Comptia Exam PKO-004 Study Guide 4, 5, 6
Advantages and Disadvantages of Estimating Techniques: Bottom-up estimating
-Advantage -- Accurate and gives lower level managers more responsibility. -Disadvantage -- Might be time consuming and can be used only after the WBS has been well-defined.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Estimating Techniques: Analogous estimating
-Advantage -- Ensures that no work is inadvertently omitted from work estimates. -Disadvantage -- Can be sometimes difficult for less experienced managers to apportion cost estimates.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Estimating Techniques: Parametric estimating
-Advantage -- Not time consuming. -Disadvantage -- Might be inaccurate, depending on the integrity of the historical information used.
Activity Attributes
-Contain additional information about all activities in an activity list. -Describe the activities by listing the different components associated with the activities, which include responsible team members and the level of effort required -Are used to develop project schedules and select, order, and sort planned activities.
There are two types on contingency allowances:
-Contingency reserve: Added at the activity level of the project by the project manager, to account for risks that might affect an activity. -Management reserve: Added at the project level by the sponsor, to account for unknown-unknowns; Example, 5% would be added to the project for things that cannot be identified or envisioned.
Schedule network analysis may be achieved using one of the four methods:
-Critical Path Method (CPM) -Critical Chain Method -What if sceneraio -Resource Leveling
To crash a schedule, analyze:
-Duration Estimator under normal conditions -Cost associated with the normal condition -Duration estimates under the crash condition -Cost associated with the crash condition
Activities lay the foundation for estimating, scheduling, executing, and monitoring and controlling the project work. The characteristics of an activity are:
-It has expected duration -It consumes budget and human resources
Work Package describes a deliverable that can be adequately scheduled, budgeted, and assigned to an individual person or group. Its Major components include:
-Major Project Deliverables -Life Cycle Phases -Organizational or Functional Responsibility -Geographical Location
Some examples of project management software include:
-Microsoft® Project 2016—part of the Microsoft® Office suite of applications. -Oracle® Primavera—project management software for enterprises. -LiquidPlanner®—an online project management application for collaborative IT projects. -Smartsheet®—an online project management application. -Atlassian® JIRA Agile™—a software development application used by Agile teams.
Components of the Scope Baseline include:
-The detailed project scope statement -The WBS -The WBS dictionary
Guidelines for Estimating the Cost Baseline
1. Define Cost Estimate's Purpose 2. Develop Estimating Plan 3.Define Characteristics 4. Determine Cost Estimating Techniques 5. Identify Rule, Assumptions and Obtain Data
Guidelines for Developing a WBS
1. Include 100% of the work necessary to complete the goal. 2. Don't account for any amount of work twice. 3. Focus on outcomes, not actions. 4.A work package should take no less than 8 hours and no more than 80 hours of effort. 5. Include about three levels of detail. 6. Assign each work package to a specific team or individual.
Guidelines for Reconciling Funding and Costs
1.Gather the materials you will need, including: Project Budget, Scope statement, Schedule.. Cost estimation and WBS. 2.Map the project budget, the scope statement, and the schedule to the funding available. 3.Involve the project sponsor. 4.Partner formally with the company's financial decision makers. 5. Reconcile funding with costs on an iterative basis throughout the project. 6. Actual costs may exceed the estimated costs during different time frames. Keep the sponsor (and the external customer, if there is one) apprised of any additional costs that are incurred. 7. Monitor spending. 8. Monitor Schedule 9. Monitor the risks that have been identified for your project.
Guidelines for Estimating Project Costs
1.Involve the work package owners 2.Gather any relevant input information, such as estimating publications and resource rates, that may help you prepare the estimates. 3.Determine which estimating technique to use. 4.Look for alternative costing options. 5.Determine the units of measure that will be used. 6.Consider possible risks that may impact cost. Ensure that all cost estimates are assigned to the appropriate account, according to the chart of accounts, the accounting tool that maps to the accounting ledger.
Cost Assignment Methods: 50/50 percent rule
50% credit is given when the activity begins and 50% when it's finished. If an activity costs $3,000, it will receive $1,500 before work begins and $1,500 after. This method's percentages vary. Use a 25/75 or 75/25 rule. 20/80 and 0/100 are alternatives to 50/50.
Gantt Chart
A bar chart project schedule. Activities are listed on the left and dates are across the top or bottom with start and end bars. Horizontal bars represent time and activities. Gantt charts may also show activity dependencies, percentage completed, and actual vs. planned progress.
Vendor Bid Analysis
A bid-based cost estimation method. Project estimates are based on vendor pricing. Parts of projects are often outsourced to vendors, so their proposals, bids, or quotations can be used to estimate costs. The costing can be indicative figures with less accuracy or very accurate detailed figure
Definition of Lead
A change in a logical relationship that allows the successor activity to start before the predecessor activity ends in an FS relationship
Definition of Milestones
A control point event in a project with zero duration that triggers a reporting require mentor requires sponsor or customer approval before proceeding with the project.
Definition of Activity Lists
A definitive list of activities that must be completed to produce the desired project deliverables. It includes an activity identifier and scope of work for each activity so each team member understands the work required. An activity list are listed in a sequential order and are used to estimate project duration and create the project schedule.
Definition of The 8/80 Rule
A general guideline regarding work packages; they require more than 8 and fewer than 80 hours of effort to be completed. Also, any work component requiring more than 80hours of work is too large to be categorized that way; it should be broken into smaller components.
Project Schedule Network Diagram
A graphical representation of the sequence of project activities and the dependencies among them. Project schedule network diagrams may differ in that they may be: •Detailed or high level. • Generated manually or with software. • Constructed using a variety of methods.
The Resource Breakdown Structure
A hierarchy of identified resources, organized by category and type. Helps organize and report project schedule information along with the resource utilization data.
Definition of Work Breakdown Structure
A logical grouping of project deliverables arranged in a hierarchical structure that defines the total scope of work required to complete the project.
Definition of Activity Dependencies
A logical relationship that exists between two project activities.
The Three-Point Estimating Technique
A method of activity duration estimating in which three types of estimates are incorporated into a singular duration estimate scenario: optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic. The most commonly used formula for three-point estimating is [Optimistic time + 4(most likely time) + pessimistic time] / 6
Funding Limit Reconciliation
A method of adjusting, spending, scheduling,and resource allocation in order to bring expenditures into alignment with budgetary constraints. Funding limits are often in place to regulate the outgoing capital flow and to protect against overspending.
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
A project schedule network diagramming method that uses rectangular boxes or nodes to represent activities and arrows to represent precedence relationships between activities. These types of diagrams: • Always read from left to right. • Show duration only in the nodes. • Are created manually or with software. • Report a group of related activities as an aggregate activity. • Can use all precedence relationship types.
Delaying
A project scheduling process where activities are postponed to accommodate the availability of resources.
Crashing
A schedule compression method that analyzes cost and schedule trade-offs to determine how to obtain the greatest schedule compression for the least incremental cost. Crashing typically involves allocating more resources to activities on the critical path in an effort to shorten their duration, thereby increasing project costs.
Example: Code of Accounts Specified by a School District
A school district requires its schools to follow a uniform code of accounts so it can easily record, track, and document revenues and expenditures. Function/Category/Program could be account codes. If functions include administrative salaries (30), teacher salaries (31), and consultants' fees (32), categories include para-professional expenditures (100) and professional expenditures (101), and programs include regular instructional (411), special education (417), and languages (419), then a consultant leading a teacher training workshop in special education services will be coded 32/101/417.
Project Management Software
A software application that generates and organizes resource information, such as cost estimates and Work Breakdown Structures,which helps optimize resource utilization.
Definition of Decomposition
A technique for creating the WBS by subdividing project deliverables to the work package level. Decomposition of project work stops when the components of the work packages are sufficient to complete the work and can be assigned, cost estimated, scheduled, and monitored.
Cost Baselines
A time-phased budget that will monitor and measure cost performance throughout the project life cycle. It is developed by adding the estimated costs of project components by period. The cost baseline typically includes a budget contingency to accommodate the risk of incurring unidentifiable, but normally occurring costs, within the defined scope.
The Analogous Estimating Technique
A top-down estimating technique using duration of previous similar activities to estimate future duration.
Example: Creating an Activity List for a Web Design Project
A web design company used a previous project's WBS and activity list to create their own. The team used previous project records to identify deliverable activities. The time may be lengthened or shortened based on their choices. An outside multimedia expert helped identify activities. The team reviewed the scope statement to ensure the activities supported project goals. The project team gathered inputs and resources to create the work package's activity and milestone lists.
Contingency Allowances
Additional funds that are sometimes built into cost estimates to allow for unanticipated events, or known unknowns.
Common Cost Estimate Types: Phased (or rolling wave or moving window) estimate
Allows the use of ROM or approximate estimates for later parts of work, while work that must be done earlier in the project life cycle is estimated at the definitive level. Accuracy: ±5 % to ±15 % in the window closest to present time; ±35 % farther in the future
The Critical Chain Method
An analysis method that allows you to consider resource limitations and adjust the schedule as appropriate to work within those limitations. Is established by analyzing the CP alongside the resources that are actually available. Also used to plan and manage reserves or buffers and helps mitigate possible cost and schedule risks.
Definition of WBS dictionary
An auxiliary document containing details about each element in the WBS. It may include a work description, code of accounts identification, milestones, contract information, cost, quality requirements,
Definition of Code of Accounts
Any system that is used for numbering the elements in a WBS. Project managers can track WBS components with a code of accounts system. This system aids performance, reporting, and costing.
Schedule Network Analysis
Any technique that is used to calculate the theoretical early and late start and finish dates for all project activities.
Definition of Activities
Are Work packages can be broken down or subdivided into smaller, manageable, and executable components. A work package refers to the planned work or the deliverables that are contained in the lowest level component of the WBS.
Management Reserves
Are buffers added to the project for unforeseen changes to project scope and cost. These reserves are usually determined by the sponsor.
Resource leveling tools are found in many types of project management software. You need to consider Automated leveling and Resource smoothing when using resource leveling tools.
Automated Leveling: -Most project management software levels resources. -Before accepting results, analyze them. -Automated leveling delays projects. Due to other constraints, resources may be reallocated inappropriately. Resource Smoothing: -Rescheduling project activities to ensure appropriate resource allocation. -Smoothing resources doesn't delay project completion. It only delays float activities.
Common Cost Estimate Types: Definitive (or control or detailed ) estimate
Based on detailed information about project work. Definitive estimate is developed by estimating the cost for each work package in the WBS. Accuracy: -5 % to +10 %
Cost Assignment Methods: Percentage complete rule
Completion percentages are estimated and assessed at specified reporting intervals. This is perhaps the most commonly used rule, and also generally considered to be the most accurate.
Definition of Scope Baseline
Component of the project management plan. Describes the need, justification,requirements, and boundaries for the project.
Example: The Solar Car Model Program
Consider the company that launched the new solar car model. This can be divided into smaller projects for the engine, chassis, drive system, solar panels, exterior, and interior. These projects share a larger goal. The company outsources the solar panel project and allocates $100,000. The project manager solicits bids from vendors. Vendor pricing helped the project manager refine cost estimates. Later, the company chose a bid that includes all project deliverables and the final project cost.
Activity Dependency Types: External
Contingent on inputs from outside the project activities. Example: The books can't be printed until the shipment of paper arrives.
Activity Dependency Types: Internal
Contingent on inputs from within the organization. Example: The building design must start (Activity A) before the electrical layout design can start (Activity B).
Example: Establishing the Schedule Baseline when Launching a New Line of Products
Cosmetics company launches new line. The project manager must establish a schedule baseline and get approval from company management and stakeholders, including sales and marketing teams. The project manager will distribute the product rollout schedule, resource calendars, cost estimates, and any constraints. He'll submit the schedule for approval. Before giving approval, team members will submit schedule changes to the project manager. The project manager must follow the organization's formal change process and get management approval before making these changes. The project manager will save the original schedule baseline and launch data.
Example: Set Funding Limits for Projects
Customers set funding limits for large projects based on their fiscal years and cash flows. A customer who wants to spread project costs over two quarters may authorize $250,000 in Q1 and $350,000 in Q2. In response, the project manager will have to align the resources,schedules, and activities so that the project work does not exceed the limits on funding.
Activity Dependency Types: Discretionary
Defined by the project and management team. Its defined based on the best practices followed in a specific application area or on specific requirements. If there is no mandatory or external dependency between two activities,the team has some flexibility in activity sequencing. Also known as "soft logic,""preferential logic," and "preferred logic." Example: The sponsor would like to see the book's cover design as soon as possible, so the team may decide to have the cover artwork done before the inside illustrations.
Definition of Fixed Duration
Describe a task or work package that requires a set (fixed) amount of time to complete.
Definition of Effort Driven
Describe a task that can be completed faster through the application of additional energy or labor resources.
Common Cost Estimate Types: Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) estimate
Developed without any detailed base data and often based on high-level historical data, expert judgment, or a costing model. ROM is generally made early in the project. Accuracy: -25 % to +75 %
Schedule Compression can be achieved using the following methods:
Fast-Tracking Crashing
Definition of Lag
Is a delay in the start of a successor activity. Some relationships require a lag before a subsequent activity can begin. Lags are determined by an external or mandatory dependency and may affect activities with any of the four precedence relationships.There are several reasons why lags occur. Examples of two possible lags are: • The permit application takes six weeks to process. • The adhesive must dry until tacky before the laminate can be installed.
Example: Cost Performance Baseline
Many project management software packages can create an S-curve of the cost baseline for you. Here's a generic example. The Y-axis shows cost and the X-axis time. By totaling estimated project costs by period, this cost performance baseline shows how cumulative project costs are distributed over the project's duration.
What-If Scenario Analysis
Method allows you to consider different situations that may occur and influence the schedule; it assesses the feasibility of the schedule under various adverse conditions. Allows you to compute different schedules based on potential delays or unplanned events that are a normal part of business life, such as key employees resigning during a project.
Resource Leveling
Method used for achieving schedule network analysis; a technique that is used to analyze the schedule model. Resource leveling allows you to readjust the work as appropriate.
Example: Contingency Allowances for the Jazz Festival
Montreal hosts the world's largest jazz festival each year, with over 2 million attendees. This event's contingency reserves could cover risks like a headliner canceling. A cancellation would require the festival to refund tickets and pay for theater rental and advertising. If ticket sales don't meet expectations, contingency reserves won't be used for general operations. The sponsor may add 5% to the management reserve.
Common Cost Estimate Types: Approximate estimate
More accurate than ROM estimates, but lacks detail. If the project is similar to others with reliable historical data or a proven costing model, an approximation may be possible. Accuracy: ±15 %
Example: A WBS in Movie Making
Movie making uses WBS often. A film director coordinates set designers, photographers, and editors. Creating a WBS helps the director manage the film's crews. It will divide the film into work packages with their own deliverables, deadlines, and budgets.
Conditional Diagramming Methods
Network Diagramming Method Allows for non-sequential activities such as loops or conditional branches.
Common Cost Estimate Types: Range of estimate
Often used as an alternative to ROM where the accuracy of the estimate is not well known. So, rather than $10M ±30 %, the estimate can be stated as $7M to $13M. Accuracy: ±35 %
Common Cost Estimate Types: Budgetary estimate
Often used for appropriation purposes. Accuracy: -10 % to +25 %
Precedence Relationships Types: Finish to Finish
Precedence Relationship between two activities where the predecessor activity must finish before the successor activity can finish. It can be expressed as, "Activity A must finish before Activity B can finish." The total time to complete both activities is based on when B begins. Example: The construction must be finished (Activity A) before the building inspection can be finished (Activity B).
Precedence Relationships Types: Finish to Start
Precedence Relationship between two activities where the predecessor activity must finish before the successor activity can start. It can be expressed as, "Activity A must finish before Activity B can begin." The total time for these two activities is the sum of A and B. Example: The foundation for a house must be finished (Activity A)before the framing can start (Activity B).
Precedence Relationships Types: Start to Finish
Precedence Relationship between two activities where the predecessor activity must start before the successor activity can finish. It can be expressed as, "Activity A must start before Activity B can finish." In this relationship, the successor activity begins before the predecessor activity. The total time to complete both activities is the sum of A and B. Example: The electrical inspections must start (Activity A) before you can finish the dry walling (Activity B).
Precedence Relationships Types: Start to Start
Precedence Relationship between two activities where the predecessor activity must start before the successor activity can start. It can be expressed as, "Activity A must start before Activity B can start." The total time to complete both activities is based on the latest finish time of A or B. Example: The building design must start (Activity A) before the electrical layout design can start (Activity B).
Definition of Deliverable
Refer to all of the outputs—tangible or intangible—that are submitted within the scope of a project.
Project Resources
Refer to any useful materials or people needed to complete the project work. Project resources will vary greatly in size, cost, and function. Resources can be labor, materials,facilities, equipment, consultants, services, supplies, or utilities. Project resources are almost always limited in quantity and, therefore, require thoughtful allocation.
Resource Type: Low Quality Resources
Resources that do not posses specialized skills
Resource Type: Dedicated Resources
Resources that have been committed for your projects use
Resource Type: Shared Resources
Resources used for multiple projects and must be managed as such
Contingency Reserves
Serve as buffers in recognition of scheduled risks or setbacks. These reserves are usually determined by the project manager
Resource Type: Benched Resources
Skilled resources that are retained during downtime but are not performing "billable" tasks. The benefit is that they can be put into service immediately when the need arises.
Example: Fast-Tracking Activities to Produce a New Product
Sponsors are pressuring Carol to bring a new product to market quickly. Carol decides to fast-track some activities by placing a lead relationship between the development of the new product and the writing of the associated user manual. The total duration of the two activities is shortened, because writing the manual can start before the product development is complete. Consequently, the project duration is shortened.
Guidelines for Estimating Time
Step 1: Understand What's Required Make time for meetings, reporting, communications, testing, and other project-critical activities. Step 2: Order These Activities Order the activities you identified. At this stage, don't add activity duration. Note any deadlines, though. Step 3: Decide Who You Need to Involve You can estimate yourself, as a group, or ask others. Get the help of those who will do the work, as they may have relevant experience. By involving them, they'll take ownership of time estimates and work harder to meet them. Step 4: Make Your Estimates Estimate the time needed for each task rather than for the project as a whole. The level of detail you need to go into depends on the circumstances. List all of the assumptions, exclusions and constraints that are relevant, and note any data sources that you rely on. This will help you when your estimates are questioned, and will also allow you to identify any risk areas if circumstances change. Assume that your resources will only be productive for 80 percent of the time. Build in time for unexpected events such as sickness, supply problems, equipment failure, accidents and emergencies, problem solving, and meetings.
Milestone Chart
Summary of a project's milestone schedule. Icons or symbols are used to show scheduled milestone events. Time intervals are usually presented horizontally across the top or bottom of a chart. Milestone charts can demonstrate team members, stakeholders, and upper management the project's overall schedule.
The Bottom-Up Estimating Technique
Technique estimates the cost for each work package in the WBS. The estimates are then rolled up or aggregated for progressively higher levels within the WBS The most accurate method but it is also challenging, costly, and time consuming. Use bottom-up estimating in the project life cycle when: • More detail is available about the work packages. • You need more accurate estimates. • You have the time to invest in making the estimates.
The Parametric Estimating Technique
Technique used to predict duration or cost by using historical data in a mathematical model. Most common parametric model uses simple multiplication. The accuracy of a parametric estimate will only be as good as the accuracy of the data used in it.
Schedule Compression
The act of shortening the project schedule without affecting the project scope. Setbacks or revised deadlines can cause production problems, in which there is little time to do a lot of work. When these issues occur, product quality is often sacrificed.
Definition of Elapsed Time
The actual calendar time required from start to finish of an activity. May or may not be the same as duration.
Float
The amount of time an activity can be delayed from its Early Start (ES) without delaying the project finish date or the consecutive activities. Also called slack. Float occurs only in activities that are not on the critical path.
Definition of Duration
The amount of time expressed in days, weeks,months, or years taken to complete a particular task or work package from start to finish.
Standard Schedule Diagramming Notations: Early Finish
The earliest time an activity can finish. The EF for the first activity is the same as its duration. For all other activities, EF is the latest EF of all the predecessor activities of an activity plus its duration.
Standard Schedule Diagramming Notations: Early Start
The earliest time an activity can start. Usually, the ES of the first activity in a network diagram is zero. The ES of all other activities is the latest Early Finish (EF) of any predecessor activities (assuming that any successor activity starts as soon as all its predecessor activities are finished).
Standard Schedule Diagramming Notations: Late Finish
The latest time an activity can finish. The LF for the last activity is the same as its EF time. The LF for any predecessor activity is the earliest LS of any of its successor activities.
Standard Schedule Diagramming Notations: Late Start
The latest time an activity can start. The LS for the last activity is its EF minus its duration. The LS for any predecessor activity is its LF minus its duration.
Precedence Relationship
The logical relationship between two activities that describes the sequence in which the activities should be carried out. Precedence relationships are always assigned to activities based on the dependencies of each activity.
Schedule Baselines
The management-approved version of the project schedule; it is drawn from schedule network analysis and includes baseline start and finish dates.
Definition of Effort
The measure of labor expressed in time over unit format that is applied to the completion of a particular task or work package.
The Critical Path
The network path that has the longest duration in a project or work package. 1[6w] + 2[4w] +4[3w] + 6[1w] = 14 weeks 1[6w] + 3[5w] +5[4w] + 6[1w] = 16 weeks -> Critical Path
Create an Activity List
The next step in developing a project schedule is accurately defining project activities to prevent scope creep. In this topic, you'll create an activity list using the WBS and other information. The activity list is crucial for a project's schedule and budget. Defining the activities ensures that all project activities stay within scope, so you don't miss critical ones. By defining the task, you can avoid unnecessary work.
Standard Schedule Diagramming Notations: Duration
The number of work periods required for the completion of an activity.
Fast-Tracking
The process of compressing the project duration by performing some activities concurrently that were originally scheduled sequentially. Some fast-tracking may entail looking very creatively at the network diagram to see if some discretionary dependencies could be done completely independently. Usually no added costs are incurred from fast-tracking; however, it can result in increased risk and rework.
Reserve Analysis
The process of identifying and adding extra time that will serve as contingency or management reserves to the duration estimates.
Project Schedules
The project team's plan for starting and finishing activities on specific dates and in a certain sequence. The schedule also specifies planned dates for meeting project milestones.
Definition of Work Package
The smallest, deliverable displayed in the WBS's lowest-level component.
Total Float
The total amount of time that an activity can be delayed without delaying the project finish date. It is obtained by subtracting an activity's EF from its LF or its ES from its LS.
Cost Assignment Methods: Weighted milestone
The total work package value is divided up and assigned to milestone intervals within the work package. Each milestone carries a budgeted value. The value is earned when the milestone is achieved. This method works well for long work packages with multiple activities.
Purpose of Project Schedules
To plan and coordinate project activities to meet deadlines. It tracks schedule performance and keeps upper management and project stakeholders informed.
Successor Activity
When sequencing two activities, the activity that must take place after to the other and is driven by the relationship.
Predecessor Activity
When sequencing two activities, the activity that must take place prior to the other.
Activity Dependency Types: Mandatory
Work-specific. Physical constraints affect it. Activities must be performed in a specific sequence for the work to be successful. Also known as "hard logic." Example: Books can't be bound before they are printed.
Example: Three-Point Estimating for a Marketing Campaign Project
You're managing a national marketing campaign project. Several similar projects took 3 months (most likely estimate), 1 month (optimistic estimate), and 11 months (pessimistic estimate). Therefore, you estimate that the time for the current project will be four months, based on the formula: [1 + 4 * 3 + 11] / 6
Analogous cost estimating is used when:
• You have a limited amount of detailed information about the project. • You have a similar project to use for comparison. • Those preparing the estimates have the requisite expertise.
