Project Management: Holistic Scope Planning

• Study guide for Project Management test 2

Holistic Scope Planning (Chapter 7)

• Plan Scope Management involves defining and documenting how the project scope will be planned, managed, and controlled.
• Total scope includes both product scope (features and functions of the project outcome) and process scope (the work needed to deliver the product).
• Collect Requirements involves determining, documenting, and managing the needs and requirements of stakeholders to meet the project objectives.
• Requirement Traceability Matrix is a table that links requirements to their origin and traces them throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring each requirement adds business value.
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a 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.
• Importance of WBS includes improved communication, better accuracy in time/cost estimates, minimized scope creep, and enhanced project control.
• Common formats for WBS are graphical (organizational chart) and tabular (indented list).
• Constructing a WBS involves identifying the main deliverables and then decomposing them into smaller, more manageable components.
• WBS levels typically include the project, major deliverables, sub-deliverables, and work packages.
• Work packages are the lowest level of the WBS, representing the assignable tasks to project teams.

Scheduling Projects (Chapter 8)

• Project Schedule Management involves defining the policies, procedures, and documentation for planning, developing, managing, executing, and controlling the project schedule.
• Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a method used to estimate activity duration, especially when there is uncertainty.
• Critical Path Method (CPM) is an algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities, identifying the critical path(s), and determining project duration.
• Project Schedule Creation involves identifying and defining activities, determining the logical order, and estimating activity duration.
  • Identify and Define Activities involves breaking down the work packages into specific tasks that need to be performed.
  • Determine the Logical Order involves sequencing activities based on dependencies, such as finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish.
  • Estimate Activity Duration involves estimating the time needed to complete each activity, considering resource availability and constraints.
• Project Sequence Creation involves identifying the critical path, which is the longest sequence of activities that must be completed on time for the project to finish on schedule.
• Critical Path Analysis is a technique used to determine the critical path by analyzing the sequence of activities with the least amount of float or slack.
• Two Pass Method involves a forward pass to calculate the early start and early finish dates and a backward pass to calculate the late start and late finish dates.
• Predecessor Relationship indicates which activities must be completed before another activity can begin.
• Successor Relationship indicates which activities cannot begin until another activity is completed.

Resourcing and Accelerating Projects (Chapter 9)

• The Science & Art of Resourcing and Estimating Resource Needs involves balancing quantitative analysis with qualitative judgment to allocate resources effectively.
• Types of Resources include human resources, equipment, materials, and facilities.
• Challenges in resource management include resource overallocation, skill gaps, and availability constraints.
• Resource Abilities refer to the skills, knowledge, and competencies that resources bring to the project.
• Estimate Resource Needs involves determining the type and quantity of resources required for each activity, considering factors such as activity duration, resource availability, and skill levels.