Sunday, October 21, 2012

PMP Tests - Notes

1. Agressor - Criticizes everything and everybody on PM
2. Dominator - Professes to know everything about project management.
3. Devil's Advocate - Finds fault in all areas of PM
4. Total Float = LF - EF  or LS - ES
5. Free Float =  ES of next activity - EF
6. The critical path method (CPM) is a popular approach to project scheduling that considers the amount of float on project activities. Critical chain takes CPM a step further by adding time buffers to account for limited resources.
7. fast tracking: performing more critical activities in parallel
8. crashing critical path: Shortening duration of critical activities
Handling Conflicts:
9. Forcing - Win-Lose situation
10. Confronting - Win-Win
11. Compromise - Lose-Lose
12. Plan Risk Responses is the process of developing options and actions to enhance opportunities and to reduce threats to project objectives (PMBOK® Guide Fourth Edition, page 301).

Monitor and Control Risks is the process of implementing risk response plans, tracking identified risks, and monitoring residual risks (PMBOK® Guide Fourth Edition, page 308).


Assess the priority of identified risks using their probability of occurrence.  - Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis

13.  configuration management activities included in the integrated change control process are... configuration identification, configuration status accounting, and configuration verification and audit. 

14. A lag directs a delay in the successor activity. Waiting time is also referred to as lag
15. Requests for change can be direct or indirect, externally or internally initiated, and can be optional or legally/contractually mandated.- directing and managing the project execution

16. Stakeholders` ability to influence the final characteristics of the project`s product, without significantly impacting cost, is highest at the start of the project and decreases as the project progresses towards completion. 

17. A responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) is used to illustrate the connections between work packages or activities and project team members. One example of a RAM is a RACI (responsible, accountable, consult, and inform) chart 

18. The different types of estimates are:

Definitive: - 5% to +10% accuracy
Budgetary: -15% to +25% accuracy
Order of magnitude: - 50% to +50% accuracy
 


19. Project Management System: The aggregation of the processes, tools, techniques, methodologies, resources, and procedures to manage a project.

20. When checklists are used, the completed checklists become part of the organizational process assets updates. 


21. Report Performance is a process of collecting and distributing performance information, including status report, progress measurements, and forecasts.

Report Performance process involves periodic collection and analysis of baseline versus actual data to understand and communicate project progress and performance, as well as to forecast the project results.

 
22.  Precision Versus Accuracy:
PMBOK defines precision as, “the values of repeated measurements are clustered and have little scatter”, while accuracy is defined as, “the measurement value is very close to the true value”.

Consider this; a wire manufacturer is molding copper wires. The wire must be 1.8mm to 2.2mm in diameter. A quality inspector takes 100 measurements of the wire diameter for in two days. Assume that the first 50 measurements (taken on day 1) were in the range of 2.2mm to 2.3mm, while the next 50 measurements (taken on day 2) were in the range of 1.9mm to 2.0mm. What must be concluded regarding the samples taken on these two days?
Day 1: Measurements are precise, but not acceptable since they are not accurate.
Day 2: Measurements are precise and accurate as well.

Assume that the same procedure was repeated on day 3 and further 50 measurements were observed in the range of 1.8mm to 2.2mm. Now what must be concluded regarding the samples taken on day 3?
Day 3: Measurements are less precise, but acceptable since they are within specification limits and are accurate.

In short, precision is a measure of variance in the measurements, regardless whether the measurements were on target or off target. While accuracy is the measure of conformance to specification limits.

23. Attribute Sampling vs. Variable Sampling
--------------------------------------------------

There are two types of data/measurements, ‘variable’ (also called ‘continuous’) and attribute (also called ‘discrete’). Discrete or attribute data can only measured by categories (like yes/no, true/false, pass/fail etc.) or intervals (like absolute rank, educational level, types etc.). Attribute data is always about counting of measurements falling in different categories. Attribute data cannot be further divided, for example if I say I have 10 students who are either taking a math class or a science class, there will be no student who would be taking 50% of the match class and 50% of the science class.

On the other hand, variable or continuous data can be further divided into more classifications and that will still have meaning. For example if I measure temperature for two rooms, 22F and 23F respectively, this does not mean that a temperature of 22.2F or 22.5F cannot be recorded.

Having said that and clearing the concepts of attribute and variable data, answering your question is very simple. If we are taking samples on attribute measurements, we are doing attribute sampling and vice versa.

24. The project manager is responsible to manage stakeholder expectations.  

25. Cost management plan does not include cost estimation, i.e., tools for cost estimating are not used for creation of cost management plan. These tools will be used in the Estimate Costs process. 

26. Mitigation may require prototype development to reduce the risk of scaling up from a bench-scale model of a process or product. 

27. Fixed-price contracts involve setting a fixed total price for a defined product or service to be provided.   The profit is not known at the time of contract sign-off; only the fixed price of the contract is determined at that time. 

28. Just-in-time manufacturing is a process that continuously stresses waste reduction by optimizing the processes and procedures necessary to maintain a manufacturing operation. Part of this process is JIT purchasing or inventory where the materials needed appear just in time for use, thus eliminating costs associated with material handling, storage, paperwork, and even inspection.

29. Communication methods like individual and group meetings, video and audio conferences, instant messaging, and other remote communication methods are used for distributing information. 

30. Stakeholder influences, risk, and uncertainty are greatest at the start of the project. These factors decrease over the life of the project. The cost of changes and correcting errors typically increase substantially as the project approaches completion.      

31. Opportunity cost is the cost of passing up the next best option. The opportunity cost of choosing project A (over project B, which is the next best option) is equal to NPV of the next best available option. Net present value of project B is chosen = $ 300,000 


32. Standardized schedule network diagram templates can be used to expedite the preparation of networks of project activities. They can include an entire project or only a portion of it. Portions of a project schedule network diagram are often referred to as a subnetwork or a fragment network. Subnetwork templates are especially useful when a project includes several identical or nearly identical deliverables. 

33. A lead allows an acceleration of the successor activity.  - Finish-to-start with a 2-week lead.

34.  A lag directs a delay in the successor activity.  A technical writing team can begin editing the draft of a large document 15 days after they begin writing it.  This is a start-to-start relationship. 

35. Theory Z focuses on increasing employee loyalty toward the company by providing a job for life with a strong focus on the well-being of the employee, both on and off the job. Theory Z was developed by Ouchi.

 
 

Friday, October 19, 2012

PMP - Imp Points

1. Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene theory

Hygiene factors donot act as motivators by themselves.
  • Salary, status, supervision and personal life  -  hygiene factors.
  • Advancement, growth and responsibility - motivational factors.


2. Maslow's Hierarchy of needs - People are in a state of need.

The hierarchy levels from bottom to top are

Basic Physical Needs (food, clothing and shelter)
Safety and Security
Socialization
Recognition (self-esteem needs)
Self-actualization

3.McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y
Theory X - Worker will require constant supervision to achieve organizational goals.
Theory Y - Workers need very little external motivation to do a good job.

4.Paul Hershey and Kenneth Blanchard Situational TheoryStrong leader adjusts to the needs of the employees. These leaders provide support and direction for individual employees, or groups of employees.
In the Hershey Blanchard leadership model, there are four styles of leadership:
delegating, participating, telling, and selling.

5.McClelland's Acquired Needs Theory (1961)

Employees' experiences shape their needs and consequently what motivates them.
The three needs are Achievement, Affiliation and Power
Employees motivated by the need for achievement take moderate risks to achieve goals because they can attribute the outcomes of these situations to their own effort.

Employees motivated by the need for affiliation value personal relationships with others; they require acceptance within the work group.

Need for personal or institutional power can motivate employees.  Motivated by institutional power want to organize workgroups to achieve organizational goals, whereas those motivated by personal power want to direct others.

--------------------------------------

6.How to Calculate the SV

Schedule variance (SV) is calculated by subtracting the planned value (PV) from the earned value (EV). Since neither the PV nor EV is directly given in this scenario, we must calculate them. A common component of the PV and EV formulas is budgeted at completion (BAC), so we will begin there.

BAC is the estimated cost of the completed project. In this scenario, we are paving 10 km of road at a cost of $12,000 per kilometer.
BAC = 10 km * $12,000/km
BAC = $120,000
PV is calculated by multiplying the percent that is planned to be completed at this point by the BAC. Since we are three weeks into a six-week project, we expect half the work to be completed, or 50%.
PV = Planned percentage complete * BAC
PV = 0.5 * $120,000
PV = $60,000
EV is calculated by multiplying the actual percentage of work completed at this point by the BAC. Since we have completed 4.5 km of a 10 km road, we have actually completed 45% of the project.
EV = Actual percentage complete * BAC
EV = 0.45 * $120,000
EV = $54,000


----------------------------------------------------
7. The six conflict resolving techniques are
  • Withdrawing/Avoiding - Retreating from an actual or potential conflict situation
  • Smoothing/Accommodating - Emphasizing areas of agreement rather than areas of difference.
  • Compromising - Searching for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to all parties.
  • Forcing - Pushing ones view point at the expense of others; Offers only win-lose situations.
  • Collaborating - Incorporating multiple viewpoints and insights form differing perspectives; leads to consensus and commitment.
  • Confronting/Problem Solving - Treating conflict as a problem to be solved by examining alternatives; Requires a give and take attitude and open dialogue.
8. Develop Project Team - Team Building Activities - 
  • Forming
  • Storming
  • Norming
  • Performing
  • Adjourning
9. Fast tracking entails scheduling activities so that they occur at the same time or overlap when they were originally scheduled in series.  Because the activities are normally scheduled in succession, additional risk is incurred by scheduling them to occur at the same time.

10. Crashing entails adding additional resources to scheduled activities in  an effort to reduce their durations.  The additional resources typically impose additional costs related to the activity.  Withan SPI of less that 1 and CPI of more than 1, Crashing is more suitable as more funds are available.

11.A lag is used to modify a logical relationship between activities in a network diagram.  A  lag prevents an activity from starting when it would typically be able to .  For example applying two day lag to an activity that has a finish to start relationship with its predecessor prevents the activity from starting until two days after the predecessor ends.

12.Applying a two day lead to an activity that has a finish to start relationship with its predecessor allows it to start two days before the predecessor ends.

 

13. Powers of Project Manager

  • Legitimate(or Formal) - Power derived from position
  • Reward - The power of directly or indirectly rewarding the team member.
  • Penalty or coercive or punishment power
  • expert power
  • referent or charisma power.
http://www.deepfriedbrainproject.com/2011/02/powers-of-project-manager.html


 

PMP - Math Formulae & Important Points

1. Cost Variance, CV = (Earned Value - Actual Cost) EV-AC
2. Schedule Variance, SV = (Earned Value - Planned Value) EV - PV
3. Cost Performance Index, CPI = EV/AC
4. Schedule Performance Index, SPI = EV/PV

BAC = Budget at Completion
EAC = Estimate at Completion


5. EAC = AC + Bottom up ETC - When original estimate is fundamentally flawed
6. EAC =  BAC/Cumulative CPI - If no variances have occured and same rate of spending will continue
7. EAC = AC + (BAC - EV)  -  When variances are atypical / irregular
8. EAC = AC + (BAC - EV) / Cumulative CPI * Cumulative SPI - when variances are regular.  Assumes poor cost performance.

9. To-Complete Performance Index, TCPI = The cost performance to be achieved to complete the remaining project.  It is Work Remaining / Fund Remaining.
                                                                     BAC - EV / BAC - AC  - Based on Original Budget
                                                                     BAC - EV / EAC - AC - Based on Re-estimated Budget

10. Estimate to Completion, ETC = EAC - AC
11. Variance at Completion, VAC = BAC - EAC
                            n
12.FV = PV(1+r)
13. Communication Channels = n(n-1)/2
14. Expected Monetary Value, EMV = P*I, Probability* Impact
15. PERT EAD = (O+4M+P)/6
16. PERT Project Duration = Sum of PERT EADs

17. Standard Deviation, σ = (P-O)/6
                                                  2
18. Variance of an Activity = SD

19. Standard Deviation of  a Project = Square root of Var1 + Var2 + ...........

20. NPV/IRR/BCR - Bigger is better

21. Mean = Average
22. Median = Center Number / Value or average of center values
23. Mode = The most frequent number

24. Contract Incentive Savings = Target Cost - Actual Cost
25. Bonus = Savings x Percentage
26. Contract Cost = Bonus + Fees
27. Total Cost = Actual Cost + Contract Cost
28. Point of Total Assumption, PTA = (Ceiling Price - Target Price)/Buyer's Share ratio + Target Cost

-------------------------
Important Points

1. Strategies for Negative Risks or threats
  • Avoid - Eliminate the risk
  • Transfer - Shift the impact to a 3rd party
  • Mitigate - Decrease the probability or impact
  • Accept - Passive acceptance means no action except to document the strategy and deal with risks as they occur. Active acceptance means to establish a contingency reserve including amounts of money, time or resources to handle the risks. 
2. Strategies for Positive Risks or opportunities
  • Exploit - Ensure the opportunity will be realized .  For example, To exploit the opportunity, you fast-track and crash your schedule to ensure you will launch prior to your competitor.
  • Share - Partner with 3rd party - Entering into a contractual agreement with another company that can provide a key component required to get to market faster.
  • Enhance - Increase the probability or benefit.
  • Accept - Willing to take advantage of it, if it comes along but not actively pursuing it.
3.  Standard Deviation, Sigma
  •      1  - 68.26
  •      2  - 95.46
  •      3  - 99.73
  •      4  - 99.99
4. Float / Slack = LS - ES / LF - EF
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Early Start (ES) and Early Finish (EF) use the forward pass technique.
To determine the Early Start of an activity, factor in all its dependencies and see its earliest start date.
Consider the following simple diagram (durations are in weeks):
Simple Network Diagram of Forward Backward Pass example
Click to view original size

The Early Start (ES) for Activity B is 4. Why? B comes after A. A starts on week 1 and finishes on week 3. So the earliest that B can start is week 4. For simplicity, I think of it as: The duration of preceding activity + 1
The Early Finish (EF) is the earliest calculated time an activity can end. To calculate Early Finish, (ES for the activity + Activity Duration) - 1. From the diagram above, we can compute the EF of activity B as [(4 + 3) - 1] = 6. Hence, the EF for Activity B is 6.
Late Start (LS) and Late Finish(LF) use the backward pass technique. You can think of backward pass as calculating backward to see how much an activity may slide without affecting the finish date.
Late Start (LS) is the latest time an activity may begin without delaying the project duration. The simplest way one can compute the LS is adding the float to the activity Early Start. Using the simple diagram above, we know that Activity B is on the critical path, hence has a float of zero. Also, Activity B's ES = 4. Hence, LS = (0 + 4) or 4. Note that if an activity has a float of zero, ES and LS will be the same. ;)
Late Finish (LF) latest time an activity may be completedwithout delaying the project duration. One can compute LF by LF =(Activity's LS + Activity Duration) - 1. So the LF of Activity B = (4 + 3) - 1 = 6. Note that since activity B has a zero float, EF = LF.
:idea: For memory trigger, if the float of the activity is zero, the two starts (ES and LS) and the two finish (EF and LF) are the same. Hence, If float of activity is zero, ES = LS and EF = LF.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
5. Late Start, LS = Early Start + Float
6. EF = ES + Duration -1
7. LF = LS + Duration - 1

8. SWOT - SW/ Internal  ,  OT/ external
9. Estimates - Rough Order of Magnitude - -50% to +50%
10.  Budget Estimate -----    -10% to +25%
11. Definitive Estimate -----   -5% to +10%

12. If AC is under Target Cost, Total Contract Cost =  Maximum Fee + AC
13. If AC > Target Cost, use PTA.

14. Contract Types
       FFP, FPIF, FP-EPA   - Fixed Price
       CPFF Cost Plus Fixed Fee, CPIF, CPAF, CPPC - Cost reimbursable
       T&M - Time and Material
15. Deming's - PDCA - Plan-Do-Check-Act, 14-points, seven deadly diseases
16. Kaizen - Continuous Improvement
17.
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Juran’s Three Basic Steps to Progress

The Three Basic Steps to Progress are broad steps that Juran feels companies must take if they are to achieve world-class quality. The Three Basic Steps are as follows:
  1. Achieve structured improvements on a continual basis with dedication and a sense of urgency.
  2. Establish an extensive training program.
  3. Establish commitment and leadership on the part of higher management.

Juran’s Ten Steps to Quality

  1. Build awareness of both the need for improvement and opportunities for improvement.
  2. Set goals for improvement.
  3. Organize to meet the goals that have been set.
  4. Provide training.
  5. Implement projects aimed at solving problems.
  6. Report progress.
  7. Give recognition.
  8. Communicate results.
  9. Keep score.
  10. Maintain momentum by building improvement into the company’s regular systems.
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18. Feigenbaum -  TQM
19. Crosby - zero defects,
20. Six Sigma - comes from concept of  standard deviation
21. SEI-CMM - Capability levels are 0(Incomplete) to 5(Optimizing)
22. Continuous Process Improvement - CPI - Standardize-Do-Check-Act

23. Ishikawa's seven basic tools of quality -
  •   Cause and effect diagrams, also called fish-bone or ishikawa diagrams
  •   Control Charts - Control charts are used to determine whether a process is stable or has predictable performance.  Upper and lower specification limits are based on contract requirements.  They represent the maximum and  minimum values allowed.    Upper and Lower control limits are set by the project manager and appropirate stakeholders.  For repetitive processes the control limits are generally + or - 3 Sigma.                                                                                                                                                       
  •   Flowcharting
  •   Histogram
  •   Pareto Chart - This is a histogram ordered by frequency of Occurence of defects.  Pareto's law states that less causes produce more defects. 80/20 rule. 
  •   Run chart - Shows history and pattern of variation. Trend analysis is performed using run charts and involves mathematical techniques to forecast outcomes based on historical results.  It is used to monitor 1. Technical Performance and 2. Cost and Schedule performance.
  •   Scatter Diagram - Relationship between two variables.
Statistical Sampling, Inspection and Approved Change Requests Review are the other three tools and techniques.






Thursday, October 18, 2012

Planning - TT



PMP Planning T&T: 69
























Develop P M P



















1
Expert Judgment
DPMP

DS

DA

EAR
EAD

EC
DB




IR
PQA
PQUA
PP

Collect Reqs



















2
Interviews

CR

















3
Focus Groups

CR

















4
Facilitated Workshops

CR
DS
















5
Group Creativity Techniques

CR

















6
Group Decision Making Tech

CR

















7
Questionnaires and Surveys

CR

















8
Observations

CR

















9
Prototypes

CR


















Define Scope



















10
Product Analysis


DS
















11
Alternatives Identification


DS

















Create WBS



















12
Decomposition



CWBS
DA















Define Activi



















13
Rolling wave Planning




DA














14
Templates




DA















Sequence Acti



















15
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)





SA













16
Dependency Determination





SA













17
Applying Leads and Lags





SA













18
Schedule Network Templates





SA














Estimate Act R



















19
Alternatives Analysis






EAR












20
Published Estimating Data






EAR












21
Bottom-up Estimating






EAR












22
Project Mgmt Software






EAR













Estimate Act D



















23
Analogous Estimating







EAD

EC









24
Parametric Estimating







EAD

EC









25
Three-point estimates







EAD

EC









26
Reserve Analysis







EAD

EC
DB









Develop Sch



















27
Schedule Network Analysis








TDS










28
Critical Path Method








TDS










29
Critical Chain Method








TDS










30
Resource Leveling








TDS










31
What-if scenario Analysis








TDS










32
Applying Leads and Lags








TDS










33
Schedule Compression








TDS










34
Scheduling Tool








TDS











Estimate Costs



















35
Bottom-up Estimating









EC









36
Cost of Quality









EC

PQ







37
Project Mgmt Estimating Software









EC









38
Vendor Bid Analysis









EC










Determine Bu



















39
Cost Aggregation










DB








40
Historical Relationships










DB








41
Funding Limit Reconciliation










DB









Plan Quality



















42
Cost Benefit Analysis











PQ







43
Control Charts











PQ







44
Bench Marking











PQ







45
Design of Experiments











PQ







46
Statistical Sampling











PQ







47
Flow Charting











PQ







48
Proprietary QM Methodologies











PQ







49
Additional Quality Planning Tools











PQ








Plan Comm



















50
Communication Requirement Analysis













PC





51
Communication Technology













PC





52
Communication Models













PC





53
Communication Methods













PC






PRM



















54
Planning Meetings and Analysis














PRM





Identify Risks



















55
Documentation Reviews















IR



56
Information Gathering Techniques















IR



57
Checklist Analysis















IR



58
Assumptions Analysis















IR



59
Diagramming Techniques















IR



60
SWOT Analysis















IR




PQA



















61
Risk Probability and Impact Assessment
















PQA


62
Probability and Impact Matrix
















PQA


63
Risk Data Quality Assessment
















PQA


64
Risk Categorization
















PQA


65
Risk Urgency Assessment
















PQA



Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis - PQUA



















66
Data Gathering and Representation Techniques

















PQUA

67
Quantitative Risk Analysis and Modeling Techniques

















PQUA


Plan Procurements



















68
Make-or-buy Analysis


















PP
69
Contract Types


















PP