Planning the Project

What are major contributors to a project failure?

A successful project manager attempts to anticipate and address these potential problems while planning the project. • Sponsor not involved • Poor project planning • Frequent project manager changes • Responsibilities not clear • Unclear benefits and deliverables • Poor or no change control • Changes in technology • Inappropriate or insufficient skills • Scope creep • Poor project manager

The importance of a project scope statement

Defining the scope means coming to a common understanding of the project's major boundaries and the business functions the project will incorporate. It helps establish these boundaries and functions and sets a project scope baseline. Without this baseline, the time for completion and success criteria for final evaluation could expand to unmanageable or unrealistic proportions.

What is variance?

difference between the initial project budget and the actual spending on the project 1. Accuracy of the estimates 2. Inflation 3. Availability of resources 4. Use of overtime 5. Seasonal fluctuations in prices

What is a summary chart?

displays activities as bars and shows beginning and completion dates as well as duration of a task

What is site acceptance testing?

is done after factory acceptance testing to make sure the deliverable also functions properly in the customer's environment. In contrast to factory acceptance testing, is done at the customer site.

What is a line chart?

a basic type of chart used to display continuous data over time, set against a common scale. It is a type of graph created by connecting a series of data points together. category data is distributed along the horizontal axis, and all value data is distributed along the vertical axis. charts are ideal for showing trends in data at equal intervals. chart should be used where category labels are text, and are representing evenly spaced values such as months, quarters, or years.

What is bottom-up estimating?

a cost estimating technique that involves estimating the cost of individual work packages or schedule activities with the lowest level of detail. The detailed cost is rolled up (or summarized) to higher levels for total project estimates. This summarized data is very useful for reporting and tracking purposes. provides a higher degree of accuracy, provided the estimates at the work package level are accurate.

What is Estimate at Completion (EAC)?

a field that displays the final cost of the project including the actual costs and the forecast of remaining costs based on the cost performance index (CPI) so far. The formula used to calculate this estimate is as follows: ACWP+(BAC-BCWP)/CPI

Statement of work (SOW)

a formal document that captures and defines the work activities, deliverables and timeline a vendor will execute against in performance of specified work for a client. Detailed requirements and pricing are usually included in it along with standard regulatory and governance terms and conditions.

What is a code mask?

a format that is defined for a work breakdown structure (WBS) code or a custom outline code. It specifies the sequence and number of letters or numbers required for each level and the symbol separating the levels. Note: Only a single custom code mask can be defined in a project. The custom WBS code is recorded in the WBS field.

Parametric Cost Estimation

a mathematical model of cost estimation. This cost estimation method is developed for specific project characteristics. This estimation method can be simple or complex, depending on the items being estimated. This method provides an approximate level of accuracy.

What is Scope Verification?

a process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables. It is an inspection-driven process the stakeholders will complete to inspect the project scope deliverables. It is typically performed at the end of every phase and at the end of the project.

What is a risk fallback plan?

a proper plan devised to identify definite action to be taken if the risk action plan (Risk Mitigation Plan) is not helpful. is important in Risk Response Planning. If the contingency plan for a risk is not successful, then the project team implements the fallback plan. is intended for a known and specific activity that may perhaps fail to produce desired outcome. It is related with technical procedures and with the responsibility of the technical lead.

What is the red light/green light method?

a simple approach to project management based on traffic lights (green, yellow, and red). Project reports highlight the project status as: Green:The project is on schedule and on budget. Yellow: The project is slightly behind schedule and/or over budget. The project manager should assess the situation and take action, such as: Provide additional funding and/or a new target date. Move to a multiple release plan to ensure that delivery takes place on time so that the risk of the follow-on project not being approved is removed. Red: The project is significantly behind schedule and/or over budget. The customer or sponsor must provide more money and a new date or limit the scope or decide to kill it. Organizations that introduce this traffic light system typically find that 70 percent of projects go red at least once in the first 6 months. This is almost always due to scope creep.

What changes are documented and integrated into the project plan?

1. Project management plan 2. Scope statement 3. WBS 4. Schedule 5. Budget

What is a critical path?

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Guidelines for creating a WBS

1. A unit of work must appear at only one instance in the WBS. 2. The work content of a WBS item is the sum of the WBS items below it. 3. A WBS item is the responsibility of only one individual, even though many team members might work on it. 4. The WBS must be consistent with the way in which work will be performed; it should serve the project team first and foremost. 5. Project team members should be involved in developing the WBS to ensure consistency and buy-in. 6. Each WBS item must be documented in the WBS dictionary to ensure accurate understanding of the scope of work included and excluded. 7. Items and phases that likely will require iterative planning should be identified. 8. The WBS must be a flexible tool used to accommodate inevitable changes (several iterations) while maintaining control of work in the project. The project plan should specifically allow for iterations throughout the project life cycle (for example at approval milestones, during project design, at deliverable handover, and so on.)

Reviewing estimates

1. Are supportive data in the form of time and cost standards applicable? 2. Does experience indicate that these estimates are reasonable? 3. Are there resource requirements for each activity? 4. Are there factors other than time that have influence?

Business, project, and interpersonal issues for a time or cost overrun

1. Business issues for a time or cost overrun Failure to meet return on investment criteria Non-financial benefits losing attention 2. Project issues for a time or cost overrun Need to identify cost drivers Use of less costly resources 3. Interpersonal issues for a time or cost overrun Need to negotiate with customer or sponsor Need to gain input and alternatives from project team members. Tendency to blame and scapegoat rather than solve the problem A time or cost overrun has business, project, and interpersonal issues associated with it, and each has to be addressed if it appears to exceed the plan.

What does WBS dictionary describes?

1. Deliverables 2. Acceptance criteria 3. Quality requirements 4. Time estimates and milestones 5. Cost estimates 6. Contract information (if applicable) 7. Responsible individual or department

Distributing project information to stakeholders

1. Project team meeting 2. Individual, one-on-one meetings 3. Stakeholder meetings 4. Video conferencing 5. Conference calls 6. Email 7. Portal or project intranet site 8. Collaborative work management tools

Scope creep

A project management phenomenon that occurs when unplanned activities are added or existing activities are increased, resulting in a project that exceeds its original budget or time schedule and main reason for the failure of big projects.

What is the importance of WBS?

Breaking work down into smaller pieces by identifying tasks helps make project goals manageable. Projects might have a few hundred tasks to complete, however, and a simple list of these tasks will be difficult to manage. The WBS is a means to organize tasks to simplify the jobs of estimating, scheduling, coordinating, and reviewing. Other plans that are based on the activities identified in the WBS include the following: 1. Project schedule 2. Resource allocation 3. Detailed budget 4. Risk assessment

How does change control affect a project?

Change control is usually the weakest part of a project and, if not monitored, can lead to significant resource waste and missed schedules. 1. Place great emphasis on managing changes, insisting they are carefully defined, accurately budgeted in terms of cost, and formally approved. 2. Amend the project management plan to reflect the impact of any changes. 3. Use change orders for making changes. 4. Have a contract describing who pays for the changes. Examples of changes to a project include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. Scope: The customer redefines requirements after the project has begun. 2. Personnel: Promotions, hiring, downsizing, reassignments, illnesses, or accidents occur. 3. Management: A change in the organizational structure or corporate ownership takes place. 4. Economics: Reallocation of budgets due to financial factors affecting the organization happens. 5. Environment: The project or company moves to a new location, or data resources become unavailable. 6. Priorities: Management shifts

What will be the impact of changes on scope and other criteria's?

Change requests can fall into two categories: • Changes that are necessary. • Changes that are unnecessary but would still be beneficial. The project manager and stakeholders must agree on the necessity of each change request. After a change has been deemed necessary to the current project, user must evaluate the impact of change in terms of the following: • Scope How will the change affect the deliverables? • Time Can the change be accomplished without altering the length of the project? How is the completion date for any of the deliverables affected? • Cost What effect will the change have on project costs? • Performance indicators Do the established project performance indicators change as a result of the change? • Resource availability Will resources (people, equipment, facilities) still be available given the proposed changes? How does a change in availability affect other areas of the project (time and cost)? • Risks Does the change increase risk? Reduce it? • Project goals How does the change effect project goals (do the goals change or are they unaffected)?

Why is identifying a sponsor and customer priority important to a project?

Clients need to identify which element of the triple constraint is most important to the sponsor (in case of an internal project) or customer (in case of an external project) and will take the highest priority throughout the project life cycle: Scope Time Cost

What key areas might be affected by changes made in the project plan?

Evaluating change requests and alternatives to the requests is an important task. The key areas that might be affected by changes must be evaluated as follows: 1. Budget What actions can be taken to accommodate the scope change without increasing the budget? Examine alternatives, such as: • Reordering tasks • Outsourcing 2. Schedule What can you do to accommodate the scope change without jeopardizing the schedule? Examine alternatives, such as: • Modifying the schedule 3. Quality What actions can be taken to accommodate the scope change while minimizing the effect on quality? Examine alternatives, such as: • Modifying the work process • Increasing the number of test sites • Modifying the design • Using substitute materials

Why is it important to gain customer confirmation?

Gaining written confirmation of customer expectations is crucial for any successful project. If expectations are not clearly defined and agreed upon, problems can arise later in the project. Areas that should be confirmed include the following: • The reason for the project (problem/opportunity statement and so on) • Product description (what is the deliverable) • Targeted completion date • Available/anticipated budget and how the budget was determined • The risks the customer is willing or unwilling to accept • The project's priority in relation to other projects • Availability of resources

Checklist or templates

If users are using any for project processes and activities, they should be included in the project plan.

What does summary of costs indicates in a project?

It consists of all budgets applied to a project. Summary of costs helps in analyzing the financial factors before undertaking a major project and to track its performance after it is approved.

What is the WBS dictionary?

It describes each component in the WBS. It includes a brief definition of the scope or statement of work, defined deliverables, a list of associated activities, and a list of milestones. It details all work packages in WBS including estimates and billing information.

What are the different strategies for building consensus?

Means that no one group gets its own way to the exclusion of others, it provides the best mechanism for incorporating all the critical issues into the project scope. Effective strategies for building are critical to the success of a project manager. You must find ways to ensure everyone's voice is heard and that all opinions are given consideration. It's your job to make sure no individual dominates the process. 1. Try to involve all key stakeholders. 2. Seek out differences of opinion. 3. Give people time to state their views and to voice concerns. 4. Define where the disagreement lies. 5. Listen to each individual viewpoint before moving on. 6. Present the information convincing manner. 7. Build consensus around a specific project-related decision. 8. Create an easy-to-read document that captures the goal of the proposed project. 9. Present the project scope by using a visually stimulating representation of the project goals, business requirements, and other components. 10. Consider not only immediate consensus by the stakeholders, but also whether the requirements are meaningful, manageable, and measurable.

What are Milestones?

Milestones are specific points in the project where key deliverables are completed or specific tasks are accomplished. Milestones are high-level targets project managers can use to monitor the progress of the project. Project managers should create a milestone chart that includes phase reviews as necessary and appropriate.

Root causes of schedule slippage

Miscommunication: For example, a team member 's misperception of what is expected. Substandard ability: Substandard ability to perform according to expectations. Lack of training: Self-explanatory. Environmental considerations: Team members know what to do and how to do it but are held back by environmental problems. Lack of adequate resources: This can include human as well as hardware, software, facility, and other materials needed to accomplish the project successfully and on time.

Why is project management needed?

Needed because many projects fail because they aren't managed properly. To reduce the risk of such losses and to implement projects successfully to gain a competitive edge, companies need to pay attention to project management. Two factors drive this poor performance: • Lack of project management skills. • Poor communication between the IT organization and business units. The more likely it will fail but even small projects demand an experienced project manager.

Process for managing changes to project scope

Project Manager, Sponsor and Stakeholders will establish and approve documentation for measuring project scope which includes deliverable quality checklists and work performance measurements. Proposed scope changes may be initiated by the Project Manager, Stakeholders or any member of the project team. All change requests will be submitted to the Project Manager who will then evaluate the requested scope change. Upon acceptance of the scope change request the Project Manager will submit the scope change request to the Change Control Board and Project Sponsor for acceptance. Upon approval of scope changes by the Change Control Board and Project Sponsor the Project Manager will update all project documents and communicate the scope change to all stakeholders. Based on feedback and input from the Project Manager and Stakeholders, the Project Sponsor is responsible for the acceptance of the final project deliverables and project scope.

What is statement of work (SOW) ?

Statement of Work, A document specifying the work requirements and expected outcomes for a project or program. It is used in conjunction with specifications and standards as a basis for a contract. The SOW is used to determine whether the contractor meets stated performance requirements

Project Scope

The definition of what the project is supposed to accomplish and the budget of both time and money that has been created to achieve these objectives. It is the total work required to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions." High-level blank consists of two main components: 1. Deliverables. Defining your deliverables goes a long way toward defining the overall scope of the project 2. Boundaries. Boundary statements help to separate the things that are applicable to your project from those areas that are out of scope.

What calculations are used during earned value analysis?

The following calculations are used • Cost variance = EV - AC • Schedule variance = EV - PV • Cost performance index = EV AC • Schedule performance index = EV PV

What is the use of warranty information?

There must be some about the project deliverables if the project was completed by a vendor for a client. must be detailed in the project contract and talked about during the operation transfer. is basically an assurance by one party to the other party that specific conditions are true.

Reference materials

This can include company internal standards and policies, company internal methodologies, ISO 9001 standards, government standards, the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) Guide, and so on.

What is transference?

a strategy to mitigate negative risks or threats. In this strategy, consequences and the ownership of a risk is transferred to a third party. This strategy does not eliminate the risk but transfers responsibility of managing the risk to another party. Insurance is an example of transference.

What are the causes of scope creep?

Unclear deliverables at project start. Thorough analysis was not done before the project planning phase to list all the project requirements and deliverables needed. Evolving stakeholder expectations. Stakeholders should acknowledge the scope statement. Developers recognizing new possibilities. Team members should be given exact specifications to work with in in the scope statement and should be periodically tested for the exact specifications, and should discuss any new possibilities before incorporating them. Failure to define scope at the start of a project will leave the project manager unable to determine success criteria, cost, time, or resources needed for project completion.

What is Configuration Management System

a subsystem of the overall project management system. It is a collection of formal documented procedures used to identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of a product, result, service, or component of the project. It also controls any changes to such characteristics, and records and reports each change and its implementation status. It includes the documentation, tracking systems, and defined approval levels necessary for authorizing and controlling changes. Audits are performed as part of configuration management to determine if the requirements have been met.

What is Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS)?

a tool that can be utilized by the project management team and/or the project manager in a hierarchical manner. It provides a hierarchically organized depiction of the project organization arranged so that the work packages can be related to the performing organizational units.

Gantt chart

a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. The terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project. also show the dependency (i.e., precedence network) relationships between activities. have become a common technique for representing the phases and activities of a project work breakdown structure (WBS), so they can be understood by a wide audience. can be used to: 1. See how long the project will take. 2. Prepare easy-to-read and easy-to-understand reports for management, customers, and team members. 3. Determine resource requirements for your project. 4. Determine who must do each job. 5. Measure your progress.

Request For Proposal (RFP)

a type of procurement document used to request proposals from prospective sellers of products or services. It invites the vendors to create a proposal, which can include ideas, suggestions, and more for the project. In some application areas, it may have a narrower or more specific meaning.

What is WBS?

a visual decomposition of the project scope. The project scope is taken and broken down into smaller, more manageable units. Each of these units can be broken down again and again until you define the smallest item in it called the work package. Project groups and the project's discrete work elements are defined in a way that helps organize and define the total work scope of the project. element may be a product, data, a service, or any combination. also provides the necessary framework for detailed cost estimating and control along with providing guidance for schedule development and control.

What is meant by acceptance testing?

an IT setting, means that the final project deliverable needs to be tested for user acceptance, factory acceptance, and site acceptance. At the end of the executing, before turnover of the project deliverable and project closure, acceptance testing needs to be done.

What is Parametric Modeling?

an estimating technique that uses parameters or project characteristics to forecast project costs. It involves a top-down approach and is similar but more accurate than analogous estimating. It uses historical data and other variables to calculate an estimate for activity parameters, such as scope, cost, budget, and duration.

Non-verbal communications

can be very effective. Project managers should themselves use, as well as look for clues in • Eye contact • Gestures • Silence • Pauses • Movement • Facial expressions

What is a baseline plan?

an original project plan used to track progress of a project. a snapshot of the schedule at the time that the baseline is saved. It includes information about tasks, resources, and assignments. Eleven baseline plans can be created in a project. Any change caused by change in scope of the project invalidates the original schedule and requires a new schedule.

What is a work breakdown structure?

an outcome-oriented analysis of the actual activities involved in a project. It provides the basis for making time and cost estimates and managing changes. All the work to be done on a project must be included After completing the scope statement, user needs to further define the work to be done and break it into manageable sections (called decomposition).

What is cost baseline?

approved time-phased budget that monitors and measures cost performance throughout the project life cycle. It includes a budget contingency to accommodate the risk of incurring unidentifiable but normally occurring costs within the defined scope. Cost baseline varies from project to project, depending on the project's budget and schedule.

What are milestone charts?

are specific points in the project where key deliverables are completed or specific tasks are accomplished. Project managers create charts that are used to monitor the progress of a project.

What is the use of quality metrics in a project?

are used to measure the accuracy that how frequently a product/process meets quality standards and assurance and where the process output is in relation to the ideal quality standard. helps in improving the quality level of the product/process until it meets the desired quality expectations.

What are transition dates?

can be defined as a defined date for the deliverables to be transferred to the organization; an account of the conditions for the deliverables to be moved from the management of the project to the management of operations.

Appendix

can contain any of the documents that provide additional project detail, contact information, and any other documents not included elsewhere in the plan. Often, baseline information is added, Baseline information includes time and cost baselines and is typically presented in high-level format.

What is reactive quality management?

characterized by inspection which keeps errors out of product. It pays for quality primarily through failure cost. Failure costs: These costs include (a) any cost for products that do not pass inspection and are discarded or need rework, and (b) recalls once the product is in the hand of the customer (warranty work and customer site visits).

What is the project management plan?

collection of all of the subsidiary management plans created during the planning phase. It is put together at the end of the planning phase. The project manager uses it as a guide during the executing, monitoring/controlling, and closing phases of the project to bring the project to successful completion.

Change Order

component of the change management process whereby changes in the project scope are agreed to by the project sponsor. After the original project scope is defined, there may be perfectly good reasons to determine that the original plans are not best representation of the project deliverable or deliverables, or even the vision itself.

What is the final step before heading into the executing phase of project management plan?

conducting a formal project management plan review meeting with all stakeholders. during the meeting. Assess the completion of the planning documentation. Obtain feedback making sure that their expectations for the project are in line with the project management plan. If necessary, adjust the project management plan based on stakeholder feedback and resolve all planning issues that might be identified during the meeting. Make sure you use the change control process to make changes to the project plan.

What is a project scope statement?

contains the project requirements and overall direction and contains items such as project goals, deliverables, acceptance and success criteria, priority, ownership, and others.

What is scope creep?

cope creep is the gradual addition of new requirements to the original specification and can adversely affect time and cost. It is likely to happen if changes to the scope aren't controlled through change control. As the requirements list increases, project complexity increases. 1. Unclear deliverables at project start. Make sure a thorough analysis is done before the project planning phase by using methods, such as interviews, focus groups, and surveys to list all the project requirements and deliverables needed. 2. Evolving stakeholder expectations. Stakeholders should acknowledge the scope statement, which could state that only the deliverables defined in the scope statement will be produced and that noadditions or changes to the scope statement are permitted. 3. Developers recognizing new possibilities. Team members should be given exact specifications to work with in order to produce the deliverables as specified in the scope statement. Their work should be periodically tested to make sure it matches the exact specifications, and they should be encouraged to discuss any new possibilities they think of before incorporating them.

What is meant by extended support?

entails the project team and the operation team to work together as the new technology is applied so that the operational team can learn from the project team about the project deliverables and implementation.

What are control charts?

graphical representations of different processes. These charts contain the maximum and minimum values allowed. Control charts are used to determine whether or not a process is stable or has predictable performance. A process is considered out of control when a data point exceeds a control limit or if seven consecutive points are above or below the mean.

The Communication planning

helps in identifying who needs to receive information on the project, what information is required, and how and when they will get that information. Scheduling a project team meeting, developing distribution lists, and creating a project status template are all activities that might be the result of a plan.

The purpose of a or Breakdown Structure (WBS)

helps the project manager define and sequence project activities into discrete tasks and that are needed to create the elements of the WBS. helps more accurately and specifically define and organize the scope of the total project. The most common way this is done is by using a hierarchical tree structure. help with assigning responsibilities, resource allocation, monitoring and controlling the project. makes the deliverables more precise and concrete so that the project team knows exactly what has to be accomplished within each deliverable. also allows for better estimating of cost, risk, and time because you can work from the smaller tasks back up to the level of the entire project. Finally, it allows you to double check all the deliverables' specifics with the stakeholders and make sure there is nothing missing or overlapping.

What criterion should WBS activities meet?

hierarchical decomposition and organization of activities. The organization and level of detail of the activities should facilitate estimating, work assignment, and ongoing management. To achieve this, the WBS activities should meet thes criteria Resource The activities should be of a sufficient level of detail that a resource can be assigned. Deliverables The activity should have a deliverable that's clearly understood by those who'll be performing the work. The deliverable might be a design, decision, specification, document, test, and so on. Estimates The activities should be of a sufficient level of detail that they can be estimated (time and cost).

What is the Identify Stakeholders process?

identifies all people or organizations that are impacted by the project. It also documents relevant information regarding their interests, involvement, and impact on project success. Stakeholder register and stakeholder management strategy are outputs of this process.

Which activities are included in change control?

includes the following activities: 1. Identifying and evaluating necessary changes. 2. Evaluating the impact of changes on scope, time, cost, performance indicators, resource availability, risks, and project goals. 3. Evaluating whether the change needs to be elevated to customer or sponsor. 4. Notifying the appropriate parties of the changes and their impact. 5. Documenting and implementing accepted changes. 6. Rejecting unacceptable changes. 7. Documenting unacceptable changes. 8. Reforecasting the scope, time and cost based on the changes

What is a Gantt chart?

is a bar chart that represents the duration of activities against a calendar. The length of the bars represents the length of activities, while the order of the bars represents the order of activities in the project.

Developing a project schedule

is a calendar that links the project tasks to the resources that will do them by a certain date and time. Before the project schedule can be created, the project manager must have a work breakdown structure (WBS) and estimates, The schedule is part of the project plan. To schedule project tasks, the project team must be aware of both the effort and the duration. Effort is the number of hours that a person spends working on the task. Effort is measured in person hours (hours, days, weeks, months, etc.). Duration is the amount of time that elapses between the start time and end time for a given task It is measured in regular units of time (hours, days, etc.). Building the project schedule involves: 1. Allocation of resources: For each task in the WBS, one or more resources must be assigned. Assignment must be based on qualifications, familiarity with the project, technology (if applicable) and availability of the resource. Be sure to include some overhead when calculating the duration of each task. 2. Identifying dependencies: a task has a dependency if it involves an activity, resource or work product which is required by another task. Tasks may have dependencies because they require the same resource. Every dependency has a predecessor or task that must have begun, be in progress or completed for another task to begin. Identify the type of predecessor for each dependency. You are now ready to create the schedule using Gantt charts.

Underpinning Contract (UC)

is a contract between an IT service provider and a third party. In another way, it is an agreement between the IT organization and an external provider about the delivery of one or more services. The third party provides services that support the delivery of a service to a customer. The Underpinning Contract defines targets and responsibilities that are required to meet agreed Service Level targets in an SLA.

A risk register

is a document that contains the results of the qualitative risk analysis, quantitative risk analysis, and risk response planning. Description, category, cause, probability of occurring, impact on objectives, proposed responses, owner, and the current status of all identified risks are put in the it.

What is control scope?

is a process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope. It is also used for managing changes to the schedule baseline. • Work performance measurements • Organizational process assests updates • Change requests • Project management plan updates • Project document updates.

What is a schedule baseline?

is a project schedule used in measuring project progress. It helps provide a comparison with the actual progress of work against the schedule and to determine if performance to date is within acceptable parameters.

What is a risk matrix?

is a tool used in the Risk Assessment process. It allows the severity of the risk of an event occurring to be determined. A table of risks, their probability, and impact equate to a risk score in it.

What is scatter chart?

is a type of display using Cartesian coordinates to display values for two variables for a set of data. The data is displayed as a collection of points, each having the value of one variable determining the position on the horizontal axis and the value of the other variable determining the position on the vertical axis. A scatter diagram shows the pattern of relationship between two variables. This tool allows the quality team to study and identify the possible relationship between changes observed in two variables. Dependent variables versus independent variables are plotted. The closer the points are to a diagonal line, the more closely they are related.

What is a parametric estimate?

is an estimate that uses a parameter to predict the costs of the project, such as cost per network drop or cost per software license. Parametric estimating technique utilizes the statistical relationship that exists between a series of historical data and a particular delineated list of other variables.

What is a code of accounts?

is any numbering system used to uniquely identify each component of the work breakdown structure (WBS). is linked to the costs, resources, schedule, and other information about each WBS component.

What is Quality Assurance (QA)?

is the application of planned, systematic quality activities to ensure that the project will employ all processes needed to meet requirements. It is a prevention-driven activity to reduce errors in the project and to help the project meet its requirements.

What is ownership?

is the condition/state or fact of restricted rights and control over property, that can be an object, land or intellectual personnel property. Ownership may consists of multiple rights, together known as title, which may be separated and held by different third parties.

Make-or-buy decision?

is the process of making a strategic choice between producing an item internally (in-house source) or buying it externally (from an outside source). Is the fortitude whether to produce a component part internally or to buy it from an outside supplier. involves both qualitative and quantitative factors.

What is the purpose of training?

is the term that refers to the gaining of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a consequence of the teaching of vocational/practical skills and knowledge that interrelate to specific useful competencies. The project team should train the recipients of the deliverables and define how to use and maintain the deliverables. can be made through training manuals, train-the-trainer sessions, hands on exercises, or a combination of knowledge transfer events.

Make-or-buy analysis

is used to verify whether a particular work can best be accomplished by the project team or must be purchased from outside sources. The budget constraints can influence the make-or-buy decisions. must consider all related costs; both direct and indirect support costs.

What does managing change means?

means evaluating and implementing changes. A change control process includes the identification, evaluation, notification, and actual change in scope, time, cost, schedule, and budget. Use a standard change request form. This form should include a description of the change, the reason, and who is requesting the change. Investigate the overall impact of the change request on project. Use a formal approval process to accept or reject the request. Relay this information to the stakeholders. Include the approved changes in the project plan documentation.

What is the use of resource leveling and schedule compression?

minimizes peaks and valleys in resource utilization by splitting tasks or reallocating resources. Schedule compression shortens the schedule by using crashing or fast tracking. • Crashing means adding or reallocating resources which often increases cost. • Fast tracking turns sequential processes in parallel ones which typically increases risk.

What is the use of change order document?

must be submitted in writing to the project manager, as a part of an overall change control process. information such as: Control number Requestor's name, telephone number, e-mail address, and best method of contact. Date of request. Recipient's name, telephone number, and e-mail address. A statement of needs, to include the business problem, reason for the request, and suggested solution. Estimation of the impact of the change on other project aspects, including related tasks, deliverables, resource concerns, time, cost, risk and quality. could also be used to track change status and disposition. • Date received. • Disposition (approval versus deferral). • Action plan. • Appropriate signatures and dates (i.e., project manager, change control board, customer or sponsor) as determined by organizational policies.

What is Project Scope Management?

one of the nine Project Management Knowledge areas. It is a group of the following processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project: • Collect Requirements • Define Scope • Create Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) • Verify Scope

What are project management processes?

organize and describe the work of the project. The five process groups of a project are as follows: • Initiation: Initiation is the first phase of a project. It grants the approval to commit the organization's resources to work on the project. • Planning: Planning is the second phase of a project. It includes documenting requirements, budget, and work flow for the project. • Executing: This is the prime phase of a project where all the planned work is executed. • Controlling and Monitoring: This process is somewhat overlapped with the executing phase. After the executing process is started, the controlling and monitoring process makes sure that the project progress is aligned to the planned documents. • Closing: The last process group of the project management processes is closing. Contract closeout occurs in this phase of a project. During the closing process, formal acceptance and approval are obtained.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

quantifiable measurements, agreed to beforehand, that reflect the critical success factors for a given project. Whatever Key Performance Indicators are selected, they must reflect the organization's goals, they must be key to its success, and they must be quantifiable (measurable). The definition of what they are and how they are measured do not change often

What is a learning curve?

refers to a graphical representation of the "average" rate of learning for an activity or tool. It can represent at a glance the initial difficulty of learning something and, to an extent, how much there is to learn after initial familiarity.

Chip Creep

refers to the problem of a microprocessor (chip), which, over time, would work its way out of the socket. This was mainly an issue with old computers. It occurs due to the thermal expansion; the contracting and expanding during system heat up and cools down. While chip creep was most common with older memory modules it was a problem with other main chips (or CPUs) that were inserted into CPU sockets.

Controlling Scope Creep

starts on day one, before the first line of code is ever written there are several strategies to help control Understand the project vision: Meet with the project drivers and understand the project sponsor 's vision very clearly. Prioritization: Understand the priorities of the project and create a task list based on that priority. Items should include budget, deadline feature delivery, and end user satisfaction. You 'll use this list to justify your scheduling decisions once the project has begun. Approved deliverables: Define your deliverables and have them approved by the project drivers. Break the approved deliverables: into actual work requirements, with major and minor milestones. Leave room for error in the scheduling, without being overly conservative. Do use a WBS (Work Breakdown Structure): Once a schedule has been created, assign resources and determine your critical path using a PERT Chart or Work Breakdown Structure. Implement Change Order forms early and educate the project drivers on your processes.

Quality Management

starts with sound planning, by using the proper processes and industry standards during executing, and eventually testing and verifying deliverables. User documentation, training, and support are major parts of quality management. Producing quality deliverables requires constant throughout the project.

What is the project calendar?

used to define the working and nonworking days and times for tasks. is usually used to represent an organization's traditional working hours. A project uses this to schedule tasks that do not have resources assigned or that have a task type of fixed duration. By default, the Standard base calendar is used as the project calendar. A user can also reflect alternative schedules by using other base calendars. The working days and hours in the project calendar reflect the working days and hours for the whole project.

What is a resource calendar?

used to make sure that work resources (people and equipment) are scheduled only when they are available for work. They affect a specific resource or category of resources. By default, the working time settings in the resource calendar are the same as in the project calendar. However, a user can customize the resource calendar to show individual schedule information, such as vacations, leaves of absence, or equipment maintenance time.

What is a Make-or-buy analysis?

used to verify whether a particular work can best be accomplished by the project team or must be purchased from outside sources. The budget constraints can influence the make-or-buy decisions. A make-or-buy analysis must consider all related costs; both direct and indirect support costs.

What are the uses of a WBS throughout a project?

uses throughout a project are Budgeting Scheduling Status reporting Issuing authorizations to perform work. Tracking variances

Challenges communicating with offsite team members

with team members that are located remotely poses its own challenges. Among those challenges are: 1. Different time zones 2. Special communication preferences 3. Functional or hierarchical barriers 4. Language barriers 5. Technology barriers 6. Cultural differences

Which of the following activities does change control includes?

• Identifying and evaluating necessary changes. • Evaluating the impact of changes on scope, time, cost, performance indicators, resource availability, risks, and project goals. • Evaluating whether the change needs to be elevated to customer or sponsor. • Notifying the appropriate parties of the changes and their impact. • Documenting and implementing accepted changes. • Rejecting unacceptable changes. • Documenting unacceptable changes. • Reforecasting the scope, time and cost based on the changes.

What are the tasks performed by the WBS?

• It separates the major project deliverables into smaller components to improve the accuracy of cost estimates. • It provides a mechanism for collecting and organizing actual costs. • It provides a mechanism for performance measurement and control. structure describes the work activities and not the staff or other resources who will complete the work.

Tools and techniques of procurement management

• Performing a make-or-buy analysis: Make-or-buy analysis is a management technique used to determine whether a particular product or service should be developed by the organization or purchased from a seller. • Consulting internal experts: Internal experts must be consulted as part of procurement planning.