DTCI PMP

What are the guidelines to assess team performance?

-Ask key questions of the team members -Speak to team members frequently -Provide constructive criticism and acclaim to team members, as necessary -Encourage knowledge transfer -Evaluate individual performance -Removal

What are the four types of change requests?

-Corrective action: adjusts the performance of the project work with the project management plan. -Preventive action: ensures FUTURE performance of the project work with the project management plan. -Defect repair: modifies a non-conformance within the project. -Update: Modifies a project document or plan.

Self-Awareness Elements

-Emotional Awareness -Accurate Self-assessment -Self-confidence

To assemble high-performing project teams:

-Estimate, acquire and manage teams of people -Create an effective team environment -Track team performance -Create and execute improvements based on feedback, resolve issues and manage team personnel changes.

What qualities and skills are necessary in an effective leader?

-Manage relationships -Build trust -Collaborate with others -Solve problems -Exhibit integrity -Guide the team toward a successful project close

What are the qualities and skills necessary in an effective leader?

-Manage relationships -Build trust -Collaborate with others -Solve problems -Exhibit integrity -Guide the team toward a successful project close.

Knowledge Transfer Techniques

-Networking -Facilitating specical interest groups Meetings, seminars, in-person and virtual events that encourage people to interact and exchange ideas -Training -Work shadowing and revers shadowing

Self-Regulatory Elements

-Self-control -Trustworthiness -Conscientiousness -Adaptability

Components of the Business Value

-Shareholder value -Customer value -Employee knowledge -Channel partner value

What are the goals of contact closeout?

-To arrange for final settlement of seller payments and claims. -To verify work was done and delivered to specification. -To update contract records and documents.

To effectively lead a team, follow these guidelines:

-Use emotional intelligence and other leadershp methods to motivate the team. -Adapt your leadership style to work best with each stakeholder -Establish good communication among team members, internally and externally. -Monitor performance of team members on an ongoing basis. -Manage conflict by using the appropriate approach based on the circumstances and the invidividuals involved.

Causes of conflict include:

-competition -differences in objectives, values and perceptions -diagreements about role requirements, work activities and individual approaches -communication breakdowns Conflict is natural and forces the need for exploring alternatives. While conflicts, focus should be on the issues not on individuals.

Components of the Schedule Management Plan

1) Project schedule model used 2) Accuracy of activity duration estimates 3) Units of measure ( hours, days, weeks) 4) Organizational procedure links with the WBS 5) Control thresholds to be used for monitoring schedule performance 6) Rules for performance measurements to be used 7) Reporting formats to be used 8) Process descriptions to explain how schedule management processes are to be documented throughout the project.

What are the rules about the length of a Sprint?

1-4 weeks p.40

What are Tuckman's stages of group development?

1. Forming 2. Storming 3. Norming 4. Performing 5. Adjourning

What is the Tuckman Stages of Group Development?

1. Forming: team members are wondering whether the decision to join the team was a wise one. They are making initial judgements about the skills and personal qualities of their teammates. 2. Storming: team members begin to assert themselves and control issues as they emerge. Personality differences begin to arise. 3.Norming: the team begins to work productively, without worrying about personal acceptance or control issues. 4. Performing: the team is working at optimum productivity. It is collaborating easily, communicating freely, and solving its own conflict problems. 5. Adjourning: the team members complete their assigned work and shift to the next project or assigned work.

Gannt Chart

A bar chart of schedule information where activities are listed on the vertical axis, dates are shown on the horizontal axis, and activity durations are shown as horizontal bars placed according to start and finish dates.

Daily Standup

A brief, daily collaboration meeting in which the team reviews progress from the previous day, declares intentions for the current day and highlights any obstacles encountered or anticipated.

Daily Standup

A brief, daily collaboration meeting in which the team reviews progress from the previous day, declares intions for the current day, and highights any obstacles encourntered or anticipated. 15-20 minutes

Project Phases

A collection of logically related project activities that culminates in the completion of one or more deliverables.

Configuration Management System

A collection of procedures used to track project artifacts and monitor and control changes to these artifacts.

Schedule Management Plan

A component of the project management plan that establishes the criteria and the activities for developing, monitoring, and controlling the schedule.

Procurement Management Plan

A component of the project or program management plan that describes how a project team will acquire goods and services from outside the performing organization.

Quality Management Plan

A component of the project or program management plan that describes how an organization's quality policies will be implemented.

Requirements Management Plan

A component of the project or program management plan that describes how requirements will be analyzed, documented, and managed.

Scope Management Plan

A component of the project or program management plan that describes how the scope will be defined, developed, monitored, controlled, and verified.

Issues

A current condition or situation that may have an impact on on the project objectives - an action item that the project team must address.

Requirements Documentation

A description of how individual requirements meet the business need for the project. Starts at a high level before providing details Requirements needs to be unambiguous (measurable and testable), traceable, complete, consistent, and acceptable to key stakeholders Format can be simple (document listing all the requirements, catagorized by stakeholder and priority) or more elaborate (executive summary, detailed descriptions, attachments)

Decision Tree Analysis

A diagramming and calculation technique for evaluating the implications of a chain of multiple options in the presence of uncertainty.

Project Charter

A document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.

Team Charter

A document that enables the team to establish its values, agreements, and practices as it performs its work together.

Predictive Life Cycle

A form of project life cycle in which the project scope, and the time and cost required to deliver that scope, are determined as early in the life cycle as possible. AKA Traditional or Waterfall Approach. Requirements are typically fixed, but can be changed using the change control process.

Interviews

A formal or informal approach to elicit information from stakeholders by talking to them directly.

Change Control Board (CCB)

A formally chartered group responsible for reviewing, evaluating, approving, delaying, or rejecting changes to the project, and for recording and communicating such decisions.

Requirements Traceability Matrix

A grid that links product requirements from their origin to the deliverables that satisfy them.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

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.

What is a product roadmap?

A high-level visual summary of the product or products of the project that includes goals, milestones and potential deliverables. p. 34

Time and material (T&M) contracts (Traditional Contract Type)

A hybrid contractual arrangement of fixed-price and cost-reimbursable contracts Combines a negotiated hourly rate and full reimbursement for materials Includes not-to-exceed values and time limits to prevent unlimited cost growth Is suited for project when a precise statement of work cannot be quickly prescribed.

Disciplined Agile (DA)

A hybrid tool kit that harnesses hundreds of agile practices to devise the best "way of working (WoW) for your team. A process decision framework that enables simplified process decisions around incremental and iterative solution delivery.

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)

A knowledge base of integrated patterns for enterprise-scale lean-agile development.

What is a servant leader?

A leader who serves others' needs while strengthening the organization. Helps teams develop and grow as a group and as individuals. They facilitate the team's work by providing coaching and training, remove blocks that impede work progress, either from people or processes, and focus on team accomplishments rather than team misfires.

Cease and Desist Letter - Legal Concepts when Managing Disputes

A letter sent to an individual or business to stop (cease) allegedly illegal activities and to not undertake htem again (desist). Often used as a warning o impending legal action if it is ignored.

Stakeholder Register

A list of individuals or organizations who are actively involved in the project, whose interests may be negatively or positively affected by the performance or completion of the project and whose needs or expectations need to be considered.

Control Account

A management control point where scope, budget, actual cost, and schedule are integrated and compared to earned value for performance measurement.

Project Management Office (PMO)

A management structure that standardizes the project-related goverance processes and facilities the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques. Supportive=PMOs provides a consultative role Controlling=PMOs provide support and require compliance through various means. Directive=PMOs take control of projects by directly managing the projects.

Net Promoter Score

A management tool designed to collect data indicating the relative loyalty of customers and their willingness to recommend a company's products or services. % of Promoters - % of Detractors with the resulting index of -100 to 100.

What is a Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix?

A matrix that compares current and desired stakeholder engagement levels? p. 44

Earned Value (EV)

A methodology that combines scope, schedule, and resource measurements to assess project performance and progress.

Recognition

A more personalized, intangible and experiential event that focuses on the behavior rather than outcome.

Statement of Work (SOW)

A narrative description of products, services, or results to be delivered by the project.

Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory

A need theory that distinguishes between motivator needs (related to the nature of the work itself) and hygiene needs (related to the physical and psychological context in which the work is performed) and proposes that motivator needs must be met for motivation and job satisfaction to be high.

Code of Accounts

A numbering system used to uniquely identify each component of the work breakdown structure (WBS).

Iterative

A process that repeats a series of steps over and over until the desired outcome is obtained. Fully understand one section before moving on to another phase.

Monte Carlo Simulation

A process which generates hundreds or thousands of probable performance outcomes based on probability distributions for cost and schedule on individual tasks. The outcomes are then used to generate a probability distribution for the project as a whole.

Issue Log

A project document used to document and monitor elements under discussion or in dispute between project stakeholders. It is used to track problems, inconsistiencies or conflicts that occuring during the life of the project and require investigation in order to work toward a resolution. Issue log is NOT a to-do list

Lessons Learned Register

A project document used to record knowledge gained during a project so that it can be used in the current project and entered into the lessons learned repository.

Lessons Learned Register

A project document used to record knowledge gained during a project so that it can be used in the current project and entered into the lessons learned repository. Agile teams hold a retrospective at the end of each iteration to identify potential issues, identify potential solutions, and improve the processes the team uses to improve overall performance.

Adaptive Life Cycle

A project life cycle, also known as change-driven or agile method, that is intended to facilitate change and require a high degree of ongoing stakeholder involvement. Adaptive life cycles are also iterative and incremental, but differ in that iterations are very rapid (usually 2-4 weeks in length) and are fixed in time and resources. Iterative - dynamic requirements; activities repeated until correct; single delivery Incremental - dynamic requirements; activities performed once per increment; frequent small deliveries Agile - iterative or incremental - change-driven/adaptive; dynamic requirements; combines iterative repetition of activities with incremental deliveries

Retrospective

A regular check on the effectiveness of quality processes Look for the root cause of issues and then suggest trails of new approaches to improve quality. Evaluate any trial processes to determine if they are working and should be continued, need adjusting or dicountinued.

Phase Gate

A review at the end of a phase in which a decision is made to continue to the next phase, to continue with modification, or to end a project or program.

What is the difference between a risk and issue?

A risk is generally defined as an event that might impact a projects, whereas an issue is a risk that has happened and will impact the project.

Source Selection Criteria

A set of attributes desired by the buyer which a seller is required to meet or exceed to be selected for a contract.

Project Team

A set of individuals who support the project manager in performing the work of the project to achieve its objectives.

Change Control System

A set of procedures that describes how modifications to the project deliverables and documentation are managed and controlled. An effective change control system includes the forms, tracking methods, processes, and approval levels required for authorizing or rejecting requested changes

Feature

A set of related requirements that allows user to satisfy a business objective or need Scheduling aligned to features ensures associated work is coordinated Estimating features offers visibility to when blocks of functinality can be related to the business and end users Progress can be measured by drawing a ratio of accepted to remaining features

Milestones

A significant point or event in a project, program or portfolio

Quality Audit

A structured, independent process to determine if project activities comply with organizational and project policies, processes, and procedures.

Version Control

A system that records changes to a file or set of files over time so that you can recall specific versions later.

Benefit Cost Analysis

A systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of a proposed action by placing them in common terms, such as dollars, and summing the benefits then subtracting the costs.

reward

A tangible item that is given in return for someone's service or accomplishment

reward

A tangible item that is given to a person based on a specific outcome or an achievement.

Variance Analysis

A technique for determining the cause and degree of difference between the baseline and actual performance.

Resource Optimization Techniques

A technique that is used to adjust the start and finish dates of activities that adjust planned resource use to be equal to or less than resource availability.

Scrum of Scrums

A technique to operate Scrum at scale for multiple teams working on the same product, coordinating discussions of progress on their interdependencies, and focusing on how to integrate the delivery of software, especially in areas of overlap.

Decomposition

A technique used for dividing and subdividing the project scope and project deliverables into smaller, more manageable parts.

Document Analysis

A technique used to gain project requirements from current documentation evaluation. Derive new project requirements from: Business plans, Service agreements, marketing materials, current process diagrams, application software documentation

Observations

A techniques used to gain knowledge of a specific job role, task or function in order to understand and determine project requirements.

Sprint

A timeboxed iteration in Scrum.

Product Analysis

A tool used to define scope that involves asking questions about a product and forming answers that describe the product's use, characteristics, and other relevant aspects.

Configuration Management

A tool used to manage changes to a product or service being produced as well as changes to any of the project documents such as schedule updates.

Deliverable

A unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that is required to be produced to complete a process, phase, or project. Example: A planned software improvement

Epic

A very large collection of user stories. Epics can be spread across many sprints.

Context Diagrams

A visual depiction of the product scope showing a business system (process, equipment, computer system, etc.), and how people and other systems (actors) interact with it.

The business determines the project you are managing must be based on a plan driven project management approach. This is partially due to the SMART objectives the steering committee has set for the project. In the acronym SMART, what does A stand for?

A=Achievable S = Specific M = Measurable A = Achievable R = Realistic T = Time Bound

What are some techniques that a project manager can use to appraise the skills of a potential team member?

Ability tests, Focus Groups p. 6

Project Artifact Examples - Predictive

Acceptance Criteria Assumptions Business Case Change Requests Constraints Lessons Learned Minutes of status meetings Project Charter Slide decks Requirements Scope Scope Baseline Subsidiary project management plans

You and the project team draft a project scope statement. Which of the following are commonly part of the scope statement?

Acceptance criteria, Scope description (NO costs, schedules, names)

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should follow the acronym SMART. What does the A stand for in the SMART acronym?

Achievable

Motivating Elements

Achievement drive - setting tough goals and taking chances. Commitment - Relying on your team's core principles to make decisions. Iniaitive - Working toward goals beyond what's essential or anticipated. Optimisim - Hoping to succeed instead of fearing failure.

Active Listening

Active listening is a communication technique that involves acknowledging what you hear and clarifying the message to confirm that what you heard matches the message the sender intended. Reflecting: repeating the gist of a message to clarify you understood it correctly. Attending: to show that you are paying attention to the speaker, you can lean slightly toward them, stay at the same eye-level, and maintain eye contact without staring. Following: respond with non-verbal gesture such as nodding hear, or a verbal word, yes.

What does configuration management address?

Activities such as how version control of project documents and changes to the product will be initiated, analyzed, and traced. A tool to manage changes to a product or service being produced as well as changes to any of the project documents such as schedule updates. p. 15

Levelling

Adjusts start and finish dates based on resource constraints Goal is to balance demand for resources with available supply Use when shared or critically required resources have limited availability or are over-allocated. Can change critical path

Smoothing

Adjusts the activities of a schedule model to keep resource requirements within predefined resource limit and within free and total floats. Does not change the critical path May not be able to optimize all resources

Types of Contact Changes

Administrative - non-substantive and are usually about the way the contract is administered. Contract Modification - substantive change to the contract requirements, such as a new or different deadline or change in product requirements. Supplemental Agreement - addendum to the contract which is negotiated separately. Constructive Changes - caused by the buyer through action or inaction. Termination of Contract - when the vendor defaults or for the customer's convenience.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Analogous Estimating

Adv: Can ensure no work is inadvertently omitted from work estimates; Disadv: Can someimes be difficult for lower-level mangers to appropriate cost estimates.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Parametric Estimating

Adv: is not time consuming; Disadv: May be inaccurate depending on the integrity of the historical data

Advantages and Disadvantages of Bottom-up Estimating

Adv: is very accurate and gives lower-level managers more responsitilbity; Disdav: may be time consuming, can be used only after the WBS has been well defined. (p. 137 PPT)

The organization is exploring a new project where there are many unknowns, and most of the work to be done is designing software to build the best solution in collaboration with the customer. Which project management approach is best suited for this project?

Agile

Project Management Methodologies

Agile - team works collaboratively with the customer to determine the project needs; The coordination of customer and the team drives the project. Predictive / Plan Driven - Project needs, requirements and constraints are understood and plans are developed accordingly. Hybrid - Compines strategies from agile or predictive as required; an switch approaches based on need, changing work requirements, or circumstances. Great for projects seeking or willing to learn new methods or technicques; with a mix of resources and experience levels; with shorter, iterative time frames; with high stakeholder involvement; with in-depth requirements.

Why is stakeholder collaboration important to a project?

Aligns expections

Fixed-price contract (Traditional Contract Type)

An agreement that sets the fee that will be paid for a defined scope of work regardless of the cost or effort to deliver it. AKA lump sum contract Provides maximum protection to the buyer but requires a lengthy prepartion and bid evaluation. It is suited for projects with a high degree of certainty about their parameters.

Who do you describe an effective change control system?

An effective change control system includes the forms, tracking methods, processes, and approval levels required for authorizing or rejecting requested changes. A set of procedures that describes how modifications to the project deliverable and documentation are managed and controlled. p. 16

Focus Groups

An elicitation technique that brings together prequalified stakeholders and subject matter experts to learn about their expectations and attitudes about a proposed product, service, or result.

Stakeholder

An individual, group, or organization who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project.

What is a stakeholder?

An individual, group, or organization who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project.

Rolling Wave Planning

An iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail, while the work in the future is planned at a higher level. Used in agile or predictive approaches A form of progressive elaboration applied to work packages, planning packages and release planning.

Continuous Improvement

An ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes.

What is a risk?

An uncertain event or condidition, if it occurs has a positive or negative effect on one or more project objectives. p. 41

Estimating Techniques

Analogous, Parametric and Bottom-up

Critical Path Activity

Any activity on the critical path in a project schedule.

What is a 'realized risk'?

Anything that crops up that COULD impact project objectives.

A change has been made, what do you need?

Approved change request

Causes of Project Changes - Inaccurate Initial Estimates

Arise from lack of experience, lack of information, or precedence to inaccurate data, excessive optimism, technological difficulties, and unreliable resources.

Ground rules

As defined in the team charter, clear expectations set, regarding the code of conduct for team members.

Causes of Project Changes - New Regulations

As project work progresses, new governmental or industry-specific regulations may be enacted.

Variance Analysis

As the team works, product variance analyses such as accuracy of team estimates, delivery in a sprint or by an established milestone, team performance against targets.

What is self-organization?

Asking teams to assess and agree to work goals as a group Using a pull-based approach to ensure effective use of team resources p. 24

Project Charter Content

Assigned project manager and responsibility/authority level. Name and authority of project sponsor. Other optional content: Measureable project objectives and related success criteria, high-level requirements, high-level project description, boundaries, and key deliverables, overall project risk, summary of milestone schedules, pre-approved financial resources, key stakeholder register, project approval requirements, project exit criteria.

Prototyping

Assists in the process of obtaining early feedback on requirements by providing a working model of the expected product before building.

In a multi-phase project, when are assumptions validated and risks analyzed?

At the beginning of each phase.

How do you assess candidates before assigning and confirming team roles?

Attitudinal surveys, Specific assessments, Structured interviews, Ability tests, Focus groups

What are nonfunctional requirements?

Availability; Capacity; Continuity; Security

What is the difference between avoiding the threat and mitigating it?

Avoid means to change the management plan to remove the risk and mitigate means to reduce the impact or probability.

Obstacles

Barriers that should be able to be avoided or overcome with some effort or strategy. Obstacles reference barriers that should be able to be moved, avoided or overcome with some effort or strategy.

obstacles

Barriers that should be able to be avoided or overcome with some effort or strategy. Eg. testing schedule taking IT framework offline. Obstacles reference barriers that should be able to be moved, avoided, or overcome with some effort or strategy.

Project Governance

Budget management is critical project oversight and within purview of project governance. Deviation in budget, scope, schedule, resources or quality will impact the project Project governance tells you whom these issues would impact and how to deal with them Tailor cost estimation approach to phases of the project life cycle.

Incremental

Building on existing knowledge bases and providing small improvements in current products. They are evolutionary and linear in nature.

Types of Requirements

Business, Stakeholder, transition and Readiness, Quality, Project, Solutions (p. 55 PPT)

What is the Cost Variance (CV)?

CV is the amount of budget deficit or surplus at a given point in time. CV=EV-AC A positive CV indicates that the project is performing under budget. A zero CV indicates that the project is on budget. A negative CV indicates that the project is performing over budget.

Data Representation - Cause and effect Diagrams

Cause and effect diagrams break down the causes of a problem statement, helping to identify the main or root cause of a problem.

The product owner is on vacation. A decision must be made on project change. What should the team reference to determine next steps?

Change Management Plan

Product Backlog

Change throughout the project Groom and refine the product backlog continually Remove product backlog items as work is completed

Cost of Quality (CoQ)

CoQ is all costs incurred over the life of the product by investment in preventing nonconformance to requirements, appraisal of the product or service for conformance to requirements, and failure to meet requirements.

What is the process to create a project budget?

Combine all individual activity cost estimates and aggregate them for the entire project. Submit this to the sponsor and modify it if necessary. The agreed-upon final cost estimates is the budget.

Project Overview Statement

Communicates enterpise-wide the intent and vision of the project Written with brevity and clarity Captures the project's objective, problem or opportunity, and criteria for success. Authorizaton via the project charter or approved project overview statement enables kickoff activities of project planning.

A list of stakeholders who will receive communications about the project will appear in which document?

Communication Management Plan

Social Skill Elements

Communications - managing tough problems directly; effectively exchanging info, and adjusting your message based on emotional cues; cultivating clear communication and being open to unfavorable and positive news. Building bonds - building and maintaining friendly connections with colleagues; keeping other informed; establishing and maintaining large, causal networks Collaboration and Cooperation - Fostering an amiable, collaborative environment Change Catalysis - Challanging the current situation to appeal to the need for change Conflict Management - Detecting possible clashes, moving disputes into the open and helping to reduce them Influence - Appealing to listeners by polishing presenttation; winning people over skillfully Leadership - expressing and stimulating interest for a collective vision or goal Team capabilities - building team character, camaraderie, and dedication.

Communications Plan

Components include: Team meeting times Tools to track work status Frequency of work status updates Shared team hours Preferred communication approaches Aim for effective collaboration and broad, accurate visability across stakeholders.

For this project, the team may develop its own set of operating procedures and operate outside the standard formalized reporting structure during the project. What organizational structure does this represent?

Composite

Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEF)

Conditions (internal or external), not under the immediate control of the team, that influence, constrain, or direct the project, program, or portfolio. Internal - Organizational culture, structure, and governance; geographic distribution of facilities and resources; infrastructure; resource availability; employee capability External - marketplace conditions, social and cultural influences and issues; legal restrictions; commercial databases; academic research; government or industry standards; financial considerations; physical environmental elements

You are working on a project that is part of a program. All the projects within this program are being managed in an agile way. What is a good technique to get the project teams aligned?

Conduct a Scrum of Scrums

Process - Configuration Management

Configuration management is applied to a product, not the project. This process: -Controls product iterations -Controls the steps for reviewing and approving product prototypes, testing standards, and drawings or blueprints. -Ensures that product specifications are current.

Which is true about conflict in projects?

Conflict is inevitatble

Project Implementation Plan

Consider all stakeholders, schedules, risks, budget and quality standards. Identify deliverables - due at the end of the project. Identify project outputs - delivered throughout the projects.

Sequential relationships

Contain consecutive phases that start only when the previous phase is complete. This relationship reduces the level of uncertainty, which may eliminate the option for shortening a project's schedule.

Overlapping relationships

Contain phases that start prior to the previous phase ending. This relationship increases the level of risk and may cause rework if something from the previous phase directly affects the next phase.

Capped Time and Materials (Agile Contract Type)

Contract works like the traditional time and materials contract except an upper limit is on customers' payment, customers pay up for the capped cost limit, suppliers benefit in case of early time-frame changes.

What is the role fo a Configuratoin Management System?

Control versioning of all components

The project manager is using the time-phased budget to measure cost-performance. What is the budget called?

Cost baseline

An architectural firm has spent a great deal of time and effort creating the design and blueprints for the building. They had to purchase materials and hire consultants and have been working on this project for six months. They have submitted all the invoices for the money they have spent on the work, as well as the invoice for the fee of $5,000. What type of contract was this?

Cost-reimbursable

What are the schedule compression techniques?

Crashing - Shortens schedule duration for the least incremental cost by adding resources (overtime, additional resources; works for activitie son the critical path; does not always produce a viable alternative and may result in increased risk and/or cost Fast-tracking - perform activities in parallel to reduce time; may result in rework, increased risk and increased cost

Artifacts

Created by project teams during project work. Artifacts facilitate management of the project. Examples: shreadsheets, emails, and meeting minutes.

Empathy

Critical emotional intelligence skills that profoundly affects your ability to relate to and estable a rapport with, others. Empathetic traits that make individuals more able to contribute to collaborative, high-performaing teams: -Understanding others -Service orientation -Developing others -Leveraging diversity -Political awareness

What is feedback?

Crucial communication Should be done regularly Both directions - giving and receiving

Incremental Delivery Contracts (Agile Contract Type)

Customers review contracts during the contract life cycle at pre-negotiated designated points of the contract lifecycle. Customers can make required changes, continue or terminate the project at these points.

Agile Ceremonies

Daily Standups - short 10-15 minute daily meetings Sprint Review - at the end of each iteration and other customer stakeholders review progress and receive feedback for that iteration. A Scrum Master facilitates a Sprint Retrospective for the team to identify improvements.

What is the technique used by project teams to bring everyone together on a set recurring basis to share what may be blocking or impeding on their work or plans?

Daily standup meeting

Types of Control Quality Tools

Data Gathering - checklists, statistical sampling, questionnaires Data Analysis - performance reviews (Critical chain method, Earned value management, Trend analysis, Critical path method) Data Representation

Which of the following is a good practice for the use of collaboration tools?

Define team goals and practices before consideraton of what tools the team will need.

What are the tools and techniques for verifying scope?

Definition of Done - checklist of required criteria for a deliverable to be considered ready for customer use Definition of Ready - Checklist for a user-centric requirement with all required information to begin work Acceptance Criteria - A set of conditions to meet before acceptance of deliverables Iteration Reviews - Interval at or near the conclusion of a timeboxed iteration when the project team shares and demonstarates the work produced during the iteration with stakeholders. Variance Analysis - A technique for deteriming the cause and degree of difference between the baseline and actual performance Trend Analysis - An analytical technique that uses mathematical models to forecast future outcomes based on historical results.

Common Estimating Types

Definitive Estimate (developed of estimating the cost for each work package in the WBS). Rough Order of Magnitude (devleoped w/o basis of detailed data). Phased estimate (rolling wave. Allows the use of less-detailed estimate).

Iterative scheduling with a backlog

Delivers business value early and incrementally --> Allows change during entire project --> Does not work well with projects featuring complex dependency relationships Use progressive elaboration (rolling wave) to schedule activities Use specific time window Define requirements in user stories Prioritize stories Select based on priority and time box Add remaining stories to backlog Construct later based on their priority

Who is regarded as the father of the continuous improvement movement?

Deming

What's in a Schedule Management plan?

Describes how activities will be defined and progressively elaborated Identifies a scheduling method and scheduling tool to be used Determines the format of the schedule Establishes criteria for developing and controlling the project schedule

What is in a Quality Management Plan?

Describes the activities and resources necessary for the project management team to achieve the quality objectives May be formal or informal, detailed or broadl framed. Style and details are determined by the project requirements. Review the quality management plan early in the project.

Procurement Statement of Work (SOW)

Describes the procurement item in sufficient detail to allow prospective sellers to determine if they are capable of providing the products, services, or results.

What are the Components in a Contract?

Description of the work being procured for the project, its deliverables, and scope Delivery date and schedule information Identification of authority, where appropriate Responsibiities of both parties Management of technical and business aspects Prices and payment terms Provisions for termination Applicable guarantees and warranties

Cost Estimates

Develop an approximation of the cost for each activity in a project.

Agile Approaches to Managing Change

Disciplined Agile Scrum of Scrums Scaled Agile Framework

What are some techniques you could use to elicit project requirements?

Document analysis, Observations, Interview, Questionnaires

Business Case

Documented economic feasibility study Establishes benefits of project components Provides a basis for authorization of further project activities.

Estimate to Complete Analysis (ETC)

During execution, you might need to know how much more money you need to complete the project. ETC=EAC-AC

Individual Knowledge Management

Each team member needs to know how to perform their work in accordance with each assigned task's scope, schedule and cost, all while maintaining an acceptable level of quality.

What is the Earned Value formula?

Earned Value (EV) = % complete x Planned Value (PV)

During a meeting, you pay close attention to the emotions of yourself and others as the discussion gets heated. Which interpersonal skill are you leveraging?

Emotional Intelligence

Collaboration Technology

Enable teams to plan, collaborate, and communicate. Collaboration tools include: Shared task board - to promote visibility Messaging and chat boards - to enable communication Knowledge repositories - to store shared documents Video-conferencing tools - for face-to-face communication

Quality Metrics

Ensure a description of the project or product that is measurable. Decide how that quality will be measured and what kind of tolerances should be set for quality.

Project team requirements

Ensure relevant skill sets to perform work and produce desired results. Levarage core competencies and skills of general specialist to support other areas of the project. Adequate physical resources (equipment) Project Management Plan includes: Team members assigned to the project, their roles and responsibilities, project team directory, project organization charts, project schedules.

What are the activity cost estimates made up of?

Estimates on probable costs necessary to finish project work, including direct labor, materials, equipment, facilities, services, information technology, contigency reserves, and indirect costs.

Critical Path Method (CPM)

Estimates the minimum project duration and determines the amount of schedule flexibility on the logical network paths within the schedule model

Blockers

Events or conditions that cause stoppages in the work or any further advancement. Blockers reference events or conditions that cause stoppages in the work or any further advancement.

Blockers

Events or conditions that cause stoppages in the work or any further advancement. Eg. Strike Blockers reference events or conditions that causes stoppages in the work or any further advancement.

Scope Management Tools and Techniques

Expert Judgement - internal and external experts Alternatives Analysis - Used to evaluate identified options in order to select the options or approaches to use to execute and perform the work of the project Meetings - Team members help create the scope management plan

Stakeholder Identification - Tools and Techniques

Expert Judgement, Data Gathering (Questionaires and surveys, brainstorming), Data analysis (stakeholder analysis, document analysis), Stakeholder mapping, Meetings

Scope Tools and Techniques

Expert Judgement, Facilitation, Product Analysis, Multi-criteria decision analysis, Alternatives analysis

Project Management Plan Tools and Techniques

Expert judgement, Data gathering, Interpersonal and team skills, Meetings

A team member asks you where she can find a set of building codes. Which type of knowledge is this?

Explicit

Precedence Relationships

Express a logical dependency in precedence diagramming methods It is a logical relationship between activity that describes what the activity sequence should look like

Self-Confidence

Expressing opinions that may not be popular; Willing to take risks that what you believe is right.

XP Metaphor

Extreme programming (XP) technique that describes a common vision of how a program works. Metaphors should be simple and non-technical.

You mentor a team member on leading an estimation session. Which skill are you mentoring?

Facilitation

Breach of Contract - Legal Concepts when Managing Disputes

Failure to meet some or all of the obligations of a contract. It may result in damages paid to the injured party, litigation, or other ramifications.

A team member who is new to the organization and working on projects has several questions. He asks the project manager to meet with him to discuss these items so he can understand the project planning process. The project manager is delighted that this new team member is taking so much interest. The team member asks, "If we must complete the software code before we can create the user manual, what type of dependency exists between these two work packages? How should the project manager reply?

Finish to Start

Ways to reach consensus?

Fist of Five (closed fist - complete disagreement; Open Fist of 5 - complete agreement) Roman Voting (thumbs up or down) Polling - hear opinions and then vote Dot voting - distribute dots equally, then each person allocates dots according to the highest preference.

Which is the best elicitation technique to use when your project team wants to facilitate a discussion with a certain set of users to get a better understanding on how they might use your project's product?

Focus Group

Project Knowledge Management

Focus is on achieving the goals of the current project. The project manager will solicit knowledge from project manager or project leaders involved with other projects.

Training

Focuses on building individual skills for use in the present.

Types of Organizational Structures

Functional=Each dept is responsible for carrying out specific, similar set of activities; Reporting is heirarchial, the project manager's authority is low Projectized=The project manager and a core project team operate as a completely separate organizational unit within the parent org; project manager report to a program manger and has significant authority Matrix=A blend of functional and projectized structures in which individuals reprt upward in a functional hierarchy; Strong matrx when the project manager's authority is higher than that of the functional manager. Composite=Combination of all the other type of organizations.

Coaching

Helps develop well-rounded individuals through long-term professional relationships between novice and experienced employees.

Agile Release Planning

High-level summary timeline of the release schedule based on product's roadmap and vision for the product's evolution. A process in which you determine the number of iterations or Sprints that are needed to complete each release, the features that each iteration will contain, and the target dates of each release

Data Representation - Pareto Chart

Histogram used to rank cause of problems in a hierarchial format.

Which of the following should be included in a Communications Plan?

How and when team meetings are held. Preferred communications approaches with external stakeholders.

What are potential threats to compliance?

Identification of new vulnerabilities in your product service. Changes in legal or regulatory requirements Errors in testing and validation to confirm compliance Errors or bugs in deliverables Lack of awareness of compliance requirements

PESTLE

Identifies the external business environment factors that can affect the value and desired outcomes. P=Political E=Economic S=Social T=Technical L=Legal E=Environmental Others are TECOP = Technical, Environmental, Commerical, Operational, Political VUCA=Volatility, Uncertainity, Complexity, Ambiguity

Resource Calendars

Identify working days, shifts, and when specific resources are made available to the project.

In which of the following situations would brainstorming be an appropriate technique?

Identifying and prioritizing options p. 23

The product owner is unavailable to make a decision about a product feature. What is this considered?

Impediment

Risk Review Register

Impediments may be due to or result from project risks or issues. Risks that are raised during the daily standup meeting, interation review and other meetings, as well as everyday conversations, are added to the risk list.

What are the main enemies of a projects success?

Impediments, Obstacles, Blockers

What is the ideal spot for an information radiator?

In a high-traffic area Information raditor (p. 26): The generic term for visual displays placed in a visible location so everyone can quickly see the latest information. Agile = Big Visible Chart

Team Structure and Workspaces - Agile

In agile projects, meaningful interaction is a core tenet. To encourage frequent, free flowing interaction, the team structure and workspaces must be conducive to this need.

What are the three level system of knowledge management?

Individual, Project, Organization

What are the types of Performance Report Types?

Information Radiators: Big visual boards to display in high traffic public locations about the project and the advancement of the project. Burndown Chart: a graph to show the progress by plotting the burning down of work during an iteration or other time period. Burnup Chart: a graph to show the progress and gains made by the project team over time. Velocity Chart - graphs the completion rate of the team over time and helps predict future iterations. Iteration Cumulative Flow Digram: graphs the throughput of work in the various defined stages during a timeboxed period. Earned Value Management Report - graphs and values based on the earned value management (EVM) equations. Variance Analysis Rreports - graphs and their analysis comparing actual results to planned or expected results. Work Performance Reports: the physical or electronic representation of work performance information compiled in project documents, intended to generate decisions, actions or awareness. Eg. status report Quality Reports: charts and reports based on teh quality metrics collected Eg. control charts, Dashboards (physical or electronic): summaries of the progress, usually with visuals or graphis to represent the larger data set. Task Boards (physical or electronic): diepcitios of hte work must be done and their currrent state. Eg. Kanban Boards

Which of the following should NOT be considered as part of training cost estimates?

Instructions p. 29

Elements of Training - Delivery Models

Instructor-led classroom Virtual classroom Self-paced e-learning Document reviews Interactive simulations On-the-job training

Cost reimburseable contract (Traditional Contract Type)

Involves payment to the seller for the seller's actual costs, plus a fee typically representing the seller's profit. Includes incentives for meeting certain objectives, such as costs, schedule, or technical performance targets Is suited for projects with uncertain parameters

Expert Judgement

Judgement based upon expertise in an application area, knowledge area, discipline, industry, etc., as approriate for the activity being performed. Such expertise may be provided by any group or person with specialized education, knowledge, skill, expertise, or training.

Continuous Improvement Approaches

Kaizen - Japanese - improvements based on may small changes. PDSA - Plan, Do, Study, Act - systematically testing possible solutions, assessing the results and implementing those that work.

You are doing great! You got this!

Keep up the good work!

In a multi-phase project, which of the following terms refers to a decision to continue with the next phase or to end the project?

Kill point, Phase Gate

Emotional Intelligence

Knowing which emotions you are feeling and the root cause, or causes of those feelings.

What is leadership?

Leadership refers to guiding the team by using discussion and an exchange of ideas.

What is the difference between leadership and management?

Leadership refers to guiding the team by using discussion and an exchange of ideas. Management refers to directing actions using a prescribed set of behaviors. Lesson 4, page 5

What are the interpersonal skills used to manage knowledge?

Leadership: to communicate the organization's vision and inspire the project team to focus on the goals of the project. Facilitation: to effectively guide a group to a successful solutions to a problem. Political Awareness: to keep the project manager aware of the organization's politcal environment. Networking: to facilitate relations among project stakeholders so that knowledge is shared at all levels.

What is management?

Management refers to directing actions using a prescribed set of behaviors.

Types of Activity Dependencies

Mandatory: a relationship that is contractually required or inherent in the nature of the work Discretionary: A relationship that is established based on knowledge of best practices within a particular application area or an aspect of the project where a specific sequence is desired External: A relationship between project activities and non-project activities Internal - Contingent on inputs within the project team's control

Causes of Project Changes - Missed Requirements

Many times the requirements are understood by reviewing the documents and interviewing the end users and policy makers.

Which of the folllowing should be included in a project charter?

Measurable objectives Key stakeholders list p. 39

What is a KPI? (key performance indicator)

Metrics to evaluate an organization's progress toward meeting its goals and objectives.

What are KPI (Kep Performance Indicators)

Metrics used to evaluate an organization's progress toward meeting its goals and objectives.

You are creating a scope statement which includes only the smallest collection of features that can be included in the product for customers to consider it functional. What product approach are you using?

Minimum Viable Product (What can the customer use now to get out in market)

A financial tool that calculates the present value of all cash outflows minus the present value of cash inflows is referred to as ?

Net Present Value

Facilitated Workshops

Organized working sessions held by project managers to determine what a project's requirements are and to get all stakeholders together to agree on the project's outcomes.

Integrating the project management plan, what is the primary component?

Outputs of the planning process

Present Value Calculation

PV=FV/(1+r)^n PV=Present Value FV=Future Value r=interest rate n=number of periods

Which of the following are methods to prioritize project objectives and deliverables?

Paired comparisons MSCW (Moscow) Analysis p. 18

Estimates

People doing the work should be estimating the task because they know the risks, level of effort, and potential pitfalls. Traditional - Use of hours of efforts tE = (tO +tM + tP)/3 (tO =optimistic; tM=most likely; tP=pessimistic)

Accurate Self-Assessment

Perceiving your strengths and weaknesses.

The methodology used to systematically test possible solutions, assess the results and implement those that work is known as?

Plan Do Study Act (Plan Do Check Act) - Deming

Estimation Techniques

Planning poker - estimates effort or relative size of development effort. (aka Scrum poker) Story Pointing - use a relative mesasure for the level of difficult or complexity of a feature. Individual assign story points.

What is in a Requirements Management Plan?

Planning, tracking and reporting information for requirements activities Configuration management activities: version control rules, impact analysis, tracking, tracking and reporting Required authorization levels for change approval Prioritization criteria/process Product metrics and accompanying rationale Traceability structure, including requirements attributes

Organizational Process Assets (OPA)

Plans, processes, policies, procedures, and knowledge bases that are specific to and used by the performing organization. Processes, policies and procedures are: established by the PMO; not updated as part of project work; templates, lifecycles and checklists

Which is the best example of recognition?

Praise for effort (intangible)

Which of the following are types of project metrics that may be appropriate for a given project?

Precentage of work completed Subcontractor approvals p.19

What is predictive and agile in project and product scope?

Predictive - The scope baseline for the project is the approved version of the project scope statement, WBS and associated WBS dictionary Agile - backlogs, including product requirements and user stories, reflect current project needs Measure completion of project scope against the project management plan Measure completion of the product scope and the product requirements

Which of the following are components of a project agreement?

Pricing and payment terms Incentives and penalities

Quality Audit

Processes that verify compliance with organizational policies, processes and procedures.

Negotiation strategy

Procurement manager drives negotiations for the exact parameters of a contract. Agile - exact deliverables will vary as the customer modifies, adds, and reprioritizes in the product backlog. Traditional - An important objective clearly designates the project's intended deliverables and how they will be measured and compensated.

Project Artifact Examples - Agile

Product Backlog Product Increment Product Roadmap Product Vision Statement Release Plan Spring Backlog

Which of the following is NOT a technqiue for estimation?

Product Box (p. 42) ARE a technique? Planning Poker (p. 41) T-shirt sizing Modified Fibonacci (p. 41)

Collaboration Game - Product Box

Product Box - stakeholder try to describe aspects of a solution in the same way a marketer might describe product features and benefits on a box.

Types of Product Analysis

Product Breakdown, Requirements Analysis, Value Analysis, Value Engineering, Systems Engineering, Systems Analysis

You inform the project sponsor that the project management plan will continously increase the level of detail as the project moves forward. In project management, what is the process known as?

Progressive elaboration (iterative, become smarter as the project moves forward)

Resource Management Plan - What's in the Plan?

Project Organizational Chart -visualization of team and reporting relationships. Project team resource management - Team resource guidance - how to define staff, manage and release Training strategies and requirements. Team development methods Resource controls - to manage physical resources. Recognition Plan - to award/recognize team members.

What are the components of the Scope Baseline?

Project Scope Statement WBS Work packages Planning Package WBS Dictionary

Causes of Project Changes - Specification Changes

Project work can open up new avenues of development and design that were not considered during the initial planning of the project work and scope.

Compliance

Projects must be compliant with internal and external standards such as: Appropriate govt regulations Corporate policies Product and project quality Project risk

Change management plan

Provide direction for managing the change control process and documents the roles and responsibilities of the change control board. Who can propose a change? What exactly constitutes a change? What is the impact of the change on the project objectives? What are the steps to evaluate a change request before approving or rejecting it? When a change request is approved, what project documents will record the next steps? How will you monitor these actions to confirm completion?

What are some objectives of running a Retrospective?

Provide the stakeholders access to the team. Generate insights p 24-25

Milestone Chart

Provides a summary level view of a project's schedule in terms of its milestones. Uses icons or symbols. Useful for upper management who only require an overview.

Business needs documents

Provides high-level deliverables Prerequiste of formal business case Describe requirements - what needs creating and/or performing?

On-Demand Scheduling

Pulls work from a backlog or queue for work to be done immediately as resources become available Based on Kanban and Lean methodologies Levels out work of team members

Topics that should be audited include:

Quality Management policy Collection and use of information Analytical methods Cost of quality Quality process design

What is the focus of quality assurance and what does it result in?

Quality assurance is focused on process and procedures used, and it results in improved quality.

RACI Chart

RESPONSIBLE, ACCOUNTABLE, CONSULTED, INFORMED. A common type of responsibility assignment matrix (RAM).

Activity dependency

Relationship indicates whether the start of an activity is contingent on the event or input from outside the activity.

The project team is reviewing the requirement documentation that they are responsible for working on. Which project artifact can they reference to see the connection between the requirements and the business and project objectives?

Requirements Traceability Matrix (see where requirement is traced).

In Agile projects, what is the most important practice to gather lessons learned from the team on how to improve and recognize success?

Retrospective Conducting a retrospective encourages the team to review what went well and what could have been done better. Retrospectives are also about how to take those lessons learned and analyze and apply them moving forward.

A meeting that is held at frequent intervals in an agile project is referred to as which of the following?

Retrospective meeting

What do you need to create a WBS?

Review scope management plan, project scope statement, requirements documentation EEFs and OPAs Use tools and techniques (e.g. decomposition) Use expert judgement Includes notes on work products that might be delivered incrementally Document the scope baseline

Develop a project management plan

Review: Project Charter for high-level boundaries of the project Outputs from the other processes EEFs and OPAs Use tools and techniques Use facilitation techniques Document the project management plan Assess incremental delivery options

Resource Management Plan - Roles and Responsibilities

Role - a person's function in a project. Authority - Rights to use resources, make decisions, and accept deliverables. Reponsibility - Assigned duties. Competence - Skills and capacities required.

What do you use to define good KPI's:

SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound. Specific: means the goal is appropriately focused and targeted, not overly general or vague. Measurable: means the change can be quantified and assessed on that basis. Achievable: means that it is plausible and realistic. Relevant: ensures that the KPI is meaningfully related to the associated critical success facotrs Time-bound: means the goal is not open-ended but can be assigned to a specific target duration.

What is Schedule Performance Index (SPI)?

Schedule Control measure of schedule efficiency expressed as the ratio of earned value to planned value. SPI=EV/PV

What is Schedule Variance (SV)?

Schedule Control measure of schedule performance expressed as the difference between the earned value and the planned value SV=EV-PV

Training and Coaching Plan

Schedule training close to the time of solution implementation. Perform a gap analysis to identify required knowldge, skills or attributes. Consider upskilling or certification for team members. This ultimately benefits the project. Plan for a suitable diversity of trianing and coaching offerings.

What are the typical topics covered in lessons learned?

Scheduling: include any relevant scheduling problems or issues. Conflict Management: include any issues that arose within the team or between the team and customers. Customers and Vendors: If a vendor or customer is excessively litigous or unreasonable to work with, that information should be conveyed to teh sales and legal departments and documented in the lessons learned repository. Strategic: these typically affect some aspect of the organization's project management methodology or significantly improve a template, form or process. Tactical: these answer teh question - if you were to do this type of project again, what should you stop, start, and continue so yu can execute the project flawlessly.

Why is it important to properly manage the scope of your project?

Scope determines what the project outcomes will be, you must make sure that it is constantly on track with an approved scope baseline; to determine which type of requirements need to be collected for the project.

Who handles issues in an Agile process?

Scrum Master/Project Manager - Project Manager takes away issues so team can continue working.

What are tools that track performance?

Scrum/Agile/Kanban boards Throughput Metrics: measurement of the teams work that has moved from one stage to another stage over a certain time. Cycle Time: measurement of work that has progressed all the way from plan to completed. Quality Metrics: various measurements to track quality deliverables, defects, and acceptable output. Earned Value: tracking cost and effort performance against a planned value. Bar Charts (Gantt): using the project schedule to track performance over time. Velocity: measurement of total output from an iteration to attempt to predict future iteration outputs.

Self-Regulations Elements

Self-Control - remaining cool, calm and even-tempered under pressure. Trustworthiness - Acknowledging your own errors, and challenging immoral conduct in others. Conscientousness - Having a well-ordered, meticulous approach to work. Adaptability - Adjusting your strategies and response to adapt to changing events.

servant leadership

Servant leaders help teams develop and grow as a group and as individuals.

Which of the following are reasons that PMI publishes a Code of Ethics?

Set expectations for the project manager and the team. Ensure compliance with rules and laws p. 12

Retrospective - Steps

Set the Stage Gather and Share Data Generate Insights Make Decisions Close

Which of the following are examples of virtual team collaboration tools?

Shared task board Team chat boards p.8

Team Charter includes:

Shared values Guidelines for communications and use of tools Decision-making guidelines Conflict resolution measures Meeting time, frequency and channel Other team agreements eg. shared hours, improvement activities.

Which of the following are part of an effective team charter?

Shared values; Conflict resolution p. 13

User Stories

Short descriptions written by customers of what they need a system to do for them

What is true of lessons learned during the project?

Should be documented throughout the project

What's included in a Scope Management Plan?

Should include processes to prepare a project scope statement Enables the creation of the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) from the details project scope statement Establishes how the scope baseline will be approved and maintained Specifies how formal acceptance of the completed and project deliverables will be obtained Can be formal and informal, broadly framed or highly detailed

impediment

Situations, conditions and actions that slow down or hinder progress Eg. weather Reference situations, conditions and actions that slow down or hinder progress.

Impediments

Situations, conditions and actions that slow down or hinder progress. Impediments reference situations, conditions and actions that slow down or hinder progress.

What are the 5 basic approaches to handling conflicts?

Smooth/Accomodate: Emphasize areas of agreement rather than areas of difference. Concede your position to the needs of others to maintain harmony and relationships. Withdraw/Avoid: retreat from an actual or potential conflict situation. Postpone the issue to be better prepared or to be resolved by others (do nothing). Compromise/Reconcile: Search for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to all parties. Temporarily or partially resolve the conflict through compromise. Force/Direct: Pursue your viewpoint at the expense of others. Offer only win/lose solutions, usually enforced through a power position to resolve an emergency. Collaborate/Problem Solve: Incorporate multiple viewpoints and insight from differing perspectives. Enable cooperative attitudes and open dialogue to reach consensus and commitment.

SMART

Specific=Means the goal is appropriately focused and targeted, not overly general or vague. Measurable=Means the change can be quantified and assessed on that bases. You must be able to measure teh target; this means figuring out how to get accurate data to assess current and future performance. Achievable=Means that it is plausible and realistic. Ensure the target is a realistic one. Relevant=Ensures that the KPIs is meaningfully related to its associated critical success factors. Time-bound=Means the goal is not open-ended and can be assigned to a specific target duration.

What are some of the reasons for performance variations in a project?

Specification Changes New regulations Missed requirements Inaccurate initial estimates

What is in a Procurement Management Plan?

Specifies the types of contracts that will be used Describes the process for obtaining and evaluating bids Mandates standardized procurement documents Describes how providers will be managed

Who can request changes?

Stakeholders

Types of Quality Standards and Regulations?

Standards - documents established as a model by an authority, custom, or by general consent Regulations - These requirements can establish product, process, or service characteristics. De facto regulations - regulations that are widely accepted and adopted through use De jure regulatons - regulations that are mandated by law or have been approved by a recognized body of experts ISO 9000 Series - a quality system standard that can be applied to any product, service or process in the world.

Your company is designing a game for families. To test whether the game is easy enough for children, team creates a prototype and then establishes test criteria. Then the team establishes test groups of 200 boys and girls, aged 3 to 5, at 50 different schools in 30 states. The prototype will then be modified and rolled out across the country. What are they engage in?

Statistical Sampling

Project Compliance Plan

Sub-plan of project management plan Classify compliance categories Determine potential threats to compliance Analyze the consequences of noncompliance Determine necessary approach and action to address compliance needs

Accounts Payable

Suppliers and vendors are given instruction on how to submit invoices for payment - usually in the Statement of Work. Project managers need to notify the appropriate entity when work has been fulfilled or to authorize payment of the invoice.

What is the document that outlines how the team will operate and work together?

Team Charter

Tuckman's Stage of Group Development - Forming

Team members are wondering whether the decision to join the team is a wise one.

Tuckman's Stage of Group Development - Storming

Team members begin to assert themselves and control issues as they emerge.

What are team performance assessments?

Team performance assessments help to identify the potential of each member in order to help improve interaction between team members, solve issues and deal with conflicts. Use these guidelines to assess team performance: -Ask key questions of the team members -Speak to team members frequently -Provide constructive criticism and acclaim to team members -Encourage knowledge transfer -Evaluate individual performance -Removal

What do team performance assessments do?

Team performance assessments help to identify the potential of each team member in order to help improve interaction between team members, solve issues, and deal with conflicts.

Manage with Objectives

Teams are typically more productive and driven when they have clear objectives to meet.

Iteration Backlog

Teams must estimate effort and understand business priorities

In a large organization that utilizes a Project Management Office (PMO), who is responsible for managing the governance of projects?

The PMO

Which of the following is NOT a component of the Communications Management Plan?

The Stakeholder Register (it stands on its own)

Project requirements

The actions, processes, or other conditions the project needs to meet e.g. milestone dates, contractual obligations, constraints

Product Requirements

The agreed-upon conditions or capabilities of a product, service, or outcome that the project is designed to satisfy

Float

The amount of time a project activity may be delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or the project finish date; also called slack

Total Float

The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed or extended from its early start date without delaying the project finish date or violating a schedule constraint.

Free Float

The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any successor or violating a schedule constraint.

Procurement Strategy

The approach by the buyer to determine the project delivery method and the type of legally binding agreement(s) that should be used to deliver the desired results.

Scope Baseline

The approved version of a scope statement, work breakdown structure (WBS), and its associated WBS dictionary, that can be changed only through formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison.

Cost Baseline

The approved version of the time-phased project budget, excluding any management reserves, which can be changed only through formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison to actual results.

Planned Value (PV)

The authorized budget assigned to scheduled work.

Benchmarking

The comparison of actual or planned products, processes and practices to those of comparable organizations to identify best practices, generate ideas for improvement, and provide a basis for measuring performance

Which of the following is the correct definition of the critical path?

The critical path is the longest path through the network diagram which represents the shortest time in which the project can be completed. (Zero float)

Quality

The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements.

Project Scope Statement

The description of the project scope, major deliverables, assumptions, and constraints.

Project Management Plan

The document that describes how the project will be executed monitored, controlled, and closed.

Product Scope

The features and functions that characterize a product, service, or result.

Project Governance

The framework, functions, and processes that guide project management activities in order to create a unique product, service, or result to meet organizational, strategic, and operational goals.

Waiver - Legal Concepts when Managing Disputes

The giving up of a contract right, even inadvertently.

What should risk register include?

The identified risk Risk owner Impact if the risk is realized Risk response

Progressive Elaboration

The iterative process of increasing the level of detail in a project management plan as greater amounts of information and more accurate estimates become available.

Lessons Learned

The knowledge gained during a project which shows how project events were addressed or should be addressed in the future with the purpose of improving future performance.

Business Value

The net quantifiable benefit derived from a business endeavor. The benefit may be tangible, intangible, or both.

The project manager wants to make sure all team members understand the importance of the whole closing process and asks if there are any more questions. One team members asks, "What would happen if this process was not done?" How should the project manager answer that question?

The next related activity, phase or project might not get started.

What components are in a Benefits Management Plan?

The plan is prepared before the project is initiated and it is referenced after the project has been completed. Target benefits - the expected tangible and intangible business value to be realized from the project. Strategic Alignment - how the benefits align with the business strategies of the organization. Timeframe - when the benefits will be realized by the project phase. Benefits Owner - the person or group that monitors, records and reports the benefits Metrics - the direct and indirect mesaurements of the realized benefits Risks - risks associated with achieving the targeted benefits.

Funding Limit Reconciliation

The process of comparing the planned expenditure of project funds against any limits on the commitment of funds for the project to identify any variances between the funding limits and the planned expenditures.

Control Procurements Process

The process of managing procurement relationships, monitoring contract performance, making changes and corrections as appropriate, and closing out contracts.

As a project team decomposes the work in the WBS, they begin to populate product backlog. When must the team have the product backlog finished?

The product backlog is a living artifact that is finished at the end of the product. (product delivery)

Resource Management Plan

The project document that identifies resources and how to acquire, allocate, monitor, and control them.

The project manager is reviewing the quality control chart with the project team and the product owner. The response times have been going down over the iterations but are still above the upper control limit. What does that mean?

The project's quality is outside the quality standards set for the project.

Storyboarding

The prototyping method that uses visuals or images to illustrate a process or represent a project outcome. Storyboards are useful to illustrate how a product, service, or application will function or operate when it's complete.

Tolerance

The quantified description of acceptable variation for a quality requirement.

Activity Duration Estimates

The quantitative assessments of the likely number of time periods that are required to complete an activity. Elapsed time - the actual calendar time required for an activity from start to finish Effort - the number of labor units required to complete a scheduled activity or WBS component, often expressed in hours, days or weeks.

Actual Cost

The realized cost incurred for the work performed on an activity during a specific time period.

What is the difference between the lessons-learned register and a lessons-learned repository?

The register applies to a single project, and the register applies to many projects Lessons-Learned register: A project document used to record knowledge gained during a project so that it can be used in the current project and entered into lessons learned repository. p. 28 Lessons-Learned Repository: A store of historical information about lessons learned in projects.

How does a risk become an issue?

The risk has happened.

What is Scope Baseline?

The scope baseline is made up of Project Scope Statement, WBS and the WBS Dictionary.

Organizational Theory

The study of how people, teams and organizations behave.

Contract Change Control System

The system used to collect, track, adjudicate, and communicate changes to a contract.

Integration Management

The team assesses and coordinates all plans and activities that are built, maintained, and executed throughout the project.

Tuckman's Stage of Group Development - Norming

The team begins to work productively, without worrying about personal acceptance or control issues.

Tuckman's Stage of Group Development - Performing

The team is working at optimum productivity. It is collaborating easily.

Tuckman's Stage of Group Development - Adjourning

The team members complete their assigned work and shift to the next project or assigned work.

Describe an empowered team?

The team needs to be empowered to make decisions without burden and in a timely manner. The team should be part of clarifying and prioritizing requirements, splitting requirements into tasks, and estimating the effort. In case of any challenges during the course of the project, this involvement leads to an increased sense of ownership among team members.

Work Package

The work defined at the lowest level of the work breakdown structure for which cost and duration can be estimated and managed.

Which of the following is the best approach to estimating effort?

The work is estimated by the people who will be asked to do it.

Project Scope

The work performed to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions.

McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y

Theory X - the assumption that employees dislike work, are lazy, avoid responsibility, and must be coerced to perform. Theory Y - the assumption that employees are creative, enjoy work, seek responsibility, and can exercise self-direction.

Project Documents

They define and support the work of the project. They are regularly updated by project management process. Example: Scope Management Plan

What is the purpose of decomposing the project work into hierarchial WBS structure?

To create smaller, more manageable chunks, which can be better estimated for cost, time, and resources and help control the project.

If the project is terminated early, why would the project manager insisit that the team perform the Close Project or Phase process?

To document the reasons why the project was terminated early, and how to transfer the finished and unfinished deliverables to others.

What is the aim of a retrospective?

To identify what went well and what can be improved

Every timeboxed iteration in the project has a demo scheduled at the end, during the iteration review session. What is the goal of the demo?

To solicit feedback from the product owner and other stakeholders.

Project Agreement Objectives

Traditional - Identify each deliverable and objective acceptance criteria for each. Agile - Deliverables will vary as the product backlog is added to, reprioritized, and so forth.

Which of the following will the project manager need to ensure before effective training can take place?

Training is successfully resourced and scheduled. Reminders should be planned and executed to ensure trainees are aware of the training and confirm their participation.

Types of Voting

Unanimity - everyone agrees on a single course of action. Useful in project teams with great cohesion, e.g. Delphi technique Majority - Decision reached with >50% of group support Pluarality - Decision reached with largest block in a group deciding, even if majority is not achieved. Agile Methods - thumbs up/down/sideways, Fist of Five

Empathetic Traits

Understanding Others - being of service to other based on their particular needs Service Orientation - Understanding the customers point of view Developing others-Empathetic teams make this a priority Leveraging Diversity Political Awareness - understanding the political truths and realities of companies.

Months into a project, work on a planning package needs to be broken down and scheduled. Which of the following should be done by the project team?

Update the WBS dictionary as the planning package is converted to work packages.

Adaptive and Hybrid Life Cycle

Use these methods in dynamic and complex environments, where change is constant.

Which of the following are vehicles for training delivery?

Virtual classroom Self-paced e-learning P. 29

Data Representation

Visual representation of data; tailor to project context and decision-making criteria Mind mapping - consolidate ideas created through individual brainstorming sessions into a single map to reflect commonality and differences in understanding and to generate new ideas Affinity diagram - allows large numbers of ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis

Task Boards

Visualize work and enable the team and stakeholders to track progress as work is performed Promote visibility and maximize efficiency and accountabality Examples: Kanban boards, to-do lists, procedure checklists, and Scrum boards

Name the three Group Decision-Making Techniques?

Voting - collective decision-making and assessment Authocratic decision making - one team member makes the decision for the group Multicriteria decision analysis - Method - Establish criteria in decision matrix e.g. risk levels, uncertainity, and valuation

The project team descomposes the scope of the project to create a WBS. The work packages in WBS have a dictionary with information and referenceable details. What types of details might be in a WBS dictionary for items on the WBS?

WBS=Work Breakdown Structure - is a heirarchial decomposition of the total scope of work to be carries by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables. DETAILS include code of account identifier, description of work, Assumptions of constraints, responsible organization, schedule of milestones (p. 25)

WoW

Ways of Working - any project team should establish its own Way of Working

During a daily standup meeting, these questions are answered?

What has been done since the last meeting? What needs to be done before the next meeting? What does anyone need help with?

In what situation would you not perform the Close Project or Phase process

When the customer validates the interim deliverables.

When can the contract closeout occur?

Whenever a contract is completed and accepted.

Who handles issues in a Predictive process?

Whoever has the most experience

Which conflict management approach is best suited for a situation much is not known and currently the time to research and resolve the conflict is not available?

Withdraw/avoid

Which of the following are components of a Resource Calendar?

Working days, Availabilty of physical resource p. 20

Questionnaires and Surveys

Written format of questions designed to quickly capture information from many respondents.

What does it mean if you are identified as an "R" in a RACI chart

You are responsible for the activity's execution. Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed (S=Support) p. 5/definition p. 38

Planning Package

a WBS component below the control account and above the work package with known work content but without detailed schedule activities

Consensus

a collaborative process to reach a decision that everyone can support.

Quality Management Plan

a component of the project management plan that describes how applicable policies, procedures, and guidelines will be implemented to achieve the quality objectives.

Project Activity

a distinct, scheduled portion of work performed during a project An activity is a component of a decomposed work package. A work package is the lowest level of the WBS. A task refers to project management software

Organizational Structure

a formal system of task and reporting relationships that coordinates and motivates organizational members so they work together to achieve organizational goals

What is Value Stream Map?

a lean enterprise techniques used to document, analyze and improve the flow of information or materials required to produce a product for a customer. presents visual representation of a process and the actions in each step to spot efficiencies as well as wasteful efforts.

recognition

a more personalized, intangible, and experiential event that focuses on behavior rather than outcome.

What is Management by Objectives?

a process of setting mutually agreed upon goals and using those goals to evaluate employee performance. teams are typically more productive and driven when they have clear objectives to meet. Project managers and the team can determine joint objectives that are challenging, yet attainable.

team building

a process that consists of formal activities intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team. Project teams perform better when there is increased cohesion and solidarity.

Explicit Knowledge

can be codified using symbols such as words, numbers and pictures

Knowledge Transfer Approach

consists of connecting individuals, in person or virtually, to share tacit knowledge and collaborate together.

Compliance Management

creating suitable testing and validation plans during development to ensure that the project's deliverables meet compliance requirements.

Conflict management

effective conflict management can lead to improved understanding, performance, and productivity. Conversely, ineffective or nonexistent conflict management can lead to destructive behavior, animosity, poor performance and reduced productivity

Stakeholder Engagement Plan

identifies the strategies and actions required to promote productive involvement of stakeholders in decision making and execution

Configuration Management Plan

identify and account for project artifcats under configuration control and how to record and report changes to them. How to configure a product.

Iteration Planning

is a collaborative agile ceremony, sometimes called SPRINT PLANNING, for the team and the customer representative (or Product Owner) to do the following: Review the highest prioritized user stories, or key outcomes Ask questions Agree on forecasts for story completion in the current iteration

empathy

is a critical emotional intelligence skill that profoundly affects your ability to relate to and establish a rapport with others.

Project Schedule

is a tool that communicates what work needs to be performed, which resources (people) of the organization will perform the work, and the timeframes in which that work needs to be performed.

Scrum

is an Agile framework for developing and sustaining complex products, with specific roles, events, and artifacts.

Organizational Knowledge Management

knowldge is about managing programs or portfolios. The program manager can seek information from peers who manage other programs, in an effort to adapt this knowledge to their specific need.

What is Cost Performance Index (CPI)?

measure of the cost efficiency of budgeted resources expressed as the ratio of earned value to actual cost. CPI=EV/AC A CPI number greater than 1.0 indicates that project is under budget. A CPI number less than 1.0 indicates that the project is over budget.

Return on Investment (ROI)

measures the gain or loss generated on an investment relative to the amount of money invested

Tacit Knowledge

personal knowledge that can be difficult to articulate and share such as beliefs, experiences and insights

Procurement

process by which organizations endeavor to contract or outsource products or services.

Warranty - Legal Concepts when Managing Disputes

promise, explicit or implied, that goods or services will meet a pre-determined standard. The standard may cover realiability, fitness for use, and safety.

Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Theory

proposes that people are motivated by five levels of needs: (1) physiological, (2) safety, (3) love, (4) esteem, and (5) self-actualization

WBS Dictionary

provides detailed deliverable, activity, and scheduling information about each component in the WBS. Can include: Code of account identifier, description of work, assumptions and constraints, responsible organization, scheduling milestones, associated scheduled activities, resources required to complete the work, cost estimations, quality requirements, acceptance criteria, technical references, agreement information

Leadership

refers to guiding the team by using discussion and an exchange of ideas. project manager serves as a visionary leader who helps by educating the team and other stakeholders of the value achieved or targeted, promoting teamwork and collaboration, assisting with project management tools and techniques, removing roadblocks and articulating the project's mission.

McClelland's Achievement Theory

suggests people have varying degrees of need in three areas: achievement, power, and affiliation. How much each area means to a person helps determine what it is that primarily motivates that person.

Target Costs Contracts (Agile Contract Type)

supplier and customer agree on the final prices during project cost negotiation. Primarily for mutual cost savings, if contract value runs below budget Allow both parties to face additional costs if it exceed budget

Net Present Value

the "net" of the present value of all cash outflows minus the present value of all cash inflows. NPV is a financial tool used in capital budgeting.

Emotional Intelligence

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

Estimate at Completion Analysis (EAC)

the current projected final cost of the project. EAC=BAC/CPI

Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

the interest rate that sets the net present value of the cash flows equal to zero

When to Close a Project?

the project or phase successfully met its completion objectives. requirements changes during execution and the project is no longer feasible funding is no longer available to complete the requirements significant risks make the successful completion of the project impossible the organization is no longer needs the project deliverables external factors eliminate the need for the project.

Sprint Planning Meeting

the team collaborates to plan work for the current sprint.

Data Representation - Control Chart

tool used to determine the predictability, behavior, and stability of a process over time.

Data Representation - Scatter Diagrams

traditional graph to represent the relationship between any element of a process, environment, or activity on one axis and a quality defect on the other axis.