PM Exam 1
Three-Sphere Model for Systems Management:
1. business 2. organization 3. technology
Globalization Key Issues:
1. communicaitons 2. trust 3. common work practices 4. tools
Phases in Traditional Project Management are Called:
1. concept 2. development 3. implementation 4. close-out
Pre-Initiation Tasks:
1. determine the scope, time, and cost constraints 2. identify the project sponsor 3. select the project manager 4. develop a business case for a project 5. meet with the project manager to review the process and expectations for managing the project 6. determine if the project should be divided into two or more smaller projects
Six Main Project Integration Processes:
1. developing project charter 2. developing project management plan 3. directing and managing project work 4. monitoring and controlling project work 5. perfomring integrated change control 6. closing the project or phase
Three Types of Organizational Structures:
1. functional 2. project 3. matrix
Values of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development:
1. individuals and interaction over processes and tools 2. working software over comprehensive documentation 3. customer collaboration over contract negotiation 4. responding to change over following a plan
Disadvantages of Virtual Teams:
1. isolating team members 2. increasing the potential for communication problems 3. reducing the ability for team members to network 4. increasing the dependence on technology to complete work
Advantages of Virtual Teams:
1. lowering costs 2. providing more expertise and flexibility 3. improving the balance between work and life
Ten Characteristics of Organizational Culture:
1. member identity 2. group emphasis 3. people focus 4. unit integration 5. control 6. risk tolerance 7. reward criteria 8. conflict tolerance 9. means-ends orientation 10. open-systems focus
Top Most Important Skills and Competencies for Effective Project Managers:
1. people skills 2. leadership 3. listening 4. integrity, ethical behavior, and consistency 5. strength at building trust 6. verbal communication 7. strength at building teams 8. conflict resolution, conflict management 9. critical thinking, problem solving 10. understanding and balancing of priorities
Scrum Roles:
1. product owner 2. scrum master 3. scrum team or development team
Top Management Commitment is Crucial to Project Managers for the Following Reasons:
1. project managers need adequate resources 2. project managers often require approval for unique project needs in a timely manner 3. project managers must have cooperation from people in other parts of the organization 4. project managers often need someone to mentor and coach them on leadership issues
Common Criteria for Measuring Success:
1. project met scope, time, and cost goals 2. project satisfied the customer/sponsor 3. the results met its main objective
Project Management Knowledge Areas:
1. scope management 2. time management 3. cost management 4. quality management 5. human resource management 6. communications management 7. risk management 8. procurement management 9. stakeholder management 10. integration management
Ceremonies or meetings:
1. sprint planning session 2. daily scrum 3. sprint reviews 4. sprint retrospectives
Four Frames of Organizations
1. structural 2. human resources 3. political 4. symbolic
Factors that Influence the Success of Virtual Teams:
1. team processes 2. leadership style 3. trust and relationships 4. team member selection and role preferences 5. task-technlogy fit 6. cultural differences 7. computer-mediated communication 8. team life cycles 9. incentives 10. conflict management
Three key factors in the growth of PMOs:
1. the growing strategic value 2. the increased role of the PMO in training 3. the ever-present challenge of resource management
What helps a project succeed?
1. user involvement 2. executive support 3. business objectives 4. emotional maturity 5. agile process 6. project management expertise 7. skilled resources 8. execution 9. tools and infrastructure
Six Sigma Methodologies
DMAIC and DMADV
Project Life Cycle
a collection of project phases, define what work will be performed in each phase, what deliverables will be produced and when, and who is involved in each phase, and how management will control and approve work produced in each phase
Stakeholder Register
a document that includes details related to the identified project stakeholders
Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
a framework for describing the phases of developing information systems
Virtual Teams
a group of people who work together despite time and space boundaries using communication technologies
Program
a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually
Kick-Off Meeting
a meeting held at the beginning of a project so that stakeholders can meet each other, review the goals, and discuss future plans
Deliverable
a product or service, such as a technical report, a training session, a piece of hardware, or a segment of software code, produced or provided as part of a project
Process
a series of actions directed toward a particular result
Gantt Chart
a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in calendar form
Project
a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result
Artifact
a useful object created by people; deliverable 1. product backlog 2. sprint backlog 3. burndown chart
Champion
acts as a key proponent for a project
Political Frame
addresses organizational and personal politics
Systems Management
addresses the business, technological, and organizational issues associated with creating, maintaining, and modifying a system
Project Organizational Structure
also is hierarchical, but instead of functional managers or vice presidents reporting to the CEO, program managers report to the CEO
Rational Unified Process (RUP) Framework
an iterative software development process that focuses on team productivity and delivers software best practices to all team members
Project Management Office (PMO)
an organization group responsible for coordinating the project management function throughout an organization
Outsourcing
an organization's acquisition of goods and services from an outside source
Systems Philosophy
an overall model for thinking about things as systems
SWOT Analysis
analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, which is used to aid in strategic planning
Structural Frame
deals with how the organization is structured and focuses on different groups' roles and responsibilities to meet the goals an policies set by top management
Systems Approach
describes a holistic and analytical approach to solving complex problems that includes using a systems philosophy, systems analysis, and systems management
Standard
describes best practices for what should be done to manage a project
Methodology
describes how things should be done and different organizations often have different ways of doing things
Systems Thinking
describes the holistic view that project managers need to take of carrying out projects within the context of the organization
Phase Exits or Kill Points
determine if projects should be continued, redirected, or terminated
External Stakeholders
external customers, competitors, suppliers, government officials, or concerned citizens
Leader
focuses on long-term goals and big-picture objectives while inspiring people to reach those goals
Human Resources Frame
focuses on producing harmony between the needs of the organization and the needs of people; mismatches can occur between the needs of the organization and those of individuals and groups
Symbolic Frame
focuses on symbol and meaning; the most important aspect of any event in an organization is not what actually happened, but what it means
Portfolio Managers
helps their organizations make wise investment decisions by helping to select and analyze projects from a strategic perspective
Politics
in organizations, take the form of competition among groups or individuals for power and leadership
Agile Methods
include an iterative workflow and incremental delivery of software in short iterations
Closing Processes
include formalizing acceptance of the project or project phase and ending it efficiently
Executing Processes
including coordinating people and other resources to carry out the various plans and create the products, services, or results of the project or phase
Initiating Processes
including defining and authorizing a project or project phase
Planning Processes
including devising and maintaining a workable schema to ensure that the project addresses the organization's needs
Monitoring and Controlling Processes
including regularly measuring and monitoring progress to ensure that the project team meets the project objectives
Enterprise or Portfolio Project Management Software
integrates information from multiple projects to show the status of active, approved, and future projects across an entire organization
Project Integration Management
involves coordinating all of the other project management knowledge areas throughout a project's life cycle; ensures that all elements come together at the right times to complete a project successfully
Strategic Planning
involves determining long-term objectives by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, studying opportunities and threats in the business environment, predicting future trends, and projecting the need for new products and services
Interface Management
involves identifying and managing the points of interaction between various elements of a project
Adaptive Software Development (ASD)
life cycle model assumes that software development follows an adaptive approach because the requirements cannot be clearly expressed early in the life cycle; used to provide more freedom than the prescriptive approaches
Manager
often deal with the day-to-day details of meeting specific goals
Projects In Controlled Environments (PRINCE2)
originally released as a generic project management methodology by the UK office of government commerce; defines 45 separate sub processes and organizes them into eight process groups
Offshoring
outsourcing for another country
Agile Software Development
popular to describe new approaches that focus on close collaboration between programming teams and business experts
Systems Analysis
problem-solving approach that requires defining the scope of the system, dividing it into components, and then identifying and evaluating its problems, opportunities, constraints, and needs
Project Management Process Group
progress from initiating activities to planning activities, executing activities, monitoring and controlling actuaries, and closing activities
Program Manager
provides leadership and direction for the project managers heading the projects within the program; coordinate the efforts of the project teams, functional groups, suppliers, and operations staff supporting the projects to ensure that products and processes are implemented to maximize benefits; change agents responsible of the success of products and processes developed by those projects
Matrix Organizational Structure
represents the middle ground between functional and project structures; personnel often report both a functional manager and one or more project managers
Triple Constraint
scope, time, and cost (sometimes include quality)
Organizational Culture
set fo shared assumptions, values, and behavior that characterize the functioning of an organization
Systems
set of interacting components that work within an environment to fulfill some purpose
Ethics
set of principles that guides decision making based on personal values of what is considered right and wrong; generates trust and respect
PMP
someone who has documented sufficient project experience and education, agreed to following the PMI code of professional conduct, and demonstrated knowledge of project management by passing a comprehensive examination
Internal Stakeholders
sponsor, team, support staff, internal customers, top management, functional managers, other project managers
Project Management
the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements
Risk Tolerance
the degree to which employees are encouraged to be aggressive, innovative, and risk seeking
Member Identity
the degree to which employees identify with the organization as a whole rather than with their type of job or profession
Means-Ends Orientation
the degree to which management focuses on outcomes rather than on techniques and processes used to achieve results
People Focus
the degree to which management's decisions take into account the effect of outcomes on people within the organization
Reward Criteria
the degree to which rewards, such as promotions and salary increases, are allocated according to the employee performance rather than seniority, favoritism, or other nonperformance factors
Control
the degree to which rules, policies, and direct supervisions are sued to oversee and control employee behavior
Open-Systems Focus
the degree to which the organization monitors and responds to changes in the external environment
Unit Integration
the degree to which units or departments within an organization are encouraged to coordinate with each other
Group Emphasis
the degree to which works activities are organized around groups or teams
Conflict Tolerance
the degree tow hiccup employees are encouraged to air conflicts and criticism openly
Project Feasibility
the first two project phases which focus on planning
Functional Organizational Structure
the hierarchy most people think o when picturing an organizational chart
Project Acquisition
the last two phases which focus on delivering the actual work
Scrum
the leading agile development method of competing projects with a complex, innovative scope of work
Critical Path
the longest path rough a network diagram that determines the earliest completion of a project
Stakeholders
the people involved in or affected by project activities, and include the project sponsor, project team, support staff, customers, users, suppliers, and even opponents of the project
Predictive Life Cycle
the scope of the project can be articulated clearly and the schedule and cost can be predicted accurately
Super Tools
tools that and high use and high potential for improving project success; software, scope statements, requirement analysis, and lessons-learned reports; kick-off meetings, progress reports, Gantt charts, and change requests
Project Attributes
unique purpose, temporary, developed using progressive elaboration, requires resources from various areas, should have a primary customer or sponsor, uncertainty
Project Sponsor
usually provides the direction and funding for the project
Project Manager
works with the project sponsors, the project team, and the other people involved to meet project goals