Introduction to Project Management
- Definition of project management and its importance in achieving project objectives.
- Overview of project lifecycle phases: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure.
Key Concepts in Project Management
- Project Management Tools: Essential features and top tools like Monday.com, Jira, Trello, Asana, etc. For a deeper understanding of project management methodologies, check out our Comprehensive Overview of Scrum Methodology and Practices.
- Project Planning: Importance of planning in project success, including scope, time, cost, and quality management. This aligns with the principles discussed in The Ultimate Guide to Effective Time Management.
- Roles of Project Managers: Responsibilities, skills required, and the significance of effective communication and leadership.
Project Management Processes
- Detailed explanation of the five process groups: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing.
- Discussion on the 10 knowledge areas and their relevance in project management.
Risk Management in Projects
- Understanding risks, their categorization, and the importance of a risk register.
- Techniques for risk identification, analysis, and response planning.
Agile Project Management
- Overview of agile methodologies, principles, and frameworks like Scrum and Kanban. For more on agile practices, refer to our Comprehensive Overview of Online Event Management System Project.
- Benefits of agile project management in enhancing product quality and customer satisfaction.
Certification and Career in Project Management
- Importance of PMP certification and its impact on career growth and salary. This is similar to the insights provided in Unlocking Azure DevOps with the A400 Certification: A Comprehensive Guide.
- Eligibility criteria for PMP certification and the significance of the PMBOK guide.
Conclusion
- Recap of the importance of project management in achieving organizational goals and the role of project managers in leading successful projects.
hey everyone welcome to simply learn today we will be learning the project management's fill course we will begin
this video by talking about what project management is project planning how can it be done using excel cost quality
communication and other forms of management the best project managing tools how you can prepare for the pmp
exam the role of a project manager interview questions and much more by the time you are done you will be well
versed with some of the most important concepts in project management for this training with me we have a specialist
chandra mr and ishan together they will take you through these different topics so let's start by answering our first
question what is project management so before we begin make sure to subscribe to our
youtube channel and don't forget to hit that bell icon so that you can never miss an update from simply learn
hi welcome to project management tutorial from simple learn i am chandra mr a
professional consultant and coach in best practices related to project management and i.t service management
today as part of this tutorial we are going to learn the basic understanding about the project
management and the required knowledge for a project manager to become successful in managing projects so as
part of this tutorial we are going to look at what is project management what is
project components of project management project life cycle key focus areas in project management job roles in project
management and project management certifications so what is project management now as defined in pmis pmbok
project management is application of knowledge skills tools and techniques to project activities to meet project
requirements so every project will have an objective to accomplish similarly the objective of project management is to
make the final deliverables in a finite time and budget this involves having clear understanding about the
deliverables of the project require resources for the project resource in terms of human resources technical
resources financial resources etc project managers should have a full picture of those aspects we can call it
as constraints or aspects and manage those throughout the project life cycle for which a project manager should have
a full view about a project and what is that this project has to accomplish that objective should be clear
so as part of project management the six constraints which project manager should look at are scope time quality cost risk
and resources so each of these areas has very important role to play in project management the clarity in scope the
clarity in terms of schedule within which the project has to be delivered the cost what it incurs to that
particular project once it is finalized one cannot vary when cannot change without any proper approvals similar to
that we have quality management which has to ensure the scope the specifications what are defined project
output will be accordingly achieved risk every project is taken up for a specific reason by organization so organization
should assess the risk associated with the project and similarly as project progresses various different risks has
to be identified like risk related to project management risk related to technology area risk related to
resources risk related to financial things so broadly risk management plays a very important role so there will be
something called contingency reserve kept for a identified risk above the cost what is estimated for various
deliverables from the project so every projects require resources resources may be in terms of human resources financial
resources technology resources environmental resources so all these resources are used to produce the output
of the project so these resources has to be managed with the sufficient optimization and standardizations
required now let us understand the definition of a project so what is the project pmi defines a project as a
temporary endower undertaken to create a unique product service or result the temporary nature of a project indicates
that the project has a definite beginning and end so when i say product unique product it means every output it
may be similar products you are producing with the same features and functionality but the output of every
project is unique because it is unique in terms of all the six constraints what we just discussed now now when i say
product it is very easy for us to visualize it may be a desktop it may be a laptop
it may be a car it may be a machine etc but how do i visualize a service a project output is a service now it is
it's about building a capability a project by through a project a capability can be built to ensure
services can be provided that's what the output of project is service for example if i think about a taxi services for
providing a taxi services i need a mobile app i need taxi i need a server i need a data center
so all these are various different products and services here service example can be internet service so
combination of all the services and products builds the capability for an organizations who can provide the taxi
services so building that capability we say it is an output of a particular project which is called service
similarly results can be improvement of something improvement in customer satisfaction increase in
some specific objectives or specific results needs to be achieved in performance perspective so
output of every project will be unique product or a service or a result this we need to clearly understand so when we
say there is a definite beginning and end every project starts at a certain point in time and ends at certain point
in time so it has a definite beginning and end that is the reason it is temporary in nature it is not an ongoing
business activity right so every project will have a life cycle a beginning and end so when it starts till end until the
result or a service or a product which comes as an output of a project project lifecycle is not ended so interestingly
in a product life cycle or in a service lifecycle you come across many project life cycles so one project
life cycle means one project is initiated to introduce a product or services next project or
initiated would be to enhance the capability of a service or a product next project initiated after some time
is to optimize something similarly at the end of the product lifecycle project is initiated to retire that product or
services so in a given product life cycle there will be multiple project life cycle so what is involved in the
project life cycle it involves five areas five groups we can call it as so initiation planning execution monitoring
and closure so when i say initiation it's all about understanding what is project giving the basic understanding
of the project collating the details and having key stakeholders identified once that is done one will move towards
planning so here in the initiation it is very clearly one has to understand is project is worthwhile of doing so one
has to check the feasibility one has to measure that particular investment is making sense
and then confirm yes it makes sense to invest now next planning as we have a basic understanding of yes this project
has to be done and a discussion with the key stakeholders have happened now that moves towards planning now in
planning one will understand the project in entirety if it is a waterfall approach one has to have a clear
articulation of entire project a comprehensive details holistic approach now if you go if you are going in a
project in a agile way of approach now in this planning you may have a big skeleton as you go in each of the
iteration you may go deep dive into detailed planning if it is agile approach so planning provides you the
clear insight towards what needs to be done in this project how it has to be done and what are the results which can
be achieved out of that particular project so this involves making that a clear blueprint often project objectives
what we are supposed to achieve so this will become a reference point throughout the project lifecycle then execution as
you have a blueprint of the project as the direction of that project is set detailing of the project has been made
one will go ahead and execute the project executing the sense implementation acquiring resources and
implementing it so execution phase involves the allocation of resources and making the deliverables as required you
acquire resources you configure a resource you ensure right resources are required if it is human resource one has
to educate that human resource with the project required knowledge or details or one has to
provide that assignment in such a way that skills of that individuals what they should have is acquired by those
individuals so that deliverables can happen and they need to be managed the entire team needs to be managed for that
a clear structure has to be created similarly when you do technology resource perspective those components
has to be tested configured then integrated again tested for uncheck the performances so collective action of
this results in a deliverable during the execution so as the deliverables are happening in the execution it is quite
obvious project manager has to monitor review control that particular deliverable and also the processes tools
resources used during the project even those needs to be monitored so that they are complying to the defined processes
so during monitoring there may be a deviation one can found during monitoring there may be the project is
running the way it is required so in this monitoring phase it involves an action from project manager to monitor
and control the work of the project so comparing with the blueprint of plan what is accomplished what is created
during the planning phase of this project and as the execution happens monitoring and control
is monitoring it and checking is that activities what is being done is according to the plan or not similarly
the deliverables which comes as an output of our projects are tested thoroughly whether those have a specific
features and functionality and are they functioning the way it is required now project has to be delivered to the scope
what is defined it should not go beyond that or below that similarly the schedule what is made for the project
within that schedule project deliverables needs to be accomplished within the cost what is budgeted for the
project so during the project your project manager may find there are certain
deviations which are occurred there are additional challenges which has come in so for this reason one has to ensure
continued monitoring as the execution happens and identify those deviation and ensure whenever there is a deviation
there is a correction whenever there is an additional things coming in that needs to be considered carefully whether
that need to be involved as part of this deliverable or should be taken it separately so this requires lot of
conversation with all the stakeholders of the project during the entire project life cycle especially during planning
execution monitoring and control since they are not the one which is happening in sequence so planning can also come
back again where there is something which you may require to modify so may require to have a change in the
blueprint itself by adding that new change which is coming in so you go back to planning so planning execution
monitoring and control are going hand in hand so that project deliverables are happening as needed
similarly all the process work instructions all those templates what is given are used one is complying to those
requirement it is very important and project is done within the scope schedule and time and the quality
metrics defined then as the completion of the project happens as the monitoring and control says yes deliverable has
happened according to the requirement then the project moves to the closure the closure may be closure of a specific
project phase a milestone deliverable or a faisal deliverable or it can be a deliverable at the end of
the project which is the ultimate deliverable so processes in closing has to be triggered whenever there is end of
the phase whenever there is a deliverable to conclude and also at the end of the project to conclude the
entire project so during the closure one has to ensure capturing all the details in terms of what is accomplished against
what is defined what went wrong what went well what is a learning one has to take to the next level or the next phase
or to the next project and at the same time a sign-off has to be obtained formally and everything should be
summarized and have a good handshake with the project stakeholder mainly a business or customer and also
disseminating of team means you will dismantle the entire team and send them back to their specific units or
specialization and they may get assigned to new project or if it is a functional they can go back to their functions to
do their functional activities so that was about entire project lifecycle what happens now while doing this i mentioned
there are six constraints that is scope schedule cost quality risk and resources so keeping these in mind one has to
ensure project is successful in all aspects so to become successful there are few key areas which has to be looked
at so first six key areas are scope schedule cost quality resources and stakeholders
now let us look at the scope what does scope means scope is about what needs to be delivered what is in scope what is
out of the scope so this refers to all those deliverable scope all those activity scope basically we speak about
two things one is product scope and project scope product scope is all about ensuring the features functionality of
products are well defined and understood and signed off and while delivering that product that is tested against those
defined features and functionalities whereas projects go focus on all the activities needs to be done all those
templates which has to be used all the process which has to be complied with all the skills which is required to be
applied so it is going as defined so by doing this activities which is defined as part of project scope the result the
deliverable will come out which will be in line with the deliverables features and functionality which is defined as
part of product scope it is very important to ensure entire projects happens within this particular scope
there should not be any deviations from this schedule perspective for that specifications what were defined for a
product and project so these needs to be done in a specific point in time means in a specific schedule there will be
start time and time right so one has to plan how long a project would take and what are the deliverables
should happen in what sequence what activities are required to accomplish this
so all these needs to be understood so while performing the schedule management one has to look at a specific
deliverable at a specific point in time by applying a specific set of activities required so this will tell you the
duration of the project this will provide the sequence of project this will also help you to understand the
dependency between one task to another task this will also help you to understand how the deliverables
happening in what sequence which helps in prioritizing your deliverables third is cost so as we know to do any project
it is very essential to ensure project happens within that budget so project cost is estimated initially then that
estimated cost will be checked checked in terms of is the assumptions considerations are right or wrong is
that really so much of a monetary resource are required for the project and then after understanding the
justification and obtaining the clarity budget is i mean monetary resources are allocated and confirmed approved then it
will become a budget that will be a cost baseline so these estimation allocation of budget once it happens that will
become a base and any deviations from that cannot happen so easily so any deviations because of additional of
scope that can be handled through change management but idealistic scenario the cost should not escalate or come down
organization can also set certain tolerances at the project level considering various different scenarios
like scenario of risks scenario of something which deviated from the deliverable so to what extent it can
deviate that tolerance will also be set at the economic or monetary value perspective that is about cost
now quality as we know quality is a very important area which ensures the project is
delivered in time with all the specifications defined by using all the methods means by
following all the processes work instructions templates and delivering as needed where it
enables the project to monitor it easily so basically the requirement of compliance and standardization and
optimization is to ensure everyone follows the same steps do the activity so what quality management focus is to
ensure the intended objectives of a projects are achieved already there is a definition done in terms of various
different practices or processes needs to be followed similarly specification of each of the products are defined and
from that there should not be any deviation so quality management should focus on ensuring those activities are
done as defined those deliverables are done according to the specifications what is different it is very important
that way so for that there is a layer of quality management there should be a layer of quality management where
auditing or control activities are initiated periodically so that any deviations can be seen easily and
remember a project manager can become cannot become part of quality management like
project manager cannot audit project manager should have a team or take the help of a team who can able to do mostly
the one which is who is not part of the project is always better resources now as i mentioned earlier every project
need resources it may be human resources it may be technology resources it may be any other resources which are required
to do the project so organization acquires resources configured and then deployed
for example in the project you acquire a server you configure a server you deploy a
server technology resource human resource is on board recruited project induction is given then at the same time
the skills and capabilities of individuals are according to the requirement of project that needs to be
ensured and what needs to be delivered and how it has to be delivered should be clear to the particular human resource
so looking at all the aspects of resources to acquire to build and manage it is very important to look at the
resource management so this will help in carrying out a specific task in the project in the best possible manner so
interestingly when i say human resource always there is a possibility that a conflict can occur so when i say
conflict conflict of interest may be in terms of what the individuals has to do conflict in terms of the preferences in
terms of solutions what they are looking at conflict in terms of using resources different opinions different preferences
various reasons conflict can come across so it is very important to project manager to understand this dynamics of
human resources and manage this conflicts project manager cannot shy away from handling
conflicts project manager has to hone and resolve those conflicts in the favor of project not in the fear of any
individuals so there are various techniques to look at resolving conflicts so that is like compromising
problem solving smoothening accommodating so whichever helps for that project
scenario for the project objectives that needs to be applied that technique has to be taken up so here the resolution is
not at the specific individual's preference it is with the objective of other projects as any impact what kind
of impact positive or negative if it is negative no that's not the direction the direction should be ensuring project
gets that value through this conflict resolution so project manager should own it it's an accountability of a project
manager then as the human resources are acquired there are five stages team dynamics are involved so one has to
bring them then educate them about a project as education on the project happens one has
to go and do the job on floor that needs to be observed means one has to manage by looking at it and
any corrections needs to be done that needs to be guided so it is very dynamic thing when it comes to human resources
similarly in technology resources standardization there is no ambiguity as such but right resources with the right
configurations should be acquired that is very important the next stakeholders so who can be stakeholders every project
will have a stakeholder who are internal and external to the project so the internal stakeholders are those who are
part of the project who are part of the organization who are part of the customer organization or part of
supplier organization a competition to my business means my organization's business all this we can call it as a
stakeholders now every stakeholders will have a specific interest a power an ability to influence now through their
position through their distance from the project they will get impacted at the same time
they will also impact the project similarly they influence and they get influenced because of the project so a
project manager should identify all the stakeholders and understand this what is the kind of stakeholder is this in terms
of power in terms of legitimacy in terms of influence in terms of impact after understanding that there should be a
strategy for handling the stakeholders how am i going to engage with these stakeholders it is very important and
accordingly the engagement should happen and then stakeholder engagement should resolve in the favor of projects again
so if it is a customer customer should get that inputs required through review or periodic updates and the engagement
required with the customer so that customer is having up-to-date information about the project if it is a
team continued monitoring and control and ensuring team delivers the results what is required so focus of a
stakeholder should be in such a way that your strategy should enable project to become successful and get a proper
response from the stakeholder means a supporting engagement so next few key focus areas to mention is communication
risk procurement critical success factors deliverables and work breakdown so this
list is not exhaustive as we deep dive into project i think you can just keep listing the key focus areas more than
this but whatever we have indicated are the minimum which needs to be looked at so when i say communication
communication is basically a conversation exchange of message which happens between two entities now
whenever we communicate it is necessary to understand that it has to happen with two individuals or two entities there
should be sender there should be a receiver in the absence of receiver if sending is happening that communication
doesn't make any sense there should be a receiver and there should be an acknowledgement from the receiver now
this is one of the most ignored area in many of the projects even the communication happens more often more
frequently but what people face difficulty in realizing that as they communicate generally informally
formally they just take those for granted now when you identify the stakeholder one has to understand what
is the communication requirement for those stakeholders what is that communication why is that communication
what is the content of that communication how frequently we should do that
interactions or communications intent of that particular communication what is the expected action or response from
that communication all this needs to be very very clear and this can be articulated it has to be articulated so
when it is articulated once there is a picture in terms of what kind of communication has to happen it is quite
obvious there should not be any deviation from the agreed communications requirements and whenever there is a
need of change to the communication requirements from the stakeholders that needs to be updated for this one has to
have a stakeholders identified so stakeholder management and communication are very closely linked and associated a
engagement with the stakeholder will become successful within effective communication approaches next is risk so
every project which is undertaken by organization that will have certain amount of risk which organization will
evaluate similarly within the project life cycle lot of risk comes up which would have such an impact to the project
now risk refers to by definition an uncertain event it has an uncertainty an event which is uncertain and when it
occurs it will have an impact on the project positively or negatively now current scenario in everywhere in the
projects what you observe closely people tend to look at the risk which are threats that is negative only but they
fail to recognize the risks which are opportunities the positive risks so another gap which we see when do the
risk management is that is done in the initial phase of the project as the project is kicked off someone will do
the risk assessment have a list of risk identified but unfortunately there is no categorizations for that risk and how is
that going to impact the project that is not clear thirdly risk management or list of risk
are created only once it is not done repeatedly so risk identification and analysis and assessment of that risk has
to be done throughout the life cycle of a project reason being the risk which looks as in high impact when project is
initiated as the project progresses the impact levels will vary maybe in the middle of the project the impact may be
very high or low so likewise the impacts of the risk will vary throughout the project life cycle it may be positive it
may be negative so as you identify the stakeholder throughout the project life cycle as i said that is also a dynamic i
cannot just have a list of stakeholders and i keep it as it is i need to update that also regularly risk identification
assessment and analysis should also be done regularly periodically so that one will have a clear understanding about is
that risk still valid is that risk is there still or not what is the level of variations in terms of impact of the
risks so this clarity will be there so that neces organization or project manager can get ready to face those risk
if it is a negative risk definitely should have a mitigation or avoidance or acceptance whatever the mitigation plan
you have to eliminate the negative impact of the risk when it occurs if it is a positive risk it's quite obvious
one has to take the advantage of that one has to enhance exploit share a positive risk so that organization is
benefited further procurement so whenever a project is initiated whenever a project is taken up the organization
who is doing the project cannot create everything cannot develop everything in that project life cycle so organization
would take a decision make a decision stating that some of the deliverables we make ourselves some of the products we
make ourselves some of the products we purchase some of the services we purchase so to purchase that has to
happen from a specific supplier you cannot go with every supplier you should evaluate the
suppliers qualify the suppliers and then select onboard the supplier and then get the services or products supplied by
that particular supplier so while doing this one has to understand what type of contracting they need to enter with so
three types of contracts we speak basically one is about a cost plus contract where cost is fully
known to the project manager and to the organization so apart from known cost a fee will be paid to the supplier another
one is fixed price where project manager or the organization who is awarding that contract to a supplier will not know
what is the cost instead it is a fixed price but important here is the scope of work needs to be clearly articulated and
defined another type of contracting can be time and material where the building will happen based on the
amount of time one is spent on that particular i hire a resource or on-board resource on a timeline material basis
and what is that effort that resource has been put based on that building will happen so three types of contracts
depending on the different scenarios of the project will be signed with the contractor however before doing that it
is very essential to identify those suppliers sign off with them and monitor and manage them so if deliverables are
not there it is very essential to look at the termination one has to terminate
otherwise one has to ensure instead of uh terminating should be able to put some
effort to educate them also so that they come up to the mark so project is benefited so depending on what needs to
be done that call has to be taken on a regular basis then critical success factor so for every project there should
be an articulation of critical success factor so based on that one can confirm yes project has achieved his objectives
our project has not achieved his objectives so key critical success factor should be supported through the
metrics key performance indicators so key performance indicators provide those metrics to say critical success factor
is achieved for example if i want to become successful in an exam critical success factor is scoring or passing the
examination or let me say to pass the examination key performance indicator is scoring 60 percent and above so critical
success factor for me to get promoted is to pass in this particular exam so to pass in this exam minimum i should score
is 60 percent that is kpi passing in the exam that is critical success factor so how will i measure that success factor
is kpi so every project which it produces a specific product or services by using a specific resources and each
of these the resources the processes the templates the deliverables all these needs to be measured on a continual
basis so there are critical success factors defined and those are measured by defining kpis to that critical
success factors so basically critical success factor provides the insight towards what needs to be measured and
when you measure what should be the focus and to achieve those critical success factors the indicator is key
performance indicators when you measure yes the moment you achieve that your csf is achieved next deliverables so
deliverables are those which comes as an output of the project right it may be a product it may be a service it may be a
result so this refers to the output within the scope of a project so there can be one or more deliverables within a
single project so these deliverables may be the items that are to be sent externally to a customer or a
stakeholder so every deliverable will have a defined scope will have a defined specification so those deliverables has
to be measured tested and one has to confirm yes this deliverable is performing as we are intended to have
the performance accordingly the decision will happen should we accept this particular deliverable or not if there
is deviation that has to go back for correction so that's the reason we have monitoring and control all the control
processes like control quality focused on the product state whether it has achieved the results or not is that
functional as needed or not one has to ensure these deliverables has all those features and functionalities only then
that can be handed over to the respective stakeholder customer or operation whoever the stakeholder it is
next is work breakdown structure so when we say work breakdown structure when i look at a specific piece of product or
services and have a bigger picture i cannot even visualize the various different components various different
actions involved in achieving that bigger deliverable so if i say a car so i can think of a body external i can
think of a mirror on that body i can think of a glass in the front side as well as the
back side and also i can think of interiors like seat then accelerator steering dashboard all this i can
visualize but since i am not a technology expert relating to car can i visualize all those parts which are
working inside for car to move like engine the battery assembly i don't know what to say further so all these can be
visualized by an expert so every product or services should be broken down into multiple pieces i'm not saying go and
break that product i am saying that product will have multiple components which are involved those needs to be
segregated for example if i say cars exteriors cars interior so cars exteriors external items you can see
whatever you visualize body body structure mirror mirror assembly headlights uh then tires so likewise
whatever i can visualize i will make it as a line items under the exterior so under for example under a mirror mirror
i can speak about mirror glass mirror cap mirror pedestal and mirror of assembly where it moves where you can
move the mirror so these are the various components involved in a mirror so i need to ensure
by breaking down the product into multiple levels but depos decomposing it to multiple levels i can able to
visualize the product very clearly what is there in detail so once i have the details i will articulate those what is
that particular work breakdown element is product breakdown element is then i will look at what skills and
capabilities required for that product and i will assign the resources accordingly so once activities resources
everything is assigned automatically this will become our breakdown structure further after creating our breakdown
structure one will go and sequence the activity look at sequencing will happen based on in what priority deliverable
should happen what order deliverable should happen then once the sequencing is done it will be checked to see
whether anything can be optimized anything can be done in such a way that smooth flow of
the project can happen there is no dependencies which will make project to delay like as the flow happens smoothly
so you would find the various techniques like critical path method network diagramming critical chain method so all
these are used the floats of an activities are checked then leads and lags of the activities the relationship
between activities so accordingly full visualization in terms of how the project will flow and how in what order
the deliverables are happening can be easily visualized so that is the reason first activity is to do the product
breakdown which would result in work regular structure so those are the points still now whatever i mentioned
are the basic understanding one should have about a project and project management so as you deep dive into
various best practices like pmp by pmi prince2 by axelos scrum mass fragile scrub master similarly you have
certified scrum master so many agile practices so when you look at any of the best practices that will tell you
clearly articulate what should be the practice for you to adopt and adapt that practices so that
your project can become successful so any of those approach you touch upon all those refers to these basic things in
the absence of these basic things none of those best practices discusses the project management now typically in the
industry there are a lot of job roles to the project management which we have seen so based on that this information
is captured here on various job rules in a project management so some of them are like project manager senior project
manager project lead resource manager pmo that is project management office analyst steering committee member
so not necessarily all the project management roles are limited to this so
these are the roles which commonly you see and we are trying to capture that to give the insight right when i say
project manager the project manager is the owner one has to take an accountability for the project right so
project managers takes the project according to the plan and plays a lead role in all the steps of the project
management right so responsibilities should be managing reviewing and prioritizing the task wherever necessary
looking after risk management stakeholder management and project communication management some of the
salary what we found while we were doing the survey the success ratio of a project depends majorly on the project
manager so the demand for project management is rapidly increasing in the market so accordingly uh
thousand four seven four per year that is the usd in inr it is fifteen hundred thousand so this is what the salary uh
on an approximation what was found next role we look at senior project manager where senior project manager is ahead of
the overall project management plan the role demands in-depth knowledge of all the project aspects on a specific on the
specifics of the project the responsibilities would be planning and coordinating complex projects visiting
project sites to check progress and handle complex issues so salary looks like one or four thousand dollars
per year here 20 92 000 inr per year so the role of senior project manager is one of the highest paying rules in the
industry as we have seen having several allowances and bonuses because of the criticality involved in the project and
the accountability level of that particular individuals in the organization next role project lead so
project leads are the one who leads the people throughout the project and provide them with all the information
required throughout so responsibilities involve motivating the team beneath taking care of their needs and paying
attention to what they feel ordering or controlling the project team since the project lead has more freedom than the
project manager salary project lead makes sure that project gives the best possible outcome and is hence the demand
for the project lead in the company never reduces so in usd 82 000 per year whereas in inr it is one million two
sixty nine thousand per year next role we look at on resource manager so resource manager is the human resource
needed to make the project success right so one has to manage those resources responsibility involved assigning the
right people to the right projects at the right time managing employees currently and determining hiring needs
depending on the project's requirements so salary would be around 64 000 usd which comes around 966 794 in inr
project management office analyst for this role the project management office analyst works with pmo means project
management office and does not look at the project or manage the project directly instead does most of the data
driven work which required for a project to have our project to get supported by that so that project managers will have
a better insight analyzing and interpreting the data concerning the project figuring out the future risks to
the project finding new ways to advance the idea of the project management so salary would be one or six thousand two
fifty three per year in usd whereas four forty nine thousand three thirty seven in inr per year so steering committee
member so the steering committee members are the members who do not work on the project themselves they are there to
help the project manager like providing inputs during the development of a project advising on the budget and
evaluating the project strategies taking regular feedback from the project managers and asking necessary questions
so salary would be around 68 497 dollars per year so those were the various roles and that is not that list is not an
exhaustive list various different roles we come across but these are the basic roles which is seen in the industry
these roles are being recruited now there are various project management certifications which are offered as i
mentioned earlier so those certifications are pmp that is project management professional from pmi agile
certified practitioner that is pmi acp again from pmi then certified associate in project management so difference
between capm and pmp is like capm would act as a basic level of certification for those who does not have a sufficient
project experience project management experience whereas pmp is for those who has some project management experience
similarly pmi sap is the one who is aspiring to look at agility in project management and they can go for it
certified scrum master yes it is a scrum master certificate which will explain the role of a scrum master in detail
similarly prince to a certification from axolotls which also speak about all the aspects of the
project what we discussed and provides the framework for project management axilla's also provides prince2
certification in agile also agile prince2 certification so we will look at each one of this certain details which
are required for us to know so project management professional as i mentioned is most acknowledged and value the
certificate value what it carries which has resulted to the certified professionals in landing up in highest
paid jobs in the world so certified managers gets 20 more salary than the average salary so to take up an
examination one has to go through the formal training of 35 hours that is one of the prerequisites and there should be
some experience of 400 hours of project managing project by leading various activities of a project and once the
person becomes eligible with that prerequisites person will become register in the pmi's website becomes
member and then go for examination so examination fee for pmp would be 4.5 dollars for the members who are
registered with pmi and for those who are not registered as a member with pmi it is 555 dollars the duration of the
examination is 4 hours and the number of questions will be 200 which are multiple choice questions so each questions
carries one marks there is no negative scoring now prerequisites one has to have 4 500 hours directing and leading
the projects that experience has to be filled in while filling the application if a person is a bachelor degree holder
and along with that 35 contractors of pmi pm education now prerequisites for the one who is not a graduate who may be
high school or diploma is 7500 hours of directing and leading projects 35 hours of pm education so those are the
prerequisites before one will go and appear for examination so once an individual passes pmp examination that
certificate is valid for three years so now after three years if the person aspires to keep the certificate
continued they need to produce 60 pdus professional development units which has to be acquired during those three years
how to acquire one has to go through additional learning one has to contribute towards project management
knowledge base so those needs to be evidenced and then renewable fee has to be paid and certificate has to be
renewed then agile certified practitioner as we saw for pmp here a gel certified practitioner demonstrates
that one has relevant experience and education to handle and lead agile projects the organization has started
shifting towards agile as we know in today's industry which makes this certification
fast growing in the world so examination fee would be 435 dollars for pmi members 495 for non-pmi members duration is
three hours and multiple choice questions 120 questions prerequisites is 2 000 hours project management
experience with 100 hours agile experience and 21 contact hours of agile practices so maintenance 30 videos are
required for every three years and after paying the renewal fee that can be renewed now certified associate in
project management so here this is an entry level certificate of pmi especially for those people who has less
project experience it intends to demonstrate fundamental knowledge terminologies and processes of effective
project management so examination fee would be dollar 225 for pmi members whereas three hundred dollars for
non-members of pmi so duration of examination is 3 hours and examination will have 150 multiple choice questions
so prerequisites someone who has secondary diploma 23 contact hours of pm education is enough there is no
experience of doing the project is required as we saw in pmp so maintenance is again three years
someone who need to continue the certification has to retake the examination every three years next
certified scrum master so certified scrum master is an entry level certification that helps the
professionals to begin as the scrum practitioners is one of the most sought-after certifications as other
after this one can get the designation of certified scrum master which is offered by scrum alliance so examination
fee which will change time to time which is not revealed so one has to approach the training organization where they
will get trained on certified scrum master so duration of examination is 60 minutes and pattern would be 16 hours 2
days of training and 50 multiple choice questions after that particular two days of training then prerequisite is done
for maintaining these credentials so one has to ensure it has renewed every two years then projects in controlled
environment that is prince2 so prince2 is a method which is effective mostly from the base of uk all the
organizations who are from uk region prefers to have prince to certification and it is as popular as any other
project management certifications like pmp so examination fee would vary from nine hundred dollars to thousand dollars
depending on where exactly you're taking the examination and certification will happen at two levels one is at
foundation level and other one is practitioner so in foundation it is 60 questions multiple choice and in
practitioner it's 68 questions now 60 questions or 68 questions each carries one marks for correct answer any wrong
answer there will not be any negative scoring one has to score 55 percent to clear the examination so prerequisites
for prince2 foundation is none whereas prince2 foundation is a prerequisite for princeton practitioner examination so to
maintain the certificate one has to achieve 20 cpds every year continued professional development hi guys my name
is ishan and i welcome you all to this session of project planning today we will be learning about different aspects
of project planning but before we begin let's have a look at an incident here's max an assistant project manager who
looks tensed and is pacing around the room then jack a project manager who works with him walks into the room and
asks him why does he seem so tensed to which max replies he is facing difficulty in estimating the budget jack
responds it might be because he is not planning the project properly jack reassures max and begins to tell him
about project planning so today we will be learning about what is project planning and check out the fundamentals
of project planning then we will see why project planning is so essential for a project to be successful after that we
will check the tools for project planning and finally we will have a look at the steps for project planning so
without any further ado let's begin with what is project planning project planning is the second step or phase of
the project life cycle project life cycle has five different phrases from initiation to closure today we will be
learning about this phase that comes immediately after initiation in which the project plan is documented and
further requirements are defined project planning includes the following things the first and foremost thing is
describing the objectives or outputs we are expecting the project to yield second we have is the elaboration of the
scope to make sure what the project is all about and what all can be expected from the project the third step we have
is forming a schedule this schedule is important to run or perform different tasks of a project each task having its
own start date and end date this helps the project to finish in the scheduled time and limit lastly we have making and
generating progress reports in which all that went during the tenure of the project is documented this helps in
evaluating the project and helps in the forthcoming projects now let's have a look at the project planning
fundamentals the first fundamental that we have is the determination of scope cost and resources that determination
helps us in having a rough estimate about the time that is required to finish the project it helps us in
determining the number of people required and what should be their skill set we can divide the project into
smaller manageable sections and this is made possible with the help of work breakdown structure the second
fundamental refers to identifying the problem there are several techniques by which we can collect information and
discover issues there may be several problems in a project and in that case several risks or issues are prioritized
and the risk that requires immediate attention is dealt with first then comes identification of stakeholders when we
can identify the stakeholders we can know who all will be affected and in what way which helps us having a better
understanding of the project stakeholders may be anybody they may be the part of the project team or project
managers or customers they help during the project and contribute to its success then the last fundamental we
will discuss is defining project objectives a project plan is made keeping in mind the requirements of the
project team and expectations of the stakeholders if the project team can meet the expectations of the
stakeholders then only we can say that the project is successful now when we know about project planning and its
fundamentals it's time to see why project planning is so important project planning reduces the cost and time of
the project as every step is monitored and optimized in the best possible manner project planning increases
employee satisfaction as every employee who is a part is engaged in the team for improved project performance project
planning helps in the implementation of quality assurance as the output of every step is duly tested lastly project
planning helps in reducing project risk as planning helps to analyze prioritize and deal with that risk moving on let's
have a look at the tools for project planning the first tool that we have is a gantt chart today gantt charts are one
of the most popular project management tools they help in tracking the status of the work at a particular time and
their independencies on each other gantt charts help in showing different phases and steps involved in a project the
second tool we will talk about is critical path method or cpm critical path method helps in scheduling the
project activities so that the project runs properly the critical path method focuses on the longest stretch of
dependent tasks and determines the time needed to complete them the next tool is project evaluation and review technique
or pert chart bird provides a graphical representation of the project's timeline explaining the independencies of
different tasks this tool not only helps in making a schedule but also helps in coordinating with all the team members
the fourth tool we will check is work breakdown structure work breakdown structure is a very common tool that
makes it possible for the team to break its work into manageable sections work breakdown structure is a step two step
process that helps in completing the project efficiently the last tool we will see is project documentation
project documentation is an integral part of the project life cycle project documentation helps in understanding the
mistakes done during the project and more importantly provides guidelines for the upcoming project now when we know
about different tools for project planning it becomes essential that we know the necessary steps of project
planning there are seven steps in project planning let's have a look at each of them in detail the first step is
identification of stakeholders as we have discussed stakeholders could be anybody they could be a part of the team
or a project manager or a customer when we identify stakeholders we can find out the expectations and requirements that
are to be looked upon in this project this gives us a clearer picture of the project and helps in establishing the
project scope so the next step we have is defining the project scope this helps in determining a list of specific
project goals and deliverables that are to be achieved during the course of the project after we have defined the
project scope it is time to set project objectives and prioritize them the initial ideas that were there before are
now elaborated and final steps to complete the project are defined in the next step the deliverables are
determined after all project deliverables are the only reason why the project is being created this step
involves finding out what these deliverables will be and the deadlines of the delivery then the step that comes
into picture is creating a project schedule the project schedule refers to the guidelines when a particular task is
to be started and when it is supposed to end this helps in monitoring the growth of the project and later helps in
generating progress reports the next step is the step of risk analysis this step plays an extremely important role
in the success of the overall project it helps in identifying the risk prioritizing them and taking steps to
limit them the last step in project planning is to generate progress reports in this step we update the stakeholders
about the project growth and it is done so that all the concerned team members can have a look at the progress of the
project after all this information max thanks jack for the explanation and looks forward to plan projects within
the budget and of better quality in this session we will talk about project plan in excel we will learn about a project
plan and how we can make an effective plan in microsoft excel before we begin let's have a look at all the topics we
will be covering today first we will see the basics of a project plan then we will check the process of project
management microsoft excel and why should one refer to microsoft excel apart from this we will learn about how
to make a gantt chart in excel towards the end we will check some microsoft excel templates so without any further
ado let's get started let's see what is a project plan project plan is a basic thing that is needed to execute a
project according to project management book of knowledge a project can be defined as an approved elaborative
document that guides the team during project execution and project control when we are making a project plan a
project plan must answer several questions for us these questions are like what are we expecting our project
to deliver how are we expecting to get our deliverables within the desired time who all will be a part of a project and
what tasks they will have in the project when will the project start and when it is expected to end that is the deadlines
of the project now let us learn about project management in excel microsoft excel is one of the most common
applications these days it is used in both offices and at homes microsoft excel is an easy project management tool
that allows the team members to easily see the tasks in a project develop a plan and track its progress before we
learn more about project management in excel let's first have a look why do we use excel microsoft excel is an easy
tool to plan a project so it can be used by people who are beginners in terms of project management in excel one can find
several analytical tools like concatenate len and counter so this makes data analysis easy and effective
as the entry of data is easy same is tracking and controlling of project status then there are several project
management templates in excel that help us to have an effective distribution of project data we will be checking several
project management templates towards the end of this video now let's have a look at the process of making a gantt chart
in excel before we begin this it's important we know what is a gantt chart a gantt chart is like an horizontal bar
chart that is used for project management with the help of a gantt chart we can check the status of the
task the date they start the date the end and the dependencies on each other gantt chart helps in coordinating and
monitoring different tasks in a project now let's have a look at the steps that will help us in making a gantt chart
first step we have is make a project table we have several rows and columns like here we have three columns in the
first column we have the tasks in the second we have our start date and in the third column we have the duration or
tenure of the task the second step is to make a bar chart in excel for this we will select the entire second column
then we will go on the insert tab and click on the bar graph chart there we can select stack bar graph in 2d bar
charts as a result we will have the entitled bar graph on the screen in the third step we will add the duration to
the bar graph we will right click on the chart and in the menu that appears we will select select data option a window
that appears on the screen in that window we will select add option as shown we can also see the start date is
already in the entry section then in the dialog box that appears type tenure in the series name and click on the rain
selection icon that's shown in the figure now select the relevant data from the tenure column and click on ok now we
can see a bar graph that has two colors on the screen this bar graph now has the duration of the tasks the fourth step we
have is adding description to the gantt chart now we will open the box again and in that box we will select the edit
option as shown in the figure then we will select the tasks as we had selected the duration of the tasks before and
click on ok we can now see the tasks have appeared towards the left side of the gantt chart the fifth and the
remarkable step will help us convert this bar graph into a gantt chart we will now click on the bars and select
the format data series option from the menu that appears then in the format data series dialog box we will select no
fill option we can find our gantt chart on the screen now in accordance with the data that we had entered now we can see
the tasks on the left side are in the reverse order so what we will do next is we will click on the task panel then go
to the format access dialog box and select the categories in reverse order option now we can find our tasks in the
right order one more thing we can notice is gantt chart is starting with some other date and not with the dates that
we had entered so for this we will copy the first date in some other cell then clicking on the copied cell we will go
to the home menu to select the dialog box as shown in the figure then in that drop down menu we will select the number
option we can now find a value displayed in the copied cell we'll copy that value click on the dates on the chart and as
the format access dialog box opens we will paste that value in the box that says minimum shown in the figure as a
result we will have our final gantt chart on the screen in the last step we can give several designs to a gantt
chart change colors and make it more presentable for us now when we know the basic steps of making a gantt chart i
will show that practically to you in microsoft excel our first step is to open microsoft excel and in microsoft
excel we will make a project table in our project table we will have three columns the first column will be task
the second column will have the start date the third column will have tenure or the duration of the task so beginning
with tasks we have task 1 in task 1 we have 1.1 1.2 1.3 then comes task 2. in task 2 we have 2.1
2.2 2.3 and 2.4 then we have task 3 in task 3 we will have two subsections 3.1 and 3.2 then we will start with the
starting dates in starting dates we will put 1 january the task 1 1.1 will be 1st of january then this will be 4th january
let's say this is 5th january then we will put this as 11th of january and this will be again 11th january only
this will be 15th january let's put this as 17th january let this be 19th january task 3 begins
on 23rd january and it the 3.2 section begins at 26th of january now let's put the tenure or the
duration of the task we will begin with task 1 it takes 12 days then 1.1 takes 7 days we say this takes 4 days and this
takes 8 days then for task 2 it again takes 12 days it takes 5 days 5 days
and let's say this takes six days and this takes four days then we come to task three this takes eight days and
let's say this takes six days and the three point two section takes five days so this is how our project table is
ready in the second step we will select the entire second column after we have selected this column we will go to the
insert tab in the insert tab we will go to the bar columns and in this we will select 2d stacked bar charts now we have
the entitled bar chart in accordance to our data on the screen then comes the third step we will add the duration of
the tasks to the bar graph we will click on the chart and after we click on the chart we will select
select data option in the select data source dialog box we find the start date is already there now we will click on
add and after we click on add in the series name section we will put tenure then in the series value
we will click on this icon and select the entire tenure series and click on ok so this is the bar graph that we have
now this is now in two colors the orange color and the blue color this bar graph now has the duration of all the tasks in
our project table now in the fourth step now it's time for us to add description to our gantt chart instead of this 1 2 3
4 5 we will put task 1 task 2 and the sub tasks so what we will do is we will again go to that box we will left click
on the gantt chart select the select data option and then we'll go to the start date here we'll select the edit
option in the edit option we will select all the tasks and click on ok now we can see all the tasks are aligned towards
the left of the bar chart as we can see this is a bar chart or a bar graph and not a gantt chart the next step we have
is converting this bar graph into a gantt chart so we will click on the bars and select the format data series option
from the menu that appears here we have this format data series option now we can see the dialog box on the screen
here we'll go into the color section fill section and then we will select no fill now we
can see the blue lines have disappeared so this looks like a gantt chart so now when we have a gantt chart on the screen
we can notice that the tasks here are in the reverse order so what we will do is we will click on these tasks and select
the format access option here we will select categories in reverse order we can see our gantt chart is now in order
like we have a task 1 on the top and task 3 at the bottom the dates are starting from 11th of december but the
dates we have provided are from 1st of january now we will copy this cell then go on the dates box here we'll go to
format access in the format axis we can see minimum in this minimum we will paste
this value and press enter as we press enter we can see our gantt chart starting from the date that we wanted to
start and that too in the correct order starting from task 1 to task 3. now as a result we have our final gantt chart on
the screen in the last step what we can do is make our gantt chart more representable we can change the color of
these bars we can give them shapes and we can do many other things to make it more presentable we will first select
the bars like what we will do is we will select task 1 and let's say we give it the color blue then task 2 we will give
it color green and in task 3 we'll give give it the color black so here the sub sections will give different colors to
the sub sections as well then we come to task 2.1 this is how we can change the color of these cells or apart from
changing colors we can select a bar graph and do the gradient fill so this is how we can make a gantt chart more
presentable after changing the colors or changing the shapes we have our final gantt chart on the screen finally let's
have a look at some microsoft excel templates for project management microsoft excel templates help in
collecting data putting them into order and check the dependencies with each other with the help of these templates
we can monitor the status of the tasks and we can also check the progress our project has made moving forward we will
check some important microsoft excel templates the first template we have is excel project review template this
template helps us have an overview of the project we can have a clear understanding of all the tasks that are
planned and that are completed this helps project managers to measure the progress of the project and take further
steps accordingly second template we will check is excel budget template in this template we can monitor all the
expenditures of our project it helps us in managing the budget of a project and also helps in comparing the budget of
our project at different phases let's have a look at the budget template in excel once we can download this template
from officetimeline.com the gantt chart towards the right is in accordance with the dates towards the left if we
fluctuate the date we can see the template working the start date for task 1 could be changed to 10th june if we
change this date to 10 june we can see the fluctuation in the gantt chart so this is how we can use this template
directly let's have a look at the third template now third template we will see is excel sprint project tracker template
this template is used majorly in agile projects where the project is made in several sprints or sessions this
template includes the start date the end date and the duration of each task we can also see the percentage completed of
each task let's have a look at this print project tracker template as well we can see the gantt chart towards the
right and the data towards the left so if we change any data we can see the gantt chart changing for example we can
change the data in sprint to feature 3. let's change the start date to july 2nd we can see the gantt chart changing
this is how we can use this template directly to track our sessions let's have a look at the fourth excel template
this template is excel project tracker in this template we have the data of all the tasks with the status and owners we
can track the percentage of tasks completed and also compare the plan duration of the task to the actual
duration of the task after the critical part tracker let's check the excel project schedule template this template
helps in effective management of the project as it helps in monitoring the time that each task of the project takes
it provides a clear view of all the work associated with the project let's have a look at this template in excel once we
can see the gantt chart in accordance to the data if we change the estimated hours at two places let's say at the
design review we make it 15 hours instead of 5 hours and at the create staffing plan we make it 2 hours instead
of 20 hours we can see the gantt chart fluctuating this is how we can use this template to manage the schedule in a
project moving forward the next template we will see is excel project status report template this template helps us
having a list of project deliverables and the risks associated with that project this template helps the project
managers about different crucial activities involved in a project after this we have excel milestone tracker the
milestone tracker helps us in tracking or monitoring different tasks in a project project managers use this
template to monitor the project performance with respect to the timelines the last template we will see
is excel project planner excel project planner includes a list of tasks with the respected owners along with the
start date and the end date of that task this helps in monitoring each task and comparing the estimated task date with
the actual ones let's have a look at this template in excel we can see the gantt chart with respect to the data
entered let's make changes at several places in the data we can make this 22 to 24 we will make this 23 go to 2 and
we can make this 5th september go to 15 september and when we make the changes we can realize the gantt chart is
fluctuating so this is how we can use this template to plan a project effectively and efficiently in this
lesson we will focus on project time management let us begin with the objectives of this lesson
after completing this lesson you will be able to define project time management
explain project schedule get charts and network diagrams identify the key terms used in project
time management describe the project time management processes
explain various schedule network analysis techniques in the next screen let us take a quick
look at the project management process map there are 47 processes in project
management grouped into 10 knowledge areas and mapped to five process groups in this lesson we will look at the third
knowledge area that is project time management and its processes let us begin with the first topic of
this lesson project time management the purpose of project time management
is to ensure that the projects get completed on time this knowledge area is primarily
concerned with developing a project schedule and ensuring that project goes as per the agreed schedule
if there is a need to change the project schedule the change should happen by following a proper change control
procedure another term used in the pmp examination is schedule management plan
schedule management plan is part of the project management plan and has information on the planned project
schedule and its management and control let us discuss the key activities of project time management in the next
screen the key activities that are part of the project time management include
identifying activities estimating time and resources and sequencing activities it is important to identify a list of
activities that would be a part of the project next an estimation of time and resources
required for completing the identified activities are done finally these activities need to be
sequenced as per the dependencies in the next screen let us discuss project schedule
project schedule represents the time dimension of the project plan and has information like when the project would
start when each of the project activities would happen in what order the project activities
would happen when project would be completed etc usually software system is used to
develop the project schedule the project team can enter the list of activities in the software as well as
their dependencies and the software can produce the project schedule as the output microsoft project is the most
popular tool used for project schedule development generally project schedule is considered similar to project
management plan project management plan is different from project schedule
project management plan not only has information about the project's schedule but also other important project related
plans like risk management plan cost management plan etc let us focus on gantt chart in the next
screen gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule
it shows the dependencies between the project activities as well as their percent completion
a sample gantt chart is shown on the screen two summary elements of the work
breakdown structure are depicted to complete those elements there are a number of activities under them
some of these activities have dependencies for example activity b and c have a dependency
activity c can start only when activity b is completed the chart gives you an idea about when
specific activities are planned to finish and when the overall wbs element will
get delivered create tasks and work with the gantt chart this will make answering gantt
chart based questions easy and fun in the next screen let us understand the relationships that exist among project
activities network diagram is extensively used in the project time management knowledge
area to plot the activity dependencies this is a graphical representation of the project activities in the form of a
network there are two ways to draw a network diagram
in precedence diagramming model pdm or activity on node aon boxes represent activities and the
arrows indicate the dependency this type of network can have all four types of relationships between the
activities in arrow diagramming model adm or activity on arrow aoa
the arrows represent activities the relationships and sequences can be inferred from the direction of the
arrows and linkages between the activities in such types of network only finish to
start relationships can be shown such diagrams may need to make use of dummy activities to indicate some
dependency between the activities there may be questions in the pmp exam based on the network diagram so create
and work with the diagram this will make answering network diagram based questions easy and fun
in the next screen let us look at a network diagram a sample network diagram is shown on the
screen activities a and c can happen in parallel
b and d require both a and c to complete whereas e requires both b and d to complete activity on aero network
diagram makes use of hammock activities they are used to show a comprehensive summary activity combining several other
activities underneath for control and reporting purposes in the next screen let us look at a few important terms in
time management when a successor activity can start before the predecessor activity can
complete it is considered lead for example you can start preparing the test environment two weeks before the
development activity finishes when the successor activity has to wait for a few days after the predecessor
activity has been completed it is considered lag for example one needs to wait for two
days for the foundation to settle before work on the pillars for the next floor starts
rolling wave planning is an iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is
planned in detail while the work in the future is planned at a higher level it is a form of progressive elaboration
in the context of estimating techniques analogous estimating is based on the previous project data
therefore if the last five similar projects took six months to complete the next one will also take six months
this technique employs expert judgment another estimating technique is parametric estimating
this technique uses a mathematical model to calculate projected time for an activity based on the historical records
from previous projects and other information a few common parameters are identified
based on the previous project data and that parameter is used to predict the time required to complete the next
activity or project for example you can normally complete 10 kilometers of highway construction lanes a week
effort is the total amount of work required to complete the activity duration is the amount of time it takes
in terms of a lab store calendar days if you have an activity that requires 10 people to work for 5 days the total
effort is 50 person days but the duration is only 5 days in the next screen let us look at the
project time management processes there are seven project time management processes
they are plan schedule management define activities sequence activities
estimate activity resources estimate activity durations develop schedule and control schedule
the first six processes are executed during the planning process group the ultimate goal of these planning
processes is to develop the project schedule the seventh and the last process is a
part of the monitoring and controlling process group in the next few screens let us discuss
these processes in detail we will begin with plan schedule management
as defined in pmbok guide plan schedule management is the process of establishing the policies procedures and
documentation for planning developing managing executing and controlling the project schedule
it belongs to the planning process group let us look at the inputs to this process
the project management plan provides other subsidiary plans and will guide the schedule planning activities on the
project the project charter provides an overall context and the high level product and
project description which might help determine the approach for schedule management
few projects might have scheduling constraint for example
projects of olympics 2016 should be completed at the same time enterprise environmental factors provide
the organizational context to the project including the culture of the organization the infrastructure like
scheduling systems available key personnel and so on organizational process assets provide inputs such as
policies and procedures templates past performance data and estimates historical information and
knowledge base now let us look at the tools and techniques employed in this process
expert judgment refers to input received from knowledgeable and experienced resources
experts can draw from their previous experiences the proper approach to govern the schedule on a project
meetings may be organized to determine the schedule management plan anybody responsible for the project
schedule management such as the project manager sponsor customer and other stakeholders must attend these meetings
several analytical techniques may be used to determine the schedule management plan
these may include different planning approaches and philosophies such as rolling wave planning or
different scheduling software that allowed to build what-if scenarios
and study the effect of advanced scheduling techniques like leveling fast tracking and crashing
now let us look at the outputs of this process schedule management plan is a component
of the project management plan that describes the criteria and activities required to arrive at the project
schedule as well as how the project may be baselined monitored and controlled
in the next screen let us define activities process define activities is the process of
identifying the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables
it belongs to the planning process group the important input for the define activities process is the scope baseline
scope baseline is a term used collectively to refer to project deliverables constraints and assumptions
of the project in addition to the scope baseline the other inputs in this process are
enterprise environmental factors organizational process assets and schedule management plan
a reason why enterprise environmental factors is an input to define activities is because the organization might be
using project management software to define activities and that may influence the activity definition process the
knowledge base containing historical information regarding activities lists used by previous similar projects is a
good example of organization process assets applied to scheduling the tools and techniques used in
defining activities are decomposition and rolling wave planning the last technique is expert judgment
where the experience of project team members is used in developing detailed activity lists
the output of the process is activity list activity attributes and milestone list
activity list contains a list of identified activities activity attributes are the additional
information about the activity itself a milestone is a significant point or event in the project
a milestone list identifies all the milestones and indicates whether the milestone is mandatory
or optional let us move on to the next process sequence activities
sequence activities is the process of identifying and documenting relationships among the project
activities and is also part of the planning process group for every activity and milestone except
the first and last one is connected to or at least one predecessor and one successor
the inputs to this process are activity list activity attributes and milestone list
all these are the outputs of the define activity process the other inputs are schedule management
plan and project scope statement schedule management plan provides guidance in terms of methodology to be
employed for many of the scheduling activities on the project organization process assets are also an
input to sequencing activities because the organization might have some kind of knowledge base for scheduling project
activities the enterprise environmental factors relevant to this process may be
scheduling tools in use project management information systems work authorization systems etc
one of the important tools and techniques used in sequencing activities is the precedence diagramming method
in this method the activities are drawn on a network diagram and all the different kinds of dependencies between
the activities are determined while determining activity dependency it is important to identify the type of
relationship or dependency between the activities the other technique is leads and lag
which is widely used for sequencing activities the output of the process is the project
schedule network diagram which is a graphical representation of the project activities in a form of
network which also shows the activity dependencies while designing the network diagram new
activities might be identified and that would result in some of the project document updates especially the ones
that list all the project activities in the next screen let us look at the estimate activity resources process
after sequencing the activities the next step in project time management is estimating the resources required to
accomplish each of the identified activities estimate activity resources process also belongs to the planning
process group here resources do not mean only the human resources but includes all other
resources like equipment raw materials machinery etc schedule management plan is the first
input schedule management plan provides guidance in terms of methodology to be
employed for many of the scheduling activities on the project the other inputs to this process are an
activity list and activity attributes that are the outputs of the time management processes
risk register is another input risks to the project may influence the decisions about the resources that need
to be deployed hence risk register becomes an input to this project in addition activity cost estimates are
another input cost and resource estimates on a project are interrelated and influence each
other for example the cost might dictate the number and type of resources that can be
employed or the time might dictate the cost that may need to be incurred along with this the resource calendar is
also an important input because it has the information about the availability of each of the resources
some of the enterprise environmental factors that can influence estimating activity resources are
availability of required resources within the organization the organizational process assets is
also an important input as the organization might have standard policies for staffing or for hiring
contractors on the project with all these inputs available for estimating activity resources
there are various techniques used for estimating the required resources the first technique is using expert
judgment in this technique an expert in resource planning and estimating can estimate
each of the activities the next technique used is alternative analysis
in this the activities are analyzed to identify different ways of completing them
this is to ensure only the required resources are assigned to each of the activities
this helps in resource optimization along with the two techniques many organizations routinely publish their
estimating data and this could be used in activity resource estimation another technique that is routinely used
in activity estimation is bottom-up estimating which is decomposing the activity
further down to understand it in more detail and estimating at that level later all such estimates are added to
arrive at the estimate of the activity in real projects one has to use all the estimate each of the activities
sometimes the project management software also helps in estimating the software estimates are based on the
inputs provided to it software should only be considered as a supporting tool in estimation and never
fully rely on its output clearly the output of this process is the activity resource requirements
along with this resource breakdown structure is also prepared the resource breakdown structure is the
categorization of all the required resources in various categories that is human resources equipment raw
materials etc in the process of estimation several other project documents may also be
updated for example the resource estimates are directly correlated with cost estimates
let us now move on to the next process estimate activity durations the next process is to estimate the
duration required to complete each of the activities the duration estimation should be done
by someone who is familiar with the project for example the same activity if done by
a high skilled resource would take less time compared to a less skilled resource this may vary regardless of the resource
used due to the project requirements in addition the activity duration estimation should be updated
continuously as you move ahead with the project because as the project progresses there
will be more clarity on the project the inputs of this process are similar to the ones in sequence activities
process schedule management plan is the first input
schedule management plan provides guidance in terms of methodology to be employed for many of the scheduling
activities on the project for instance it may contain information about the estimation techniques to be
employed and the people who need to be involved in the estimation process
activity resource requirements is also an input to this process because resources assigned to an activity would
significantly affect the activity duration that is the lower skilled resources
would take more time than the high skilled resources the other inputs include activity list
activity attributes and resource breakdown structure resource calendars are also an input to this process
the type and skill set of resources available to the team may have an impact on the time it would take to complete
the activities risks to the project may influence the decisions about the time required to
complete the activity hence risk register becomes an input to this process
the project scope statement defines the constraints and assumptions affecting the project duration
an example of enterprise environmental factor that can affect duration is organizations productivity metrics
which is collected based on the experiences from multiple projects the last input in this process is
organizational process assets now let us look at the tools and techniques used for estimating activity
durations first is the expert judgment which means using previous project experiences and
estimating the current project duration this can be used with other estimation techniques and used to reconcile
differences if different techniques result in different estimates three-point estimating is a method where
three estimates are used instead of one it is part of a project management philosophy known as program evaluation
and review technique pert estimating activity durations is often
done as a team exercise as each activity may require multiple skill sets to be applied
therefore it is important to use group decision making techniques to arrive at a consensus or at least an estimate that
is acceptable to all the team members reserve analysis adds buffer into the project schedule to deal with any
uncertainty the contingency reserve may be added as a percentage of the activity duration or fixed number of work periods
the other tools and techniques are analogous estimating and parametric estimating
the outputs of this process are the activity duration estimates and project documents updates
the activity duration estimates is represented in terms of the range of possible results for example
10 days plus minus two days that is the activity would take minimum eight days and maximum twelve days
in the next screen let us look into a business scenario to understand this concept better
after reading the problem statement click the solution button to look at a possible answer
develop schedule is the process of analyzing activity sequences durations resource requirements and schedule
constraints to create the project schedule it belongs to the planning process group
generally scheduling software is used for developing the project schedule entering the activities durations and
resources into a scheduling tool generates a schedule with planned dates for completing project activities
developing a project schedule is an iterative process revising and maintaining a realistic
schedule is a task in itself and it continues throughout the project as the work progresses
the most of the inputs of this process are the outputs of estimate activity durations process
they are risk register project scope statement project staff assignments resources calendars organizational
process assets enterprise environmental factors schedule management plan
activity list activity attributes project schedule network diagrams
activity resource requirements resource breakdown structure and activity duration estimates
various tools and techniques are used to develop schedule process schedule network analysis is a technique
that generates project schedule it employs various analytical techniques such as critical path method critical
chain method modeling techniques and resource optimization techniques to create the project schedule
the other tools and techniques include leads and lags schedule compression and scheduling tool
let us now look at the outputs of this process the project schedule consists of a
minimum plan start date and planned finish date for each activity although project schedule can be
represented in tabular format it is more often represented graphically using either bar charts or network diagrams
or a combination of the two the final schedule which is the output of the developed schedule process is
also called schedule baseline once the schedule is baselined it can be changed only through formal approvals
meeting the schedule baseline is one of the measures of project success scheduled data produced may include
number of resources key milestones etc project calendars specify the available working days and the number of shifts in
each day it indicates how many hours and days are available for the work of the project to
be completed project management plan updates are a result of the develop schedule process
many of the other subsidiary plans of the project plan may get impacted which may include cost management plan scope
management plan risk management plan etc this may also result in other project documents being updated
in the next few screens let us discuss schedule network analysis techniques it is essential to know if the required
resources are available at that time along with the time estimate of each of the activities
since schedule is calendar based it helps in estimating the same schedule network analysis technique
generates project schedule there are various schedule network techniques
critical path method relies on determining the critical path on a project schedule
critical chain method is a variant of the critical path method wherein the critical chain is determined based on
the logical resource and other kinds of dependencies between the activities what if scenario analysis is about
trying to vary a certain parameter to observe the impact on the schedule for instance you may want to check
result if you put in more resources on a particular activity to reduce its duration
resource optimization techniques try to arrive at the optimal utilization of the resources used on a project
ideally you would want the resources to be fully utilized but you would also want to build insufficient buffers in
case a certain resource is not available due to various reasons in the next screen let us look at the
program evaluation and review technique program evaluation and review technique is based on three-point estimates for an
activity the pessimistic estimate refers to the worst case scenario
whereas most likely estimate is what you expect to happen in a realistic scenario the optimistic estimate on the other
hand represents the amount of time an activity would take in the best case scenario
based on these three estimates the expected duration of the estimate is calculated as per the formula given on
the screen the formula for calculating standard deviation of an activity and variance of
an activity is also given there is no question asked on variance but the formula is important because if
the standard deviation of the whole project is to be calculated the process is to calculate the variance of the
whole project and then take its square root to calculate the standard deviation of the project
concept-based questions on pert can be expected in the pmp exam so make a note of the formulae while you
prepare for the exam in the next screen let us understand pert with an example
let us now figure out how we can apply the three-point estimation that pert uses in order to draw some useful
conclusions assume that the optimistic pessimistic and most likely estimates are 20 70 and
30 respectively using these values you can determine the expected duration and the standard
deviation as indicated now if the causes of variation are random you can assume that the actual
values would be evenly distributed about the mean and will follow the normal distribution
sometimes referred to as the bell curve further you can use the properties of the normal distribution
there is a 68 probability of the actual value falling within first sigma from the mean
95.4 percent probability for the second sigma and 99.7 percent probability of the
actual value falling within third sigma extending this logic the notion of six sigma is reaching a level of confidence
that only 3.4 times out of a million would the actual value fall outside the stated range pert allows you to plan
based on the intended level of confidence in the outcome and determine buffers accordingly
let us discuss the critical path method in the next screen critical path is defined as the longest
duration path through a network diagram which determines the shortest time to complete the project
float can be considered as a buffer time available to complete an activity float is calculated once the network
diagram is ready it is also called as slack there are three kinds of float
the first being the total float which is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project end
date or an intermediary milestone the second type of float is free float which is the amount of time an activity
can be delayed without delaying the early start date of its successor or successors activities
the last type is independent float which is the amount of time an activity can be delayed if all the predecessors finish
at their latest finish dates and you want to start all the immediate successors at their earliest start dates
the slack of the activities on the critical path is zero because there is no scope to delay
activities on the critical path critical path actually represents the project duration delaying activities on
the critical path is as good as delaying the project duration concept-based questions on critical path
can be expected in the exam so it is essential to have a clear understanding of the concept
in the next screen let us learn how to calculate float float of an activity can be calculated
by two methods however the first step in critical path method is to identify the critical path
of the network once the critical path is identified follow the forward pass to find early
start and early finish for each activity the float of the activities on the critical path is zero
so they represent the overall project duration use forward pass or backward pass to
calculate the total activity time calculate late finish and late start using backward pass method
note the total float formula before you start for the exam in the next screen let us look at
forward pass and backward pass methods in detail in forward pass you can either go
through the network starting with time zero and keep calculating the time required to complete each of the
activities until you reach the last activity of the project the starting time for each of the
activity in this approach is called early start and the end time for each activity is called the early finish
alternatively in backward pass you can travel through the network from the project end date and calculate the time
required to complete each activity the end date in this approach is called the late finish and the start date of
the activity in this approach is called the late start the float of the activity is either the
difference between the late start and early start or the difference between the late finish and early finish
both the differences work out to be the same before the start of the pmp exam please
make a note of the total float formula let us understand the critical path calculation with an example in the next
screen let us look at an example for critical path
there are five activities in this project and two paths in the network diagram
start one two four five and is one path and start one three five and is the
second path since the duration of the path start 1 2 4 5 end is 18 days which is more than
the duration of the path start 1 3 5 and the critical path of the project is start one two four five end
let us take activity three as an example first calculate the early start and early finish dates
activity three can start only after activity 1. since the early finish of activity 1 is
3 it becomes the early start of activity 3. activity 3 cannot start earlier than 3
because activity 1 can be completed only by then therefore early start of activity 3 is 3
since the duration of the activity is 4 days the early finish of activity 3 is 3 plus
4 equals seven days now let us calculate the late start and late finish of activity three
late start of activity five is fourteen days the activity three happens just before
activity five so the late finish of activity 3 is 14 days
to calculate the late start you can subtract the duration from late finish therefore the late start of activity 3
is 14 minus four equals ten in the next screen let us focus on schedule compression
look at the four activities in the table the normal cost of executing each of the activities as well as how much each of
the activities can be crashed is also provided which activity would you crash to reduce
the project time by one day activity a will be crashed if the duration of the project is reduced by
one day as the per unit cost of crashing the activity a is the least all the activities are assumed to be on
the critical path here while crashing if you end up saving time on a path which is not the critical path
you will not end up saving time on the project in the next screen let us look into the
impact of schedule compression different schedule compression techniques have different impact on the
project the impact of fast track leads to risk additions and increase in management
time for the project manager crash leads to cost addition and increase in management time for the
project manager reduce scope on the other hand saves cost and resources but increases
customer dissatisfaction likewise cut quality saves cost and resources but increases risk resource
reallocation does not add cost or increase risk in the next screen
let us look into the other techniques used in scheduling there are several techniques that are
used in scheduling projects what-if scenario analysis in this technique questions like
what if a particular scenario changed on the project would that produce a shorter schedule
are put forth to understand the impact of specific changes on the schedule the goal is to produce a realistic schedule
monte carlo analysis in this method a computer simulates the outcomes of a project making use of
randomly generated values that map the probability distribution of the input variables
together these two techniques are called modeling techniques resource optimization techniques
these are also used to produce a resource limited schedule resource optimization results in more
stable number of resources used in the project critical chain method
this technique develops the project schedule that takes into account both the activity and resource dependencies
in the next screen let us look at the last process in project time management control schedule control schedule is
concerned with determining the status of the project schedule determining that the project schedule has changed and
managing the actual changes as they occur the project schedule is an important
input to this process it is the actual schedule that needs to be controlled
scheduled data contains information related to the schedule that may need to be monitored in order to take actions to
bring the project back on schedule project calendar describes the working hours and days for the project
work performance data has information like which activities have started their progress and which activities have
finished the other inputs of this process are project management plan and
organizational process assets the key tools and techniques of this process are the performance reviews
performance review is measuring comparing and analyzing schedule performance such as actual start and
finish dates percent complete and remaining duration for work in progress the other tools and techniques include
resource optimization techniques modeling techniques schedule compression leads and lags scheduling tool
and project management software in development schedule process
these techniques are used for the first time to develop the project schedule whereas in control schedule process
these techniques are used to update the project schedule the key output of the control schedule
process is the work performance information this is represented in the form of
schedule variants sv and schedule performance index spi as a part of the control schedule
process the project team will generate forecasts likely schedule for forthcoming
activities and project as a whole the other outputs include organizational process assets updates
change requests project management plan updates and project document updates in the next
screen let us look into a business scenario to understand this concept better after reading the problem
statement click the solution button to look at a possible answer here is a quick recap of what was
covered in this lesson project time management includes the processes required to manage the timely
completion of the project a project schedule defines the start and end dates of the project and the project
activities these activities are assigned a duration and sequenced in a logical order
gantt charts and network diagrams are used to identify project activities and determine the relationships and
dependencies between them gat chart displays the start and end dates of project activities the overall
project schedule and the logical task relationships while network diagram is used to plot the activity dependencies
plan schedule management define activities sequence activities estimate activity resources estimate activity
durations develop schedule and control schedule are the seven processes under project
time management schedule network analysis technique generates project schedule based on the
estimates of time and resource requirements in this lesson we will focus on project cost management
let us begin with the objectives of this lesson after completing this lesson you will be
able to define project cost management differentiate between cost estimation
and cost budgeting explain control accounts describe the project cost management
processes apply earned value management technique to track project performance
identify key terminologies used in project cost management in the next screen let us take a quick
look at the project management process map there are 47 processes in project
management grouped into 10 knowledge areas and mapped to five process groups in this lesson we will look at the
fourth knowledge area that is project cost management and its processes in the next screen let us understand the
concept of project cost management project cost management involves activities like estimating the cost of
each of the project activities adding the cost estimates of the related activities to arrive at the cost budget
and controlling the cost to ensure that project activities are completed within the defined budget in the next screen
let us discuss cost management plan the cost management plan is a vital step in project cost management it contains
information like planning the project cost managing and controlling the project in relation to the cost baseline
and managing cost variances project cost management plan is a part of the project management plan
the methods used in estimating the cost of each of the project activities are similar to the ones used in estimating
project time for example time estimation methods like expert
judgment analogous estimating bottom up estimating and reserve analysis are few of the techniques that are also used in
estimating activity cost let us discuss control account in the next screen
control account is an important concept in the project cost management project cost is generally estimated at
individual activity level it becomes difficult to manage cost at the activity level in large projects
therefore the cost is managed at a higher level this requires related activities to be
clubbed and their cost being managed together as one unit
this unit is called control account while estimating the project time wbs is created to break down the project
into smaller deliverables these deliverables are broken down into work packages and these work packages
are in turn broken into activities control account is defined at a level higher than the work packages for
example if five work packages are part of the one control account
the cost of all activities belonging to these five work packages are managed as one unit
in the next screen let us discuss the project cost management process project cost management has four
processes they are plan cost management estimate costs determine budget and control costs
the three processes plan cost management estimate costs and determined budget are a part of planning process group and
control cost process is a part of monitoring and controlling process group let us look at each of these processes
in detail let us begin with the first process that is plan cost management in the next
screen managing costs on a project is a critical exercise if the activities are
planned well it becomes easier to achieve harmony with the overall cost and budget of the project
plan cost management is the process of establishing the policies procedures and documentation for planning managing
expending and controlling the project costs let us look at the inputs required for
this process the project management plan provides other subsidiary plans and guides the
cost planning activities on the project the project charter provides an overall context and high level product and
project description which help determine the approach for cost management
for example for some projects budget could be a constraint whereas for others budget
would not be a constraint but subject to the other objectives enterprise environmental factors provide
the organizational context to the project including the culture of the
organization and the infrastructure for instance the scheduling systems available the key personnel and so on
organizational process assets provide inputs such as policies and procedures templates past performance data and
estimates historical information and knowledge base now let us look at the tools and
techniques employed in this process expert judgment refers to input received from knowledgeable and experienced
resources experts can devise an approach to govern the costs on a project by using their
previous experiences meetings may be organized to determine the cost management plan
everyone responsible for the project schedule management such as the project manager representatives from the
appropriate accounting or financial organization sponsor customer and other stakeholders must attend these meetings
several analytical techniques may be used to determine the cost management plan
these techniques help to map the impact of various decisions on cost for example how do risk management
processes impact cost etc cost management plan is the primary output of this process
it establishes the units of measure levels of precision organizational process links control accounts to be
used rules for performance measurement and reporting frequency and methodology of monitoring the costs and various
other details that lay the overall framework for cost management on a project
in the next screen let us discuss the second process under project cost management
estimate cost estimate cost is the approximation of the monetary resources required to
complete a project activity cost of a specific activity is estimated based on the information available at
that point of time as the project team gets more information about the project the
activity cost estimation may change let us look at the inputs of this process
scope baseline is the most important input as it details out the project scope of work
along with that project schedule is also important this contains information like when and
which resource is required for the project it is good to remember that the same kind of resources may have
different costs at different points of time human resource management plan is
another important input various elements like personnel rates rewards or recognition programs etcetera
are covered in the human resource management plan which is important in approximating the cost estimate
human resource management plan will be discussed in detail in the human resource management knowledge area
risk register is also an input because risk mitigation costs should be considered in cost planning
more information on risk and its effect in the project will be looked at in detail in risk management knowledge area
another input enterprise environmental factors provides organizational context to the project
organization process asset is listed as an input as organizations might have standard set of cost estimation policies
or templates cost management plan is another important input
the cost management plan lays the framework for the cost management processes in the project
it provides guidelines such as the units of measure accuracy desired methodologies and tools to be used etc
let us now look at the tools and techniques used in this process expert judgment reserve analysis
analogous estimating cost of quality parametric estimating project management software
up estimating three point estimating vendor bid analysis and group decision making are the various tools and
techniques used in this process most of the tools and techniques used here are similar to the ones used in the
time management knowledge area vendor bid analysis is a technique used to estimate project cost
for example a project requires material procured externally through suppliers in order to get that you invite bids from
three or four suppliers and assess their quotations based on their quotations you can get an
idea of the cost that will be involved in getting the material for the project group decision making technique is
another important technique for project cost estimation cost estimation is an exercise which may
be carried out by a group or committee in order to gather well-rounded input therefore group decision making
techniques may be used to arrive at a decision that team can work with the outputs of this process are quite
straightforward estimates of each of the activities are arrived at
basis of the estimate includes things like how the estimate was developed what were the assumptions made in estimating
etc project document updates is also one of the outputs because the cost estimates
may result in updates to other aspects of the project for example quality risk time etc
in the next screen let us discuss the third process under project cost management determine budget
once the estimate of each of the activities is arrived at the next project cost management process is to
determine budget it is the process of aggregating the estimated cost of individual activities
or work packages to establish an authorized cost baseline this is where the control account
concept comes into picture the estimated costs of the activities are aggregated to arrive at the cost
budget at the control account level once approved this cost budget becomes the cost baseline of the project
project cost performance is measured against the cost baseline that is how much more would the project cost be
compared to the original cost baseline the cost baseline includes all authorized budgets but excludes
management reserves the inputs used in determining the project budget are the activity cost
estimates and the basis of estimates which are the output of the previous cost management process
the cost management plan lays the framework for the cost management processes in the project
it provides guidelines such as the budgeting cycle tools and techniques used to prepare and approve the budget
etcetera in addition to these two important inputs scope baseline is also looked at
project schedule provides aggregate cost in a particular calendar period to ensure how much money can be made
available during that time similarly resource calendar provides information
on the resource which is assigned to the project at a particular point of time this information is then used to
indicate resource costs over the duration of the project risk register gives an understanding of
the overall level of risk on the project and therefore the level of contingency
reserves that need to be built into the budget agreements entered into with the
suppliers are also required to finalize the budget again organizational process asset is an
input because organization may have few policies for reporting the cost budget or there might be some cost budgeting
tools being used there are various tools and techniques used in determining budgets
cost aggregation technique involves adding up the cost and aggregating them at the control account level
so that the cost can be managed in a better way in reserve analysis once the costs are
estimated some extra amount is added to the estimate as a management reserve to take care of any unplanned activities
expert judgment is a technique in which an expert's help is sought to estimate the activity cost
expert is someone who might have worked on a similar project in the past and has a good idea to estimate the activity
cost involved historical relationships are used to predict the total project cost using
mathematical model this is similar to analogous estimate or parametric estimate method
funding limit reconciliation technique is used to ensure that cost on the project is budgeted or spent as per the
availability of the fund for example if the project can get the funding of only fifty thousand dollars a month the
project budget should be planned accordingly the output of this process is the cost
baseline this is an authorized project budget over a period
this is used to measure monitor and control overall cost performance of the project
in addition to this the project funding requirements are also arrived at funding requirements means how much fund the
project requires monthly quarterly or yearly for the execution the last output of this process is
project document updates an understanding of determining budget may be useful when answering questions
in the pmp exam so make a note of the inputs tools and techniques and outputs of determining budget
in the next screen let us discuss the last process of project cost management that is control cost
control costs is the process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project budget and managing
changes to the cost baseline updating the budget involves recording actual costs spent until date
any increase to the authorized budget can only be approved through the perform integrated change control process
some of the typical activities that happen as part of the control cost process
are ensuring that cost expenditure does not exceed the authorized funding monitor the cost performance to
understand variants and monitoring the work performance against the funds expended
the inputs to the process are project management plan organizational process assets
project funding requirements and work performance data performance data contains the
information about the project progress the important tools and techniques used in controlling costs are
earned value analysis management forecasting to complete performance index
other important aspects of controlling costs are the review the performance analyze the reserves to make sure the
project has enough budgetary reserves to meet the expenses and project management software which helps in tracking and
managing costs now let us look at the output of this
process the key outputs of this process are work performance information in terms of cost
variance cv schedule variance sv and earned value ev and forecasts about the cost performance
this process may also result in change requests arising out of cost control measures as well as updates to project
documents the project management plan and organizational process assets business scenario based questions on
project cost control can be expected in the exam so if you have questions on these concepts get them cleared as that
will help you score higher in the next screen let us learn about earned value management and its related
terms earned value technique is an excellent way to track the project progress
against the project plan it is a method of measuring the project performance objectively and comparing it
against the project baseline results from an earned value analysis indicate deviation of the project from
cost and schedule baselines baseline is the initial approved value along with approved changes
therefore schedule baseline is the first approved project schedule along with approved changes
there are various terms used in earned value technique planned value is the authorized budget
assigned to the scheduled work earned value is the work performed in terms of budget authorized for that work
actual cost is the cost incurred in work performed budget at completion is the budgeted
amount for the total work estimate at completion is the expected total cost for the project
estimate to complete is the expected cost to finish all the remaining project work
variance at completion is the projected budget surplus or deficit at the end of the project
all the parameters displayed on the screen are measured in terms of cost you may come across business scenario
based questions on earned value management in the pmp exam so ensure that you develop a clear understanding
of this topic let us look at an example of a planned value in the next screen
planned value is the estimated value of the work planned this value is measured in terms of
currency say dollar if the plan value is three hundred forty dollars then the work plan is worth three hundred forty
dollars how do you calculate earned value the solution is
add the budget allocated to each of the activities that have been completed at the point of time
the resulting value is the earned value in the next screen let us look at the formula used to calculate earned value
in cost variance negative means the project is over budget positive means the project is under
budget similarly in schedule variance negative means the project is behind schedule
whereas positive means the project is ahead of schedule the value of the next two parameters
cost performance index cpi and schedule performance index spi values vary between zero and one
for example a cpi of 0.8 implies that 80 cents of work is obtained for every dollar spent in the project
similarly if spi is 0.9 it implies that project is progressing at only 90 percent of the speed
originally planned the next parameter is estimate at completion or eac
there are different ways of calculating the eac value the method used depends on how the cost and schedule variances are
expected to play for the rest of the project bac by cpi is used if you expect that
the current cost performance will continue until the end of the project ac plus bac minus ev is used if you
expect that the rest of the project will be managed at the budgeted rate ac plus
bac minus ev by the product of cpi and sbi is used if you want to factor in the
impact of the cost as well as schedule variances ac plus etc is used if you want to
re-evaluate the project based on a forecast value for the estimated cost of the remainder of the project
the next parameter is estimate to complete or etc which is the cost of project from this
point to the end this is calculated by subtracting the actual cost from the estimate at
completion in addition variance at completion can be calculated by subtracting the
estimate at completion from the budget at completion variance at completion is the cost estimation whether it is over
or under budget another parameter is the to complete performance index or tcpi
this is the cost performance needed to achieve a desired outcome for example
if the project needs to be managed to the original budget bac then tcpi that is the cpi that must be maintained for
the rest of the project is calculated as bac minus ev by bac minus ac similarly if it has to be managed within
a revised target say eac then tcpi is calculated as bac minus ev by eac minus ac
before the start of the pmp exam please make a note of the formulas of earned value technique
in the next screen let us look into a business scenario to understand this concept better after reading the problem
statement click the solution button to look at a possible answer let us take the example of a software
development project there are four phases and each phase takes a month to complete and is expected to cost ten
thousand dollars the phases are planned to be completed one after the other the status of the
project at the end of the month three is summarized in the table requirements definition is completed and
actual spending on this is ten thousand dollars architecture and design is done and
actual spending on this is twelve thousand dollars development and unit testing is only
fifty percent done though it was supposed to be completed by third month it has cost nine thousand dollars until
date system testing and go live has not yet started
note s indicates start time f indicates finish time and pf indicates that it is partly finished at the end of
the month based on the above information calculate the cv sv cpi and spi of the project
let us look at a solution in the next screen before we end this lesson let us also
look at a few definitions that might be useful for your pmp examination law of diminishing return this means the
more you put into something the less you get out of it for example doubling the number of resources working on a project
will not necessarily have the time working capital the amount of money the company has to invest on the project and
the day-to-day company operations funding limit reconciliation the process of comparing the planned expenditure in
a given period with the available funding for that period large assets purchased by the company
lose value over time this is called depreciation there are two forms of depreciation
straight line and accelerated same amount of depreciation is taken every year for instance a car with a
price tag of ten thousand dollars and useful life of ten years is depreciated one thousand dollars per year
at the end of the tenth year the value of the car is considered zero for all accounting purposes accelerated
depreciation depreciates faster than the straight-line depreciation for instance a car with a price tag of ten thousand
dollars depreciates three thousand dollars the first year one thousand five hundred the next year one thousand the
third year and so on let us now check your understanding of the topics covered in this lesson
here is a quick recap of what was covered in this lesson project cost management includes the
processes involved in estimating budgeting and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the
approved budget cost management plan contains details on how to plan manage and control the
project cost in relation to the cost baseline and manage the cost variances cost estimate is an educated guess of
how much an activity or project will cost budget considers the cost estimate and
accordingly sets aside funds for the completion of the project under control account technique related
activities are clubbed and their costs are managed as one unit the four project cost management
processes are plan cost management estimate costs determine budget control costs
earned value management technique indicates potential deviation of the project from the cost and or schedule
baselines in this lesson we will focus on project quality management let us begin with the objectives of this lesson
after completing this lesson you will be able to define quality and quality management differentiate between quality
planning quality assurance and quality control explain cost of quality and its
categories describe the project quality management processes
explain the seven basic tools of quality explain six sigma in the next screen
let us take a quick look at the project management process map there are 47 processes in project
management grouped into 10 knowledge areas and mapped to five process groups in this lesson we will look at the fifth
knowledge area that is project quality management and its processes in the next screen let us understand what quality is
the project manager is responsible for quality in a project however it is also the responsibility of each and every one
in the project to ensure that whatever they do meets project quality expectations quality is defined as the
degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements a project is said to meet quality
expectations when all the project requirements agreed in the beginning of the project are met and the resulting
product is usable usable means that the intended users can use the product without any problem in
the next screen let us look at some quality related terms it is important to discuss a few terms
to understand the concept of quality better customer satisfaction is defined as conformance to requirements and
fitness for use it is important to understand the subtle distinction between quality and grade
grade is a classification based on technical characteristics low quality is always a problem but low grade may not
be a problem rather it would be a matter of choice similarly it is important to understand
the distinction between precision and accuracy precision is the granularity of measurement that is how fine grained can
you measure the outcome accuracy is how correct you are that is how close you are to the desired value in the next
screen let us understand the concept of optimal level of quality quality comes at a cost more effort put
in quality will give better results however you cannot keep on investing on increasing the quality as there is no
limit to how much a product can be improved investment in quality is determined by knowing the optimal level
of quality optimal level of quality as shown in the diagram is said to be achieved at the
point where the incremental revenue from improvement equals the incremental cost to secure it suppose you are the
manufacturer of toys but the toys are below quality and the sales are low to improve the quality you invest in
identifying the demands of children sharing few samples and recording their feedbacks
once all these are captured and implemented in the products you lure the parents to buy them as the investment is
increased to manufacture good quality toys the cost will therefore increase and it might become prohibitive for
parents to buy optimal level of quality is reached at a point where you get maximum number of
buyers for the toys manufactured now that we are clear on the concept of quality in the next screen let us
discuss quality management quality management involves performing activities like creating standard
policies and procedures and ensuring that those standard procedures are being followed properly in the project it aims
to ensure that project meets all the initial agreed requirements without any deviation and that the specified
approach to quality is implemented on the project three broad activities are done as part of quality management they
are quality planning quality assurance and quality control quality planning is the first step when
quality related activities of the project are planned quality assurance is the next stage of
implementing those quality plans and quality control is the last stage when periodic checks are done to see if
project quality is improving in the next screen let us look into the differences between the three aspects of
quality management it is important to understand the different kinds of activities that come
under quality planning quality assurance and quality control once the quality planning is done the
quality management plan is ready this quality management plan has standards templates policies and
procedures to be followed in the project it contains information on the level of quality being aimed and the plan to
achieve that level it is the aim of quality assurance activities to ensure that the activities planned under
quality planning phase gets executed for the project it is the task of quality assurance to determine if the project is
complying with the organizational as well as project policies and procedures this is ensured by conducting regular
process audits to identify deviation from what is planned in the quality management plan
these audits are generally done by quality department of the organizations quality assurance focuses on the process
not on specific products the role of quality control is to measure specific project data or results against
standards to inspect and verify the project's product defect repair and measure whether quality indicators are
improving quality control is about the product and data for example
it was planned as part of quality management that project would get completed plus or minus 10 percent
within the cost budget three months back when the measurement was done project was over budget by 20
when the measurement was done a day before it was only 15 percent over budget
therefore the project has showed an improvement of five percent in the last three months and it is quite likely that
over the next three months project may get within the planned limit of 10 percent
instead of showing improvement if the data shows cost increase then corrective and preventative actions are required to
get the project within the ten percent limit this is quality control
in the next screen let us discuss a few quality management concepts let us look at some terms that are
commonly used in quality management parlance total quality management or tqm is a quality management philosophy that
involves holistic thinking about meeting the objectives of an organization it places the responsibility of quality
squarely on the management kaizen is a japanese term that stands for change for better kaizen philosophy is one that
should always be looking for small and continuous improvements in the process deeming cycle or pdca cycle that is plan
do check act is a process control and improvement approach propagated by the famous
quality guru edward deming it means you plan for something executed check the output and based on the lessons you act
to bring the deviations under control kanban is a poll-based management system that originated in japan based on just
in time jit inventory management the idea behind kanban is to minimize the work in progress and achieve a
smooth flow in the process from start to finish because building up inventory only to paper over the imperfections in
the system tends to hide the problems in the next screen let us focus on cost of quality
cost of quality is the cost that needs to be incurred to make a quality product the sum of all the costs incurred is
ensuring that project conforms to requirement is cost of quality cost of quality can be broken down into
two major categories first is the cost of conformance or the money spent during the project to avoid
failures this can further be subdivided into prevention costs which is the cost to
prevent errors like training the team creating documents on equipment and in time to do
it right the other subdivision is appraisal costs or the cost for assessing quality like testing
destructive testing loss and inspections the second category is the cost of non-conformance it is the money spent
during and after the project because of failures this is subdivided into internal failure costs it is the cost of
failures that occur before the product is released to customers for example rework and scrap the second subdivision
is external failure costs it is cost incurred on failures that occur after it has been released by the team for
example liabilities warranty work and lost business concept based questions on cost of
quality can be expected in the exam so please make a note of the categories of cost of quality
let us look at the project quality management processes in the next screen there are three project quality
management processes of which the first process plan quality management is done as part of the
planning process group the next process perform quality assurance is done as part of the executing process group and
the last process control quality is done as part of the monitoring and controlling process group
in the next three screens let us look into each of these processes in detail the aim of the plan quality management
process is to identify the relevant requirements or standards to execute the project effectively to achieve the
desired quality level quality planning results in the creation of the quality management plan
aim of the plan quality process is to identify the standards a standard is an agreed-upon process to work or achieve a
result a standard can be set from within the organization or government once all the standards for the project
are identified the aim of the quality planning activities involves determining what work needs to be done to meet those
standards before adhering to the standards you should question their relevance with the
project implementing all possible standards applicable to the project in random will
have cost and time implications let us look at the inputs to this process
the project management plan provides the scope schedule and cost baseline all of which have an implication on the
quality management plan quality plan has a direct correlation with these
it might also have an impact on and be impacted by other subsidiary management plans such as risk management the
stakeholders of the project may have specific requirements and views about the quality parameters of the project
and these have to be considered the risk register gives an indication about the kind of risks that are
inherent in the project and also those which must be considered while planning the activities to ensure
quality the requirements for the project need to be considered for planning quality related activities
because quality is all about meeting the requirements in addition to these enterprise environmental factors and
organization process assets are also listed as inputs because the standards can be either from within the
organization or from government or other external bodies standards from within the organizations
are usually the best practices learned over a period while executing numerous projects an example of government
standards can be standards to control air pollution by the motor vehicles which vehicle manufacturers must adhere
to to accomplish quality planning first analyze the benefits versus the costs of meeting quality requirements next
identify the cost of quality and confirm if that kind of investment in quality is justified
in addition to these two benchmarking helps in analyzing the quality of activities of similar projects executed
in the past this helps in identifying the particular quality of output of the previous project which in turn acts as a
basis for the current project's quality planning design of experiments can also be used
for quality planning this is a statistical way to determine what variables will improve quality the
most for example in case of manufacturing doors it can be determined that increasing the quality of the wood
can have maximum impact on improving the quality of the door in addition the 76 quality tools also known as the seven qc
tools are used to determine the plan to achieve the desired level of quality statistical sampling as a tool becomes
relevant whenever the quality plan cannot be applied to all the artifacts produced
for example if destructive testing is a requirement then it can be carried out only on a sample not on the entire
population statistical sampling helps in arriving at a representative sample that can give
useful information other additional tools such as brainstorming force field analysis etc
may be used to determine the quality management plan for the project conducting regular meetings is another
important tool the quality management plan has to be determined in a collaborative manner by consulting the
team members and other stakeholders quality management plan is a key output of this process
checklist is a list of items to inspect for example many of the office buildings have housekeeping checklists to ensure
that all floors cabins etc are cleaned checklists are created during quality planning and used in quality control
metrics are project specific data that need to be measured to check the status of the project
the simplest project metrics can be cost and schedule metrics are also decided during quality planning and used in
quality control one of the roles of the project manager is to not only manage the project but
also improve processes in the project to decrease the instances of defects which in turn saves time and money such
activities are listed in the process improvement plan which eventually becomes part of project
management plan as a result of the planning activities other project documents may also get
updated for example the quality management plan may result in updates to the cost or resource requirements
there may be questions in the pmp exam based on the plan quality management process so please ensure you have a fair
understanding of the concept before you take the exam in the next screen
let us discuss the second quality management process once the quality planning is over the
next process and project quality management is quality assurance which involves determining whether the
standards are being met and the processes are being followed therefore the input for this process is the work
that has been completed during the quality planning stage they are project documents quality
management plan process improvement plan quality metrics and quality control measurements
let us look at the tools and techniques used in this process quality audit is the process to check whether the project
is complying with the organization policies standards and procedures and determine whether these policies
standards and procedures used are efficient and effective so a good audit not only looks at this compliance but
also for the new lessons learned from the current project that can help make the future projects better
process analysis involves using the lessons learned from doing the initial few work to make the remaining work more
efficient for example if the project involves installing a software package then the
lesson learned from the first few installations can be used to improve the process on remaining installations
apart from these all the quality management and control tools such as the seven basic quality tools will be
relevant to this process the key output of this process is project documents updates to ensure that
if there is any deviation from agreed standards it is corrected also if there are any lessons learned
that can help improve the future projects the organization process assets get updated
this quality assurance may result in improvement suggestions change requests may be generated and the project
management plan may need to be updated understanding characteristics of quality assurance tools and techniques may be
useful while answering the exam so prepare this topic well before you take the exam
in the next screen let us discuss the last process of quality management
the key focus of the quality control activities is on the correctness of the work
quality control helps answer questions like is everything okay with the project does the project plan require changes to
successfully execute the project will the project succeed etcetera let us look at the inputs to this
process the quality metrics measurements are done continuously to see whether the
project quality is improving the project deliverables are inspected against the planned checklists quality control acts
upon the deliverables and work performance data produced in execution it also refers to the project management
plan for understanding deviations from the plan it also considers the approved change requests information from other
project documents and organizational process assets there are seven popular tools and techniques used in doing the
quality control activities they are collectively known as seven basic tools of quality other relevant
tools are statistical sampling inspection or testing and review of the approved changes quality control
activities result in quality control measurements the verified deliverables validated changes information about the
work being performed recommended changes and updates to the organizational process assets project management plan
and other project documents in the next screen let us look into a business scenario to understand this
concept better after reading the problem statement click the solution button to look at a possible answer
six sigma is a highly disciplined process that focuses on developing and delivering near perfect products and
services consistently if large volume of data is plotted over a period of time you would most probably have a
bell-shaped graph such graphs are also called normal distribution graph it's called as normal distribution
because any large volume of data is plotted with the intent to track variations would most probably be in a
bell-shaped curve the line corresponding to the top of the bell curve is the median of the data sample
standard deviation concept is used to measure how far any data is from the mean
standard deviation is also called sigma one standard deviation from the mean covers 68 of the data
six sigma means six standard deviations from the mean this would cover
99.99966 percent of the data we will look at an example of six sigma in the following screen
to understand six sigma let us look at an example a tire manufacturing company produces one hundred thousand tires a
day it is not possible to verify each and every tire manually to ensure it is defect-free instead random sample of
these manufactured tires are taken and checked for defects assuming that the thickness of the tires is a parameter to
measure defect any tire that has a thickness more than or less than 10 millimeters is considered to be
defective now if you measure the actual thickness of all 100 000 tires manufactured daily
and plot them on a graph you get normal distribution graph one standard deviation from the mean covers sixty
eight percent of the data meaning if the thickness of the one hundred thousand tires are plotted sixty
eight thousand of them lie within one standard deviation above or below the mean
now if a company operates at six sigma level they would ensure that all tires that
are up to six standard deviations from the mean are defect-free therefore in such cases you can expect
only three defective tires out of a million tires manufactured let us now check your understanding of the topics
covered in this lesson here is a quick recap of what was covered in this lesson
a project is said to meet quality expectations when all the project requirements agreed in the beginning of
the project are met and the resulting product is usable quality management includes creating and
following policies and procedures that meet the project's defined quality needs quality planning defines the standards
templates policies and procedures quality assurance determines if the project is complying with the policies
and procedures quality control measures specific project results against standards
plan quality management perform quality assurance and control quality are the three project quality management
processes seven basic quality tools are used to plan and achieve the desired levels of
quality at six sigma level there would be only three defects out of a million units
manufactured in this lesson we will focus on project management framework let us begin with
the objectives of this lesson after completing this lesson you will be able to
define project project management program management and portfolio management
recognize the roles of project management office identify the project constraints and
their impact on the project explain the role of a project manager in stakeholder management describe
different organization structure differentiate between a project life cycle and a product life cycle
let's begin this lesson with understanding what a project is in the next screen
a project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product service or result for example developing
a new product service or result constructing a building industrial plant or infrastructure and implementing
improving or enhancing existing business processes and procedures in the next screen we will focus on the
characteristics of a project a project can be distinguished based on its characteristics
the definition describes two characteristics of a project first it is temporary in nature
temporary here does not mean short in duration a project can extend for long duration based on the requirements for
example creating a new indigenous missile defense system for a country however there is always a definite
planned start and end date for a project it cannot go on indefinitely secondly the project is supposed to
produce a unique output the output could be a product service or result
there can be many common activities between two projects but the outcome of each project should be unique in some
way or the other now let us look at what marks the end of a project
a project ends when either the objectives are met or the project is terminated because the objectives will
not or cannot be met the other reason to terminate the project can be that the need for the
output of the project does not exist anymore usually the sponsor of the project takes
a call about the closure of the project it is important to differentiate project work from regular operational work
for example your office receptionist does the same work every day of picking any incoming call and directing the call
to the right person in the office this is an ongoing repetitive work and can be classified as operation
operations unlike projects are neither temporary nor unique creating a new software system to
effectively track your customer complaint can be an example of a project when the software is successfully
developed the project objective is met which marks the end of the project when you start using this software to
track customer complaints you are entering into the operations phase in the next screen let us now look into
project management as defined in the pmbok guide project management is the application of
knowledge skills and tools and techniques applied to project activities to meet the project requirements
project management is achieved by proper application and integration of the 47 processes project application and
integration means these processes should be executed in the right manner as well as in the right order
in the next screen let us discuss how to manage a project program management is defined as the
application of knowledge skills tools and techniques to a program to meet the program requirements and to obtain
benefits and control not available by managing projects individually as defined in pmbok guide a program is a
group of related projects which when managed as a group in a coordinated fashion provides benefits and control
that are not available while managing them individually these benefits could be from decreased risk economies of
scale improved management of dependencies delivery of additional capabilities
optimal utilization of shared resources and so on let us now learn the various features of
program management random projects cannot be grouped together as a program
the projects in a program should be related in some way or the other and there should be some value added in
managing them together a project may not be a part of any program but a program will always have
projects a project can also be executed as a standalone project a program is designed to deliver some
strategic benefits value to the organization these benefits can be tangible or
intangible examples of tangible benefit could be increased profit margins or operational
cost savings examples of intangible benefits could be improved team morale or building up
certain competencies while a project manager focuses relentlessly on the fulfillment of the
project's requirements that is scope cost time quality a program manager needs to focus on ensuring that the
organizational benefits are realized in the next screen let us understand what a portfolio is
portfolio is yet another term used along with project and program a portfolio may have multiple projects
and programs that are managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives note that all projects and programs in a
portfolio may not be necessarily interdependent or directly related a portfolio can be created based on the
business objectives for example an i t service company can have a portfolio named japanese projects
which is formed with an aim to take over the japanese market by giving more attention to these projects
within this portfolio similar projects can be managed as a program and all banking projects from japan can
be managed as a banking program in the next screen let us discuss portfolio management
portfolio management is the centralized management of one or more portfolios this includes identifying prioritizing
authorizing managing and controlling projects programs and other related work to achieve strategic business objectives
therefore whether the company should have japanese projects as portfolio or not is decided by portfolio management
in the next screen let us understand the relationship between portfolios programs and projects
the image on the screen will help you to understand the terms portfolios programs and projects a portfolio is part of an
organization's overall strategy it represents a conscious decision by an organization to invest in the portfolio
the overall objectives of a portfolio are then cascaded down to the lower level components
the components could be sub-portfolios programs or projects these components can further be broken
down into smaller components for ease of management although a project may not contain
operations a program or a portfolio it can include other work this other work may comprise training
and development customer support and services etcetera if the other work has synergy with the
overall objectives and adds to the capability to deliver the higher level benefits
then it can be included in the program or portfolio as well in the next screen we will discuss
project management office project management office or pmo is a specific type of body or department
within an organization pmo performs several roles in the organization and these can broadly be
classified as primary roles and other roles typically the pmo may take up any one or
a combination of the three primary roles it provides the policies methodologies and tools and templates for managing
projects within the organization it provides support and training in organization on how to manage projects
and finally it provides project managers for different ongoing projects in the organization
pmo may also help in managing interdependencies between the projects selecting managing and deploying shared
or dedicated project resources if need be terminating a project and organizing lessons learnt sessions and maintaining
the project management knowledge base for an organization in the next screen we will discuss how to manage the triple
constraints any project can be done successfully if there is no constraint on time or there
is unlimited budget available unfortunately that is not true in real life
a project is performed within some constraint and these constraints are usually competing
therefore if you change one it would affect the other for example if the project duration increases it would lead
to increase in the project cost as well triple constraint is a term that originally referred to the three
competing project constraints within which the projects are performed these constraints are cost time and
scope quality is a primary concern for a project manager
therefore the project manager has to make trade-offs to keep the scope cost time quality plane in balance
to achieve the balance the project manager also needs to manage other aspects of the project for instance the
people stakeholders risks communication and procurements the project manager plays the essential
role of integrating all these different aspects of project management in the pmp examination you can expect
business scenario based questions focusing on the triple constraints in the next screen
let us understand who a stakeholder is a stakeholder can be defined as the one whose interests may positively or
negatively be affected or perceived to be affected by the decision activity or outcome of the project
as per the definition the project team project manager project sponsor pmo office customer etcetera are the
stakeholders of the project a project sponsor is the one who gives a go ahead for a project and provides the
necessary resources to execute the project therefore the head of projects in the
organization who provides a green signal to start a project and allocates required resources to the project is the
project sponsor a project sponsor is usually somebody placed high up in the organizational hierarchy of the
performing organization that is the organization in which the work of the project is being carried out
in the next screen let us look at stakeholder management one of the key responsibilities of a
project manager is to manage stakeholders a project manager has to involve the stakeholders from the
beginning of the project until the end so they are aware of every step a project manager has to take up
specific activities for stakeholder management identifying both internal and external
stakeholders missing out any stakeholder can be disastrous for a project
a stakeholder who has identified towards the end of the project may come up with his own requirement at that stage and
incorporating them can be risky determining stakeholder requirements after identifying all the stakeholders
the project manager also needs to ensure that their requirements are clearly identified
sometimes stakeholders might themselves not know of their requirement and it is the job of the project manager to get
them right by doing a proper stakeholder requirement analysis determining stakeholder expectations
stakeholders might also have some unstated expectations which need to be clarified to see if it
can become a project requirement it is again the role of the project manager to determine the stakeholders
expectation communicating with stakeholders once all the stated and unstated
stakeholder requirements are known the project manager as part of stakeholder analysis should focus on communicating
them regularly to keep stakeholders involved in the project once you understand the practices of stakeholder
management it will be easier for you to answer scenario based questions in the examination
in the next screen let us look at the various organization structure projects are performed in an
organization and the functioning of the organization might affect the project the different organization structure
types explained here are based on the level of authority that a project manager gets into in those organizations
in a functional type of organization the organization is grouped by the area of specialization within different
functional areas for instance marketing accounting engineering etc are departments within
the organization each employee typically reports to a functional manager
in such types of organization normally projects are undertaken within the department itself
if a project requires any assistance from another department the request moves from the head of the requesting
department to the head of the concerned department the team members do their normal departmental work in addition to
the project work the next type of organization is projectized organization in such
organizations there are no departments the organization's resources mostly work on projects team members report to a
project manager the project manager has complete control over the resources when the project is
completed either they move on to another project or they look for some job outside the company
they do not have a department for themselves the third type of organization is a
matrix organization which is a blend of functional and projectized organizational structure
a team member belongs to a department as well as they are part of a project team in such organization team members have
two bosses one their department head and the second their project manager since there are two bosses here this
type of organization is further classified into three different types they are weak strong and balanced matrix
organization so out of the two bosses that team members have in matrix organization if
the project manager has more authority over the team member such organizations are called strong matrix
where the functional manager has more authority it's a weak matrix organization
if they both share equal authority then it is a balanced organization there is another term that you might
find in the exam called tight matrix this generally refers to a co-located team that is a team that has been placed
in the same location to enhance their performance in the pmp exam if there is no mention
of the organization type you can assume it to be a matrix organization let us look at each of these
organization structures in detail in the next screen let us look at functional organization
in a functional organization the resources of the organization are grouped by functions sometimes called
departments examples of functions could be sales finance administration manufacturing etc
each function plays a definite role in the organization and is headed by a functional head or supervisor
all the resources in such an organization report directly into their functions
therefore a salesperson would report into the sales organizational hierarchy a purchase executive would report into
procurement and so on you would notice that in a functional organization
the project manager's role is not explicitly called out when a functional organization embarks
on a project each of the functions that are involved may volunteer some resources to work on the project
one of these resources may end up playing the project manager's role the resource assignments may not even be
full time and sometimes even the project manager is part-time since the project manager has no
authority over any of the resources they are dependent on the functional heads this makes it more challenging for the
project manager to coordinate in the team however functional organizations provide
an opportunity for specialization for example if a purchase executive was reporting into the purchase department
that executive would have exposure to all the purchasing that happens within the organization and has a well-defined
career path in functional organizations project management happens at the functional
head level next let us look at the projectized organization in the next
screen the projectized organization has all the resources aligned around projects
the project managers have complete control over the resources working on their projects
the biggest advantage of the projectized organization is that the resources have loyalty to their projects and project
execution becomes easier this kind of structure is suitable for organizations whose work is in the
nature of projects there are few disadvantages in this structure as well
firstly the role of the resource is over once the project is completed secondly highly specialized roles within a
project may not be fully occupied all the time for example a purchase executive may have worked for selected
periods on a project while purchase activities are going on however for the rest of the period their
capability may not be optimally utilized there is less scope for functional specialization as the project boundaries
limit the kind of work for the resources each project manager is in charge of a project and its resources
next let us look at the matrix organization in a matrix organization the resources
report to the functional managers and are managed by the project managers as well
there might even be a function that represents all the project managers in the organization which provides project
management expertise the matrix structure has three variants commonly referred to as weak balanced
and strong in a weak matrix the authority of the project manager is the weakest and
strongest in a strong matrix structure the titles given to project managers and functional or weak matrix organizations
are project expediter or project coordinator they would be called project managers in
a balanced or strong matrix structure and have slightly more authority over the time of the team members
the advantage of the matrix structure is that resources can be optimally utilized while preserving the capacity of the
project managers to get projects executed efficiently resources can specialize in their
functions and have stability in their careers also contribute to the projects at the same time potentially
the disadvantage of matrix organization is that the communication overhead increases significantly
this is because every resource in the organization belongs into a project and into a function
leading to a dual reporting structure in a matrix organization project management happens at project resource
level in the next screen let us summarize the advantages and disadvantages of
different organizational structures each organization structure has its own set of advantages and disadvantages
the advantage of functional organizations is that resources may find clearly defined career paths and achieve
specialization and skill development in their respective fields it will be a flexible workforce since
only one manager will be responsible avoiding confusion the disadvantage of such organization type is that project
work is hampered department work is always given higher priority than the project work
in addition there is no career path in project management which leads to lower interest in projects
in the case of the projectized organization one of the clear advantages is better
communication within the projects since project work is the only work team members are doing it also leads to
loyalty towards the project goals the disadvantage of such organization type is the inefficient use of resources
because every project team has their own support function therefore this might lead to the
duplication of effort it also leads to the resources being left with no work since their roles are
over once the project is completed it also hampers skill development because the project requirements dictate
what kind of work team members perform at different stages on a project now let us look at the matrix
organization it also has the advantage of better coordination and maximum utilization of
resources however the disadvantage is the higher potential for conflict among the
managers which might lead to communication complexity and overhead management
in the next screen let us focus on the comparison on project lifecycle and product lifecycle
project lifecycle spans the initiation of a project until the closure of the project the product life cycle on the
other hand also encompasses the operational and maintenance phases a typical product life cycle starts with
conception of the product and goes until its withdrawal from the market the withdrawal might be because it
becomes obsolete or there is no further need for the product in the market a product has a long life cycle
a product can require or spawn many projects over its life for example a project in product
conception phase could be to determine customer needs whereas a project during product maturity phase could be used to
perform competitive analysis typically a product life cycle is longer than the project life cycle
a project also has its own life cycle and this life cycle depends upon the industry and the organization within
which the project is being executed sometimes different organizations within the same industry use different life
cycles there can be questions in the exam based on the comparison of project life cycle
and product life cycle so understanding the differences will be useful in answering such questions
in the next screen let us discuss more on project life cycle a life cycle is composed of phases each
phase represents a discrete unit of work required to be done on the project there are different ways of classifying
project life cycles let us first discuss the sequential versus overlapping life cycle
in sequential phases the subsequent phase starts only after the previous phase has been completed whereas in
overlapping phases two or more phases may run in parallel for some time this could help fast tracking and
compressing the amount of time required the other way of classifying life cycles is how they go about the process of
planning in predictive life cycles there is a large upfront planning phase where all
the details of scope cost time are planned before beginning the subsequent phases
these phases then are executed in either sequential or overlapping modes they are suitable for large projects
where all the requirements are likely to be known in advance and where upfront planning effort is required to get the
necessary approvals another feature of predictive life cycles is that each phase may
potentially be different in the nature of activities and may require people with different skill sets for example
traditional software development life cycle has phases like requirements feasibility planning design construction
testing and transition we will continue project life cycles in the next screen
incremental and iterative life cycles have a short upfront high level definition and planning phase
the product is then developed through a series of iterations where iteration increments or adds to
the functionality by a little all the activities are intentionally repeated in iterations
adaptive or agile life cycles are variants of incremental and iterative life cycles where iteration is very
short typically two to four weeks agile methodologies are becoming very popular in the software development
industry and in other industries where the requirements are highly changeable and frequent feedback is beneficial
let us now check your understanding of the topics covered in this lesson here is a quick recap of what was
covered in this lesson project management is the application of knowledge skills and tools and
techniques applied to project activities to meet the project requirements pmo provides the policies methodologies
and tools and templates for managing projects within the organization project manager has to integrate various
project aspects like the people stakeholders risks communication and procurements with the project
constraints time scope cost and quality identifying internal and external stakeholders determining their
requirements and communicating with them regularly is an important role of a project manager
functional projectized and matrix are the three types of organization structures based on the level of
authority given to the project manager project lifecycle spans the initiation of a project until the closure while
product life cycle also encompasses the operational and maintenance phases if getting your learning started is half
the battle what if you could do that for free visit skill up by simply learn click on the link in the description to
know more in this lesson we will focus on project communications management let us begin
with the objectives of this lesson after completing this lesson you will be able to define communication and project
communications management identify the different communication methods technology and channels explain the
elements of a basic communication model describe the project communications management processes in the next screen
let us take a quick look at the project management process map there are 47 processes and project
management grouped into 10 knowledge areas and mapped into five process groups in this lesson we will look at
the seventh knowledge area that is project communications management and its processes in the next screen let us
understand communication communication can be best defined as a
two-way process of exchanging information between two entities as you can see on the screen if project is an
entity the project needs to communicate with other entities in the organization like project managers senior management
of the organization and any other stakeholder of the project similarly these entities may also have to
communicate with the projects the communication between project and the stakeholders is always two-sided project
manager is responsible for ensuring proper communication to and from the project in fact a project manager spends
almost 90 percent of his or her time on communication you can now understand how important it is for a project manager to
plan this activity well in the next screen let us discuss communication methods
communication can be done in two ways it can be done written or verbal both written as well as verbal communication
can either be formal or informal formal means communicating by following some basic rules whereas informal means
taking a casual approach these two combinations result in four different communication methods they are
formal written formal verbal informal written and informal verbal formal written method is used for project
management plans project charter and over long distance communication formal verbal method is used during
presentations whereas informal written method is applicable while writing notes or emails informal verbal on the other
hand is applied during conversations you can expect questions in the pmp exam which require choosing a communication
method for a given situation so a fair understanding of the communication methods can help you score higher in the
next screen let us look at the various communication technologies communication technology refers to the
different media used for communicating a few such technologies are listed on screen
among which email fax and telephone are a few popular communication technologies in the next screen
let us understand the communication channel with the help of an example communication takes place between four
people in a team the lines across the members represent there can be six unique channels of
communication existing within the team now if the team comprises ten members how many unique channels of
communication will be calculated you can use the formula n multiplied with n minus one and the
resulting sum divided by two n is the total number of people involved in communication in this case n equals to
10. if this is put into the formula you will get 45 as the result therefore 45 unique communication
channels exist in a team of ten people it is difficult to manage such a large number of communication channels
therefore it is important to structure communication otherwise everyone starts communicating everything to everyone
and it can become a real chaos in the project in the pmp exam you may be asked to calculate the number of communication
channels in a scenario based question so please make a note of the formula to answer the question correctly
in the next screen let us discuss the basic communication model project communications management
includes the processes required to ensure that information about timely and appropriate generation collection
distribution storage and ultimate disposition of project is prepared and circulated to all project stakeholders
it is the responsibility of a project manager to ensure that the information requested by the stakeholder is
communicated to them the frequency at which the information needs to be shared may also vary from
stakeholder to stakeholder for example think about a simple process of sharing a project status report with the
customer and senior management this knowledge area explains how it should be done as per pmi
in the next screen let us discuss the project communications management processes
there are three project communications management processes process is carried during different
process groups plan communication management is done during planning process group
managed communications is done during executing process group and control communications is done during monitoring
and controlling process group in the next few screens we will cover each of these processes in detail
plan communications management is the process of developing an appropriate approach and plan for project
communications based on stakeholders information needs and requirements and available organizational assets
this belongs to the planning process group stakeholder register is an important
input to this process it is a list of all the stakeholders the project management plan has information
about a large number of the project's requirements and the stakeholders who need to receive communication of various
kinds are therefore a critical input to this process in addition to these two
organization process assets and enterprise environmental factors are also inputs to this process
many organizations have standard templates to prepare communication management plan which are part of the
organizational process assets and enterprise environmental factors the first technique used in this process is
the communication requirements analysis where the communication requirements of each of the stakeholders are analyzed
and categorized in this you try to find how many of the stakeholders need similar kind of information which can be
grouped together if you send information through an email system all those stakeholders who need similar
information can be marked in cc in the email next you can decide on the communication technology these days
email is the most widely used technology but in few cases you might have to send information using some other technology
like fax or registered post for example all government communications are done using registered post to keep a written
record finally you need to understand how communication really happens
that is the communication models and the various communication methods used you may need to conduct meetings before
agreeing on and finalizing the communications management plan the communications management plan is the
primary output of this process which lays down the procedures around communications in the organization
communication management plan has information like which stakeholder needs what kind of information at what
frequency and how as a result of this process some other project documents may also
get updated there may be questions in the pmp exam based on the planned communications
management process so a fair understanding of the process will help you answer such questions correctly in
the next screen let us look into a business scenario to understand this concept better after reading the problem
statement click the solution button to look at a possible answer manage communications is the process of
creating collecting distributing storing retrieving and the ultimate disposition of project information in accordance to
the communications management plan it belongs to the executing process group managed communications is done
throughout the project life cycle everything cannot be planned during communication planning so manage
communications takes care of responding to unexpected requests for information as well communications management plan
is an important input work performance reports have information regarding project performance and status
information organizational process assets are the standard templates created for the status report by
organizations in some organizations there are guidelines for communication distribution enterprise environmental
factors are the other inputs to this process various tools and techniques are used in this process communications
technology represents the means of technology that is email instant messaging telephone conferencing
etcetera that are used to exchange information the use of communication models helps you determine the technique
that is best suited for a particular situation communication methods are the various
methods used to communicate for example whether it is interactive or offline whether information is being pushed by
the provider or pulled by the recipient etc information management systems help design a framework for managing the
information within a project that is how it is acquired where it is stored and how it is distributed and
destroyed in performance reporting all the information is synthesized in the form of performance reports that are
later distributed to the appropriate stakeholders and forms an important part of the communications strategy on a
project the first and primary output of this process is the communications messages that are generated during the
project the other outputs include project management plan updates project document updates and organizational
process assets updates in the next screen let us discuss control communications process
control communications is the process of monitoring and controlling communications throughout the entire
project life cycle to ensure the information needs of the project stakeholders are met
it is part of the monitoring and controlling process group the inputs to this process are the project
communications project management plan and issue log which has a list of issues that are raised by different project
stakeholders data related to the work being performed on the project and various other project documents which
may have to be communicated other inputs include work performance data and organizational process assets let us
look at the tools and techniques in detail the information management systems provide tools to collect
consolidate and present the information in the form of cogent concise communications expertise must be sought
from different stakeholders on how you should go about this process several meetings may be needed to ensure
the efficiency and efficacy of the communications the major outputs of this process is the work performance
information which indicates that the work performance data has been analyzed interpreted and presented in an easily
comprehensible form this process may also give rise to change requests updates to the project management plan
project documents and organizational process assets in the next screen let us look into a business scenario to
understand this concept better after reading the problem statement click the solution button to look at a possible
answer here is a quick recap of what was covered in this lesson
communication is a two-way process of transferring information from one entity to another the four commonly used
communication methods are formal written formal verbal informal written and informal verbal the total number of
unique channel of communication can be calculated using the formula n multiplied with n minus 1 and the
resulting sum divided by two by analyzing the communication model problems in project communication can be
identified project manager is responsible for timely availability of information to
all stakeholders the three project communications management processes are
plan communication management management communications and control communications
in this lesson we will focus on project human resource management there are 47 processes in project
management grouped into 10 knowledge areas and mapped to five process groups in this lesson we will look at the sixth
knowledge area that is project human resource management and its processes in the next screen let us understand
project human resource management project human resource management includes the processes that organize
manage and lead the project team one of the key elements of human resource management is that each of the
project team members should have clear assignment of their roles and responsibilities
in addition even the team working on project management tasks should be a part of the project team and they are
responsible for project management functions like initiating planning executing monitoring and controlling and
closing along with other leadership activities in the next screen let us understand the difference between
functional and project manager an organization may have both functional managers and project managers the
difference functional manager is the one who handles a business function or
department for instance the hr manager is responsible for the hr department in an organization
therefore an hr manager will be a functional manager generally a functional manager is also a
subject matter expert the roles and responsibilities of the functional manager depend upon the core
business of the organization and overall organization structure functional managers normally own the resources and
provide the projects with necessary resources they also negotiate with the project manager regarding resources the
project manager on the other hand is responsible and accountable for the success or failure of a project and the
quality of the project they are not technical experts the project manager may not have authority
over the resources depending upon the organizational structure they often have to negotiate with the
functional manager for the resources and are responsible for the product quality a project manager will credit the team
with the success of the project and accept the blame for the failure now let us look at an example to
understand the roles played by functional and project managers the ceo of an organization initiates a
new project to secure an iso 9001 2008 certification for the company now this project would require team
members from each of the company departments and whoever is the project manager of
this project will have to request the functional manager to assign one of their team members to the project
resources assigned to the project go back to their respective departments once the project is completed
let us now discuss the project human resource management processes in the next screen
there are four project human resource management processes the first process plan human resource
management is done as part of the planning process group the next three processes are part of the
executing process group these processes are acquire project team develop project team and manage project team let us now
look into each of these processes in detail in the next screen let us begin with plan human resource management
plan human resource management is the process of identifying and documenting project roles
responsibilities required skills reporting relationships and creating a
staffing management plan this process is part of the planning process group in addition to that finalizing the project
hierarchy of who reports to whom and designing the staffing management plan is also part of this process
the first input to this process is the project management plan there could be a lot of information in the project
management plan and subsidiary plans that may be relevant to the creation of the human resource management plan for
example the project life cycle processes the timelines how the work will be accomplished etc the other key input for
this process is the activity resource requirement team members can be identified based on these requirements
in addition to this enterprise environmental factors like current employment outlook etc are also
important for example if the economy is booming and there are ample job opportunities for the team members the
reward and recognition system can keep the project team interested in the project
organizational process asset is also an input to this process an example of the organization process
assets can be template or a form to request for a new resource let us now look at the tools and
techniques used to develop human resource plan the roles and responsibilities are
captured in the form of organization charts and position descriptions there are various ways to draw this
chart it can be either hierarchical chart which shows the reporting function or it can be text based
the other technique used for developing the human resource plan is networking this involves formal or informal
interactions within the organization and outside by the project manager to identify the best team for the project
depending upon various interpersonal factors organizational theory helps to
understand how individuals come together and function as an organization expert judgment and meetings are
required to put the human resource plan together the output of this process is human
resource management plan this plan contains documents like staffing management plan
project organization chart and roles and responsibilities matrix the staffing management plan is a
comprehensive document that describes when and how team members would be added to and released from the project
another component of the staffing management plan is the recognition and reward system
recognition and reward system helps project managers motivate their team the staffing management plan is relevant
to the projects of a functional or matrix organization where project team members are always caught in a dilemma
about prioritizing project work against regular departmental work in the next screen let us discuss
organization charts and role descriptions a project manager needs to make sure
that there is an organization chart prepared specifically for the project it should clearly identify the roles and
the reporting relationships between them a sample organization chart is shown on the slide
another way of clearly delineating responsibilities among team members is by using a responsibility assignment
matrix one form of responsibility assignment matrix is the raci chart in the raci chart r stands for responsible
a for accountable c for concerned or consulted and i for informed for each important activity or deliverable on the
project it needs to be clearly identified who is responsible or contributes to it who is ultimately
accountable who is merely concerned about the success and who needs to be informed or kept in the loop an example
of the raci chart is shown on the screen in this case project manager john is accountable for the project plan and the
other team members chris sally and ting are responsible for completing the plan similarly you can note the roles of each
resource in the other activities in the next screen let us understand resource histogram
resource histogram is a method of depicting how many resources are required for the life of a project if
you observe the chart shown on the screen it indicates that the number of staff hours required on the project
increases to a peak in 2014 and then slowly tapers off especially for long running projects the level of staffing
needed may vary considerably over a period this has implications for other parts of the plan as well for example
the cost will vary as the number of resources change this piece of information helps a
project manager to understand at what time they need to onboard and off board resources on a project in the next
screen let us look into the second human resource management process that is acquire project team
acquire project team is the process of confirming human resource availability and obtaining the team necessary to
complete project activities this process belongs to the executing process group
acquiring resources may not be required in the planning phase therefore it is done in execution phase though you may
plan to acquire few in the planning phase major acquisition is done in execution phase
this may be true where large projects are run spanning over many years with several detailed activities
the key input is the human resource management plan enterprise environmental factors help
understand which team members will be available to work on the project how much they will cost etc
organizational process assets will help understand the hiring procedure of the company the policies that govern the use
of team members on the project etc the key technique for acquiring the project team is negotiation as a project manager
you have to negotiate with the company's senior management resource manager or with prospective candidates to secure
the most suitable resources on the project sometimes the resources may be pre-assigned to a project
this typically happens when they are the key resources without which the project cannot take off sometimes the project
team is acquired by getting required resources through external vendors most of the bigger organizations have
approved a list of vendors who provide resources on a contractual basis nowadays the concept of virtual team is
also quite popular to get a project team so even though the project is being conceived in one country a big part of
the team can be in another country for example if the project is conceived in the usa
majority of the team can be in germany and both the teams can coordinate over the phone email chat etc
multi-criteria decision analysis is also an important tool to achieve the objectives while acquiring the human
resources for the project it is important to consider a number of factors such as availability cost skill
set experience attitude relocation needs etc these criteria have to be considered in totality and balanced out against the
project's requirements the output of this process is project staff assignments resource calendars and
updates on project management plan let us now discuss the next process develop project team
once the project team is acquired the next step is developing the project team develop project team is the process of
improving competencies team member interaction and overall team environment to enhance project
performance this process belongs to the executing process group
the inputs to this process include project staff assignments resource calendars and human resource management
plan one of the techniques used in developing project team is interpersonal skills
it is more of an art than a science and this is where individual characteristics of project managers matter a lot if the
project manager genuinely commands trust and respects the team members developing the team becomes easy team members look
up to the project manager not only for getting project specific instructions but also for their career advancement as
well social activities like celebrating a team member's birthday going for parties outside the office etc helps in
team building training is also an important tool for developing the project team as it helps in increasing
the knowledge of competencies of the team members sometimes co-locating the team members at a single place also
helps in developing team bonding this is especially important if team members work from different geographical
locations knowing a person face to face does help in reducing conflict project managers
can also encourage the team members by providing recognition and rewards personnel assessment tools give the
project manager insights into the strengths and opportunities for improvement in the team members these
tools also help in understanding members aspirations so that the project manager can better align the project goals with
the individual aspirations finally the project manager should also set some ground rules in the project to ensure
that team performs their work without any problems some such rules can be everyone should reach office for daily
meeting by 9 30 a.m sharp if there is more than a 10 percent delay in completing any activity assigned it
should immediately be escalated to project manager if there are any unforeseen circumstances it should be
immediately brought to the notice of the project manager etc the output of this process is team performance assessments
this is done by the project manager to evaluate and enhance the effectiveness of the team as a whole this is a
document which explains team effectiveness as information about the team evolves
the enterprise environmental factors may also be updated questions that test a project manager's role in developing a
project team can be expected in the pmp exam so ensure that you have a fair understanding of the role before you
take the exam in the next screen let us discuss the manage project team process managing the project team is different
from developing the project team though it is also done during the execution process group it relates to measuring
team members performance providing feedback resolving issues and managing changes to optimize project performance
to measure team members performance the manager should know the work assigned to them as well as their performance on the
assigned work hence project staff assignments and team performance assessments are listed as input to this
process the human resource management plan serves as a guideline for managing project teams some organizations have
templates and procedures to do such assessment and that being the reason why organization process asset is also one
of the inputs to this process the work performance reports as well as issue logs will be inputs because the team
management activities have to be performed in this context observation and conversation is a
technique where the project manager monitors and discusses the tasks done by the team this does not imply formal
project status reports but having an informal interaction with the team before documenting the project status
report knowing about the issue early helps in resolving them early formal performance appraisals are helpful in
evaluating the team members performance on the project the project manager creates these with the help of the team
supervisors it is an established practice in most organizations to evaluate team members for their work
this may have a bearing on their future assignments salary promotions etc since the power of appraising lies within the
project manager the project manager can use this as an effective tool for managing the team
since multiple resources work on a single project it is quite natural to expect conflicts
it is the responsibility of project manager to resolve conflicts conflict management has been discussed
in detail later in the lesson you can expect questions on conflict management in the exam
the other tool is interpersonal skills the output of managing a project team includes corrective action
recommendations like which team members to be changed implementing some reward system to motivate the team etc updating
the project management plans documents organization process asset and enterprise environmental factors are the
other outputs of this process there can be questions in the pmp exam that test a project manager's skill in managing a
project team so ensure that you are aware of the inputs tools and techniques and outputs
of managing a project team let us discuss team dynamics in the next screen any team naturally goes through
several stages as it gets together these stages are forming storming norming performing and adjourning in forming
stage a team formally comes together for the first time in storming stage disagreements start to surface this is
followed by norming when the teams start working together and trusting each other in performing stage they are able to
deliver results as a team finally the team is adjourned when the work of the project is completed or the project is
terminated in the next screen let us discuss conflict management
many organizations look for people with diverse background to get different perspectives about work
if people with diverse backgrounds and culture work on a project it is quite natural to expect conflict conflict
often results in opportunities for improvement the root causes of conflict can be scarce resources scheduling
priorities and personal work styles while the popular belief is that personality or ego can be the key reason
for conflict it is the least possible reason for conflict as a project manager if you find
yourself in between a conflict with a team member sit across the table and resolve it if not they should get their
immediate managers involved and try to resolve it to avoid conflicts a project manager should let everyone involved
have complete clarity about the project assign the roles and responsibilities to each of the team members clearly ensure
that there are no overlapping responsibilities which could be a possible cause for conflict sometimes
boredom at work can also lead to conflict so one of the responsibilities of project manager is to keep motivating
the team members and let them work on interesting and challenging assignments business scenarios based questions on
conflict management can be expected in the pmp exam so it is essential to have a fair understanding of the topic
in the next screen let us look at conflict resolution techniques there are five techniques of resolving
conflict they are withdraw or avoid smooth or accommodate compromise or reconcile force or direct collaborate or
problem solve in withdrawal or avoid one retreats from a potential conflict situation or defers the resolution to a
later date this does not resolve the conflict but allows for more time in smooth or accommodate areas of agreement
are emphasized to reduce the intensity of the conflict again this does not on its own result in a resolution but it
may succeed in changing the perceptions about the situation in compromise or reconcile there is some give and take in
order to bring some satisfaction to all parties depending on how the process went this may be perceived as a win-win
or a lose-lose situation because none of the parties really get what they want in force or direct a person in a position
of authority directs how the matter should be resolved it may be necessary to do this when the matter has to be
resolved immediately however this may result in upsetting one or more of the conflicting parties
in collaborate or problem solving the parties in the conflict are asked to come together to collaborate and look
for a resolution to the problem this offers the greatest likelihood of a satisfactory and permanent resolution
and should be resorted to whenever possible business scenario based problems where a
resolution technique has to be selected can be expected in the pmp exam so understanding the conflict resolution
techniques is essential in the next screen let us look into a business scenario to understand this
concept better after reading the problem statement click the solution button to look at a possible answer
one of the key responsibilities of a project manager is to get work done by the team there are certain powers that a
project manager can use to get the work done a project manager has to use a
combination of techniques to get this accomplished various powers of a project manager are legitimate or formal reward
penalty expert and referent in legitimate or formal project manager can formally assign a work to a team member
that he or she has to do project manager can reward and recognize the team members the reward could be as simple as
assigning challenging or sought after work to a team member this can motivate good performers on the project sometimes
project manager can penalize the team members for poor performance some project managers are able to command
authority because of their expertise in a certain field project manager can be considered as a reference of higher
authority to get the work done sometimes referent authority also arises from the personal charm or charisma of
the project manager legitimate reward and penalty are the powers derived from the project manager's position in the
company expert power exists when the project manager is an expert on the subject matter reward and expert are
usually the best forms of authority to use penalty is the worst way of influencing and managing the team a
project manager should resort to this only as a last option regardless of the project manager having formal reporting
authority over the team they are naturally looked upon as the leaders for their projects project managers need to
be familiar with the leadership styles and be able to tailor their style according to the needs of the project
and that of the team there are three leadership styles the first one is authoritarian or autocratic in this
style the leader sets clear expectations of the team and expects complete compliance in a participative or
democratic style the leader offers guidance but also involves the team in decision making
in a delegative or laissez-faire style the leader leaves the work to the team without offering much guidance in most
circumstances you would want your leader to employ a participative style but there may be occasions when other styles
might be appropriate in the next screen let us discuss mckenzie's 7s framework a popular framework in management
science is the mackenzie's 7s framework there are seven elements that are divided into two categories
an organization working on a project will have these elements already in place and hence these become the hard
elements the first three elements of the 7s framework are the strategy structure and systems the leader or project
manager is expected to step in and exhibit soft elements to earn the mantle of leadership
the next four elements are shared values skills style and staff there are 47 processes in project
management grouped into 10 knowledge areas and mapped to five process groups in this lesson we will look at the
eighth knowledge area that is project risk management and its processes risk is an uncertain event or condition that
can affect a project positively or negatively although most of the time you view this uncertainty as bad sometimes
it also has a likely positive outcome let us look at an example of risk having a positive outcome you are using a
software for managing timesheet of your team members due to budget constraints you are forced to use a new software
though you were initially reluctant to use it you found the new software to do better than the current one it is more
efficient and has better reporting facility an example of bad uncertainty can be swine flu government declares
mandatory holiday to check flu spread which may affect your project work risks can be managed only if they are
measured quantitatively suppose there are many risks identified in a project and you have limited resources to manage
them you should know which risk is most important that has to be managed first therefore measuring risk becomes very
critical risk is measured by assigning a monetary value to it and that value is arrived at by multiplying the
probability and impact of the risk can be categorized in various ways one such categorization is external internal
technical or project management related risk external risk arises out of external
policies or regulations for example government policy that the river water can be used for drinking purposes may
hinder your production which is dependent on the river water internal risk arises from within the
project for example the complexity of the work may result in time and cost escalation
technical risks arise from the technology being used projects in space exploration have a lot of technical
complexity risks could be related to project management for example if there are many interdependencies between the
sub projects it is a risk from the project management standpoint the categorization of risk can be based
on the origin risks can be classified as scope risk resource risk
schedule risk cost risk and quality risk
scope risk can include redoing the same task if the scope is not well understood when the only resource is assigned to
some other project it is called resource risk a decision tree helps in analyzing risk
and its impact on making decisions in a scenario where there is uncertainty on the outcome suppose you want to buy a
car you can buy either a new car or an old car which one should you buy
which has more risk over a period of five years consider the concept of decision tree to
solve this problem the initial cost of buying a new car is twenty thousand dollars and the cost of buying an old
car is fifteen thousand dollars for a new car the probability of it having any problem fail scenario is only ten
percent that is there is a ninety percent likelihood that it will just work without any problems past scenario
and if it does have any at all the impact of the problem is fifteen thousand dollars the reason is that it
was bought at a higher cost an old car has seventy percent probability of having a problem the
reason being the probability is high because the car was already used by someone else in the past
however the impact here is low say ten thousand dollars if you add probability multiplied by
impact of both the options at the decision nodes you will find buying an old car over a period more risky than
buying a new car the project cost will be arrived at after considering the risk reserves of
both the known risks and unknown risks there is a specific order in which these reserves are calculated in the project
cost first the cost of all activities is identified
activities are the smallest unique project tasks all the activity costs add up to the cost of the work packages work
packages are the last level of classification in a work breakdown structure work packages cost adds up to
the control account cost one or more work packages are clubbed together to create a control account and manage the
cost of the work packages next the project costs are identified there can be multiple control accounts
in a project now once the project cost is calculated some reserve is added to take care of
any uncertainties you may have made some assumptions to calculate the cost of the activities and by adding some reserve
you would want to take care of those uncertainties in this case make a note that you are accounting for the
assumptions made and it can be said that this reserve takes care of known uncertainties this reserve is also
called contingency reserve at this point you have arrived at the cost baseline that is the cost for the
project that will be used for budgeting and tracking purposes once the planned cost is arrived there
is another reserve that gets added called management reserve note that management reserves are not part of the
cost baseline and are used during emergencies only by adding contingency reserve you have taken care of known
uncertainties and by adding management reserve you take care of unknown uncertainties that is those risks that
perhaps have not yet been identified unknown uncertainties are added based on experience or expert judgment
project risk management includes the processes of conducting risk management planning
identification analysis response planning and controlling risk on a project
the key objective of risk management is to increase the probability and or impact of positive events and decrease
the probability and or impact of negative events there are six risk management processes
plan risk management identify risks perform qualitative risk analysis perform quantitative risk analysis and
plan risk responses belong to the project planning group and control risks belong to the monitoring and controlling
process group in this lesson we will focus on project stakeholder management there are 47 processes in project
management grouped into ten knowledge areas and mapped to five process groups in this lesson we will look at the tenth
knowledge area that is project stakeholder management and its processes in the next screen let us understand who
stakeholders are a stakeholder is anybody who has a stake in the project a stakeholder may be an individual a group
or an organization who may affect or be affected by or perceived to be affected by a decision activity or outcome of a
project further the nature of the impact can be positive or negative thus giving rise to the notion of positive or
negative stakeholders irrespective of whether a stakeholder is positive or negative it is important to engage with
the stakeholders and get them involved in the project this can make a critical difference to the success or failure of
the project a single disgruntled stakeholder can bring the entire project to its knees whereas an actively engaged
and influential stakeholder can have the opposite effect let us understand who the common stakeholders of a project are
there are several categorizations of stakeholders the project managers themselves are important stakeholders
the project team members represent stakeholders in the project the senior management of the organization which is
working on the project has a stake in the project the sponsor that is the person or entity that provides the money
and resources for the project and essentially champions the project is an important stakeholder the customer which
may be different from the sponsor is a stakeholder as well for instance and many of the projects in the social
sector the sponsor may be the government or a development agency whereas the customers would be the people who
actually benefit from it the end users which may be different from the customers or the sponsors are
stakeholders too the vendors or suppliers who provide goods or services to the project are
important stakeholders people whose lives may be impacted by the output of the project are also stakeholders
for example if a highway project requires possession of privately owned land people whose land is being taken
away are the stakeholders if the construction of a dam or water reservoir benefits the downstream farming
communities they are the stakeholders here competitors who provide alternative goods or services are stakeholders too
sometimes environmentalists or other social groups may become stakeholders the government or political leadership
may become stakeholders for projects in the public domain it is sufficient to state that there could potentially be
hundreds of stakeholders for a large project it is in the interest of the project manager and the project team to
clearly identify all such stakeholders up front and then actively manage them throughout the project in the next
screen let us discuss the classification models for stakeholder analysis not all the stakeholders have the same
amount of influence or power over the project therefore the way to manage each
stakeholder needs to be calibrated based on a proper classification of the stakeholders
this is the role of the classification model you can come up with a grid that maps the power of the stakeholders the
interest they have the influence they may have or the impact that they can have on the project through the power
interest power influence or influence impact grids it can be represented by mapping stakeholders to a power or
interest grid the diagram on the screen has x-axis which represents interest level and y-axis which represents the
power level based on the various combinations of power levels and interest levels the grid can be divided
into four quadrants the stakeholders on the top right quadrant with high power and high
interest need to be managed closely that is you have to monitor their involvement and engagement very closely
the stakeholders on the bottom right quadrant with high interest but low power need to be kept in the loop that
is you should share information with them and keep them regularly informed the stakeholders on the top left
quadrant with high power but low interest can be managed by keeping them happy for example by making sure that
their interests and opinions are taken into consideration the stakeholders on the left bottom quadrant with low power
and low interest may be managed less actively by simply monitoring how things are going with them the salience model
describes classes of stakeholders based on their power ability to impose their will
urgency need for immediate attention and legitimacy appropriateness of their involvement level this is a useful
framework to guide the stakeholder management strategy on a project practice creating power grids for
business scenarios this will help in understanding the level of engagement a project manager needs to maintain with
various stakeholders in the next screen let us discuss the stakeholder
engagement assessment matrix the stakeholder engagement assessment matrix allows visualizing the current
and desired states of a stakeholder's involvement in the project the five levels of involvement are as unaware
resistant neutral supportive and leading unaware is where the stakeholder is not aware of the project or its impact
resistant is where the stakeholder is aware of the impacts and is resistant to change
neutral is where the stakeholder is aware of the project and is neither supportive nor in opposition to the
project supportive is where the stakeholder is aware of the project and its impact and is supportive of the
change leading is where the stakeholder is aware of the project and impacts and is actively engaged to ensure that the
project is successful let us now look at the matrix the table has one row per stakeholder identified
you place c in the column which best indicates the current level of engagement for that stakeholder then you
place d in the column which best indicates the desired state of engagement this table can be a quick
visualization tool that helps understand where work has to be done in the stakeholder management activities in the
next screen let us discuss the skills required for stakeholder management stakeholder management is both an art
and a science since it involves dealing with people and people are inherently non-linear and
unpredictable there is no one size that fits all strategies or tools that will work while managing them
however a project manager may use a few traits and techniques while managing stakeholders which are classified as
interpersonal skills and managerial skills a project manager must possess good
interpersonal skills that is must invest the time and energy to build trust this involves multiple things such as
establishing a personal rapport following through on commitments being punctual etc once the trust is
established it helps in smoothing many difficult bends conflict management is an important skill for a project manager
while communicating with stakeholders the project manager must practice active listening
they must not assume that they have all the answers instead they should spend some time to
understand the issues and the stakeholders points of view this alone can go a long way in smoothing ruffled
feathers and building constructive relationships resistance to change is natural a project manager must know how
to convert that into a positive energy in its favor managerial skills that may help in accomplishing the project
objectives a project manager must be able to build consensus among the group while absolute uniformity may not always
be possible or desirable the project manager must use techniques to ensure widespread discussions and arrive at a
path that the group can buy into the project manager must be able to influence people often without
necessarily being in the position of authority the project manager must be skillful to
negotiate agreements the project manager must be able to understand and modify organizational behavior in order to move
the project in a certain direction network diagram is extensively used in the project time management knowledge
area to plot the activity dependencies this is a graphical representation of the project activities in the form of a
network there are two ways to draw a network diagram
in precedence diagramming model pdm or activity on node aon boxes represent activities and the
arrows indicate the dependency this type of network can have all four types of relationships between the
activities in arrow diagramming model adm or activity on arrow aoa
the arrows represent activities the relationships and sequences can be inferred from the direction of the
arrows and linkages between the activities in such types of network only finish to
start relationships can be shown such diagrams may need to make use of dummy activities to indicate some
dependency between the activities there may be questions in the pmp exam based on the network diagram
so create and work with the diagram this will make answering network diagram based questions easy and fun
in the next screen let us look at a network diagram a sample network diagram is shown on the
screen activities a and c can happen in parallel
b and d require both a and c to complete whereas e requires both b and d to complete activity on aero network
diagram makes use of hammock activities they are used to show a comprehensive summary activity combining several other
activities underneath for control and reporting purposes in this lesson we will focus on project
scope management there are 47 processes in project management grouped into 10 knowledge
areas and mapped to five process groups in this lesson we will look at the second knowledge area that is project
scope management and its processes let us begin with the first topic of this lesson that is project scope
management project scope management includes the processes required to ensure that a
project comprises all and only the work required to complete the project successfully
the project scope management is concerned about the scope what is not there in the scope is also clearly
identified in the next screen let us look at the key activities performed under project
scope management let us look at a few of the typical activities that happen as part of the
project scope management constant monitoring is essential to make sure that all the project work is being
completed the gradual uncontrolled increase in scope of the project is referred as
scope creep it is necessary to define the project scope boundaries and not let people
randomly add to the project scope gold plating is doing more than what is required as part of the project scope
this has to be avoided in projects as per the published statistics about projects done globally less than forty
percent of projects can be considered successful therefore the focus should be on what is
required rather than squandering around with what is not required forty percent might be considered less
but a project is classified as successful only if it meets all its objectives and is done within time and
cost budgets in the next screen let us understand the differences between product scope and
project scope project scope management deals with managing both the product scope as well
as the project scope product scope refers to the features and functions that characterize a product
service or result the word product may also include creation of a service for example in the
banking industry each of their services is called a product likewise a savings account is one of
their products mutual fund is another on the other hand project scope is the work that needs to be accomplished to deliver
the output of the project which could be a product service or result with the specific features and functions
for instance to deliver a product you may also need to produce a requirements document or a design document
these are not part of the product scope but it may very well be part of the project scope
in the next screen let us discuss a few key terms used in the project scope management
wbs stands for work breakdown structure it means breaking the project deliverables into smaller and more
manageable components called work packages the last level of work in such
subdivision is called work packages and the whole structure is called wbs for example a typical software
development project would have various activities like finalizing requirements designing the new system coding testing
and going live with the new system each of these translates into high level deliverables which can be further
subdivided into smaller activities which are more predictable wbs dictionary like any dictionary
contains the explanation of the terms used in wbs a typical wbs dictionary has details
like the control account name of the work package description of the work package resource assigned if there are
any assumptions or dependencies to complete the work package the due date to finish the work package technical
dependencies and so on wbs dictionary is useful for the person or group working on the work packages as
it further elaborates the decomposed work package control account is a level within wbs at
which management wishes to exercise control for example perform earned value analysis track performance etc in this
lesson we will focus on project integration management there are 47 processes in project
management grouped into 10 knowledge areas and mapped to five process groups in this lesson we will look at the first
knowledge area that is project integration management and its processes in the next screen let us understand the
concept of project integration management project integration management involves
unification consolidation articulation and integrative actions that are crucial for successfully completing the project
the project integration management is high level work that project manager does and it involves managing
interdependencies among the other knowledge areas the other nine knowledge areas involve detailed work in a
specific direction for example project cost management deals only with how to manage cost in a project
the project management processes do not happen independently for example a new resource added to the project may
require changes in cost or schedule or both in dealing with such situations the
project manager integrates the processes of project management the need for integration drives much of the
communication and the work of the project manager let us discuss the key role of project
manager sponsor and team in the next screen project manager team members and project
sponsors have different roles to play in a project the project manager is supposed to play
multiple roles in the project the key role is to perform integration the project manager puts all the pieces
of the project together into a cohesive whole in doing so the project manager tries to
ensure that the project is done faster cheaper and utilizes resources optimally while meeting the project objectives
as the project progresses the team members work on completing the project activities
the role of the project sponsor is to protect project from any unnecessary changes and to ensure that it has the
required resources for completion the project sponsor is the champion for the project within the performing
organization that is the organization in which the work is being performed in the next screen we will cover the
project selection methods an organization can undertake a project under contract with an external
organization or take up a project driven by internal business needs there should be a formal process of
selecting project in all organizations to ensure that it is making the best possible use of limited corporate
resources for example if the organization has an option to
take up any one out of the two projects both of which use the same corporate resources the organization would
naturally select the one which is more profitable there are two broad ways to select a
project one way is the benefit measurement method where one project is compared
with other competing projects another approach is based on mathematical models wherein you examine
the most optimal selection of projects by trying to optimize a goal for example maximize operating profits
such methods may be called constrained optimization methods there are different methods under both
these categories and you should be familiar with the names of these methods broadly the benefit measurement methods
focus on ascertaining the costs and benefits of undertaking the project the methods under benefit measurement
method include murderboard where a panel of experts shoots down a new project idea peer review scoring models economic
models and benefit compared to cost the constrained optimization methods rely on mathematical modeling techniques
to determine the best selection of projects to achieve certain business objectives
the methods of constrained optimization method include linear programming in reality you might not have seen these
methods to be followed in project selection often personal relationship with the
sponsor may be more important than anything else this is quite normal and any
organization worldwide works this way however as a certified project manager it is important for you to be familiar
with more scientific methods of project selection a typical question on the pmp exam could
be what type of project selection technique is peer review
and the right answer is benefit measurement method you need to understand the
characteristics of various project selection methods to answer scenario based questions
in the next screen we will focus on the project selection methods there are five project management
processes which are part of project integration management knowledge area they are the develop project charter
done in the initiation process group develop project management plan undertaken in the planning process group
direct and manage work carried out in the executing process group monitor and control project and perform
integrated change control undertaken in the monitoring and controlling process group and close project or phase done in
the closing process group develop project charter is an initiating process
a project charter is essentially a document that authorizes a project once a project has received a charter it
means that the project manager can start employing the organization's resources for the project activities
let us look at the key inputs to be considered in preparing the project charter
the first input is the project statement of work this is created by project sponsor
or the customer describing their needs project scope and how the project fits into their strategic goal
if the project is taken up under a contract the request for proposal that is rfp can be considered as project
statement of work the next input is the business case this document establishes whether the
investment in a project is worth from a business point of view the business need for the project and
the cost benefit analysis it provides important information to the project manager about the goals of the
project and the boundaries in terms of the desired results cost etc if the project is being undertaken as
part of a contract or agreement the agreement provides an important input for the project manager that establishes
what must be done in the project the next input to be considered for project charter is enterprise
environmental factors any project to be executed within the organization
has to deal with the organization culture and existing systems you can consider this as an organization baggage
that comes with the project this is the reason a project being executed in two different organizations
may be done differently another factor to be considered is organizational process assets
this is a broad term and includes all the organizational processes procedures and policies corporate knowledge base
and historical project information every organization develops a set of processes procedures and policies that
are based on the best practices learned by the organization over time the historical information includes past
project management plans risks lessons learned etc of similar projects executed now let us look at the tools and
techniques used in this process the first technique is expert judgment expert judgment is an invaluable input
to the process of formally authorizing a project because an expert can provide insights into why a project makes
business sense or why it does not from experience they may be able to shed light about the validity of the business
drivers feasibility assumptions and constraints that need to be considered for the project
facilitation techniques is another technique used the chartering process is often a
collaborative activity involving many influential stakeholders in an organization
facilitation techniques help bring all these stakeholders together and engage in fruitful discussions in order to
arrive at an informed decision whether to go ahead with a project or not the only output of this project is the
project charter let us try to understand what the project charter might contain the project charter usually contains the
high level project requirement and it should be created by the project sponsor and handed over to the project manager
the project manager can do the groundwork to prepare the project charter but it must be signed by the
project sponsor or somebody in the performing organization who is higher in authority than the project manager it is
important to point out that a project charter is not a project management plan the detailed risk schedule cost analysis
etc is part of the project management plan and should be done during the project planning phase when there is
more detail on the availability of the project to do so the charter should be sufficiently high
level to accommodate the minor changes that might arise in the project in this lesson we will focus on project
management processes project life cycle addresses the question what to do to get the work done
it varies industry wise for example let us look at a typical project life cycle in a software industry
first you understand what is required and analyze it as part of the requirement analysis phase
then as part of the design phase you figure out the implementation of it and arrive with the approach
next you implement the functionality by writing the code as part of the coding phase
the code is then verified to ensure it works right as part of the testing phase the tested and verified software is then
installed at the customer locations as part of the installation phase after the installation the system then
moves into operations and support phase the project management process addresses the question
what to do to manage the project the processes for managing the projects are likely to be the same across
industries for instance in the develop schedule process one needs to develop the project
schedule irrespective of the industry or domain you are working in the next screen let us understand the
project management process groups the project management processes are divided into five process groups
they are initiating process group planning process group executing process group monitoring and controlling process
group and closing process group the initiating process happens at the
beginning of the project or phase the planning executing ads monitoring and controlling processes go together
therefore you plan execute and re-plan based on the execution result the project closing processes are
performed when the project work or a phase within the project is completed the typical project management process
in the closing phase releases resources back to the resource pool so the team members can be assigned to another
project note the iteration of processes within the phases is dependent on the scale of
the projects small projects may have only one iteration whereas bigger projects may have multiple iterations
before they enter a new phase project management processes are overlapping activities
let us look at the interaction between these activities in the next screen process groups have overlapping
activities that occur throughout the project life cycle the output of one process group is
generally the input to another or a deliverable of the project for example project management plan is
an output of planning process group and an input to execution process group note that production of the plan is not
a one-time activity as the project progresses the project management plan may get updated as a
result of the monitoring and controlling processes the updated project management plan once
again forms an input to the execution process group in the next screen we will discuss the
project management process group knowledge area and project management process mapping
given on the screen is the list of the 47 project management processes 10 knowledge areas and 5 process groups
the table shows how each of them is interrelated you can see that the project integration
management processes can be mapped back to all five process groups while project scope management processes are mapped
back to only planning and monitoring process group study the table to identify processes under project
management and the knowledge area they belong to all the 47 processes are described in
detail in this tutorial each knowledge area is covered in detail as a lesson it also covers how the
processes map to process groups to help you understand the big picture further the inputs and outputs of each
of these processes tools and techniques that are used in these processes and what exactly happens during these
processes are also discussed earned value technique is an excellent way to track the project progress
against the project plan it is a method of measuring the project performance objectively and comparing it
against the project baseline results from an earned value analysis indicate deviation of the project from
cost and schedule baselines baseline is the initial approved value along with approved changes
therefore schedule baseline is the first approved project schedule along with approved changes
there are various terms used in earned value technique planned value is the authorized budget assigned to the
scheduled work earned value is the work performed in terms of budget authorized for that work
actual cost is the cost incurred in work performed budget at completion is the budgeted
amount for the total work estimate at completion is the expected total cost for the project
estimate to complete is the expected cost to finish all the remaining project work
variance at completion is the projected budget surplus or deficit at the end of the project all the parameters displayed
on the screen are measured in terms of cost you may come across business scenario
based questions on earned value management in the pmp exam so ensure that you develop a clear understanding
of this topic let us look at an example of a planned value in the next screen
planned value is the estimated value of the work planned this value is measured in terms of
currency say dollar if the plan value is three hundred forty dollars then the work plan is worth three hundred forty
dollars how do you calculate earned value the solution is add the budget allocated to
each of the activities that have been completed at the point of time the resulting value is the earned value
in the next screen let us look at the formula used to calculate earned value in cost variance negative means the
project is over budget positive means the project is under budget
similarly in schedule variance negative means the project is behind schedule whereas positive means the project is
ahead of schedule the value of the next two parameters cost performance index cpi and schedule
performance index spi values vary between 0 and 1. for example a cpi of 0.8 implies that 80
cents of work is obtained for every dollar spent in the project similarly if spi is 0.9
it implies that project is progressing at only 90 percent of the speed originally planned
the next parameter is estimate at completion or eac there are different ways of calculating
the eac value the method used depends on how the cost and schedule variances are expected to play for the rest of the
project bac by cpi is used if you expect that the current cost performance will
continue until the end of the project ac plus bac minus ev is used if you expect that the rest of the project will
be managed at the budgeted rate ac plus bac minus ev by the product of cpi and sbi
is used if you want to factor in the impact of the cost as well as schedule variances
ac plus etc is used if you want to re-evaluate the project based on a forecast value for the estimated cost of
the remainder of the project the next parameter is estimate to complete or etc
which is the cost of project from this point to the end this is calculated by subtracting the
actual cost from the estimate at completion in addition variance at completion can
be calculated by subtracting the estimate at completion from the budget at completion
variance at completion is the cost estimation whether it is over or under budget
another parameter is the to complete performance index or tcpi this is the cost performance needed to
achieve a desired outcome for example if the project needs to be managed to
the original budget bac then tcpi that is the cpi that must be maintained for the rest of the project
is calculated as bac minus ev by bac minus ac similarly if it has to be managed within
a revised target say eac then tcpi is calculated as bac minus ev by eac minus ac
before the start of the pmp exam please make a note of the formulas of earned value technique
in the next screen let us look into a business scenario to understand this concept better after reading the problem
statement click the solution button to look at a possible answer let us take the example of a software
development project there are four phases and each phase takes a month to complete and is expected to cost ten
thousand dollars the phases are planned to be completed one after the other the status of the
project at the end of the month three is summarized in the table requirements definition is completed and
actual spending on this is ten thousand dollars architecture and design is done and
actual spending on this is twelve thousand dollars development and unit testing is only
fifty percent done though it was supposed to be completed by third month it has cost nine thousand dollars until
date system testing and go live has not yet started
note s indicates start time f indicates finish time and pf indicates that it is partly finished at the end of
the month based on the above information calculate the cv sv cpi and spi of the project
let us look at a solution in the next screen before we end this lesson let us also
look at a few definitions that might be useful for your pmp examination law of diminishing return this means the
more you put into something the less you get out of it for example doubling the number of resources working on a project
will not necessarily have the time working capital the amount of money the company has to invest on the project and
the day-to-day company operations funding limit reconciliation the process of comparing the planned expenditure in
a given period with the available funding for that period large assets purchased by the company
lose value over time this is called depreciation there are two forms of depreciation
straight line and accelerated same amount of depreciation is taken every year for instance a car
with a price tag of ten thousand dollars and useful life of ten years is depreciated one thousand dollars per
year at the end of the tenth year the value of the car is considered zero for all
accounting purposes accelerated depreciation depreciates faster than the straight-line depreciation for instance
a car with a price tag of ten thousand dollars depreciates three thousand dollars the first year one thousand five
hundred the next year one thousand the third year and so on critical path is defined as the longest
duration path through a network diagram which determines the shortest time to complete the project
float can be considered as a buffer time available to complete an activity float is calculated once the network
diagram is ready it is also called as slack there are three kinds of float
the first being the total float which is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project end
date or an intermediary milestone the second type of flute is free float which is the amount of time an activity
can be delayed without delaying the early start date of its successor or successors activities
the last type is independent float which is the amount of time an activity can be delayed if all the predecessors finish
at their latest finish dates and you want to start all the immediate successors at their earliest start dates
the slack of the activities on the critical path is zero because there is no scope to delay
activities on the critical path critical path actually represents the project duration
delaying activities on the critical path is as good as delaying the project duration concept-based questions on
critical path can be expected in the exam so it is essential to have a clear understanding of the concept
in the next screen let us learn how to calculate float let us look at an example for critical
path there are five activities in this project and two paths in the network
diagram start 1 2 4 5 and is one path
and start one three five end is the second path since the duration of the path start one
two four five end is 18 days which is more than the duration of the path start one three five end the critical path of
the project is start one two four five end let us take activity 3 as an example
first calculate the early start and early finish dates activity 3 can start only after activity
1. since the early finish of activity 1 is 3 it becomes the early start of activity
three activity three cannot start earlier than three because activity one can be
completed only by then therefore early start of activity three is 3
since the duration of the activity is 4 days the early finish of activity 3 is 3 plus
4 equals 7 days now let us calculate the late start and late finish of activity three
late start of activity five is fourteen days the activity three happens just before activity five
so the late finish of activity three is fourteen days to calculate the late start you can
subtract the duration from late finish therefore the late start of activity 3 is 14 minus 4 equals 10.
in the next screen let us focus on schedule compression hi welcome to project management tools tutorial from
simply learn i am cmr chandra mr a certified project management professional as part of this tutorial we
are going to look at about project management tools essential features of project management tools top 10 project
management tools currently used in the industry so what is project management tools why should we use project
management tools while doing project management so project management tools help to keep a streamlining flow in
project management processes the tools help the team or an individual to carry out the steps of project management in
an effective and efficient manner so project management tools features and functionalities so basically a project
management tool should have minimum fulfilling these features and functionality they should be simple to
use customizable they should have api for integration it should help in collaboration it should help in risk
analysis and real time reporting when we say simple to use the project management tools need to be suitable for every
project we do one needs to find a tool that will have a pleasant interface and increase work productivity the project
management tool must be easy to configure according to the organization needs every project management approach
every project management templates every artifacts needs tailoring and adaption before adopting as part of the practice
there are business patterns that change every day so having customizable tool is an added advantage api or application
programming interface enables the sharing of data and application between devices the tools with api integration
allows seamless connectivity amongst the team the project management tools must allow for collaboration so that whole
team can work together collaboration not only makes that task easier but also increases the productivity of the
project risk analysis helps to identify analyze and respond to the risk quickly and efficiently it needs to capture all
the details of the risks their impacts the probability of occurrence of the risk and risk responses and tracking
them throughout the project lifecycle the real-time reporting enables the access of data at different locations of
the project management one can assess or access data at any time about the project's current status this will help
in having a real-time update about the project status to the stakeholders of the project the top 10 project
management tools what we have today in the market are monday.com rick jira software trello
asana teamwork meister task basecamp oracle's primavera and microsoft project management tool so let us look at these
one by one so monday.com was released during the year 2012 and it is known for providing features to enable flexible
planning and monitoring capabilities the website where you can find monday.com access the tool is www.monday.com
so this tool is used by more than 90 000 team across the globe monday.com features and functionality includes it
is easy for collaboration highly customizable excellent for analytics integration with dropbox google drive
and pipedrive is possible surprising the basic version is dollar 25 on monthly basis so which will provide you 5gb
storage one boat per dashboard and it is built annually the standard package includes 5gb storage 3 boards per
dashboard and it is 39 per month which is built annually professional includes unlimited storage 10 boats per dashboard
and it costs dollar 59 per month and it is built annually monday.com is used by the following customers organizations of
monday.com that is scarcebug discovery channel adidas storm phillips etc rick is another project management tool which
was released in 2006 so this application provides its user with robust features and allows them to collaborate with each
other the website to access the tool is www www.rec.com and this is used by over 18 000 organizations across the globe
the features of rick includes it has collaborative editing flexible workflow real-time reporting and efficient work
management the pricing includes 0 to 5 users it has basic integrations and which is free whereas professional
includes dollar 9.8 per user per month which is which has a slabs of 5 10 and 15 users and rick proof free trial
business version has five to 200 users and rig proof free trial whereas
24.80 dollars per user per month the companies which uses the rig tools are airbnb laurel teamviewer tiffany and co
etc now let us look at jira software jira software was released during year 2002 it is a software development tool
used by agile teams famous for its bug tracking system the website to access this tool is www.atlacian.com
software jira used by over 65 000 customers the features of jira software includes agile
reporting rich toolkit for developers bug tracking mobile applications so the pricing of jira software is as follows
so for forever 2gb storage and community support which cost dollar zero but a standard is around dollar seven per user
per month which includes 250 gb storage and nine to five standard support premium is dollar 14 per user per month
unlimited storage and has 24 7 premium support jira software is used by the organizations that is hitachi visa
dropbox nestle dominos coca-cola samsung etc now let us look at the tool trello so this application was released in 2011
it is known for providing flexibility in organizing and prioritizing the tasks with the help of its boards lists and
cards website to access the tool is www.trello.com used by over 50 million people the
features of trello includes smooth editing easy file uploads from dropbox or google drive high security standards
and easy data searching techniques so the pricing includes it is free for 10 mv per attachment and 10 team votes
business class includes 250 mb attachment unlimited team boards and it cost dollar 9.99 per user per month
annually enterprise version provides 250 mb for attachment unlimited team boats and costs around 20.83 dollars per
hundred users per month the companies who use trello are google adobe paypal unicef the new york times etc now let us
look at asana the asana tool was released during 2008 it is an high quality task management software that
makes the tracking of tasks easy across the project management the website to access this tool is
www.asana.com used by over 140 000 companies the features includes incredible task management gantt charts
privacy controls easy progress tracking the pricing includes the basic model asana is provides 0 to 15 people
beginners in the project management so premium includes custom fields priority support where the pricing is dollar
10.99 per user per month annually the business version includes advanced integration priority support and it
costs 24.99 per hundred users per month the companies which uses asana are deloitte
vodafone red bull uber salesforce nasa etc let us look at teamwork tool teamwork was released during year 2007.
it is a cloud-based project management solution that helps in managing group activities and establishing flexible
communication the website to access this tool is www.teamwork.com used by our 370 000 organizations the
features of teamwork includes high quality crm helpdesk software risk register and easy time tracking the
pricing includes 0 to 5 users and 100 mb file space is provided free of cost whereas pro version includes 5 to 50
users 100 gb file spaces which cost 9 dollars per user per month premium origin costs around dollar 15 per user
per month which includes 5-100 users and 250 gb file space the organizations who use teamworks are forbes ebay microsoft
studios hp paypal disney's honda now let us look at the tool meister task so this tool was released during year
2015 and it is known for providing automated and streamlined workflows to make the overall processes more
productive the website to access this is www.mastertask.com used by our 2 million users the features
of this tool includes it is simple to use seamless workflow gantt charts flexible project boards the pricing it
is zero dollars per month up to three projects and unlimited project members the pro version includes unlimited
projects unlimited integrations which costs around 8.25 dollars per user per month whereas business costs 20.75
dollars per user per month which has security restrictions priority email and phone support the organization who use
the tool are virgin optics consulting and data supports expert dot d etc base camp the base camp tool was released
during the year 1999 it is a real-time communication tool that allow users to keep track of priorities and actionable
tasks the website to access this tool is www.basecamp.com used by over 3 million users the
features of basecamp includes easy to use various third-party integrations daily backups and comprehensive project
calendar the personal version is free and 0-20 users and 1 gb store space is provided in business version it is 99
per month for unlimited users having 500 gb storage space the companies who use basecamp is thoughtport harvest wlb
groupon etc oracle primavera so this tool was released during the year 1983 which is acquired by oracle corporation
in the year 2008. primavora helps project manager to handle a vast number of tasks with the help of its unlimited
resources and target plans website to access this tool is www.primavera.com which is used by over
7143 companies so features of primavera includes creation of wbs the work breakdown structure issues and risk
recording supports large number of activities and easy collaboration with project users the enterprise project
portfolio management version costs around two seven five zero dollars per user which improves planning and
execution professional project management version is usd 2500 per user handles large-scale highly sophisticated
projects so oracle primavera contract management version module costs around usd 2000 per user keeps construction
projects on schedule under budget so the companies which use primavera are burns mcdonald's pond
caddies etc microsoft project so microsoft project management tool was used during the year 1984. so this tool
allows users to develop a schedule assign resources track progress and manage budgets all through the project
the website to access this tool is www.office.microsoft.com project the features of microsoft
project includes simple to use effective monitoring easy communication enhanced decision making so this is a cloud-based
solution and the pricing is project plan one costs around dollar ten per user per month on an annual commitment managing
projects web web browser is the feature project plan 3 which costs around dollar 30 per user per month with annual
commitment which is fully updated project desktop application project plan 5 which costs around 55 dollars per user
per month with annual commitment evaluating project ideas from anywhere in the organization is possible through
this project standard 2019 version costs around 620 dollars per pc per user for those who don't need collaboration tools
and advanced features project professional version 2019 costs around thousand thirty dollars per pc per user
syncing with project online and project server the organization which uses microsoft projects are comptel airbus
intel volvo xerox etc hey guys welcome to this trello tutorial by simply learn so without further ado let's get started
with what exactly is trello so trello is a simple and easy to use collaboration tool that can enable you
to organize projects and everything related to it into boards with trello you can find all kinds of
information like what's being worked on who's working on what and what progress the
project is making now we'll learn about that in a little bit while we're talking about the trello demo
now let's talk about the advantages of trello now first off trello can be used
immediately after signing up so trello offers you a free sign up after which you get access to almost all
of trello's features now it does have a premium service but most of trello's important features are available in the
free account secondly it follows the kanban system so the kanban system is a popular
methodology that can be used to achieve lean so with trello you can also achieve lean
now trello also has a very popular mobile application which also has the same features as the interface that you
see on the desktop it's very user friendly now the fourth advantage is that all
project related items can be seen on one page which means everything you need about the project is available in one
place next adding new members creating issues and assigning them are very easy with
the help of trello now that we had a look at all the advantages that are provided by trello
let's have a look at a live demo so first off let's go to trello.com so here you can see two options to log
in or sign up so first of all if you've never used the website before go to sign up
so here you can enter your email or you can go through google or hotmail or outlook so it's very simple i already
have an account so i'll just log in right so i'm just going to login so if you're using shallow for the first
time this is what it would look like so here you have personal boards templates home and so on so let's go one
by one firstly the most important thing that you need to know about is boards which
is right here so let's assume you're using this for a deal which means that you need people to
share the board along with so first of all let's create a team so here i'm just going to name a company
called company go say we do engineering id let's write a brief team description
and continue so here say i have four members so have bob
i'm adding them here so depending on what your team is like you can add those team members so this is
important so that you can connect with them while you're on the board so this is company.com so we'll just add them
so the team members that you're going to invite will get an invite email very soon as soon as you're done by clicking
the invite to team button we'll also add bill who also works at my company
and there's technician one and there's technician one who works at company.com
we'll add anybody who's required later so invite to team and there you go there's some details
here about the team and all that let's go back to home and now let's create a new board under
company co so the difference here is that for personal boards is that
like the name says it's personal you can also add the team if you want later on but
here you have the option for creating a team port so i'll show you how you can create a team board from personal board
so you got create board here you can show as this is by default selected with
no team because it's under personal change it to company and you can write
business but anything else like that and then you create a board
and there you go the board has been set up so now
first things first it's that you can make this team visible which is either only board members can see it or
since it's a small team the entire team can seek it so it's up to you how you want it
there's the public option which everyone can see which i don't think is necessary but if you feel like it you can do that
too first of all you can even write description of the board which is
what you want to achieve with this board for example this is business or sales or something like that
you can change the background into something more colorful or less colorful like this
and then there's search cards which we haven't added anything so far so there's nothing
to search just stickers which again is i feel unnecessary at the
moment you can also see something called butler so based on your usage or how you're using trello butler can provide
you suggestions like what you can add here like you can see here the tips haven't been added so far
because we haven't used cello so far so based on your usage it will give you suggestions
now let's go back so here you see power-ups so power-ups are basically additional features that
you can add to your board so there are features that are connected to a number of different
fields this analytics automation utilities tools and so on so as a free user you get access to
one power up but still we don't have to use it so far because we don't have anything on our board but
based on your requirement you can go through these power-ups and decide on one of them
so now let's get back to business or our board so first you can see add a list
so this basically refers to the different processes that you want to follow in this board
so first of all we'll add a list title i'm going to add to do
that's the first list then this in progress on hold
completed so here we have four lists which represent
the processes in this business so if you want you can even add another list depending on your requirement
so in these lists there are things called cards so which are like sub topics so first of all let's add
a very simple title for example product
company a second very simple deliver product to company
b like this so on and so forth if you want it
so here this is a card so this card can be moved from each stage to another as it progresses
so this isn't the to-do stage since we've not started with anything so once you click on a card so this
pop-up shows up so here you can add a description like conversed with company a
ready to go just some details that you want to add you save
now one thing you can see add to cart so there are a number of different things you can add to this card
so members now i have four team members i can add bob
here i want bob in on this i want bob to see the activities as it happens i want bill to also see as things
proceed right so the bob and bill are in on this right now
next you have labels so depending on what you want to use this for for example i want to use this to represent
that it's important or immediate put it as red save
so i can select this label to indicate that this is now very important so depending
on your company's you know style or depending on your requirements
you can add the labels then you have a checklist so different steps can be focused on
with this checklist for example i'm just going to write steps so we're delivering a product for
example so let's just use steps gathering i'm just going to write the
software lifecycle steps analysis design implementation
testing deployment and maintenance
so yeah we have all the steps so one thing is that once each of these steps are done
you tick it so a percentage increases so until you're done with hundred percent you can
just keep ticking finally it'll show 100 and you're done so another thing is a due date
so this is basically by when you want it completed so this is basically a reminder that we
need to complete it or before a particular date is done so i'm not adding a due date out of now but that's
up to you next you have something called attachment so say for example all your
requirements have been gathered into one pdf so where all the requirements that are required by the company are shown in
that pdf you can attach it here so that everyone has access to it then a cover can also be added to your
card which is just basically beautifying it so we can find one so for example this
and there you go there's a pretty good looking code here now
we have all the information so let's get started so to officially mark the beginning of
the project we'll just go and put this to in progress so at the same time you can do the same thing with this card as
well about company b so let's just focus on company a now so say the steps have already started
requirement gathering is done designing is done implementation is also done so
depending on the person you know the technician so the technician could respond that you
know we've already started so before that we need to add the technician he's already
on this but if you had to add him you search for members and you have board members who's already
in the board you can add the technician now you can also you know add activity details like technician one
now how's it going how's the process going
now he could respond here with its right
so each time one of us you know adds the other or says something to the other they get notifications so that you know
they get to respond as well they get to know what's happening now
now say for example the technician is not able to complete the project or
complete his work so it's put on hold so here i could say
so testing isn't done so you can say tech by the delay or what's going on
and he would given a property response and once he's ready he can finish the texting
and put it back to in progress then eventually all of it is done deployment and maintenance
so you here you have an option to hide complete items that's up to you you can also delete them if you feel like it you
can close this and then after everything is done and you feel that everything of the process is done you can put it on
completed so if this is a recurring process you can you know make a copy of this which you can find
by doing this copy or you could just put this on archive indicating that it's done you can even
get it back by just going to more archived items and then there you
have it you can send it back to board that's up to you and there you go that's most of
everything you need to know about trello one another thing is that right now you can only add 10 boards on this feed as
of now because you're using a free membership also depending on the intensity or the
difficulty of the board you can also have different boards for different projects i've just
used one for multiple projects but it's entirely possible for you to have one board per project you can also you know
favorite this indicating that this is a very important one that you need to focus on every day so this is where you
get all the notifications that x has changed there you go all kinds of responses everything that
you need is available on this home screen which is basically like a home feed
you can also find templates depending on your requirement so you can choose a template from a wide
variety of options so i'm just going to show you the kanban template so here you have details about the
template you have an example of what the template looks like and so on
and there you go that's everything you need to know about trello in this session we will be talking about
agile project management and several other things related to it before we begin let's have a look at all the
topics we will be covering today first we will see the basics of agile project management then we will check the
relevance and principles of agile project management we will then see necessary steps to implement agile
methodology along with that we shall also see different frameworks involved in the process and finally we shall see
some companies that use agile project management so without any further ado let's get started with what is agile
project management agile project management as the name suggests is a flexible approach to building a project
in agile project management the project is broken down into several stages of sprints agile does not work on the
principle of delivering the final product at the end of the project it works on delivering sections of a
project on many projects the process of project management in the case of agile is agile based so there won't be any
central control of project manager as it was there in the traditional way of working before we move forward let's
have a look at the agile development cycle agile methodologies consist of several small cycles or sprints at the
end of each stage we get a mini project there's a product backlog that explains new features changes in the existing
features and several other improvements in the project then we have a sprint backlog which has a list of tasks that
are to be completed during each sprint the sprint consists of planning designing execution testing and
deployment stages and at the end of each sprint a mini project is delivered with every sprint new features are added to
the product which plays a significant role in the overall project growth after all the sprints and early validation in
the development the final deliverable has a fewer chances of failure let's now have a look at some reasons why
industries have started moving towards agile project management the first reason is high product quality when we
talk about higher product quality we refer to the build of the product as per stakeholders demands testing is
performed at short intervals of time wherever needed to ensure high quality of the product then another reason is
customer satisfaction whatever is done in the project is known by the customer the deliveries don't take longer
durations as they used to take in the case of traditional ways the changes may be provided by the customer in the
execution phase of the project third reason is reduced risk since the project is divided into sprints so if the risk
affects one sprint it doesn't mean whole of the project will be at risk the process of risk analysis continues to
take place with all the other processes another significant reason for agile project management is better and faster
return on investment the project is now developed in several sprints and each sprint has its own version therefore the
project becomes market ready after a few sprints only since the projects can now be released with ease and in shorter
duration this helps the organization to stay ahead in competition with respect to other organizations which are still
not moved to agile methodology now we shall check the principles of agile project management there are 10
principles for successful agile project management the first principle is the satisfaction of the customer by
delivering the project fast and with least number of errors the next principle refers to decreasing the
amount of time between the phase of planning and delivery the third principle states that the team of
managers and developers work together and increase the productivity of their work the next principle states that the
changes requested by the stakeholders can be taken into consideration and worked upon during the development phase
as well the fifth principle pays attention to the factor of coordination among the team members then the sixth
principle refers to the process of monitoring and tracking the progress of the project at the end of each sprint
and making amendments wherever needed moving on the next principle states that there must be a feeling of trust and
support towards the team to complete the project's objectives the next principle emphasizes on face-to-face conversations
with the development team the face-to-face conversation helps in both solving problems and easy knowledge
sharing then the 9 principle emphasizes on finding solutions and maximizing the amount of work done with simplicity this
ensures timely completion of tasks by all the team members the last principle states that scrum tools like monday.com
or zoho sprints must be used to simplify the complicated codes which further helps in saving time
we shall now see the steps in agile project management the goal of agile methodology is to produce shorter
development life cycles and more frequent product releases than traditional waterfall project management
so we will now check 6 steps in agile project methodology the first step in the process is project planning project
planning includes feasibility study development of scope breaking the project into executable tasks or sprints
and then estimating the amount of time needed to complete those sprints the second step is the step of roadmap
creation a roadmap is a plan of action that shows how a project shall evolve over time a list of all the features
that the final product should have is created and the steps to achieve those features are taken the next important
step is release planning since we are doing the project keeping in mind the agile project methodology the project
will complete in sprints that means there will be the release of features at the end of each cycle and unlike the
traditional waterfall model the development cycles will be smaller the fourth step in agile project management
is sprint planning the sprints are made keeping in mind what all is to be accomplished in that particular step at
the beginning of each sprint the goal of that sprint is decided and steps to achieve that goal are taken the next
step in the process emphasizes on daily meetings there are short meetings every day to discuss if the team was able to
finish the task for each sprint and check if there are any amendments that are required each team member talks
about what they achieved in the last print and what are they going to work on in the next print the last step is the
step of sprint review and retrospective there are two meetings after each sprint first meeting is for the sprint review
this meeting is with the stakeholders to show them the finished product this helps both sides to build a relationship
and discuss if there are any issues in the end product the second meeting is for having a sprint retrospective this
meeting involves the stakeholders to discuss what went well and what went wrong during the sprint sprint
retrospective takes place after the sprint review and before the next print planning now when we know the steps
needed for agile project methodology we must understand some agile project management frameworks there are several
frameworks available today here we will be discussing some of the most popular frameworks the first framework we will
discuss is the kanban framework kanban framework is a well-known framework for implementing agile software development
in the case of kanban framework work items are represented on the kanban board which helps all the team members
to see the state of every piece of work at any time kanban board not only helps in visualizing the work but also
optimizing the workflow among the team the next framework we will discuss today is the scrum framework scrum framework
is a popular framework for managing complex knowledge work like in the field of research and advanced technologies
scrum is a simple framework that helps team work together and learn through their experiences gained while working
on a problem the third framework we will see today is the hybrid framework the hybrid framework is a combination of
agile methodology and non-agile methodology in the case of a hybrid framework
planning is done using the traditional way of project management while the execution and delivery is done using the
agile methodology since the hybrid is a combination of the two it handles the requirement changes and delivers the
product in different stages the fourth and the last framework we will see is the lean framework the lean framework
works on the principle of providing maximum customer value and creating zero waste it focuses on optimizing the flow
of products all through the value stream this helps in eliminating waste all through the process and create processes
that requires less human efforts this also simplifies the process of information management and makes it more
accurate finally let's have a look at some companies that have opted for agile project management today around 22
percent of the organizations worldwide have all their teams working on the principle of agile project methodology
let's have a look at some of the most prominent companies in the world that use agile project management in the list
we have ibm cisco atnt microsoft philips and samsung welcome to simple learns pmp sixth edition training tutorial i am cmr
chandra mr a certified project management professional prince to practitioner itl expert itl for managing
professional kobit 5 and devops today we are going to look at understanding what is the pmp
certification what is pmbok eligibility criteria to appear in pmp examination the project management framework
the project management process groups knowledge areas and processes so now imagining the world where you
have a project being done so you are the project manager and how best a project can be conducted
so to make a project successful it is required to follow a best practice so if you have a certification just
imagine having a certification that lets the world know that you know what you are doing in project management so pmp
certification gives you all so what is pmp certification so the pmp the project management
professional certification is a certification of pmi the project management institute
which is at usa so is an internationally recognized credential for project managers
see the certification indicates that the certified professional has a sufficient experience education skills
and competency reason being before going for pmp certification it asks for specific prerequisites which
involves experience in project management as well as formal education of project management
and demonstrated skills so that being a prerequisites for project management professional certifications it is very
essential that one need to understand what it takes to become eligible for pmp examination so that we will go through
the subsequent slides so the moment one has the pmp certification that itself indicates
the prerequisites to take up a pmp certification is accomplished already before going for certification
and then the individual will go for a certification and become certified professional so that way it concludes it
also indicates that person who holds the pmp certification has sufficient experience education skills and
competency moreover there are more than 10 hundred thousand pmp certification holders across the globe so pmp
certified individuals earn 25 percent more than non-certified individuals so now
pmp certification also has the advantages which are given here like helps the project manager to practice
the project management better create the results better demonstrate the project management capability better
so this also helps project manager to show the commitment towards the project management profession
and having pmp certification provides the recognition across the globe which helps in getting better salary compared
with people the professionals who are not certified and also helps in increasing the network project
management network who actually practices project management the fellow practice project managers who are
practicing the project management so there are certain vocabularies jargons which are used specifically while doing
the project management pmp helps to understand those so now let us look at
what does the official guide which is used in pmp that can help to become a project
management professionals so that is pmbok which is referred as project management body of
knowledge or pmbok which is the collection of processes best practices terminologies and
guidelines accepted as standards within the industry so the latest edition of this is sixth
edition which was released in 2017. the first edition of pmbok guide was published in 1996 and the sixth edition
as i mentioned was released in 2017 and exam format was revised from 26th march 2018. so pmbok guide will become
the basic reference to appear in the pmp examination so one needs to go through the training based on pmbok guidelines
so that will help them to pass the examination easily so eligibility criteria for appearing for pmp
certification examinations so you can have two types of eligibilities which pmi defines
so option one includes someone who has secondary degree should have 7500 hearts of leading and
directing project that is an experience what it is asking as a prerequisite before
the professional go for examination plus 35 hours of project management education formally from a registered education
provider like simply learn option two someone who has four year degree project management experience leading
and directing project this experience will be 400 arts whereas as we saw in option 1
in option 2 35 hours of project management education is required and that is from registered education
provider like simply learn as i mentioned earlier so this training which is conducted by registered education
provider will have their trainings aligned with pmbok the latest edition so
simply learn enables people to learn what are the topics in pmp framework plus
make the professionals ready to appear the examination and become successful the project management framework
which is defined in pmbok includes 5 process groups 10 knowledge areas and 49 processes
so when we say 5 process groups this indicates the way the project flows how each of these process groups are
connected while project happens in the project life cycle
whereas 10 knowledge areas are the one which needs to be looked up to demonstrated up to considered while
doing the project management and the 49 processes distributed across 5 process groups and 10 knowledge areas
has the activities the objectives the inputs outputs tools and techniques clearly defined so that those can be
applied while doing the project management so those are aligned the way it is shown
in the table so five process group that is initiating planning executing monitoring and
control and closing these are the process groups whereas 10 knowledge areas includes project integration
management project scope management project schedule management project cost management project quality management
project resource management project communication management project risk management project procurement
management and project stakeholder management so each of these knowledge areas and process groups are aligned in
such a way where the processes align with a specific process group and
knowledge area can be demonstrated accordingly if you look at a process which goes from
initiating to planning planning to executing and then monitoring and control while you do monitoring and
control if there is anything found as a deviation it may come back to planning or executing for necessary corrections
once the necessary corrections happens again it moves to monitoring and control to check whether it is completely done
as expected or not if it is confirmed everything is done as per the requirements defined then it moves to
closing this is how the project flows in the project life cycle whereas all the 10 knowledge areas happens in
parallel so now if you look at initiating process group you can see two processes that is
develop project charter and identify stakeholders so develop project charter and identify
stakeholders basically defines project charter required for the project as well as
initial identified stakeholders who are required to move forward in the project similarly if you look at planning
process group you have 24 processes which are distributed across all the 10 knowledge areas so these processes
creates a plan for the project which involves scope baseline schedule baseline cost baseline quality
management approach then resource management approach means the plan i mean to say when i say approach
i'm speaking about the plan similarly communication management plan risk management plan procurement
management plan stakeholder management plan and all of these will get consolidated into project management
plan in the integration management knowledge area once this plan is done and
approved then it moves for execution all that project manager do during execution is directing and managing project work
and managing the project knowledge at the same time project manager would take responsibility of managing quality
acquiring resources developing team managing team then communications which are planned as
per the communication management plan communication should happen during execution so similarly implementation of
risk responses defined while doing the planning and conducting the procurements as planned and then managing stakeholder
engagement so actual execution of those work packages execution of those deliverables happens from the team now
as those deliverables happens the delivered products are checked monitored and controlled you can see validate
scope control scope likewise for each knowledge areas there is a control process which checks is that happened in
execution as it was planned in plan planning process group so then that is consolidated here for monitoring
and controlling the project work in entirety integrated similarly performing integrated change control any deviations
found in any of these checks which is being done in the control now that deviations needs to be
corrected so change will be raised so request for change will be raised and that will be approved and controlled and
necessary directions are given approvals are given and that moves towards execution for implementation once it is
implemented again validation happens once control checks if everything is okay then it moves to the closure
now activities enclosure a project or a face involves just an activities of closure the products or services or
results which are created from the project does not go to closure until those are
validated checked confirmed and signed off only then it goes to closing project or phase and necessary formalities which
are required to be completed before conclusion will happen in closing project office this is how the project
flows second point which should keep in mind is a project manager is also called as an integrator so
main focus the umbrella view the word server project manager should have from project
integration management so this layer project integration management where project manager should
have an umbrella view total view about entire project what is happening so bigger picture only when project manager
has a bigger picture project manager can come to the lower levels and see is are they progressing the way it is supposed
to so then go back look at the bird's eye view again and see is it going in the right direction which is very
essential so further i guess we will look at each of these process groups and what happens
in each of the process groups similarly in knowledge areas so let us move forward now project management
process groups so these process groups details the necessary requirement that need to be
satisfied to ensure that project resources are used efficiently and these represents the chronological
phases that all projects go through during the project lifecycle so starting from initiating stage it moves to
planning once the plan is ready then it moves to execution as the execution happens
validation checks happens in monitoring and control and as you find some deviation in monitoring and control
for correction of the deviation it comes back to execution or if any necessary changes needs to be done in planning
also while doing these corrections then it may move to plan then execution and then monitoring and control so this loop
continues until the confirmation yes it is delivered as per the plan and then it moves to closure so that's how the
project flows and the project life cycle would be like that so initiating process group so initiating process group
involves the processes activities and skills needed to define the beginning of the project as i mentioned earlier in
initiating process group the creation of project charter happens and identification of the basic stakeholders
main stakeholders who are required to understand the further requirements in detail who needs to be engaged so those
are identified so setting up permits authorization and initial work orders which should be in place and are
important for effective and logical progress of the project and success across all project phases so this
clearly sets up the phases for the work to be completed initializing teams and having a
well thought out budget which is very important so this gives that view in totality but it will not give you the
full granular details but it sets the directions provides that insight and also one important thing we should keep
in mind is in initiation stage appointment of project manager happens the formal declaration of appointment of
project manager happens and project charter will be formally handed over to project manager and that formal
declaration of assignment of project manager happens from then project manager takes over and first activity
project manager does is identification of stakeholders so next process group is planning process group
where we have around 24 processes to define the project scope
cost schedule quality resource risk then procurement stakeholder
engagement so comprehensive plan if it is waterfall approach or basic skeleton
plan which is required if it is agile approach so it also clarifies the goals and expectations while putting in place
infrastructure to achieve the goals keeping in timeline and budgetary constraints the end-to-end view of the
project is provided in planning so this acts as a basic reference while the execution and monitoring and control
happens so based on the planning the way it is done execution will happen now next process group is executing
process group where the role of project manager is to direct and manage project work and manage the
project knowledge main activities being an integrator of a project secondly acquiring resources it may be human
resource or technology resource or any other resource required for the project then if it is human resource there needs
to be necessary training development of the team and then managing them so lot of team dynamics
are involved that needs to be handled so this involves managing teams while handling time expectations and achieving
benchmark goals team members delivers those results team members does all the activities
and then creates that results so team concerns needs to be addressed because as you see the people together the team
members together it is quite obvious conflict maker so conflict resolution should happen the engagement with the
team member should happen so demonstration of work which is done by the project team
that needs to be monitored and controlled parallely which happens during the execution monitoring and
control is also happening so project manager should look at both so concerns needs to be addressed execution is that
happening as per the plan has to be checked as part of monitoring and control while execution is happening so
bird's a view in entirety which says how the execution should happen that needs to be directed and monitored whereas
coming on ground seeing is that happening the way it is required that is also very essential so next is
monitoring and control process group now as part of these process group as i mentioned while execution happens it is
very essential to check validate and control so this process group involves processing change orders
any deviations being found change requests are raised and if that change request needs some modification
or changes in planning then it goes to planning if no such planning requirements simple change that straight
go to execution chain get executed and then again validation happens so integrated change management which is
there in this particular process group so this also focuses on addressing ongoing
budget considerations handling unexpected circumstances that could hamper the team's ability to meet the
initial project expectations so it goes on throughout the project life cycle so two process groups if you closely
observe planning process groups and monitoring and control process groups are the process groups where you see
processes in all the knowledge areas otherwise if you see an initiating process group it is only two process one
is an integration management other one is stakeholder management if you look at uh execution you don't see in
scope time cost and risk management similarly if you see closing process group only one process which is in
initiating process group so these are the only two process groups planning process groups and monitoring
and control process group where you see the most of the processes so next process group is closing process group
so closing process group closing project or phase is a process what we have in this process group which basically
focuses on addressing the culmination of project management skills shown through the other interconnected processes that
guided the projects so all the aspects of process are closed and all the necessary
paperwork is submitted so it can lead to great reviews and word of mouth referrals in the future so all the
activities which need to be done for formal closure and conclusion which is done in the closing process group so
this is about all the five process group defined in the pmp framework so now let us move towards understanding each of
the knowledge areas and the different processes within it so how many processes in each of the knowledge areas
aligning with with the process group we just saw in the table but when we look at it understand what are those exactly
so now knowledge areas are necessary for effective project management which can take place during any of the explained
process groups so there are 10 so those are project integration management project scope management
project schedule management project cost management project quality management project resource management project
communication management then project risk management project procurement management project stakeholder
management so many people ask me when i train the people they ask me how do we remember all of this so remembering
process group will be easy because it's the flow which if you can remember then remembering the process group will be
easier but to remember the knowledge areas so one thing you should keep in mind is
initially when pm okay were defined mostly in until third edition or fourth edition we
used to focus on triple constraints so when we say triple constraints we used to tell scope cost and time
now later when as the best practices evolved as the pmbok evolved
so it did not limit on triple constraints it actually said six constraints what are the six constraints
scope cost time quality resources and risk so if you can able to remember
the six constraints so each of associated with each of these constraints there is a knowledge area
like you have project scope management which is one of the area of constraints similarly schedule management link to
time cost management quality management resource management and risk management so out of 10 easily you can able to
remember six further there are four now integration management by default
integrates all the nine knowledge areas so remembering that may not be difficult so to consolidate this
to conduct the project properly you need stakeholders you need to procure something and you need to communicate so
other three knowledge areas remembering should happen by linking to this so firstly remember
six constraints that is scope time cost quality resource and risk then you have communication which needs to happen to
communicate there should be stakeholder and also there should be supply which needs to happen to the project so if you
can link like this nine knowledge areas you can remember so on all these nine knowledge areas you
will integrate and manage in integration management so in fact all the plans which are defined in rest of the nine
knowledge areas except integration management so all those plans are called as subsidiary plans so all these nine
subsidiary plans that is scope management plan schedule management plan cost management plan quality management
plan resource management plan communication management plan risk management plan procurement management
plan and stakeholder management plan so all these nine subsidiary plans are integrated together and consolidated in
project management plan so that happens in project integration management so this we should keep in mind so project
integration management what does it do so project integration management basically includes plans to develop
project charter a document that sets up the project and assigns the project manager created during the initiation
phase so a project management plan is also created which is a roadmap for the entire project to become a success so
the project plan once approved by stakeholders and sponsor is monitored and tracked through the change log it
also directs and manages the project work this process is monitored analyzed and
reported to identify and control any changes or problems that could be encountered so one thing we should keep
in mind when we say project integration management this is the only knowledge area
where we see processes in all the process group so we have process in initiating process group we have
processes in planning we have process in execution process group we have processes in monitoring and control
process group and also in closing process group so project integration management is only knowledge area where
it has a processes in all the process groups which we don't see in any other knowledge area now next we look at the
list of processes like develop project charter is in initiation process group develop project management plan which
consolidates all the nine knowledge areas is in planning process group direct and manage project work manage
project knowledge these two processes are in executing process group monitor and
control project work perform integrated change control these two processes are in monitoring
and control process group so close project or face is in the closing process group so now we will move to
project scope management so when we use the term scope the term scope refers to the boundary
within which we need to do something so first thing we should keep in mind when we say project scope
two things one is the scope of that product service or results which we are creating which comes out as a product or
a service or result out of a project which comes out what is getting created so scoping that
part of it so other scope part of it the processes the tools the resources what is being
used during the project so that deliverables happen so two part of the scope we
should look at so project scope management involves those areas deals with the work of the
project and involves plan scope management an important part of project management plan the collection of
requirements of the product or service also takes place in this process group and also
project scope management knowledge area deals with work of the project which involves plan scope management an
important part of the project management plan so the collection of requirements of the product or service also takes
place in the stage the scope of project is also defined in the scope statement this is expected to undergo change over
the course of project the scope is validated during the project ensuring that the deliverables are
approved by sponsors or stakeholders so as i mentioned earlier it involves the scope of the results what is being
created and also scope of those processes resources tools which are used during the project so processes in
project scope management knowledge area so plan scope management which is in planning process group collect
requirements define scope create wbs even these three processes are in planning process
group in total four processes in planning process group whereas validate scope and control scope
these two processes are in monitoring and control process group so when you say plan scope management
it's about defining how to collect the requirements how to manage those entire scope management planning and
requirements management plan also has to be defined then requirements are collected from the stakeholders who are
being identified and then scope will be defined now very important thing here is about work breakdown structure so we
have a product or a service or a result which we are working on to create as a result of the project
so how will you understand all the parts of it that needs breaking down that particular product or services or
results which we are going to create into multiple pieces in a structure which would look like a tree so that you
will get a necessary insight towards what is being delivered so firstly product breakdown structure
is made and for each of the layers of this product breakdown structure you will be assigning an activities
assigning resources effort estimation cost estimation sequencing those all this will will be done later
basic thing needed is work breakdown structure for that so to create wbs the technical decomposition is used and this
approach is top down approach next validate scope and control scope as wbs provides that structure of various
things which needs to be delivered referring to that as the execution happens validation should happen whether
it is delivered accordingly or not and is that scope management is being done according to the plan control scope will
be checking that so next is the project schedule management when we say schedule it's
quite obvious for us to understand when what needs to be done so what needs to be done is already told
in scope and when are we going to do that for that you need to have a specific schedule the timeline so
the project will have various different activities tasks which is assigned to the particular wbs
element so these activities will have a specific
start date end date and this will have a specific output which is coming out as part of those
actions which happens so the project is divided into tasks each with their own start dates and deadlines and budgets so
these are revised as the project moves forward depending on how the project is progressing a schedule for the project
and determining who is responsible for that so helps us to understand which resource is
required at what point in time similarly the cash flow requirement can also be understood by having a defined schedule
so the tasks are placed in a sensible order and the dependencies between each of them are noted once sequenced the
resources required for the tasks are estimated and assigned the time required for each of these tasks are also
determined now when we say this we will require to understand and visualize while doing a project the wba structure
is defined and in what sequence each of these elements are delivered and what timeline start time end time and
how each of these are connected to other wbs element in what sequence what activity is required what resource
required what effort required what competency skill required so all these are put in so since we schedule and
sequence it we know when is that required so this requires working with other
knowledge area very closely when i say wbs element it's quite obvious it comes from scope management when i say
allocation of resources obviously it has to work with resource management to create resource calendars if it's a cost
management to understand the flow money flow cash flow so budget should be there for the project so cash flow when what
amount is required to understand that it cost is linked to schedule so all these knowledge areas should work
very closely with coordinating with each other interfacing with each other so project schedule management also uses a
very important technique called network analysis technique where we speak about critical path
then forward pass backward pass then identification of floats so when is a critical path critical path
refers to the longest path in the established network diagram of a project and that will be the minimum time
required for project to complete so this critical path needs to be closely monitored as the execution of the
project happens because any delay in this critical path will delay the project itself
so that's about some summary about schedule management now let us look at the processes which are involved in
schedule management so plan schedule management define activities sequence activities estimate activity durations
develop schedule so all these five processes are in planning process group so schedule
management how it has to be done needs to be clearly planned as part of plan schedule management then when to define
activities it is quite obvious we need to know what needs to be delivered so wbs element helps us when the scope
baseline is provided as an input here so taking that activities are defined then the sequencing happens then when we
say estimate activity durations so we speak about two terms like effort and duration if i want to deliver
something let me assume uh to deliver x for a person it requires one day or for a person it requires 10 days if
we say so to create that working piece of a product it takes 10 man days we will say that is an effort
now if i have 100 pieces of such news to be created how many mandates i need so 10 into 100
piece 10 days into 100 piece so 1000 mandates now how many resources i have i may have
around 25 resources now thousand divided by 25 it will be around i guess 400 400 band is no i think 2 thousand divided by
uh it's about 4 40 so
40 mandates of effort means that is duration whereas effort is 1000 mandates 40 days will become
duration so likewise looking at how many resources we have how many uh what is
that effort is actually required is involved and then what is the duration within which we need to complete it
either you look at how many resource i have based on that i will look at the duration or i will look at the target
date mainly target date is given by customers as you discuss when the project needs to be completed
accordingly you are required to acquire the resources so this itself is showing us these knowledge areas now work very
closely now without scope you cannot define activities now without understanding the activities
you don't know what is the effort so now once you understood the effort you know what resource what competency
when so you need to work with resource management so to have those resources on boarded or acquired you need to have
money cost so what cost it takes so likewise it goes one by one hello operating that's where you see 24
processes in the planning process group distributed across all the ten knowledge areas so
this is about schedule management now i look at the cost management project cost
management so when we say cost it is quite obvious it's all about money what money the expenditure the outgoing money
so project incurs cost if any individuals i keep getting these questions in lot of trainings
so is checking the revenues the invoice rising and collection of payment is that
a job of a project manager now when we say the project management and look at date as a project management activities
now it's all about delivering the results of the project so when we say i need to collect invoices and to submit
invoices collect payments when you say that so that doesn't mean it is part of a project management role
no now if in your organization if you have a designation of project manager or some
manager or something and invoice submission and collection of
payment is also part of your job description you have to do you don't have any choice so designation is
totally different when compared with the meaning of the role called project manager so any other things which are
associated with your designation in the organization it may be project manager also designation possible depending on
what job description what job activities are associated with it accordingly to do but when you do a project management
activity in specific when you involve in the project so all these aspects what we're defining that needs to be taken
300 percent along with it raising an invoice collection of payment or coordinating with some other
department to find out new opportunities in the existing customer those are all additional things which are given to you
as an individual with that designation to justify many things so as a professionals i have a position in
organization with some designations and there is a ctc salary which is given and that needs to be justified to justify
that various different roles are attached to you for your designation so that you need to look up to accordingly
and to deal with now let us come back to project cost management so it's about expanding money
what we're speaking about which basically focuses on estimating and allocation of budget to the project
that is first thing one needs to estimate approximate what cost it takes for a project now what are those cost
components so where is that cost incurred so cost is incurred to the resources acquired cost is
incurred to the tools cost is incurred in all that activity what we do right so everywhere
the one we create result for raw material what you acquire the people the technology resource what you occur the
facility what you have so all this involves money the cost expenditure so approximation of the cost needs to be
done what it takes to complete this project and confirm budget it so this involves
project budgeting so good estimation tools need to make sure that the funds are within the need of the project and
stakeholder sponsors are kept informed so estimation and budgeting cannot happen
in isolation project manager cannot do a loan that requires to involve the experts the divine experts who can
determine how the budget can be established how it can change how it can be
controlled what are the regulators needs to be kept in mind so it considers all those processes required to do that
all the tasks which are involved like cost and combining them would determine project budget so firstly approximation
would happen based on that approximation then the approximation of that will be submitted
then the budget is confirmed after allocation so this needs to be monitored and controlled throughout the project
life cycle so initially i also mentioned earlier about triple constraints scope time and cost so it is very important to
monitor these three critically so for that there is a technique which is used which is very popular earned value
management which speaks about or provides you the insight towards how the project is
progressing in terms of scope time and cost which are basically very important ones
then comes rest of the things quality resource risk which complements to this right so project cost management
involves four processes that is plan cost management estimate cost determine
budget which are part of planning process group and control cost is part of monitoring
and control process group now next uh knowledge area is project quality management so when we
say quality it's all about ensuring that grades are set requirements are clearly defined and how are you going to ensure
that hindering characteristics what are defined are accomplished so you need to have a quality management approach
quality management plan in place now what quality management i should follow there are a lot of standards lot of
best practices so that is based on the project environment in
which organization are you doing in any given organization there will be quality management practices which are followed
an approach that may require to get reflected in the projects which is being done in that environment or if project
has a specific requirement that specific quality management standard or practice needs to be followed then that needs to
be defined accordingly the quality management should happen so quality management is a part of entire project
management plan which speaks about quality specifications products or service the artifacts which are used as
part of the project so when we say quality management approach we speak about many terms like
acceptance criteria quality criteria customer quality expectations then quality assurance quality control
so all these needs to be kept in mind and brought in place and this
in execution if you look at there is a process called manage quality when we looked at scope schedule and cost there
was no processes defined in execution but since the accountability of ensuring quality is with project manager there is
a process now remember all these 49 processes defined in pmp or project management processes these are not the
processes which are for execution so these are all project management processes if any team member is
configuring something creating something delivering something none of those activities are defined as
part of these processes as plan when you make a clear plan like when i said create wbs where you have
the elements which needs to be delivered or defined when you putting an activities into it adding activities
into it that anyway you have a domain expert to do it accordingly execution happens by team members but as a project
manager you are not involved in that in entirety in execution i'm saying so project quality management will have the
processes like plan quality management manage quality and control quality so plan quality management is part of
planning process group manage quality is part of executing process group whereas control quality is part of monitoring
and controlling process group so the next knowledge area to look at is project resource management so when we
say resource by default we think about human resources
so that's how the knowledge area was in the fifth edition so it was called as project human
resource management but as the discussions happened has the realization happened it is not about just
human resource many resources involves technology resources facility resources
so the renaming of that knowledge area happened in sixth edition as project resource management so project resource
management focuses on ensuring identification of those roles identification of those resources
having a plan in place so that resources can be managed better so predominantly when we say resource it's quite obvious
we think about human resources so which is very very unpredictable kind of resource whereas when it comes to
technology resource it is predictable the nature the behavior the configuration everything is
predictable but only those human resources are the one which requires a special treatment
a special approach to engage with them so this knowledge area helps to identify roles within the project team as per the
project management team structure defined so there should be project management team structure defined and
what needs to be delivered from which are the roles which also include how they fit into overall structure of the
project so these team members or resources need to be acquired if it is human resources
those needs to be educated an induction needs to be done about the project and they need to become fit into the project
so when i say people it's quite obvious conflict occurs various different preferences they come across with they
have their own experience backgrounds and dynamics associated with them so close monitoring
is required mentoring is required demonstration of leadership skills are required
so generally we speak about three main ways of demonstrating leadership which involves
authoritarian leadership then lazy fair leadership and participative leadership so
authoritarian is also called as autocratic which means the project manager will become
hold that authority power with that power the project manager demonstrated this is
how it should be makes the decision so such power demonstration may be required when something needs to be influenced
strongly and direction is to be set and decision needs to be made but when it comes to
participative leadership when some problems needs to be resolved when people's involvement is required that
needs to be encouraged that is very essential reviewing or creating solutions that approach leadership style
is required but when it comes to lazy fair delegative approach so where there are specific domain experts
who will do it so assigned to them and then monitor review with them that is delegative approach so these three
leadership styles has to be demonstrated effectively while doing doing project resource management
so team will have their own dynamics so that needs to be understood and accordingly dealt with
so this knowledge area has around six processes that is plan resource management estimate activity
resources acquire resources develop team manage team and control resources so plan resource management and estimate
activity resources are part of planning process group acquire resources develop team and manage team are part of
executing process group whereas control resource is part of monitoring and control process group so next knowledge
area we are going to look at is project communication management so when we say project communication
firstly we need to understand what is this communication is all about so communication is used to convey
something to someone so there should be two parties the communicator and the one who receives it
means sender and receiver so very important here is when sender sends certain message
at the receiver's end how it is received is the meaning what is actually perceived
by a receiver is same as what is meant by the communicator means sender so this will become a big gap if what i told
versus what someone understood if there is a gap then the communication is not effective
so it is very essential to understand this dynamics communication should be very effective and based on that
communication there is always a resultant action so always communication will have two
parties minimum one is sender and receiver and in the receiver's perspective one is to understand who
would be the receiver generally when i say project manager project manager communicates with sponsor project
manager communicates with team members project manager communicates with customers
project manager communicates with other functions within organization suppliers or external to the
organization now each of these communications will have a specific objective and intention so project
manager should understand that and what sorts of vocabularies jargons which needs to be used while communicating the
words the communication methods which needs to be used the communication channel
the language the syntax understanding all of these will become very important while doing the communication in the
project so project communication management is the area that informs the team and stakeholders about the project
so the communication management system is determined along with how it is done and how often it is done how frequently
the communication has to be made so managing communication should also involve reviewing how effective the
communication is and how the regularly the modifications are being done to ensure the
communication is actually fulfilling the requirements of communication needs that needs to be discussed regularly and
looked at is that helping so it is very essential as the stakeholders are identified their communication
requirement should also identified and what communication why is that
communication how often how frequently the communication has to be made what channel what template which has to be
used and what language so all these needs to be understood signed off
so when you go and inform or sends a message to the sponsor it will have specific objective of that communication
similarly when you send it to team member specific objective here in this two aspect the frequency will change
the language will change the stakeholders to whom the communication is made by changes
and impact it has to create in that communication will also change so that needs to be understood the
project manager should be very sensitive about it so communication management plays very important role whereas 90
percent of the time project manager will be spending his effort and time in communicating if
that is not effective it is difficult to become successful in project management
now let us look at the processes in project communication management so there are three processes that is
plan communication management manage communications and monitor communications
so plan communication management is part of planning process group managed communication is part of
executing process group monitor communication is part of monitoring and control process groups
the next knowledge area is project risk management so when we use the term risk it's all
about an uncertainty what we're speaking about so every assignment we take up every initiative we do everything
involves risk similarly project also involves risk so risk which is termed as an uncertainty
of certain occurrence are both positive as well as negative the positive risk we call it as
opportunities whereas negative risk we call it as threats so each of this risk has to be treated certain way so before
you treat or decide on certain treatment of the risks identified risks needs to be analyzed so qualitative analysis
quantitative analysis has to be done and risk responses has to be planned so the project risk management is the knowledge
area which will identify how the risks are itemized categorized and prioritized in the risk register similarly risks are
prioritized and qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed so based on their impact on the project
the necessary response plan will be defined so risk has to be controlled by
reviewing the risk register regularly and removing the risk that no longer impact the project now the risk once
identified mainly risks are identified some set of risks are already identified captured in project charter whereas in
detail risks are identified during the planning associated with many different aspects
of the project the risk related to scope schedule time cost quality
resources maybe procurement stakeholders so risks are categorized accordingly and identified now this is not the list
which is made it is not an exhaustive list which is made in one go so this acts acts as a basic list as the
project progresses all these identified risks needs to be evaluated on continual basis and also new risks needs to be
identified regularly so that what are the kinds of risks which comes up are understood and then response plans are
accordingly taken so this helps in managing the risks effectively and efficiently
the processes involved in risk management knowledge area are plan risk management identify risk
perform qualitative risk analysis perform quantitative risk analysis and plan risk response which are part of
planning process group whereas implement risk response will be part of executing process group and
monitor risks this will be part of monitoring and controlled process group so when we say identify risk this is
when you identify the risk here and captured in the risk register and as i mentioned earlier this is not a
list which is exhaustive so at the moment whatever the risks are being identified
so these risks are analyzed now as part of this planning qualitatively as well as quantitatively
but the analysis of the risk assessing those risks should continue throughout the project life cycle
because the impact level of the risk would vary as it progresses throughout the project life cycle now
as we have a risk response plans defined and for some it is already implemented some you cannot implement you need to
make yourself ready to tackle the scenario of issues when it occurs when risk occurs you need to handle those so
have that capability built or having some contingency plans any of such actions are taken
and project should be ready means when risk occurs the impact occurred and i'm just okay with it that will not work so
project will get impacted it may escalate the cost it may delay the project closure many things it will
happen so proper analysis and then actions in time
right risk response plans can be implemented so for positive risk for opportunities
generally acceptance or exploit or taking advantage of that would be the kind of response we will
see for the negative risk the threats the kind of responses what we would see is
like avoid or have a contingency plan or mitigate the risk in terms of having some
measures implemented transfer risk is another thought which is certain so if someone says avoid risk
that behavior is called as risk average behavior someone who don't even take risk so
if i take up this i have the risk of so much so i will not even take up that such behaviors so those are the kinds of
risk responses may come across which needs to be implemented as part of executing process group
then whatever the plan whatever the implementation which has happened that needs to be monitored as part of
monitoring and control so next knowledge area for us is project procurement management
so when we say procurement so every project involves procuring something so a main decision which happens here is
make or buy decision so should i make it myself should i create myself within within the organization or
should i do something or purchase something so make or buy decision so when i decide i
am going to buy certain things from outside because we cannot make everything as part of our organization
because the direction of the business is totally different if i am a bank and i am doing an i.t
project i need not go and sit and start configuring a server so i need not hire people who configure
and then they come and sit here and i start managing them so my entire focus of banking services which i
need to focus on will go for toss i should not do that so ensure instead i'll give to an experts
so procurement of an i.t services from iit service provider i will do so to giving it to the experts rather than
doing myself which helps me to have that expertise coming to me so procurement management involves in identifying those
resources the products or services which needs to be procured to use in my project
so that i need not spend time on that so this involves identification of the suppliers having those subcontractors
right so they will have an engagement through a contract and monitoring and managing them and establishing a
relationship with them and engaging with them in appropriate way that is required it is very essential to be done in every
project so that way project procurement management would guide in terms of handling all the procurements what we do
from outside external to the organization so this knowledge area handles outside procurements like hiring
subcontractors outside needs of projects are identified and how much they are determined this
involves a statement of work terms of reference request for proposal and choosing a vendor so to do this bidder
conference happens floating request for proposals can happen request for quotation can happen
so many such actions are taken and the processes involved here are three mainly so plan procurement management which is
part of planning process group conduct procurement which is part of executing process group and control
procurement which is part of monitoring and control process group so the next knowledge area is project
stakeholder management so when we say stakeholder who is the stakeholder stakeholders are internal stakeholders
are external stakeholders are the one who influence stakeholders impact they will get impacted they are influenced so
likewise for every project every initiative organization takes there are
stakeholders for me for my project i need to identify all the stakeholders so now identification of stakeholder
engaging with stakeholder managing the stakeholders will become very essential so as part of this knowledge area
after identification of stakeholders the need of stakeholders needs to be understood so not every stakeholders are
identified will have very close to the project they are not in very close proximity to the project the
distance of the stakeholder from the project may be far still they may have an impacted because
of this we need to understand that if i am building a flyover construction of flyover is
happening obviously people living in the region will get impacted but they have no direct involvement in the project
however their cooperation is required so likewise as as we identify the stakeholders we need to understand
what kind of impact or influence that stakeholder will have on them or on the project from them this
needs to be analyzed so stakeholders needs to be identified their concerns need to be identified and must be
managed some stakeholders would come up with certain powers authorities so we need to understand that as well
so each of the stakeholders needs to be listed out their concerns prioritize based on their impact on the project
then the stakeholders need to be engaged and determine if their needs are being addressed if not what can be done to
rectify those if at all any issues exist so various stakeholder state also can exist there is a stakeholder who should
be very supportive in the project actively involved in the project but the stakeholder may be in an aware state so
we may require to engage with a stakeholder bring that
clarity explain and then ensure that stakeholder is supportive to the project some stakeholders may be
resistive some stakeholder may be neutral some stakeholder would be very supportive
unaware so various different state of stakeholders would exist but one needs to analyze what kind of state that
stakeholder should be in this project that needs to be discussed understood and then decide
so accordingly engagement should happen so stakeholder engagement plan needs to be defined very clearly so now here we
have four processes so one process in initiating process group that is identify stakeholder
then plan stakeholder engagement which happens in planning manage stakeholder engagement which is
executing process group and monitor stakeholder engagement is monitoring and control process group as
i mentioned in risk management in stakeholder management also identification of stakeholder analyzing
the way stakeholder engagement should happen and deciding that engagement this is very dynamic which has to happen
throughout the project life cycle and this is not one time register what we create like stakeholder register if you
create it is not one time register it is dynamic which gets updated throughout the lifecycle of the project and today
we will learn about pmp certification before we begin let's have a look at an incident where two project managers jon
and ted are talking to each other jon is a senior project manager while ted is a part of his team jon finds ted to be
upset so he asks him is there anything he can help him with to which ted replies that his project failed jon
further asks him what could be the possible reason for the project failure ted tells him that it's because he was
not able to manage the time and budget now jon asks him if he is pmp certified to which ted says he isn't then jon
suggested that he must take the pmp certification which will not only give his project better performance but also
help him upskill in his career so today we will discuss about pmp certification in detail let's first have a look at all
the topics we will cover we will begin with what is pmp then we will check top 10 reasons to get pmp certified followed
by the basics of pmp then after we know the pmp basic concepts we will check who can get the certification and pattern
for the pmp exam then we will learn about the pmbok guide which is an integral part to prepare for the pmp
exam finally we will see the cost and the validity of the certification so without any further ado let's begin with
what is pmp pmp or project management professional is the world's most renowned project management
certification for project managers this certification is provided by the project management institute now when we know
what is project management professional or pmp certification let's have a look at some reasons why you should get pmp
certified today i will give you top 10 reasons to take pmp certification pmp certification helps you become a better
project manager the process that helps us acquire the certification goes to several phases like gaining project
management experience and passing the pmp exam which helps you in bringing sanity to the project manager the
process helps project managers to learn different industry trends have practical knowledge and several other project
management constraints the second reason that we have is project management certification makes our resume more
valuable as we have discussed earlier that pmp certification is the most renowned project management
certification so having it on the resume will definitely help the interviewer recognize our skills there are companies
that only accept project managers who are pmp certified pmp certification not only helps in switching the job or
finding a new one it helps in progressing in the current company as well the third reason that we have is it
provides more job opportunities when one acquires the pmp certification it proves that one has expertise in completing the
project effectively and efficiently so the certification increases the trust factor of the interviewer in you and
increases your probability of getting that job the fourth reason that we have is salary hikes pmp certified project
manager is one of the highest paid jobs around the globe and this trend will continue to grow the global survey by
the project management institute shows that pmp certified project managers tend to get 20 percent more salary than the
non-certified project managers the next reason that we have is pmp certification validates your dedication to the job the
certification requires several months of training it requires several hours of project management experience and
exposure this experience and exposure explains the seriousness of a project manager towards its career path then
sixth we have is pmp certification is globally acknowledged pmp certification is the most renowned certification all
over the world it helps project managers to be a part of different types of industries all over the globe pmp
certification is the most renowned certification all over the world project managers who are pmp certified may get
jobs in different types of industries all over the world pmp certification not only provides theoretical knowledge but
also helps in gaining practical knowledge which further helps in increasing the confidence of a project
manager the next reason that we have is better project performance pmp certified project managers tend to deliver better
projects than the non-pmp certified project managers this is because pmp certified project managers are well
aware of 5 process groups 10 knowledge areas and 49 processors which helps them have a clear picture of different
aspects involved in a project the eighth reason that we have is it increases your networking opportunities there are
several communities that one becomes a part of when they sign up as a pmi member these communities have meetings
regarding new job opportunities and this helps in having a professional network the ninth reason that we have is job
security job security is a major reason that a professional thinks off before opting for a particular profession today
in the world of recession where companies are drowning the demand for pmp certified project managers goes on
increasing the last and the 10th reason we have is expertise in practical application when one appears for a pmp
exam they need extensive preparation they need to have thorough knowledge of process groups and knowledge areas which
help them develop several essential skills and move ahead in their career now as we move further we will look into
the pmp basic concepts the pmp basic concepts are the five project management steps these project management steps
start from the day we begin our project to the day we end our project they begin from initiation to closure the first
step that we have is initiation planning execution monitoring and controlling and closure now let's have a look at each of
them in detail the first step we have is initiation initiation involves defining the project scope this is the step where
we explain what our project will have for whom we are making that project it helps us to identify our stakeholders
who all will be the part of that project and determine the project feasibility after this step of initiation when we
have decided the scope of our project the second step that comes is planning in the planning phase we define a flow
to all the activities of a project we define this flow keeping in mind all the constraints of a project like time
resources and risk after we have defined the flow of these processes it is time for us to look at the execution in the
execution phase we evaluate the plan and the sequence of the tasks we have made we finally put the plan in action and
the project tends to start after the project building has started and the process of execution has started it is
time for the monitoring and the controlling phase in monitoring and controlling phase the progress of the
project is tracked and important steps for quality assurance are taken in monitoring and controlling phase the
work being done is compared with the work as defined in the project plan in this phase the progress of the project
is tracked and important steps for quality assurance are taken finally we have the closure step in this step the
deliverables are delivered to the client the documentation of all that took place during the project lifecycle is done and
project is fully evaluated now when we have seen reasons for getting pmp certified and we know the basic concepts
of pmp it is time for us to know who can get pmp certified for getting pmp certified there can be two cases the
first case says you must have a secondary degree a secondary degree means high school diploma or an
associate degree or a degree that is globally equivalent to all of these then you need to have 7 500 hours of leading
and directing projects and 3 500 hours of project management education there can be two cases first case can be you
must have a secondary degree that means a high school diploma associates degree or the global equivalent degree then you
must have 7 500 hours of project management experience and 35 hours of education in project management the
second case can be you must have a four-year degree along with 4 500 hours of project management experience and 35
hours of education in project management now when we know who can get pmp certified we will see the pmp exam
pattern the exam comprises of 200 questions out of which 175 questions are used for evaluation one can answer these
questions if they have thorough knowledge of five process groups and ten knowledge areas the time provided to
complete the exam is four hours the questions that are asked are of different types the most common type
being formula based situation based and knowledge based now when we have discussed about the exam pattern
discussing about the pmbok guide becomes very important so the next topic that we have is pmbok guide pmbok guide or
project management body of knowledge is a book that comprises of several processes and different terminologies
needed to crack the pmp exam the whole syllabus of pmp exam is covered in the pmbok guide by the project management
and 10 knowledge areas apart from this there are 49 processes that are divided amongst 5 process groups 10 knowledge
areas finally let's have a look at the cost and validity of the pmp certification when we talk about the
cost of the certification there can be two cases the first case can be if we are not a member of project management
institute the exam fees is 555 us dollars the second case can be if we are a member of project management institute
the exam fees is 405 us dollars if we talk about the validity of the certification a certificate is valid for
a period of three years after every three years the certificate needs to be renewed to renew the certificate one
needs to furnish a proof of 60 pdus or professional development units after so much information that thanks john for
his time and promises to take the pmp certification at the shortest notice now let's have a look at the salary trends
of a pmp certified project manager and a sample resume if we consider the salary of a non-pmp certified project manager
it is approximately ninety one thousand dollars while if we consider the salary of a pmp certified project manager it is
approximately one hundred eleven thousand dollars which is approximately twenty percent higher than the
non-certified project managers salary now let's have a look at the resume of a pmp certified project manager if you are
somebody with pmp certification and looking for a project manager or a senior project manager role your resume
should look something like this the summary in the beginning would include how much experience you have and
anything that supports your claim of being a project manager like here james brown has written he has more than 10
years of experience with generating and building projects then when you talk about your experience you should put
something that emphasizes on the responsibilities that you had your area of expertise put something that shows
your skill set for the desired post and also something that you learn from your former job role this shows that you have
command over your work and also the determination to skill and upskill yourself like here james brown has three
years of experience as an assistant manager training new associates and then more than three years of experience as a
project manager where he not only led projects but also learned new project management tools like trello and
primavera after this add relevant information regarding your education your resume must include skills that you
have or you have gained in your years of experience like here james brown has divided his skills into two parts where
he has written his technical skills and non-technical skills he has included a skill of agile and quality assurance
software as well as he has his knowledge of different project management tools then putting your certifications play a
major role this proves that you are up to date and updated with current market trends james brown has his
certifications in c and java and more importantly he has his project management certification project
management professional in this session we will discuss about project manager roles and responsibilities let's first
have a look at all the topics we will be covering today first we will see who is a project manager then we will check the
roles and responsibilities of a project manager moving forward we will analyze the salary of a project manager and the
steps that will help us become a project manager finally we will see a project manager's resume so without any further
ado let's get started with who is a project manager project manager in simple words is a professional who
manages the project project manager plays an integral role from the first phase of the project life cycle to the
last phase of project life cycle this individual is a part of all the activities that produce the final
deliverables and strive towards the success of the project now let's consider some must have skills of a
project manager first we have is strong communication skills the communication skills help the project manager to
communicate the organization's mission and vision to the team members in a clear concise manner these communication
skills help project manager to explain their thoughts and requirements to customers and stakeholders the next we
have is effective leadership skills that helps in forming a team of skilled professionals and lead them in the best
possible manner the next skill that a project manager must have is a team management skill as a project manager it
is very important to know how to manage your team to achieve a common goal with complete harmony a project manager must
have strong negotiation skills as project managers have to negotiate at each and every step this negotiation
might be with the customers stakeholders or team members these negotiation skills become of utmost importance when project
members get into a fight or an argument then we have critical thinking this is what makes a project manager more
effective and efficient in project management this thinking capability is needed to take difficult steps talk to
stakeholders and resolve several issues throughout the course of the project the last skill that a project manager must
have is risk management skill handling a project is an important step but what is equally important is risk management
this is the process required to identify analyze and respond to the risk factors throughout the project life cycle now
when we know who a project manager is we must have a look at the roles and responsibilities of a project manager
the first and foremost role of a project manager is to set up a project scope check its feasibility and determine the
resources that are needed to satisfy the project scope second role that a project manager has is the development of a
project plan according to the project scope the plan is needed to encourage the team to hard work with all their
dedication next a project manager is supposed to set deadlines for the project deliverables he or she is
supposed to manage time as a priority and communicate with the team at regular intervals next important role is to
analyze track and control the budget of the project project manager has to make sure that the project does not run out
of budget and is optimized as possible moving forth effective communication is one of the most important skill of a
project manager he she is supposed to maintain communication with all the stakeholders throughout the project then
we have is the identification and evaluation of risk in a project project manager must take steps to minimize the
effect of risk in a project the next role of a project manager is to track and control the performance of the team
this helps in yielding the best outputs with the least number of resources last role a project manager must have is to
provide reports and documentation of all the steps involved in project management this helps in future projects and makes
sure that the mistakes that happened in the project will not happen again in ongoing projects now it's time for us to
check the salary of a project manager the data shows that an average salary of a project manager in india is
approximately 14 lakh rupees per annum while the average salary of a project manager in united states is 83
215 dollars per year the next important thing we must learn is how can we get a project manager's job there are four
important steps that one must fulfill to become a project manager the first step is to have a bachelor's degree it is
important for a person to be a graduate one can hold a bachelor's degree in any area of interest like marketing computer
science or even engineering this entirely depends on the type of project manager one wants to be the second
important step is gaining project management experience this means that a person must have experience in leading
and directing projects project management experience helps in taking different project management
certifications which further help in having a good paying job the third essential step is to learn project
management tools there are different project management tools for different area of interest these tools help in
quick and efficient management of work project management tools are used widely by organizations now learning these
tools will increase the chances of getting selected in one of those organizations the fourth and the last
step is getting project management certified project management certifications help an individual to
increase the value of their certification and validates their dedication to the job nowadays several
organizations have made it compulsory for a project manager to be project management certified there may be
several project management certifications out of which project management professional certification or
pmp certification is one of the most common and widely accepted certifications the project management
institute or the pmi predicts that there will be 22 million new project management jobs by the year 2027 now
it's time for us to know how a resume of an aspiring project manager looks like if you are somebody looking for a
project manager role or a senior project manager role then your resume should look something like this the summary in
the beginning would include how much experience you have and anything that supports your claim of being a project
manager like here james brown has written he has more than 10 years of experience with generating and building
projects then when you talk about your experience you should put something that emphasizes on the responsibilities that
you had in your area of expertise put something that shows your skill set for the desired post and also something that
you learn from your former job role this shows that you have command over your work and also the determination to
upskill yourself like here james brown has three years of experience as an assistant manager where he trained new
associates and then three years of experience as a project manager where he not only led projects but also learned
new project management tools like trello and primavera after this add relevant information regarding your education
your resume must include skills that you have or you have gained in your years of experience like here james brown has
divided his skills in two parts where he has written his technical skills and non-technical skills he has included his
skill of agile and quality assurance software as well as he has his knowledge of different project management tools
like trello and primavera then putting your certifications play a major role this proves that you are up to date and
updated with current market trends james brown has a certifications in c and java and more importantly he has his project
management certification in project management professional or pmb here as part of this video we are going to look
at few possible questions which one would face while going through an interview this will help them to prepare
for interview and also help to understand what kind of questions would come across when they face the interview
in addition to that these questions also has an insight towards the role of project management
itself so let us look at one by one question number one how do you define a
project so as per the pmis pmbok sixth edition a project is a temporary endower
undertaken to create a unique product service or results the temporary nature of projects
indicates that a project has a definite beginning and end so when we say this temporary end over undertaken to create
a unique product service or results each project will have a definite start date and end date
once the project team is formed once the project objectives are achieved so the team which is formed the human resources
which are onboarded to a project so those are disseminated sent back to their respective functions or
departments and project will be concluded as complete so project can be simple or complex and
may be managed by a single person or a group of them so every project will have a life cycle so from beginning to end
it starts and end where it acquires lot of resources where it will divide the project life cycle into multiple stages
or phases where project is being done and deliverables will happen through the milestones during that life cycle
so projects are often broken into small tasks to utilize teams trends and increase productivity
question number two what is a project charter so project charter is a short document
that explains the entire project so this will become a basic document which will be given to a project manager so that a
project manager can understand what is a project management is all about so this document would include the
objectives of the project how will they be carried out who are the stakeholders
identification of risks advantages of the project and the budget so project charter plays an integral while planning
the project as a plan is something that is used in all the phases of project life cycle
it is very essential because it provides all the necessary insights a project manager is needed while taking up the
project after getting the project charter the first job a project manager supposed to
do is to identify the stakeholders even though project charter will have a basic list of stakeholders so project manager
has to contact those stakeholders establish the list of stakeholders for the project understand the requirements
in detail and further move towards planning what is meant by scope of the project
so project scope is most essential part of project planning that helps in determining the list of specific project
goals or deliverables so when we say this project will have a definite unique
deliverable which has to be created so this will have a specific description of the specification as well as the
features functionalities of the deliverable so to accomplish that features
functionality of that output what we are going to create as a result of a project within a project lot of activities are
done the processes the tools the resources which are utilized for the project all falls under this scope
so when we say the term scope it is very important for us to understand the scope of a project versus scope of the product
the scope of the project involves all those processes resources and activities what we do to accomplish the result
whereas product scope is the one which we speak about the result itself the features functionalities of that result
itself so one needs to understand the difference between this project scope and product scope and define accordingly
so this will help in identification of the project's output and why that output is created and how
these particular product or services or results will help organization or business to accomplish their objectives
this should be the basic understanding a project manager should have so it includes everything that is to be
achieved by the project which means all those results what needs to be achieved all those value which has to be created
by the results so we need to keep in mind the result itself is not the ultimate objective of an organization it
is not instead the result will help organization to accomplish their objectives for example if you take in hr
department if they introduce an intranet portal for claim processing so the application what is created as
part of the exercise of initiative where my employees should submit their claims through a specific portal now that is to
reduce the time the processing duration as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of the processed claim
what is submitted so this is an outcome so keeping that outcome the objective
this portal is created that portal itself has the features and functionalities which project will focus
and create that results so through that result organization would accomplish their objectives that should be kept in
mind so understanding the scope is essential so
while understanding the scope also need to understand how this particular output the product results is going to add
value to the business what is the outcome of that that is also very important to understand one is
understanding the scope ensuring the project is delivered within that scope and all that required to be done to
accomplish that scope has to be done and only that not anything more than that not anything
lesser than that what is project life cycle as i was mentioning during the question
three there is a project scope so project itself has a life cycle so this project scope falls under this
project life cycle so project life cycle refers to the beginning and end of the project so
there is a life so you initiate a project trigger a project project is actually started and as it starts it
progresses creating the results and then it ends project can end in various different
scenarios one is by accomplishing the objective of the project the ultimate results the deliverable it creates and
then ends our project may also get closed prematurely so we are not going to look at the why the project is going
to close prematurely at the moment our idea is to understand what is project life cycle and to visualize that
so this entire span of time the project spends from the beginning to end it involves various different stages or
phases whatever the term you want to call it and in each of these stages or phases there is a milestone
deliverables which are measured and that will be part of the ultimate deliverable what is going to be delivered as a
result of a project so it involves all the activities all the processes all
the resources which needs to be acquired managed and then the results needs to be accomplished ultimately
so here in the project life cycle it involves five process groups which
mainly focuses on different different activities and dynamics of the project which we call it as an initiation
process group planning process group execution process group
monitoring and controlling process group and closure process group so during initiation process group the
creation of a project charter appointment of the project manager and identification of this key stakeholder
will be done this can be initiation of the project as a whole or as a part of a specific stage
or a phase now all this process group what i mentioned initiation planning execution
monitoring closure all of these process groups can be looked at their involvement in the entire project life
cycle at the same time it can also be seen as part of a single phase so each of the process groups are
applicable like initiation of a project if i say similarly initiation of a stage or a phase
so the planning process group involves the process of creating the plan for achieving the project's objectives so
this would create the detailed plan for entire project or a skeleton plan for a project if it is a agile or rolling wave
project if that approach is taken like rolling wave or progressive elaboration or agile approaches then the skeleton of
the project plan is created if waterfall approach is taken it's quite obvious the comprehensive the detail project plan
will be created project management plan is also involved in this now in addition to this as you progress
in the project for each stage or a phase there needs to be a plan which is detailed further compared to the project
plan itself which will become ultimately part of big plan of a project the execution process groups involves
the project management processes for identification allocation and management of resources
required for executing the project deliverables so here the actual execution happens
being a project manager the focus should be on managing the project so many a time i have seen project manager is
going and doing tasks looking at the task level transaction level which was not project management thought
so one needs to ensure the project management is not about deliverables in terms of doing the tasks
it's about getting the deliverables from the team so active involvement in terms of
acquiring the resources checking whether the accomplishment of results has happened needs to be done throughout the
project life cycle so it's all about directing and managed project works and at the same time managing the knowledge
which is acquired during the project life cycle the monitoring and controlling process
groups involves the process for project manager to monitoring and controlling the project
now this involves reviewing this involves creation of reports this involves concluding yes project has
delivered or not delivered identification of the deviations and initiating with the change request for
necessary corrections so monitoring and control will be done throughout the project life cycle and only with an
effective monitoring and control we can see the success in a project so the closure process group involves
the process which is required for formally closing the project where everything including what went wrong and
what went right all through the project is summed up so here especially in the closing
process group we will not focus on acceptance of the deliverable instead we'll focus on sign
off capturing lessons learned all the formalities which needs to be completed as part of a closure
then where are we going to accept the deliverables this happens in monitoring and controlling so while doing the
monitoring and controlling we will validate validate against what is planned comparing with what is being
delivered so when you compare both one would understand what is delivered versus what actually was planned
so their acceptance happens once the acceptance happens there only then the project moves towards closure project or
phase either of that so when we say closure process group it involves the process for a closure of that face
whether accomplishment of all the objectives all the deliverables of the phase is done or not is checked if it is
a phase if it is a project in the project perspective if everything is complete is
checked and then it moves to closing process group where the lessons learnt the formal sign
off everything will run as part of this closing process group what is the importance of process groups
so process groups are set of processes that are applicable to various stages of the project as i mentioned earlier each
of the processes has a defined set of inputs and produced defined outputs by applying
a set of tools and techniques on the input the initiation process groups involves
the processes needed to initiate the project that is develop project charter and identify stakeholders the two
processes the project charter will be handed over to the project manager and formal declaration of appointment of the
project manager will be done further project manager has to identify the key stakeholders and take forward the
project as per the direction set in the project charter so in this group in this process group
initiation process group it is a formal declaration of appointment of project manager to the project but one needs to
remember should not get confused in real time we see an individual who is about to become a project manager for a
project sits and create a project charter we have seen that in reality so does it mean that what is told here
is wrong compared to what is practiced that is not the idea many organization thinks if we involve the project manager
to be project manager of a project while creating the project charter itself the level of information the detail that
person will have about a project will be more compared to a person we will become a project manager after ending over the
project charter so there is a difference the person takes the project charter and become aware of the project that is one
scenario the person actively involved in creating a project charter and then become a project manager that is better
scenario where the person will be more informed but ultimately the accountability of a project charter lies
with the sponsor formal declaration of appointment of project manager confirmation of that
happens only when project charter is approved and handed over to the person who is to be project manager so that's
where actual initiation of project happens then project manager can move out and
start identifying the stakeholders and start collecting the details of the stakeholders the requirements and
stakeholders cannot give all the requirements comes coming to their mind they need to restrict to those project
detailing what needs to be provided the planning process group defines the detail plan of the project which
involves the planning for scope time cost quality resource risk procurement stakeholders communication
and integration of all these subsidiary plans each of this plan like scope management plan schedule management plan
cost management plan quality management plan resource management plan risk management plan procurement management
plan stakeholder engagement plan communication management plan so all these plans are called as subsidiary
plans so all these plans are integrated and detailed project management plan will be created so this involves various
tools and techniques like expert judgment meetings analogous estimation parametric estimation decomposition part
critical path method depending on the specific area which has been focused on while planning for
example expert judgment is a common technique used across all the areas like scope time cost quality all of these
nine areas knowledge areas which i was mentioning expert judgment meetings are mostly seen as a technique used during
each of these planning whereas when it comes to critical path method so critical path method is about
scheduling so we will see the technique only in mostly schedule management similarly if i speak about decomposition
we see that in scope management so likewise there are specific techniques which are specific to a specific
knowledge areas which we need to identify as we go through the entire framework itself
similarly there are common techniques used across the knowledge areas which if you can identify that common techniques
which are used across knowledge areas it is easy for us to remember and recall those similarly specific techniques for
a specific knowledge area the execution process group involves the processes to direct and manage the
project works the active involvement of the members of the team is seen performing their tasks to execute the
project works although the project plan is finalized there may be changes in requirements that come from the
stakeholders which are considered for further modifications so actual involvement of team delivering something
acquiring the team onboarding the team onboarding the supplier
identification of them doing the bidder conference engaging with stakeholders
all this action should happen so because the main focus of execution process group in project management perspective
is directing and managing project work and managing the project knowledge which is very very important
the monitoring and controlling process group refers to tracking and reviewing the progress and performance of the
project the process of monitoring and controlling is continually performed throughout the project lifecycle
so here i think as i mentioned earlier as well so it is very essential for us to understand whether project has
delivered all those required deliverables or not are the deliverables are fulfilling all
the features and functionality which are defined during the planning that validation should happen any deviations
are found change requests arised and these change requests are approved once it is approved then it comes to
integrated change control process through which changes are executed then the closing process group involves
assembling a report of all procedures throughout the project life cycle the closing process group marks the formal
closure of the project and completion of its deliverables now let us move to the next question
so question number six name 10 knowledge areas as mentioned in the pmbok so the 10 knowledge areas are project
integration management project scope management project schedule management project cost management project quality
management project resource management project communications management project risk management project
procurement management and project stakeholder management the project integration management basically focuses
on unification and integration of all the project to manage it in an integrated way a project manager is also
called as an integrator which means a project manager should have a end-to-end visibility of the project so all the
rest of the nine knowledge areas the plan which is created as part of all the next nine knowledge areas
those are consolidated and a comprehensive project management plan will be created in project integration
management so this is the only knowledge area where we see the processes in all the process groups whereas in the rest
of the knowledge areas if you see we don't see any processes in initiating process group except stakeholder
management so integration management has one process similarly stakeholder management
has one process in initiation process group similarly in closing process group only integration management has a
process no other knowledge areas has any processes so this is the only knowledge area where
we find processes in all the process groups which means it is very important to look at a project in an end-to-end
view perspective a full view of a project should be known to the project management only the project manager can
become successful in doing the project management the next knowledge area project scope management which focuses
on ensuring collecting requirements defining scope creating work breakdown structures
and scope baseline so scope management focuses on ensuring the necessary scope is defined and provided so that during
execution projects are delivered accordingly and monitoring controlling of the scope the validation of the scope
will be based on what is defined in the planning what is planned as part of scope management
similar to scope management in schedule management once that work breakdown structure is created it is very
essential to understand what it takes in terms of efforts what it takes in terms of duration and in what sequence project
deliverables are completed in what sequence activities are done so schedule management focuses on that the
critical the important technique what we use when it comes to schedule management is critical path method so in a given
project when we establish a network diagram so we may see multiple paths from beginning to end of the project so
some paths will be the longest path which is called as critical path and that will be the minimum time which is
required to complete the project so schedule management plan provides us a detailed schedule of a project along
with sequencing and duration and at the same time that is considered as a scheduled baseline
then the cost management so when we say cost it is very essential for us to understand it is an outgoing money
outgoing monetary value so projects incurs cost when i say project incurs cost there needs an investment from the
organization who is actually doing this project so the cost needs to be assessed means
an approximation of the cost needs to be done a budget has to be allocated to the project and within that budget the
project needs to be completed it cannot go beyond that so budget is established allocation of budget and confirmation of
budget happens and cost perspective monitoring of the project happens based on what is that specific budget it has
within that project has to done that will become a baseline cost based line so to measure the cost and schedule a
technique called earned value management is used well the terminology like cost performance index scheduled performance
index actual cost earned value planned value budgeted completion estimate to complete
so these are the terminologies which are used as part of earned value management now let us move to quality management
project quality management so it is very essential for us to ensure all the processes all the activities all
the templates defined for the project are complied with that is first thing while doing the project during the
project life cycle similarly the deliverables which comes out of a project at the end of the project or at
the end of the specific phase or specific stage or specific milestone so those deliverables should be according
to the specifications defined and agreed upon so quality management focuses on establishing that quality management
approach so that project compliance is maintained at the same time the results what is delivered is as per the
specification what is agreed the resource management focuses on ensuring all the resources which are required for
the project are acquired configured installed if it is a technology resources if it is a human resources the
necessary induction of the project the brainstorming required for team to understand what is the project is all
about is given and the necessary skills and capabilities are there with those human resources and these team members
execute the task of the project so project resource management plays very important role
and now here when we say scope when we say schedule when we say cost when we quality in each of this in other
knowledge areas as well the involvement of each of these resources are essential so what
resources gets into scope management what resources gets into schedule management what into cost likewise for
each of the knowledge areas we see various different resources used when i say in schedule management effort has to
be established while we establish an effort it is also required to understand what is the skills and capabilities
required so schedule management definitely work very close with resource management similarly this each of this
resource comes with cost so obviously cost management is involved then quality yes so who is going to do the quality
management so roles and responsibilities needs to be clearly articulated defined if it is a human resource in resource
management coming to communication management so communication i think plays very important role as we know
90 percent of the time project manager spends on communications many times we see project managers like
look only communicating many team members have told me mentioning that project manager only does communication
project manager only ask questions now this impression to the team gets created because they only see what
project manager is doing is communication because team comes in when everything is done everything is set
right so that they see project manager during the monitoring and control mainly not during initiation not during
planning not during closure so many team member comes and goes during the project they only see project managers reviewing
and asking the questions so because of this they assume project manager only communicates project manager only ask
questions but it is very important to ask questions but there is a perspective and objective behind it which already
project manager is involved and created like a plan like signing off coordinating with stakeholders
understanding requirements many things has done in all these areas communication is involved so it plays
very vital role so then project risk management every initiatives organizations takes every investment
organization does there is a risk so already the identified risks are evaluated and project is taken up by the
organization which means the business has already understood what is the risk associated with this particular project
considering that they have taken up a project but while doing this project while doing the project management lot
of risk comes across project manager should keep identifying the risk assessing the risk analyzing the risks
qualitatively and quantitatively depending on the level of impact of the risk so risk means we already know it is
uncertainty of certain occurrence an outcome it may be positive or negative positive you can take advantage of that
you exploit it you enhance it whereas negative risk you mitigate you respond you will have response plans like
accepting those or transferring it sharing it transferring means you outsource or you
take an insurance so that is negative risk responses next the project procurement management the projects
would involve certain procurement so we need to ensure for this project what is that i am creating myself and using it
what is that i am going to procure from external suppliers so whichever we decided in make or buy decisions
whichever we have decided that we need to procure from elsewhere so procurement management plays a very
important role here so identification of what needs to be procured what quantity we need to procure who would be the best
supplier what are the criterias while selecting the suppliers you may float an rfp a proposal request will be respond
which will come in you may float a bit when you evaluate the best vendor or supplier you on board them then you
start issuing a po formally for them to supply and then procurement happens so end to end management of the supplier
right from overloading the suppliers doing the bidder conference establishing an agreement and then engaging with them
for reviewing their performance all these are involved as part of procurement management the 10th
knowledge area the project stakeholder management so stakeholder means any entity or individual who involves in the
project directly or indirectly they are impacted they influence the project and they get influenced so very importantly
if you think about the stakeholders we can think about customers we can think about sponsor we can think about team
members suppliers who plays very vital role in the success of the project so engaging with the stakeholders managing
the stakeholders plays very important roles and if every nine knowledge areas there is something which are done right
but something wrong done with the stakeholder management entire project may go for toss so one needs to be very
careful understanding the dynamics associated with each of these 10 knowledge areas and then dealt with them
accordingly and integration management would integrate all of this as i mentioned earlier so that end-to-end
visibility of the project can be seen so that is about 10 knowledge areas mentioned in pmbok
the next question question number seven why is the project planning considered as the most significant step in project
lifecycle the project planning is more significant this will provide all the baseline plans like as we saw in the
previous question scope baseline cost baseline schedule baseline so all the baselines required
which will be referred right each of the baselines are considered based on these baselines project needs to be executed
now many deviations to this baseline plans need to have a formal approval for necessary corrections so already we know
there are nine types of subsidiary plans for all the nine knowledge areas scope schedule cost quality resource risk
procurement communication and stakeholder these are the nine knowledge areas which will have a subsidiary plans
which will get integrated in integration management so without having a clear plan clear directions so execution will
not have any specific direction to take so you cannot measure the deliverables so what to do when to do
who will do all these are defined as part of the planning and that plays a very important thing so if you look at
the entire framework of pmp most of the processes out of 49 processes we can see in planning process group almost like 24
processes out of 49 50 percent of the processes almost can be seen in planning process group which itself indicates how
important the planning process group and planning activity for a project so why the project plan is considered
most significant let us look at few more points so one is it provides visibility in terms of what project is all about
what is that we are going to deliver and what kind of results are we going to create what is that we are aiming for we
get a better visibility so next increases employee satisfaction because there is no confusion each team member
understand what needs to be delivered and what is that performance of the team members how it is measured is also
visible and that is happening in reality because you cannot deviate on what is being planned so that should happen in
actual execution as well so obviously employees are not confused now the team members are not confused they are
delivering it according to what is planned and it is easy for them also because it is a better visibility
and they have a clarity about it next is quality assurance and control so as we know quality management is one
of the knowledge areas so doing timely audits testing all the deliverables compliance checks so all these ensures
the approach what we are selected covering all of this ensures the project is delivered as we planned then reduces
project risk because all the risks are identified we have understood what are the risks are and we keep identifying
the risk and analyzing those and when we see risk there is one unique nature of risk where exactly the risk occurs
accordingly the impact to the projects will be there for example when i start a project if there is a risk associated
with human resources which i am not even on board non-availability of a specific resource very less impact but when i am
on board a resource and then project execution is happening and execution is at peak
now what happens it is quite obvious risk impact will be higher compared to
the risk which would have occurred in the beginning of the project so meaning as we progress in the life cycle of a
project the identified risk will have an impact differently at the different parts of the life cycle depending on the
nature of the risk and state of the project so since it is visible to us we have a risk management knowledge area
which emphasizes on doing all of this so since we are doing it it will become visible for us to have effective risk
management so next question when is stakeholder analysis performed already we know stakeholder means an
entity or individuals who involve directly or indirectly who get influenced will get impacted are all
called as stakeholders understanding who are those stakeholders who are basically straight in terms of having impact or
impacted so we need to identify them and manage them we may have a stakeholder like competition to our organization but
do we really manage them not required we might require to be sensitive what competition is doing is this project is
unique so that the details of this project the information on about this project is not
leak to the competition is not shared with competition in that sensitivity you need to ensure monitoring it you need
not manage the competition here but you need to monitor what is happening relating to competition similarly
stakeholder like team member so you are required to manage them you cannot just keep monitoring you need to manage them
so that they can be the results which is required to be created has created now next is customer if you say you need
to engage with them you need to discuss with them you need to review with them that customer is getting what customers
ask for right so stakeholder may be anyone who is affected because of project
stakeholder analysis plays an important role to identify and analyze their needs right so the analysis is generally
performed whenever there is a need of any clarifications over quantitative and qualitative data the clarification helps
in understanding the interest of the stakeholders which plays a vital role in the success of the project as i
mentioned earlier so next question for us what is the role of stakeholder in project management
so stakeholder as we know refers to any organization or entity that can have any positive or negative effect due to
project because their interests are most important their positive impact need to
be kept in mind while any negative impact need to minimize while planning for executing any activity during the
project so it is very important to understand the stakeholder perspective view
next question what are some essential features to be kept in mind while choosing a project management tool
so project management tools basically assist the project manager and the project team in doing the project
effectively and i think efficient way of doing project is also ensured
because many processes are automated and the transaction will become easier the
collaboration become easier creation of dashboards and reports which will provide the visibility of the
performance of the project so let us look at some of the essential features required by project management
tools so risk management just now we discussed about risk management and its importance if a project management tool
assist while identifying and managing risk because when we identify risk we update those in a risk register so if
tool has established risk register where we can keep inputting this particular risks and keep alerting the specific
details about we have a frequency of analyzing the risk repeatedly the identified risk so informing us
reminding us telling that this calendar is like this you may require to analyze those that will help in making
it better right risk assessment as well as updates in terms of managing the risk also lessons learned earlier some risks
which of similar kind which are identified are managed like this so let's start recalling those
coming to resource management so tool can able to help us in terms of calculating the expenditures and
distribute them among the tasks so that it is helpful in terms of better management of resources as well as the
cost associated with that then dependencies milestones and critical path
so most of the project management tools what we have come across minimum they will have this capability establishing a
gantt chart helping in terms of establishing a network diagram which will provide us a visibility in terms of
what is that the project flow would be how the project flow would go on and how the project is going to complete what
are the activities dependent on each other so what are the relationship between each of the tasks what are the
milestone deliverables duration of the project what are those activities happening in parallel so visually
graphical representation it would give so it should also minimize simplify the tool should have
that capability it should also have a minimal interfaces or ease of doing things like drag and drop interfaces so
ease functionalities maintaining smooth maintenance and support which it can help us in terms of doing a project
management better so basically tools helps us in terms of assisting to have efficient and
effective project management so all the information should be handy so that it is there with us always so
third party integration like a tool must be able to help us in terms of collaborating with other tools which
would help us in sharing information it would help us in terms of for providing better visibility
any other tools which are there in the organization if i'm speaking about documentation records sharing or any of
the reports or creation of the dashboards these are the capabilities which what tool can have and at the same
time this can have an interface with other tools like dropbox google drive which will help in have a better
visibility and better collaboration so agile workflow system when we say the functions features functionality of this
particular tool should help us becoming agile so moving faster means quick inputs and feedbacks given because when
we say agile we are moving faster when we are moving faster there should be quick feedbacks which should be coming
back so that necessary corrections can be made quickly so to do this if tool can assist us in
providing those details of increased flexibility and transparency so that would help in
becoming more productive then dashboards to manage projects dashboards which will provide what is
complete what is not complete what is the status of the project how is the performance so this would help in having
a quick visibility into the performance of the project and also the progress of the project to track them so that what
is complete what is not complete and how it is progressing is it ahead of schedule behind schedule is it within
budget or over budget the visibility to that will always help in terms of getting better project
management done then customizable workflows so the tool should be able to adapt to the unique
process to track work progression so then if it provides a mobile application integration so better to have team to
know what is the status of it anytime anywhere so that ease of moving forward faster in the project management and
making decisions will become easier because always having right information in right time with the right people is
very essential so that decision making can be more informed and quicker then collaborate easily the tool should
enable user to share documents files status timelines and tasks with ease and quickly with many people then delegating
tasks easily you should be able to delegate tasks assign roles and then ensure they have access to the right
information so that's all about tools now we'll move to the next
question so what do you think is the difference between projects programs and portfolio
so this looks like a very generic question which is asked by any individuals during their interview
but even though this question doesn't focus on project in specific it is very essential for project manager to
understand the difference between these three so that hope to ask for what will be known to the project manager so the
definition of project is like a temporary end over it's an activity that is used to create a unique product
service or results we saw that we understood already whereas program is a collection of related projects which are
managed as group to achieve better effectiveness and efficiency so when which you don't get when you manage a
project individually if you group it and manage you can share resources you can optimize
the resources and cost you can standardize that you can achieve through program management so portfolio
management is again a group of projects and programs which may be related unrelated but strategic objective
accomplishing strategic objectives of the organization is very essential so all these projects and programs and
other related works are grouped together with the common strategic objective organization
so the project manager versus program manager versus portfolio managers what do they do so project manager expects
change and implements processes to manage and control the project in terms of accomplishing the project objective
whereas program manager expects changes from inside and outside the program to provide strategic benefits as i
mentioned earlier like standardization optimization so portfolio manager monitors changes in the overall context
of the strategic plan of the organization is this projects or programs or whatever
we do in this organization are they aligned to strategic objectives are they helping to accomplish the strategic
objectives so project managers manages and coordinate the team to ensure success
whereas program manager manages the program staff and the project manager providing leadership and vision the
portfolio manager may coordinate or manage the portfolio management staff then monitoring part of it project
manager monitors and controls tasks to produce the products results or services of the project whereas program manager
monitors the progress of components to lead the program to success portfolio manager manages the aggregated portfolio
performance and value indicators so planning part of it project manager develops monitors and controls project
plans throughout the project life cycle whereas program manager develops the program plan and performs high level
planning to guide component level planning whereas portfolio managers perform plannings at a portfolio level
the scope the project manager will develop monitor and control throughout the lifecycle of the project whereas
program manager has a program which has a wider scope aimed at meeting the benefits and goals of the organization
whereas portfolio has a scope that changes with change in the strategic plan and goals of the organization
so why the strategic goals or plans would change the directions would change that has various different reasons maybe
business scenario market conditions etc the success of the project is based on time taken to finish the project the
budget within which it is completed the scope the customer satisfaction the quality defines the success whereas the
program success is measured in terms of benefits it delivered as it expected from the
program then the portfolio success is the aggregated performance of all its components programs and projects
question number 12 what are the skills a project manager must possess
typically a project manager would require to have effective communication skills so communication skills help in
terms of establishing better relationship because it plays a vital role there what do we communicate when
do we communicate how do we communicate matters because it's not about just verbal communication or return
communication there is non-herbal communication through body languages through
expressions which individuals do the communication so it is very essential to have a
right method and right approach towards communication so the project manager should possess that skill good
leadership skills so many times the term leadership is confused with the position of a leader
no so leadership is basically a capability of an individual so if a specific individual having that
capability can influence people can inspire can motivate project manager having a leadership skills it's very
essential it is a must required skill only then project manager can make the people listen to him people will
respect him because the behavior will be guided through that capability strong team
management skill which requires a an engagement which requires communication and leadership skills work
very closely with this team management skills so understanding the team dynamics ensuring the right education
right skilled individuals are in place and they're monitored and managed which is very important so there should be a
little bit of mentoring which needs to be done to the people regularly so that team gets what is expected out of them
and they do accordingly then effective negotiation skills lot of scenarios which comes in terms of negotiating in
various different scenarios negotiate to ensure things have been in place or in the interest of both the parties
involved in the negotiation it is very important to involve and make a right discussion right side of discussion so
that stakeholders are benefited now who are these roles we are speaking about who would
involve in negotiation we can think of customers while establishing an agreement we can think of teams while
having some conflict resolutions which you take team will have a conflict you may require to resolve
so suppliers related issues which needs to be resolved so negotiation is very important but always
negotiations would be in the interest of both the involved parties then critical thinking so critical thinking in the
sense not just seeing what is there it's about how to set it right how to take it forward in
the right direction so what could cause visualizing things is very important risk management skills it's quite
obvious the most ignored area what which i have seen throughout is risk management so i don't know what is the
reason risk is ignored many of the projects what i have seen almost like 80 to 85 percent people don't even look at
the risks so it is very essential to look at the risk and manage the risk only then project can become successful
so question 13 what will be involved in project scope management so we already know project scope means it involves
both project scope as well as product scope now scope management basically ensures
project includes all those necessary things to be done in terms of activities in terms of processes in terms of
resources the project objectives can be accomplished so this particular process
project scope management describes the project scope and documents how it will be designed validated and controlled
throughout the project life cycle so it collects requirement so collect requirement process engages with
stakeholders discusses with them to understand what is the requirement collect the requirements document the
requirements and establish requirement management plan then based on this requirement established
has to be defined means the detailed description of the project and product has to be developed and a list has to be
created that includes all the requirements then creating the wbs work breakdown structure once the scope is
defined so now the decomposition of that scope definition what is given has to be taken to the lowest possible level it
has to be like logically further it cannot be subdivided right so decomposition basically helps in
terms of breaking down those ultimate deliverable to multiple lower level parts for example if i consider a car i
can think about two broad categories like exteriors and interiors now in exteriors i can think of a body of the
car the rear view mirror the wheel the bonnet the glass so i can just decompose like this now until i decompose to the
mirror further i cannot decompose in the mirror what are all the things we can think of mirror cap mirror glass mirror
mount so further can i subdivide this no so each of the components involved in all the perspective in the car
perspective broadly initially decomposed it to the level interior exteriors and further down the line we took to the
next level of components further down in the line we again decompose it now at the lowest level we actually look at the
effort estimation activity resource required all these we look at and we'll do bottom up to consolidate to see what
is the scope so which will help us in becoming scope baseline so while lead scope is a process in monitoring and
controlling which involves reviewing the deliverables with the customer or sponsor to ensure successful completion
and formal acceptance of the deliverables so formal acceptance is the key requirements when we validate the
scope if it is not according to the plan that is rejected and it is sent back for change and necessary corrections
then control scope so in this process the status of the project and product scope is monitored changes to the scope
baseline which is actually defined as part of the planning if anything is seen in terms of deviation that needs to be
corrected the change request would be raised then next question tell us about some
project management tools so some of the most common and popular management tools which have come across are listed here
like pluto basecamp teamwork projects zoho projects asana jira software trello i think details of this you might
require to go to individual tool sections and then review those better if you can able to create a comparison
sheet always helps in terms of understanding what is that features functionality of this tool has so one
more tool which is not mentioned is microsoft project so which is also another popular tool which is used and
similarly i can mention like primavera so each of this has its own advantages disadvantages so you may require to list
out what do you exactly want in terms of when you take up a tool for project management and what each of this tool
has if you can able to create a comparison sheet that would help you in terms of selecting the right tool for
your organization and projects question number 15 what is the significance of monitoring and
controlling in the project life cycle so as we know monitoring and controlling is a process group so this involves
tracking the project's performance alongside the planned project management activities this also focuses on
comparing actual and planned performance so we have defined that in the planning so what needs to be accomplished how it
has to be accomplished what templates are to be used what needs to be delivered we have defined it in planning
so that needs to be compared with actual thing what is created and what is that how are we doing this currently how it
is done is it complied with assessing performance to determine any corrective actions are identified their
status reported and appropriate responses to risks are taken so ensuring an accurate information base providing
information to support status reporting measuring progress and forecasting adding forecasts to update cost and
current schedule information making sure approved changes are being implemented upon successfully performing monitoring
and control the processes within monitoring and controlling process group so the possible outcomes would be like
the change request work performance reports update to project management plan and project documents
maybe if everything is okay well for example validate scope which comes under this process group so if when we
validate if everything is okay as per the plan then it is accepted deliverable which will move towards the closure if
it is not obviously it leads towards change requests so question number 16 is what's the key
difference in the roles of the project and program manager so project manager is basically focuses on projects and its
success of the project as we know already whereas program manager looks at all those projects which fall under the
program are managed together and taken forward in the required direction so program manager plans program level
activities and the schedule of projects so program managers defines terms of reference for projects the starts stops
and monitor progress of constituent projects manages program level risks and issues they set up policies and
procedures for projects they resolve conflicts they determine the program standards similarly project manager
focuses on planning a project based on dependencies and interfaces given by the project manager so works within the
defined tar terms of references given for the projects runs a project reports to program manager manage project risks
and issues and escalates them to program manager if required if at all a project is part of a program if it is not then
that escalation goes to sponsor so project manager runs projects according to the policies and procedures uses
resources assigned to project manager and delivers the products that satisfy the requirements question number 17
what are the types of risks involved in the project so we know that one of the knowledge areas in the project
management is risk management it is very essential for us to identify risk assess and analyze risk and have the risk
response plans so while doing it it is also very important for us to understand categorizing the risks depending on
where exactly what category this risk falls into depending on the impacts for example
some of the list which is given common types of risk there is categories you can think of it may be related to cost
schedule performance technology or technical strategic legal market risk risk related to external hazards and it
goes on so these are the minimum set of list which we can think of in any project the the kind of risk are
associated with which area so when i say cost associated risk it's all about monetary related where we invest where
we actually monitor that budget involve that budget incur that cost related to that schedule in terms of doing it
faster doing it slower doing it as per the plan so various different details which are associated with the schedule
likewise each of these types what we have mentioned will have a risk accordingly associated with them so
question number 18 what is the difference between the risk and issue in context of project management
so when we say risk is always we look at in the future so it's an uncertainty of outcome when we say we are looking in
the future it may be next moment in the future but it is risk which is focused on the future so risks may be positive
or negative any risk we identify may have positive or negative impact whereas risk response will be in accordance with
the risk response planning and this are documented in risk register so issue is always the one which we have
in front of us to manage so it is focused on present always negative it will have negative impacts so response
will be in accordance to the issue workaround provided and these are documented in the issue register so next
question question number 19 how does project scheduling help in project execution project scheduling make sure
there is a sequence of how all the tasks will be performed after the resources are estimated and plan is made the
schedule plays a very important role because when to do when it is planned it is very essential to do accordingly so
providing the sequence what activity has to be done in what sequence it's also very important so this must be carried
out first and what should follow needs to be clearly understood the optimized scheduling of tasks
provides the best possible output with the allocated resources and that has to be done within the scheduled time within
the deadline question number 20 what do you understand by quality control now
quality control refers to activities needed to evaluate if the project meets all the requirements with respect to the
scope of the project planning now when we say a control we should think about the output of a project the deliverable
it has the specifications so relating to that specifications the features functionalities what needs to be
delivered is it delivered accordingly so project managers defines the standard that the project must fulfill to be
successful quality control includes validating the deliverables satisfying the requirements of the stakeholders
identifying the cause of poor project quality and taking necessary actions to eliminate problems
right question number 21 explain the forming in team dynamics basically when we say team dynamics it involves various
different stages like forming storming norming performing and adjourning so farming happens first now this happens
when the team first meets each other so when they meet each other they get introduced to each other and get to know
their backgrounds experience and areas of expertise the team members discuss about the project discuss the project
objectives and beginning to think their role in the project they're beginning to understand they know what is this
project is all about so in detail what is this project is all about will be understood by them in storming which is
the next stage in the team dynamics question number 22 so what is work breakdown structure and how does it
affect the work estimates of tasks or activities work breakdown structure is a hierarchical replica of all the work in
the project for example if i take up a specific object specific products or services which we are bringing out as a
result for example if i take a car so how will i visualize various different parts of the car it's very difficult in
one go in in execution perspective and creation perspective we may require to know every parts of it in detail so work
breakdown structure is established using decomposition as a technique which means for example if i take car as
an example car has a hole when you visualize broadly i would classify that into decompose it to the first level
like exteriors and interiors after exteriors i can further decompose the exterior part of it similarly after
interiors i will decompose it further in exteriors what are the things i can think of like exteriors in terms of
glass in terms of body in terms of tires in terms of wheel bonnet mirror rear mirror which is outside so likewise
there were various different decompositions level that is a second level of decomposition next third level
of decomposition i can go in each of these parts what i said i can further elaborate those if i take the rear view
mirror as an example so i can think about mirror cap i can think about mirror glass i can think about mirror
mount so these are the various different decomposed levels below mirror similarly if i come to interiors we can think
about entertainment system you can think about seeds we can think about ac right so we can think about
anything else like dashboards now each of these components further i can decompose so the idea of decomposing is
i am going to understand what are the various product parts are involved to make a bigger product as a whole so once
i accomplish that i will have a details at each of these levels and consoled it upwards as shown in the picture here the
first level task 1 task 2 task 3. before i assign these tasks i will have the product breakdown structure first and
from bottom level i start adding up the activities effort estimation and then i keep consolidating upwards similarly i
will put the cost components to it i'll estimate the cost involved with the one which is required and then i go upwards
and consult it so wbs helps in organizing the work in a manageable sections so this would help in
establishing additional details which would help in defining tasks helping in estimation helps in when i say
estimation it is not just specific estimation it's about cost estimation schedule estimation effort estimation
and then this will also help us in terms of sequencing further so work breakdown structure will also have something
called wbs dictionary which gives the description of all the wbs elements next question question
number 23 what is meant by the term spi now spi refers to schedule performance index
so schedule performance index is a measure of schedule efficiency expressed as a ratio of earned value to the
planned value so when i say earned value earned value is the actual work which is completed the value the budgeted value
for the actual work which is completed and planned value is the budgeted value of the work which is supposed to be
accomplished as per the plan now this will help us in understanding how the project is progressing in schedule
perspective if spi is lesser than 1 means it is behind schedule spi is more than one it is head of schedule if a sp
is one it is as per the plan schedule is as per the plan question number 24 what is the significance of agile project
management so when we say agile the terminology itself refers to quick response flexible moving faster so while
we do agile project management it is very essential to look at the various dynamics around so it may be a quick
response what you need to give right so predominantly agile methodologies are today adopted in various types of
industries so currently we see more and more in it and software industry than product development marketing campaigns
even in constructing companies some of the reasons that encourage industries to take up agile methodologies are
high product quality high customer satisfaction reduced risk better and faster roi now let us look at the
question number 25 what is the significance of agile project management so the agile project management
frameworks involves continuous planning and testing so there are various different frameworks each of them having
their own unique qualities so it is very essential for us to understand what are those various different agile frameworks
and how they are going to contribute to become agile so the most popular agile frameworks some thoughts which actually
depicts and supports organization to become agile or one of that is kanban framework so kanban framework is used to
implement agile software development and requires real time communication so work items are represented on a kanban board
allowing team members to see the state of each work at any time so this means on the board so work in progress work
which has to be done and who has to do it all these details are captured in the kanban board now very important point
here is when these are captured it's very essential to understand it is a visual board so when it is a visual
board it's quite obvious anyone who has actually have a task against them they don't hesitate they they need to
complete it it forces them since it is a visualized system it works on their consciousness so it is also called as
pull system so because people pull the work from that list whatever is given and then accomplish it so this will also
help in tracking the progression of a project how it is progressing how the project is progressing how the tasks are
being completed how quickly they are completed so it is easily visible and that makes things too much smoother and
faster so scrum framework so scrum framework helps in dealing with complex problems
and making it possible to deliver high quality products at the same time it helps in managing
complex advanced work with little emphasize on software development so it uses the terminologies like sprint
product backlog sprint backlog daily scrum retrospective meeting so three roles
predominantly we come across that is product owner stub master and then self organizing team
so next framework is hybrid framework that you can think of so it is the combination of agile methods with
non-agile methods hybrid can handle requirement changes and it can deliver products in stages so in hybrid model
planning is done using a waterfall approach while the agile approach handles execution and delivery
so lean framework so the lean framework works on the concept of maximizing customer value with fewer resources and
zero waste hence lean focuses on the flow of products and services instead of focusing on separate technologies
companies can act upon with changing customer needs and requirements so very important points to observe here zero
waste means in the flow the way the processes are connected to each other in that flow we should identify what are
those which acts as a bottlenecks resulting in waste so we should eliminate such bottlenecks so these
elimination of bottlenecks helps in reduction of waste at the same time increasing the value to the customers so
in the downstream from the point where bottleneck you have the entire capacity will get limited to the downstream
capacity i'm speaking about will get limited to the bottleneck where that particular issue exists right that needs
to be resolved elimination of waste should happen so waste is a result of anything which
is a non-value-adding activity right so we need to identify as per the lean perspective so the defects are not
allowed to move forward to the downstream that is the whole idea behind it so next question 26
why does a project manager need to be proactive okay so we always have this question coming around proactiveness
versus reactiveness when should we be proactive when should we be reactive that we need to understand now more
proactive in nature the project manager or any manager who is more proactive will basically visualize the future so
they act today so that tomorrow something negative in fact will not happen so a proactive project manager is
actively able to determine the several communication needs of the stakeholders so a proactive project manager is able
to identify the risks in the early stage of the project it is very essential so what is that going to happen in future
that needs to be visualized act today so that that occurrences can be handled better or eliminated
question number 27 what does a critical path method imply so firstly let us understand what is
critical path means so critical path is basically a longest path in a given project network diagram so that would be
the minimum time required for a project to complete so any delay in any of the activities or tasks in critical path
delays the project duration so in critical path method so it is a crucial tool for determining the progress of the
project to ensure that project is on schedule so as i mentioned any delay in any of the activities or tasks in the
critical path delays the project itself so monitoring on these activities in a critical path will become more important
so that project can happen as per the plan as per the date what is given so critical path method helps in
determining the essential or critical path by finding out the longest stretch of dependent tasks so that each
dependencies each flow from left to right from beginning to end has to be visualized and monitored very closely so
that project finish date is not uh delayed it happens according to the plan so next question
defined planned value actual cost and earned value so when we say planned value planned value is the approved
value of the work that needs to be completed within a given period it serves as a baseline and needs to be
calculated before work can be started it is also known as budgeted cost of work scheduled so formula to calculate
planned values planned percentage of work completed into project budget assume your project budget is 10 000
whatsoever the currencies let us assume 10 000 is my project budget so my project duration is five months each
month i have a plan to complete the work worth of two thousand so which means that two thousand is my planned value
the work which is supposed to be accomplished within the end of that first month is work worth of 2000
so if i do the work which is lesser than work worth of maybe lesser than 2000 i am behind schedule if i complete the
work worth more than 2000 then i am ahead of schedule so planned value will become that reference the 2000 what i
mentioned as a planned value the work worth of 2000 i am supposed to complete before the end of the month one if i say
any work which is completed according to the budgeted value i will make this plan value as a reference to decide whether i
am behind schedule or ahead of schedule actual cost actual cost refer to the value of total expenses that you have
incurred for the work done till date for example in the previous discussion relating to the planned value
at the end of month 1 the planned value was 2000 so that is the work worth which were supposed to complete now let us
assume we have completed a work where the work work relating to that actual work
completed is around 1800 means i'm behind schedule for sure but at the same time to complete the work worth of 1800
how much i incurred actually so if i have incurred actual cost also 1800 then cost wise i'm according to the plan but
behind schedule because i have only completed the work worth of 1800 against the work worth of 2000 which is the
planned value and behind schedule but to complete it the actual cost i incurred is 1800 so cost wise i'm according to
the plan if my actual cost is lesser than 1800 then i'm doing very good in cost perspective if my actual cost is
more than 1800 then i'm using more money means over budget so actual cost helps us in relating to planned well to define
whether cost wise how am i doing so it is also known as actual cost of work performed so this will be used to
calculate cost variance and cost performance index earned value earned value represents the
value produced by a project it is also known as budgeted cost of work performed in our example the earned value is 1800
meaning i have completed the work worth of 1800 that is the earned value which says behind schedule when i compare
earned value with the planned value it it will tell me whether i'm behind schedule ahead of schedule or according
to the plan now for this earned value of 1800 if i incur the actual cost of 1800 then cost wise i'm doing good if my
actual cost is lesser than earned value then cost wise i'm very good right if i incur more than earned value
for example to complete the work worth of 1800 i incur the cost of 2000 then i'm not doing good i'm over budget so
the combination of earned value and planned value helps us to know the scheduled perspective the project is
behind or ahead or according to the plan schedule perspective whereas the combination of earned value and actual
cost helps us to understand whether project is within the budget or budget or according to the plan question number
29 what is the purpose of procurement management plan the procurement
management plan defines the procurement requirements and how it can be managed from developing a procurement
documentation through to contract closure the plan identifies and defines the items that need to be procured the
contracts that need to be used for supporting the project how the contract is approved and criteria for decisions
to be made has to be looked at the plan also includes other items including considerations for procurement risks and
procurement risk management deciding how cost needs to be determined standard procurement documentation usage and
constraints to procurement question number 30 when is postmartem analysis performed in the project
management a postmartem in a project or project retrospective refers to process that's performed at
the conclusion of the phase for a multi-stage project this aim to help identify process improvements that can
prevent future risks and to ensure best practices are repeated postmartems involve a combination of quantitative
and qualitative data it also includes qualitative data like end user stakeholder and team satisfaction
potential for reuse and the quality of end deliverable that is pursued question number 31 what is the purpose
of risk register risk register is basically a tool that is used to document risks and the actions to handle
each of those risks the management of risk is an ongoing process that has a project team raising risks with the risk
manager or a project manager who then locks the risks and determines an appropriate course of action to handle
the risk risk register also needs to be reviewed regularly to ensure the appropriate actions are performed it
could be reviewed in every project team meeting or at the end of each phase of the project life cycle
question number 32 when do we use a grant chart so as we are discussing about critical paths network diagram
critical path method so by using a project tools we first establish a gantt chart so gantt chart is basically a
visual view of tasks scheduled over a period a gantt chart is useful for outlining all the tasks involved in the
project along with their order shown against the time scales so since it gives the pictorial representation it
helps us in understanding what tasks will be completed after which tasks and how the dependencies of each task will
be can be easily understood it provides an overview of a project its associated tasks and then
when they need to be finished are clearly understood a gantt chart is helpful because it provides a detailed
view of all tasks and ensures one can create a workable schedule and the right people are assigned to right task it can
be used to determine the practical aspect of the project it enables to keep the team and sponsors informed about the
progress of the project question number 33 what is the significance of the critical path method
so critical path method or cpm is a tool that is used to schedule project activities so cpm is used to create a
model that includes tasks required to complete the project dependencies between the tasks the durations required
to complete an activity the critical path is the longest path in all the available paths in the project and the
duration of the critical path will be the minimum time required by the project to complete
question number 34 what are some tools required for arriving at improvement in processes so process improvement
comprises a set of actions implemented by a company to enhance performance cost reduction increasing profits etc so some
of the tools some organization can use to implement a successful process improvement strategy can be comparing
and baselining a project so with this we can get an overview of how the process is performing in comparison with other
similar processes flow charting which helps them segregating the processes activities events etc value stream
mapping it helps clearly understand the workflow and helps organizations identify waste cause and effect analysis
these help organizations determine the root cause of any problem hypothesis testing which helps in testing to
determine whether a hypothesis would be favorable to the organization or not question 35 how do you work with three
point estimation method so the three point estimation method is also called a spurt estimation which is a tool that
can be used to help increase the accuracy of cost and time estimates there are three parts with the different
estimates that is optimistic pessimistic and most likely the optimistic estimate is the amount of time required to
complete the project assuming everything in the project goes according to the plan pessimistic estimation is the
estimation considering the worst case scenario and is an estimation given in everything goes wrong that is the
assumption so most likely estimation so this is most likely to happen and falls under the pessimistic and optimistic
estimates it falls in between that pessimistic and optimistic so the formula to calculate three point
estimate would be pessimistic plus optimistic plus four most likely divided by six will provide the three point
estimation what do you understand by the term raid raid log is a project management tool
that tracks risks actions issues and decisions it provides a simple way to organize the information so the main
advantages of raid log is to enable you to think in organized and strategic way the raid log has all the questions that
could be asked by stakeholders the data is easily accessible and acts as a measure for how well the plans are being
carried out the raid locks makes the process of decision making more consistent it provides a place where all
decisions made can be compared question number 37 what are some techniques used for defining scope so
here are some tools and techniques to define scope that is expert judgment it which requires to bring in experts on
domain product analysis which needs to break down the final deliverable into smaller components to ensure all the
steps are being taken alternative generation so in alternative generation it's need to brainstorm for the best and
most effective way to create it for the product facilitated workshops which allow different people with different
ideas to find common ground for a project question number 38 what is waterfall
model waterfall model is a project management approach in which a project is completed
in several phases a big plan is executed linearly expecting there will not be any changes in the plan waterfall model is
in contrast a gel model does not respond well to frequent changes any changes which comes in between while following
the waterfall methodologies making that changes will be difficult and bit complex
question 39 and what basis would you decide if a particular risk should be avoided or mitigated the risks which are
having high impact negative to the business are awarded by the organizations usually so avoiding is the
first decision what organization makes for sure but however there may be some discussions which are made before the
decision of being made relating to avoiding that risk instead having some workaround for that risk or making
certain arrangements so that impact of the risks can be reduced or bringing down the probability of occurrence of
the risks considering something which will have higher negative impact they may not be worthwhile to take up so in
that case i think avoiding is the best decision once the organization is considered to take up after identifying
and analyzing the risks then organization would work on risk response plan for all the risks which are
identified so what is evm the earned value management so earned value management is
a project management technique that is used to measure the project progress if you recall the terminologies like earned
value planned value actual cost scheduled performance index cost performance index these are the
terminologies which comes as part of earned value management it calculates the project performance and progress by
combining constraints like time scope and cost so question 41 what is the difference in
product life cycle and project life cycle so project life cycle refers to the sequence of stages or phases the
project undergoes from the time it is initiated till it is closed so this project life cycle involves five process
groups which is initiating process group planning process group executing process group monitoring and controlling process
group closure process group which should be there throughout the project life cycle along with the 10 knowledge areas
and 49 processes product life cycle includes all that phases that define the growth of your product so creation of
the product till expiry of the product so within the product life cycle we may have multiple project life cycles so one
project life cycle for introduction of product one project lifecycle for modifying or updating the existing
product one project lifecycle may be for improvement one project life cycle may be for removing the product from the
production so in product life cycle there are four phases that is market introduction market growth market
maturity and decline and saturation stage question 42 define capability maturity
model so capability maturity model is an approach to improve or refine development process in an organization
so it is an elaborated structure of elements that helps in defining the features of an effective process
next question 43 what do you know about triple constraint the triangle in project management so basically the
triple constraint refers to scope schedule and cost right so it helps in actually analyzing the project status
the way project is progressing and these are the three critical considerations mainly which needs to be made so further
to these triple constraints scope time and cost quality resource and risks are also considered as a constraints so any
change in any of the constraints would have an impact on other constraints question 44 what is a decision support
system decision support system is an information system used in decision making activities in an organization or
a business it analyzes data sets and extracts information that may be used to solve complex problems and take
decisions how many types of dss are there so there are several types of dss that is data
driven model driven knowledge driven and documentary one question 46 what are some general
metrics that are used to calculate if a project is progressing on track so if a project is progressing on track it is
very essential to consider the productivity which means units of input units of output actual cost that is
total cost per time period to time period cost variance which refers to budgeted cost of work versus actual cost
of work schedule variance which is the difference between budgeted cost of
work perform and budget cost of work scheduled cost performance index which is earned value to actual cost
question 47 what is meant by a milestone in a project a project milestone provides a way to observe measure and
monitor the performance progress of the project these represents intermediate stages that needs to be fulfilled before
getting to the final objective or goal milestones can provide a basis on which progress can be monitored they can also
proof for explanation while reporting on project status it can be used to provide course
corrections and learning experiences it can also be used to maintain accountability and motivate staff
question 48 how can you estimate the activity time of a project the activity time or duration refers to the process
of evaluating the number of work periods required to finish individual activities with the resources available these help
achieve the project objectives on set dates and delivery schedules decided by project management team and key
stakeholders here are some tools and techniques to calculate activity durations so those are expert judgment
analogous estimation pert method three point estimates parametric estimating alternative analysis published
estimating data vendor bid analysis etc question 49 what do you think about csf critical success factor in a project
management so csf or critical success factor are found in the project management plan and can define what can
be defined as success for the project some characteristics of critical success factor involve for example time was the
project completed within the given time period cost did it stay within the budgeted
cost quality did it meet the specification level stakeholder was the result accepted by the end user project
changes where scope changes are minimal and are agreed upon performing organization did it affect the corporate
culture commitment is required from team members clients top management all stakeholders which is very essential and
it is one of the main critical success factors goals must be specific measurable attainable relevant and time
bound there must be process for quick identification resolution of conflict good project leadership is to be
established risk management policies have to be established there must be proper project planning that needs to be
done then best practices need to be applied at all stages proper communications might takes place to
ensure information is passed across question number 50 what do you understand by the term sow so sow
or statement of work is a document that includes and define each aspects of the project it is a foundation for the
project plan so before planning and executing the sow lays down the entire landscape of the project so it consists
of introduction the purpose of the project the scope of the project when it is done where it is done the
tasks milestones deliverables schedule standards success how are you going to determine the success means how do you
know the project is success what is that you are going to measure or consider for measurement requirements then any other
things which needs to be considered as part of sow as part of that specific project and then closing so sow can be
of three categories which will have design details level of effort time and materials which defines an hourly
service and the materials required to perform the tasks which may be performance based focuses on purpose of
the project resources and quality expected from the output question 51 what is a fishbone diagram
and when is it used so fishbone diagram which is also called as ishikawa diagram is a visualization tool that used to
categorize potential causes that is problems for an issue to identify the root causes so fishbone diagram is used
in product development and troubleshooting processes it helps in team brainstorming for
potential causes and then represents them in a diagram based on their degree of importance so when this diagram is
used it helps us in identifying the possible causes of an issue to develop a product that can address issue with
current market offerings to several areas of weakness or bottlenecks in the business process to handle recurring
issues or employees burnout to ensure any correction will resolve the issue so question 52 what is the parito
principle or 80 20 principle so as the name itself indicates the pareto principle states that 80 percent of
consequences come from 20 percent of causes indicating an unequal relationship between inputs and outputs
it can be applied to range of areas like manufacturing management and human resources it is usually focused on
businesses that are claimed based some of the advantages of pareto principles are increased productivity increased
profitability identifying and fixing problems and improved customer service question 53 can you tell us about your
past project so now while answering these type of questions firstly we need to understand this question is open and
generic in nature so while answering such questions following points has to be considered so identify what is that
project you have done so state the objective of the project project deliverables your roles and
responsibility in the project and what have you achieved in that project what was accomplished what went well what did
not go well then project duration project budget and actual cost incurred in the project question 54 if customer
is not happy with the project what will you do as a project manager so in any given project customer satisfaction is
very important to ensure success of a project in the scenario where customer expresses their dissatisfaction one has
to ensure understanding the reason for dissatisfaction so are all the requirement fulfilled or not project
manager has to confirm that first was customer involved in all decision making activities etc to confirm that his
customer is informed about everything so before customer is dissatisfied it is always good and important that customer
is satisfied that needs to be ensured so it is very important to be customer to understand and customers pulse is
understood and handling the customers accordingly so allowing customer to become a
dissatisfied customer is not a choice to have so one is to ensure customer is not at all dissatisfied in the first place
beyond your control if customer is still dissatisfied better you work on it to understand why the customer is
dissatisfied what is the cause of it and address it question 55
what are the different kinds of project you have worked upon so these type of questions are again generic in nature
while answering those questions please ensure you speak about various different domains of the project which you have
and that should have variation in different say different domains of the project what were the deliverables of
those projects projects nature and complexity unique challenges in each different type of projects then project
duration budget and actual cost question 56 did you ever face the situations where the project team was
demotivated and what did you do to bring them back on track so as we know project team plays very important role in
success of any project it is very critical to keep them motivated the demotivation may happen for various
reasons so one is to keep the following points in mind while dealing with the team that is team engagement so
engagement may be both formal and informal so rewards and recognitions for the team for the good job they have done
conflict management wherever the conflict occurs it is quite obvious whenever the team is involved conflict
occurs performance evaluation and monitoring mentoring is very key so wherever it is required to mentor
wherever it is required to give them a good perspective of the project and their learning and capability so
mentoring and coaching is very essential and also providing opportunities for education and training so that they will
have a better learning and accomplish or acquire the required skills question 57 if you get your dream job
and i assume this is your dream job what value you think you will you be adding to the organization so this question is
very tricky one and also a generic question so one needs to ensure while answering this question to discuss the
following points why the job is your dream job whatever the job you're speaking about why do you say that that
is your dream job what is the reason why what would be your motivation point in this dream job what exactly is
motivating you there in this particular job how this dream job can link to objectives of organization and the
profession and roadmap of the job role so what is that you are going to become while you become this in future what
could be the roadmap of this role question 58 what challenges have you encountered while dealing with other
team members as already mentioned project team plays very important role in success of a project each team member
comes with the different skills maturity mindsets and background which put across many challenges some of the important
changing scenarios means challenging scenarios is team not collaborating individuals performance and motivation
levels in each of the projects role preferences and the allocated roles performance appraisals communication
gaps various things which actually brings the challenges and also motivates people to behave way they are behaving
question 59 share from your experience the challenges you faced while using project
management tools so we all know that tools plays very important role in our management activity similarly the
effective management of project requires an efficient tool every tools has its own uniqueness and has its own
advantages and disadvantages so some of the challenges one would face while using the tools would be selection of
right tools for the given project tools features and functionalities customization of tools the dashboards
and reports teams ability to work with tool their skills and capabilities matters
question 60 can you tell me about the most difficult complex project you have worked on this question is open and
generic in nature again while answering such questions please ensure you discuss the following points what was the
complexity in the project whichever the project reference you are taking why do you consider that project as complex or
difficult what was the size of the project in terms of deliverables budget geography team tools and techniques etc
was the project successful or not and why question 61 when do you know the project
is off track so it is very essential for every project manager to ensure project is going as per the plan so there should
not be any deviations from the actual plan so every project will have a set plans based on which project have to be
completed successfully due to various different scenarios projects go off track recognizing and correcting those
is very critical and crucial so one needs to follow a specific approach to ensure project will not go off track so
but we need to understand whether project is going off track or not so one of the key thing which we need to know
is spi and cpi so spi is the scheduled performance index the cpi the cost performance index so when spi is lesser
than 1 which means project is behind schedule when a space 1 then it's as per the schedule if a
space greater than 1 which means project is add of schedule similarly for cpi if cpi is lesser than one project is over
widget cpi is more than one project is under budget recipe is one project budget is as per the plan so similarly
the results of audits and testing done as part of quality management also reveals the details related to
compliance and of specifications which needs to be corrected if they are not expected
next question have you manage remote teams and outsource resources so these questions come from the scenario where
you have to manage the team not reporting to you directly and they are managed by different individuals while
having such resources the dynamics will be different so while managing such resources one has to
ensure the engaging with them is different than the way the individuals are engaged the internal teams so it is
required to engage with that team more often the performance of the team members has to be well known to the
reporting manager and that needs to be communicated regularly the next question if you could go to the
past and do one thing differently as a project manager what would you do and why so every project manager who has
managed several project earlier will think of doing better which they have done already so this is because of the
experience they had while doing the project and the insights there today compared to the day they did that
project so while answering this question following points has to be kept in mind what went well and what did not go well
why do you think they happened and what would have been the better solution why do you think it could have been done
better why did you not do it earlier the way you're thinking the right way of doing it today so what was the cause
were you not informed about it or there was some force which was working on you to take it in that way what made you to
do that way so why are you thinking that this is the better way to do it what are the reasons that you need to mention
so next question as a project manager what is the most common challenge that you face so obviously when you say take
up a project as a project manager every project manager will come across various different challenges every project will
have various challenges to deal with project managers has to prepare themselves to handle those they should
not shy away from those so typical challenges which project manager would come across would be the scope
perspective not clearly defined so not having proper sign off between customer and project organization then the
deadline dates or schedules which are given are not realistic low budget allocated low cost allocated
capabilities and skills of the team then project environment etc and with that we have come to an end of
this pmp fill course i hope it was informative and interesting if you have any questions about the topics covered
in this video please ask away in the comment section below our team will be happy to solve all your queries thank
you for watching stay safe and keep learning hi there if you like this video
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