Category: PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The most important key words for PMP exam 

                          The most important key words for PMP exam

 

1-  Discussing about agile and waterfall (Project life cycle)

2-  Person change charter (sponsor)

3-  Tools for mange contract and procurement documentation (record management system)

4-  Prevent scope creep (scope management plan)

5-  Generate information (Brainstorming)

6-  Generate and organize or grouping or classifying information (Affinity diagram)

7-  Generate and prioritization (Nominal group technique)

8-  Buffers, limited resources, project uncertainties (Critical chain method)

9-  Project terminated because problem in credit in the bank (Funding Limit Reconciliation)

10-  Project team leaves the site early (Ground rules)

11-  Long-term resolution (Problem solving)

12-  One of sh not received reports and others received (Review the communication management plan)

13-  Greatest potential Risk to your project (Tornado Diagram)

14-  The team has told you that, the cement will delay (Workaround)

15-  Insurance (Transference)

16-  Identify new risk and close the outdated risk (Risk reassessment)

17-  Effectiveness of risk responses (Risk audits)

18-  The contract will span multiple years and allow for final price adjustments based on changing conditions (Fixed Price with Economic Price Adjustment)

19-  A concrete mix ( 101)

20-  Classifying the identified stakeholders (power/ interest grid)

21-  Links product requirements from their origin to the deliverables (Requirements traceability matrix)

22-  Strike by local workers (What-If Scenario)

23-  Prevent cost overrun (change management plan)

24-  A method that doesn’t  consider the risk ( Triangular distribution)

25-  Discuss the Strategic Direction (the sponsor)

26-  Discuss the implementation strategy (PM)

27-  Reason why the project is authorized (Business case)

28-  Frequency &largest to smallest (Pareto diagram)

29-  SH roles (SH register)

30-  Training is an example of (Prevention cost)

31-  Least flexibility (CPM)

32-  Stability process ,control limits or 7 rules (control charts)

33-  Determine true magnitude (WBS)

34-  Uncontrolled changes (scope creep)

35-  Estimate the cost of quality in a process (flow chart)

36-  Identify new risk during execution (risk audits)

37-  Links product requirements to origin deliverables ( treacibility matrix)

38-  Labors strike (what-if-analysis)

39-  Relation problems (stakeholder management plan)

40-  Information problems (communication management plan)

41-  Narrative description (SOW)

42-  Why the project is authorized (business case)

43-  Frequency of occurrence, ranging from greater to smaller , ranking, 80/20 (Pareto diagram)

44-  Active acceptance (contingency reserves)

45-  Passive acceptance (management reserves)

46-  One line or linear (triangular distribution)

47-  Formal acceptance (validate scope)

48-  Final acceptance (close project or phase)

49-  Training (prevention cost)

50-  Identify success and failures of procurement contracts (procurement audit)

51-  Estimating cost using WBS (bottom-up estimating)

52-  Strategic directions (the sponsor)

53-  Implementation directions (PM)

54-  Snapshot  of  the status of various projects (milestone chart)

55-  Linked to potential problems, root causes (cause and defect diagram)

56-  No bias, Consensus or SME (Delphi)

57-  The point  where budget  is compared to earned value for performance measurements (control accounts)

58-  Statical relationships between the historical data and other variables (parametric estimating)

59-  Collect requirements (T&T)

Focus group (prequalified, SME)

Facilitated groups (key stakeholders, improve communications, increase consensus, discovered earlier and quickly, QFD, User stories) Interviews (elicit information directly, obtaining confidential information)

Group Creativity Techniques

Brainstorming (generate and collect)

Nominal group technique (enhances brainstorming, Voting, Ranking and Prioritize)

Affinity diagram (large numbers, classified into groups)

60-  Risk reassessment (new risks-current risk evaluates-outdated risks)

61-  Risk audit (effectiveness of risk response-identified risks with their root causes-the effectiveness of the risk management process)

62-  CPIF contracts (sharing ratio)

63-  FIXED Price (risk on seller)

64-  Cost plus (risk on buyer)

65-  Risk appetite (willing, a reward)

66-  Risk tolerance (withstand)

67-  Risk threshold ( level of uncertainty, level of impact, LIMITS)

68-  Communication management plan (Escalation, confidential information)

69-  Requirements traceability matrix (links product requirements from their origin to the deliverables)

70-  Identify factors that may influence (DOE)

71-  Team development

Forming (the team members work independently)

Storming (the team begins to understand the project work)

Norming (the team begins to learn from one another)

Performing (work as a well-organized unit and reach maximum performance)

Adjourning (the team completes the work)

72-  Discover the underlying causes for RISK (Root cause analysis)

73-  Organizational structure (EEF)

74-  Inspection (Control Quality)

75-  Control communications, summary activity, used between milestones or work package  (Hammok activity)

76-  Resource smoothing ( no affecting the critical path)

77-  Resource leveling (may impact the critical path)

78-  Project boundaries (a point in time that a project is authorized to its completion)

79-  Issue log (current issue, problems)

80-  Control quality (the team is doing the testing)

81-  Validate scope (the customer is doing the testing)

82-  Project performance appraisal (individual team member’s performance)

83-  Team performance assessment (assessment of project team’s effectiveness)

84-  Repetitive activities, 7 rules, limits (control limits)

85-  Trend analysis (comparison of  future performance with current  performance)

86-  Prioritize risks (qualitative risk analysis)

87-  Soft logic (discretionary dependency)

88-  Balanced matrix (both functional and project managers share the responsibility)

89-  Quality assurance (improve quality processes)

90-  Develop team (Recognition and rewards, training)

91-  Change management plan, forecasting (cost overrun)

 

 

 

 

Project Resource Management Summary 6th Edition

Project Resource Management Summary 6th Edition

 

  1. Physical resources include equipment, materials, facilities, and infrastructure. Human resources include Team resources or personnel.
  1. Trends in resource management lean management, just in time (JIT), manufacturing,Kaizen, total productive maintenance (TPM), theory of constraints (TOC).
  1. Resources can be obtained from the organization’s internal assets or from outside the organization through a procurement process.
  1. Data Representation: The Objective is to ensure that each work package has an unambiguous owner and that all team members have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

✓  Hierarchical  charts:  The traditional organizational chart structure can be used to show positions and relationships in a graphical, top-down format.

▪   Work  breakdown  structure  (WBS):  designed to show how project deliverables are broken down into work packages and provide a way of showing high-level areas of responsibility.

▪   Organizational  breakdown structure (OBS):   is arranged according to an organization’s existing departments, units, or teams,  with  the  project  activities  or  work  packages  listed under each     department.You may see all project responsibilities by looking at OBS.

▪   Resource breakdown structure:  hierarchical list of team and physical resources related by category and resource type that is used for planning, managing and controlling project.

✓  Assignment Matrix:

▪   Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) shows the project resources  assigned  to  each  work  package.  It  is  used  to illustrate the connections  between work packages, or activities, and project team members.

▪   High-level RAM can define the responsibilities of a project team, group, or unit within each component of the WBS.

 

Project Quality Management Summary 6th Edition

  Project Quality Management Summary 6th Edition

 

  1. Quality as a delivered performance or result is the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements.
  1. Grade as  a  design  intent  is  a  category assigned to deliverables having the same functional use but different technical characteristics.
  1. Prevention (keeping errors out of the process) and inspection (keeping errors out of the hands of the customer).
  1. Failure costs also called cost of poor quality and they can be internal (found by the team) and external (found by the customer).
  1. Effective quality management can be done in five ways:

✓  Let the customer find defects.

✓  Detect them before product sent to customer.

✓  Use quality assurance to examine.

✓  Incorporate quality into the planning and designing of the project and product.

✓  Create a culture at organization.

  1. Continual improvement: The plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle is the basis for quality improvement as defined by Shewhart and modified by Deming. Also, TQM, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma can improve project and product quality.
  1. Data Gathering:

✓  Benchmarking:  comparing  actual or planned project practices or the project’s  quality  standards  to  those  of  comparable  projects  (Internal or external) to identify best practices & generate ideas for improvement.

✓  Brainstorming:  gather data creatively from a group of team  members or subject matter experts.

  1. Data Analysis:

✓  Cost-benefit   analysis:  Financial analysis tool used to estimate the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives in order to determine the best alternative in terms of benefits provided. It will help Project manager to

determine if the planned quality is cost effective.

✓  Cost of Quality (COQ): consists one or more of the following costs >>

Cost of  Conformance

❖  Prevention costs: (Training, Document process, Equipment and  Time to do the right).

❖  Appraisal  costs:    (Testing,      Destructive      testing     loss    and  Inspection).

Cost of Nonconformance

❖  Internal Failure costs: (Rework & Scrap).

❖  External  Failure  costs:   (Liabilities,  Warranty  work  &  Lost business).

  1. Data Representation:

✓  Flow Charts (process maps):

❖  Display the sequence of steps and the branching possibilities that exist for a process that transforms one or more inputs into one or more outputs.

❖  It shows activities, decision points, loops, parallel paths, and the overall order of processing by mapping the operational details of  procedures that exist within a horizontal value chain. One version of  value  chain  is  called  SIPOC  (suppliers,  inputs,  process,  outputs and customers) model.

❖  Flowcharts are useful in understanding and  estimating the cost of quality for a process.

❖  They can be called (process flows or process flow diagrams) when they used to represent the steps in a process. Which is used  for process improvement and identify quality defects .

✓  Logical data model:

❖  Visual  representation  of  an  organization’s  data, described in business language and independent of any specific technology. Can  be  used  to  identify  where  data  integrity  or  other  quality issues can arise.

✓  Matrix diagrams:

❖  Help find the strength of relationships among different factors.

✓  Mind mapping:

❖  The mind-mapping technique may help in the rapid gathering of project quality requirements, constraints and relationships.

  1. Test and Inspection planning: During planning phase, the project manager and the team determine how to test/inspect the product to meet the stakeholders’ expectations and meet product’s performance and reliability goal.
  1. Quality Management Plan:  Describes  the  activities  and  resources  necessary  for  the  project management team to achieve the quality objectives set for the project.
  1. Quality Metrics: Describes a project or product attribute and how the Control Quality process will verify compliance to it. Examples  (percentage of completed tasks, failure rate, defects number and errors found).
  1. Manage Quality is sometimes called quality assurance. although Manage Quality has a broader definition than quality assurance as it is used in non-project work.
  1. Quality assurance focuses  on  the  processes  used  in  the  project  and  using  these processes effectively by follow and meeting standards.
  1. Manage quality includes all the quality assurance activities and also concerned with the product design aspects and process improvements.
  1. Manage Quality is  considered  the  work  of  everybody.  In  agile  projects  quality management is performed by all team members. However, in traditional projects only specific members does it.
  1. Checklists: structured tool,  usually  component-specific,  used  to  verify  that  a  set  of required steps has been performed or to check if a list of requirements has been satisfied.

Quality checklists should incorporate with scope baseline. Usually developed based on historical information.

  1. Data Analysis:

✓  Document analysis: analysis of different documents produced as part of the output of project control processes.

✓  Process analysis:  identifies opportunities for process improvements also examines  problems,  constraints,  and  non-value-added  activities  that occur during a process.

✓  Root  cause  analysis  (RCA):  analytical  technique  used  to  determine  the basic  underlying  reason  that  causes  a  variance,  defect,  or  risk.  It  may underlie more than one variance and it may also use to solve these root                    causes.

  1. Data Representation:

✓  Affinity diagrams: organize potential causes of defects into groups.

✓  Cause-and-effect   diagrams:   (known   as   fishbone   diagrams,   why-why diagrams, or Ishikawa diagrams). These diagrams break down the causes of the problem, helping to identify the main or root cause of the problem.

✓  Flowcharts: show a series of steps that lead to a defect.

✓  Histograms:  graphical  representation  of numerical  data. Histograms  can show the number of defects per deliverable, a  ranking of the cause  of defects,  the  number  of  times  each  process  is  noncompliant  or  other

representations of project or product defects .

✓  Matrix  diagrams:  show  the  strength  of  relationships  among  factors, causes, and objectives that exist between the rows and columns that form the matrix.

✓  Scatter   diagrams:  graph   that   shows   the   relationship   between   two variables.

  1. Audits :

✓  Structured, independent process used to  determine if project activities comply  with  organizational       and project policies, processes, and procedures .

✓  Usually conducted by a team external to the project such as (organization’s internal audit department, PMO or an external auditor to the organization).

✓  The subsequent effort to correct any deficiencies should result in a reduced cost of quality  and  an increase in sponsor or customer acceptance  of the product.

✓  Quality audits may be conducted by internal or external auditors.

  1. Design for X (DfX):

✓  Technical guidelines that may be applied during the design of a product for the optimization of a specific aspect of the design.

✓  DfX can control or even improve the product’s final characteristics .

✓  DfX result in cost reduction, quality improvement, better performance, and customer satisfaction.

  1. Problem Solving:

✓  Finding solutions for issues or challenges.

✓  Effective  and  systematic  problem  solving  is  a  fundamental  element  in quality assurance and quality improvement.

✓  Problems can arise as a result of the Control Quality process or from quality audits and can be associated with a process or deliverable.

  1. Quality Reports:

✓  Reports can be graphical, numerical, or qualitative.

✓  Reports  information can  be  used  by  other  processes  to  take  corrective actions to achieve quality expectations

✓  Reports may include all quality management issues escalated by the team; recommendations  for   process, project,  and product improvements; corrective  actions  recommendations  the  summary  of  findings  from  the  Control Quality process.

  1. Test and Evaluation Documents:

✓  Inputs  to  the  Control  Quality  process  and  are  used  to  evaluate  the achievement of quality objectives.

✓  They      may    include     dedicated      checklists     and    detailed    requirements  traceability matrices.

✓  They  can  be  created  based  on  industry  needs  and  the  organization’s templates.

  1. Control quality in agile projects can be performed by all team members throughout the project life cycle. However, in waterfall projects it’s performed at specific times, toward the end of the project or phase, by specified team members.
  1. Deliverables that are outputs from the Direct and Manage Project Work process are inspected and compared to the acceptance criteria defined in the project scope statement.
  1. Data Gathering:

✓  Check sheets (Tally sheets): organize facts in a manner that will facilitate the effective collection of useful data about a potential quality problem.

They are especially useful for gathering attributes data while performing  inspections to identify defects.

✓  Statistical sampling: involves choosing part of a population of interest for inspection. The  sample  is  taken  to  measure  controls  and  verify  quality. Sample frequency and sizes should be determined during the Plan Quality Management process.

✓  Questionnaires and Surveys: gather data about customer satisfaction after the  deployment  of  the  product  or  service.  The  cost  regarding  defects identified in the surveys may be considered external failure costs in the COQ model and can have extensive cost implications for the organization .

  1. Performance reviews: measure, compare, and analyze the quality metrics defined by the Plan Quality Management process against the actual results.
  1. Inspection:

✓  Determine if the product conforms to documented standards .

✓  They can be done on single activity or at final product.

✓  Inspection can be called reviews, peer reviews, audits, or walkthroughs.

✓  Inspections also are used to verify defect repairs.

  1. Control charts:

✓  Determine   whether   or   not   a   process   is   stable   or   has   predictable performance.

✓  Upper and lower specification limits are based on the requirements and reflect the maximum and minimum values allowed.

✓  Upper and lower control limits are different from specification limits .

✓  The control limits are determined using standard statistical calculations and principles to ultimately establish the natural capability for a stable process .

✓  Project manager and appropriate stakeholder use controlled control limits which corrective action will be taken to prevent performance that remains outside control limits.

✓  Control charts can be used to monitor various types of output variables to help determine if the project management process is in control.

✓  The sample out of control if there are 7 values either above or below the mean. Or if there is any value outside the control limits .

  1. Quality Control Measurements:

✓  Documented results of Control Quality activities. They should be captured in the format that was specified in the quality management plan.

  1. Verified Deliverables:

✓  The  results  of  performing  the  Control  Quality  process  are  verified deliverables  that  become  an  input  to  the  Validate  Scope  process  for formalized acceptance.

✓  If  there  were  any  change  requests  or  improvements  related  to  the  deliverables, they may be changed, inspected, and reverified.

  1. Important Notes:

✓  Processes and quality plan>>>>Manage quality.

✓  Deliverable>>>> Control quality.

✓  Defect  repair>>>>  weak  performance  is  in  product  under  operational conditions which means quality problem is in product will require.

✓  Prevention action>>>> New changes to ensure the future performance will change.

Project Communication Management Summary 6th Edition

        Project Communication Management Summary 6th Edition

 

  1. An effective communications management plan is developed early in project life cycle.
  2. Misunderstandings can  be  reduced  using  the  5C’  (Correct  grammar  and  spelling, Concise expression and elimination for excess words, Clear purpose and expression, Coherent logical flow of ideas and Controlling flow of words and ideas).
  1. Communication Requirements Analysis:

✓  Determines the information needs of the project stakeholders.  These requirements are defined by combining the type and format of information  needed with an analysis of the value of that information .

✓  Sources of information include (Stakeholder information, Number of potential communication  channels,  Organizational  charts,  Development  approach, Internal and external information and Legal requirements).

  1. Communication Technology:

✓  Methods  includes  (Conversation, meetings, Written  documents, Databases and Websites).

✓  Factors that affect the choice of communication include (Urgency of the need for information, Availability and reliability of technology, Ease of use, Project environment (face-to-face or virtual) and Sensitivity and confidentiality of the information).

  1. Communication Models:

✓  Sample basic sender/receiver communication model:  This model consists two parties (sender and receiver). This model is concerned with ensuring that message is delivered, rather than understood.

▪   Encode:  The message is coded into symbols, such as text, sound or some other medium.

▪   Transmit message: The message is sent via a communication channel.

The  transmission  of  this  message  may  be  compromised  by  various physical factors (unfamiliar  technology) or inadequate infrastructure. Noise may result in loss of information in transmission/reception .

▪   Decode:  Data received is translated by the receiver back into a form  useful to the receiver.

✓  Sample Interactive communication model: This model consists two parties  (sender and receiver), but recognizes the need to ensure the message has been  understood.

▪   Acknowledge:  Upon  receipt  of  a  message,  the  receiver  may  signal (acknowledge)  receipt  of  the  message,  but  this  does  not  necessarily  mean agreement with or comprehension of the message.

▪   Feedback/response: When the received message has been decoded and  understood, the receiver encodes thoughts and ideas into a message and then  transmits  this  message  to  the  original  sender.  If  the  sender                        perceives   that   the   feedback   matches   the   original   message,   the  communication has been successful. Feedback can be achieved through active listening.

✓  The sender is responsible for the transmission of the message, ensuring the information  being  communicated  is  clear  and  complete  and  confirm  the message is correctly interpreted.

✓  The receiver is responsible  for ensuring that the information is received in its   entirety,   interpreted   correctly  and acknowledged or responded  to appropriately.

  1. Communication Methods:

✓  Interactive  communication:  Between  two  or  more  parties  performing  a  multidirectional exchange of information in real time like  (Meetings, phone calls, video conferencing and instant messaging).

✓  Push communication:  Sent or distributed directly to specific recipients who need to receive the information. Like (letters, memos, reports, emails, faxes, voicemail and blogs).

✓  Pull communication: Used for large complex information sets, or for large audiences, and requires the recipients to access content at their own discretion subject  to  security  procedure.  Like  (web  portals,  intranet  sites,  e-learning, lessons learned databases or knowledge repositories).

  1. Interpersonal and Team Skills:

✓  Communication style assessment: A technique used to  assess  communication styles and identify the preferred communication method for   planned communication activities.

✓  Political  awareness:  Helps  the  project  manager  to  plan  communications based  on  the project   environment as well as organization’s political environment. Political  awareness concerns the recognition of power  relationships, both formal and informal and also the willingness to operate within these structures.

✓  Cultural awareness: Understanding of the difference between individual and groups and adapting the project’s communication strategy in the context of these differences. This minimize misunderstandings and miscommunications that may result in cultural differences.

  1. Communication Management Plan:

✓  The  communications  management  plan  is  a  component  of  the  project management plan that describes how project communications will be planned,  structured, implemented, and monitored for effectiveness.

✓  This communication management plan can include guidelines and templates for  project  status  meetings,  project team meetings,  e-meetings,  and  email messages.

✓  It also contains “Escalation processes”.

  1. The Manage Communications process ensure that the information has been generated is appropriately generated and formatted and received by the intended audience. Also provides opportunities for stakeholders to make requests for further information and clarification.
  1. Communication Skills:

✓  Communication  competence:  A  combination  of  tailored  communication skills  that  considers  factors  such  as  clarity  of  purpose  in  key  messages, effective relationships and information sharing, and leadership behaviors.

✓  Feedback:  information about reactions to communications or a deliverable. Feedback supports interactive communication between the manager, team and stakeholders. Example (coaching, negotiating and mentoring).

✓  Nonverbal: Examples of nonverbal communication include appropriate body language  to  transmit  meaning  through  gestures,  tone  of  voice,  and  facial expressions, eye contact and Mirroring.

✓  Presentation:  Formal delivery of information and/or documentation. Clear  and  effective  presentations  of  project  information  to  relevant  stakeholders  include  (Progress  reports,  Background  information,  General  information  about the project and specific information on a subject).

  1. Project Reporting:

✓  Project reporting is the act of collecting and distributing project information.

✓  Reporting format may range from a simple communication to more elaborate custom reports.

✓  While work performance reports are the output of the Monitor and Control Project   Work   process,   this   process  develops   ad   hoc   reports,   project presentations blogs.

  1. Interpersonal and Team Skills:

✓  Active Listening:  Involve  acknowledging, clarifying and confirming, understanding and removing barriers that adversely affect comprehension .

✓  Meeting management: taking steps to ensure meetings meet their intended  objectives effectively and efficiently.

✓  Networking:  interacting  with  others  to  exchange  information  and  develop contacts.  Networks  provide  the  manager  and  the  team  access  to  informal organizations to solve problems, influence actions of their stakeholders, and increase stakeholder support for the work and outcomes.

✓  Political  awareness:  assists  the  project  manager  in  engaging  stakeholders appropriately to maintain their support throughout the project.

  1. Project Communications: Project  communications  artifacts  includes:  performance reports, deliverable  status,  schedule  progress, cost  incurred, presentations,  and  other information required by stakeholders.
  1. Monitor Communications process can trigger an iteration of the Plan Communications Management and/or Manage Communications processes to improve effectiveness of communication.
  1. Observation/Conversation: Discussion and  dialogue  with  the  project  team  helps  determine the most appropriate way to update and communicate project performance, and to respond to requests from stakeholders for information. Also help the manager to detect any conflicts between people.

 

Project Scope Management Summary 6th Edition

 

                              Project Scope Management Summary 6th Edition

 

  1. Project Scope is measured against the Project Management Plan. Product Scope is  measured against the Product Requirements.
  1. Business Analysis   are  used  in  some  organizations  to  defining,  managing,  and  controlling requirements activities.  The relationship between a project manager and a  business analyst should be a collaborative partnership.
  1. Scope Management Plan that describes how the scope will be defined, developed, monitored, controlled, and   validated. Components includes processes that help (Preparing project scope statement, create WBS, how the baseline will be approved and maintained and how formal acceptance will be obtained).
  1. Requirements Management  Plan  (Business  Analysis  Plan) is a component of the project management plan that describes how project and product requirements will be analyzed, documented, and managed.  Components may include (Configuration management activities, Requirements prioritization, Metrics, Traceability structure and  how requirements will be planned, tracked and reported).
  1. Configuration management shows how changes will be initiated, how impacts will be analyzed,  how  they  will  be traced and reported and authorization levels to approve changes.
  1. D.G:

✓  Brainstorming: used to generate and collect multiple ideas related to project.

✓  Interviews: are useful for obtaining confidential information.

✓  Focus Groups: (Interactive Discussion) Bring together prequalified stakeholders and subject matter experts  to learn about their expectations and attitudes about proposed product/service. Need trained moderator.

✓  Questionnaires: designed to get quickly information of large  number of respondents.

✓  Benchmarking:  to  generate  ideas for improvement  and new practices. Compare  actual & planned.

  1. Decision making:

✓  Voting: Used to classify and prioritize product requirements. (unanimity, majority and plurality).

✓  Autocratic decision making:  one individual takes responsibility for making the  decision.

✓  Multicriteria decision analysis: decision matrix to provide a systematic analytical approach for establishing criteria to evaluate and rank many ideas.

  1. Data Presentation:

✓  Affinity diagrams: allow large numbers of ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis.

✓  Mind  mapping:  Ideas created through individual brainstorming sessions to generate new ideas.

  1. Interpersonal and Team Skills:

✓  Nominal group technique: Enhances brainstorming with a voting process used to rank the most useful ideas for prioritization. (Generate & prioritize).

✓  Observation and conversation (Job Shadowing): To cover hidden requirement.

✓  Facilitation:  bring  key  stakeholders  together  to  define  product  requirements. Workshops can be used to quickly define cross-functional requirements.

  1. Context Diagram: Example of  Scope model. Context diagrams visually depict  the product scope by showing a business system and how people and other systems (actors) interact with it.
  1. Prototypes: Method of obtaining early feedback. Examples (computer generated 2D, 3D  models,  mock-ups  and  simulations).  Storyboarding  is  a  prototyping  technique  showing sequence or navigation through a series of images. (Risk Mitigation).
  1. Requirements should be unambiguous & can be classified into: Business, Stakeholder, Solution, Transition and readiness, Project & Quality requirements.
  1. Requirements Traceability Matrix:

✓  Grid that links requirements to the deliverables that satisfy them.

✓  Ensure that each requirement adds business value.

✓  Provides a structure for managing changes to the product scope.

  1. Product Analysis: Used to define products and services. Requirements are captured at a high level and decomposed to the level of detail needed to design the final product.
  1. Project Scope Statement:

✓  Project  Scope  Statement  include  (Product  scope  description  +  deliverables  + acceptance criteria + project exclusions).

✓  Project  charter  contains  high  level  information  while  project  scope  statement includes  detailed  description  of  the  scope  components.  They  are  progressively elaborated throughout the project.

  1. Decomposition: Technique used for dividing and subdividing the project scope and project deliverables into smaller, more  manageable parts.  Popular methods to create WBS  structure:  top-down  approach.  Agile  approaches  decompose  epics  to  user stories.
  1. Decomposition may not be possible for a deliverable or subcomponent that will be accomplished far into the future the project team usually waits until the deliverable or subcomponent is agreed on, so the details of the WBS can be developed. This technique called rolling wave planning.
  1. The total of the work at the lowest levels should roll up to the higher levels so that nothing is left out and no extra work is performed. This is sometimes called  the 100 percent rule.
  1. Scope baseline includes:

✓  Project scope statement: description of the project scope, major deliverables and constraint.

✓  WBS: 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.

❖  Work package: The lowest level of the WBS is work package with a unique identifier.  Each  work  package  is  part  of  a  control  account  which  is  a management control point where scope, budget, and schedule are integrated  and  compared  to  the  earned  value  for  performance  measurement.  Each control  account  has  two  or  more  work  packages.  But  work  package  is associated with a single control account.

❖  Planning  package:  Include  one  or  more  planning  packages.  A  planning package is a WBS component below the control account and above the work package with known work content but without detailed schedule activities

✓  WBS  dictionary:   document  that  provides  detailed  deliverable,  activity,  and scheduling information about each component in the WBS. It’s a document that support the WBS because you can’t include all the information in the WBS.

  1. Validate Scope  concerned  with  acceptance  of  the  deliverables.  Control  Quality concerned  with  correctness  of  the  deliverables.  The  verified  deliverables  obtained from the Control Quality process.
  1. Inspection: Includes  activities  such  as  measuring,  examining,  and  validating  to determine   whether   work/deliverables   meet   requirements   and   product   acceptance criteria. They might be called reviews and walkthroughs.
  1. Verified deliverables Validate Scope Accepted Deliverables.
  2. The uncontrolled expansion to product or project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources is referred to as scope creep.
  1. Performance measurement baseline (PMB): When using earned value analysis, the performance  measurement  baseline  is  compared  to  actual  results  to  determine  if  a change, corrective action, or preventive action is necessary.
  1. Variance analysis: compare the baseline to the actual results and determine if the variance is within the threshold amount.

Trend analysis: examines project performance over time to determine if performance is improving or deteriorating.

 Project Schedule Management Summary 6th Edition

 Project Schedule Management Summary 6th Edition

 

  1. The detailed project schedule should remain flexible throughout the project life cycle.
  2. There are two main practicing for scheduling methods:

✓  Iterative scheduling with a backlog:

➢  It is a form of rolling wave planning based on adaptive life cycles.

➢  The benefit of this approach is that it welcomes changes throughout the development life cycle.

✓   On-demand scheduling:

➢  Used in a Kanban system. On-demand scheduling does not rely on a  schedule  that  was  developed  previously  but  pulls  work  from  a  backlog as resources become available.

➢  It’s  used  in  projects  that  evolve  the  product  incrementally  in  operational environment.

  1. If a  business  analyst  is  assigned  to  a  project,  requirement-related  activities  are  the  responsibility of that role.
  1. Release and iteration length: In adaptive life cycle the time-boxed periods for releases, waves and iterations are specified.
  1. Time-boxed periods: durations which the team works steadily toward completion of a  goal, and this helps to minimize scope creep.
  1. Define Activities Outputs:

✓  Activity List :

➢  Includes the schedule activities required on the project.

➢  Projects that use agile/rolling wave techniques the activity list will be updated periodically.

➢  Activity   list   includes   activity   identifier   and   scope   of   work description for each activity.

✓  Activity Attributes :

➢  Identifies  component  associated  with  each  activity  which  evolves  over time.

➢  At  early  stages  it  will  include  activity  identifier,  WBS  ID,  and  activity name.

➢  At  later  stages/completed  will  include  descriptions,  predecessor,  activities, successor activities, logical relationships, leads and lags resource requirements, constraints, and assumptions.

✓  Milestone List:

➢  Significant point or event in a project which has zero duration.

➢  They can be mandatory (required by contract) or optional.

  1. Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM):

✓  Technique  used  for  constructing  a  schedule  model  in  which  activities  are  represented  by  nodes  and  are   graphically  linked  by  one  or  more  logical relationships to show the sequence in which the activities are to be performed.

✓  Finish-to-start (FS) is the most commonly used type of precedence relationship .

✓  Two  activities  can  have  two  logical  relationships  at  the  same  time.  However Multiple relationships between the same activities are not recommended.

  1. Dependency Determination and Integration:

✓  Mandatory  dependencies:  are  legally  or  contractually  required.  They  often involve  physical limitations.   They often called “hard logic or hard dependencies”.

✓  Discretionary   dependencies:  are established based on knowledge  of  best practices.  Discretionary dependencies also called “logic, preferential logic, or soft logic).

✓  External dependencies: involve a relationship between project activities and non-project activities and usually outside the project team’s control.

✓  Internal   dependencies: involve a precedence relationship between  project activities and are generally inside the project team’s control.

  1. Leads and Lags:

✓  Lead is the amount of time a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor  activity.  Lead  is  often represented as a negative value for lag in scheduling software.

✓  Lag is the amount of time a successor activity will be delayed with respect to a predecessor activity. And it is often represented as a Positive value for lag in scheduling software.

  1. Activities that have  multiple  predecessor  activities  indicate  a  path  convergence. Activities that have multiple successor activities indicate a path divergence.
  1. There are factors to consider when estimating the duration:

✓  Law of diminishing returns: When one factor used to determine the effort required to produce a unit of work is increased while all other factors remain fixed a point .

✓  Number of resources: Increasing the number of resources to twice the original number of the resources does not always reduce the time by half, as it may  increase extra duration due to risk.

✓  Advances in technology: Increase in the output of a manufacturing plant may be achieved by procuring the latest advances in technology may impact duration and resource needs.

✓  Motivation of staff: Project manager also needs to be aware of Student Syndrome (procrastination), when people start to apply themselves only at the last possible  moment before the deadline.

❖  Parkinson’s Law where work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

  1. Analogous Estimating :

✓  Technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity or a project using historical data. It uses parameters from previous projects.

✓  This technique is used when there is  a limited  amount of detailed information about the project.

✓  Less  costly  and  less  time-consuming  than  other  techniques  but  it  is  also  less accurate.

  1. Parametric Estimating:

✓  Technique  in  which  an  algorithm  is  used  to  calculate  cost  or  duration based on historical data and project parameters .

✓  Uses a statistical relationship between historical data and other variables to calculate activity duration and cost.

  1. Three-Point Estimating:

✓  Using  three-point  estimates  helps  define  an  approximate  range  for  an activity’s duration.

✓  Most likely (TM), Optimistic (TO) and Pessimistic (TP).

✓  Expected duration:

❖  Triangular distribution: TE= (TO + TM + TP) / 3

❖  Triangular distribution is used when there is insufficient historical data or when using judgmental data. This technique provides an expected duration and clarify the range of uncertainty

❖  Beta Distribution (PERT): TE= (TO + 4TM +TP) / 6

  1. Bottom-Up Estimating:

✓  Method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating the estimates of the lower level components of the WBS.

✓  If an activity duration can’t be estimated with reasonable confidence, the work within the activity is decomposed into more detail.

✓  These estimates are then aggregated into a total quantity for each of the  activity’s durations.

  1. Reserve analysis:

✓  Determine the amount of contingency and management reserve needed for the project.

✓  Contingency  reserves  are  associated  with the known-unknowns (unknown amount of work). It may be a percentage of estimated activity duration or fixed number of work periods.

✓  Management  reserves  are  a  specified  amount  of  the  project  budget  withheld for management control purposes and are reserved for unforeseen work that is within scope of the project. It addresses unknown-unknowns that can affect a project.

❖  Management reserve is not included in the schedule baseline but it is part of the overall project duration requirements.

  1. Schedule Network Analysis:

✓  Technique used to generate the project schedule model and it’s an iterative process.

✓  Assessing the need to aggregate schedule reserves to reduce the probability of a schedule slip.

✓  Employs several other techniques such as critical path method, resource optimization techniques and modeling techniques.

  1. Critical Path Method (CPM):

✓  The critical path estimates the minimum project duration and determine the amount of schedule flexibility on the logical network paths within the schedule model.

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

✓  Total float (slack) is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project completion date. On a critical path the total float is zero.

✓  Free float  is the amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed without  delaying  the  early  start  date  of  any  successor  or  violating  a schedule constraint.

✓  Positive total float is caused when the backward pass is calculated from a schedule  constraint  that  is  later  than  the  early  finish  date  that  has  been calculated during forward pass calculation.

✓  Negative total float is caused when a constraint on the late dates is violated by duration and logic. Negative float analysis is a technique that helps to find possible accelerated ways  of bringing a delayed schedule back on track.

  1. Resource Optimization:

✓  Resource leveling: A technique in which start and finish dates are adjusted based on resource constraints with the goal of balancing the demand for resources with the available supply. Resource leveling can often cause the original  critical  path  to  change.  Available  float  is  used  for  leveling resources.

✓  Resource Smoothing: A technique that adjusts the activities of a schedule model such that the requirements for resources on the project do not exceed certain predefined resource limits.  Critical path is not changed  and the completion date may not be delayed.  Resource smoothing is very similar to resource leveling except smoothing uses total and free float.

  1. What-if scenario analysis:

✓  process of evaluating scenarios in order to predict their effect (positive or  negative) on the project.

✓  It helps in assessing the feasibility and address the impact on unexpected situations.

  1. Schedule Compression: techniques  are  used  to  shorten  or  accelerate  the  schedule duration  without  reducing  the  project  scope  in  order  to  meet  schedule  constraints, imposed dates, or other schedule objectives. Techniques that can be used:

✓  Crashing:  Technique used to shorten the schedule duration for the least incremental  cost  by  adding  resources.  Examples  (overtime,  additional resources). Crashing works only for activities  on the critical path where  additional resources will shorten the activity’s duration. Crashing does not always  produce  a  viable  alternative  and  may  result  in  increased  risk and/or cost.

✓  Fast  Tracking:  compression  technique  in  which  activities  or  phases normally done in sequence are performed in parallel for at least a portion of their duration. Fast tracking may result in rework and increased risk.

Fast tracking only works when activities can be  overlapped to shorten duration at critical path. Fast tracking may also increase project costs.

  1. Agile Release Planning :  Provides  a  high-level  summary  timeline  of  the  release schedule.  determines the number of iterations or sprints in the release, and allows the product owner and team to decide how much needs to be developed .
  1. Develop Schedule Outputs:

✓  Schedule  Baseline:  Approved  version  of  a  schedule  model  that  can  be changed only through formal change procedure and used as comparison to actual results.

✓  Project  Schedule:   Output  of  a  schedule  model  that  presents  linked activities  with  planned  dates,  durations  milestones,  and  resources.  The project schedule may be presented in summary form, sometimes referred

to as the master schedule or milestone schedule.

  1. Project schedule is usually presented in graphical form (Bar charts (Gantt Charts), Milestone charts and Project schedule network diagrams (Pure logic diagram)).
  2. Schedule Data: collection of information for describing and controlling the schedule incudes  (milestones, activities,  attributes and documentation for assumptions and constraints).
  1. Earned Value Analysis: Schedule performance measurements such as schedule variance (SV) and schedule performance index (SPI) are used to asses magnitude of variation to original baseline.
  1. Iteration Burndown Chart: This chart tracks the work that remains to be completed in the iteration backlog.
  1. Performance reviews: Measure, compare, and analyze schedule performance against the  schedule baseline.
  1. Schedule Forecasts:

✓  Estimates or predictions of conditions and events in the project’s future based on information and knowledge available at the time of the forecast.

✓  The information is based on the project’s past performance and expected future performance based on corrective or preventive actions.

✓  This  can  include  earned  value  performance  indicators,  and  schedule  reserve information.

  1. Important Notes:

➢  Involving team members in decomposition process can lead to better and more  accurate.

➢  Three-point estimating >>>> takes risk and uncertainty into consideration.

➢  Prevention action >>>> reduce probability of negative schedule.

➢  Divergence & convergence >>>> increase schedule slip.

➢  Summery narrative >>>> can accompany diagram, approach used to sequence activities.

➢  Schedule reserve = Contingency reserve

➢  Parkinson’s Law >>>> using motivation system.

➢  Negative float analysis >>>> find possible accelerated ways to bring delay back  on track.

➢  File change request >>>> if no option to recover schedule delay.

Project Cost Management Summary 6th Edition

Project Cost Management Summary 6th Edition

 

  1. Cost estimates  include  the  identification  and  consideration  of  costing  alternatives  to initiate and complete the project.
  1. Cost trade-offs and risks should be considered to achieve optimal costs for the project.
  2. The accuracy of a project estimate will increase as the project progresses through project life cycle.
  1. In project initiation phase have a rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimate in the range of  (-25%  to  +75%).  Later  in  projects  when  more  information  is  known  definitive estimate could narrow the range to (-5% to +10%).
  1. Analogous Estimating, Parametric Estimation, Bottom-UP Estimating &  Three-Point Estimating. In schedule summary.
  1. Reserve Analysis. In schedule summary.
  2. Cost of  Quality:  Assumptions  about  costs  of  quality  may  be  used  to  prepare  the estimates.
  1. Estimate Costs Outputs:

✓  Cost Estimates:

➢  Cost  estimates  include  quantitative  assessments  of  the  probable costs required to complete project work and contingency amounts to account  for  identified  risks,  and  management  reserve  to  cover unplanned work.

➢  Cost estimates can be presented in summary form or in detail.

✓   Basis of Estimates:

➢  Supporting  documentation  should  provide  a  clear  and  complete understanding of how the cost estimate was derived (assumptions, constraints, …).

  1. Determine Budget  is  the  process  of  aggregating  the  estimated  costs  of  individual activities or work packages to establish an authorized cost baseline.
  1. Project budget includes all the funds authorized to execute the project.
  2. Business Documents:

✓  Business  case:  identifies  the  critical  success  factors  for  the  project  like financial success factors.

✓  Benefits management plan: includes the target benefits, such as net present value  calculations,  timeframe  for  realizing  benefits,  and  the  metrics associated with the benefits.

  1. Cost Aggregation: Cost estimates are aggregated by work packages in accordance with the  WBS.  The  work  package  cost  estimates  are  then  aggregated  for  the  higher  component levels of the WBS and ultimately for the entire project.
  1. Historical Information Review:

✓  Reviewing  historical  information  can  assist  in  parametric  or  analogous estimates.

✓  Historical information may include project characteristics (parameters) to develop mathematical models to predict total project costs.

  1. Funding limit Reconciliation:

✓  The expenditure of funds should be reconciled with any funding limits on the commitment of funds for the project.

  1. Financing: Financing entails acquiring funding for projects for long lasting projects. External funding may require certain requirements.
  1. Cost Baseline:

✓  Approved  version  of  the  time-phased  project  budget,  excluding  any management reserves. is used as a basis for comparison to actual results.

✓  The  work  package  cost  estimates,  along  with  any  contingency  reserves estimated for the work packages, are aggregated into control accounts. The summation of the control accounts makes up the cost baseline.

✓  Time-phased view of the cost baseline is typically displayed in the form of an S-curve.

  1. Project Funding Requirements :   Total  funding  requirements  and  periodic  funding requirements are derived from the cost baseline.
  1. Any increase to the authorized budget requires an approved change.
  2. Earned value analysis (EVA):

✓  compares the performance measurement baseline  to the  actual  schedule  and cost performance.

✓  EVM integrates the scope baseline  with  cost  and  schedule baselines  to form the performance measurement baseline (PMB).

  1. Variance Analysis:

✓  Cost and schedule variances are the most frequently analyzed measurements.

✓  Cost performance  measurements  are  used  to  assess  the  magnitude  of variation to the cost baseline and decide whether corrective or preventive action is required.

  1. Trend Analysis:

✓  examines project performance  over time  to determine if performance is improving or deteriorating.

✓  Graphical analysis techniques are valuable for understanding performance  and comparison to future performance goals in the form of BAC vs EAC.

✓  Charts:  In  earned  value  analysis,  three  parameters  of  planned  value, earned value, and actual cost can be monitored and reported.

✓  Forecasting:  Project  team  may  develop  a  forecast  for  the  estimate  at completion (EAC) that may differ from the budget at completion (BAC).

  1. Reserve Analysis:

✓  Reserve  analysis  is  used  to  monitor  the  status  of  contingency  and management reserves for the project to determine if these reserves are still needed or if additional reserves need to be requested.

✓  This reserve may be used as planned to cover cost of risk response.

✓  when opportunities are captured and resulting in cost savings, funds may be  added  to  the  contingency  amount,  or  taken  from  the  project  as margin/profit.

  1. To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI):

✓  Measure of the cost performance that is required to be achieved with the  remaining  resources  in  order  to  meet  a  specified  management  goal  expressed  as  the  ratio  of  the  cost  to  finish  the  outstanding  work  to  the remaining budget.

  1. Work Performance Information:

✓  Includes information on how the project work is performing compared to the cost baseline.

✓  Variances in the work performed and the cost of the work are evaluated at the work package level and control account level.

  1. Equations:

✓  Earned value analysis (EVA): 4 Key terms.

➢  PV  =Planned  Value:   The  value  of  the  work  planned  to  be  completed  to  a  point  in  time,  usually  the  data  date,  or  project  completion.

➢  EV=Earned Value:  The planned value of all the work  completed  (earned) to a point in time, usually the data date, without reference  to actual costs.

➢  AC=Actual Cost :  The actual cost of all the work  completed to a  point in time, usually the data date.

➢  BAC=Budget at Completion: The value of total planned work, the  project cost baseline.

✓  Variance Analysis:

➢  Schedule Variance (SV): The difference between Earned Value and Planned Value.

❖  SV = EV – PV

❖  SV< 0, Behind schedule

❖  SV>0, Ahead of schedule

❖  SV=0, On schedule

➢  Cost  Variance  (CV):  The  difference  between  Earned  Value  and Actual Value.

❖  CV = EV – AC

❖  CV< 0, Over budget (Over planned cost)

❖  CV>0, Under budget (Under planned cost)

❖  CV=0, On budget (On planned cost)

➢  Schedule  Performance   Index   (SPI):   A   measure   of   schedule efficiency expressed as the ratio of earned value to planned value.

❖  SPI = EV / PV

❖  SPI<  1, Behind schedule

❖  SPI> 1, Ahead of schedule

❖  SPI= 1, On schedule

➢  Cost  Performance Index  (CPI): A measure of the cost efficiency  of budgeted resources expressed as the ratio of earned value to actual  cost.

❖  CPI = EV / AC

❖  CPI<  1, Over planned cost

❖  CPI> 1, Under planned cost

❖  CPI= 1, On planned cost

✓  Trend Analysis:

➢  Estimate   at   Completion   (EAC):  The   expected   total   cost   of completing all work expressed as the sum of the actual cost to date and the estimate to complete.

❖  EAC = BAC/CPI     If the CPI is expected to be the same for the remainder of the project.

❖  EAC = AC + BAC – EV   If future work will be accomplished at the planned rate.

❖   EAC = AC + Bottom-up ETC   If the initial plan is no longer valid.

❖  EAC = AC + [(BAC –  EV) /  (CPI x SPI)] If both the CPI and SPI influence the remaining work.

➢  Estimate to Completion (ETC): The expected cost to finish all the  remaining project work.

❖  ETC = EAC – AC   Assuming work is proceeding on plan, the cost of completing the  remaining authorized work.

❖  ETC = Re-estimate   Re-estimate the remaining work from the bottom up.

➢  Variance at  Completion  (VAC): The estimated difference in cost at the completion of the project.

❖  VAC = BAC – EAC

❖  Positive = Under planned cost

❖  Neutral = On planned cost

❖  Negative = Over planned cost

✓  To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI):

➢  A measure of the cost performance that must be achieved with the remaining resources in order to meet a specified management goal,  expressed as the ratio of the cost to  finish the outstanding work to the budget available.

➢  TCPI = (BAC –  EV)  /  (BAC –  AC)  The efficiency that must be maintained in order to complete on plan                                    ❖  Greater than 1.0 = Harder to complete

❖  Exactly 1.0 = Same to complete

❖  Less than 1.0 = Easier to complete

➢  TCPI = (BAC –  EV)  /  (EAC –  AC)  The efficiency that must be maintained in order to complete the current EAC.

❖  Greater than 1.0 = Harder to complete

❖  Exactly 1.0 = Same to complete

❖  Less than 1.0 = Easier to complete

  1. Important Notes:

➢  Three-point estimate is more accurate than parametric estimate.

➢  Assessment   is  proper  action  that  should  be  taken  by  project manager.

➢  Regression analysis >>>> based on one line estimation.

➢  Parametric estimate >>>> depend on expert judgement technique.

➢  Light weight estimation >>>> high level forecast project.

➢  Scope  and schedule are  adjusted to stay with cost constraint >>>> Strick budget.

 

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