Test 2017-11-20 Flashcards
(35 cards)
what does it mean for the project manager that the project management is an accidental profession?
- It means that the manager got the profession by chance
- Changed roll from e.g. engineering to project management
- no formal training or introduction to to what PM is
- The person might rather want to continue working as an engineer, not PM
What is the hedgehog syndrome?
Same misstakes are repeated over and over
—> no feedback
The five Cs?
Summarizes the environment in which projects operate
1. Context —> The external influences on the organisation in which the project is taking place —> political —> econmic —> technical —> environmental —> legal
- Complexity
—> level of difficulty or complication of the project
—> rising technology rate
—> higher “barriers to entry” - Completeness
—> how much of the end requirement a project will deliver
—> move to integrated solutions not just products or services - Competitiveness
—> how many other organisations will be competing to deliver work?
—> time and quality are competitive resources
—> reduced monopolies on technologies - Customer focus
—> customer expectation to fulfill their needs
—> requires products, services and flexibility
PESTEL?
A way to describe the context
- Political influence
- Economic
- Social
- Technical
- Environmental
- Legal
Structures that assist in making sense of the project? Pros with 7s
- 7s provides a a set of issues that needs to be considered
- reduces complexity of the role
- ensures that the PM knows where to to find sources of help
7-s framework?
- Strategy
—> The high level requirements of the project and the means to achieve them
—> a process
—> points of principle
—> guide and informs the decision made ni all areas within the project - Structure
—> The organizational arrangement that will be used to carry out the project
—> structures of human resources, (full-time team, borrowed team?) - Systems
—> The methods for work to be designed, monitored and controlled
—>formal and informal systems
—> e.g. communication and quality assurance
—>ensusing all activities contributes to end objective - Staff
—> The selection, recruitment, management and leadership of those on the project - Skills
—> The managerial and technical tools available to the project manager and the staff and how these are monitored - Style/culture
—> The underlying way of working and inter-relating within the work team or organisation
—> soft side of management - Stakeholders
—> individuals and groups with an interest in the project process or outcome
name some common constraints in the ICOM model!
- time
- cost
- quality
- legal
- ethical
- environmental
- logic
- activation
- indirect effects
name some means or mechanism by which the output is achieved according to the ICOM model?
- people
- knowledge and expertise
- financial resources
- tools and techniques
- technology
what are the outputs according to the ICOM model?
Output= satisfied need
e. g.
1. converted information
2. a tangible product
3. changed people
inputs according to ICOM model?
will consist of:
- original needs
- emergent needs
what is the ICOM model?
Inputs-Constraints- Outputs-Mechanisms
- A model to make sense of the project as a system
- Views the project as a conversion or transformation of input into output under a set of constraints and mechanisms
Major roll of the project manager according to ICOM model?
PM are the integrator ot the different elements of the projects
How can the hedgehog syndrome be solved?
Consider projects as being structured into 4 phases:
- Define the project
- Design the project
- Deliver the project
- Develop the process
The 4-D structure
which are the 4 phases of a project lifecycle?
- Define it
- Design it
- Do it
- Develop it
Which 4D phase is mainly dedicated to avoid the hedgehog syndrome?
- The last phase, Develop it.
- Companies like Hewlett-Packard use their previous projects and reviews as starting points for new projects.
- Call the last phase lessons identified review
What different kinds of measures are there?
- Process measures
- Product development cost
- time and conformance to quality procedures - Short-term measures
- product performance level
- desirability on the market
- flexibility of design to be changed to meet customer needs - Longer-term outcome measures
- pay-back period
- customer satisfaction
- percentage of business being generated by the new product
- market share
- customizability for high-margin markets
What is the approach of participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E)?
Participatory M&E involves the stakeholders at different levels:
- Planning and managing the process:
- Local people
- project staff
- managers & other stakeholders - Role of primary stakeholders:
- Design and adapt methodology
- collect and analyse data
- share finings and link to action - Measure success:
- Internally defined indicators
- more qualitative judgements - Approach:
- Adaptive
Conventional M&E:
- Planning and managing the process:
- Project managers - Role of primary stakeholders:
- Provide information only - Measure success:
- Externally defined
- quantitative indicators - Approach:
- Predetermined
TCQ & Iron triangle?
- TCQ stands for time, cost and quality
- Only one or two of these three can be fulfilled at once
- Time priority project
- Quality priority project
- Quality priority project
If one try to focus one the three of them at the same time you run the risk of ending up in the zone of no brain
What is a linked-bar chart?
A Gantt chart
- logical links between tasks are indicated with arrows
- the head of the arrow points to an activity that cannot proceed until the previous is completed
- diamond shapes indicate milestones (often start and end-dates)
- activities in chronological order in the left column
- ## first row indicates the time in month, week and project weeks
Advantage with Gantt chart?
- simple to draw and read
- good for statistic environments
- useful for overview
- widely used
- basis of graphical interface for most project planning software
Limitations with Gantt chart?
- difficult to update manually
- does not equate time with cost
- does not help in optimizing resource allocation
- can lead to false sense of certainty
Student syndrome?
Where people despite given extra time for an activity, the extra time is wasted at the front end and they often won’t start the activity until latest possible
Net present value?
Net present value= Present value of benefits- Present value of costs
PVbenefits=income/(1+i)^n
i=discount rate (often 10%)
n=number of years
PVcost=the cost is often already in the present otherwise calculated in the same way
what is the system-structural approach with regards to quality management?
- Procedures are defined by a standard e.g. ISO 9000
- The level of quality relies on the development of a hierarchical set of procedural documents
