Project Management Flashcards

Question

Project characteristics

Answer 1

- A solution to a problem, need, or opportunity that provides benefit. - Unique object= each project has its own characteristics. Define the results clearly - Specific domain - (Limited) resources= people, tools, time and money Collaboration= team concept. Hierarchy is importan -Temporary in nature= the project has a starting point and an end. - Collection of small activities with a schedule - Creation of deliverables

Answer 2

Level 1: Meeting Basic Project Targets= zero variance between the forecasted project targets and actual results. Level 2: Project Efficiency=. It is a metric about the process. Level 3: Project Effectiveness= Projects that do not satisfy the true need should be viewed as failures. Level 4: Project Impact= If the project met business/strategic goals Level 5: Organizational Improvement= Long-term perspective, measures organizational learning and a resultant increase in project successes.

Answer 3

1. Your project 2. Your organization (and your management) 3. Your team 4. Yourself

Answer 4

1. Project management process skills= "hard skills," relate to the mechanics of project management. 2. Interpersonal and behavioural skills 3. Technology management skills 4. Desired personal traits

Answer 5

1. Project management process skills= "hard skills," relate to the mechanics of project management. 2. Interpersonal and behavioural skills 3. Technology management skills 4. Desired personal traits - Ability to think like a generalist - High tolerance for ambiguity - High tolerance for uncertainty - Honesty and integrity Babysitter Salesperson Teacher Friend - Introspection and Self-Awareness - Communication Skills

Answer 6

Mangement requires clear estimations, while projects' uncertainty often leads prject managers to "ranged estimate" (ex: the costs will be between 400k and 500k)

Answer 7

Rather than following a disciplined, analytical approach, our natural tendency is to want to solve it right. away—often with the first solution we think of

Answer 8

Developing a comprehensive analysis of problems, needs or opportunitis. Examples: • Recognizing a demand for a new product or a rapidly growing market • A desire (or need) to increase customer satisfaction • Addressing a problem • Recognizing a need to simplify a costly and inefficient procedure • Suggesting a need to improve management employee relations • Organizational units spreading across a wide geographic region not communicating effectively

Answer 9

1) Identify the True Need - Prepare a Project Requirements Document - Conduct Reality Check #1: Stop or Go? 2) Determine the Optimum Solution to the Problem, Need, or Opportunity - Identify Several Alternative Solutions - Select the Best Alternative. Design a Decision Matrix to Assess Alternatives - Reality Check #2: Stop or Go? Market study, Pilot test, Trade trial, Prototyping, Simulation 3) Refine the Optimum Solution and Develop a Preliminary Project Plan - Prepare a Project Definition Document - Develop a Preliminary Project Plan - Figure Out Who Can (and Will) Do the Work 4) Formally Launch the Project - Make a Proposal for Management Approval - Secure Formal Authorization to Proceed. In some organizations they use the "Project Charter" - Conduct a Team Kickoff Meeting - Evaluate the Political Environment (es. stakeholders, who will help you/work agaisnt you, sponsor)

Answer 10

General description of the problem, need, or opportunity. Impact or effects of the problem. Impact of ignoring the problem or opportunity. Desired outcome. Value or benefit associated with achieving desired outcome. Strategic fit and integration. Uncertainties. Key assumptions. Constraints. Environmental considerations. Background or supporting information.

Answer 11

1. Is this problem worth solving (verifies financial justification)? 2. Does a potential solution exist(verifies feasibility)?

Answer 12

Plan describes how it will be accomplished

Answer 13

Description of how you intend to conduct business from a project management perspective and an excellent way to communicate your expectations to your team and to other stakeholders.

Answer 14

1) Breaking Down the Work 2) Identifying the Dimensions of Work 3) Identifying Who Does What 4) Timing and schedule 5) Prepare a Project Timeline

Answer 15

Level 1 of WBS represents all of the work to be done, the overall project. In level 2 you subdivide the work to be done, identifing all the major "chunks" of work that make up the entire project. In level 3 you proceed adding more details for every subobjective in level 2. Level 4 additional details. You continue this thought process with the other major work elements until you've developed an entire WBS

Answer 16

- Scope - Responsibility - Resources - Effort - Quality

Answer 17

The (RAM) is a tool that displays how project participants interact with project activities

Answer 18

The RAM is a two-axis chart that shows how project work and project stakeholders are related to one another. The RAM correlates specific work elements with specific individuals. An example is RACI matrix

Answer 19

It's a tree diagram that displays how major work elements comprise smaller pieces of work. A fully developed WBS is the starting point in the development of an Integrated Project Plan. It enables you to estimate activity durations, prepare your schedule, estimate activity costs, prepare your project budget, assign responsibility, and carry out several other critical steps in the planning process. You can use the WBS as both an estimating worksheet and as your primary structure for displaying the cost allocations to project activities. 1.Start with the top most tasks and work downward 2.Involve the people who will have to do the work 3. Check the work by looking at all sub tasks and seeing whether they add up to the highest level task - Questions: what to do? what to produce? who is responsible? How long? Costs?

Answer 20

Logical groupings of relating activities that exist within your WBS. They are deliverable oriented—that is, executing all the activities in a work package typically produces some tangible or verifiable outcome, result, or output. - For each box you have an output - For each single box you need the name of the coordinator, - Each single work package could be identified in an activity, a product, all at a certain time.

Answer 21

- Critical activity - Critical path - Duration - Effort - Float (or slack) - Forward pass/backwardpass - Milestone - Network (or logic) diagram - Parallel relationship - Predecessor activity - Series relationship

Answer 22

``` Business Case Feasibility Document Project Requirement Document Project Definition Document: Statement of Work & Preliminary Project Execution Plan Project Plan Project Proposal Project Charter ```

Answer 23

It is a narrative document that describes the proposed solution and outlines in limited detail the work to be done. It often lists the major project deliverables, the general approach or methods for doing the work, and how will be measured.

Answer 24

You can use the project chart to control the state of work of the project or to communicate with sponsors, director, customer and so on • A description of the project and its stated objectives • Anticipated team membership • The level of authority to be granted to the project manager • Anticipated project outcomes • Customers and stakeholders • Preliminary planning information • Formal management signatures

Answer 25

you describe in a general way if the idea is good

Answer 26

you describe how specifically you could realize the business case; at the end you decide it the project is feasible or not and, if it’s feasible, you describe it in the project plan. Analyze the characteristics of the new plan, the possible technologies you could employ, the organizational impact of the new plan, for example how many people more you need, who you need, and so on. The type of organization of the new plan

Answer 27

The description of the approved project. describes what will happen in the project from the operative point of view! You have to describe analytically what will be performed day by day, with the costs, the timings, and so on.

Answer 28

``` What? 1) What do you want to realize? Describe analytically the OPERATIVE OBJECT and the sub-objectives -->WBS 2) Define activities and tasks Who? 3) Define competencies required 4) Define resources (people and device) -> write a Responsibility Matrix When? 5) Define the scheduling of the work --> Network diagram, Gantt Chart How many? 6) Define budget (revenues and/or costs) Pay attention 7) Design a project control system (Project Information System) 8) Do risk analysis (Risk Assessment) ```

Answer 29

* The people reallocated inside the normal activities of the company * imagine some activities after the reaching of the results

Answer 30

The discipline of project management is not about how to reduce the t0-t1 part! It’s impossible to reduce it, without changing the resources (people, money, tools, …). Project management teaches you how to stay in t1-t2, in a preferrable way leaning more towards t1. 2 ideas of time - Time you need as effort - Time as “when”

Answer 31

The solutions I have adopted to solve different and the learning from the project

Answer 32

The sponsor is someone who trusts the project, and knows the strength and potential of the team

Answer 33

Composed by each stakeholder of the project (the top manager of the company, the customer, the distributors, providers? and so on). This committee decides about the responsibilities of the project manager.

Answer 34

A type of process flow diagram that models the desired sequence of activities. It graphically depicts which activities must be completed before others can begin and which could be done simultaneously.

Answer 35

The name given to the condition where two activities could (or should) be executed during the same period of time.

Answer 36

The name given to an activity that must be completed before another specific activity can begin.

Answer 37

The name given to the condition whereby one activity must be done before another can start.

Answer 38

The first dimension is the raw number itself, for example, an estimated expenditure of $110,000. The second dimension is the level of certainty around the raw number.

Answer 39

Recognizes the variability innate in everything, and applies rudimentary statistics in a way that accommodates and expresses that variability. Example PERT calls for three estimates to be provided for each activity: I. Pessimistic duration: The duration if things go poorly 2. Optimistic duration: The duration if things go smoothly 3. Most likely duration: Your best guess

Answer 40

type of responsibility of each people assigned to a specific task during the realization of the project.

Answer 41

On the left of the chart is a list of the activities and along the top is a suitable time scale. Each activity is represented by a bar; the position and length of the bar reflects the start date, duration and end date of the activity. - What the various activities are - When each activity begins and ends - How long each activity is scheduled to last - Where activities overlap with other activities, and by how much - The start and end date of the whole project

Answer 42

Helps teams visualize the activities that need to be completed over the duration of a project. It also gives crucial context like task duration, sequence, and interdependency. A project schedule network diagram visualizes the sequential and logical relationship between tasks in a project setting. This visualization relies on the clear expression of the chronology of tasks and events - Visual representation of progress for stakeholders - Establishing project workflows - Tracking dependencies and potential bottlenecks

Answer 43

RACI chart shows the expense at the lowest level of work for the purpose of managing cost and duration. It is a charting system that illustrates the given task’s goal and the required action for each person: the employees’ workload. A RACI chart organizes your project so that everyone knows what’s happening. - Responsible: Person who is completing the task - Accountable: Person who is making decisions and taking actions on the task(s) - Consulted: Person who will be communicated with regarding the decision-making process and specific tasks - Informed: Person who will be updated on decisions and actions during the project

Answer 44

It refers to the number of hours worked by a single employee in a week. FTE is used to convert the hours worked by part-time employees into those worked by full-time employees. This is for ease of calculating the cost — in time, money, and personnel — of a project, (EX PERT)

Answer 45

• To define the activities/task you must realize to reach the goal • To describe the relationship between tasks (physical, logical) -> physical like the order in which compute tasks; logical, like we can not compute a task without the output of the previous task - Strictly sequential (objective must) - Sequential/parallel by subjective choice • To define FTE for each task - To calculate the start data and the finish data for each task • To calculate the start data and the finish data of entire project • To define the critical tasks of the project (CPM) • To optimize the schedule (PERT, levelling) If we did not finish the first point, we do not go to the second point because we need the output of the first one.

Answer 46

Max + min+ probable /6 (six days of work) Algorithm that allows to consider the correct duration, considering possible risk factors.

Answer 47

you have to calculate the duration of each flow of the scheme by choosing the max duration to describe the entire duration of the entire project. Max because ifone task along the flow does not respect the time assessed in the project plan, the whole project will be late.

Answer 48

Days of delay before having an impact of he project

Answer 49

Is a project management technique that involves resolving overallocation or scheduling conflicts to ensure a project can be completed with the available resources

Answer 50

The longest path through the project's network (logic) diagram. All activities that lie on the critical path are critical activities. The length of the critical path establishes the time required to complete the entire project. on the critical path -> one day of slippage of a critical path activity would mean one day of slippage in the whole project. It's a "living" entity and can change.

Answer 51

An activity that has no latitude with respect to when it could start or finish. If a is delayed, the date will be impacted unless some corrective action is taken.

Answer 52

Flexibility, or latitude, with regard to when a specific activity can (or must) be worked on. Activities with float time could start late, but could still be completed on time and not cause a schedule delay.

Answer 53

Techniques for calculating the amount of float associated with each activity. Activities with zero float are critical activities.

Answer 54

A point in time that marks an important event, such as the completion of a project phase, a major decision point, or the completion of a major project deliverable. Milestones are not activities; they do not consume time or resources.

Answer 55

- cost of labor - cost of materials - supplies/ewuipment - hardware & software - facilities - training - Travel and other miscellaneous costs - Fully burdened chargeout rates:

Answer 56

absence of information, knowledge, or understanding regarding a situation, condition, action, decision, or event.

Answer 57

Your ability to predict a particular outcome with precision and certainty. It's a reflection of the amount of uncertainty that exists in a particular situation and is proportional to the amount of information you possess. Risk can also refer to positive things, they are called opportunities.

Answer 58

the negative or downside effects of risk. Threats are specific events that drive your project in the direction of outcomes that are viewed as unfavorable

Answer 59

Step I. IDENTIFICATION: Determine potential problems and describe them. Step 2. QUANTIFICATION: Determine the size and nature of potential problems. Step 3. ANALYSIS: Determine the high-threat problems (Pareto rule) Step 4. RESPONSE: Define how to manage the risk: decide what action to take to avoid/minimize key riskD Step 5. PLAN: Make a contingency plan.

Answer 60

Each problem, characterize and quantify these two basic characteristics: - Nature or extent of the problem-> (which group will be involved, what impact will have the project timeline..) - Nature or extent of the effect-> rely on a variety of sources, such as: Survey data, Historical data, product specification sheets, Mock-ups, simulations or pilot studies, Research and tests Subject (SME) opinion and judgment

Answer 61

Evaluate which potential problems represent the greatest dangers to achieving a successful outcome, considering the likelihood that the threat will occur (called probability) and its anticipated effect on the project, if it were to occur (called impact).

Answer 62

- Avoidance - Transfer: you shift the consequence of the threat. Like insurances=it makes another party responsible for the impact of the risk. - Prevention: reduce the probability of occurrence of a problem. - Mitigation of impact - Contingency planning - Assumption: you are aware of the risk, but choose to take no action on it.

Answer 63

- The size and shape of threats continually change, so you must monitor them on an ongoing basis. - Perform risk management analyses with your entire team. - A large number of circumstances will remain that you won't be able to identify or have the resources to address.

Answer 64

- Use Ranged Values When Expressing Estimated Outcomes - Use Three-Point Estimates - Using Commercially Available Estimating Software

Project Management Flashcards

(88 cards)