Project Management Fundamentals – Lecture Review

Flashcards provide question-and-answer practice for key concepts from the lecture on project management, including definitions, frameworks, organisational structures, cultures, and WBS techniques.

What are four major benefits of good project management?

Better control of resources, improved customer relations, shorter development times, and higher quality with increased reliability.

Define a project in project management terms.

A complex, non-routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget, resources, and performance specifications to meet customer needs.

List three key characteristics of a project.

Established objective, temporary with a defined lifespan, involves several departments/professionals (also unique and has specific time/cost/performance requirements).

What are the three elements of the triple constraint?

Scope, Time, and Cost.

What question does the cost constraint answer?

How much money will be spent on the project?

What is meant by project scope?

The full outline of expected deliverables and work that must be completed.

Why is clearly defining project scope important?

So everyone knows what the project will include and can align expectations before work begins.

Explain the time constraint in project management.

Ensuring all timelines realistically fit within scope and budget, with each part of the project finishing on its own schedule.

What does project management involve?

Applying knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to initiate, plan, execute, monitor/control, and close a project successfully.

What four components make up the project management framework?

People (stakeholders), knowledge, tools/techniques, and business value/result.

Who are project stakeholders?

Individuals or groups involved in or affected by a project, such as sponsors, team members, customers, suppliers, and opponents.

Name five of the ten PMI knowledge areas.

Integration, Scope, Cost, Quality, Schedule (others: Communication, Risk, Stakeholder, Resource, Procurement).

What is the goal of scope management?

Define and control the project’s scope while managing changes and preventing scope creep.

What is the purpose of cost management?

Estimate, budget, and control costs to keep the project within the approved budget.

Which activities make up quality management?

Quality planning, quality assurance, and quality control.

What are the steps of risk management?

Risk identification, assessment, response planning, monitoring, and control.

What does stakeholder management focus on?

Identifying stakeholders, understanding their needs, and managing their engagement and communication.

How can projects be organised within an organisation?

Individually, as part of a program, or as part of a portfolio.

Define a program in project management.

A group of related projects managed together to obtain benefits unattainable if managed separately.

Define a portfolio in project management.

A collection of projects, programs, and operations managed together to achieve strategic objectives.

Who typically manages a project vs. a program?

Project Manager manages a project; Program Manager oversees a program.

What is the success criterion for a project?

Meeting objectives while staying on schedule and within budget.

Which four frames help analyse organisations?

Structural, Human Resource, Political, and Symbolic frames.

Briefly describe the structural frame.

Focuses on roles, responsibilities, coordination, and control; often illustrated with organisation charts.

What does the human resource frame emphasise?

Harmony between organisational needs and people’s needs.

In the political frame, what are key issues?

Conflict and power among coalitions of individuals and interest groups.

What does the symbolic frame examine?

Symbols, culture, language, traditions, and organisational image/meaning.

List the four common organisational structures for projects.

Functional, Matrix, Projectized, Composite.

Who has little authority in a functional structure?

The Project Manager.

In a projectized structure, how much authority does the project manager have?

High authority; the company is structured around projects.

What distinguishes a matrix structure?

Employees report to both a functional manager and a project manager.

State two advantages of a functional structure.

Stable structure and clear career growth paths for employees.

Name one disadvantage of a functional structure.

Multiple projects compete for limited shared resources.

What is organisational culture?

Shared beliefs, values, assumptions, and behaviours that shape how people interact and work together.

Give two characteristics used to describe organisational culture.

Member Identity and Reward Criteria (others: Group Emphasis, People Focus, Unit Integration, Control, Conflict Tolerance).

Which culture type is family-like and collaborative?

Clan culture.

What is the underlying theory of effectiveness in a clan culture?

Human development and participation.

Which culture type favours risk-taking and innovation?

Adhocracy culture.

What orientation characterises market culture?

Competing orientation focused on winning and customer focus.

What is a key advantage of hierarchy culture?

Employee job security and clear, formal processes that ensure efficiency.

Why are guidelines important when creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)?

They provide form, content, and a framework that meets organisational standards.

Describe the analogy approach to building a WBS.

Review a previous project’s WBS and adapt it for the new project based on past experience.

What is the bottom-up approach to WBS creation?

Team members identify detailed tasks first, then group them into higher-level activities.

Give one challenge of the bottom-up approach.

Time-consuming and risk of missing tasks if team lacks full project knowledge.

What distinguishes the top-down approach to WBS?

Start with overall project deliverables and progressively decompose into lower-level tasks.

Why is top-down WBS creation commonly used?

It mirrors natural thinking—start broad, then dive into details—and ensures alignment with project goals early.

What is mind mapping in the context of WBS?

Brainstorming tasks in a branching, non-linear diagram that later converts into a structured WBS.