Project Management Essentials

• These notes cover key concepts in project management, risk management, quality control, procurement, and team management.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Planning involves identifying stakeholders and their needs.
• Managing focuses on communicating and working with stakeholders.
• Controlling ensures stakeholder expectations are met.

Stakeholder Management Plan

• A stakeholder management plan includes strategies for engaging stakeholders.

Measuring Project Success

• Project are measured based on objectives, deliverables, and stakeholder satisfaction.

Issue Log

• An issue log documents and tracks problems or concerns that arise during a project.

Risk Definitions

• Risk is an uncertain event that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on project objectives.
• Positive risks are opportunities that can improve project outcomes.
• Negative risks are threats that can harm project outcomes.

Risk Utility

• Risk utility reflects a person's or organization's willingness to accept risk.

Risk Management

• Planning risk management involves defining how to conduct risk management activities.
• Identifying risk involves determining which risks might affect the project.
• Qualitative risk analysis prioritizes risks for further analysis or action.
• Quantitative risk analysis numerically assesses the probability and impact of risks.
• Planning risk response involves developing options to reduce threats and enhance opportunities.
• Controlling risk involves implementing risk response plans and monitoring risks.
• Outputs of risk management include risk register updates and risk reports.

Contingency and Fallback Plans

• Contingency plans outline actions if a risk occurs.
• Fallback plans are used if the contingency plan is not effective.

Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS)

• A Risk Breakdown Structure is a hierarchical representation of potential sources of risk.

Risk Identification Techniques

• Brainstorming involves generating a list of potential risks with a group.
• Interviewing involves discussing potential risks with experts or stakeholders.
• Delphi technique uses a panel of experts to anonymously identify and assess risks.

Tools for Qualitative Risk Analysis

• Qualitative risk analysis tools include probability and impact assessments.

Secondary Risks

• Secondary risks arise as a direct result of implementing a risk response.

Risk Response Strategies

• Risk acceptance involves acknowledging the risk but not taking any action.
• Risk avoidance involves eliminating the risk altogether.
• Risk exploitation involves taking advantage of positive risks.
• Risk transference involves shifting the risk to a third party.

Earned Value Management (EVM)

• Cost Performance Index (CPI) is the ratio of earned value to actual cost, indicating cost efficiency.
• Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is the ratio of earned value to planned value, indicating schedule efficiency.

Variance Analysis

• Negative Cost Variance (CV) indicates that the project is over budget.
• Negative Schedule Variance (SV) indicates that the project is behind schedule.
• Actual Cost (AC) is the total cost incurred for work completed.
• Schedule Variance (SV) is the difference between earned value and planned value.

Scope Management

• Best practices to avoid scope problems include clear requirements and change management.
• Controlling scope involves monitoring the project scope and managing changes.
• Variance, in the context of scope, is the difference between planned and actual performance.
• Scope validation is formal acceptance of the completed project scope by stakeholders.
• Conformance to requirements means that the project's deliverables meet the specified criteria.

Quality Control

• Acceptance decisions in quality control determine whether deliverables meet acceptance criteria.

Costs of Quality

• Prevention costs are incurred to prevent defects.
• Appraisal costs are incurred to evaluate quality.
• Internal failure costs result from defects found before delivery.
• External failure costs result from defects found after delivery to the customer.

ISO 9000

• ISO 9000 is a quality management standard that provides a framework for ensuring quality.

Quality Control Tools

• Control charts are used to monitor process stability.
• Cause-and-effect diagrams (fishbone diagrams) identify potential causes of problems.

Human Resource Management

• Planning human resource management involves defining roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships.
• Acquiring the project team involves obtaining the necessary personnel.
• Developing the project team involves improving the skills and performance of the team.

Resource Management

• Resource leveling adjusts the project schedule to optimize resource utilization.
• Overallocation occurs when resources are assigned more work than they can handle.
• Resource loading is the amount of resources required during specific time periods.

Procurement

• A contract is a legally binding agreement between a buyer and a seller.
• Planning procurement involves determining what to procure and when.
• Conducting procurement involves obtaining bids and selecting suppliers.
• Controlling procurement involves managing the relationship with the supplier.
• Closing procurement involves finalizing the contract and completing all related activities.
• Approaches for procurement include negotiation, competitive bidding, and sole-source selection.
• Procurement audits review procurement processes for efficiency and compliance.
• Negotiated settlements resolve disputes or claims arising from procurement contracts.
• Record management systems store and manage procurement-related documents.

Portfolio and Project Management

• Portfolio management involves managing a collection of projects and programs to achieve strategic objectives.
• A project charter formally authorizes a project and provides a high-level overview.
• A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Dictionary provides detailed information about each WBS component.

Testing

• Unit testing verifies individual components of the software.
• Integration testing verifies the interaction between different components.
• User acceptance testing validates that the system meets user requirements.
• System testing verifies the overall functionality and performance of the system.

Quality Metrics

• Six 9s of quality refers to 99.9999% availability or reliability.
• Six Sigma is a quality management methodology focused on reducing defects.

Technology and Communication

• Mirroring involves creating a duplicate copy of data for redundancy or backup.
• Rapport is a close and harmonious relationship in communication.
• Planning communication management involves determining communication needs and methods.
• Managing communications involves distributing information to stakeholders.
• Controlling communications involves monitoring and adjusting communication activities.
• Face-to-face interaction involves direct communication between individuals.
• Project archives store project documents and records for future reference.
• Lesson learned reports document successes and failures for future projects.
• SharePoint portal allows users to create custom websites to access documents and applications.

Contract Types

• Lump-sum contracts involve a fixed total price for a well-defined product or service.
• Cost-reimbursable contracts involve payment for direct and indirect costs.
• Unit price contracts require the buyer to pay a predetermined amount per unit of service.
• Cost plus incentive fee (CPIF) contracts involve payment for allowable costs, a fixed fee, and a performance-based incentive.
• Cost plus fixed fee (CPFF) contracts involve payment for allowable costs plus a fixed fee.
• Cost plus percentage of costs contracts involve payment for allowable costs plus a percentage-based fee.

Bids and Tenders

• A bid is a document prepared by sellers providing pricing for standard items that have been clearly defined by the buyer, it is called a tender and is also called a quote.