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Project Management

This document contains 5 review questions about project management. Question 1 defines a project and lists 5 characteristics that differentiate projects from routine work: defined lifespan, well-defined objective, involvement of multiple disciplines, project life cycle, and specific time/cost/performance requirements. Question 2 discusses key forces like technology changes and globalization that have changed how projects are managed and increased accountability and prioritization of resources. Question 3 outlines the traditional 4 phases of a project life cycle and says the closing phase can sometimes be most problematic due to disagreements. Question 4 says Agile project management is best for undefined or unstable scopes like software development. Question 5 explains how technical and sociocultural skills are interconnected for successful project managers.

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Rachel Luberia
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19 views

Project Management

This document contains 5 review questions about project management. Question 1 defines a project and lists 5 characteristics that differentiate projects from routine work: defined lifespan, well-defined objective, involvement of multiple disciplines, project life cycle, and specific time/cost/performance requirements. Question 2 discusses key forces like technology changes and globalization that have changed how projects are managed and increased accountability and prioritization of resources. Question 3 outlines the traditional 4 phases of a project life cycle and says the closing phase can sometimes be most problematic due to disagreements. Question 4 says Agile project management is best for undefined or unstable scopes like software development. Question 5 explains how technical and sociocultural skills are interconnected for successful project managers.

Uploaded by

Rachel Luberia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Review Questions

1. Define a project. What are five characteristics which help differentiate projects from
other functions carried out in the daily operations of the organization?

A project is a complex, non-routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget, resource, and
specifications. Differentiating characteristics of projects from routine, repetitive daily work
are below:

a. A defined lifespan
b. A well-defined objective
c. Typically involves people from several disciplines
d. A project life cycle
e. Specific time, cost, and performance requirements.

2. What are some of the key environmental forces that have changed the way projects are
managed? What has been the effect of these forces on the management of projects?

Some environmental forces that have changed the way we manage projects are the product
life cycle, knowledge growth, global competition, organization downsizing, technology
changes, time-to-market. The impact of these forces is more projects per organization,
project teams responsible for implementing projects, accountability, changing organization
structures, need for rapid completion of projects, linking projects to organization strategy and
customers, prioritizing projects to conserve organization resources, alliances with external
organizations, and so on.

3. Describe the four phases of the traditional project life cycle. Which phase do you think
would be most the difficult one to complete?

1. Defining: Project specifications objectives are defined, and teams are formed with major
responsibilities assigned. Much of this is referred to as defining the Scope of a project.
2. Planning: The creation of a comprehensive plan that includes schedules, budgets, staffing
and risk assessment.
3. Executing: Work begins, deliverables are produced, and progress is monitored.
4. Closing: Putting the project to bed includes customer delivery, post project review or
audit, and redeployment of project team.

All things being equal, one would think that Closing would be the easiest phase to complete.
However, there are times when this phase is the most problematic. Disagreements at the
customer acceptance can lead to rework, tension and in many cases litigation. Veteran project
managers answer to this question would be “It all depends”.

4. What kinds of projects is Agile PM best suited for and why?

Projects in which the scope or how the project will be completed are not well defined or
stable. These kinds of projects would include software development, R&D work,
technological breakthroughs, and creative endeavors.

5. The technical and sociocultural dimensions of project management are two sides to the
same coin. Explain.

The technical and sociocultural dimensions of project management are two sides of the same
coin because successful project managers are skillful in both areas. The point is successful
project managers need to be very comfortable and skillful in both areas.

Snapshot from Practice: Discussion Questions

1.1 The Project Management Institute


1. If you were a student interested in pursuing a career in project management how important do
you think being CAPM would be?

There is no data available on the value of the CAPM in the job market. Experts suggest at a
minimum it demonstrates a strong interest in project management and a good understanding of
the project management processes. Given the growing demand for people to work on projects,
the CAPM may just separate you from other applicants.

2. How valuable do you think being a certified PMP is?

Reliable data is hard to find. PMI reported that the median salary for a PMP is $108,200. Non-
certified project managers, on the other hand, showed a median income of $91,000. According to
a different survey, eighty percent of high-performing projects used PMP certified project
managers.

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