APM PMQ cheat sheet

APM defines a project as a unique, transient endeavour undertaken to achieve planned objectives; project management is the application of processes, methods, knowledge, skills and experience to achieve those objectives.

Project = unique, temporary output; programme = related projects plus change managed together for benefits; portfolio = the whole collection of projects and programmes grouped to meet strategic objectives.

Core life cycle phases are concept, definition, deployment and transition; the extended life cycle adds adoption and benefits realisation, which normally occur after project closure.

Success criteria are the measures used to judge the project (time, cost, quality, benefits); success factors are the management inputs that raise the likelihood of success, such as clear objectives and sponsor support.

PESTLE analysis (political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental) is used to assess the external context in which the project will be delivered.

A project differs from business as usual: the project is temporary and creates a unique output, whereas business as usual is permanent, repetitive and adopts that output into normal operations.

The baseline is the approved scope, schedule and cost (plus quality) against which actual performance is measured and all changes are assessed.

Uncertainty and complexity increase with novelty of the output, project size, number of interfaces and rate of external change; these drive the choice of life cycle and controls.

Trade-off rule: scope, schedule, cost and quality are interdependent, so an agreed change to one normally requires a compensating change to at least one other.

Governance is the framework of authority, accountability and decision-making by which the project is directed, controlled and held to account for its performance.

Accountability cannot be delegated: the sponsor holds single-point accountability for the business case and provides senior-level ownership throughout the project life.

Typical governance roles are sponsor, project manager, project board or steering group, senior user, senior supplier and the PMO; role boundaries are defined before the project starts.

Organisation structures: functional (specialist home, weak project focus), matrix (weak, balanced or strong; dual reporting), and projectised (project manager has full authority over resources).

PMO mandates fall into three types: supportive (templates, guidance, advice), controlling (compliance checks, gate reviews, reporting) and directive (project managers report to and are managed by the PMO).

APM's Directing Change principles include a single point of accountability, separation of stakeholder management from project decision-making, competent sponsorship and clearly defined approval authorities.

Gate or stage reviews are authorised checkpoints that compare actual performance and the business case against plan before further funds and resources are committed.

Delegated financial authority (for example the value of change a manager may approve) is defined in the governance documentation and cannot be exceeded without escalation.

The business case is owned by the sponsor and re-tested at each gate; where forecast benefits no longer justify the cost, the recommended decision is to stop or re-scope the project.

A stakeholder is any individual, group or organisation with an interest in, or influence over, the project; identification begins at concept and is reviewed continuously.

Power/interest grid decision rule: high power and high interest = manage closely; high power and low interest = keep satisfied; low power and high interest = keep informed; low power and low interest = monitor.

Number of communication channels for n people = n(n − 1)/2; the count doubles roughly in proportion to team size, so large teams need structured communication routes.

Communication methods are classified as push (email, report, distribution), pull (repository, intranet) and interactive (meetings, workshops); richer interactive media suit complex or ambiguous messages.

A communication plan specifies audience, information content, format or channel, timing and frequency, the sender responsible and the feedback mechanism used to confirm understanding.

Engagement states run from unaware through resistant, neutral and supportive to leading; the plan aims to move key stakeholders towards support.

Communication barriers fall into physical (noise, distance, time zones), semantic (jargon, language, ambiguity) and psychological (perception, emotion, distrust) categories.

Communication is only complete when feedback confirms the message has been received and understood; one-way broadcast does not demonstrate understanding.

Confidential or commercially sensitive information requires a specific disclosure agreement with the relevant stakeholder before it is shared.

Scope baseline = scope statement + work breakdown structure + WBS dictionary; it may only be altered through approved change control.

The WBS is a deliverable-oriented hierarchy; its lowest level is the work package, commonly sized at roughly 8–80 hours so it can be estimated, assigned and controlled.

Critical path is the longest path through the network; it has zero total float and any delay on it delays the project completion date.

Float: total float = LS − ES or LF − EF; free float is the time an activity may slip without affecting the earliest start of its successor.

PERT expected duration = (O + 4M + P) / 6; standard deviation = (P − O) / 6, where O, M and P are optimistic, most likely and pessimistic estimates.

Dependency types are finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish and start-to-finish; leads and lags modify the gap between dependent activities.

Resource smoothing is time-constrained and uses only available float, keeping the end date; resource levelling is resource-constrained and may extend the end date.

Scheduling tools: Gantt chart for communicating the plan, critical path method for network analysis of float and duration, critical chain for buffered, resource-focused scheduling.

Prioritisation and compression: MoSCoW ranks requirements must/should/could/won't; timeboxing fixes time and resource and flexes scope; crashing adds resource, fast-tracking overlaps activities and raises risk.

Estimating methods: analogous (top-down, based on similar historic work), parametric (cost per unit or rate), bottom-up (built from the WBS, most accurate and slowest) and three-point (optimistic, most likely, pessimistic).

Cost baseline = sum of the work package and activity costs plus contingency; management reserve is held above the baseline and is not part of it.

Contingency covers known unknowns (identified risks); management reserve covers unknown unknowns; both require authorised release and reserve release changes the baseline.

Earned value terms: EV = % complete × budget at completion (BAC); PV = planned value of work scheduled; AC = actual cost incurred to date.

Cost variance CV = EV − AC; schedule variance SV = EV − PV; a positive value indicates favourable performance in each case.

Cost performance index CPI = EV / AC; schedule performance index SPI = EV / PV; a value below 1.0 indicates performance worse than plan.

Forecasting: EAC = BAC / CPI where current cost efficiency continues; EAC = AC + ETC where the remaining work is re-estimated; VAC = BAC − EAC.

To-complete performance index TCPI = (BAC − EV) / (BAC − AC): the cost efficiency required on remaining work to finish within the budget.

Cash flow is forecast with an S-curve; cost commitment (order placed), cost accrual (goods or services received) and cash payment occur at different points in time.

A risk is an uncertain event that, if it occurs, affects objectives; an issue is a risk that has already occurred and now requires active management.

Risk process: identify, assess (probability and impact), plan responses, implement and review, with communication throughout; the cycle repeats across the life cycle.

Risk score = probability × impact; scores are compared with tolerances to decide which risks are escalated and which are managed locally.

Threat responses are avoid, reduce (mitigate), transfer and accept; opportunity responses are exploit, enhance, share and accept.

Risk appetite is the willingness to take risk; tolerance is the measurable limit of acceptable variation; breaching tolerance triggers escalation to the next governance level.

A risk register records ID, description using cause–event–effect, probability, impact, score, owner, response, residual risk and any secondary risks created by the response.

The risk owner is accountable for monitoring and managing the risk; the action owner implements the agreed response; the two roles may be held by different people.

Proximity (how soon the risk may occur) and RBS category are recorded alongside the score to inform timing and ownership of responses.

Issue management follows a defined path: log the issue, assess impact, escalate within agreed timescales, assign an owner, apply a workaround or contingency, then close and review.

Quality means conformance to requirements and fitness for purpose; grade is a design or feature category and is not the same as quality level.

Quality planning defines standards, acceptance criteria and the control methods; quality assurance checks that processes are being followed; quality control checks that products conform.

Quality assurance is process-based and preventive (audits, process reviews, method compliance); quality control is product-based and detective (inspection, measurement, testing).

Cost of quality = prevention + appraisal + internal failure + external failure; prevention and appraisal are conformance costs, failures are non-conformance costs, and external failure is usually the most expensive.

Verification asks whether the product is being built correctly to its specification; validation asks whether the correct product is being built to meet the user's need.

Review types run from informal peer review and walkthrough to formal inspection, with audits used to examine process compliance rather than a single product.

The quality register records planned quality activities, owners and results; the quality management plan records standards, responsibilities, control methods and acceptance criteria.

Continuous improvement uses the PDCA cycle (plan, do, check, act); lessons learned are captured throughout the project, not only at closure.

Acceptance criteria must be measurable and agreed with the customer before work on the deliverable begins.

Change control steps: raise and record the request, assess impact (time, cost, quality, benefit, risk), decide at the authorised level, implement, verify and update the baseline and records.

The change authority (individual or change board) approves or rejects changes within the delegated limits set in the governance documentation; above those limits the change escalates.

Impact assessment must cover knock-on effects across the whole project, including other deliverables, dependencies, the business case and the benefits profile.

Configuration management comprises planning, identification, control, status accounting and verification or audit.

A configuration item is any product placed under configuration control (document, software, hardware, drawing); each has a unique identifier, version and status.

Baselines progress from functional to allocated to product; any change to a baselined item requires an approved change request before implementation.

Status accounting answers what item exists, in which version, where it is held and what its current status is; it underpins handover and in-service support.

Emergency changes may be implemented before approval to protect safety or continuity, but must be retrospectively approved and fully recorded.

The change log records every request with its assessment, decision, implementation status and closure, and is retained for audit and lessons learned.

Management creates order and consistency through planning, organising and control; leadership creates direction and commitment through vision, influence and example.

Tuckman's stages are forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning; the leader's style should shift from directing to delegating as the team matures.

Situational leadership (Hersey and Blanchard) matches style to follower readiness: telling, selling, participating and delegating.

Belbin's nine team roles are coordinator, shaper, plant, implementer, resource investigator, monitor-evaluator, teamworker, completer-finisher and specialist; balance of roles matters more than individual brilliance.

Maslow's hierarchy runs physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation; lower-level needs generally dominate until they are met.

Herzberg: hygiene factors (pay, conditions, policy, supervision) prevent dissatisfaction but do not motivate; motivators (achievement, recognition, responsibility, growth) create satisfaction.

McGregor Theory X assumes people dislike work and need close control; Theory Y assumes people seek responsibility and self-direction; the assumption shapes management style.

Sources of power are legitimate, reward, coercive, expert and referent; expert and referent power sustain influence when formal authority is limited.

Thomas–Kilmann conflict modes are competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding and accommodating; collaborating suits long-term outcomes when time and trust allow.

Procurement cycle: define the need, develop the sourcing strategy (make or buy, single or multiple source), prepare requirements, select the supplier, manage the contract and close it out.

Contract type allocates risk: fixed price puts cost risk on the supplier, cost-plus puts it on the buyer, target cost shares it against a target, and time and materials puts quantity risk on the buyer.

Decision rule: use fixed price when scope is well defined and stable; use cost-plus or time and materials when scope is uncertain or speed to start matters more than price certainty.

Tender documents: ITT (invitation to tender), RFQ (request for quotation) and RFP (request for proposal); evaluation criteria and weightings should be published in advance.

Key contract terms to manage: specification, KPIs and service levels, payment terms, liquidated damages, retention, warranties, the change procedure and termination provisions.

A benefit is a measurable improvement perceived as advantageous by a stakeholder; a dis-benefit is a negative outcome accepted by one or more stakeholders.

Benefits management: identify, define (benefits profile with owner, metric, baseline, target and realisation date), plan, realise and review.

Benefits are usually realised after project closure in operations, so the benefits realisation plan assigns post-project ownership and review points.

A benefits map or dependency network links project outputs to outcomes and to strategic objectives, showing what must change for benefits to be achieved.