Project Management I Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts of Project Management I, including terminology from the PMBOK Guide, strategic alignment, feasibility studies, and stakeholder management.

Project

A temporary endeavor undertaken to create unique products, services, or results.

Project Management

The discipline of planning, securing, organising and managing resources to achieve specific objectives within a defined timeframe.

Temporary

A characteristic of projects indicating they have a definite beginning and an end, unlike ongoing operational work.

Unique

A characteristic of projects meaning they are undertaken to create a specific product, service, or result that did not exist before.

Triple Constraint

The fundamental concept in project management describing the tension between scope, time (schedule), and cost (budget).

Scope

The volume of work in a project in terms of objectives, deliverables, or products, including all features and functions.

Scope Creep

The uncontrolled expansion of project scope that affects cost, resources, and end dates.

Project Manager (PM)

The individual responsible for initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing a project.

Power Skills

Abilities and behaviours, also referred to as soft or interpersonal skills, that facilitate working effectively with others.

Triple-C Model

Badiru's theory of project management focusing on Communication, Cooperation, and Coordination.

Project Management Life Cycle

A basic framework consisting of Initiation, Planning, Execution (including Monitoring and Control), and Closure phases.

Initiation Phase

The first phase of a project where the reason for the project is determined and documented to justify selection.

Execution Phase

The phase where the project team is assembled and the plans developed previously are implemented to produce outcomes.

Closure Phase

The final project phase where the budget is wrapped up, deliverables are handed over, and lessons learned are recorded.

PMBOK

Project Management Body of Knowledge, a comprehensive framework of standards, best practices, and guidelines produced by the PMI.

PMI

Project Management Institute, a global authority founded in 1969 that promotes standardisation and professional certification in project management.

Tailoring

The action of customising the PMBOK framework elements to fit the specific context, industry, or organization of a project.

Stewardship

A PMBOK principle requiring project managers to be diligent, respectful, and caring stewards of resources and ethical behaviour.

Project Management Office (PMO)

A management structure that standardises project-related governance and facilitates the sharing of resources and methodologies.

Supportive PMO

A type of PMO that provides templates, best practices, and training but exercises a low degree of control.

Directive PMO

A type of PMO that directly manages projects and exercises a high degree of control.

Programme

A collection of interdependent projects managed in a coordinated manner to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually.

Portfolio

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

Waterfall Methodology

A traditional project management approach where work is carried out in sequential steps, starting the next stage only after the previous is complete.

Agile

A broad project management philosophy based on flexibility, collaboration, and customer focus, often used in software development.

Scrum

A specific Agile framework where work is performed in iterative cycles called sprints.

Strategy

A set of choices, ideas, and goals used by an organisation to achieve a competitive vision through specific initiatives.

Balanced Scorecard (BSC)

A strategic tool used to bridge the gap between abstract strategy and physical execution across four areas: finance, customer, internal processes, and learning/growth.

Hoshin Kanri

Also known as Policy Deployment, a methodology for strategic planning that uses the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle.

Benefit Measurement Methods

Project selection methods suited for less complex projects, focusing on concepts like payback periods and cost/benefit ratios.

Constrained Optimisation Methods

Quantitative project selection approaches using mathematical models for large-scale, complex projects.

Feasibility Study

A preliminary investigation conducted before a project starts to determine if the initiative is practical, achievable, and viable.

SWOT Analysis

A tool used to evaluate a project's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Project Proposal

A document created to convince stakeholders to support a project by providing resources, funding, or approval.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

A tool used to decompose project work into smaller, manageable tasks called work packages.

Critical Path

The longest single path of essential tasks through a project that must be completed to finish the project.

Gantt Chart

A bar chart that graphically represents a project's timeline, showing task dependencies and milestones.

Project Charter

A formal document issued by a sponsor that authorises the project's existence and gives the PM authority to use resources.

Stakeholder

An individual, group, or organisation that may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a project.

RACI Matrix

A tool that outlines roles by specifying who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for project tasks.

Salience Model

A stakeholder prioritisation tool that evaluates stakeholders based on Power, Legitimacy, and Urgency.

Functional Organisational Structure

A rigid structure where people are grouped by expertise and project managers have minimal authority.

Matrix Organisational Structure

A structure that combines functional and projectised models, where employees typically report to both functional and project managers.

Projectised Organisational Structure

An organisation entirely focused on the project where the project manager holds all power and authority.