Foundation of Project Management

Project Life Cycle:A collection of project phases, such as concept development, implementation and close-out

PMI Code of Ethics and Professional ConductValues: Responsibility, Respect, Fairness, Honesty

CPI and SPI Less than 100% (or 1.00) indicates problems in the project.

Project Constraints:The "Triple Constraints" Scope, Time, and Cost.Additional competing demands include: Quality, Resources and Risk.

Project Management Knowledge Areas:1. Project Scope2. Project Time3. Project Cost4. Project Quality5. Project Human Resources6. Project Communication7. Project Risk8. Project Procurement9. Project Stake Holder10. Project Integration

Critical Path:Is made of activities with zero float and is the longest path through the project, generally it lets you know how long the project will take to complete.

Project Scope Management Processes: Plan Scope Management Collect Requirements Define Scope Create WBS Validate Scope Control Scope

Define ActivityDefining Activities Includes: Activity List: Activity Name, Activity Number, and a Brief Description Activity Attributes: Predecessors, Successors, Logical Relationships, Land and Lags, Resource Requirements, Constraints, and Assumptions. Milestone List: List of Constraints, Major Events, Main Deliverables Completed

Organizational Structures:Functional: Project Manager has little to no formal authority.Projectized: Project Manager has a great or independence and authority.Matrix Organization: Blend of functional and projectized characteristics.

Project Management Comprises of:  A set of Skills A suite of Tools & Techniques A series of Processes

Project Process Groups:Initiating ProcessesPlanning Processes  Executing Processes  Closing Processes Monitoring ProcessesEach process is defined in three elements: Inputs, Tools & Techniques, and Outputs

The Key Parameters of EVM: Planned Value (PV): What did we plan to achieve by now? (Includes both direct and indirect cost). (Total PV of whole project AKA BAC) Earned Value (EV): What have we achieved so far? Actual Cost (AC): What ave we spent so far?

Types of Cost Estimates:Type of Estimates:Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM): Initial estimate done at the beginning. -50% to +100% accurate.Budgetary: Done closer to start of project. -10% to 25% accurate.Definitive: More of a precise breakdown of budget in order to allocate funds for project. A Definitive Estimate is written in stone -5% to +10% accurate.

The project management plan provides the baseline for identifying and controlling project changes. A baseline is the approved project management plan plus approved changes.

Important outputs of monitoring and controlling project work include change requests and work performance report. Change requests include recommended corrective and preventive actions and defect repairs. Corrective actions should result in improvements in project performance. Preventive actions reduce the probability of negative consequences associated with project risks.

Remember that projects have Scope, Time, Cost, and other Goals, and changes often affect those goals. If the organization wants to meet Time and Cost Goals. for example, it must control changes to the project's scope. 

A Change Control System is a formal, documented process that describes the people authorized to make changes, the paperwork required for these changes, and any automated or manual tracking systems the project will use. A Change Control System often includes a Change Control Board, Configuration Management, and a process responsible for approving or rejecting changes to a project.

Configuration Management is a important part of Integrated Change Control. Configuration Management ensures that the description of the projects products are correct and complete. It involve identifying and controlling the functional and physical design characteristics of products and their support documentation.

Project Integration Management is usually the most important Project Management Knowledge areas, because it ties together all the other areas of Project Management.

A Project Managers primary focus should be on Project Integration Management.

SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats.

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