Final Project management

Name the twelve (12) possible components of a WBS dictionary (5.4.3.1):

1. Code of account identifier 2. Description of work 3. Assumptions and constraints 4. Responsible organization 5. Schedule milestones 6. Associated schedule activities 7. Resources required 8. Cost estimates 9. Quality requirements 10. Acceptance criteria 11. Technical references 12. Agreement information

(6.3.2.1) what are the four (4) precedence diagramming methods, describe:

1. Finish to start- successor activity begins when predecessor is completed 2. Finish to finish- successor activity cannot end until predecessor finishes 3. Start to start-  successor cannot start until predecessor starts 4. Start to finish- successor cannot finish until predecessor starts

Requirements management plan, what are five (5) possible components:

1. How requirements activities will be tracked, planned, and reported 2. Requirements prioritization process 3. Product metrics that will be used and the rationale for using them 4. Traceability structure to reflect which requirement attributes will be captured on the traceability matrix 5. configurization management activities

List the five activities usually involved in decomposition 5.4.2.1. (Please see examples 5-11, 5-12, and 5-13 for visual examples of the process, is important to understand):

1. Identifying and analyzing the deliverables related to work 2. Structuring and organizing the WBS 3. Decomposing the upper WBS levels into lower-level detailed components 4. Developing and assigning identification codes to the WBS components 5. Verifying that the degree of decomposition of the deliverables is appropriate

What are the nine (9) items of Project cost control that are the integrated change control processes (7.4)

1. Influencing factors that create changes to the baseline 2. Ensuring that all change requests are acted on in a timely manner 3. Managing the actual wages when and as they occur 4. Ensuring that cost expenditures do not exceed the authorized funding period 5. Monitoring cost performance to isolate and understand variances 6. Monitoring work performance against funds expended 7. Preventing unapproved changes from being included in the reported cost 8. Informing appropriate stakeholders of all approved changes and costs 9. Bringing expected cost overuns whithin acceptable limits

5.2.2. Discusses tools for gathering or collecting requirements, eleven (11) are given (subsections of 5.2.2) what are they?

1. Interviews 2. Focus groups 3. Facilitated workshops 4. Group creativity techniques 5. Group decision making techniques 6. Questionnaires and surveys 7. Observations 8. Prototypes 9. Benchmarking 10. Context diagrams 11. Document analysis

Referencing 6.3.2.2 name and briefly describe the four types of dependencies?

1. Mandatory- legally or contractually required 2. Discretionary- preferred logic; based on knowledge of the best practices 3. External- dependencies that lie outside a team's control such as a part that must be made externally or software that cannot be developed in-house 4. Internal- dependencies inside of the teams control. Usually involving sequencing of activities.

Describe the three (3) components of three point estimating and how they are used? (6.5.2.4)

1. Most likely- Estimate is based on duration of the activity 2. Optimistic- Activity duration based on analysis of best case scenario 3. Pessimistic- Activity duration based on analysis of worst case scenario These three are used in a formula to determine expected duration taking into account a range of uncertainty

There are 6 (six) Scope management processes, name and briefly describe:

1. Plan scope management: Creating a plan for scope management that documents how the scope will be defined validated and controlled 2. Collect requirements: determining, documenting, and managing stakeholders needs and requirements to meet objectives 3. Define scope: Developing a detailed description of the project and the product 4. Create WBS: Subdividing the project deliverables and project work into more managable components 5. Validate scope: formalizing acceptance of completed project deliverables 6. Control scope: monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope

6.1.3.1 Schedule management plan establishes what nine (9) things?

1. Project schedule model development 2. Level of accuracy 3. Units of measure 4, Organizational procedures links 5. Project schedule model maintenance 6. Control thresholds 7. Rules of performance management 8. Reporting formats 9. Process descriptions

Name the nine (9) items a cost management plan can establish (7.1.3.1)

1. Units of measure 2. Level of precision 3. Level of accuracy 4. Organizational 5. Control thresholds 6. Rules of performance measure 7. Reporting formats 8. Process descriptions 9. Additional details

Name and briefly describe the seven (7) processes of Project time management (6-1 on page 143)

1. Plan schedule management- establish policies, procedures, and documentation for planning and controlling a project schedule. 2. Define activities- Develops and activity list, attributes of activities, and a milestone list using decomposition and rolling wave planning along with expert judgment. 3. Sequence activities- Develop project documents which provide a detailed activity list and sequence of events 4. Estimate activity resources- Develop project documents which entail resource requirements at given points in a project life cycle 5. Estimate activity durations- Use expert judgment along with various estimating methods and decision making techniques to determine the duration for specific tasks 6. Develop schedule- Use all previous research and documentation to develop a baseline project schedule 7. Control schedule- perform necessary managerial actions to keep track of work information and manage schedule accordingly

Referencing 5.1 Plan Scope Management, What are the four inputs to consider?

1. Project management plan 2. Project charter 3. Enterprise environmental factors 4. Organizational process assets

As the scope may need to be modified project management plans require updating (5.6.3.3), what two types of updates may be required?

1. Scope baseline updates 2. Other baseline updates

Describe a Resource Calendar (6.4.1.4):

A calendar that identifies the working days and shifts when specific resources will be available.

Referencing 5.3.3.1 define what a constraint is?

A constraint is a limiting factor that affects the execution of a project or process. Could include a predetermined budget or a predefined deadline.

Described under figure 7-5 what is a cost estimate, how are they expressed, and what should occur with them during the project?

A cost estimate is a prediction based on information known at a given time. They are expressed in a form of currency. They should be reviewed and refined during the course of the project to reflect additional details.

Describe what is meant by milestone list (6.2.3.3)

A list identifying all project milestones which indicates whether the milestone is mandatory or optional.

Describe the Critical Path Method (6.6.2.2)

A method used to estimate the minimum project duration and determine the amount of scheduling flexibility on the logical network paths within the schedule model

Describe a project schedule network diagram:

A project schedule network diagram is a graphical representation of dependencies among the project schedule activities.

Describe analogous estimating (6.5.2.2)?

A technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity or a project using historical data from a similar activity or project.

Referencing 5.3.3.1 what is acceptance criteria?

Acceptance criteria are a set of conditions that are required to be met before deliverables are accepted

Schedule models require knowing the actual performance to date. So Perform Integrated Change Control process is concerned with what four (4) things?

Activity resource requirement, Activity attributes, Calendars, Risk register

Describe parametric estimating (6.5.2.3)?

An estimating technique that uses an algorithm to calculate cost or duration based on historical data and parameters

What are the four (4) Estimate Cost tools and techniques? (7.2.2)?

Analogous estimating Parametric estimating Bottom-up estimating Three-point estimating

What is a Cost Baseline? (7.3.3.1)?

Approved version of the time-phased project budget, excluding management reserves, which can only be changed through formal requests

What are three ways graphically a project schedule can be presented (6.6.3.2)

Bar charts, Milestone charts, Project schedule network diagrams

As an output of project time management what three (3) organizational process assets are updated (6.7.3.6)

Causes of variances, corrective action chosen and the reasons, and other types of lessons learned from the project's schedule control

7.2.2.6 What is a contingency reserve and what are management reserves, how are they different?:

Contingency reserves are the part of the budget that is allocated to known risks. Management reserves are reserves that management is able to use on unforeseen work. Management reserves are not included in cost baseline and require approval of change to the cost baseline. Contingency reserves are included in cost baseline.

What is meant by control scope, and what is the benefit of the process (5.6)?

Control scope is the process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline. The benefit is that it allows the scope baseline to be maintained throughout the project.

What is Project Cost Management primarily concerned with?

Controlling, managing, and planning costs so that the project can be completed within the budget

Describe Cost Aggregation (7.3.2.1)?

Cost estimated aggregated by work packages in accordance with the WBS. Cost estimates are aggregated for higher component levels of WBS and for the entire project.

Briefly describe the two (2) types of schedule compression (6.6.2.7)

Crashing is used to shorten the schedule duration by bringing in additional resources Fast tracking is a schedule compression technique where activities are performed in parallel to shorten duration

What is the benefit of determine budget (7.3):

Determines the cost baseline against which project performance can be monitored and control

What is the five (5) supporting details a cost estimate may include (7.2.3.2)

Documentation of the basis of the estimate Documentation of all assumptions made Documentation of any known constraints Location of the range of possible estimates Indication of the confidence level of the final estimate

Describe activity attributes (6.2.3.2):

Durations and resource requirements pertaining to an activity. Also includes each separate component of an activity and acknowledges that the components may change throughout the life cycle of the activity.

When using analogous and parametric estimating what three items help the reliability of the model (7.3.2.4)?

Historical information used to develop model is accurate Parameters used in model are readily quantifiable Models are scalable, so that they work with small or large projects

7.1.1.4 Organizational process assets, name one (1) that the one you think is most significant and describe why you think it would be a significant influence on cost management.

I think cost estimating and budgeting policies have the greatest influence on cost management because they govern every decision made. 

what are the benefits of Plan Schedule management? what are the four (4) inputs to it?

Inputs: Project management plan, Project charter, Enterprise environmental factors, Organizational process assets The benefit is that it provides guidance and direction on how the project schedule will be managed throughout the process.

Describe inspection and the use of it in project work (5.5.2.1)?

Inspection includes measuring, examining, and validating to determine whether work and deliverables meet requirements. It is used in project work to ensure that deliverables are meeting product acceptance criteria.

What does project management software allow you to do (6.7.2.2)

It allows you to track planned dates versus actual dates to report variances and progress made to and against the schedule baseline

What is the key benefit of the process Estimate Activity Resources (6.4)

It identifies the process of estimating the type and quantities of material, human resources, equipment, or supplies required to perform each activity.

What is the key benefit of Estimate Activity Duration (6.5)?

It provides the amount of time each activity will take to complete.

(6.3) Sequence Events, What is the key benefit of this process, and each activity and milestone should logically be arranged by?

Key benefit is that it defines the logical sequence of work to obtain the greatest efficiency. Milestones and activities should be connected to at least one predecessor with a finish-to-start or start-to-start relationship and at least one successor with a finish-to-finish or finish-to-start relationship.

What is the key benefit of Plan Cost Management, what is the output? (7.1)?

Key benefit is that it provides guidance and direction on how the project costs will be managed. The output is a Cost management plan

(7.2) What are the key benefits of Estimates Cost, what are the three (3) outputs?

Key benefits is that it determines the amount of cost required to complete project work. Outputs are: Activity cost estimates, Basis of estimates, and Project documents updates

What is meant by the terms lead and lag? (6.3.2.3)?

Lead is the amount of time that a successor activity needs with respect to a predecessor activity. Lag is the amount of time after a predecessor activity that a successor activity must start.

7.1.1.3 What are the environmental factors that influence Cost Management Plan?

Orginizational culture and structure Market conditions Published commercial information Project management information system

(6.2) Define Activities, what are the key benefits of this process, and what are the three (3) important outputs:

Outputs: Activity list, Activity attributes, Milestone list Key benefit is to break down work packages into activities that provide a basis for estimating, scheduling, monitoring, and controlling work

What are the five analytical techniques of Plan Cost Management (7.1.2.2):

Payback period Return on investment Internal rate of return Discounted cash flow Net present value

Describe Project Funding requirements? (7.3.3.2)

Periodic funding requirements which increase as time goes on. Funding requirements increase in incremental amounts as time goes by.

What are the four (4) Project Cost Management process, describe:

Plan cost management- Establish policies, procedures, and documentation for planning and managing project costs Estimate costs- Developing an approximation of the monetary resources required to complete project activities Determine budget-Aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities to establish an authorized cost baseline Control costs- monitoring the status of the project to update the project costs and manage changes to the cost baseline

There are three (3) ways to monitor Earned Value Management, what are they briefly describe (7.4.2.1)

Planned value- Budget assigned to scheduled work Earned value- Work performed expressed in terms of the budget authorized for the work Actual cost- Realized cost of the work performed on an activity during a specific time

(6.2.2.2) Describe rolling wave planning

Planning current and near future events at a high level of detail and planning future events to a lower degree of detail. Lower level detail in planning is required when information is less defined due to the events being so far off.

In the term of a project context the term scope can refer to what two (2) things?

Project scope and Product scope

Describe project scope management:

Project scope management involves all of the processes that are necessary to ensure that the project includes all of the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project. Scope is mostly concerned with defining and controlling what is and isn't included in the project.

7.2.1.2 Human resource management plan does what?

Provides project staffing attributes, personal rates, and rewards/ recognition.

What is the key benefit of Control Cost (7.4)?

Provides the means to recognize variance from the plan in order to take corrective action and minimize risk.

Section 5.2.3.1 Requirements Documentation. What does it describe and what are the 6 requirements that it could address. (List only the requirements but understand the attributes of each one)?

Requirements documentation describes how individual requirements meet the business need for the project. 1. Business requirements 2. Stakeholder requirements 3. Solution requirements 4. Project requirements 5. Project requirements 6. Transition requirements

Referencing 6.6.2.4 Resource Optimization Techniques describe the two ways to optimize resources:

Resource leveling adjusts start and finish dates based on resource constraints with the goal of balancing demand for resource with availability. Resource smoothing adjusts activities of a schedule model so that the requirements for resources do not meet the limits.

Describe the Critical Chain Method or CCM (6.6.2.3)

Schedule method that allows the project team to place buffers on any project schedule path to account for limited resources. 

There are four (4) ways to monitor the variances, what are they briefly describe (7.4.2.1)

Schedule variance- Schedule performance expressed as the difference between earned value and planned value Cost variance- Amount of budget defecit or surplus at a given time Schedule performance index- Measure of schedule efficiency expressed as a ratio of earned value to planned value Cost performance index- Measure of cost efficiency of budgeted resources

As described in 6.1.1.1 what is scope baseline?

Scope baseline includes project scope statement and the work breakdown structure details for defining activities, duration estimation, and schedule management.

5.3 Define scope, what is it? Also what are the output's?

Scope is the process of developing a detailed description of the project and product. The 2 outputs are: 1. Project scope statement 2. Project documents updates

Describe the traceability matrix (5.2.3.2)

The tracability matrix is a grid that links all product requirements from their origin to the deliverables that satisfy them.

(7.4.2.3) Briefly describe what TCPI is and what it does:

To-complete performance index is a measure of cost performance required to be achieved with remaining resources in order to meet a management goal expressed as a ratio of the cost to finish the work to the remaining budget

What are Validate scope and the benefits of the process (5.5)?

Validate scope is the process of formalizing the acceptance of the completed project deliverables. Key benefit is that it brings objectivity to the acceptance process and increases the chance of the final product by validating each deliverable

What is variance analysis and what is it used for? (5.6.2.1)

Variance analysis is a technique for determining the cause and degree of difference between the baseline and actual performance. It is used to assess the magnitude of variation from the original scope baseline.

Briefly describe the three (3) variance analysis tools (7.4.2.4)

Variance analysis- Analyzes variations in cost to compare between variances in project performance to develop cost performance measurements. Trend analysis- Examines project performance over time to determine if performance is improving or deteriorating. Earned value performance- Compares performance measurement baseline to actual schedule and cost performance.

Define and describe WBS (5.4)?

WBS is 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. It defines scope and represents the work specified in the approved project scope statement.

Describe what is meant by the term "rolling wave planning (5.4.2.2)

Waiting to decomposition until the deliverable or component are agreed upon so the details of WBS can be developed.

(6.6.2.5) Describe the two (2) modeling techniques:

What if scenario analysis is the process of evaluating scenarios in order to predict their effect. Simulation is calculating multiple project durations with different assumptions to determine the best outcome

What is the key benefit of Develop Schedule (6.6)?

With all necessary inputs, it generates a schedule model with dates for completing activities.

What is the key benefit of Control Schedule (6.7)?

it provides the means to recognize deviation from the plan and take corrective and preventative actions to minimize risk