APM PMQ flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Project

A unique, transient endeavour undertaken to achieve planned objectives within agreed constraints of time, cost and quality, and characterised by uncertainty.

Programme

A group of related projects and change activities managed together, in a coordinated way, to achieve benefits that would not be attainable if managed individually.

Portfolio

The collection of an organisation's projects, programmes and other work, grouped and prioritised to achieve strategic objectives and to balance risk and resource.

Project sponsor

The senior manager who owns the business case, secures funding and resources, and provides senior-level accountability and championing for the project throughout its life.

Project management office

A function providing project support, standards, templates, assurance and reporting; its mandate may be supportive, controlling or directive depending on organisational requirements.

RACI chart

A responsibility assignment matrix recording, for each task or deliverable, who is responsible for doing it, accountable for it, consulted about it and kept informed.

Stakeholder

Any individual, group or organisation that has an interest in, or can influence, the project, its activities or its outcomes, positively or negatively.

Power/interest grid

A stakeholder analysis tool plotting people by influence and interest, indicating whether to manage closely, keep satisfied, keep informed or simply monitor each group.

Communication plan

A document defining who needs which information, in what format, through which channel, how frequently and who is responsible for sending and confirming it.

Critical path

The longest sequence of dependent activities through the network diagram; it determines the shortest possible project duration and its activities have zero total float.

Total float

The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project finish date; calculated as latest finish minus earliest finish, or latest start minus earliest start.

Work breakdown structure

A deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work into manageable work packages, used as the basis for estimating, scheduling and control.

Earned value

The budgeted cost of the work actually completed at a given point in time, calculated as the percentage of work complete multiplied by the budget at completion.

Cost performance index

Earned value divided by actual cost; a result below 1.0 shows the project is spending more than planned for the work achieved, above 1.0 the reverse.

Estimate at completion

A forecast of the total project cost, often calculated as budget at completion divided by cost performance index when current cost efficiency is expected to continue.

Management reserve

A budget held outside the approved cost baseline by senior management to cover unforeseen, unknown-unknown events; releasing it requires formal authorisation and a baseline change.

Risk

An uncertain event or set of circumstances that, if it occurs, will affect the achievement of project objectives, assessed by its probability and its impact.

Risk register

A log of identified risks recording description, cause, potential effect, probability, impact, score, owner, agreed response and any residual risk remaining after action.

Risk appetite

The amount and type of risk an organisation is willing to accept in pursuit of its objectives, expressed as tolerances against which actual exposure is monitored and escalated.

Threat responses

The standard options for negative risks: avoid by removing the cause, reduce by lowering probability or impact, transfer to a third party, or accept and hold contingency.

Quality assurance

The process-oriented activity of confirming that the project is following agreed methods, standards and procedures, typically through process reviews, audits and documented evidence.

Quality control

The product-oriented activity of inspecting, measuring and testing deliverables against their acceptance criteria to confirm that specified requirements have been met.

Cost of quality

The total of prevention and appraisal costs incurred to achieve conformance, plus internal and external failure costs incurred when deliverables do not conform to requirements.

Change control

A formal process for submitting, assessing the impact of, approving or rejecting and then implementing changes to baselined scope, schedule, cost or quality, with all decisions recorded.

Configuration management

The discipline of identifying, controlling, recording and auditing the project's products and their versions, so the correct configuration is delivered, maintained and traceable.

Baseline

An approved, frozen reference version of scope, schedule and cost against which actual performance is measured and against which all changes must be assessed.

Tuckman's stages

The model of team development through forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning, describing how relationships, roles and working practices mature during the project.

Situational leadership

A leadership model in which the manager varies style - telling, selling, participating or delegating - according to the competence and commitment of the individual or team.

Herzberg's two factors

Hygiene factors such as pay, conditions and policy prevent dissatisfaction but do not motivate; motivators such as achievement, recognition and responsibility create genuine satisfaction and effort.

Benefits register

A record of the benefits a project or programme is expected to deliver, each entry giving an owner, metric, baseline value, target value and expected realisation date.

Fixed-price contract

An agreement in which the supplier delivers a defined scope for an agreed price, so the supplier carries most cost risk and requirements must be specified precisely.

Cost-plus contract

An agreement in which the buyer reimburses the supplier's allowable costs plus an agreed fee, so the buyer carries most cost risk but obtains greater flexibility.