Project Time Management & Cost Management Terms: PDF

‫ تعاريف فقط‬387 ‫رح احط التعداد ك تعداد مع تعاريفه عشان لو جاب هذا تابع اليش باالختياري و كذا ف تعرفون‬ Ch6 -project time management processes: $$$ 1-Defining activities: identifying the specific activities that the project team members and stakeholders must perform to produce the project deliver...

‫ تعاريف فقط‬387 ‫رح احط التعداد ك تعداد مع تعاريفه عشان لو جاب هذا تابع اليش باالختياري و كذا ف تعرفون‬ Ch6 -project time management processes: $$$ 1-Defining activities: identifying the specific activities that the project team members and stakeholders must perform to produce the project deliverables 2-Sequencing activities: identifying and documenting the relationships between project activities 3-Estimating activity resources: estimating how many resources a project team should use to perform project activities 4-Estimating activity durations: estimating the number of work periods that are needed to complete individual activities 5-Developing the schedule: analyzing activity sequences, activity resource estimates, and activity duration estimates to create the project schedule 6-Controlling the schedule: controlling and managing changes to the project schedule -An activity or task is an element of work normally found on the work breakdown structure (WBS) that has an expected duration, a cost, and resource requirements /// Activity definition involves developing a more detailed WBS and supporting explanations to understand all the work to be done so you can develop realistic cost and duration estimates -An activity list is a tabulation of activities to be included on a project schedule that includes: ◦ The activity name ◦ An activity identifier or number ◦ A brief description of the activity -Activity attributes provide more information such as predecessors, successors, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, constraints, imposed dates, and assumptions related to the activity -A milestone is a significant event that normally has no duration -dependency or relationship is the sequencing of project activities or tasks -dependencies types: 1-Mandatory dependencies: inherent in the nature of the work being performed on a project, sometimes referred to as hard logic 2-Discretionary dependencies: defined by the project team; sometimes referred to as soft logic and should be used with care since they may limit later scheduling options 3-External dependencies: involve relationships between project and non-project activities -network diagram is a schematic display of the logical relationships among, or sequencing of, project activities -resources are people, equipment, and materials -resource breakdown structure is a hierarchical structure that identifies the project’s resources by category and type -Duration includes the actual amount of time worked on an activity plus elapsed time - Effort is the number of workdays or work hours required to complete a task -three-point estimate An estimate that includes an optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimate, such as three weeks for the optimistic, four weeks for the most likely, and five weeks for the pessimistic estimate -Gantt charts provide a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project $$$activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format -CPM is a network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration - A critical path for a project is the series of activities that determines the earliest time by which the project can be completed -The critical path is the longest path through the network diagram and has the least amount of slack or float -Slack or float is the amount of time an activity may be delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or the project finish date -Free slack or free float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any immediately following activities -Total slack or total float is the amount of time an activity may be delayed from its early start without delaying the planned project finish date - A forward pass through the network diagram determines the early start and finish dates - A backward pass determines the late start and finish dates -Three main techniques for shortening schedules ◦ Shortening durations of critical activities/tasks by adding more resources or changing their scope ◦ Crashing activities by obtaining the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost ◦ Fast tracking activities by doing them in parallel or overlapping them - Critical chain scheduling: A method of scheduling that considers limited resources when creating a project schedule and includes buffers to protect the project completion date -Uses the Theory of Constraints (TOC): A management philosophy developed by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and introduced in his book The Goal -Attempts to minimize multitasking: When a resource works on more than one task at a time -A buffer is additional time to complete a task $$$- Murphy’s Law states that if something can go wrong, it will -Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time allowed -Project buffers or additional time added before the project’s due date - Feeding buffers or additional time added before tasks on the critical chain that are preceded by non- critical-path tasks -PERT is a network analysis technique used to estimate project duration when there is a high degree of uncertainty about the individual activity duration estimates -PERT uses probabilistic time estimates: Duration estimates based on using optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates of activity durations, or a three point estimate …….. Ch7 -cost overrun (the additional percentage or dollar amount by which actual costs exceed estimates) -Cost is a resource sacrificed or foregone to achieve a specific objective or something given up $$$ in exchange -Project cost management includes the processes required to ensure that the project is completed within an approved budget $$$ -project cost management processes: 1 Estimating costs: developing an approximation or estimate of the costs of the resources needed to complete a project 2 Determining the budget: allocating the overall cost estimate to individual work items to establish a baseline for measuring performance 3 Controlling costs: controlling changes to the project budget -Profits are revenues minus expenditures - Profit margin is the ratio of revenues to profits - Life cycle costing considers the total cost of ownership, or development plus support costs, for a project - Cash flow analysis determines the estimated annual costs and benefits for a project and the resulting annual cash flow -basic principles of cost management: $$$ -Tangible costs or benefits are those costs or benefits that an organization can easily measure in dollars - Intangible costs or benefits are costs or benefits that are difficult to measure in monetary terms - Direct costs are costs that can be directly related to producing the products and services of the project - Indirect costs are costs that are not directly related to the products or services of the project, but are indirectly related to performing the project - Sunk cost is money that has been spent in the past; when deciding what projects to invest in or continue, you should not include sunk costs -Learning curve theory states that when many items are produced repetitively, the unit cost of those items decreases in a regular pattern as more units are produced - Reserves are dollars included in a cost estimate to mitigate cost risk by allowing for future situations that are difficult to predict 1- Contingency reserves allow for future situations that may be partially planned for (sometimes called known unknowns) and are included in the project cost baseline 2-Management reserves allow for future situations that are unpredictable (sometimes called unknown unknowns) -cost management plan is a document that describes how the organization will manage cost variances on the project $$$ -Basic tools and techniques for cost estimates: 1◦ Analogous or top-down estimates: use the actual cost of a previous, similar project as the basis for estimating the cost of the current project 2◦ Bottom-up estimates: involve estimating individual work items or activities and summing them to get a project total ( LOC and FP) 3 ◦ Parametric modeling uses project characteristics (parameters) in a mathematical model to estimate project costs (COCOMO) -earned value management EVM is a project performance measurement technique that integrates scope, time, and cost data - Given a baseline (original plan plus approved changes), you can determine how well the project is meeting its goals -The planned value (PV), formerly called the budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS), also called the budget, is that portion of the approved total cost estimate planned to be spent on an activity during a given period -Actual cost (AC), formerly called actual cost of work performed (ACWP), is the total of direct and indirect costs incurred in accomplishing work on an activity during a given period -The earned value (EV), formerly called the budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP), is an estimate of the value of the physical work actually completed -Rate of performance (RP) is the ratio of actual work completed to the percentage of work planned to have been completed at any given time during the life of the project or activity Ch8 -quality as “the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfils requirements” $$$ -quality based on: $$$ ◦ Conformance to requirements: the project’s processes and products meet written specifications ◦ Fitness for use: a product can be used as it was intended -Project quality management ensures that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken -Processes include: 1 ◦ Planning quality: identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and how to satisfy them; a metric is a standard of measurement 2◦ Performing quality assurance: periodically evaluating overall project performance to ensure the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards 3◦ Performing quality control: monitoring specific project results to ensure that they comply with the relevant quality standards -Design of experiments is a quality planning technique that helps identify which variables have the most influence on the overall outcome of a process -scope aspects of it project: $$$ 1 Functionality is the degree to which a system performs its intended function 2 Features are the system’s special characteristics that appeal to users 3 System outputs are the screens and reports the system generates 4 Performance addresses how well a product or service performs the customer’s intended use 5 Reliability is the ability of a product or service to perform as expected under normal conditions 6 Maintainability addresses the ease of performing maintenance on a product -Project managers are ultimately responsible for quality management on their projects $$$ -Quality assurance includes all the activities related to satisfying the relevant quality standards for a project -Benchmarking generates ideas for quality improvements by comparing specific project practices or product characteristics to those of other projects or products within or outside the performing organization $$$ - A quality audit is a structured review of specific quality management activities that help identify lessons learned that could improve performance on current or future projects -Cause-and-effect diagrams trace complaints about quality problems back to the responsible production operations (Also known as fishbone or Ishikawa diagrams) -A control chart is a graphic display of data that illustrates the results of a process over time -The seven run rule states that if seven data points in a row are all below the mean, above the mean, or are all increasing or decreasing, then the process needs to be examined for non- random problems $$$ -A run chart displays the history and pattern of variation of a process over time -A scatter diagram helps to show if there is a relationship between two variables -A histogram is a bar graph of a distribution of variables -A Pareto chart is a histogram that can help you identify and prioritize problem areas - Pareto analysis is also called the 80-20 rule, meaning that 80 percent of problems are often due to 20 percent of the causes -Flowcharts are graphic displays of the logic and flow of processes that help you analyse how problems occur and how processes can be improved $$$ -Statistical sampling involves choosing part of a population of interest for inspection -Six Sigma is “a comprehensive and flexible system for achieving, sustaining, and maximizing business success. Six Sigma is uniquely driven by close understanding of customer needs, disciplined use of facts, data, and statistical analysis, and diligent attention to managing, improving, and reinventing business processes.” -DMAIC is a systematic, closed-loop process for continued improvement that is scientific and fact based - DMAIC stands for: ◦ Define: define the problem/opportunity, process, and customer requirements ◦ Measure: define measures, then collect, compile, and display data ◦ Analyze: scrutinize process details to find improvement opportunities ◦ Improve: generate solutions and ideas for improving the problem ◦ Control: track and verify the stability of the improvements and the predictability of the solution -types of tests: $$$ 1 Unit testing tests each individual component (often a program) to ensure it is as defect -free as possible 2 Integration testing occurs between unit and system testing to test functionally grouped components 3 System testing tests the entire system as one entity 4 User acceptance testing is an independent test performed by end users prior to accepting the delivered system -The cost of quality is the cost of conformance plus the cost of nonconformance ◦ Conformance means delivering products that meet requirements and fitness for use ◦ Cost of nonconformance means taking responsibility for failures or not meeting quality expectations -cost categories related to quality: 1 Prevention cost: cost of planning and executing a project so it is error -free or within an acceptable error range 2 Appraisal cost: cost of evaluating processes and their outputs to ensure quality 3 Internal failure cost: cost incurred to correct an identified defect before the customer receives the product 4 External failure cost: cost that relates to all errors not detected and corrected before delivery to the customer 5 Measurement and test equipment costs: capital cost of equipment used to perform prevention and appraisal activities -Maturity models are frameworks for helping organizations improve their processes and systems ◦ The Software Quality Function Deployment Model focuses on defining user requirements and planning software projects ◦ The Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model Integration is a process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes Ch9 -project human resource management: Making the most effective use of the people involved with a project $$$ - Processes include: 1◦ Developing the human resource plan: identifying and documenting project roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships 2◦ Acquiring the project team: getting the needed personnel assigned to and working on the project 3◦ Developing the project team: building individual and group skills to enhance project performance 4◦ Managing the project team: tracking team member performance, motivating team members, providing timely feedback, resolving issues and conflicts, and coordinating changes to help enhance project performance -Intrinsic motivation causes people to participate in an activity for their own enjoyment $$$ - Extrinsic motivation causes people to do something for a reward or to avoid a penalty -Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs which states that people’s behaviors are guided or motivated by a sequence of needs $$$ -Frederick Herzberg wrote several famous books and articles about worker motivation; he distinguished between: ◦ Motivational factors: achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth, which produce job satisfaction ◦ Hygiene factors: cause dissatisfaction if not present, but do not motivate workers to do more; examples include larger salaries, more supervision, and a more attractive work environment -thamhain and wilemon ways to have influence on project: 1. Authority: the legitimate hierarchical right to issue orders 2. Assignment: the project manager's perceived ability to influence a worker's later work assignments 3. Budget: the project manager's perceived ability to authorize others' use of discretionary funds 4. Promotion: the ability to improve a worker's position 5. Money: the ability to increase a worker's pay and benefits 6. Penalty: the project manager's ability to cause punishment 7. Work challenge: the ability to assign work that capitalizes on a worker's enjoyment of doing a particular task 8. Expertise: the project manager's perceived special knowledge that others deem important 9. Friendship: the ability to establish friendly personal relationships between the project manager and others -Power is the potential ability to influence behavior to get people to do things they would not otherwise do $$$ - Types of power include: ◦ Coercive: using punishment and threat ◦ Legitimate: using authority ◦ Expert: using personal knowledge and expertise ◦ Reward: using incentive ◦ Referent: using individual personal’s charisma -A responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) is a matrix that maps the work of the project as described in the WBS to the people responsible for performing the work as described in the OBS -A staffing management plan describes when and how people will be added to and taken off the project team - A resource histogram is a column chart that shows the number of resources assigned to a project over time -Resource loading refers to the amount of individual resources an existing schedule requires during specific time periods -Overallocation means that more resources than are available are assigned to perform work at a given time $$$ -Resource leveling is a technique for resolving resource conflicts by delaying tasks -The main goal of team development is to help people work together more effectively to improve project performance -tuckman model of team development:  Forming: introduction to team members  Storming: team members have different opinions  Norming: team members have developed a common working method  Performing: emphasis on reaching the team goals rather than a team process  Adjourning: break-up after completion -Training can help people understand themselves, each other, and how to work better in teams Ch10 -project communications managem ent processes:  Identifying stakeholders: identifying everyone involved in or affected by the project and determining the best ways to manage relationships with them ▪ Planning communications: determining the information and communications needs of the stakeholders ▪ Distributing information: making needed information available to project stakeholders in a timely manner ▪ Managing stakeholder expectations: managing communications to satisfy the needs and expectations of project stakeholders and to resolve issues ▪ Reporting performance: collecting and disseminating performance information, including status reports, progress measurement, and forecasting -Stakeholder register: a public document that includes details related to the identified project stakeholders $$$ - Stakeholder management strategy: an approach to help increase the support of stakeholders throughout the project; often includes sensitive information -Every project should include some type of communications management plan: a document that guides project communications -Introverts like more private communications, while extroverts like to discuss things in public - Intuitive people like to understand the big picture, while sensing people need step-by-step details -Thinkers want to know the logic behind decisions, while feeling people want to know how something affects them personally - Judging people are driven to meet deadlines while perceiving people need more help in developing and following plans - Number of communications channels = n (n-1)/2 -An expectations management matrix can help clarify expectations -Performance reporting keeps stakeholders informed about how resources are being used to achieve project objectives: ◦ Status reports describe where the project stands at a specific point in time ◦ Progress reports describe what the project team has accomplished during a certain period of time ◦ Forecasts predict future project status and progress based on past information and trends -conflict handling modes: $$$ 1-Confrontation: directly face a conflict using a problem solving approach 2- Compromise: use a give-and-take approach 3-Smoothing: de-emphasize areas of difference and emphasize areas of agreement 4-Forcing: the win-lose approach 5- Withdrawal: retreat or withdraw from an actual or potential disagreement 6-Collaborating: decision makers incorporate different viewpoints and insights to develop consensus and commitment -Groupthink: conformance to the values or ethical standards of a group; groupthink can develop if there are no conflicting viewpoints -sample collaborative tools: - A SharePoint portal allows users to create custom Web sites to access documents and applications stored on shared devices - Google Docs allow users to create, share, and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations online $$$ - A wiki is a Web site designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify Web page content -The project manager and project team members should each prepare a lessons-learned report -The project manager often combines information from all of the lessons-learned reports into a project summary report -Project archives are a complete set of organized project records that provide an accurate history of the project Ch11 -Project risk management is the art and science of identifying, analyzing, and responding to risk throughout the life of a project and in the best interests of meeting project objectives $$$ - Risk management is often overlooked in projects, but it can help improve project success by helping select good projects, determining project scope, and developing realistic estimates -Negative risk involves understanding potential problems that might occur in the project and how they might impede project success -Negative risk management is like a form of insurance; it is an investment -Positive risks are risks that result in good things happening; sometimes called opportunities - A general definition of project risk is an uncertainty that can have a negative or positive effect on meeting project objectives -Risk utility or risk tolerance is the amount of satisfaction or pleasure received from a potential payoff -project risk management processes: $$$ 1 Planning risk management: deciding how to approach and plan the risk management activities for the project 2 Identifying risks: determining which risks are likely to affect a project and documenting the characteristics of each 3 Performing qualitative risk analysis: prioritizing risks based on their probability and impact of occurrence 4 Performing quantitative risk analysis: numerically estimating the effects of risks on project objectives 5 Planning risk responses: taking steps to enhance opportunities and reduce threats to meeting project objectives 6 Monitoring and controlling risks: monitoring identified and residual risks, identifying new risks, carrying out risk response plans, and evaluating the effectiveness of risk strategies throughout the life of the project -The main output of risk management planning is a risk management plan, a plan that documents the procedures for managing risk throughout a project -Contingency plans are predefined actions that the project team will take if an identified risk event occurs - Fallback plans are developed for risks that have a high impact on meeting project objectives and are put into effect if attempts to reduce the risk are not effective $$$ - Contingency reserves or allowances are provisions held by the project sponsor or organization to reduce the risk of cost or schedule overruns to an acceptable level -runaway projects—projects that have significant cost or schedule overruns -risk breakdown structure is a hierarchy of potential risk categories for a project -Identifying risks is the process of understanding what potential events might hurt or enhance a particular project - Risk identification tools and techniques include: $$$$$$ ◦ Brainstorming : Brainstorming is a technique by which a group attempts to generate ideas or find a solution for a specific problem by amassing ideas spontaneously and without judgment ◦ The Delphi Technique : Delphi Technique is used to derive a consensus among a panel of experts who make predictions about future developments ◦ Interviewing Interviewing is a fact-finding technique for collecting information in face -to-face, phone, e mail, or instant-messaging discussions ◦ SWOT analysis SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) can also be used during risk identification -risk register is: ◦ A document that contains the results of various risk management processes and that is often displayed in a table or spreadsheet format ◦ A tool for documenting potential risk events and related information -Risk events refer to specific, uncertain events that may occur to the detriment or enhancement of the project -triggers are indicators or symptoms of actual risk events -risk owner or person who will own or take responsibility for each risk -A probability/impact matrix or chart lists the relative probability of a risk occurring on one side of a matrix or axis on a chart and the relative impact of the risk occurring on the other -risk factors: Numbers that represent the overall risk of specific events based on their probability of occurring and the consequences to the project if they do occur -Top Ten Risk Item Tracking is a qualitative risk analysis tool that helps to identify risks and maintain an awareness of risks throughout the life of a project -watch list is a list of risks that are low priority but are still identified as potential risks -A decision tree is a diagramming analysis technique used to help select the best course of action in situations in which future outcomes are uncertain - Estimated monetary value (EMV) is the product of a risk event probability and the risk event’s monetary value $$$ -Simulation uses a representation or model of a system to analyze the expected behavior or performance of the system - Monte Carlo analysis simulates a model’s outcome many times to provide a statistical distribution of the calculated results -Sensitivity analysis is a technique used to show the effects of changing one or more variables on an outcome -Residual risks are risks that remain after all of the response strategies have been implemented $$$ - Secondary risks are a direct result of implementing a risk response -Workarounds are unplanned responses to risk events that must be done when there are no contingency plans