Project Management Chapter 1

Alignment to the strategic plan

What should describe how the project and its outcomes will align to the organization's overall strategic plan.

Nine Project Management Knowledge Areas

1 - Project Integration Management 2 - Project Scope Management 3 - Project Time Management 4 - Project Cost Management 5 - Project Quality Management 6 - Project Human Resource Management 7 - Project Communications Management 8 - Project Risk Management 9 - Project Procurement Management

Characteristics of Matrixed Org.

1 - low to moderate authority for the pm 2- a mix of full-time and part-time project resources 3 - Better interdepartmental communication

Three types of matrix organizations

1 - strong matrix 2 - week matrix 3 - balanced matrix

Seven needs or demands described next:

1. Market demand 2. Strategic opportunity 3. business need 4. Customer Request 5. Technological advance 6. Legal requirement 7. Ecological Impact/Social need

Net present value

A cash flow technique that calculates the revenues or cash flows the organization expects to receive over the life of the project in today's dollars.

Program

A group of related projects that are managed together using coordinated processes and techniques.

Stakeholder

A project ends when those goals have been met to whose satisfaction?

Unique

A project is typically undertaken to meet a specific business objective. It involves doing something new, which means that the end result should be a unique product or service. These products may be marketed to others, may be used internally, may provide support for ongoing operations, and so on.

Business Case

A written document or report that helps executive management and key stakeholders determine the benefits and rewards of the project.

Feasibility study

Formal endeavor that is undertaken to determine whether there is a compelling reason to perform the propose project.

Advantages of a Functional Organization

Growth Potential and career path, opportunity for those with unique skills to flourish, A clear chain of command--each person had one supervisor

Temporary Projects

Have definite start and end dates. The time it takes to complete the work of the project can vary in overall length from a few weeks to several years, but there is always a start date and an end date.

project performance indicators

Measurement indicators that the project manager uses to determine whether the project is on track, such as any deviation from the baseline schedule or the baseline budget.

Operations

Ongoing and repetitive. No beginning or ending date unless you are starting a new process or retiring a new one.

Disadvantages of Functional Organization

PMs have limited authority, multiple projects complete for the same limited resources, resources are generally committed part time to projects rather than full time and issue resolution must follow the dept chain of command and project team members are loyal to the functional manager.

functional organization

Staff is organized along departmental lines, such as IT, marketing, sales, etc. Each department is managed independently with limited span of control. Siloed and deliverables are worked on independently in different departments.

Advantage of a Project Based Organization

Team members are co-located, meaning they work together at the same physical location.: the project manager has a high authority level, full-time resources are assigned to the project, loyalty is established with the project manager rather than a functional manager, and you have a dedicated project support staff.

Project

Temporary endeavor that has definite beginning and ending dates, and it results in a unique product, service, or result.

Internal rate of return

The Discount rate when the present value of the cash inflows equals the original investment.

Resources and quality

The characteristics of a project include this to complete the work of the project and assuring the results of the project meet the quality standards outlined in the project plan.

project manager

The person responsible for applying the skills, knowledge, and project management tools and techniques to the project activities to successfully complete the project objectives.

Strong Matrix

The strong matrix organization emphasizes project work over functional duties. The project manager has the majority of power in this type of organization.

Discounted cash flow

The technique that compares the value of the future worth of the project's expected cash flows to today's dollars

Project Based Organization

The type of organization where the focus of the organization is projects, rather than functional work units.

Balanced Matrix

Type matrix that shares equal emphasis between projects and functional work. Both the project manager and the functional manager share power in this type of structure.

Weak Matrix

Type of matrix organization emphasizes functional work over project work and operates more like a functional hierarchy. The functional mangers have the majority of power in this type of organization.

Matrixed Organization

Type of organization that is organized along departmental lines and resources assigned to a project are accountable to the project manager for all work associated with the project. Project Manager is often a peer of the functional staff managers. Team members working on the project often have two or more supervisors--their functional mgr and the project manager.

PMO

What organization is responsible for maintaining standards, processes, and procedures related to the management of projects.

Justification

What provides the benefits to the organization for undertaking the project.

Expert judgment

What relies on the expertise of stakeholders, subject matter experts, or those who have previous experience to help reach a decision regarding project selection.

Drawback of a Project based Organization

What would reassigning project team members once the project ends be an example of?

Benefit measurement methods

Which Measurement method provide a means to compare the benefits obtained from project requests by evaluating them using the same criteria.

Decision Model

Which Model is a formal method of project selection that helps managers make decisions regarding the use of limited budgets and human resources.

Cost-benefit analysis

Which analysis compares the cost to produce the product or service to the financial gain (or benefit) the organization stands to make as a result of executing the project.

Scoring Model

Which model has a predefined list of criteria against which each project is rated.

Economic model

Which model is a series of financial calculations, also known as cash flow techniques, which provide data on the overall financials of the project.

Constrained optimization models

Which models are mathematical models, some of which are very complicated.

Payback Period

Which technique is a cash flow technique that identifies the length of time it takes for the organization to recover all the costs of producing the project.

Stakeholders

Who has a vested interest in the project?

Project Management Knowledge Areas

collections of individual processes that have elements in common.