labor and material
- used when the scope is well-defined and understood
- all risk is with the seller (person performing work)
- 3 types:
- Firm Fixed Price (FFP): price is fixed and cannot be changed
- Fixed price incentive fee (FPF): fixed price includes additional fee for meeting a target outlined in the contract
- Fixed price economic price adjustment (FP-EPA): adjust fixed cost over the life of the contract because of economic conditions
10
Q
Tell me about a cost-reimbursable contract
A
- Buyer pays for the work expenses and then pays the seller a fee for his profit (example: I will buy all the materials and pay you $100 to paint the room). Fixed fee for profit.
- The risk is with the buyer because the cost overrun of work expense is covered by the buyer because the seller (painter) is guaranteed the profit
3 types-- Cost plus fixed fee (CPIFF) buyer pays the work expense and then a fixed fee to the seller for profit
- cost plus incentive fee (CPIF): buyer pays the work expense and an additional fee, if a target is met, such as, finishing two weeks earlier
- cost plus award fee (CPAF): buyer pays the work expense and pays an award fee that is based on satisfaction of work
11
Q
Tell me about Time and Material contract
A
buyer pays for both labor and material
- buyer takes all the risk of cost overrun for both the labor and materials
- should only be used when scope is high-level
12
Q
What procurement document describes the type of agreement to use and how the project would like delivery to take place?
A
Procurement strategy
The procurement strategy documents delivery methods, types of agreements, and the procurement phases of the project.
13
Q
What documents are used to get a response from potential sellers
- generally include an RFP, RFQ or RFI
A
Bid documents
14
Q
What is a Bidder Conference (Contractor, vendor, or pre-bid conferences)
A
Meeting between buyer and sellers
- when you have a big project, and you want to explain the project to a bunch of people at once
15
Q
what do you do if there are ANY disagreements between a buyer and a seller?
A
Send it to the Claims Administration
16
Q
what is the list of sellers that have been properly vetted by the organization and can be used as potential sellers on a project?
A
Preapproved seller list
17
Q
Criteria used to evaluate the sellers and can include things such as costs, delivery dates, experience, financial stability, and management experience
A
Source selection criteria
18
Q
What are you getting when you hire an outside professional estimator to provide a benchmark to determine whether the bids form a seller are adequate for the project
A
Independent cost estimate
19
Q
What is the difference between the procurement statement of work and the procurement management plan
A
The procurement management plan is part of the project management plan, while the procurement statement of work is a project document.
The procurement management plan contains the activities necessary to conduct the procurement processes.
The procurement statement of work outlines what, from the scope baseline, will be outsourced. It also contains information such as specifications, desired quality, and quality levels.
20
Q
Who approves all deliverables prior to the closure of procurement?
A
The Project Manager
21
Q
What model is used to describe stakeholders based on their power level, influence, urgency, or legitimacy.
A
salience model
22
Q
Where should the project manager include the organization position and role of the project stakeholders?
A
stakeholder register
23
Q
which document has all details about each work package, such as who is doing it, where it’s getting done, and its cost. Also includes acceptance criteria for each of the work packages
A
WBS dictionary
24
Q
____ dependencies are those that are legally or contractually required or inherent in the nature of the work.
A
Mandatory dependencies
25
_____ dependencies are when the sequence of activities does not necessarily have to be done in that particular order but is usually at the discretion of the person doing the work
Discretionary dependencies
26
_____ is when the work is outside of the project team’s control, such as getting a permit. I
External dependency
27
____ dependency is usually within the project team’s control.
Internal dependency
28
______ estimating is based on historical information, generally from previous projects that were very similar. This technique would lead to a quick estimate, but may not be very accurate.
Analogous estimating
29
_____is using subject matter experts in order to estimate the duration of a project
Expert judgment
30
_____ estimation is done by aggregating the work in order to come up with the duration
estimation is done by aggregating the work in order to come up with the duration
31
The ____ is used to estimate the minimum project duration and determine the amount of schedule flexibility
The longest path on the critical path diagram
critical path method
The activities on the critical path have no float (or slack)
Float = total float = slack
32
_____ the schedule is a compression technique in which activities are generally done in parallel.
“Fast tracking”
33
The ____ method is used to construct a schedule in which the activities are represented graphically using nodes and are linked based on their relationship.
The precedence diagramming method.
34
The designated person that represents the customer on the project
Prioritizes the product backlog
Product Owner
35
The person who manages the agile project
responsible for facilitating the process
Focuses team and protects them from external interruption
assists the product owner in leveraging scrum
Agile Project Manager / Scrum Master
36
Meeting done by the agile team to determine what features will be done in the next sprint
Sprint planning meeting
37
A short iteration where the prjoect team work to complete the work in the sprint backlog (1-4 weeks typically)
Sprint
38
A quick meeting each day to discuss project statuses, led by the Scrum Master (usually 15 minutes)
Daily Stand Up Meeting
39
An inspection done at the end of the sprint by the customers
Sprint review
40
Meeting done to determine what went wrong during the sprint and what went right. Lessons learned for the sprint
Retrospective
41
Several Sprints worth of work directed to operations for possible rollout and testing
Release
42
What are the three scrum artifacts
- **Product backlog** - prioritized list of all work that needs to be done to complete the product.
- List is dynamic, it evolves as the more work is added and prioritized.
- Items in it are prioritized by the product owner and is sorted by value.
- Most valuable items are listed first. Constantly being refined as more work is added to it.
- Team and product owner will "groom the backlog"
- **Sprint backlog** - list of committed items to be addressed within sprint
- The sprint backlog is accompanied by a plan of how to achieve the sprint goal, so it serves as the development team's forecast for the functionality that will be part of the sprint
- It is a highly visible view of the work being undertaken and may only be updated by the development team.
- **Product increment** - part of the product that is complete after each sprint
- Part of the product that is done after each sprint
- Done to get feedback after each sprint
- The product owner and team need to agree upon the "definition of done" before the team starts working on the product
43
What is collective code ownership?
Any pair of developers can improve or amend any code
Multiple people work on all code, which results in increased visibility and knowledge of code base
Leads to a higher level of quality; with more people looking at the code, there is a greater chance of defects
44
Remove redundancy, eliminate unused functionality, and rejuvenate obsolete designs
Basically, cleaning up your code after you finish writing it
Refactoring
Refactoring throughout the entire project lifecycle saves time and increases quality
code is kept clean and concise so it is easier to understand, modify, and extend
45
What is a Release?
A series of sprints (aka scrum) that results in a product that the customer can start using
46
When is customer review work done on an agile project?
Sprint Review Meeting
During a sprint review meeting, the customers will review the work completed in the sprint and give the team their feedback.
47
What is Gulf of Evaluation?
The Gulf of evaluation occurs when, what one person described is often different from how another interpreted it.
48
What are the levels of conflict (1-5)?
Level 1: Problem to solve - sharing info
Level 2: Disagreement - Personal Protection
Level 3: Contest - Must win
Level 4: Crusade - Protecting one's group
Level 5: World War - Must destroy the other
49
Generalizing specialists
- Have Members that can do different tasks
- Members skilled in more than one area
- Share work reduce bottleneck
50
What are some things you can do to build a high-performance agile team?
-Have a shared vision
- Realistic goals
- fewer than 12 members
- have a sense of team identity
- provide strong leadership
51
What is the difference between a burnup chart, a burndown chart, and a velocity chart?
A burnup chart shows work that HAS BEEN DONE
A burndown chart shows the work that REMAINS TO BE DONE
A velocity chart shows how the team is performing
52
What can the agile project manager use in the agile charter as a brief way to describe the goals of the project?
Project Tweet
The project tweet will describe the project goal in 140 characters or less.
53
What is the collaboration game that asks stakeholders to imagine that an upcoming release was successful and to look back on what made it a success. This will allow stakeholders to define the success criteria for the release.
Remember the future
54
What is the agile manifesto
individuals and interactions over processes and tools
55
According to the cost constructive model, the people factor is how many more times costly than tools and processes?
11
56
Agile project teams should have fewer than __________ members?
12
57
What does the Shu-Ha-Ri Model of Skill Mastery mean?
Shu - Obey
Ha - Moving away
Ri - Finding individual paths
If people in a team are in the “Shu” phase they are quite immature in agile, and they just follow the rules.
If they are more mature, they will be in the “Ha”, where they can break the rules safely.
The last stage is the “Ri” phase where people are so mature that they can create their rules.
58
During what level of the Tuchman’s letter should the agile project manager be directing the team?
Forming
59
Refers to the time it would take to complete a given task assuming zero interruptions or unplanned problems
Ideal Time
60
variation of the Delphi estimating method where subject matter experts complete multiple rounds of producing estimates individually, with a project team discussion after each round, until a consensus is achieved.
Wideband Delphi
61
High-level planning tool
stakeholders map out what the project priorities early in the planning
When finished, it turns into the product roadmap
Shows when features will be delivered and what is included in each release
Story Maps
62
What are the types of iterations in agile
Iteration 0
- Set the stage for development efforts
- Doesn't build anything
Development Iterations
- Build the product increment
Iteration H (hardening sprint or release)
- Done at the end to clean up codes or producing documentation
63
What are the two types of Spikes
Architectural spike
- Period of time dedication to proof of concept
Risk-based spike
- Team investigate to reduce or eliminate risk
64
What is the process of iteration planning?
- Meeting run by the delivery team
- Discuss the user stories in the backlog
- Select the user stories for the iteration
- Define the acceptance criteria
- Break down the user stories into task
- Estimate the task
65
What is the process of release planning
- Meeting with all stakeholders to determine which stories will be done in which iterations for the upcoming release
- Selecting the user stories for the release
- Using Velocity - points per iteration
- Slicing the stories
- Breaking down the stories that are too large to e completed in 1 iteration
66
Technical Debt
Backlog of work caused by not doing regular cleanup
If not done, will lead to increase cost of development and make it harder to implement changes
refactoring is the solution
67
what is Lead Time and Cycle Time
Lead Time: how long something takes to go through the entire process
Cycle Time: a subset of lead time. How long something takes to go through a part of the process. part of lead time.
- Measure of how long it takes to get things done
- Long cycle times lead to increased amounts of WIP
68
What is the formula for Cycle Time
Cycle Time = WIP / Throughput
Throughput: amount of work that can be done in a time period
Long cycle times lead to increased amounts of WIP
69
What are the two types of trend analysis metrics?
Lagging metrics: provide information on something that has already happened
Leading metrics: provide information on something that is about to occur
70
What are the Three C's of user stories?
Card- The Card, or written text of the User Story is best understood as an invitation to conversation. ...
Conversation. The collaborative conversation facilitated by the Product Owner which involves all stakeholders and the team. ...
Confirmation.
71
What is the agile improvement process?
plan, develop, evaluate, and learn
72
What is the difference between control quality and manage quality
Manage Quality
is about improving your process. This happens as the deliverable is getting built. Example is as the painter is painting the room, looking to see if there are ways they can improve.
Control Quality
is looking at the deliverable itself and saying to yourself "is this painted room a quality job. did they do a quality job?". You are assessing the perfromance against the quality standards and requirements in those deliverables to see if they meet the quality requirements.
73
At what part of the project do you identify and analyze stakeholders?
throughout the project. not just the beginning
74
As you acquire, document, and transfer knowledge throughout the project, what document should be constantly updated
The lesson learned register
75
What process do you collect quality requirements?
Collect requirements
76
When should quality requirements be defined?
early in the project and should be checked often to ensure they're getting done
77
Who is the best at breaking down work and determining when a particular activity should happen?
The project team
78
Who should be checking the deliverable for scope conference and quality requirements?
The customers
79
what is the mindset around selecting a contract to use on a project with potential sellers?
Always use a contract that is mutually beneficial to both the seller and the buyer to the overall benefits of the project objectives
80
What are the 5 process groups?
Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, Closing
81
What are the major outputs for the Initiating Process Group
- Project Charter
- Assumptions Log
- Stakeholder Register
82
What are the major outputs of the Planning Process Group?
Project Management Plan:
- Change mgmt plan
- Configuration mgmt plan
- Scope mgmt plan
- Requirement mgmt plan
- Schedule mgmt plan
- Cost mgmt plan
- Quality mgmt plan
- Resource mgmt plan
- Communication mgmt plan
- Risk mgmt plan
- Procurement mgmt plan
- Stakeholder mgmt plan
- Scope baseline
- Schedule Baseline
- Cost Baseline
- Performance measurement baseline
- Project life cycle description
- Development approach
83
What are the major outputs of the Executing Process Group
- Accepted Deliverable
- Work Performance Information
- Work Performance Reports
- Approved Change Request
84
What are the major outputs of the Closing Process Group
- Final Product, Service, or result transition
- Final Report
85
What are the retrospectives stages in order?
- Set Stage
- Gather Data
- Generate Insights
- Decide what to do
- Close retrospective
86
EAC
Estimate At Completion
EAC = BAC/CPI
= Budget / Cost Performance Index
Forecast of the total cost of the project at the end based on the current spending rate of the project
87
SV
Schedule Variance
SV = EV - PV
= Earned Value - Planned Value
The difference between the amount of work we should have done vs. the amount actually done
Negative values indicate behind schedule
88
SPI
Schedule Performance Index
SPI = EV / PV
= Earned Value / Planned Value
The rate of how we are meeting the project schedule
A value of 1 or above indicates the project is ahead of schedule
89
CPI
Cost Performance Index
CPI = EV / AC
= Earned Value / Actual Cost
The rate of how we are spending to actually earning on the project
Values of 1 or above indicate the project is under budget
90
CV
Cost Variance
CV = EV - AC
= Earned Value - Actual Cost
The difference between the work done and the money spent
Positive values mean we are under budget
91
AC
Actual Cost
Amount of $ you have spent on the project thus far
92
EV
Earned Value
EV = Actual % Complete * BAC
Amount of $ worth of work you have actually done on the project
93
PV
Planned Value
PV = Planned % Complete * BAC
Amount of $ worth of work that we should have done on the project
94
BAC
Budget at Completion
Original budget of the project
95
TCPI
To-Complete Performance Index
TCPI = (BAC - EV) / (BAC - AC)
The performance that needs to be met to finish the project within the budget
96
VAC
Variance at Completion
VAC = BAC - EAC
= Budget - Estimate at Completion
The difference between the original budget and the new forecasted budget.
A positive value indicates the project may end at or under budget
97
ETC
Estimate to Completion
ETC = EAC - AC
= Estimate at Completion - Actual Cost
Forecasting the amount of $ that will be needed to complete the project based on the current performance
98
Communication Channels Formula
of channels needed = n*(n-1) / 2
n = # of people on the project
99
What are the steps you need to follow when solving a problem?
1) Define the cause of the problem (not just the symptoms)
2) Analyze the problem (cause + effect diagram)
3) Identify Solutions
4) Implement the selected solution
5) Review the solution - make sure it works
6) Confirm the solution solved the problem
100
What is Maslow's hierarchy of needs (from top to bottom)
- Self Actualization (seeking personal growth and fulfillment)
- Esteem (respect and approval from others)
- Social (friends and family)
- Safety
- Physiological (basic needs like food, water, shelter)
101
What is the difference between McGregor's theory X and Theory Y?
Theory X is bad. They need to be watched all the time, micromanaged, and distrusted. people who avoid work and have no ability to achieve. Theory X Managers are micromanagers
Theory Y is good. these people are self-led, motivated, and can accomplish new tasks proactively.
102
What is Ourchi Theory Z
A theory about increasing employee loyalty to the organization
103
What is Herzberg's theory of motivation?
Hygiene agents. Things that need to be provided to employees in order for things to get done. things like provide paychecks to employees
104
What is the Ishikawa Diagram
Known as the fishbone diagram. Also known as the cause of defects diagram
shows you the potential reasons of a major defect. for example, what caused the system to fail
105
What is a histogram
A barchart aka a pareto diagram
shows you the 80/20 rule: 80% of your issues are likely coming from 20% of the potential causes
106
What is a scatter diagram
used to show trends
107
What is the Rule of Seven?
Applies to a control chart, which tells you if a process is in control or not.
108
What document lays out detailed information about each individual activity?
this document expands the description of the activity by identifying many of the aspects of the activity, including resource requirements, predecessor and successor activities, logical relationships, leads and lags, etc.
This is one level below the Work Packages in your standard WBS
Activity Attributes
Process where created: define activities
109
What document is a list of all project assumptions and constraints?
Assumptions Log
Process where created: Develop project charter
110
What document describes how schedule, cost, and resource estimates were developed. Also includes their confidence level and ranges
Supporting detail for cost estimates contained in the ___ should specify any basic assumptions dealing with the inclusion or exclusion of indirect or other costs in the project budget.
Basis of estimates
Process where created: Estimate activity duration, estimate costs, estimate activity resources
111
What document lists and describes the status of the change requests that are being processed or have been processed through the perform integrated change control process?
Change log
Process where created: Perform integrated change control
112
What document shows the cost of each individual activity
Cost Estimates
Process where created: Estimate costs
113
___ are predictions of how much the project will cost when completed based on the current work?
Cost Forecasts
Process where created: Control Costs
114
___ outline the amount of time needed to complete each activity on the project?
Duration Estimates
Process where created: Estimate Activity Durations
115
An ___ is used to record and monitor information on active issues.
Issues are assigned to a responsible party for follow up and resolution.
Issue Log
Process where created: Direct and Manage Project Work
116
What document is a description of milestones on a project
Milestone LIst
Process where created: Define Activities
117
What document shows the assignements of the physical resources to the activities or work packages
Physical Resource Assignments
Process where created: Acquire Resources
118
What documents are associated with Manage Communications?
Project communications
Process where created: Manage Communications
119
What document is a detailed breakdown of the work that needs to be done in order to complete the project. Will include a bar chart, milestone chart, and the project schedule network diagram
Project Schedule
Process where created: Develop Schedule
120
What document is a sequencing diagram that shows the relationships amongst the activities and the sequence they will be performed. but also show the critical path
Project schedule network diagram
Process where created: sequence activities
121
What document is an assignment of the project team members to the work packages or activities
Project team assignments
Process where created: Acquire resources
122
___ shows the results of the activities done in the 'control quality' processes to determine if the quality standards or policies were met
Quality control measurments
Process where created: Control Quality
123
____ are an essential part of the quality management system and provide a way to measure how well a process is performing.
Quality metrics
Process where created: Plan quality Management
124
What document is a report which generally includes information about quality issues on the project and recommendations on how to improve the process on the project
Quality reports
Process where created: Manage quality
125
What document is a description of all requirements from the project stakeholders
Requirements documentation
Process where created: Collect requirements
126
What document is a table that traces the origin of the requirements
Contains the description, owner, source, priority, and status of product requirements
Links product requirements from their origin to the deliverables that satisfy them
Requirements traceability matrix
Process where created: Collect requirments
127
What document shows the categorization and type of the project resources
The ___ is a hierarchical list of team and physical resources related by category and type that is used for planning, managing, and controlling project work.
Resource breakdown structure
Process where created: estimate activity resources
128
what document shows the availability of resources on the project both physical and HR
specify when and for how long identified team and physical resources will be available during a project
Resource calendars
Process where created: Acquire resources
129
___ identify the types and quantities of resources required for each work package or activity
___ identify the types and quantities of resources required for each work package or activity in a work package and can be aggregated to determine the estimated resources for each work package, each WBS branch,
and the project as a whole. The amount of detail and the level of specificity of the resource requirement descriptions can vary by application area.
The ___ documentation can include assumptions that were made in determining which types of resources are applied, their availability, and what quantities are needed.
Resource requirements
Process where created: estimate activity resources
130
The ___ captures details of identified individual project risks.
The results of Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis, Plan Risk Responses, Implement Risk Responses, and Monitor Risks are recorded in this document as those processes are conducted throughout the project.
Includes:
- List of identified risks
- Potential Risk Owners
- List of potential risk responses
Risk register
Process where created: Identiy Risks
131
What document is a description of the overall project risks
Risk Report
Process where created: Identify Risks
132
What document has the information that is used to create the schedule such as who made it, assumptions, and constraints
Schedule Data
Process where created: Develop schedule
133
What document is a prediction of when the project may be completed based on the current progress of the work
Schedule forecasts
Process where created: Control schedule
134
what document is a list of all stakeholders, which can include categorization, impact, and communication requirements
Stakeholder register
Process where created: Identify stakeholders
135
What document is a guideline the team should follow on a project. Includes values, decision-making process, acceptable behavior, code of conduct, and etiquette
Team Charter
Process where created: Plan resource management
136
What document is used to help evaluate the project deliverables when completed
___ can be created based on industry needs and the organization's templates. They are inputs to the Control Quality process and are used to evaluate the achievement of quality objectives. These documents may include dedicated checklists and detailed requirements traceability matrices as part of the document
Test and evaluation documents
Process where created: Mange quality
137
What are the two types of control within the Integrated Change Control Process?
**Configuration Control**: Focuses on the specification of deliverables and processes
**Change Control**: Focuses on the identification, documentation, and approval or rejection of changes to project documents, baselines, or deliverables
138
What are the four Project Manager powers?
- Reward-oriented: power comes from the ability to provide rewards
- Persuasive: ability to provide arguments that move people to a desired course of action
- Expert: power of the PM that comes from him being a technical or project mgmt expert
- Referent: when the PM has respect or admiration of others and is thought of as a credible person
139
what is a retrospective?
A regularly occuring workshop in which participants explore their work and results in order to improve both the process and product
140
what is the difference between a directive project management office and a controlling project management office?
a directive PMO directly manages the project. A controlling PMO supports the project through frameworks and methodologies
141
what is the difference between a contingency reserve and a management reserve?
142
A representation of the generally sequential and sometimes overlapping project phases that a project typically goes through
Created in 'Develop Project Management Plan' process
Project Life Cycle
143
A review by the project manager, stakeholders, and management to evaluate whether the project has the expected performance or there is a necessity to take preventive or corrective actions
Managers and stakeholders reviewing whether or not the project is going to plan
Created in 'Develop Project Management Plan' process
Management Review
144
Comprehensive document that outlines the basis of all project
work and how the work will be performed
Process of defining, preparing, and coordinating all plan
components and consolidating them into an integrated project
management plan
Contains baselines and plans
Develop Project Management Plan
145
Process:
Performing the work defined in the project management plan
Involves managing people and keeping them engaged,
improving the processes, requesting changes, and
implementing approved changes
Summary of all other executing processes
Direct and Manage Project Work
146
Process:
Process of tracking, reviewing, and recording the progress to meet
the performance defined in the PM Plan.
Ensures that the plan is working, identifies any areas in which
changes to the plan are required, and initiates the corresponding
changes
Takes all the Work Performance Information and creates the Work
Performance Reports.
Monitor and Control Project Work
147
Process:
Review all change requests; approving changes and managing
changes to deliverables, project documents, and the project
management plan
Process where you assess the change’s impact on the project
Perform Integrated Change Control
148
Process:
Finalizing all activities for the project, phase, or contract.
Making certain that all documents and deliverables are up-to-date and that all issues are resolved
Confirming the delivery and formal acceptance of deliverables by the customer
Closing project accounts, Reassigning personnel
Close Project or Phase
149
What are the three components of the Scope Baseline?
Project Scope statement
WBS
WBS Dictionary
150
A document that details the contents of the WBS
It provides detailed information on each node of the WBS
It should include team member assigned to it, time estimate, cost estimate, account information, work package ID, quality requirements, contract information, scheduled milestone, plus detail overall of the task at hand
WBS Dictionary
151
Process:
Formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables
The verified deliverables obtained from the Control Quality process are reviewed with the customer or sponsor to ensure they are completed satisfactorily and have received formal acceptance of the deliverables by the customer or sponsor
Done at the same time or immediately after Quality Control
Close Project or Phase may start upon completion of this process
Validate Scope
All about getting acceptance of the stakeholders on the project
152
Quick Tip:
If data is an input, information is an output
if information is an input, reports is an output
data creates info, info creates reports
153
Process:
process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline
The uncontrolled expansion to product or project scope without adjustments to time, cost and, and resources is referred to as scope creep
Determines if a scope change has happened
When changes are made and approved, the project baselines will need to be adjusted to reflect these changes
Control Scope
154
What is the major difference between validate scope and control scope?
control scope is done every day to make sure the project is staying on scope.
validate scope is done at the end when the work is done and you need an acceptance of the work that was completed.
155
Process:
Process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables
Decomposes work packages into scheduled activities that provide a basis for estimating, scheduling, executing, monitoring, and controlling the project work
Define Activities
156
What are the three levels of work breakdown
the project deliverables - which are stored in the scope statement, get decomposed in the process of 'create WBS' into work packages - which are stored on the WBS
In the define activities process, we take the work packages and decompose them into activities.
157
What is the lowest level of decomposition. the Lowest breakdown of work. Where you will apply your time and cost estimates
Activity
158
A tool in the 'define activities' process. a form of progressive elaboration. you cannot plan for it right now because it is far out
an iterative planning technique for work to be accomplished in the near term
Rolling Wave planning
159
Process:
identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities
Taking the activity list and arranging the activities in the order they must be performed
Sequence Activities
160
What are the four types of activity relationships?
- Finish to start (the most commonly used)
- you cannot start B until you complete A
- Finish to Finish
- You cannot finish B until you finish A
- generally, the A and B finish at the same time. Dont have to start at the same time
- Start to Start
- you cannot start B until you start A
- generally, A and B start at the same time, don't have to finish at the same time.
- Start to Finish
- You cannot finish B until you start A
161
Describe the 4 kinds of dependencies: Mandatory, Discretionary, External, Internal
Mandatory Dependencies (Hard Logic)
- Activity A MUST be completed before starting activity B (e.g. purchasing the paint prior to painting the walls)
Discretionary Dependencies (soft logic)
- Activity A and B are tied together but do not have physical limitations. (e.g. painting the walls of the room and laying carpet at the same time)
External Dependencies
- Non-project activities usually outside the control of the project team (e.g. Home Depot stocking paint prior to you buying it)
Internal Dependencies
- Project activities are within control of the team
162
____ estimating (top-down estimating) is based on historical information to predict estimates
Often used when there is limited amount of information available
Cost less in Time and Money to use, but gives the least accuracy
Analogous estimating
163
Parametric Estimating uses a stistical relationship between historical data and other variables (for example, square footage in construction, lines of code in software dev) to calculate an estimate for activity parameters such as scope, cost, budget, and duration
Parametric Estimating
example, it takes 5 minutes to paint one sq ft of wall. how long will it take to paint the entire wall.
164
____ Estimating calculates an expected duration using a weighted average of 3 estimates; optimistic, pessimistic, most likely
Three-point estimates
165
____ estimating is when you break down the work to the lowest levels and then aggregate the work back up to find an overall duration
bottoms-up estimating
166
What are the two resource optimization techniques?
This is a method to flatten the schedule when resources are over-allocated or allocated unevenly
Resource leveling and resource smoothing.
Resource leveling is the practice of adjusting a project's start and end dates to accommodate for limited resources.
Resource smoothing, meanwhile, entails adjusting the project's activities to ensure work is completed according to existing timelines.
167
What are the two ways to compress a schedule?
Crashing (adding resources to a project activity) - deals with cost
- add people, throw money at it
- always adds cost
- may add additional risk
Fast Tracking (activities performed in parallel) - deals with risk
- May not always add cost
- May increase risk due to project work
168
What is the difference between Project Schedule and Project Baseline?
The Project Schedule is a “living” document, whereas the Schedule Baseline is the “frozen” version of it. The Project Schedule is updated as the project is being executed. On the other hand, the Schedule Baseline is only modified as a result of an approved change request related to project scope changes.
Project Baseline
- in the Project Mgmt Plan
- Original schedule baseline with any approved changes to the schedule
- not very detail. generally, when the project start and ends
Project Schedule
- very detailed
- the detail of the project schedule (the work, the activities, the network diagrams) is NOT in the project mgmt plan
- Has three components
- Network Diagram
- Bar charts
- Milestone Chart
169
How do you calculate float (or slack)?
Late Start - Early Start
or
Late Finish - Early Finish
170
What is the formula for early finish
Early Start + Duration - 1 = Early finish
171
What is the difference between free float and total float?
- Total Float = slack = float is the amount of time you can delay an activity without delaying the project
- Free Float is the amount of time you can delay an activity without delaying the next activity
- Free Float = ES of next activity - EF of current activity - 1
172
what is the difference between contingency reserves and management reserves?
Contingency Reserve: the PM determines, manages, and controls it. That means it is in the cost baseline. It is in the project management plan. you do not need a change request to change it
Mgmt reserve: the management determines the funds to cover known/unknown risks. It is added by the mgmt of the company. the PM has no control over it. if you want access to it, you typically need to get a change request.
173
what is the difference between the cost baseline and the project budget?
The cost baseline is the cost associated with all the activities PLUS THE CONTINGENCY RESERVES
The Project Budget is the cost baseline plus the MANAGEMENT RESERVES
174
What is the difference betweeen Grade and Quality?
Grade is when deliverables have the same function but different technical characteristics. Quality is the degree in which characteristics fulfill requirements
In non PIMBOK bullshit terminology: think of a TV. A high grade tv has a ton of different functions. A high quality tv will do everything it's intended to do for a long time. turn on, have good picture, all function.
You should always seek high quality. High grade is optional
175
What Quality Methodology is:
Everyone in the company is responsible for quality, looks at the underlying process of how a product is made
Total Quality Management (TQM)
176
What Quality Methodology is:
Continuous improvement by all parties, no matter how small the change
Continuous Improvement - Kaizen
177
What Quality Methodology is:
Organizational for International Standards to ensure the companies document what they do and execute what they document
ISO 9000
178
What quality methodology involves inventory levels being as near zero as possible?
Just In Time Inventory
179
In terms of quality, what is the difference between Prevention and Inspection?
Prevention is about keeping the errors out of the process and Inspection is about keeping the errors out of the customers hands
180
What is the difference between conformance costs and non-conformance costs?
conformance, prevention, appraisal costs: example: paying extra for a painter to have good quality tools so they do a good job
Non-conformance costs: example: not doing something right and having to go back and fix it
181
Exam tip: any time they ask a question where they say the PM should be improving the processes on the project, the answer is manage quality
182
What is a RACI chart?
Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed
Put the people at the top (either the role or the name) and the task or the work on the side
Memorize for test: every row of the RACI chart, there has to be one, and only one, person who is accountable. Only one "A" for each row
183
Process:
where you look at each individual activity and determine what and how many resources are needed to accomplish that activity
resources are not just people but also include equipment, machines, and different types of supplies needed to finish the activity
Estimate Activity Resources
184
What are Maslow's hierarchy of needs (bottom to top)
-Physiological: the necessities to live; air, water, food, clothing and shelter
- Safety: people need safety and security; can include stability in life, work and culture
- social: people are social creatures and need love, approval and friends
- Esteem: people strive for respect, appreciation and approval of others
- self-actualization: at the pinnace of needs, people seek personal growth, knowledge and fulfillment
185
What is the difference between the stakeholder engagement plan and the communications mgmt plan?
Stakeholder Engagement Plan: about how we keep stakeholders engaged
Communication mgmt plan: Exactly how you are going to communicate.
- who should receive comms, what should they receive, how often it should be sent, etc.
186
What is the difference between manage communications and monitor communications?
Manage communications: is a process where you execute the project management plan, in particular, the communication management plan. for example, holding the meeting
Monitor communications: where you ensure the plan is being followed. for example, ensuring the meeting was held
187
What is the relationship between the risk management plan and the risk register & the risk report
- The risk management plan describes how risk management activities will be structured and performed. It includes the risk categories, risk appetites, and the reporting formats
- The risk report is a project document that is developed progressively throughout the risk management process and summarizes the information on individual project risk and the level of overall project risk
- A risk register (or risk log) is a repository in which outputs of risk management processes are recorded. Information in a risk register can include the person responsible for managing the risk, probability, impact, risk score, planned risk responses, and other information used to get a high-level understanding of individual risks.
188
What are the strategies for Negative Risks or Threats
- Escalate - Outside the Project Team Level
- Avoid: Eliminate the risk entirely. avoid windows virus by getting linux
- Transfer: transfer ownership to a 3rd party. Like insurance
- Mitigate: reduce the probability of the risk event
- Accept: Deal with the risk at hand
189
What are the Strategies for Opportunities (positive Risk)
- Escalate: outside the Project Team Level
- Exploit: remove any and all uncertainty
- Share: some or all ownership to a 3rd party
- Enhance: increase t he probability of the event happening
- Accept: take advantage of the opportunity, but not seek it
190
What are the strategies for overall project risk
- Avoid
- Exploit
- Transfer / Share
- Mitigate / Enhance
- Accept
191
When you identify a risk, what is the first thing you do?
Add it to the risk register
- Then you do the qualitative risk analysis
- then quantitative analysis
- then you come up with a risk response
- Then you update the risk register with the corresponding response
NEVER respond to a risk unless you have analyzed it first
192
What is the difference between the procurement Mgmt plan, the procurement strategy, the bid documents and the procurement statement of work?
All are outputs of the Plan Procurement Mgmt process
- Procurement Mgmt Plan: Doesn't actually say what you want to procure. Part of the project management. Describes how the project manager will conduct the other two procurement processes. lists types of constraints and assumptions about the procurements.
- Procurement Strategy: Describes what types of agreements to use and how the project would like delivery to take place. Determines how to deliver the deliverables, types of contracts to use, what phases will be used to complete procurements
- Bid Documents: Used to get a response from potential sellers. used to solicit proposals from potential sellers (RFI, IFB, RFP, RFQ are all bid documents)
- Procurement Statement of Work: describes what will be procured for the project. Outlines the specifications and quality requirements for a particular part of the project and if any warranties are needed. Developed from the scope baseline, lists the needs of the buyers
193
If there is any sort of dispute between a buyer and seller, what should you do?
Send it to the Claims Administration
194
___ contains elements such as pricing and payment terms, inspections, warranties, incentives and penalties, and insurance and performance bonds.
Agreements
195
The ____ documents delivery methods, types of agreements, and the procurement phases of the project.
procurement strategy
196
The ____ outlines what, from the scope baseline, will be outsourced. It also contains information such as specifications, desired quality, and quality levels.
procurement statement of work
197
What are the 5 levels of stakeholder engagement?
- Unaware
- Resistant
- Neutral
- Supportive
- Leading
198
What are the 4 Agile Manifesto Values
- **Individuals & Interactions over Process & Tools**: While processes and tools will likely be necessary on our projects, we should focus the team's attention on the individuals and interactions involved. Projects are undertaken by people, not tools. Problems get solved by people, not processes
- **Working Software over Comprehensive documentation**: Focus on delivering value vs. paperwork. Agile documents should be barely sufficient. Done just in time. done just because. Delivering software that does what it should come first, before creating documentation. Agile dramatically simplifies the administration paperwork
- **Customer collaboration over Contract Negotiation**: Be flexible and accommodating, instead of fixed and uncooperative. Manage change, don't suppress it. Shared definition of done
- **Responding to change over following a plan**. Spend effort and energy responding to changes.
199
Which Agile Methodology limits work-in-progress
Kanban
200
Which agile methodology utilizes a pull-system?
Kanban
201
What prioritization technique will have stakeholders categorize the features based on satisfiers and dissatisfiers?
Kano Analysis
Kano analysis will help to understand the customer’s level of satisfaction. They will classify the features based on their level of satisfaction such as the exciter’s, satisfiers, dissatisfiers, and indifferent.
202
What tool can the agile team used to show the risks severity over time on a project?
Risks Burndown Chart
203
What is the agile meeting call when the team looks at possible things that can cause the failure of a project in the future?
Pre-mortems
204
What is the difference between story maps and product rodemaps?
when story maps are finished, they turn into the product road map.
- story maps show when features will be delivered and what is included in each release
205
what is the difference between iteration planning and release planning?
- Iteration Planning
- Meeting run by the delivery team
- discuss the user stories in the backlog
- select the user stories for the iteration
- define the acceptance criteria
- break down the user stories into tasks
- estimate the task
- Release Planning: Meeting with all stakeholders to determine which stories will be done in which iterations for the upcoming release
- selecting the stores for the release by using velocity (points per iteration)
- slicing the stories (breaking down stories that are too large to be completed in 1 iteration
206
The primary goal of _____ is the optimization of the flow of information or materials within a process by eliminating wasteful or unnecessary work
Value stream mapping.
The steps you take when value stream mapping are:
- Identify the product or service
- create a value stream map
- review to find waste
- create a new map with the desired improvement
- develop a roadmap to implement the fixes
- plan to revisit it again
207
What are the stages of a retrospective?
About 2 hours for a typical retrospective
- ** set stage**: main objective is to get people to focus on the task at hand.
- Encourage participation to ensure everyone starts talking early
- outline the approach and topics for discussion
- get people in the mood for contributing info
- **gather data** : create a picture of what happened during the sprint. start to collect information to be used for improvement. Activities include:
- timeline (what were the issues that happened in different timelines)
- triple nickels: break the team into 5 groups to spend 5 minutes collecting 5 ideas, 5 times
- Mad, Sad, Glad: what were the team emotions as the sprint was taking place
- **generate insights**: analyzing data found in the previous step of 'gather data'
- helps understand what was found. activities include
- brainstorming, five whys, fishbone analysis, prioritize with dots
- **decide what to do**: decide what to do about the problems that were found. how can we improve for the next iteration. Activities include:
- short subjects (start doing, stop doing, do more of, do less of)
- SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely)
- **close retrospective** - opportunity to reflect on what happened during the retrospective
208
In the Agile Manifesto, Individuals and Interactions over ____
Processes and Tools
209
In the Agile Manifesto, Working Software over ___
Comprehensive Documentation
210
In the Agile Manifesto, Customer Collaboration over ___
Contract negotiation
211
In the Agile Manifesto, Responding to change over ___
Following a Plan
212
____ is comprised of a description of the project scope, major deliverables, and exclusions
Scope Statement
213
What are the elements included in a project scope statement?
- **Produce scope description**: which progressively elaborates the characteristics of the product, service, or result described in the project charter and requirements documentation
- **Deliverables**: which describe any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that is required to be produced to complete a process, phase, or project.
- **Acceptance criteria**: which are a set of conditions that is required to be met before deliverables are accepted
- **project exclusions**: which explicitly identify what is excluded from the project
214
What are project approval requirements and where do they live?
They provide information about what constitutes project success, who decides the project is successful, and who signs off on the project. They are in the Project Charter
215
___ 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 required deliverables
The ___ represents only the work packages that are required for the project and does not provide a categorization of resources
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
216
What theory suggests that individuals are motivated to perform if they know that their extra performance is recognized and rewarded?
One example is people working harder when they believe the added effort will help them achieve a goal and be rewarded
Expectancy Theory
217
What management theory states :in a heirarchy, every employee tends to rise to his/her level of incompetence". Most project team members are motivated by an opportunity to grow, accomplish, and apply their professional skills to meet new challenges. Their achievements continuously promote them within an organization to a certain level until they are unable to perform
The Halo Effect (also known as the Peter principle)
218
What law states "anything that can go wrong will go wrong"
Murphy's Law
219
Which conflict resolution technique treats the conflict as a problem to be solved. This approach is used when the relationship between parties is important and when each person has confidence in the other party's ability to problem-solve
Confronting / Problem Solving
220
Which conflict resolution technique involves incorporating multiple viewpoints and insights from differing perspectives; requires a cooperative attitude and open dialogue. There must be trust among the participants and time to come to a consensus. A project manager may facilitate this type of conflict resolution between project team members.
Collaborating
221
Which conflict resolution technique involves searching for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to all parties in order to temporarily or partially resolve the conflict. Ths is generally used when the parties involved have equal 'power'
Compromising
222
Which conflict resolution technique involves highlighting areas of agreement rather than areas of difference; conceding one's position to the needs of others to maintain harmony
Smoothing / accommodating
223
Which conflict resolution technique is used when there is not enough time to collaborate or problem-solve and involves pushing one's viewpoint at the expense of others. This is usually enforced through a power position
Forcing
224
Which conflict resolution technique involves retreating from an actual or potential conflict situation; postponing the issue to be better prepared or to be resolved by others
Withdrawl / Avoiding
225
What type of risk includes:
- scope definition
- requirements definition
- estimates, assumptions, and constraints
- technical processes
- technology
- technical interfaces
Technical Risk
226
What type of risk includes:
- Project Management
- Program / portfolio Management
- Operations Mgmt
- Organization
- Resourcing
- Communication
Management Risk
227
What type of risk includes:
- Contractual Terms and Conditions
- Internal Procurement
- Suppliers and Vendors
- Subcontractors
- Client customer stability
- Partnerships and joint ventures
Commercial Risk
228
What type of risk includes:
- Legislation
- Exchange rates
- Site / Faciliites
- Environmental / Weather
- Competition
- Regulatory
External Risk
229
What is the typical range for a rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimate?
-25 to +75 percent from actual.
ROM estimates are used by project managers in the initiating process
230
What is the typical range for a budget estimate?
-10 to +25 percent from actual
Budget estimates are usually developed during the planning process
231
What are the three most frequent sources of conflict on a project?
1) scarce resources
2) scheduling priorities
3) Personal work style
232
An ____ approach can be beneficial when the project needs to be optimized for the speed of delivery
Incremental approach
233
The ____ defines how the customer must maintain the deliverables, so the deliverables provide the highest benefit after they are delivered and not under the purview of the project.
The benefits management plan
234
___ consolidates ideas created through individual brainstorming sessions into a single map to reflect commonality and differences in understanding and to generate new ideas
Mind Mapping.
Note, mind mapping is not a data gathering technique. It is a data representation technique similar to affinity diagrams (where large number of ideas are classified into groups for review and analysis)
235
What are the three key skill sets of the talent triangle?
- Technical project management. The knowledge, skills, and behaviors related to specific domains of project, program, and portfolio management. The technical aspects of performing one's role
- Leadership. The knowledge, skills, and behaviors needed to guide, motivate, and direct a team.
- Strategic and business management. The knowledge of an expertise in the industry and organization that enhanced performance and better delivers business outcomes
236
A ____ is a numbering system that is used to uniquely identify each component of a work breakdown structure, which in turn helps to better monitor and control the project
Code of accounts.
237
The procurement strategy is determined as part of the Plan Procurement Mgmt process. The procurement strategy, an output from this process, is comprised of three elements which include ____
procurement delivery methods, type of agreements, and procurement phases
238
A ___ is a high-level planning tool that can be used by agile project stakeholders to map out the project features and their priorities in early planning stages of the project
Story board (also called a Story Map)
239
The ___ is a hierarchical chart of possible sources of uncertainties, i.e., risks. The __ is used to categorize and group risk sources, which helps the team consider the full range of project risks that may rise.
Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS)
It is an output of the Plan Risk Management process
240
What is the difference between the lessons learned register and the lessons learned repository?
The lessons learned register tracks risks for the current project. The lessons learned repository is a store of historical info about lessons learned from past projects.
241
What is the difference between a sprint planning meeting, a sprint review meeting?
A sprint planning meeting (aka an iteration planning meeting) is used to clarify the details of the backlog items, acceptance criteria, and work effort required to meet an upcoming iteration commitment. It happens first
At a sprint review meeting (aka an iteration review meeting) happens at the end of an iteration to demonstrate the work that was accomplished during the iteration. The team presents the product increment that they have built during the sprint. It is conducted for three main reasons:
- To prove to the stakeholders that the team is moving in the right direction
- To get feedback from the stakeholders about the work completed
- To discuss the work of the next sprint with the stakeholders.
242
___ is a technique in which a representative of each Scrum team attends a meeting with other representative(s) to coordinate their work
Scrum of Scrums
243
What are the events and artifacts of scrum?
Scrum is a single-team framework used to manage product development. The framework uses an iterative approach to deliver working product. Scrum is run on timeboxes of 1 month or less with consistent duratinos called sprints where a potentially releasable increment of product is produced.
Events:
- Sprint
- Sprint Planning
- Daily Scrum
- Sprint Review
- Sprint Retrospective
Artifacts:
- Product Backlog
- Sprint Backlog
- Increments
244
In a ____ organization, a project manager has low authority over resources, the PM is part time, and the budget is managed by the functional manager
weak-matrix
245
In a ___ organization, the PM's authority over resources is little to none, the project budget is managed by the functional manager, and the project manager is working on project tasks part-time
functional
246
In a ___ organziation, the PM's authority over resources is low to moderate, and the project budget is managed by both the functional manager and the project manager
Balanced Matrix
247
In a ____ organization, the PM's authority over resources is high to almost total, the project budget is managed by the project manager, and the project manager is working on project tasks full-time
Projectized
248
What is the key difference between corrective action, preventive action, and defect repair?
The fundamental difference between a corrective and preventive action is in how the problem is identified. If the problem is proactively identified BEFORE the problem even occurs, then itis a preventive action
If the problem is discovered after the fact, then the action taken to avoid the issue from recurring in the future is considered a corrective action.
Defect repair is an intentional activity that modifies a nonconforming product or product component.
249
The ___ defines whether waterfall, iterative, adaptive, agile, or a hybrid development approach will be used on the project.
development approach
an element of the project management plan
250
The ___ determines the series of phases that a project passes through from its inception to the end of the project
Project Life Cycle
an element of the project management plan
251
a ___ Describes classes of stakeholders based on assessments of their power (level of authority or ability to influence the outcomes of the project), urgency (need for immediate attention, either time-constrained or relating to the stakeholders’ high stake in the outcome), and legitimacy (their involvement is appropriate).
The ___ is useful for large complex communities of stakeholders or where there are complex networks of relationships within the community. It is also useful in determining the relative importance of the identified stakeholders.
Salience Model
The Salience Model is about stakeholders. Salience means prominent, noticeable, or perceived as important.
252
A ___ is a refinement of a grid model, which combines the grid elements into a three-dimensional model that can be useful to project managers and teams in identifying and engaging their stakeholder community. It provides a model with multiple dimensions to improve the depiction of the stakeholder community as a multidimensional entity and **assists with the development of communication strategies.**
Stakeholder cube
253
In which process does the PM close out procurements?
control procurements process. NOT project closure
254
What are the three key elements in analyzing the product and creating the backlog?
- The people involved (that is, identifying the roles or personas that exist in the customer environment)
- identifying the functions performed by these personas
- breaking that functionality down into implementable chunks (stories)
255
what is technical debt?
the accumulation of problems caused by poor quality problems
There are several proactive practices that can be followed to help lower technical debt on an agile project such as:
- maximizing technical excellence through good technical design and agile modeling
- implementing software code refactoring
- utilizing automated testing tools
256
The __ contains plans and guidance on how the scope related work is to be managed. This includes the process and procedures for the formal acceptance of project deliverables.
This specifies the process by which the deliverables are accepted.
Scope management plan
The scope management plan contains procedures and processes specifying how the formal acceptance of the completed project deliverables will be obtained. Acceptance of project deliverables is influenced by other project management plans, such as the stakeholder engagement plan and the quality management plan. Nevertheless, the scope management plan is what specifies the process most directly
257
What is the difference between the requirements documentation and the requirements traceability matrix?
Both are outputs of the Collect Requirements Process. Are updated in the Define Scope Process.
Requirements Documentation: describes how individual requirements meet the business need for the project. Requirments can be group into classifications such as
- business requirements
- stakeholder requirements
- solution requirements such as functional and non-functional requirements
- quality requirements,
- etc
Requirements traceability matrix: is a grid that links product requirements from their origin to the deliverables that satisfy them.
258
What conflict resolution technique:
- Treats the conflict as a problem to be solved
- Used when the relationship between parties is important, and when beach person has confidence in the other party’s ability to problem-solve
Confronting / Problem Solving
259
What conflict resolution technique:
- Involves incorporating multiple views about the conflict
- Objective is to learn about the various views and see things from multiple perspectives
- Effective wehn there is trust among perspectives and when there is time to come to a consesnus
- A project manager may facilitate this type of conflict resolution between the project team members
Collaborating
260
What conflict resolution technique:
- Best used when dealing ith a conflict where all parties will not be fully satisfied
- entails a willingness to give and take. This allows all parties to get something they want, and it avoids escalating the conflict.
- this style is often used when the parties involved have equal "power"
Compomising
261
What conflict resolution technique:
- useful when reaching an overarching goal is more important than the disagreement
- this approach maintains harmony in the relationship and can create good will between the parties
- also used when there is a difference in the relative authority or power of the individuals
Smoothing/accommodating
262
What conflict resolution technique:
- used when there is not enough time to collaborate or problem-solve
- often used if there is a health and safety conflict that needs to be resolved immediately
Forcing
263
What conflict resolution technique:
- is appropriate when a problem will go away on its own, or sometimes discussions get heated and people need a cooling-off period.
- also used in a no-win scenario, such as complying with a requirement imposed by regulatory agency instead of challenging the requirment
Withdrawal / Avoiding
264
When would you use an exploit strategy?
The exploit strategy is where the project team acts to ensure that an OPPORTUNITY occurs.
265
When would you conduct a Monte Carlo Analysis?
Variability risks can be addressed using a Monte Carlo analysis, with the range of variation reflected in probability distributions, followed by actions to reduce the spread of possible outcomes
266
In what situation would you pre-assign team members?
Pre-assignments is a tool that can be used as part of the Acquire Resources process to determine project resources, such as team members, in advance.
267
What is the difference between Trend Analysis and Variance Analysis?
Trend analysis can be used to forecast future performance based on past results.
Variance Analysis is a technique used to compare actual performance vs. PLANNED performance as specified in the project baselines. For example, Variance Analysis is used to determine the cause and degree of variance relative to a baseline.
Trend analysis is more common in agile
268
What is the difference between Definition of Ready and Definition of Done
Definition of ready is a checklist created by the team to document a user-centric requirement. The checklist is used by the team to include all the information the team needs to be able to begin working on the requirement.
Definition of Done is the team's checklist of all the criteria required to be met so that a deliverable (product increment) can be considered ready for the customer to use. An effective definition of done is created ahead of time to ensure that a product increment is potentially shippable to the customer
269
Which planning approach better supports projects where cost and time are fixed, and the scope is variable, also known as the agile inverted triangle of constraints
Iterative adaptive planning
270
What is the difference between swarming and a spike?
Swarming is a technique in which multiple team members focus collective on resolving a specific impediment
A spike is a short time interval within a project, usually of fixed length, during wich a team conducts research or prototypes an aspect of a solution to prove its viability. In other words, its a deep dive into a specific area of uncertainty. Two types:
- Architectural spike: (XP method) where you write just enough code to explore the use of technology or technique that you're unfamiliar with
- A risk-based spike is an experiment designed to assess the probability of an event occurring. The purpose of the spike is replace speculation with concrete data about triggering events and the need for mitigation planning to develop alternative project plans as a risk response
271
What document includes summary milestones?
Project Charter
272
This chart indicates features completed over time, features in development, and those in the backlog. It may also include features at intermediate states, such as features designed but not yet constructed, those in quality assurance, or those in testing.
Its main purpose is to show you how stable your flow is and help you understand where you need to focus on making your process more predictable. It gives you quantitative and qualitative insight into past and existing problems and can visualize massive amounts of data.
Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD)
273
This diagram shows the average cycle time of the work items completed over time. This chart may be shown as a scatter diagram or a bar chart.
Cycle time chart
274
What is the difference between team performance assessments and work performance information?
Team performance assessments are the result of an informal or formal evaluation of a team's effectiveness. By documenting findings in a team performance assessment, you can identity specific training, coaching, or mentoring necessary to improve your team's effectiveness
Work Performance Information is an analysis of work performance data. Raw observations and measurements, also called work performance data, collected from executing processes is analyzed in context to become work performance information. The work performance information provides the details for monitoring and controlling processes.
275
What is the requirements management plan and what is it used for?
The requirments management plan is a component of the project management plan that establishes how the requirements will be analyzed, documented, and managed.
- it is unlikely that this plan will require an update as a result of scope changes
276
What are the ITTOs for Develop Project Charter?
- Expert Judgment
- Data Gathering (Brainstorming, Focus Groups, Interviews)
- Interpersonal and Team Skills (Conflict Mgmt, Facilitation, Meeting Management)
- Meetings
- Facilitation
277
What tool or technique might be useful in gathering information on high-level assumptions and constraints?
Interviews, Focus Groups, Brainstorming
278
What should happen once a change request is approved?
Before the baselines are established, changes are not required to be formally controlled by the Perform Integrated Change Control process. Once the project is baselined, change requests go through this process. As a general rule, each project’s configuration management plan should define which project artifacts need to be placed under configuration control.
Every documented change request needs to be either approved, deferred, or rejected by a responsible individual, usually the project sponsor or project manager.
279
If you are behind schedule, what should you do (in order)
- Check risks and re-estimate
- Fast track
- Crash
- Cut Scope
- Reduce quality
Fast-tracking always adds risk. Crashing always adds cost and may add risk (so on ly crash if you have extra budget)
280
What is the difference between Risk Mitigation and Risk Acceptance?
Risk Mitigation is where you reduce the *probability or impact of an event*
Risk acceptance is where you can't modify the event, so you either let it happen without doing anything, or you *plan around it* (for example, shut down for the summer).
Passive acceptance is best when your best course of action is to simply deal with the problem and if and when it occurs
281
What are secondary risks, and what should you do if you encounter a secondary risk?
They are additional risks that are identified during the response planning session. Document them but keep going on planning risk responses. Don't stop and jump back to identify risks right away.
282
What things are included in the project charter?
The Project Charter formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. It consists of high-level description of the project and can include:
- Project Need/Opportunity/Justification for the project
- Cost Benefit Analysis
- Project Objectives (Must be SMART)
- Key Stakeholders
- High Level Risks
- High Level Constraints / Boundaries
- High Level Assumptions
- Summary Budget
- Timeline, Key Milestones
- Success Criteria
- Project Manager and their Authority
Inputs: (not all of them must be present, or must always be used)
- Statement of Work (generally provided by the client)
- Business Case (used to justify the ROI, cost benefit analysis, etc)
- Agreements or Contracts (may have the timeline, budget, high level requirements, financials, milestones, etc between you and the client)
- Enterprise Environmental Factors (not under our direct control: weather, state, situations, government policies, organizational structure, company risk profile, stakeholder risk tolerance, etc)
- OPAs (internal policies, procedures, procurement procedures, preferred vendors, etc)
Tools & Techniques
- Expert Judgment (This is not the PM's judgment... rather, it is the Subject Matter Expert's Judgment who can provide ways to gather info)
- Facilitation Techniques (call for meetings with stakeholders, sponsors, client and key people)
283
What are the 3 components of a WBS
- Control Account
- highest level
- mgmt control point where scope, budget, and schedule are integrated and compared to the earned value for performance measurement.
- has two or more work packages
- Planning Package
- A control account may include one or more planning packages
- a planning package is a work breakdown structure component below the control account and above the work package with known work content but without detailed schedule activities
- Work package
- lowest level of the WBS
- has a unique identifier which provide a structure for hierarchical summation of costs, schedule, and resource info and form a code of accounts.
284
What T&T is used as part of the Plan Communications Management process to identify gaps in stakeholder engagement and what T&T is used to fix it?
stakeholder Engagmement assessment matrix can identify gaps in stakeholder engagement, and a communication styles assessment to help taylor communications to the stakeholders' preferences - hopefully increasing engagement
285
What should the project manager do when there are no response plans to a realized risk?
Create a workaround
Workarounds are responses to problems that were not identified during project planning but unexpectedly arise during project execution. Under these circumstances, creating a workaround to address the issue should be the first step
286
Which document helps to ensure each requirement in the requirements documentation is tested. It also provides an overview of the tests that should be performed to verify the requirments
Requirments traceability matrix
287
When do you use contingency reserves vs mgmt reserves?
Contingency reserves are included in the cost baseline to address specific identified risks. Mgmt reserves are included in the project budget to address unknown risks. Using contingency reserves for unknown risks adversely affects the project's cost baseline. Mgmt reserves are not included in the cost baseline; therefore, a change request is required to transfer funds from the mgmt reserves into the cost baseline.
288
What is the difference between a matrix diagram and a scatter diagram?
A matrix diagram seeks to show the strenth of relationships among factors, causes, and objectives that exist between the rows and columns that form the matrix.
A scatter diagram is a graph that shows the relationship between two variables.
289
What is the configuration mgmt plan?
component of the project mgmt plan that describes how to identify and account for project artifacts under configuration control, and how to record and report changes to them.
Does not describe the process for managing changes. The process of how the changes are managed on a project is described in the change management plan
290
What decision-making technique requires agreement from everyone involved?
Unanimity
291
___ is a decision making technique where the largest block in a group is in agreement
Plurality
292
What are the three components of Cost of Quality (which is an example of the data analysis technique associated with the Plan Quality Mgmt process)
The cost of quality includes prevention costs, appraisal costs, and failure costs
293
What is the difference between a supportive PMO, a controlling PMO, and a directive PMO
- Suppportive PMOs provide a consultative role by supplying templates, best practices, training, access to info, and lessons learned from other projects
- Controlling PMOs provide support and require compliance through various means such as (adoption of methodologies, use of specific templates, conformance to govt frameworks, etc)
- Directive PMOs take control of the projects by directly managing the projects. Project Managers are assigned by and report to the PMO
294
When do you use control charts, vs. check sheets, vs. scatter diagrams, vs pareto diagrams
- Control charts are used to determine whether a process is stable or has predictable performance
- Check sheets (aka tally sheets) can be sued to gather data, such as quality problems uncovered during inspections, as well as document how often a particular defect occurs
- Scatter diagrams show the relationship between two variables
- Pareto diagrams is a type of histogram that is typically used in root cause analysis to help identify which root causes are resulting in the most problems
295
Also known as the plan-do-check-act cycle, The ___ takes an iterative and incremental approach to quality mgmt which can reduce variations in a process, thus improving quality and reducing waste
Deming Cycle
296
Which document contains the escalation process?
Communications Management Plan
297
which document should you review if you want to find the requirements for the formal procurement closure
Procurement agreement.
procurement closure for each procurement are defined in the terms and conditions in the corresponding procurement agreements.
298
What is the difference between Minimum Marketable Features (MMF) and MVP?
MMFs are ready for public launch, whereas MVPs are just able to function.
299
What is the difference between a sprint review and a sprint retrospective?
A sprint review focuses on the product while a retrospective focuses on the overall process
300
___ consists of improving the internal structure of an existing program's source code, while preserving its external behavior
Refactoring
301
The ___ is also known as the plan-do-check-act cycle. This takes an iterative and incremental approach to quality mgmt which can reduce variations in a process, thus improving quality and reducing waste
the Deming cycle
302
Which document helps ensure each requirement in the requirements documentation is tested?
Requirements traceability matrix
303
What is the main function of the requirements management plan?
It is an output of Plan Scope Mgmt. It outlines all the steps the project will take to collect, measure, test, and verify requirements
304
What is the difference between iteration review and iteration retrospective?
An iteration (sprint) review is a meeting where the project team demonstrates the product increment that has been built during the iteration in order to get feedback from stakeholders to gain the approval of the product owner. The iteration review is not a meeting that is focused on process improvement.
Iteration retrospective is a regular meeting where the agile team members discuss the results of the iteration, review their practices, and identify ways to improve.
