Project Management Fundamentals: Structure, Risk, and Change
Projects, programs, portfolios
A project is temporary and produces a unique product, service or result; programs group related projects for coordinated benefit; portfolios are the collection selected to meet strategic objectives; operations are ongoing and repetitive. Distinguish the project life cycle (phases and gates) from the product life cycle, and know the five process groups - initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, closing - noting that monitoring and controlling spans all the others.
Organization and authority
In a functional organization the project manager is essentially a coordinator; a weak matrix keeps power with functional managers; a balanced matrix splits it; a strong matrix gives the project manager real authority alongside a PMO; the projectized form puts authority, budget and team with the project manager. Many questions hinge on who controls budget, resources and priorities.
Risk and change
Risk management runs identify → qualitative analysis → quantitative analysis → response planning → implementation → monitoring. Threats use avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept (or escalate); opportunities use exploit, enhance, share, accept. EMV = probability × impact and feeds contingency reserves. All changes pass through integrated change control with configuration management, and lessons learned are captured throughout the project, not only at close.
Traps
Treating an issue as a risk; assigning external causes to acceptance; forgetting stakeholders inside the performing organization; confusing the project charter (authorizes the project and the manager) with the performance baseline.
Worked example
Risk A: 20% × $50,000 = $10,000. Risk B: 10% × $80,000 = $8,000. Combined EMV = $18,000, a reasoned input to the contingency reserve for those two risks.