Project Management Final

How is a Statement of Work (SOW) different from a contract Statement of Work (CSOW)? What are some of the requirements for creating a CSOW?

A SOW describes the procurement items in detail and work required for each item. It includes specifications, quantity needed, quality levels, work location, period of performance, etc. The CSOW reflects any changes that were made to the SOW during contract negotiations and legally defines the expected performance of the project such as the scope of the work.

_____ a highly respected psychologist, rejected the dehumanizing negativism of psychology and proposed the hierarchy of needs theory.

Abraham Maslow

Key outputs of ___ process are project staff assignment, resource calendars, and project management plan updates

Acquiring the project team

____ is the cost of evaluating processes and their outputs to ensure a project is error-free or within an acceptable error range.

Appraisal cost

_____ generates ideas for quality improvements by comparing specific project practices or product characteristics to those of other projects within or outside the performing organization

Benchmarking

As a manager, you want to praise a team member, Phil, for doing a good job on a particular project. However, you know that Phil tends to be an introvert. Which of the following communication methods would Phil be most comfortable with?

Call Phil in for a private meeting to appreciate his work.

From the buyer's perspective, the ____ is the least desirable among all contracts because the supplier has no incentive to decrease costs.

Cost Plus Percentage of Costs (CPPC) - the buyer pays the supplier for allowable performance costs along with a predetermined percentage based on total costs. This is the least desirable to the buyer because the supplier has no incentive to decrease costs.

What are the 5 phases of the DMAIC process? Describe each one.

Define - define the problem/opportunity, process, and customer requirements Measure - Define measures, then collect, compile, and display data Analyze - scrutinize process details to find improvement opportunities Improve - generate solutions and ideas for improving the problem Control - track and verify the stability of the improvements and predictability of the solution

_____ is listening with the intent to understand

Empathic listening

The acquiring of the project team is a subprocess associated with the ____ process of project human resource management.

Executing

T/F - A RAM is used only to assign detailed work activities

False - In addition to using RAM to assign detailed work activities, you can use it to define general roles and responsibilities on projects. This type of RAM can include stakeholders in the project.

T/F - The email is the most appropriate medium for all types of communications.

False - not appropriate for assessing commitment, building consensus, mediating a conflict, resolving a misunderstanding, making an ironic statement, conveying a reference document, reinforcing one's authority, or maintaining confidentiality.

Describe the concepts of informal methods for distributing information. How do they compare to formal methods?

Informal methods include methods such as emails or quick discussion, rather than more formal reports and scheduled meetings. Informal meetings are used to convey info while also developing relationships and building teams, while formal meetings are more geared towards just conveying the info in order to accomplish a task at hand.

____ are normally provided as status reports or progress reports

Performance reports

List and briefly describe the six major processes involved in risk management

Plan Risk Management - Decide how to approach and plan the risk management activities Identify risks - determine which characteristics are likely to affect a project and document their characteristics Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis - prioritize risks based on probability and impact of occurrence Plan Risk Responses - take steps to enhance opportunities and reduce threats Control Risk - monitor identified and residual risks, identify new risks, carry out risk response plans, and evaluate the effectiveness of risk strategies through the project's life

The ____ lists the relative probability of a risk occurring and the relative impact of the risk occurring

Probability/Impact Matrix

The purpose of ____ is to ensure the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken.

Project Quality Management

____ are a complete set of organized project records that provide an accurate history of the project

Project archives

"Outsourcing to provide extra workers during periods of peak workloads can be much more economical than trying to fill entire projects with internal resources". Which of the following advantage does this characteristic of outsourcing provide organizations?

Provides a company flexibility in staffing

List and briefly describe the 3 project quality management processes

Quality Planning - Identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and how to satisfy them Quality Assurance - Periodically evaluating overall project performance to ensure the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards Quality Control - Monitoring specific project results to ensure they comply with relevant quality standards

_____ is a relation of harmony, conformity, accord, or affinity, and is important for communication.

Rapport

A(n) ____ is a document used to solicit proposals from prospective suppliers

Request for Proposal (RFP)

____ involves changing the size of the opportunity by identifying and maximizing key drivers of the positive risk

Risk enhancement

The ____ is the person who will own or take responsibility for the risk

Risk owner

Which of the following methods of communication is likely to be most effective for conveying sensitive or important information?

Short face-to-face meetings

According to Lencioni, which of the following qualities is present in organizations that succeed?

Teamwork

Which of the following is true of a project communications plan?

The communications plan should be part of the overall project management plan

Which of the following is true of lump-sum contracts?

They involve a fixed total price for a well-defined product or service

T/F - A key factor in evaluating bids, particularly for projects involving information technology, is the past performance record of the bidder.

True

T/F - A staffing management plan describes when and how people will be added to and taken off the project team

True

T/F - Adding more people to a project that is falling behind schedule often causes more setbacks because of the increased complexity of communications

True

T/F - Good information technology project managers must have strong technical and communication skills

True

T/F - In TQC, product quality is more important than production rates, and workers are allowed to stop production whenever a quality problem occurs

True

T/F - The Monte Carlo analysis can predict the probability of finishing by a certain date or the probability that the cost will be equal to or less than a certain value

True

T/F - The communications management plan varies with the needs of the project

True

T/F - The mains sections of an RFP can include the statement of work and schedule information

True

T/F - The risk register can be created with a simple Microsoft Word or Excel file

True

____ is an independent test performed by end users prior to accepting the delivered system

User acceptance testing

____ are unplanned responses to risk events used when project teams do not have contingency plans in place

Workarounds

An important tool used in the ____ phase of the DMAIC process is the fishbone or Ishikawa diagram

analyze

Many experts agree that the greatest threat to the success of any project, especially information technology projects, is a failure to _____

communicate

____ monitoring and controlling project communications to ensure that stakeholder communication needs are met

controlling communications

A(n) ____ type of e-procurement that identifies new suppliers for a specific category of purchasing requirements using Internet technology

e-sourcing

As the number of people involved in a project ____, the complexity of communications _____

increases, increases

The formula to determine the number of communication channels is ____, where n is the number of people involved

n(n-1)/2

Using the formula for calculating the number of communications channels, how many channels would 5 people require?

n(n-1)/2 = 5(5-1)/2 = 10

Many information technology professionals work on ___ projects where they never meet their project sponsors, other team members, or other project stakeholders

virtual

Project teams sometimes use ____, which are unplanned responses to risk events, when they do not have contingency plans in place

workarounds