PMP test

Project (foundation key concept)

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

Project Initiation Context (foundation key concept)

initiated in response to business factors broken down into four categories; regulatory/legal, stakeholder needs, business change/tech strategies, build/improve products, processes, or services

Project management (foundation key concept)

application of knowledge, skills, tools, techniques, to project activities to meet project requirements effectively and efficiently while integrating PM processes

program (foundation key concept)

a group of related projects coordinated to allow for more control

portfolio (foundation key concept)

a collection of projects and programs aligned to achieve strategic business objectives

phases (foundation key concept)

a group of related project activities allowing for more control and often completes major deliverables; may leverage a phase gate at the end to validate performance and progress

organizational project management (OPM) (foundation key concept)

the alignment of projects, programs, and portfolios and aligning them to strategic organizational goals

project and development life cycles (foundation key concept)

a group of project phases defined by an organization into a framework allowing for more control

tailoring (foundation key concept)

selection of the appropriate processes, inputs, tools, techniques, outputs and life cycles to best fit the unique needs of each project

performance measurement baseline (foundation key concept)

the original approved plan plus/minus all approved changes; the current approved version of the plan

system (foundation key concept)

a set of formal policies, procedures, rules, or processes that defines how things are done

progressive elaboration (foundation key concept)

an iterative approach to planning; plans are created in multiple passes rather than all at once

historical information (foundation key concept)

documents or data from previous projects which are used to assist in future project decisions

enterprise environmental factors (foundation key concept)

the environment you work in that can impact your project; corporate culture, industry standards, infrastructure, political climate, market
conditions, etc

organizational process assets (foundation key concept)

any documented processes and procedures;
corporate knowledge base (e.g. project archives)

functional organizational structure (foundation key concept)

a departmentalized structure where employees work for only one manager; project manager has little or no power

matrix organization structure (foundation key concept)

employees report to both a functional manager and a project manager (power is shared); in a weak matrix the PM has little power, in a balanced matrix the PM has moderate power, and in a strong matrix the PM has nearly full power and authority

project-oriented organization structure (foundation key concept)

employees work directly for and report only to the project manager; project manager has full power and authority

stakeholder (foundation key concept)

a person or organization actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively impacted by the project, or who might exert influence over the project

business case (reasons to do a project) (foundation key concept)

market demand, business need or strategic opportunity, customer request, technological advance, legal requirement, ecological impact, social need

project manager (foundation key concept)

tasked with achieving the project objectives; lead person responsible for communicating with all stakeholders including sponsor; may report to a functional manager or program or portfolio manager

project integration management (integration management (key concepts))

is specific to Project Managers whereas other knowledge areas may be managed by subject specialists

agile/adaptive environments (integration management (key concepts))

detailed product planning and delivery may be delegated to the team as the PM focuses on building a collaborative decision-making environment

project management plan (integration management (terms))

a formal, approved document that defines how the project is executed, monitored, and controlled; 18 PM Plan Components: Change Management Plan, Configuration Management Plan, Scope Management Plan, Schedule Management Plan, Cost Management Plan, Quality Management Plan, Resource Management Plan, Procurement Management Plan, Communications Management Plan, Risk Management Plan, Stakeholder Engagement Plan, Requirements Management Plan, Scope Baseline, Schedule Baseline, Cost Baseline, Performance Measurement Baseline, Project Life Cycle Description, Development Approach

project charter (integration management (terms))

formally authorizes the project to exist, establishes the project manager's authority, and documents high-level requirements, milestones, budget, risks, and success criteria

lessons learned (integration management (terms))

things learned on the current or previous projects used to improve current or future project performance and may be tracked in the Lessons Learned Register

work authorization system (integration management (terms))

defines how project work will be authorized to ensure work is done by the right organization, at the right time, and in the right order

change request (integration management (terms))

a formal request for a change to the project; can be a change to scope, cost/budget, schedule, policies, procedures, processes, or to any of the project plans

issue (integration management (terms))

a point or matter in question, in dispute, or over which there are disagreements

preventive actions (integration management (terms))

actions taken to ensure future project work is aligned with the project management plan (prevent/minimize impact of potential problems)

corrective actions (integration management (terms))

actions taken to realign project work with the project management plan (correct the problem)

Project vs. product scope (scope management (key concepts))

product scope is the features and functions the final product must have or be;Project scope is the work required to deliver the final product

Scope completion (scope management (key concepts))

project scope is measured against the project management plan while product scope is measured against project requirements

agile/adaptive environments (scope management (key concepts))

adaptive life cycles use backlogs (represented as product requirements and user stories) whereas predictive projects would use a WBS andWBS dictionary; scope may not be clear or may dynamically change and therefore backlogs, releases, and prototypes are used as requirements emerge over time

value engineering (scope management (terms))

an approach used to optimize project life cycle costs, save time, increase profits, improve quality, expand market share, solve problems, and/or use resources more efficiently; see the tool and technique of Product Analysis

data gathering techniques (scope management (terms))

Brainstorming (group creativity), Focus Groups, Benchmarking, Document Analysis, Observation/Conversation

data representation (scope management (terms))

Idea and Mind Mapping, Affinity Diagrams (grouping into categories)

group decision making (scope management (terms))

Nominal Group Technique (voting and ranking ideas),
Multicriteria Decision Analysis

group decision- making techniques (scope management (terms))

Unanimity (all agree), Majority (over 50%), Plurality (largest block), Autocratic (one person decides), Consensus (all agree to go along, even if it's not their first choice), Delphi Technique (blind/anonymous)

project scope statement (scope management (terms))

describes in detail the project's deliverables and the work required to create those deliverables; it contains explicit project inclusions and exclusions, acceptance criteria, assumptions, and constraints

decomposition (scope management (terms))

the process of continually breaking down project deliverables into small parts to the point where activity costs and durations can be reliably estimated and managed

WBS (scope management (terms))

a hierarchical decomposition of the work to be
Work Breakdown Structure
completed on a project; each lower level represents an increasingly detailed definition of the work; lowest level is the work package; each node has a unique identifier;
WBS Dictionary: provides a detailed description of each
WBS component

Work breakdown structure

Scope baseline (scope management (terms))

includes the WBS, WBS Dictionary, Project Scope Statement, Work Packages, and Planning Packages

project scheduling (schedule management (key concepts))

represents how and when the project will deliver services, products, and results defined in the project scope and aids with performance reporting and communications

schedule model (schedule management (key concepts))

comprised of Scheduling Method (such as Critical Path Method)Scheduling Tool, and Project Information resulting in a project schedule

agile/adaptive considerations (schedule management (key concepts))

often short cycles are used to start work allowing for rapid feedback and manifest as on-demand (such as Kanban) and iterative schedules (with a backlog)

project schedule network diagram (schedule management (terms))

a graphical depiction of the relationships among project activities

precedence diagramming method (schedule management (terms))

a network
diagramming method using rectangles (nodes) to represent activities and arrows to show logical relationships between
the activities; also known as Activity-On-Node (AON)

types of dependencies (schedule management (terms))

used for dependency determination; Mandatory (hard logic),
Discretionary (preferred, arbitrary, soft logic), External and Internal

logical relationships (schedule management (terms))

dependencies between two activities where one activity must be started or finished before the other can be started or finished; four types: Finish-to-start (FS), Finish-to-finish (FF), Start-to-start (SS), Start-to-finish (SF)

lead (schedule management (terms))

starting an activity prior to the completion of the preceding activity; getting a head-start on an activity

lag (schedule management (terms))

delaying the start of an activity after the completion of a preceding activity; delaying an activity

bottom-up estimating (schedule management (terms))

breaking a project or activity down into smaller components that are easier to estimate, then aggregating (rolling-up) those costs or durations

analogous estimating (schedule management (terms))

using a previous project or activity as a starting point to estimate activity costs or activity durations

Parametric Estimating (schedule management (terms))

using a statistical relationship to calculate cost or duration; typically involves multiplying the number of units by a cost or duration per unit; time example:
4 hours per server x 20 servers \= duration of 80 hours; cost example: $100 cost per square
foot x 2,000 square feet \= $200,000 construction cost

three-point estimating (schedule management (terms))

a weighted average method used to increase estimation accuracy uses opimistic, resimistic, and Most Likely estimates to calculale the esimaled activity cost or duration, Beta Distribution Formula

Beta distribution formula (PERT) (schedule management (terms))

(O + 4XML + P) / 6; Trianguar Distribution Formula: (0 + M + P) / 3

reserve analysis (schedule management (terms))

contingency reserves used to account for schedule or cost uncertainty (risks)

critical path (schedule management (terms))

the path of activities along which any delays will cause the project to be delayed; the longest duration path through the schedule network diagram; the chain of tasks which all have the least amount of float (normally zero)

total float (slack) (schedule management (terms))

the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project completion date

free float (schedule management (terms))

the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the earliest following (successor) activity

critical path method (schedule management (terms))

a schedule analysis method calculating the shortest path for the project, float for each activity, and possible start and finish dates for each activity

schedule compression techniques (schedule management (terms))

used to shorten the project schedule; two-methods: Crashing (adds extra resources, results in higher costs) or Fast-tracking (doing activities in parallel, which increases risk)

agile release planning (schedule management (terms))

high-level agile schedule (usually 3-6 month view) based on a roadmap depicting number of iterations (sprints) needed to deliver releasable product

resource leveling (schedule management (terms))

used to adjust the resource schedule when resources have been over-allocated; often lets the schedule slip in order to level out resource utilization; a histogram (bar chart) is the tool used to do this

resource smoothing (schedule management (terms))

used to adjust the activities within the schedule to keep resources from exceeding limits; with resource smoothing, the completion date is not delayed

what-if scenario analysis (schedule management (terms))

a statistical analysis method used to predict the schedule based on various possible scenarios; or simulations such as Monte Carlo Analysis which is a computer-based simulator which conducts thousands of random scenarios to predict likely possible outcomes

milestone list (schedule management (terms))

list of significant points or events in the project; may denote milestone types such as optional (e.g., historical information) or mandatory (e.g., required by contract)

schedule baseline (schedule management (terms))

the accepted and approved version of the project schedule

cost management (cost management (key concepts))

is primarily focused on costs of resources needed to complete
project work

earned schedule (ES) (cost management (key concepts))

an extension of EVM leveraged in conjunction with actual time (AT). ES is used to calculate an alternate form of SPI and SV using ES + AT and ES - AT respectively

agile/adaptive considerations (cost management (key concepts))

If scope is not fully defined or the project faces a high degree of uncertainty alternatives to detailed cost calculations such as lightweight methods for high-level forecasts and detailed estimates for short-term "just in time" needs can be used

cost estimates (cost management (terms))

estimation of cost of all resources applied and presented in either summary or detail form, may be represented as a range at varying levels of confidence and may include contingency and management reserves

funding limit reconciliation (cost management (terms))

adjustments made to project expenditures to account for funding limits (e.g. quarterly budgets)

financing (cost management (terms))

acquiring funds (internally and/or externally) for the project

cost baseline (cost management (terms))

authorized, time-phased, total project budget, excluding management reserves, which is used to measure, monitor & control cost performance

variance analysis (cost management (terms))

measuring the difference between planned and actual (used for both costs and durations)

earned value management (EVM) (cost management (terms))

an objective mathematical approach to measure cost and schedule performance

contingency reserves (cost management (terms))

amounts set aside by PM to cover known risks and are included in the baselines (can take the form of time and money)

management reserves (cost management (terms))

amounts management sets aside to cover unknown risks and are not included in the baseline (can take the form of time and money)

net present value (NPV) (cost management (terms))

present value of a future income stream, offset against initial investment amount

benefit cost ratio (cost management (terms))

compares financial yield to the cost of doing the project

payback period (cost management (terms))

amount of time needed to recoup the project's investment

quality management (quality management (key concepts))

the processes for incorporating the orgainzation's quality policy,
used by the project to ensure the deliverables meet the stakeholders' obiectives

quality vs. grade (quality management (key concepts))

Quality is the ability for the item to do what it was designed to do;Grade is a category used to label different products or services that compete to meet the same needs of the end user

prevention over inspection (quality management (key concepts))

prevention is keeping errors out of the process;inspection is keeping errors out of the hands of the customer

sampling (quality management (key concepts))

- Attribute sampling: pass/fail testing
- Variable sampling: testing with a range of acceptable results
- Tolerance: specified range of acceptable results
- Control limits: boundaries of common variance outside of the control limits would
be special cause variance

Five levels of quality management (quality management (key concepts))

1. Let the customer find the defects (most expensive approach)
2. Detect and correct the defects before the deliverables are in the customer's hands
3. Use quality assurance to examine and correct the process itself, not just special defects
4. Incorporate quality into the planning and designing of the project and product
5. Create a culture throughout the organization that is aware and committed to quality processes and products

the three quality processes (quality management (key concepts))

- plan
- do
- check/act

"plan" definition of the three quality processes (quality management (key concepts))

plan quality management; create the plan

"do" definition of the the three quality processes (quality management (key concepts))

Manage Quality; Asks the question,
"Are we doing the procedures, processes and actions we planned?

"check/act" definition of the the three quality processes (quality management (key concepts))

Control Quality; Follows the plan,
checks deliverables and takes action to correct identified defects

cost of quality (quality management (key concepts))

precision (quality management (terms))

the values of repeated measurements are clustered and have little scatter.

accuracy (quality management (terms))

the measured value is very close to the true value.

cost-benefit analysis (quality management (terms))

helps determine if the quality activities are cost effective, high quality results in less rework, higher productivity, lower costs and increased profitability

mutually exclusive (quality management (terms))

two events can't occur at the same time (if one event occurs, then the other event cannot)

statistical independence (quality management (terms))

the occurrence of one event makes it neither more nor less probable that the other occurs; past coin flips of heads do not change the probability of the next coin flip being heads

statistical sampling (quality management (terms))

choosing a small random sample, and the sample's properties should represent the entire group