Foundations of Project Management
You expect that a project will bring in $15,000 USD in revenue per year. You estimate it will cost $10,000 up front. You also estimate costs of $100 per month for the first 12 months, which equals $1,200 per year. Using the formula (G-C) ÷ C = ROI, how would you calculate the project's return on investment (ROI) after the first 12 months?
(15,000 - 11,200) ÷ 11,200 = 34%
What is the ROI formula?
(G - C) / C = ROI G - represents the financial gains you expect from the project C - represents the upfront and ongoing costs of your investment in the project For example, imagine your project costs $6,000 up front plus $25 per month for 12 months. This equals $300 per year, but you estimate that the project will bring in $10,000 in revenue over the course of that year. Using the formula above, you calculate the ROI as: ($10,000 - $6,300) ÷ $6,300 = 0.58 = 58% The ROI comes to 0.58, or 58%. You consider this to be a strong ROI, so you decide to pursue the project.
The seven key principles of Six Sigma
1. Always focus on the customer. 2. Identify and understand how the work gets done. Understand how work really happens. 3. Make your processes flow smoothly. 4. Reduce waste and concentrate on value. 5. Stop defects by removing variation. 6. Involve and collaborate with your team. 7. Approach improvement activity in a systematic way.
How many OKR Key results must be added for each Objective?
2-3 key results for each objective
For what period should be set OKR Objectives?
3-6 months
Define organizational culture.
A company's shared values, mission, and history
Which two terms are customer-related metrics to consider for success criteria? Product defects and delays Production and output Adoption and engagement
Adoption and engagement Adoption refers to how the customer uses the product without any issues. Engagement refers to how often customer interaction happens over time.
Popular project management approaches
Waterfall Agile Scrum Kanban Lean Six Sigma Lean Six Sigma
Imagine that a project manager has just begun working on a project for a trucking logistics company. The customer wants to see a proposal as soon as possible, but it is taking the project manager longer than expected because he needs more input from stakeholders and the project team. What should the project manager do to turn the project into a success?
Ask the customer for more time to consult with stakeholders and the project team to deliver an accurate cost and timeline proposal.
Strong OKR Objectives meet the following criteria:
Aspirational Aligned with organizational goals Action-oriented Concrete Significant To help shape each objective, ask yourself and your team: Does the objective help in achieving the project's overall goals? Does the objective align with company and departmental OKRs? Is the objective inspiring and motivational? Will achieving the objective make a significant impact?
A project manager forgets to assess how national holidays and team member vacations will affect the project's completion date. Now, because of team member time off, the project delivery will be two weeks late. What flexible planning strategy could the project manager have used to avoid the delay?
Assessing external constraints
As someone interviewing for a project management role, you ask questions about how team members provide feedback, how the company celebrates success, and expectations of risk-taking. Which part of a company's culture do these questions help you learn more about?
Atmosphere
Why is it important to initiate a project (phase one) before making a plan (phase two)?
Because understanding scope, cost, and timeline is crucial to creating a budget, setting a schedule, and determining roles and responsibilities
_____ is how a project manager oversees the financial components of a project and mitigates project issues and risks as they come up.
Budgeting and controlling costs
When budgeting a project, what is the responsibility of a project manager?
Controlling costs to ensure more money isn't spent than what key stakeholders approved
Which term refers to the delivery of a completed project and its successful adoption by an organization?
Change management
What is scope creep?
Changes, growth, and uncontrolled factors that affect a project scope at any point after the project begins Scope creep includes changes, growth, and uncontrolled factors that affect a project scope at any point after the project begins. Scope creep is a common problem, and it's not always easy to control.
Which of the following best describes scope creep? Cancelling a project after it has begun Adding members to a project team Changing a project after it begins Changing a project before it begins
Changing a project after it begins Scope creep refers to changes, growth, and uncontrolled factors that affect a project scope at any point after the project begins.
Managing cross-functional teams effectively requires the project manager to (4)
Clarify goals Get team members with right skills Measure progress Recognize efforts
What organizational structure this scenario describes? Scenario: Imagine you are managing an important project at a company that requires all orders to go through its shipping department. However, your project is on a tight schedule, and the shipping department has a backlog of orders. You decide to meet with your direct manager to ask for approval to place the order through a third-party vendor. Ultimately, your direct manager has to meet with a vice president to get final approval.
Classic structure
During which phase of the project life cycle does a project manager hand off all remaining deliverables?
Close the project
Which skill should a project manager use when dealing with change and ambiguity?
Flexibility
_____ are the first thing a project manager needs to consider during the initiation phase.
Goals
As a project manager, you choose the best project management methodology for your team and ensure they adhere to it throughout the project. What project management responsibility does this represent?
Help teammates adopt the right workflows and project management styles.
What is organizational structure? What are two of the most common organizational structures?
Organizational structure is the way a company is arranged. Two structures: Classic and Matrix
_____ is how a project manager makes use of productivity tools and creates processes. The project manager may need to use certain tools and processes to do tasks like create a schedule and share information.
Planning and organizing
What has a clear outcome and a clearly-defined start and end date?
Project
You're a project manager on a team that is improving a product. How can you enable your teammates to make decisions?
Provide data and feedback about how customers interact with the product.
What is cost-benefit analysis (CBA)?
Cost-Benefit analysis (CBA) is a systemic process for calculating and comparing benefits in the dollar costs
WHO is a person or an organization that defines the project requirements. They also may set important guidelines, such as the budget and deadlines.
Customer
The Lean Six Sigma approach includes which of the following phases?
Define, measure, analyze, improve, control
What are Objectives stands for in OKR?
Defines what needs to be achieved; describes a desired outcome.
Suppose that as a project manager, you assign tasks to the team members who can best complete them. What project management value does this represent?
Delegation
At what time during a project should defining project scope happen?
During the initial project planning phase Defining scope before a project starts helps mitigate the risk of big changes later on.
Using tools such as a digital calendar and a spreadsheet to track team tasks is evidence of what project management skill?
Effective organizational skills
Skills for successful project management (4)
Enabling decision making Communicating and escalating Flexibility Strong organizational skills
To be an effective project manager, what important actions/steps should you take?
Ensure team members understand the team's objectives and their individual tasks
In which project phase does the project manager break down barriers for teammates and address weaknesses in task processes?
Execute the project
Phases of the Project Life Cycle
Initiate (Initiating the project) Plan (Making a plan) Execute (Executing and completing tasks) Close (Closing the project)
Imagine a project manager oversees their company's transition to a new financial management system. They determine that the project goal is to make the financial portal easier for employees to use. They also identify key stakeholders and outline project objectives. During which phase of the project life cycle do these activities take place?
Initiate the project
How does a company's organizational structure impact project management?
It affects the project manager's authority and the availability of resources.
Which of the following best describes the difference between in-scope and out-of-scope? Items within the project boundaries that are contributing to the project's overall goal and items that are not Goals you believe your team needs to meet and goals the stakeholders believe the team needs to meet Problems the project manager can easily recognize and problems the project managers cannot recognize Tasks you believe your team should complete first and tasks the team believes they should complete first
Items within the project boundaries that are contributing to the project's overall goal and items that are not It's your job as a project manager to set firm boundaries for the project so the team can stay on track.
What is the project management term for meeting the success criteria you establish at the beginning of the project? Landing Kickoff Feedback
Landing While the launch is when you complete your project, the landing is once you determine it works and you satisfy your success criteria.
What is the project management term for delivering the final result of your project to the client or user? Landing Kickoff Launch
Launch The launch is when you finish building or creating your project and you're ready to present it to the client.
Which project management approach uses the 5S quality tool and implements a Kanban scheduling system to manage production?
Lean
What can a project manager do to recognize individuals' efforts on a team?
Learn what makes team members feel supported and provide positive feedback.
_____ is how a project manager keeps track of the team's workload, ensures that things are getting done within a set period of time, and demonstrates progress to people outside the immediate team, like stakeholders.
Managing tasks
What is the project manager's primary job in phase three (execute and complete tasks) of the project life cycle?
Monitor the project team as they complete tasks and break down any barriers
Suppose that unless a teammate receives additional resources, they are going to complete an activity past a deadline. You know that the stakeholders are reluctant to provide additional resources. Which interpersonal skill can you use to strike a middle ground between both the teammate's and stakeholders' needs?
Negotiation
What is OKR?
Objectives and Key Results
A designer on your project team suggests making changes to the product's logo just prior to launch. What's a strategy that could help avoid this internal scope creep? Push back the product's launch date to allow time for the design to implement changes to the logo. Have the designer begin to implement the logo design changes immediately. Assign some of the designer's tasks to someone else so they can begin working on the logo changes. Remind the designer about the project's scope and the effects of internal scope creep.
Remind the designer about the project's scope and the effects of internal scope creep. Any changes to the product or processes can affect the bottom line or schedule and risk successfully completing the project.
Imagine that a university hires a construction company to build a new library. Before starting, the project manager outlines the building materials the project needs. They also outline the roles and amount of workers to hire. Which key component of project initiation does this scenario concern?
Resources
Strong OKR Key results meet the following criteria:
Results-oriented—not a task Measurable and verifiable Specific and time-bound Aggressive yet realistic To help shape your key results, ask yourself and your team the following: What does success mean? What metrics would prove that we've successfully achieved the objective?
When using the triple constraint model, what are the three restrictions a project manager refers to? Select all that apply. Goals Scope Cost Time
Scope Cost Time
Name the SMART goals elements
Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-bound
Who will ultimately judge if the project meets its goals, deliverables, requirements, and other success criteria? (can choose few) Production team Stakeholders and customers Project sponsor
Stakeholders and customers The success criteria should be clearly agreed upon at the beginning of the project. The stakeholders and customers ultimately judge if the team meets the success criteria.
Imagine you're the project manager of a new grocery delivery service. You meet with stakeholders to decide how to measure project success. Which project initiation component are you trying to determine?
Success criteria
Which of the following terms tells you whether or not the project is successful? Deviation criteria Success standards Success criteria
Success criteria Stakeholders and the project manager define the success criteria at the beginning of a project.
Project Manager Responsibilities (5)
Teaching and mentoring Empowering the team Communicating Controlling change Building relationships
What are Key results stands for in OKR?
The measurable outcomes that objectively define when the objective has been met
What is return on investment (ROI)?
The net return from a marketing investment divided by the costs of the marketing investment.
What does project scope refer to?
The project boundaries
Common myths about project managers (3)
You have to be an expert in the field and have a lot of technical knowledge about the project. Only people with a lot of experience within an organization can manage projects successfully. You have to know every single detail about the project at all times.
Project governance covers ...
decisions such as policies, regulations, functions, processes, and procedures
A cross-functional project team is a team that has _____.
diverse skill sets and works toward a common goal
Project management is valuable to businesses because it...
helps ensure that a project delivers the expected outcomes on time and within budget.
A _____ is a document that defines project goals and outlines what is needed to accomplish them.
project charter
A cost-benefit analysis weighs the potential value of a project against money, resources, and _____ required.
time
Organizational culture refers to a company's ...
values and personality