CompTIA Project+ (Exam PK0-003)

(PMBOK) Project Management Body of Knowledge

the Project Management Institute (PMI) publishes this project management guide.

(PMO) project management office

interorganizational office that manage projects and programs.

project

brings about a unique product, service, or result and has definite beginning and ending dates.

operations

work that is ongoing and repetitive.

program

a group of related projects that are managed together using coordinated processes and techniques.

project management

the application of skills, knowledge, and management tools and techniques to fulfill the project requirements.

project manager

leads the project team and oversees all the work required to complete the project goals to the satisfaction of the stakeholders.

functional organization

classic organizational structure with hierarchical reporting structures.

matrix organization

organizational structure where employees report to one functional manager and at least one project manager.

strong matrix

matrix organization type that emphasizes project work over functional duties.

weak matrix

matrix organization type that emphasizes functional work over project work.

balanced matrix

matrix organization type that shares equal emphasis between projects and functional work.

project-based organization

organizational structure focused on projects.

collocated

team members work together at the same physical location.

business case

formal justification for a project.

validating the project

involves preparing the business case and identifying and analyzing the project stakeholders.

feasibility study

determines whether the project is a viable project, the probability of project success, and the viability of the product of the project.

stakeholders

anyone who has a vested interest in the project.

project sponsor

authorizes the project to begin and is someone who has the ability to assign funds and resources to the project.

decision model

formal method of project selection that helps managers make the best use of limited budgets and human resources; uses benefit measurement methods and constrained optimization models.

benefit measurement method

type of decision model that compares the benefits obtained from a variety of new project requests by evaluating them using the same criteria and comparing the results.

cost-benefit analysis

benefit measurement method that compares the cost to produce the product or service to the financial gain.

scoring model

benefit measurement methods that uses a predefined list of weighted and scored criteria against which each project is ranked.

payback period

length of time it takes a company to recover the initial cost of producing the product or service of the project.

economic model

series of financial calculations, also known as cash flow techniques, which provide data on the overall financials of the project.

(DCF) discounted cash flow

compares the value of the future cash flows of the project to today’s dollars.

(NPV) net present value

similar to discounted cash flows, but total present value of the cash flows is deducted from the initial investment.

(IRR) internal rate of return

discount rate when the present value of the cash inflows equals the original investment.

constrained optimization models

decision models using complex principles of statistics and other mathematical concepts to assess a proposed project.

expert judgment

decision making that relies on the knowledge of those with expertise on the requested subject matter.

general management skills or soft skills

skills that include leadership, communication, problem solving, negotiation, organization, and time management.

identify the project, validate the project, prepare project charter

three requirements to complete pre-project setup.

project life cycle

grouping of project phases in a sequential order from the beginning of the project to the close.

deliverable or critical success factor

an output or result that must be completed and approved before moving to the next phase of the project.

initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing

five process groups that define project management.

initiation

formal authorization for the project to begin.

initiating

process group that includes all activities that lead up to the final authorization to begin a project, starting with the original project request.

project charter

primary output of the initiating process.

planning

process group where project plans are developed that will be used throughout the project to direct, monitor, and control work results.

project plan

primary output of the planning process.

executing

process group where the work of the project is performed.

monitoring and controlling

process group where activities are performed to analyze the progress of the project and determine whether there are variances from the project plan.

closing

process group that documents the final delivery and acceptance of the project.

product description or high-level requirements

explains the major characteristics of a product and describes the relationship between the business need and the product.

business requirements

requirements that describe how the business objectives of the project will be met.

functional requirements

defines what the product of the project will do by focusing on how the end user will interact with the product.

technical requirements or nonfunctional requirements

product characteristics needed for the product to perform the functional requirements.

(RFP) request for proposal

document that is sent out to potential vendors requesting them to provide a proposal on a product or service.

(SOW) statement of work

a description of what product or service the vendor will provide and is generally included as part of a contract.

project champion

person who fully understands, believes in, and espouses the benefits of the project to the organization.

project team members

experts who will be performing the work associated with the project.

customer or client

recipient of the product or service created by the project.

end user

person who directly uses the product produced as a result of an IT project.

(COTS) commercial off-the-shelf

a software application that is purchased from a reseller, vendor, or manufacturer.

enterprise

the complete array of business units within an organization.

project charter

provides formal approval for the project to begin and authorizes the project manager to apply resources, signed by project sponsor.

milestones

major events in a project that are used to measure progress.

constraints

anything that either restricts or dictates the actions of the project team.

assumptions

events, actions, concepts, or ideas you believe to be true.

triple constraint

time, budget, and quality.

risks

pose either opportunities or threats to the project.

project charter

contains problem statement, deliverables, milestones, costs, assumptions, constraints, risks, stakeholders, and project description.

decomposition

process of breaking project deliverables down into smaller, manageable components of work so that work packages can be planned and estimated.

fast tracking

starting the next phase of the project before the prior phase is completed in order to shorten the project schedule.

functional manager

provides the employees performing the work of the project.

project scope

includes all the components that make up the product or service of the project and the results the project intends to produce.

scope management plan

describes how the project team will define project scope, verify the work of the project, and manage and control scope.

scope statement

provides a common understanding of the project by documenting the project objectives and deliverables.

scope statement

includes a product description, key deliverables, success and acceptance criteria, key performance indicators, exclusions, assumptions, and constraints.

work breakdown structure

breaks the project deliverables down into smaller components from which you can estimate task durations, assign resources, and estimate costs.

project kick-off meeting

premier meeting that includes sponsor, key project team members, and key stakeholders to discuss the project charter.

scope creep

minor changes or small additions that are made to the project outside of a formal scope change process.

scope planning

the process of defining the scope management plan, the scope statement, and the WBS and WBS dictionary.

acceptance criteria or success criteria

the process and the criteria that will be used to determine whether the deliverables are acceptable and satisfactory.

(KPIs) key performance indicators

helps determine whether the project is on track and progressing as planned.

exclusions from scope

anything that isn’t included as a deliverable or work of the project, documented to prevent misunderstandings.

order of magnitude estimate

high-level estimate of the time and cost of a project based on the actual cost and duration of a similar project.

scope statement

approval on this document should be required before any project work is undertaken.

(WBS) work breakdown structure

a deliverables-oriented hierarchy that defines all the work of the project.

(WBS) work breakdown structure

the basis for estimating activity duration, assigning resources to activities, estimating work effort, and creating a budget.

work package level

the lowest WBS level where resources, time, and cost estimates are determined.

code of accounts

numeric identifiers usually associated with the corporation’s chart of accounts, which are used to track costs by category.

WBS dictionary

where the WBS levels and work component descriptions are documented including code of account identifiers, responsible party, estimates, criteria for acceptance, etc.

activity definition

taking the work packages from the WBS and breaking them down into assignable tasks.

activity list

a list of all activities required to complete the work of the project that also includes an identifier code and the WBS code it’s associated with.

activity sequencing

the process of identifying dependency relationships between project activities and sequencing them in proper order.

dependencies

relationships between activities.

mandatory dependency

dependency defined by the type of work being performed, and one activity is dependent on another activity.

discretionary dependency

dependency defined by process or procedure, and may include best-practice techniques.

external dependency

type of dependency where a relationship between a project task and a factor outside the project, such as weather conditions, drives the scheduling of that task.

predecessor

a task on the network diagram that occurs before another task.

successor

a task on the network diagram that occurs after another task.

finish-to-start, start-to-start, start-to-finish, and finish-to-finish

name the four types of logical relationships.

finish-to-start

in this logical relationship, the successor activity cannot begin until the predecessor activity has completed.

start-to-finish

in this logical relationship, the predecessor activity must start before the successor activity can finish.

finish-to-finish

in this logical relationship, the predecessor activity must finish before the successor activity finishes.

start-to-start

in this logical relationship, the predecessor activity depends on starting before the successive activity can start.

network diagram

depicts the project activities and the interrelationships among these activities.

(PDM) precedence diagramming method

common network diagram that uses boxes to represent the project activities and arrows to connect the boxes and show the dependencies.

(ADM) arrow diagramming method

network diagram that uses arrows representing project activities, and nodes as the connecting points between the activities.

(CDM) conditional diagramming method

network diagram used to show activities that loop or repeat throughout the project, or show activities not in sequential order.

activity duration

the process of estimating the time to complete each item on the activity list.

expert judgment, analogous or top-down estimating, parametric, three-point, and PERT

name five of the most common methods for estimating activity duration.

analogous estimating or top-down estimating

estimate model based on similar activities from a previous project.

expert judgment

estimate model that relies on people most familiar with the work to create the estimate.

parametric estimate

estimate model that is a quantitatively based, multiplying the quantity of work by the rate.

three-point estimate

estimate model that is an average of the most likely estimate, the optimistic estimate, and the pessimistic estimate.

(optimistic + pessimistic + most likely) / 3

a three-point estimate is calculated using this formula.

(PERT) Program Evaluation and Review Technique

activity duration estimate that is similar to a three-point estimate, but uses a weighted average or "expected value."

(optimistic + pessimistic + (4 * most likely)) / 6

a PERT estimate is calculated using this formula.

schedule development

involves establishing a start date and a finish date for each of the project activities.

(CPM) critical path method

schedule development method that determines a single early and late start date, early and late finish date, and the float for each activity on the project.

(CP) critical path

the longest full path through the project.

float time or slack time

amount of time the early start of a task may be delayed without delaying the finish date of the project.

critical path activities

activities with zero float are considered this.

forward pass

process of working from the left to the right of a network diagram in order to calculate early start and early finish dates for each activity.

backward pass

calculating late start and late finish dates by starting at the end of a network diagram and working back through each path until reaching the start of the network diagram.

float time or slack time

calculated by subtracting the early start from the late start or the early finish from the late finish for each activity.

duration compression

use of techniques such as fast-tracking or crashing to shorten the planned duration of a project or to resolve schedule slippage.

crashing

a schedule compression technique that adds resources to the project to reduce the time it takes to complete the project.

fast tracking

a schedule compression technique performing two tasks in parallel that were previously scheduled to start sequentially.

milestone chart

tracks the scheduled dates and actual completion dates for the major milestones.

Gantt charts

charts that typically display tasks using a horizontal bar chart format across a timeline.

milestone charts or Gantt charts

name the two most common ways project schedules are displayed.

schedule baseline

the final approved version of the project schedule that includes start and finish dates, and will be used throughout the project to monitor progress.

communications planning

the process of identifying what people or groups need to receive information regarding your project, what information each group needs, and how the information will be distributed.

90 percent

how much time project managers should spend communicating.

sender-message-receiver model or the basic communication model

how all communication exchange occurs, no matter what format it takes.

network communication model

shows the lines of communication that exist between any number of project participants.

n (n – 1) / 2

formula for calculating lines of communication, where "n" is used to represent the number of participants.

informal communications

include phone calls and emails to and from team members, conversations in the hallway, and impromptu meetings.

formal communications

include project kickoff meetings, team status meetings, written status reports, team building sessions, or other planned sessions.

project stakeholders

typically includes the project sponsor, functional managers, customers, and end users.

stakeholder engagement plan

helps identify key messages to convey to each stakeholder during project communications.

resource planning

determines what resources are needed for the project, including human, equipment, and material.

human resources

the people who have the experience and skills needed to complete project activities.

equipment

resources such as servers, specialized test equipment, or additional PCs that are required for a project.

materials

a catchall category of project resources that includes software, utilities, project supplies, or other consumable goods.

resource requirements document

contains a description of each of the resources needed, for each of the work packages on the WBS.

resource pool description

a listing of all the job titles within a company or department with a brief description of the job; may also list the number of people currently employed in each job title.

(RAM) resource assignment matrix

a resource chart that defines the WBS identifier, the resource type needed for the WBS element, and the quantity of resources needed for the task.

RACI chart

type of RAM that describes the resources needed for a task and their role for that task using the following descriptors: responsible, accountable, consult, or inform.

human resources planning

involves defining team member roles and responsibilities, establishing an appropriate structure for team reporting, acquiring the right team members, and bringing them on the project as needed for the appropriate length of time.

organizational planning and staff acquisition

the two components of human resources planning.

organizational planning

process of addressing factors that may impact how to manage a project team, defining roles and responsibilities for project team members, identifying how the project team will be organized, and documenting a staffing management plan.

labor-union agreements, organizational structure, and economic conditions

name three potential constraints when performing human resources planning.

environmental factors

these organizational planning factors include elements such as personnel policies, location and logistics of personnel, technical factors, and interpersonal factors.

roles and responsibilities document

document that lists each group or individual team member on the project and their responsibilities.

project organization chart

chart that provides a snapshot of who is working on the project, and also shows the reporting structure.

staffing management plan

documents when and how human resources will be added to and released from the project team and what they will be working on while they are part of the team.

staffing management plan

the "blueprint" needed to manage the human resources assigned to a project.

staff acquisition

process where team members (or organizations) who will work on the project are chosen, possibly negotiating with functional managers.

procurement planning

the process of identifying the goods and services required for a project that will be purchased from outside the organization.

make-or-buy analysis

determines the cost effectiveness of producing goods or services in-house versus procuring them from outside the organization.

indirect costs

costs associated with overhead, management, and ongoing maintenance costs

direct costs

costs that are directly attributed to the project, such as costs needed to produce a resource.

staff augmentation

procuring contract workers if no internal resources are available for a time-critical project or if internal resources do not have the required skill sets.

(SOW) statement of work

vendors use this detailed document to determine whether they are capable of producing the deliverables and to determine their interest in bidding on project work.

solicitation planning

the process of identifying the requirements of the product and identifying potential sources.

solicitation

obtaining responses from vendors to complete the project work as documented in the SOW.

bidder conference

a meeting held by the buyer with potential vendors during the procurement process to allow vendors to ask questions and get clarification on the project.

request for information

RFI [solicitation terminology].

request for proposal

RFP [solicitation terminology].

request for quotation

RFQ [solicitation terminology].

request for bid or invitation for bid

RFB or IFB [solicitation terminology].

procurement planning

involves using make-or-buy analysis, SOW preparation, vendor solicitation, and vendor selection criteria.

contract

legally binding document that describes the work that will be performed, how the work will be compensated, and any penalties for noncompliance.

fixed-price, cost-reimbursable, and time and materials

name the three types of contracts.

fixed-price contract

states a fixed fee or price for the goods or services provided.

cost-reimbursable contract

reimburses the seller for all the allowable costs associated with producing the goods or services outlined.

time and materials contract

type of contract where the buyer and the seller agree on a unit rate such as an hourly rate; the total cost is unknown and will depend on the amount of time spent.

cost estimating

the process of estimating what you will spend on all your project resources.

cost estimates

input for developing the project budget.

top-down estimating or analogous estimating

estimating technique that uses actual durations from similar activities on a previous project; relies on expert judgment or historical data.

parametric estimate

mathematical model to compute costs, and it most often uses the quantity of work multiplied by the rate.

bottom-up estimate

this model assigns a cost estimate to each work package on the project.

work effort or person-hour estimate

total time it takes for a person to complete a task if they did nothing else from the time they started until the task was complete.

cost budgeting

the process of aggregating all the cost estimates and establishing a cost baseline for the project.

cost baseline

the total approved expected cost for the project used throughout the project to measure the overall cost performance.

project budget

used to track the actual expenses incurred against the estimates.

project budget

usually broken down by specific cost categories that are defined by the accounting department.

contingency reserve

discretionary reserve set aside and dedicated to the project to be used to cover unforeseen issues not identified during planning.

management reserve

discretionary reserve set aside by upper management to be used to cover future situations that can’t be predicted.

quality planning

the process of identifying quality standards that are applicable to a project and determining how the project will meet these standards.

cost of quality

total cost of all the work required to assure a project meets quality standards including cost of nonconformance, rework, and quality assessments.

cost-benefit analysis

quality planning tool used to consider the trade-offs of the cost of quality

benchmarking

quality planning tool used that uses similar activities as a means of comparison.

flowcharting

quality planning tool that often uses a diagram and checkpoints to assess the quality of a particular activity before the next step is started.

prevention, appraisal, and failure

name three types of costs associated with quality.

prevention costs

quality cost of keeping defects out of the hands of the customers including quality planning, training, design review, contractor or supplier costs, and any testing.

appraisal costs

quality cost of activities performed to examine product or processes and confirm that quality requirements are being met including inspection, testing, and formal quality audits.

failure costs or cost of poor quality

quality cost of activities required if the product fails.

internal failure costs

quality costs resulting when customer requirements are not met, but the product is still in the control of the organization.

external failure costs

quality costs resulting when a product has reached the customer and they determine it doesn’t meet their requirements.

quality management plan

documents how the project team will carry out the quality policy; is the basis for quality control when in project execution.

quality metric

a standard of measurement that specifically defines what will be measured and how it will be measured.

quality checklist

a quality tool that lists a series of steps that must be taken to complete an activity or process.

exit criteria

criteria that must be met at the completion of a milestone or project.

risk

a potential future event that can have either negative or positive impacts on the project.

risk planning

concerns how the areas of uncertainty in a project are managed.

risk identification, risk analysis, and risk response

name the three components of risk planning.

risk identification

the process of determining and documenting the potential risks that could occur on a project.

risk list or risk register

includes an identification number, risk name, risk description, and risk owner.

risk owner

person in a project who monitors a risk probability and is responsible for implementing the risk response if needed.

risk analysis

process of identifying risks that have the greatest possibility of occurring and the greatest impact to a project if they do occur.

qualitative risk analysis

a subjective approach to determine the likelihood that a risk will actually occur and the impact to the project if it does occur.

quantitative risk analysis

complex mathematical approach to numerically identify and focus on risks that are the most critical to the success of a project.

risk probability

the likelihood that a risk event will occur, expressed as a number from 0.0 to 1.0.

risk impact

the amount of damage (or opportunity) a risk poses to the project if it occurs.

probability and impact matrix

chart used to help calculate a final risk score for different risks, determined by multiplying the probability by the impact score.

risk response planning

process that describes how to reduce threats and take advantage of opportunities, documents the plan for negative and positive risk events, and assigns owners to each risk.

avoiding, transferring, mitigating, and accepting

name four strategies for responding to negative risks.

exploiting, sharing, and enhancing

name three strategies for responding to positive risk opportunities.

avoiding

act of evading a risk altogether or eliminating the cause of the risk event.

transferring

act of moving the liability of a risk to a third party.

mitigating

act of reducing the impact or the probability of a risk.

accepting

act of affirming the consequences of a risk.

exploiting

searching for opportunities to take advantage of positive impacts.

sharing

assigning a risk to a third party who is best able to execute on an opportunity.

enhancing

monitoring the probability or impact of a risk event to assure benefits are realized.

contingency planning

planning alternatives to deal with risks should they occur.

risk triggers

sign or a precursor signaling that a risk event is about to occur.

project management plan

final approved documented plan used to execute a project and measure project progress and success.

project management plan

includes scope statement, project schedule, communications plan, resource plan, procurement plan, project budget, quality management plan, and the risk management plan.

transition plan

describes how the final product or service of a project will be turned over to an organization.

cost-benefit analysis, benchmarking, flowcharting, and cost of quality

name four quality planning tools and techniques.

ownership, transition dates, training, extended support, and warranties

name five components of a transition plan.

forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning

name the series of development stages for a group or team.

forming

the beginning stage of team development, when members are introduced and told the objectives of the project.

storming

stage of team development where members contend for position and control.

norming

stage of team development where members begin to deal with project problems instead of people problems.

performing

stage of team development where members are productive and efficient.

adjourning

stage of team development that occurs after work has been completed and the team is dissolved.

team building

processes involved in getting diverse groups of people to work together efficiently and effectively.

conflict

the incompatibility of goals.

competing resource demands, varying work styles, and conflicting expert judgment

name three common causes of conflict.

smoothing, forcing, compromise, confronting or problem solving, avoiding, and negotiating

name six techniques used in managing conflict.

smoothing

a temporary conflict management technique where areas of agreement are emphasized over areas of difference; a lose-lose result.

forcing

conflict management technique where one person enacts a solution on another party; a win-lose result.

compromise

conflict management technique where each of the parties involved in the conflict give up something to reach a solution; a null-null result.

confronting or problem solving

conflict management technique that proposes one right solution to a problem exists and that the facts will bear out that solution; a win-win result.

avoiding or withdrawal

conflict management technique where one party in the conflict withdraws and refuses further debate; a lose-lose result.

negotiating

conflict management technique usually involving a third party who arbitrates and helps all parties reach an agreement.

confronting or problem solving

the most effective conflict resolution technique often employed by a project manager producing a win-win result.

project kickoff meeting

a time to formally introduce project team members, review goals and the deliverables for the project, discuss roles and responsibilities, and to review stakeholder expectations.

organizational governance

recognizes the importance of regulations, laws, and other standards or internal processes that may impact the project.

organizational governance

includes standards compliance, internal process compliance, decision oversight, and phase gate approval.

phase gate approval

involves formally reviewing the project at specific points to determine whether the project should proceed.

change control systems

documented procedures that describe how the deliverables of a project are controlled, changed, and approved; also describe the documentation required to request and track the changes and updates the project plan.

integrated change control system

system that manages change requests, determines the global impacts of a change, and updates all impacted portions of the project plan when a change is made.

scope control

involves monitoring the status of project scope, monitoring changes to the project scope, and monitoring work results to ensure that they match expected outcomes.

schedule control

entails determining that a change to the schedule is needed, taking the appropriate action to deal with the schedule change, and updating the schedule based on changes in other areas of the project plan.

risk control

implements the risk prevention strategies or contingency plans developed in the risk response plan, monitors the results of preventative actions, and assesses new risks to the project.

factors that may cause change

these include stakeholder requests, team member recommendations, vendor issues, risks, project constraints, etc.

corrective actions

change request actions that bring the work of a project into alignment with the project plan.

preventive actions

change request actions implemented to help reduce the probability of a negative risk event.

defect repairs

change request to either correct or replace components that are substandard or are malfunctioning.

(CCB) change control board

board responsible for reviewing and approving, denying, or delaying change requests.

scope, schedule, cost, and quality

name the four primary targets of change control.

infrastructure changes

the element of a project that will remain permanently after the project is completed.

scope change

any modification to the agreed-upon WBS.

scope baseline

consists of the scope statement, the WBS, and the WBS dictionary.

scope verification

process that concerns formally accepting the deliverables of the project and obtaining sign-off that they’re complete.

project schedule and product scope

changes to project scope always require changes to these as well.

schedule update

any change that is made to the project schedule as part of the ongoing work involved with managing a project.

revision

an update to the approved start or end date of the schedule baseline, typically a result of approved scope changes.

rebaselining

setting a new project baseline because of substantial changes to the schedule or the budget.

residual risks

risks that are left over from a risk occurrence itself or left over after the risk responses have been planned.

secondary risks

risks that occur as a result of the original risk event or as a direct result of implementing a risk response.

reporting performance

process where the collection of baseline data occurs and is documented and reported.

dashboards

type of performance report that uses indicators like red-yellow-green to show the status of each area of the project at a glance.

change management process

includes change request forms, change request log, analysis of changes, CCB, communication with stakeholders, and updating the affected project planning documents.

quality control

involves monitoring project deliverables against the project requirements and the quality baseline to ensure that the project is delivering according to plan.

cost control

involves monitoring the expenses of a project and assures costs stay in alignment with the performance baseline.

variance analysis, trend analysis, and earned value

name three tools used to monitor and report project performance regarding costs, schedule, and estimated completion times.

managing stakeholder expectations

concerns satisfying the communication needs of the stakeholders.

inspection

a quality control technique that includes examining, measuring, or testing work results.

costs associated with inspection

these factors include rework, labor costs, material costs, and potential loss of customers.

tolerable results

measurements that fall within a specified range.

attribute sampling

inspection technique that determines whether a sample is conforming or nonconforming to the requirements.

prevention

quality control tool and technique that keeps errors from reaching the customer.

unit testing

involves testing sections of code as they’re written to verify they operate properly.

module testing

involves testing discreet units or sections of programming code.

system testing

involves testing fully integrated product for functionality, and ensures customer will receive what they expect.

(UAT) user acceptance testing

testing involving end users of a system, ensuring that the system meets the requirements laid out in the scope statement.

Pareto diagram

diagram used to rank the importance of a problem based on its frequency of occurrence over time.

control chart

type of graph showing the variance of several samples of the same process over time based on a mean, an upper control limit, and a lower control limit.

trend analysis

a mathematical technique that can be used to predict future defects based on historical results.

run charts

type of chart used to show variations in the process over time or to show trends (such as improvements or the lack of improvements) in the process.

Ishikawa diagram, cause-and-effect diagram, or fishbone diagram

type of diagram that shows the relationship between the effects of problems and their causes.

common causes of variances

variances that come about as a result of circumstances that are common to the process you’re performing and are easily controlled at the operational level.

random, known or predictable, and variances that are always present in the process

name the three types of variances that make up the common causes of variances.

rework

any action that is taken as a result of quality activities to correct a defect.

acceptance

decision to tolerate the defects that are found as a result of the quality testing.

(EVM) earned value measurement

a tool and technique of the cost control process that compares what you’re received or produced as of the measurement date to what you’ve spent; requires planned value, actual cost, and earned value.

(EVM) earned value measurement

the most often used performance measurement method.

(PV) planned value or budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS)

cost of work that’s been budgeted for an activity during a certain time period.

(AC) actual cost or actual cost of work performed (ACWP)

cost to complete a component of work in a given time period including direct and indirect costs.

(EV) earned value or budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP)

value of the work completed to date as it compares to the budgeted amount for the work component.

cost variance

difference between a task’s value at the measurement date and its actual cost.

CV = EV – AC

cost variance formula.

(SV) schedule variance

difference between a task’s progress as compared to its estimated progress represented in terms of cost.

SV = EV – PV

schedule variance formula.

efficiency indicators

term for CV and SV when used to compare the performance of all the projects in a portfolio.

(CPI) cost performance index

measures the value of the work completed at the measurement date against actual cost; the most critical of all EVM measurements; acts as an efficiency rating.

CPI = EV / AC

cost performance index formula.

(SPI) schedule performance index

measures the progress to date against the progress that was planned; acts as an efficiency rating.

SPI = EV / PV

schedule performance index formula.

(EAC) estimate at completion

a forecast of the total cost of the project based on both current project performance and the remaining work.

EAC = AC + ETC

estimate at completion formula.

(BAC) budget at completion

the total amount of the project budget for a work package, control account, or schedule activity, or for the project.

(ETC) estimate to complete

the cost estimate for the remaining project work, as provided by the project team members.

(TCPI) to-complete performance index

the projected performance level that must be achieved in the remaining work of the project in order to satisfy financial or schedule goals; numbers greater than one mean that efficiency must increase.

TCPI = (BAC – EV) / (BAC – AC)

to-complete performance index formula.

variance analysis

the comparison of planned project results with actual project results.

(VAC) variance at completion

calculates the difference between the budget at completion and the estimate at completion.

VAC = BAC – EAC

variance at completion formula.

project reports

includes the project status reports and minutes from project meetings, lessons learned, closure reports, and other documents from all the processes throughout the project.

project presentations

involves presenting project information to the stakeholders and other appropriate parties when necessary.

project records

include memos, correspondence, and other documents concerning the project.

lessons learned

information gathered throughout the project (and again at the end of a project phase or the end of the project) that documents the successes and failures of the project.

distribute information process

practice concerned with making sure project information is available to stakeholders at the right time and in the appropriate format; uses the communication management plan.

managing stakeholder expectations process

involves communicating, resolving issues, improving project performance by implementing change requests, and managing concerns.

close project or phase and close procurements

the two processes involved in the closing process group.

addition, starvation, integration, and extinction

name the four formal types of project endings.

addition

a type of project ending that occurs when projects evolve into ongoing operations.

starvation

a type of project ending where resources are cut off from the project.

integration

a type of project ending where the resources of the project are reassigned or redeployed to other projects or other activities within the organization.

extinction

a type of project ending that occurs when the project is completed and accepted by the stakeholders.

obtaining formal written sign-off and acceptance

primary focus of the closing process group.

formal acceptance

includes distributing notice of the acceptance of the project results to the stakeholders.

close procurements

the process of completing and settling the terms of the contract and documenting acceptance.

product verification

occurs in the close procurements process and determines whether the work of the contract is acceptable and satisfactory.

administrative closure

involves gathering and disseminating information to formalize project closure, primarily lessons learned and the notice of acceptance.

post-project review

conducted at the end of the project to document lessons learned.

post-mortem analysis

performed when a project is canceled or ends prematurely, describes the reasons for cancellation or failure and documents the deliverables that were completed.

project close report

report distributed to the stakeholders and includes the project’s goal, the statement of acceptance, a summary of costs and schedule data, and lessons learned data.

steps involved in closing a project or phase

includes obtaining sign-off, transferring the product, releasing project resources, closing out contracts, administrative closure, documenting historical data, conducting post-mortem analysis, and conducting post-project reviews.