Lecture Notes: Project Management Concepts

Planning Package

• Definition: A component within a work breakdown structure (WBS) below the control account.
• Purpose: Identifies work needed without detailed scheduled activities.
  • Created when missing information prevents scheduling.
  • Allows earmarking of money or time in planning documents.
• Relation to Management: Understand that the work is planned but not yet schedulable.

Work Package

• Definition: The lowest level of the WBS where cost and duration are estimated and managed.
• Example: Installing a fence.
  • Work Package 1: Installing posts.
  • Work Package 2: Installing pickets, involving different resources and skills.

Scope Baseline

• Definition: Approved version of a scope statement, WBS, and WBS dictionary.
• Modification: Changes made through formal change control procedures.
• Comparison: Used as a benchmark for actual results vs planned.
  • Not to be confused with schedule and cost baselines.

User Stories

• Definition: Short descriptions of required functionality from the user's viewpoint.
• Purpose: Tool to collect requirements and translate them into build specifications.

Schedule Management Plan

• Definition: Component of the project management plan for developing, monitoring, and controlling the schedule.
• Content: Criteria and activities for managing schedules, not the schedule itself.

Project Activity

• Definition: A distinct scheduled portion of work in a project.

Feature

• Definition: A set of related requirements allowing the user to satisfy a business need.

Epic

• Definition: A large collection of user stories.
• Scope: Can span multiple sprints; combines various user stories into one useful tool.

Milestones

• Definition: Significant points or events in a project.
• Example: Obtaining PMP certification is a milestone; various activities lead up to it.

Activity Dependency

• Definition: Logical relationship between two project activities.
• Example: Preheating the oven before baking cookies.

Gantt Chart

• Definition: Bar chart of scheduled information; helps visualize project activities over time.

Critical Path Method

• Definition: Method to estimate minimum project duration and schedule flexibility.
• Example: Baking cookies scenario; identifying longest path (mixing, preheating, baking).
• Critical Path Activity: An activity on the critical path.

Cost Baseline

• Definition: Approved version of the time-phased project budget excluding management reserves.
• Components: Includes contingency reserves for identified risks.

Funding Limit Reconciliation

• Definition: Comparing planned expenditure vs funding limits.
• Purpose: Ensure expenditures are within limits, sometimes requiring rescheduling.

Quality

• Definition: Degree to which inherent characteristics fulfill requirements.
• Scope Relation: Derived from scope; quality defines the level of scope fulfillment.

Quality Management Plan

• Definition: Part of the project management plan outlining implementation of quality policies and guidelines.
• Content: Methods for managing project quality (e.g., inspections, audits).

Quality Audit

• Definition: Independent review checking compliance with policies and procedures.
• Comparison: External audits (e.g., IRS) vs internal quality inspections.

Statement of Work (SoW)

• Definition: Narrative description of project deliverables.
• Example: Lawn service contract detailing tasks like mowing, weeding, etc.

Procurement Management Plan

• Definition: Component of the project management plan for acquiring goods/services externally.
• Internal vs External: Procurement is external, resources are internal.
• Content: Guidelines on managing procurements, vendor approvals, and deliveries.