MIS 4310 - Chapter 3

_____ includes measuring progress toward project objectives and taking corrective action to match progress with the plan.

Montioring and controlling

_____ is a project management methodology that defines 45 separate subprocesses and organizes these into eight process groups.

PRojects IN Controlled Environments

_____ progress from initiation activities to planning activities, executing activities, monitoring and controlling activities, and closing activities.

Project management process groups

Which of the following project parameters would be compatible with the use of the agile approach?

Projects that have more flexible scheduling

_____ is an iterative software development process that focuses on team productivity and delivers software best practices to all team members.

Rational Unified Process

A(n) _____ is a cross-functional team of five to nine people who organize themselves and the work to produce the desired results for each sprint.

Scrum team

A(n) _____ is the person who ensures that the team is productive, facilitates the daily Scrum, enables close cooperation across all roles and functions, and removes barriers that prevent the team from being effective.

ScrumMaster

_____ are people involved in or affected by project activities and include the project sponsor, project team, support staff, customers, users, suppliers, and even opponents to the project.

Stakeholders

Details of kick-off meetings and the stakeholder details are usually recorded in a Word document.

TRUE

Identifying the project sponsor is a pre-initiation task.

TRUE

In the Scrum method, team members work as a self-directed group coached by the ScrumMaster.

TRUE

Initiating processes take place during each phase of a project.

TRUE

Many project management activities occur as part of the planning process group.

TRUE

Monitoring and controlling processes overlap all of the other project management process groups.

TRUE

The DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) methodology of the Six Sigma projects, is used to improve an existing business process.

TRUE

The WBS provides a basis for creating the project schedule and performing earned value management for measuring and forecasting project performance.

TRUE

The executing process group generally requires the most resources.

TRUE

The level of activity and length of each process group varies for every project.

TRUE

The two main items for monitoring and controlling in the Scrum framework are the daily

TRUE

If done well, the _________ can produce several releases of useful software.

agile approach

In Scrum, a(n) _____ is a useful object created by people.

artifact

Which of the following activities is a part of the planning process of the Scrum?

Creating sprint backlog

_____ are an output of the executing process of project integration management.

Deliverables

Which of the following is a pre-initiation task?

Developing a business case for a project

_____ the project includes work required to introduce any new hardware, software, and procedures into normal operations.

Executing

A milestone list is an output associated with the Project Scope Management knowledge area.

FALSE

Agile methods comprise of 45 subprocesses which are organized into eight process groups.

FALSE

An organization's project management plan expresses the vision, mission, goals, objectives, and strategies of the organization.

FALSE

Decisions and actions taken in one knowledge area at a certain time rarely affect other knowledge areas.

FALSE

Initiating and closing tasks are usually the longest and require the most amount of resources and time.

FALSE

Initiating processes are not required to end a project.

FALSE

Key outcomes of the executing process group are formal acceptance of the work and creation of closing documents.

FALSE

The Rational Unified Process (RUP) framework is incompatible with the PMBOK process.

FALSE

The burndown chart is a Scrum created artifact that provides a list of features prioritized by business value.

FALSE

The kick-off meeting is always held before the business case and project charter are completed.

FALSE

The output of the stakeholder management strategy results is a project charter.

FALSE

The pre-initiation phase of a project using the Scrum method does not involve project charters, stakeholder management strategy, and kick-off meetings.

FALSE

The ideal outcome of the _____ process group is to complete a project successfully by delivering the agreed-upon project scope within time, cost, and quality constraints.

monitoring and controlling

The project scope management knowledge area maps to the _____ process group through the activities of scope validation and scope control.

monitoring and controlling

The project time management knowledge area maps to the _____ process group through the activity of schedule control.

monitoring and controlling

_____ processes include devising and maintaining a workable scheme to ensure that the project addresses the organization's needs.

planning

A(n) _____ is a document that includes stakeholders' roles, names, organizations, and contact information.

stakeholder register

Examples of _____ processes include acquiring and developing the project team, performing quality assurance, distributing information, managing stakeholder expectations, and conducting procurements.

executing

The most time and money should be spent on

executing

_________ issues often occur during project execution, especially conflicts.

Human resource

_____ processes include defining and authorizing a project or project phase.

Initiating

Which of the following is true about the agile method?

It uses several iterations or deliveries of software instead of waiting until the end of the project to provide a product.

In the Scrum method, what role is played by the ScrumMaster?

The ScrumMaster facilitates four ceremonies or meetings when using Scrum methods: • Sprint planning session: A meeting with the team to select a set of work from the product backlog to deliver during a sprint. This meeting takes about four hours to a full day. • Daily Scrum: A short meeting for the development team to share progress and challenges and plan work for the day. Ideally the team members are in the same place, the meeting usually lasts no more than 15 minutes, and it is held at the same time and place each day. If that is not possible, teams can use videoconferencing to have short virtual meetings. The ScrumMaster asks what work has been done since yesterday, what work is planned for today, and what impediments or stumbling blocks might hamper the team's efforts. The ScrumMaster documents these stumbling blocks and works with key stakeholders to resolve them after the daily Scrum. Many teams use the term issues for items that do not have to be solved in the next 24 hours and blockers for items that need to be addressed immediately. This allows a ScrumMaster to maintain focus on highest-priority items (blockers) first and then manage the resolution of other issues over the next day or so. • Sprint reviews: A meeting in which the team demonstrates to the product owner what it has completed during the sprint. • Sprint retrospectives: A meeting in which the team looks for ways to improve the product and the process based on a review of the actual performance of the development team.

What is a work breakdown structure?

The WBS is a very important tool in project management because it provides the basis for deciding how to do the work. The WBS also provides a basis for creating the project schedule and performing earned value management for measuring and forecasting project performance.

_____ are short descriptions written by customers of what they need a Scrum system to do for them.

User stories

The _____ is a very important tool in project management because it provides the basis for deciding how to do the work.

WBS

A _____ is an important Scrum artifact used to graphically display progress on each sprint during the monitoring and controlling process.

burndown chart

The _____ process involves gaining stakeholder and customer acceptance of the final products and services and bringing the project, or project phase, to an orderly end.

closing

_____ is a planning process that is within the Project Scope Management knowledge area.

creation of a wbs

One of the main outputs of the initiation process is _____.

developing the project charter

The main purpose of project plans is to

guide project execution

During _____ processes for a new project, the organization recognizes that a new project exists, and completes a project charter as part of this recognition.

initiating

The project integration management knowledge area maps to the _____ process group through the activities of developing project charters.

initiating

The project stakeholder management knowledge area maps to the ______ process group by identifying stakeholders.

initiating

The project management plan is the output of the planning process of project _____.

integration management

A(n) _____ is a meeting held at the beginning of a project so that stakeholders can meet each other, review the goals of the project, and discuss future plans.

kick-off meeting

A(n) _____ describes how things should be done.

methodology

A common _____ process is reporting performance, where project stakeholders can identify any necessary changes that may be required to keep the project on track.

monitoring and controlling

A(n)_____ is a series of actions directed toward a particular result.

process

A(n) _____ is the person responsible for the business value of the project and for deciding what work to do and in what order when using a Scrum method.

product owner

Enterprise environmental factors are an output of the executing process of _____.

project human resource management

Organizational process assets update is the output of the closing process of _____.

project integration management

Developing a _____ is a planning process that occurs in the Project Integration Management knowledge area.

project management plan

A risk register is the output of _____.

risk identification planning

A(n) _____ is a set period of time, normally two to four weeks, during which specific work must be completed and made ready for review when using Scrum methods.

sprint

A(n) _____ is a Scrum artifact and consists of the highest-priority items from the product backlog to be completed in a sprint.

sprint backlog

The improvement of the product and process in the Scrum method is discussed at the _____.

sprint reflection meeting

A _____ is usually not necessary to the Scrum method.

team contract

The _____ provides a basis for creating the project schedule and performing earned value management for measuring and forecasting project performance.

work breakdown structure

What is a methodology and what are some methodologies other than the PMBOK Guide do organizations use as a basis for project management methodology?

"A methodology describes how things should be done, and different organizations often have different ways of doing things. In addition to using the PMBOK® Guide as a basis for project management methodology, many organizations use others, such as the following: • PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2): Originally developed for information technology projects, PRINCE2 was released in 1996 as a generic project management methodology by the U.K. Office of Government Commerce (OCG). It is the de facto standard in the United Kingdom and is used in over 50 countries. PRINCE2 defines 45 separate subprocesses and organizes these into eight process groups as follows: 1. Starting up a project 2. Planning 3. Initiating a project 4. Directing a project 5. Controlling a stage 6. Managing product delivery 7. Managing stage boundaries 8. Closing a project • Agile methodologies: Agile software development is a form of adaptive software development. All agile methodologies include an iterative workflow and incremental delivery of software in short iterations. Several popular agile methodologies include extreme programming, scrum, feature driven development, lean software development, Agile Unified Process (AUP), Crystal, and Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM). • Rational Unified Process (RUP) framework: RUP is an iterative software development process that focuses on team productivity and delivers software best practices to all team members. According to RUP expert Bill Cottrell, "RUP embodies industry-standard management and technical methods and techniques to provide a software engineering process particularly suited to creating and maintaining component-based software system solutions." Cottrell explains that you can tailor RUP to include the PMBOK process groups, since several customers asked for that capability. There are several other project management methodologies specifically for software development projects such as Joint Application Development (JAD) and Rapid Application Development (RAD). • Six Sigma methodologies: Many organizations have projects underway that use Six Sigma methodologies. The work of many project quality experts contributed to the development of today's Six Sigma principles. Two main methodologies are used on Six Sigma projects: DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) is used to improve an existing business process, and DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify) is used to create new product or process designs to achieve predictable, defect-free performance."

Describe the process of initiating a project and the issues involved.

"In project management, initiating includes recognizing and starting a new project. An organization should put considerable thought into project selection to ensure that it initiates the right kinds of projects for the right reasons. It is better to have a moderate or even small amount of success on an important project than huge success on one that is unimportant. The selection of projects for initiation, therefore, is crucial, as is the selection of project managers. Ideally, the project manager would be involved in initiating a project, but often the project manager is selected after many initiation decisions have already been made. Organizations must also understand and plan for the ongoing support that is often required after implementing a new system or other product or service resulting from a project. It is important to remember that strategic planning should serve as the foundation for deciding which projects to pursue. The organization's strategic plan expresses the vision, mission, goals, objectives, and strategies of the organization. It also provides the basis for information technology project planning. Information technology is usually a support function in an organization, so it is critical that the people initiating information technology projects understand how those projects relate to current and future needs of the organization. Information systems must support the firm's business goals, such as providing consulting services more effectively and efficiently. An organization may initiate information technology projects for several reasons, but the most important reason is to support business objectives. Providing a good return on investment at a reasonable level of risk is also important, especially in tough economic times."

List and describe the five process management groups.

"Initiating processes include defining and authorizing a project or project phase. Initiating processes take place during each phase of a project. Therefore, you cannot equate process groups with project phases. Recall that there can be different project phases, but all projects will include all five process groups. For example, project managers and teams should reexamine the business need for the project during every phase of the project life cycle to determine if the project is worth continuing. Initiating processes are also required to end a project. Someone must initiate activities to ensure that the project team completes all the work, documents lessons learned, assigns project resources, and that the customer accepts the work. Planning processes include devising and maintaining a workable scheme to ensure that the project addresses the organization's needs. There are several plans for projects, such as the scope management plan, schedule management plan, cost management plan, procurement management plan, and so on, defining each knowledge area as it relates to the project at that point in time. For example, a project team must develop a plan to define the work that needs to be done for the project, to schedule activities related to that work, to estimate costs for performing the work, to decide what resources to procure to accomplish the work, and so on. To account for changing conditions on the project and in the organization, project teams often revise plans during each phase of the project life cycle. Executing processes include coordinating people and other resources to carry out the various plans and produce the products, services, or results of the project or phase. Examples of executing processes include acquiring and developing the project team, performing quality assurance, distributing information, managing stakeholder expectations, and conducting procurements. Monitoring and controlling processes include regularly measuring and monitoring progress to ensure that the project team meets the project objectives. The project manager and staff monitor and measure progress against the plans and take corrective action when necessary. A common monitoring and controlling process is reporting performance, where project stakeholders can identify any necessary changes that may be required to keep the project on track. Closing processes include formalizing acceptance of the project or project phase and ending it efficiently. Administrative activities are often involved in this process group, such as archiving project files, closing out contracts, documenting lessons learned, and receiving formal acceptance of the delivered work as part of the phase or project."

Which of the following is a planning process associated with project scope management?

Collecting requirements

Project initiation involves taking the actions necessary to ensure that activities in the project plan are completed.

FALSE

A sprint review is a meeting in which the team demonstrates to the product owner what it has completed during the sprint.

TRUE

Administrative activities, such as archiving project files, closing out contracts, documenting lessons learned, and receiving formal acceptance of the delivered work as part of the phase or project, are often involved in _____ processes.

closing

The most difficult and unappreciated process in project management is often

planning

The project cost management knowledge area maps to the _____ process group through the activities of estimating costs and budget determination.

planning