Project Management John White Exam 1

PMI membership has grown from 93k in 2002 to more than

565k in 2019

Major characteristics of a project

1. An established objective.

2. A defined life span with a beginning and an end.

3. the involvement of several departments and professionals. Across-the-organizational participation

4. Typically, doing something that has never been done before.

5. Specific time, cost, and performance requirements.

Program

a group of related projects designed to accomplish a common goal over an extended period of time

Different stages of project life cycle

1. Defining stage

2. Planning stage

3. Execution stage

4. Closing stage

How is Agile PM different from traditional PM

- shorter product life cycle

- rolling wave development

- emerged out of frustration in software development

Managing projects involves the balances of both the _____ and ____ dimensions of the project

technical; sociocultural

Why is it important for project managers to understand their organization's strategy

1. To make appropriate decisions and adjustments

2. So they can be effective project advocates

Strategic management

The process of assessing "what we are" and deciding and implementing "what we intend to be and how we are going to get there."

Strategy

describes how an organization intends to compete with the resources available in the existing and perceived future environment

4 activities of strategic management process

1. Review and define the organizational mission.

2. Analyze and formulate strategies.

3. Set objectives to achieve strategy.

4. Implement strategies through projects.

Objectives must be SMART

specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, time related

3 reasons why need project priority system

- the implementation gap

- organization politics

- resource conflicts and multitasking

3 kinds of projects

Compliance, strategic, operational

Phase Gate Model

A structure process to review and evaluate each project phase to determine whether to continue, revise, or cancel the project

Payback Period

the amount of time required for an investment to generate cash flows sufficient to recover its initial cost

Net present value

A minimum desired rate of return discount (e.g., 15 percent) is used to compute present value of all future cash inflows and outflows.

Payback period (yrs)

Estimated project cost/ annual savings

Two inputs from senior management in managing the project portfolio

1. Guidance in establishing selection criteria

2. Decide how to balance available org resources

Major responsibility of priority team is to

Balance projects by type, risk and resource demand

Two types of risks associated with projects

1. Total portfolio

2. Specific project risks that can inhibit execution of project

Projectized Organization

A multi-project organization in which project managers have full authority to assign priorities and direct the work of persons assigned to their project.

matrix management

Project manager shares responsibility with functional managers for assigning priorities and directing work of individuals assigned to the project

Weak matrix structure

Functional managers have primary control over project activities and project manager coordinates project work

Balanced matrix structure

Classic matrix where project manager and function manager share equal authority

Strong matrix

the project manager has primary control over project activities and functional managers support project work

Project management office

Centralized unit within organization or department that oversees and improves management of projects

organizational culture

System of shared norms, beliefs, values and assumptions that binds people together, thereby creating shared meanings

Culture

1. provides a sense of identity for its members

2. Help legitimize the management system

3. Clarifies and reinforces standards of behavior

____% of planning problems relate to unclear definition of scope and goals

50

Scope

What you expect to deliver to your customer when the project is complete

Scope statements

Definition of end result or mission of a project

Project

A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.

Scope creep

The tendency for the project scope to expand over time—usually by changing requirements, specifications, and priorities

Causes of Scope creep/Requirements Creep:

Poor requirement analysis, not involving users early enough, understanding project complexity, lack of change control, gold plating

Priority Matrix

A matrix that is set up before the project begins that establishes which criterion among cost, time, and scope will be enhanced, constrained, or accepted.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

A structure used to assign responsibility for work packages

Process Breakdown Structure (PBS)

A phase-oriented grouping of project activities that defines the total scope of the project. Each descending level represents an increasingly detailed description of project work.

Responsibility matrix (RM)

A matrix whose intersection point shows the relationship between an activity (work package) and the person/group responsible for its completion.

Communication plan

Stakeholder analysis, information needs, sources of information, dissemination modes, responsibility and timing

Estimating

The process of forecasting or approximating the time and cost of completing project deliverables.

The task of balancing expectations of stakeholders and need for control while the project is implemented.

_________ ________ is a good starting point for developing time and cost estimates

Past experience

pad estimates

when everyone adds a little more time to their timeline for "padding"... this can considerably increase the cost and timeline

7 guidelines to develop useful work package estimates

1. Responsibility

2. The use of several people to estimate

3. Normal conditions

4. Time units

5. Independence

6. Contingencies

7. Risk assessment

Conditions for top-down estimates

-Strategic decision making

-High uncertainty

-Internal, small project

-Unstable scope

Conditions for bottom-up estimates

cost and time important

fixed price contract

customer wants details

top-down estimates

Rough estimates that use surrogates to estimate project time and cost (also called macro estimates).

bottom-up estimates

Detailed estimates of work packages usually made by those who are most familiar with the task (also called micro estimates).

Top-down approaches

Consensus methods

Ratio methods

Apportion method

Function point methods for software and system projects

Learning curves

Bottom-up approaches

-template methods

-parametric procedures applied to specific tasks

-Range estimates for the WBS work packages

-Phase estimating: A hybrid

Phase estimating

This estimating method begins with a macro estimate for the project and then refines estimates for phases of the project as it is implemented.

3 kinds of costs associated with a project

Direct costs, direct project overhead costs, general and administrative overhead costs

Best way to improve estimates is to

Collect and archive data on past project estimates and actuals

Time and cost databases

Collection of actual versus estimated times and costs of work packages over many projects that are used for estimating new project tasks and their expected possible error.

Mega projects

Large-scale, complex ventures that typically cost $1 billion or more, take many years to complete, and involve multiple private and public stakeholders; tend to go way over budget, fall behind schedule, and underdeliver on benefits

white elephant

A burdensome possession which is not easily disposed of and whose cost (particularly upkeep) is out of proportion with its usefulness.

Reference class forecasting (RCF)

A sophisticated forecasting method in which you take an external view and forecast project costs based on actual outcomes of similar projects.