Project Management Key Concepts

A set of flashcards that cover key concepts in project management, based on the provided lecture notes.

What is a Project Schedule?

An output of a schedule model that presents linked activities with planned dates, durations, milestones, and resources.

What does a Milestone Schedule present?

A type of schedule that presents milestones with planned dates.

How is Quality defined in project management?

The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements.

What is Project Management?

The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.

Who are Stakeholders in a project?

An individual, group, or organization that may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project, program, or portfolio.

What is a Portfolio in the context of project management?

Projects, programs, subsidiary portfolios, and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives.

What is included in a Project Management Plan?

The document that describes how the project will be executed, monitored and controlled, and closed.

What does Product Scope refer to?

The features and functions that characterize a product, service, or result.

Define Governance in project management.

The framework for directing and enabling an organization through its established policies, practices, and other relevant documentation.

What is a Budget in project management?

The approved estimate for the project or any work breakdown structure (WBS) component or any schedule activity.

What is a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)?

A hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.

What is Change Management?

A comprehensive, cyclic, and structured approach for transitioning individuals, groups, and organizations from a current state to a future state with intended business benefits.

What does a Deployment plan indicate?

How a completed product will be deployed.

What is a Milestone?

A significant point or event in a project, program, or portfolio.

Define Risk in project management terms.

An uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on one or more project objectives.

What is the Predictive Life Cycle?

Defined as the scope of the project, including time and costs, that are necessary to deliver it, determined early in the project's lifecycle.

Who is a Project Manager?

The person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives.

What is a Risk Register?

A repository in which outputs of risk management processes are recorded.

What is a Risk Report?

A project document that summarizes information on individual project risks and the level of overall project risk.

What is an Issue Log?

A project document where information about issues is recorded and monitored.

What does a Communications Management Plan describe?

How, when, and by whom information about the project will be administered and disseminated.

What does the Product Life Cycle refer to?

A series of phases that represent the evolution of a product, from concept through delivery, growth, maturity, and to retirement.

What is a Project Charter?

A document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.

What is a Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)?

A grid that shows the project resources assigned to each work package.

What does the Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix compare?

Current and desired stakeholder engagement levels.

What is included in a Stakeholder Register?

Information about project stakeholders including an assessment and classification of project stakeholders.

Define SWOT Analysis.

Analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an organization, project, or option.

What does RAID stand for?

Risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies.

What is a Decision Tree used for?

Visual tools to evaluate costs and potential outcomes associated with project decisions.

What is a Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram?

Cause-and-Effect decomposition tool used in project management to determine the root cause of a problem.

What is a Baseline?

The approved version of a work product, used as a basis for comparison to actual results.

What does Scope Baseline include?

The approved version of a scope statement, work breakdown structure (WBS), and its associated WBS dictionary.

What is a Schedule Baseline?

The approved version of a schedule model used as a basis for comparison to actual results.

Define Gantt Chart.

A bar chart of schedule information where activities are listed on the vertical axis, and dates are shown on the horizontal axis.

What is a Cost Baseline?

The approved version of the time-phased project budget, excluding any management reserves.

What is a Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB)?

Integrated scope, schedule, and cost baselines used for comparison to manage, measure, and control project execution.

What is Scope Creep?

The uncontrolled expansion to product or project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources.

What are Aspirational standards?

Goals we try to reach or strive to uphold.

What are Mandatory standards?

Must be followed; requirements that will prohibit certain actions.

What is the Waterfall Model in project management?

Each stage will be completed before the next one starts, with each stage having its own deliverables and tasks.

What does Requirements Gathering involve?

The process of determining all the requirements of a project, including business and technical requirements.

What does a Network Logic Diagram show?

The logical relationships between the activities in a project schedule graphically.

What is the Critical Path in project management?

The sequence of activities that represents the longest path through a project, which determines the shortest possible duration.

What are Dependencies in project management?

Factors or tasks that depend on the input of another factor for their timeline, stability, and efficiency.

What are Acceptance Criteria?

A set of conditions that is required to be met before deliverables are accepted.

What is a Work Package?

The work defined at the lowest level of the work breakdown structure for which cost and duration are estimated and managed.

What is Decomposition in project management?

A method used for dividing and subdividing the project scope and project deliverables into smaller, manageable parts.

What is the Agile Manifesto?

A document that sets out the key values and principles behind the Agile philosophy.

Define SCRUM.

A collaboration tool to improve the performance of product development.

What does Transparency mean in Agile?

A value where visibility is crucial to a project’s success.

What is a Sprint in Agile?

An abbreviated time interval within a project where a usable increment of the product is created.

What is Sprint Planning?

Meeting that lays out the work performed in the sprint.

What is Velocity in agile terms?

A measure of a team's productivity rate at which deliverables are produced.

What is an Artifact in project management?

A template, document, output, or project deliverable.