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PROJECT MANAGEMENT TERMINOLOGYA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZData 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 Decision Models include generalized techniques (Decision Trees, Forced Choice, and others) as well as specialized ones (Analytic Hierarchy process, Logical Framework Analysis and others).
Decomposing – subdividing project work
packages into smaller, more manageable components (activities/action
steps). The heuristic (rule of thumb) used in project decomposition
is 80 hours. Delphi method helps you estimate long-term trends. To use the Delphi method, select participants considered to be subject matter experts. Send questionnaires confidentially and anonymously to participants and ask them to answer questions confidentially. Compile results and send them to the same participants along with a new, more refined list of questions. Continue this process until you obtain a consensus opinion for your topic.Design of Experiments A technique to identify which variables have the most influence on overall outcomes (part of Quality Planning). Design of Experiments is a statistical method that helps identify which factors might influence specific variables. The technique is used most frequently to the product of the project... however, it can also be applied to project management issues, such as cost and schedule tradeoffs. For example, senior engineers will cost more than junior engineers but can also be expected to complete the assigned work in less time Design Scope – contain the detailed project requirements (used for FP contract) Direct Costs Incurred directly by a specific project. The PMI want the team to participate in the cost estimates to get their buy-in. Discounted cash-flow approach Present value method determines the net present value of all cash flow by discounting it by the required rate of return.Net Present Value = Net present value of all Outflows - New Present Value of all Inflows (discounted by a percentage called the required rate of return). Net Present Value of the project should be positive for the project to be approved. Duration Compression Methods – occurs after activity duration estimating and before finalizing the schedule. Include crashing, fast track,
EAC Based on project performance and risk quantification The Earned Value, physical work actually accomplished, including the estimated value of this work (previously called the Budgeted Costs for Work Performed [BCWP]) Earned Value Performance Measurement is a consistent way to analyze project performance. Because of its consistency, EVPM objectively measures project work. When you use EVPM, you effectively manage technical, cost, and schedule so that your clients rely on timely project data. It balances technical performance, cost resources, and time 1. Create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to separate your project into controllable pieces and assign responsibility. 2.Identify and list activities to place in earned value mode. 3.Assign costs for each activity. Determine if an activity includes fixed, variable, or overhead costs, and decide how much labor and materials to include. 4.Sequence activities in a budget. 5.Complete your budget to create an S-curve (planned value). 6.Review your budget to understand it very clearly. 7.Make sure requirements do not exceed available capacity for any period. 8.Monitor your project's progress and enter information for actual cost and for earned value in the correct field in your budget. 9.Report unfinished portions as balances and as percentages. 10.Calculate variances and indices. Determine variances and indices for planned value, earned value, and actual cost. Employee mistake - when a team member makes a mistakes, allow him to save face and to fix the problem.: if it is not considered a project related issue, it should be reported directly to the employee’s manager. Employee Record Update – as part of closure, the project manager should update employee’s record with the new skills acquired. Estimate at Completion (EAC) BAC / CPI Estimate to Completion (ETC) EAC - AC or (BAC - EV) / CPI ETC Estimate to Completion EV=PV [BCWP=BCWS] EV equals PV when the project is completed. Earned value is an integrated measurement to see if a project is on track in terms of cost and performance/schedule Events – specified accomplishment / does not consume time (eg tested) Executive Summary identifies why your project exists, what is to be done, and what specific deliverables are to be produced. An executive summary is also known as the project charter. An executive summary is the part of a project that is usually read first. An executive summary demands special attention. Your first sentence must grab and keep a reader's interest. You cannot afford to start your executive summary in such a way that "loses" your readers. Start off with an attention-grabbing introductory sentence, such as: By the end of this year, Acme Manufacturing will control sixty percent of the market as customers switch from Brand X to Acme Plus. In addition to your opening section, make sure to include information about stakeholder needs, project justification (mission and purpose), planned deliverables, strategy, project methodology, and scope. To review an example of a well-written executive summary, please visit the Supplementary Material section. Expectancy Theory – Motivation is explained in terms of expectations that people have about (1) their ability to perform effectively on the job, (2) the rewards they might obtain if they do perform effectively and (3) the value or degree of satisfaction they anticipate from those rewards. Expected Monetary Value = Probability * Monetary Impact (used in Decision Tree Analysis) Expected value (not be confused with earned value) is a combined quantitative and graphical technique that uses estimates (probabilities). You calculate expected value (EV) as EV equals low demand plus high demand multiplied by the most profitable Expert Power: The ability to gain support because personnel perceive the project manager as possessing special knowledge or expertise. (that functional personnel perceive as consider as important)
Facilitating Process Interactions among the other planning processes are more dependent on the nature of project, they are done as needed during the proces, they are not optional Fast Track – resources in parallel, involve increase rework. Should fast track tasks on the critical path (float = 0) in order to save time. fifty-fifty method This method and (0/100 and 20/80) are best suited for projects that have short measurement periods. (Earned Value Performance Measurement) Finish to Finish - activities must finish on a specific sequence Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Reasonably definite specifications (e.g. SOW). Shift risk to seller. Good when deliverable is not a core competency. Fixed Costs Costs do not change; non-recurring (e.g. project setup costs)
Fixed Price Award Fee “bonus” to the seller based on performance (e.g. 100K + 10K for every designated incremental quality level reached. Fixed Price Plus Incentive Fee (FPI) High-value projects involving long performance periods Float / Slack – Time an activity may be delayed from its early start without delaying the project finish date. Difference between the required end date and the expected project completion date. A negative slack on the critical path means that the project is behind schedule. Flow chart Help analyze how problems occurs, creates a level of common understanding, increase your understanding of various process levels, clearly defines wasteful process steps and redundancies Force field analysis is a technique that defines opposing forces to a particular change. It identifies variables that support and argue against a change. Force field analysis portrays the pros and cons pertaining to a decision or planned action. If negative forces (called restrictive forces) are too strong, you tend to make one type of decision. If positive forces are overwhelming (called moving forces), you make another type of decision. Free Float – Amount of time a task can be delayed without delaying the early start of its successor
Gantt chart is to organize and clarify that actual of planned use of resources by creating horizontal bars to represent activities and exercising control against the bars. Gantt charts use forward scheduling logic. Use forward scheduling by setting today's date as Day Zero and making time estimates for each activity. Forward scheduling provide you with an opportunity to create trial-and-error schedules. This supplies you with ideas of what different arrangements of tasks may involve. Once you have an acceptable arrangement, identify relationships for all activities and construct and extend each bar into the future. Gantt charts do not easily reveal a project's critical path
Heuristics - rules of thumb Histograms data collection tool. They graphically present information collected as raw data. The purpose of a histogram is to understand the pattern of a process by observing frequency of data. historical analogy, review similar past projects to your current project. This greatly increases your efficiency. |