Chapter 4 Intro To Pm 4Th Edition

Front 1

Why team contracts are important? Elaborate- components and activities involved in team contracts?

Back 1

Team contracts help promote teamwork and clarify team communications.The contract should provide the groundwork for how the project team will function. Small groups of 3-4 people prepare inputs for the team contract. It should be finalized in a 1-2 hour meeting with the project manager present to act as facilitator and see people’s personalities and how they work together. Sections include: Code of conduct, Participation, Communication, Problem Solving, and Meeting Guidelines.

Front 2

What is the purpose of a Project management plan? Explain in details; components?

Back 2

A document used to coordinate all project planning documents and to help guide a project’s execution and control. Coordinates and integrates information across all project management areas and across the organization. Plans created in the other knowledge areas are subsidiary parts of the overall project management plan. Project management plans facilitate communication among stakeholders and provide a baseline for progress measurement and control. A baseline is a starting point, measurement, or observation that’s documented so it can be used for future comparison. It briefly describes the overall scope, time, and cost baselines for the project. Specific plans in each of those knowledge areas provide more detailed baseline information. Project management plans should be dynamic, flexible, and receptive to change when the environment or project changes. These plans should greatly assist the project manager in leading the project team and assessing project status. Components: introduction/overview of the project, project organization, management and technical processes, work to be performed, schedule information, budget information, and references to other project planning documents.

Front 3

What is Project Scope Mgt? What are the main planning processes performed as part of Project scope management? What documents are produced?

Back 3

Project scope management involves defining and controlling what work is or is not included in a project. The main planning processes performed as part of project scope management include planning scope management, collecting requirements, defining scope, and creating the WBS. The main documents produced are requirements documents, a requirements management plan, a requirements traceability matrix, and a scope baseline (composed of an approved scope statement, a WBS, and a WBS dictionary).

Front 4

Discuss scope management plans

Back 4

A scope management plan is a component of the project management plan. The purpose of the process of planning scope management is to determine how the project scope will be defined, validated, and controlled. Project teams usually have several meetings with key stakeholders and experts to help them develop a scope management plan and requirements management plan. Contents of the scope management plan include descriptions of processes for the following: 1. preparing a detailed project scope statement, 2. creating, maintaining, and approving the WBS, 3. obtaining acceptance of the completed project deliverables, and 4. controlling how requests for changes to the project scope statement will be processed

Front 5

Discuss requirements management planning (plan, collecting requirements, requirements traceability matrix)

Back 5

Requirements management planning describes how project requirements will be analyzed, documented, and managed. Requirements are conditions or capabilities that must be met by the project or present in the product, service, or result to satisfy an agreement or other formally imposed specification. Some ways to collect requirements include interviews, using focus groups/workshops, surveys, observation, and prototyping. The requirements traceability matrix is a table that lists requirements, the attributes of each requirement, and the status of the requirements to ensure that all of them are addressed.

Front 6

Why defining scope is important?

Back 6

Good scope definition is crucial to project success because it helps improve the accuracy of time, cost, and resource estimates; defines a baseline for performance measurements and project control; and aids in communicating clear work responsibilities. Work not included in the scope statement shouldn’t be done. The main techniques used in defining scope include expert judgement, product analysis, alternatives identification, and facilitated workshops.

Front 7

What are the inputs for a scope statement, and what are the components of a scope statement?

Back 7

Main inputs: project charter, requirements documentation, and organizational process assets (policies and procedures related to project management, past project files, and lessons-learned reports from previous, similar projects. PG 123

Front 8

What is WBS? Importance, way of presenting?

Back 8

The Work Breakdown Structure is a deliverable-oriented grouping of the work involved in a project that defines the total scope of the project. Breaks down all the work required for the project into discrete activities, and groups those activities into a logical hierarchy. WBS is often depicted in a graphical format. The name of the entire project is the top box, called level 1, and the main groupings for the work are listed in the second tier of boxes, called level 2. Each tier can be broken down into subsequent tiers to show the hierarchy of work. Items on a WBS represent work that needs to be done to complete the project.

Front 9

Approaches to developing WBS

Back 9

Using Guidelines: If guidelines for developing a WBS exist, it’s important to follow them. Some organizations prescribe the form and content for WBSs. The Analogy Approach: Using a similar project’s WBS as a starting point. Many software products, like Project, include several templates for WBSs. It’s important for project managers and teams to address the unique project needs and work that need to be done when creating their WBSs with templates.Top-Down Approach: Start with the largest items or deliverables of the project and break them into their subordinate items. After breaking down/decomposing the top-level items, resources should then be assigned at the work-package level. This approach is before for project managers and teams who have vast technical insight and big-picture perspective. Bottom-Up Approach: Team members first identify as many specific activities related to completing the project as possible. They then aggregate the specific activities and organize them into summary activities, or higher levels in the WBS. This approach can be very time consuming, but can be very effective. Project teams often use this approach for projects that represent entirely new products or approaches to doing a job, or to help create buy-in and synergy with a project team.Mind Mapping: A technique that uses branches radiating out from a core idea to structure thoughts and ideas.

Front 10

What is project time management? Main planning processes? Main documents?

Back 10

Project time management involves the processes required to ensure timely completion of a project. The main planning processes are planning schedule management, defining activities, sequencing activities, estimating activity resource, estimating activity durations, and developing the project schedule. The main documents produced are a schedule management plan, an activity list and attributes, a milestone list, a project schedule network diagram, the activity resource requirements, the activity duration estimates, and a project schedule.

Front 11

What is dependency or relationships b/w project tasks? Describe the three basic reasons for creating dependencies- give examples.

Back 11

Dependencies b/w project tasks relate to the sequence of the tasks. The type of dependency determines if you can do tasks in parallel, if they overlap, or if you need to wait to complete a task before you start another. Mandatory dependencies - Unavoidable relationships inherent in the nature of the work being performed on a project. For example, you can’t hold training classes until the training materials are ready, and the training materials can’t be created until the objectives of the course are determined. Discretionary dependencies - defined by the project team. For example, a project team might follow good practice and not start detailed design work until key stakeholders sign off on all of the analysis work. External dependencies - relationships between project and non-project activities. For example, the installation of new software might depend on delivery of new hardware from an external supplier. Even though the delivery of the new hardware might not be in the scope of the project, it should have an external dependency added to it because late delivery will affect the project schedule.

Front 12

What is project network diagram? What are the two formats for network diagrams?

Back 12

A project network diagram is a schematic display of the logical relationships among, or sequencing of, project activities. The two formats for network diagrams are the activity-on-arrow approach, and the precedence diagramming method.

Front 13

Describe the four types of dependencies b/w activities.

Back 13

Finish-to-start - A relationship where the successor cannot start until the predecessor is finished. Start-to-start - A relationship in which the successor activity cannot start until the predecessor activity starts. Finish-to-finish - A relationship in which the successor activity cannot finish before the predecessor activity finishes. Start-to-finish - A relationship in which the successor activity cannot finish before the predecessor activity starts.

Front 14

What is PERT; know the formula.

Back 14

Program Evaluation and Review Technique is a network analysis technique used to estimate project duration when there is a high degree of uncertainty about the individual activity duration estimates. The three point estimate is required to perform PERT estimates. You calculate a weighted average for the duration estimate of each project activity using the formula

Front 15

PERT weighted average =

Back 15

(optimistic time + 4 x most likely time + pessimistic time)/6

Front 16

Using critical path analysis to make schedule trade-offs- crashing, fast tracking

Back 16

A critical path for a project is the series of activities that determine the earliest time by which the project can be completed by finding the longest path through the network diagram and has the least amount of slack or float. Crashing is a technique for making cost and schedule trade-offs to obtain the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost. For example, allocating more people to complete a task to decrease the time it takes to finish. Fast tracking involves doing activities in parallel that you would normally do in sequence.

Front 17

What is project cost management; what are the main processes and main documents?

Back 17

Project cost management includes the processes required to ensure that a project team completes a project within an approved budget. The main processes performed are planning cost management, estimating costs, and determining the budget. The main documents produced include a cost management plan, cost estimates, and a cost baseline.

Front 18

Cost estimation techniques.

Back 18

Analogous estimates - top-down estimates, use the actual cost of a previous, similar project as the basis for estimating the cost of the current project. Can be less accurate than the others if the similarities between projects are superficial. Bottom-up estimates - involve estimating individual activities and summing them to get a project total. The size of the activities and experience of the estimators drives the accuracy of the estimates. Parametric modeling - uses project characteristics in a mathematical model to estimate project costs. The most reliable if the historical information used to create the model is accurate, the characteristics are quantifiable, and the model is flexible in terms of the project size.

Front 19

What is project quality management; what are the main processes and main documents? Quality, conformance to requirements, fitness for use?

Back 19

Quality is defined as “the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements. Project quality management ensures that the project will satisfy the stated or implied needs for which it was undertaken. The key outputs of quality management are a quality management plan, quality metrics, and quality checklists. Quality should be considered equally important as scope, time, and cost. The main processes involved in quality management are quality planning, identifying quality metrics, and creating a quality checklist. Quality planning results in a Quality Management Plan document which includes the project name, an introduction, quality standards, metrics, a description of the problem reporting and corrective action process, and supplier quality and control specifications. A metric is a standard of measurement. The quality metrics process allows organizations to measure their performance in certain areas and compare them over time or with other organizations. A project may be measured based on time, customer satisfaction, or cost reduction. Quality checklists are lists of items to be noted or consulted involving quality. Checklists help project teams verify that a set of required topics or steps has been covered or performed. A checklist could include items such as interviewing, selecting suppliers, or making sure a room is free.

Front 20

What is RAM and its purpose?

Back 20

A responsibility assignment matrix is a matrix that maps the work of the project as described in the work breakdown structure to the people responsible for performing the work. A RAM is part of project human resource management and helps to allocate work to organizations, teams, or individuals, depending on the size of the project.

Front 21

What is the difference b/w RAM and RACI?

Back 21

A RACI is a type of RAM. RACI stands for responsibility, accountability, consultation, and informed. This is a more detailed form of RAM because instead of just saying who is responsible for what, it highlights who is responsible for what tasks, who signs off on the completion of the task, who is available for information about the task, and who needs to be informed once the task is completed.

Front 22

Discuss resource histograms and their role in HR project management.

Back 22

A resource histogram is a column chart that shows the number of resources required for or assigned to a project over time. This is type of graph used by human resource project managers in order to create a visual representation of how work across different fields is allocated throughout the lifespan of a project. Bars are created for each task or month of a project (x axis) and the number of people (coded to represent different skill categories) needed during that specific time in the project (y axis).

Front 23

Components of a project communication management plan.

Back 23

Many say the key to project success is communication, and a project communication management plan helps in this area. Project communications management involves generating, collecting, disseminating, and storing project information. A communications management plan is a document that guides project communications. A communication plan should address stakeholder communication requirements, information to be communicated, formated, content, and level of detail, identification of who will receive the information and who will produce it, suggested methods or guidelines for conveying the information, description of the frequency of communication, escalation procedures for resolving issues, revision procedures for updating the communication management plan, and a glossary of common terminology used on the project.

Front 24

Why project stakeholder management is important? Discuss stakeholder management plan.

Back 24

Project stakeholder management planning involves determining strategies to effectively engage stakeholders in project decisions and activities based on their needs, interests, and potential impact. Outputs include a stakeholder management plan, and project documents updates. Once the stakeholders of a project are identified, they should be engaged frequently to make sure good decisions are made during the project to ensure the stakeholders are happy. A stakeholder management plan should include current and desired engagement levels, interrelationships between stakeholders, communication requirements, potential management strategies for each stakeholder, and methods for updating the stakeholder management plan.This is important because the stakeholders often contribute to the overall success of the project and enterprise success, so if the stakeholders are unhappy, the project could result in ultimate failure.

Front 25

Why project risk management is important? Discuss planning of risk management. Activities and documents?

Back 25

Project risk is defined as uncertainty that can have a negative or positive effect on meeting project objectives. Risk is often overlooked, but it is important because proper risk management can lead to a higher overall chance of project success. The main activities in risk management are identifying risks, performing qualitative risk analysis, performing quantitative risk analysis, and planning risk responses. The outputs of this process include a risk management plan, a probability/impact matrix, risk response strategies, a risk register, and risk-related contractual agreements. In addition to a risk management plan, many projects also include contingency plans, fallback plans, and reserves.Identification of risks is the first step of risk management. Some risk factors to consider are market risks, financial risks, technical risks, people risks, risk related to specific knowledge areas, etc. Qualitative risk analysis involves determining which risk factors are potentially higher-risk than others, and prioritizing them as high, medium or low risk. Quantitative risk analysis is impacted by the nature of the project and the availability of time and money. Some common practices of quantitative risk analysis include decision tree analysis, simulation, and sensitivity analysis. Planning risk response involves identifying courses of action once risks are evaluated. There are 4 basic responses for both positive and negative risks. The responses to negative risk include risk avoidance, risk acceptance, risk transference, and risk mitigation. The responses to positive risk include risk exploitation, risk sharing, risk enhancement, and risk acceptance.

Front 26

What is project procurement management? Importance? Key outputs?

Back 26

A project procurement management plan includes acquiring or procuring goods and services from outside the organization. More competitive and global world = more and more projects including procurement. Good procurement management often provides a win-win situation for both buyers and sellers. Key outputs = make-or-buy decisions, procurement management plans, procurement statements of work, procurement documents, source selection criteria, and change requests.

Front 27

Types of contracts

Back 27

Fixed-price/lump-sum contracts: involve a fixed total price for a well-defined product or service. The buyer incurs little risk or uncertainty in this situation because the price is predetermined. Sellers often pad their estimates somewhat to reduce their risk, while keeping in mind that their price must still be competitive. They generally have well-defined deliverables and deadlines, and may include incentives for meetings or exceeding selected project objectives. Least amount of risk for the buyer.Cost-reimbursable contracts: involve payment to the seller for direct and indirect actual costs.Ex: the salaries for people working directly on a project and materials purchased for it are direct costs, whereas the cost of providing a work space for workers, office furniture, are indirect costs. Indirect costs are often calculated as a percentage of direct costs. Cost-reimbursable contracts often include fees such as a profit percentage, and they can also include incentives for meeting or exceeding selected project objectives. Time-and-material contracts: a hybrid of both fixed-price and cost-reimbursable contracts. For example, an independent consultant might have a contract with a company based on a fee of $100 per hour for his or her services plus a fixed price of $10,000 for providing specific materials for the project. Often used for services that are needed when the work cannot be clearly specified and total costs cannot be estimated in a contract. Many consultants prefer time-and-material contracts.

Front 28

Procurement documents: RFP and RFQ

Back 28

Request for Proposal (RFP): a document used to solicit proposals from prospective suppliers. A proposal is a document in which sellers describe what they will do to meet the requirements of a buyer. It can be expensive and time-consuming to prepare a good RFP.Request for Quote (RFQ): a document used to solicit quotes or bids from prospective suppliers. A bid (also called a quote) is a document prepared by sellers providing pricing for standard items that have been clearly defined by the buyer. Selections are often made based on the lowest bid.

Front 29

Conflict management modes

Back 29

Confrontation (also called problem solving mode): project managers directly face a conflict using a problem-solving approach that allows affected parties to work through their disagreements. It is best used when both the task and the relationship are of high importance. Compromise: project managers use a give-and-take approach to resolve conflicts, bargaining and searching for solutions that will bring some degree of satisfaction to all the parties in a dispute. Works best when both the task and relationship are of medium importance.Smoothing (also called accommodating mode): project manager de-emphasizes or avoids areas of differences and emphasizes areas of agreement. Best used when the relationship is of high importance and the task is of low importance. Forcing (win-lose): people exert their viewpoints even though they contradict the viewpoints of others. This approach is appropriate when the task is of high importance and the relationship is of low importance.Withdrawal (avoidance): project managers retreat or withdraw from an actual or potential disagreement. Is the least desirable conflict-handling mode. Used when both task and relationship are of low importance. Collaborating: decision makers incorporate different viewpoints and insights to develop consensus and commitment. Can be effective when both the task and relationship are of high importance.

Front 30

Quality assurance techniques

Back 30

Quality assurance includes all the activities related to satisfying the relevant quality standards for a project. It’s important for organizations to use common techniques to identify areas in which they would benefit from taking actions to improve quality. Benchmarking: generates ideas for quality improvements by comparing specific project practices or product characteristics to those of other projects or products within or outside of the organization itself. Quality Audit: a structured review of specific quality management activities that helps identify lessons learned, which could improve performance on current or future projects. In-house auditors or third parties with expertise in specific areas can perform quality audits, which can be either scheduled or random.Lean: helps improve results and efficiency by eliminating waste and reducing idle time and non-value added activities. Cause-and-effect diagrams (also called fishbone diagrams) can assist in ensuring and improving quality by finding the root causes of quality problems.

Front 31

Motivational theories (apply to yourself)

Back 31

Intrinsic motivation: causes people to participate in an activity for their own enjoyment. Extrinsic motivation: causes people to do something for a reward or to avoid a penalty. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: people’s behaviors are guided/motivated by a sequence of needs. Starts with Physiological (air, water, food) → Safety (shelter, lack of physical/mental abuse, low-crime environment) → Social (friendship, group belonging, sense of community) → Esteem (personal achievement, recognition, respect) → Self-Actualization (sense of fulfillment, working to full potential) (there are a lot more, but I only remember her talking about these three. don’t know if we have to know them all. page 246 on)

Front 32

Developing the project team

Back 32

The project manager shouldn’t be the smartest person on the team. They should try to find people who best meet the requirements of the project, and offer unique skills to benefit the project. They should also choose motivated people who will stay with the project. The top three reasons people leave their jobs is they feel they do not make a difference, they do not get proper recognition, they are not learning anything new or growing as a person.

Front 33

Resource loading and leveling- and benefits

Back 33

Resource loading: refers to the amount of individual resources an existing schedule requires during specific time periods. Helps project managers develop a general understanding of the demands a project will make on the organization’s resources, as well as on individual people’s schedules. Project managers often use histograms, which are helpful in determining staffing needs or identifying staffing problems, and also shows when work is being overallocated to a certain person/group.Resource leveling: a technique for resolving resource conflicts by delaying tasks. It is a form of network analysis in which resource management concerns drive scheduling decisions (Start and finish dates). The main purpose is to create a smoother distribution of resource usage. Project managers examine the network diagram for areas of slack, float, and to identify resource conflicts.

Front 34

Using the appropriate communication medium- discuss a case (check out fig 6-13)

Back 34

The process of managing communications involves gathering information to create, distribute, store, retrieve, and dispose of project communications in accordance with the communications management plan. The main outputs of the manage communications process are project communications and updates to project documents, the product management plan, and organizational process assets.Formal and informal communications: it’s not enough for project team members to submit formal status reports to their project managers and other stakeholders and assume that everyone who needs to know that information will read the reports. Many people prefer to have a two-way conversation about project information rather than reading detailed reports/emails, etc. to try and find pertinent information. Project managers must be good at nurturing relationships through good communication. Nonverbal communications: Nonverbal communications, such as a person’s tone of voice and body language, are often more important that the words being used.Impact of team size on project communications: as the number of people involved increases, the complexity of communications increases because there are more communications channels/pathways, through which people can communicate. The number of communication channels in relation to the number of people involved can be calculated as follows: number of communication channels = n(n-1)/2 where n is the number of people involved.