ISTM 630 Midterm
out of control if...
- A data point falls outside of control limits OR - There are nonrandom points
main outputs of quality control are
- Acceptance decisions ▪ If "yes" > validated deliverable ▪ If "no" > rework - Rework - actions to bring work into compliance; expensive - Process adjustments - correct or prevent further problems
when are quality control charts created and when are they used?
- Created in Plan Quality Management - Used in Control Quality
histogram
- Displays data in from of bars or columns - Usually arrangement of data in no particular order
cost variance (CV)
- EV - AC - negative is over budget, positive is under budget
quality
- PMI definition - The degree to which the project fulfills requirements - Evaluated by the ability to perform satisfactorily and suitability to intended purposes
Project management certification
- Project management professional (PMP) - certified associate in project management (CAPM) - offered by PMI
3 point estimating
- a risk based method - triangular distribution (simple average) (P+O+M)/3 - beta distribution (weighted average)(P+O+4M)/6
activity list
- a tabulation of activities to be included on a project schedule - includes activity name, activity identifier, brief description
things to consider when estimating risks
- activity resource requirements - resource calendars - RBS - past project calendars - risks
developer gold plating
- additional features added to code - impacts time, scope, budget
closing projects outputs
- administrative closure procedures - contract closure procedures - final products, services, or results - organizational process asset updates
checksheet
- aka tallysheet - A checklist used to keep track of data such as quality problems uncovered during inspections
arrow diagramming method (ADM)
- also called activity-on-arrow (AOA) network diagram - activities are represented by arrows - nodes or ciclres are the starting and ending points of activities - can only show finish-to-start dependencies
project initiation key outputs
- assigning the project manager - identifying key stakeholders - completing a business case - completing a project charter and getting signatures on it
political frame
- assumes orgs are coalitions composed of varied individuals and interest groups. conflict and power are key issues
Advantages of using formal PM
- better control of resources - better customer relations - lower costs - shorter development times - improved productivity - etc.
companies that excel in project delivery capabilities
- build an integrated project management toolbox - grow competent project leaders - develop streamlined, consistent project delivery processes - install a sound but comprehensive set of project performance metrics
reasons for entering into project initiating
- business need - begin a new phase of the project - project has so many problems that you reevaluate the business need
CCB
- change control board - formal group of people responsible for approving or rejecting changes on a project - includes stakeholders from entire org
delegate changes
- changes can be done at the lowest level possible, but have to keep everyone informed
quality is based on
- conformance to requirements - fitness for use
earned value measurement
- considers scope, schedule, and cost baselines concurrently - can be used to: measure current progress, forecast future performance, project completion dates and costs
inputs for estimating costs
- cost management plan - scope baseline - project schedule - human resource management plan - risk register - policies and historical records - company culture - project managment costs
what should cost estimates include
- costs of quality efforts - costs of risk efforts - costs of project manager's time - costs of PM activities
time management steps
- create a schedule management plan - define schedule activities - sequence activities - estimate resources and durations - develop a schedule - control schedule
schedule network analysis techniques
- critical path method - schedule compression - modeling - resource optimization - critical chain method
15 PM job functions
- define scope of project - identify stakeholders, decision makers, and escalation procedures - develop detailed task list - estimate time requirements - develop initial project management flow chart - identify required resources and budget - evaluate project requirements - identify and evaluate risks - prepare contingency plan - identify interdependencies - identify and track critical milestones - participate in project phase review - secure needed resources - manage the change control process - report project status
requirements gold plating
- deliver more than what is asked - impacts time, scope, budget, quality
strategic planning
- determine long-term objectives, - predict future trends - project the need for new products and services
control schedule primarily concerned with
- determining current status of project schedule - influencing the factors that create schedule changes - determining the project schedule has changed - managing the actual changes as they occur
Internal Rate of Return
- discounted rate of return - emphasizes profitability - time value of money - true discount rate that a discount yields
stakeholder analysis
- documents important (and often sensitive) information about stakeholders
function points project estimation
- estimate system size - estimate effort required - estimate time required
symbolic frame
- focuses on key symbols and meanings related to events - org culture is important
HR frame
- focuses on providing harmony between needs of the org and needs of people - mismatches exist bw orgs and individuals
structural frame
- focuses on roles and responsibilities, coordination, and control. org charts help
3 basic organizational structures
- funcitonal - project - matrix
heuristics
- generally accepted rule (80/20)
different approaches to developing WBSs
- guidelines - analogy approach - top-down approach - bottom-up approach - mind-mapping approach
3 main objectives of integrated change control
- influence the factors that create changes to ensure that changes are beneficial - determine that a change has occurred - manage actual changes as they occur
Enterprise PM software
- integrates info from multiple projects to show the status of active, approved, and future projects across an entire org
common elements of a project management plan
- introduction/overview of project - description of how project is organized - managment and technical processes used on the project - work to be done, schedule, and budget information
plan schedule management
- it documents how the projects schedule will be developed, executed, managed, and controlled - selects a scheduling methodology like a critical method path
Outputs of cost management plan
- level of accuracy for estimates -reporting formats to use - methods for documenting costs - control thresholds
constrained optimization methods
- linear programming - integer programming - dynamic programming - multi-objective programming
parametric estimating
- looks at relationship between variables - data from history, industry requirements, standard metrics
3 main categories of PM tools
- low end tools - midrange tools - highend tools
define activities
- lowest level of work breakdown structure (work packages) broken down into activities that spell out the work needed to complete it
While work is being completed.... scope
- make sure you are doing all the work - make sure you are only doing work in plan
benefit measurement methods
- murder board - peer review - scoring models - economic models
how to use scope
- must plan how to determine scope - scope must be defined and approved before work starts - gather requirements from all stakeholders, not just sponsor - requirements must be evaluated against the business case, ranked and prioritized
different ways to estimate
- one-point, three point, analogous, parametric, bottom-up estimating
ways to determine projected financial value of projects
- payback analysis - unadjusted rate of return - NPV analysis - internal rate of return
responsibilities of project manager
- planning - scheduling - coordinating - working with people to achieve project goals
2 types of development cycles
- predictive life cycle - adaptive software development (ASD) life cycle
control costs
- progress reporting (if project work is not objectively measured, it is a guess) - reserve analysis
PMI
- project management institute - professional society
project development techniques
- project management methodology - project management information systems - expert judgement
PMO
- project management office - an organizational group responsible for coordinating the project management funtion throughout an organization
key elements of a charter
- project name - problem statement - goal statement - key metric - expected benefits - project scope - milestones - signatures
reasons for entering project closing
- project phase is complete - project is complete - procurement is complete - project or procurement is terminated
reasons for entering into project executing
- project planning is complete - integrated change control results in changed PM plan
ways to categorization of IT projects
- project provides a response to a problem, opportunity, or directive - based on time to complete - based on overall priority
project managers work with:
- project sponsors - project teams - other people involved in projects
systems thinking
- projects must operate in a broad organizational environment - project managers need to take a holistic view of a project and understanding how it relates to the larger org
reasons for entering into project monitoring and controlling
- requested changes - work performance data - deliverables
rbs
- resource breakdown structure
couple of methods to collect requirements
- reviewing historical records - focus groups - brainstorming - mind maps - affinity diagrams - context diagrams - prototypes - observation
planning scope management outputs
- scope management plan - requirements management plan
10 Knowledge Areas of Project Management
- scope, time, cost, and quality - human resources, communication, risk, and procurement management - project integration management - stakeholder management
3 main techniques for shortening schedules
- shortening - fast tracking - crashing
different organizational frames
- structural - hr - political - symbolic
3 parts of systems approach
- systems philosophy - systems analysis - systems management
activity
- task - an element of work normally found ont he WBS that has an expected duration, a cost, and resource requirements
middle phases of project life cycle
- the certainty of completing a project increases - more resources are needed
final phase of project life cycle
- the focus is on ensuring that project requirements were met - the sponsor approves completion of the project
Cause and Effect Diagram
- used to look backward to see what contributed to quality problems - plan how the work of quality should be performed
analogous estimating (Top-Down)
- uses historic data, expert judgement
one-point estimating
- uses historic data, expert judgement, or guess
types of costs
- variable costs (materials supplies, wages) - fixed costs (set-up, rent, utilities) - direct costs (travel, wages, recognition) - indirect costs (taxes, fringe benefits, janitorial services)
VAC
- variance at completion - As of today, how much over or under budget do we expect to be at the end of the project?
time management
- what project teams do to ensure a project is completed on time - refers to how you organize and plan the time that you will spend on each activity
when does a project end
- when its objectives have been reached, or the project has been terminated
precedence diagramming method (PDM)
-Activities are represented by boxes -Arrows show relationships between activities -More popular than ADM method and used by project management software -Better at showing different types of dependencies
project integration management processes
-Develop Project Charter -Develop Project Management Plan -Direct and Manage Project Work -Monitor and Control Project Work -Perform Integrated Change Control -Close Project or Phase
ETC
-Estimate to completion - From this point on, how much more do we expect it to cost to finish the project ( a forecast)?
project attributes
-Has a unique purpose -Is temporary -Is developed using progressive elaboration -Requires resources, often from various areas -Should have a primary customer or sponsor -The project sponsor usually provides the direction and funding for the project -Involves uncertainty
early phases of project life cycle
-Resource needs are usually lowest -The level of uncertainty (risk) is highest -Project stakeholders have the greatest opportunity to influence the project
business case
-a justification for a specific item of expenditure - includes an introduction, methods and assumptions, business impacts, risks and contingencies, recommendations
milestone
-a significant event that normally has no duration - usually several activities and lots of work to complete a milestone
weighted scoring model
-a tool that provides a systematic process for selecting projects based on many criteria -weigh each criterion so they add up to 100%, assign scores, and then multiply - the higher the weighted score, the better
AC
-actual cost - as of today, what is the actual cost incurred for the work accomplished
BAC
-budget at completion - How much did we budget for the total project effort?
COCOMO
-constructive cost model - used to estimate software development costs - parameters include: function points, source lines of code (SLOC)
EAC
-estimate at completion - what do we currently expect the total project to cost (a forecast)?
10 characteristics of org culture
-member identity - group emphasis - people focus - unit integration - control - risk tolerance - reward criteria - conflict tolerance - means-end operation - open-system focus
PV
-planed value - as of today, what is the estimated value of the work planned to be done
requirements
-what stakeholders need from project -should relate to a problem solution or achieving objectives
7 basic quality tools
1. Cause and Effect Diagram (Fishbone Diagram, Ishikawa Diagram) 2. Flowchart (Process Map) 3. Checksheet (Tally Sheet) 4. Pareto Diagram (Pareto Chart) 5. Histogram 6. Control Chart 7. Scatter Diagram
project management process groups
1. Initiating 2. Planning 3. Executing 4. Monitoring and Controlling 5. Closing
Project success factors
1. executive support 2. user involvement 3. experienced project manager 4. clear business objectives 5. minimized scope 6. standard software infrastructure 7. firm basic requirements 8. formal methodology 9. reliable estimates 10. other criteria, such as small milestones, proper planning, competent staff, and ownership.
predictive life cycle models
1. waterfall model 2. spiral model 3. incremental build model 4. prototyping model 5. rapid application development (RAD) model
project closing
Involves gaining stakeholder and customer acceptance of the final products and services
Project monitoring and controlling
Involves measuring progress toward project objectives, monitoring deviation from the plan, and taking correction actions
survival deviation
It happens when you look at the things that have survived when you should focus on the things you don't.
types of dependencies
Mandatory (hard logic), Discretionary (preferred, arbitrary, soft logic), External and Internal
tools/techniques for quality control
Pareto analysis, Statistical sampling, Six Sigma, Quality control charts
stakeholders
People involved in or affected by project activities - ex: project sponsor, customers, users, suppliers, support staff, project manager, project team, opponents to the project
Sample size formula:
Sample size = .25 X (certainty factor/acceptable error)2
prevent defects by
Selecting proper materials, Training and indoctrinating people in quality, Planning a process that ensures the appropriate outcome.
Flowchart
Shows how process or system flows from beginning to end
six sigma measures ______ and not ______
Six Sigma measures defect opportunities and not defective products
top-down approach
Start with the largest items of the project and break them down
start to start
Task B cannot start until task A starts
The PMI Talent Triangle
Technical Project Management, Leadership, Strategic and Business Management
function points
Technology-independent assessments of the functions involved in developing a system.
free slack or free float
The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any immediately following activities
what is project management?
The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements
Perform Quality Assurance
The process of auditing the quality requirements and the results from quality control measurements to ensure that appropriate quality standards and operational definitions are used.
control scope
The process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline.
why not inspect all?
The size of a sample depends on how representative you want the sample to be.
six sigma use in project mgmt
The training for Six Sigma includes many project management concepts, tools, and techniques. ex: business cases, project charters, schedules, budgets, etc
cost
a resource sacrificed or foregone to achieve a specific objective, or something given up in exchange
six sigma uses a conversion table
a scoring system that accounts for time, an important factor in determining process variations.
organizational culture
a set of shared assumptions, values, and behaviors that characterize the functioning of an org
What is DMAIC?
a systematic, closed-loop process for continued improvement that is scientific and fact based.
soft skill
being able to work with various types of people
Is it better to fix a defect or get to the root cause?
both
3 sphere model for systems management
business, organization, technology
how can estimates be decreased
by reducing or eliminating risks
Phases of the Traditional Project Life Cycle
concept, development, implementation, close-out
indirect costs
costs that are not directly related to the products or services of the project, but are indirectly related to performing the project
direct costs
costs that can be directly related to producing the products and services of the project
CPM
critical path method - critical path for a project is the series of activities that determines the earliest time by which the project can be completed ; longest path through the network diagram and has the least amout of slack or float
quality control helps
customer loyalty, repeat business, customer referrals, improved safety, improved market position, reduced liability risk
sunk cost fallacy
decisions based on what's already been invested in a situation
discretionary dependencies
defined by the project team., sometimes referred to as soft logic and should be used with care since they may limit later scheduling options
requirements management plan
describes the methods you intend to use to identify requirements
backward pass
determines the late start and finish dates
extreme programming (XP)
developers program in pairs and must write the tests for their own code teams include developers, managers, and users
scope statement
document used to develop and confirm common understanding of the project scope
reserves
dollars included in a cost estimate to mitigate cost risk by allowing for future situations that are difficult to predict
Responsibility for quality
entire org; ultimately PM
Schedule Performance Index (SPI)
ev/pv we are (only) progressing at _____ percent of the rate originally planned. Greater than 1 is good less than one is bad.
Control Quality
examines the deliverables; purpose is to ensure deliverables are correct, at quality level, and find problem source and recommend
adaptive life cycle models
extreme programming, scrum
fast tracking
fast track them by doing them in parallel or overlapping them
value analysis
finding less costly ways of doing same work
Plan Quality Management
focuses on defining quality and planning how it will be achieved
Perform quality assurance
focuses on the work being done
functional structure
functional managers report to the CEO
purpose of checksheet/tally sheet
gather data
midrange tools
handle multiple projects and users; cost $200-500 per user; project 2003 is most popular
low end tools
handle single or smaller projects well; cost under $200 per user
waterfall model
has well-defined linear stages of systems development and support
discount rate for high risk projects
higher discount rate
Pareto diagrams
histograms, or column charts representing a frequency distribution, that help identify and prioritize problem areas.
3 parts to scope management plan
how the scope will be: - planned - executed - controlled
seven run rule
if seven data points in a row are all below the mean, above the mean, or are all increasing or decreasing, then the process needs to be examined for non-random problems.
hard skills
include product knowledge and knowing how to use various project management tools and techniques
duration
includes the actual amount of time worked on an activity plus the elapsed time
project scope management
includes the processes involved in defining and controlling what is or is not included in a project
project cost management
includes the processes required to ensure that the project is completed within an approved budget
mean
indicated by line in the middle of the chart
lead
indicates that an activity may begin before its predecessor activity is completed
mandatory dependencies
inherent in the nature of the work being performed on a project, sometimes referred to as hard logic
Statistical sampling
inspecting part of a population
external dependencies
involve relationships between project and non-project activities
crashing
involves adding or adjusting resources to compress the schedule; ex: increase costs, may increase risk
Project execution
involves managing and performing the work described in the project management plan
sequence activities
involves reviewing activities and determining dependencies; MUST do this to determine critical path
sunk cost
money that has been spent in the past; when deciding what projects to invest in or continue, you should not include sunk costs
effort
number of workdays or work hours required to complete a task - does not usually equal duration
merge
occurs on an AOA when 2+ nodes precede a single node
burst
occurs on an AOA when a single node is followed by 2+ activities
project portfolio management
organizations group and manage projects and programs as a portfolio of investments that contribute to the entire enterprise's success (high risk high payoff, low risk low payoff, the others in between)
what is not an acceptable project management practice
padding
who should do the estimating
persons doing the work when possible
other names for management reviews
phase exits or kill points
quality management process
plan quality management, perform quality assurance, control quality
cost baseline
portion of the budget the project manager has control over
quality control charts
prevent defects, rather than to detect or reject them. - allow you to determine whether a process is in control or out of control.
5 cost categories related to quality
prevention cost, appraisal cost, internal failure cost, external failure cost, measurement & test equipment cost
systems analysis
problem-solving approach
Benefits of Six Sigma
profitability, customer requirements, efficiency and effectiveness, empower employees, competitive advantage, data-based decisions
project structure
program managers report to the CEO
reasons for entering into project planning
project initiating is complete
who is responsible for quality
project managers
reserve analysis
project managers have professional responsibility to establish a reserve to accommodate risks - 2 types of reserves: contingency, management reserves
adaptive software development (ADS) life cycle
projects are mission driven and component bases, and use time-based cycles to meet targets ex. potential changes: future government regulation (SOX, HIPA)
activity attributes
provide more info about each activity - like predecessors, successors, logical relationships, leads and lags, requirements, etc.
incremental build model
provides for progressive development of operational software
Upper and lower control limits
quality control charts - Shown as two dashed lines - Acceptable range of variance in results - Indicated what is stable vs. unstable
Just in time
quality must be high if using this strategy
Prevention over inspection
quality must be planned in, not inspected in
Cost of conformance
quality training, studies, surveys, efforts to ensure everyone knows their processes to use to complete their work
WWII planes kept getting shot down. They looked at areas planes had been hit to determine where to reinforce
really they should have been considering where the planes were not hit, because those areas caused the planes not to return home
project scope
refers to all the work involved in creating products of the project and the processes used to create them
dependency/relationship
relates to the sequencing of project activities or tasks
Yield
represents the number of units handled correctly through the process steps.
product scope
requirements that relate to the product of the project
profits
revenues minus expenses
analogy approach
review WBSs of similar projects and tailor to your project
cost of nonconformance
rework, scrap, inventory loss, warranty costs, lost business
baselines for project management
scope, schedule, cost
process
series of actions directed toward a particular result
spiral model
shows that software is developed using an iterative or spiral approach rather than a linear approach
resource smoothing
similar to resource leveling, but only levels within the limits of the float so completion dates are not impacted
guidelines
some orgs, such as the DOD, provide guidelines for preparing WBSs
bottom-up approach
start with the specific tasks and roll them up
learning curve theory
states that when many items are produced repetitively, the unit cost of those items decreases in a regular pattern as more units are produced
SWOT analysis
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
finish-to start
task b cannot start until task A finishes
Standard deviation is a key factor in determining
the acceptable number of defective units found in a population.
slack/float
the amount of time an activity may be delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or the project finish date
shortening
the duration of the critical activities or tasks by adding more resources or changing the scopes
cash flow analysis
the estimated annual costs and benefits for a project and the resulting annual cash flow
opportunity cost
what you give up by selecting a project
when is quality assurance done
while project work is being performed
WBS
work breakdown structure - hierarchy of tasks required to complete a project
operations
work done to sustain the business
mind-mapping approach
write tasks in non-linear branching format and then create the WBS structure
How is Six Sigma Quality Control Unique?
•It requires an organization-wide commitment. •Training follows the "Belt" system •Six Sigma organizations have the ability and willingness to adopt contrary objectives, such as reducing errors and getting things done faster •It is an operating philosophy that is customer focused and strives to drive out waste, raise levels of quality, and improve financial performance at breakthrough levels
Appraisal cost:
Cost of evaluating processes and their outputs to ensure quality
Prevention cost:
Cost of planning and executing a project so it is error-free or within an acceptable error range.
External failure cost:
Cost that relates to all errors not detected and corrected before delivery to the customer.
with plan quality management, keep in mind
Cost-benefit analysis, Cost of quality, Quality must be balanced with other project constrains - scope, time, cost
intangible costs/benefits
Costs or benefits that are difficult to measure in monetary terms
DMAIC stands for
Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control
deliverable
a product or service produced or provided as part of a project
objectives of plan quality mgmt
Identify relevant org and industry practices, standards, and requirements for quality
Six Sigma
A business process for improving quality, reducing costs, and increasing customer satisfaction - instead of focusing on quality initiatives primarily on checking products for defects, the focus is shifted towards improving the production process so that defects don't occur
project life cycle
A collection of project phases, such as concept, development, implementation, and close-out
SIPOC
A common flowchart model - Supplier, input, process, output, customer
requirements documentation
A description of how individual requirements meet the business need for the project.
Source lines of code (SLOC)
A human-written line of code that is not a blank line or comment.
program manager
A person who provides leadership and direction for the project managers heading the projects within a program
network diagram
A schematic display of the logical relationships or sequencing of project activities; either arrow or precedence diagramming methods
project
A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.
high-end tools
Also called enterprise project management software, often licensed on a per-user basis, like Microsoft Enterprise Project Management solution
specification limits
Based on customer expectations (as opposed to control limits which are org limits)
Measurement and test equipment costs:
Capital cost of equipment used to perform prevention and appraisal activities.
Internal failure cost:
Cost incurred to correct an identified defect before the customer receives the product.
Cost Performance Index (CPI)
EV / AC We are getting $___ worth of work out of every $1 spent. Funds are or are not being used efficiently
schedule variance (SV)
EV-PV - Negative is behind schedule, positive is ahead of schedule
EV
Earned Value As of today, what is the estimated value of the work actually accomplished?
impacts of poor quality
Increased costs, Decreased profits, Low morale, Low customer satisfaction, Increased risk, Rework, Schedule delays, Affects company's reputation and market share
control quality ensures that
a certain level of quality is delivered - Measures products/services to see if they meet quality standards
project integration management
a collection of processes that coordinate various aspects of the project ; key to overall project success
project charter
a document that formally recognizes the existence of a project and provides direction on the project's objectives and management
project management plan
a document used to coordinate all project planning documents and help guide a project's execution and control
change control system
a formal documented process that describes when and how official project documents work and may be changed; describes who is authorized to make changes and how to make them
systems development life cycle
a framework for describing the phases involved in developing information systems
Microsoft project
a great resource to use for managing a time-constrained project
program
a group of related projects -managed in a coordinated way -to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually
balanced scorecard
a methodology that converts an organization's value drivers, such as customer service, innovation, operational efficiency, and financial performance, toa series of defined metrics
gold plating
adding extra features that were not part of the product scope.... don't do this; no changes allowed without approved change request and none tha don't fit in charter ; excess and unwanted work that causes projects to go over budget and over deadlines
systems management
address business, technological, and organizational issues before making changes to systems
management reserves
allow for future situations that are unpredictable (sometimes called unknown unknowns
contingency reserves
allow for future situations that may be partially planned for (sometimes called known unknowns) and are included in the project cost baseline
total slack or total float
amount of time an activity can be delayed from its early start without delaying the planned project finish date
time
an important factor in determining process variations.
baseline for project
approved project management plan plus approved changes
temporary
at least having an end date
internal dependencies
based on needs of project and may be something the team can control
defect
is any instance where the product or service fails to meet customer requirements. - there are several opportunities for a defect
scrum
iterative development in which repetitions are referred to as sprints (30 days) meet daily for a short meeting(scrum) works best for object-oriented projects and require strong leadership to coordinate the work
kpi
key performance indicators - different aspects of a balanced score card
reasons for failure in six sigma
lack of benefit qualifications, lack of mgmt buy in, no tangible results, lack of resources, seems too complicated, lack of coaching and skills
when is the 7 run rule used
look for patterns in data on quality control charts
Marginal analysis
looking for the point where benefits/revenue received from improving quality equals the cost to implement
sigma
means standard deviation
Standard deviation
measures how much variation exists in a distribution of data.
matrix structure
middle ground between functional and project structures; personnel often report to 2 or more bosses; structure can be a weak, balanced or strong matrix
resource leveling
the main purpose of resource leveling is to create a smoother distribution of resource use and reduce allocation; typically lengthens schedule; more stable resource utilization
forward pass
the network diagram determines the early start and finish dates
predictive life cycle
the scope of the project can be clearly articulated and the schedule and cost can be predicted
scope creep
the tendency for a project scope to keep getting bigger
tangible costs/ benefits
those costs or benefits that an organization can easily measure in dollars
which aspect of a project has the least amount of flexibility
time
which 2 estimates are interrelated
time and cost
what must changes in scope be evaluated for
time, cost, risk, quality, resources, and customer satisfaction
triple constraint
time, cost, scope; project manager's duty to balance these competing goals; figure out what's most important
main purpose of project planning
to guide execution
life cycle costing
total cost of ownership, or development plus support costs, for a project
TQM
total quality management - continuous improvement
key to improving estimates
use historical information from past projects
how to make estimates more accurate
use smaller-size work components
prototyping model
used for developing prototypes to clarify user requirements
rapid application development (RAD) model
used to produce systems quickly without sacrificing quality (uses prototyping and iterative development
Design of experiments
uses experimentation to determine statistically what variables will improve quality.
systems philosophy
view things as systems, which are interacting components that work within an environment to fulfill some purpose
lag
waiting time between activities