The project management team must have a working knowledge of statistical quality control, especially sampling and probability, to help it evaluate quality control outputs
Results from an earned value analysis may indicate potential deviation of the project at completion from cost and schedule targets. When a project deviates significantly from the baseline, updated risk identification and analysis should be performed
In general, differences between and among stakeholders should be resolved in favor of the customer
When project costs are used as component of a reward and recognition system, controllable and uncontrollable costs should be estimated and budgeted separately to ensure that rewards reflect actual performance
Benefit/cost Analysis involves estimating tangible and intangible costs(outlays) and benefits (returns) of various project and product alternatives, and then using financial measures such as return on investment or payback period to assess relative desirability of the identified alternatives
Cause and Effect Diagrams, also called Ishikawa diagrams or fishbone diagrams illustrate how various factors might be linked to potential problems or effects
Control charts are a graphic display over time of a process. They are used to determine if the process is “in control” (e.g. are differences in results created by random variations, or are unusual events occurring whose causes must be identified and corrected)?
Correspondence: Contract Terms and conditions often require written documentation of certain aspects of the buyer/seller communications, such as warnings of unsatisfactory performance and contract changes or clarifications
Cost of quality refers to the total cost of all efforts to acheive product/service quality, and includes all work to ensure conformance to requirements. There are three types of costs that are incurred :prevention costs, appraisal costs and failure costs
Change Requests may occur in many forms – oral or written, direct or indirect, externally or internally initiated, and legally mandated or optional. Please note that change requests are always “formal”
Collocation is widely used in larger projects and can also be used on smaller projects (e.g. with a war room, where the team congregates and posts schedules, updates etc.)
checklist is a structured tool, usually item-specific, used to verify that a set of required steps has been performed
Data Precision Ranking is tool for Qualitative Risk Analysis, not Risk Monitoring and Control.
Discount rate The interest rate used in your company to calculate Present Value of expected yearly benefits and costs
Duration of the project should be calculated after drawing a network diagram and determining the critical path. The duration of the project is the length of the critical path, and not the sum of durations for all the tasks in the project
Maintenance is an ongoing activity and should never be part of any project)
Opportunity cost is not a project selection criteria. It is the passing up the next best choice when making a decision
Project Reports: Formal project reports on project status and/or issues
project directory lists all the project team members and other stakeholders. The directory may be formal or informal, highly detailed or broadly framed, based on the needs of the project
Progress Reporting – describing what the project team has accomplished – for example, percent complete to schedule, or what is completed versus what is in process. Progress Reporting are summary reports about % complete and provide a quick overview of the project
project plan is a document or collection of documents that should be expected to change over time as more information becomes available about the project. The performance measurement baselines will usually change intermittently, and then generally only in response to an approved scope of work or deliverable change
Revisions are a special category of schedule updates. Revisions are changes to the schedule start and finish dates in the approved project schedule. These changes are generally incorporated in response to scope changes or changes to estimates
Risk Identification involves determining which risks might affect the project and documenting their characteristics
Risk Monitoring and Control Keeping track of identified risks and ensuring execution of risk plans
Risk Response Planning Determining actions to enhance opportunities and reduce threats to project objectives
Quantitative Risk Analysis Analyzing numerically the probability of each risk and its impact on the project objectives
If the project is terminated early, the scope verification process should establish and document the level and extent of completion
Risk Management plan includes defining key risks, including constraints and assumptions, and planned responses and contingencies. project plan includes the Risk Management plan
Sunk cost cannot be used to determine which project should be selected. Sunk cost is the cost tha has already been incurred
Sensitivity Analysis helps to determine which risks have the most potential impact on the project. It examines the extent to which the uncertainty of each project element affects the objective being examined when all other uncertain elements are held at their baseline values.
Arrow Diagramming Method is a tool and technique for Activity Sequencing, Schematic Display of a project`s activities and logical relationships is also called “Project Network Diagram” – this is an output from Activity Sequencing
Standard Deviation is a measure for the probaility of getting a result – hence it is a good indication for the risk of completing the task in time
Economic Models are part of Benefit Measurement methods
examples of Constrained Optimization Multi Objective Programming, Decision Trees, Logical Framework Analysis
(Performance Review) is a tool and technique for Performance Reporting which happens after Information Distribution
Admininstrative Closure should not be delayed until project completion. Each phase of the project should be properly closed to ensure that important and useful information is not lost
Bidder Conferences (which is a Tool/Technique for Solicitation) are meetings with prospective sellers prior to preparation of the proposal. They are used to ensure that all the prospective sellers have a clear, common understanding of the procurement (technical requirements, contract requirements etc.)
Since the creation of WBS involves information from all the stakeholders, it will improve the shared ownership for the project. Involving stakeholders in the project phases generally improves the probability of satisfying customer requirements and realizes the buy-in or shared ownership of the project by the stakeholders, which is often critical for project success
Staffing Pool Description is an input to Staff Acquisition
Organizational breakdown structure(OBS) is a specific type of organization chart that shows which organizational units are responsile for which work packages.
scope change control systems defines the procedures by which project scope may be changed. It includes the paperwork, tracking systems and approval levels necessary for authorizing the change
Product Analysis involves developing a better understanding of the product of the project. It includes techniques such as product breakdown analysis systems engineering, value engineering, value analysis, function analysis and quality function deployment.
Performance reporting involves collecting and disseminating performance information to provide stakeholders with information about how resources are being used to achieve project objectives
anytime there is a potential request for a change from a customer,
Understand what functionality was requested – Talk with team-members to access the implication of the change
Open up a Change Control if there is a formal Change Control Mechanism
Communicate the change to Management, and inform Customer about the impact of the change (e.g. increase in sizing, schedule etc.)
If change is accepted, go ahead and implement the changes
If there is a confirmed change request, the first thing to do is to open up a change control.
Data Precision Ranking is a tool and technique for Qualitative Risk Analysis.
Interviewing is a tool and technique for Quantitative Risk Analysis. Quantitative Risk Analysis is conducted after Qualitative Risk Analysis
Documentation Reviews is a tool and technique for Risk Identification. Risk Identification is conducted before Qualitative Risk Analysis
Checklists is a tool and technique for Risk Identification. Risk Identification is conducted before Qualitative Risk Analysis
Planning Meetings is a tool and technique for Risk Management Planning. Risk Management Planning is conducted before Qualitative Risk Analysis
Scope Statement updates include any modification to the contents of the scope statement. Appropriate stakeholders must be notified as needed