SUMMARY
Question: What is Earned
Value or Performance Measurement?
Answer: Earned Value
is an objective measurement of how much work has been accomplished on
a project. Earned Value, Performance Measurement, Management by Objectives,
and Cost Schedule Control Systems are synonymous terms. For more information
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Question: What is the
purpose of project management?
Answer: To provide
management with valid, auditable status on which to base management decisions.
Question: Why should
the project be planned?
Answer: The main reason
for planning a project is for cost expediency. Proper project planning
will insure that the amount of work to be accomplished, the time allotted
to satisfactory complete the work scope, and the resources required to
complete the work scope are equally balanced. Every project undergoes
some amount of change while in progress. Proper planning allows for the
assessment of the impact of change prior to implementing the change.
Question: What is the
most important safeguard provided by project planning?
Answer: Proper planning
includes the documentation of the work scope in language that is understandable
by the individuals who must accomplish the work scope. This single step
when properly accomplished will save many false starts as well as preventing
the waste of resources working on efforts which are not required to obtain
the desired goals of the project.
Question: Why should
the company have a project management system?
Answer: The customer
may wish to know how the company manages a project. The customer wants
some assurance that the company can deliver the project on time and within
budget. Senior management wants a valid insight on how the project is
progressing. History is required of past performance so that new proposals
can be created based on fact. The company desires to be a superior performer
when compared to the competition.
Question: Does each
project have to create its own management system?
Answer: The style
of the individual project manager will normally vary for each project.
It is the responsibility of senior management to put in place a policy
and procedure, supported by a selection of project management tools and
formats, which will assure that the status reporting is readable, auditable,
and valid.
Question: What are the
basic tools needed for a project management system?
Answer: A work definition
policy and format, a scheduling procedure, a resource budgeting methodology
and format, a real time data collection/reporting system, a material control
and accountability subsystem, a change control subsystem, and a monthly
formal status review format to be used by senior management.
Question: What should
the project manager look for in a scheduling system?
Answer: The three
basic elements that the project scheduling systems should provide are;
a common basis for communication at all operational levels of the project,
a basis for regular status reporting, the use of the management by exception
technique.
ORGANIZATION
Question: What is a Work
Breakdown Structure (WBS)?
Answer: The work breakdown
structure defines the total project. A work breakdown structure is a product
oriented, family tree composed of hardware elements, software elements,
and service elements. The work breakdown structure relates project elements
or work scope definitions to each other and to the end product. The work
breakdown structure is not an organization chart of a company personnel.
PLANNING and BUDGETING
Question: What is the
different between a project plan and a project schedule?
Answer: The project
plan, using an iterative process, integrates the work scope, the schedule
and the resource requirements. The project schedule is one of the three
main ingredients to a valid program plan.
Question: Is there a
difference between a project budget and project cost?
Answer: The budget
is a plan of resource expenditures. The cost resulting from the expenditure
of a resource is cost incurred. As an example; The project plan has a
task requiring the use of a master plumber for 100 hours in July at a
cost of $65.00 an hour. The resultant of $6,500.00 is a budget. The master
plumber while completing the work used 87 hours at a cost of $63.84 an
hour. The resultant of $5554.00 is cost incurred, sometimes referred to
as actual cost for this task.
Question: Should a project
which is six months long and worth $78,000 be planned?
Answer: Only if it
is the desire of the project manager to remain employed.
Question: How much detail does the
project planning require?
Answer: The key to
a properly implemented project management system, is to have enough detail
that the owner of the work scope can convince a stranger that the effort
is properly documented, planned and under control.
Question: What is a
task on a project?
Answer: A task can
be defined as a single work scope which can be managed by a single individual.
It contains effort which can be formally defined, scheduled, and consumes
resources. A task is a measurable element of the total project plan.
Question: What is a
nominal size for a task? What is a nominal duration of a task?
Answer: The size
and duration of a single task is dependent on the work scope definition.
On a major project, a project which will take three to five years to complete
and involve multiple resource disciplines, a group of five to ten integrated,
interrelated tasks will most likely span eleven to fourteen months, and
and have ten to twenty full time personnel assigned.
ACCOUNTING
ANALYSIS
REVISION and ACCESS TO DATA
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