Project Management

Question 1

Project

Answer 1

A temporary activity with a defined end point that produces specific pre-defined deliverables

Question 2

Project management

Answer 2

The application of knowledge/skills/tools to project activities to meet the project requirements

Question 3

5 phases of project management

Answer 3

1. Initiating
2. Planning
3. Executing
4. Monitoring & Controlling
5. Closing

Question 4

What is ‘Initiating/Planning’ phase?

Answer 4

- Defining the Scope:
Deliverables, Activities
– Identifying Stakeholders
– Identifying Resources
(Constraints)
– Establishing acceptable level
of Risk/Quality

Question 5

What do you do during the ‘Initiating/Planning’ phase?

Answer 5

– Work Breakdown Structure (WBS, Gantt)
– Budget
– Stakeholder/ Communication Map
– Roles & Responsibilities

Question 6

What are the activities involved in the executing and monitoring phase of project management?

Answer 6

– Progress and Changes
– Stakeholder Communication
– Information

Question 7

What do you do during the Executing/ Monitoring and Controlling phase?

Answer 7

– Updating WBS, financials
– Documenting
– Reporting
– Filing/ Housecleaning

Question 8

What are the key deliverables at the end of a research project?

Answer 8

Questionnaires, data, analysis/publication, description of process including key decisions

Question 9

Activities

Answer 9

Questionnaire development, human subjects, data collection, data management

Question 10

Stakeholders

Answer 10

– Principal investigators (PIs)
– Research team
– Research subjects
– Partner organization
– Beneficiaries
– Donors
– The audience for our results
– Potential future implementers

Question 11

Resource (constriants)

Answer 11

– Personnel
• RAs (Field and University-based)
• RMs
• Field Support teams
• Staff Leadership
• PIs
– Infrastructure
– Assets
– Money
– Time

Question 12

Where do we need to think about quality?

Answer 12

• Experimental integrity
• Data
• Respect for Human Subjects
• Transparency/ Reproducibility

Question 13

Where do we need to think about risks?

Answer 13

• Partner Delays
• Scope changes
• Acts of Nature (or Man)
• Surveyor fraud

Question 14

What things might change on a Research Project?

Answer 14

– Scope
– Time
– Money

Question 15

Project Log - how to use

Answer 15

• When emails with important decisions come in,
reference those emails and summarize in the project log
• Many decisions come as responses to your questions. So place your questions (perhaps from emails) into that log.
• As you create files, think about where their description would fit in the project log, and use that as a guide for where to file them
• Use to reorganize files

Question 16

What does a Gantt chart have that is not typically included in a WBS?

Answer 16

‘Dependencies’ that link tasks together

Question 17

Stakeholder matrix

Answer 17

Enlists how someone concerned with the project might potentially help or harm the project & documents who all are involved in the project indicating what their interest is

Question 18

RACI Chart

Answer 18

Helps project personnel identify who is accountable for each task in the project; Ensures that the project keeps interested parties informed of the progress as required

Question 19

The place to document all major decisions is:

Answer 19

The Project Log

Question 20

What must you do if the intervention changes significantly in both content and duration?

Answer 20

Any changes in the content and duration of the project must first be documented clearly in the project log. Then, updated your WBS/Gantt, timelines and financials accordingly. Any major changes in the intervention require IRB approval and finally stakeholders need to be updated as per the RACI chart.