GSC Project Manager cheat sheet

Business case components: strategic alignment, options analysis, expected benefits, cost estimate, key risks, and a recommendation with a defined investment decision point.

Net present value = sum of (cash flow in year t) / (1 + r)^t minus initial investment; accept the option with the highest positive NPV when options are mutually exclusive.

Internal rate of return is the discount rate at which NPV equals zero; a project is financially acceptable when IRR exceeds the organization's cost of capital.

Payback period = time until cumulative net cash inflows equal the initial outlay; it ignores cash flows after payback and the time value of money.

Return on investment = (net benefit / cost) x 100; state the measurement period and whether benefits are gross or net of operating costs.

The project charter authorizes the project, names the sponsor and project manager, and records high-level scope, budget, milestones, and success criteria.

A project is justified only when the preferred option's benefits exceed those of the 'do nothing' or 'do minimum' baseline over the appraisal period.

Benefit-cost ratio = present value of benefits / present value of costs; a ratio above 1.0 indicates benefits exceed costs on a discounted basis.

Feasibility appraisal covers technical, financial, legal, operational, and schedule dimensions; a single failed dimension can invalidate the business case.

Critical path = longest duration path through the network; its total float is zero, and any delay on it delays the project finish date by the same amount.

Total float = late finish minus early finish (or late start minus early start); free float = early finish of the activity minus early start of its earliest successor minus duration.

Forward pass computes early start and early finish; backward pass computes late finish and late start; float is derived from the difference between the two passes.

PERT expected duration = (optimistic + 4 x most likely + pessimistic) / 6; standard deviation = (pessimistic - optimistic) / 6.

A milestone has zero duration and marks a significant event or approval point; it carries no resources and no float of its own.

Fast tracking overlaps sequential activities to compress schedule and increases rework risk; crashing adds resources to critical-path activities and increases cost.

Crashing is most cost-effective when applied to critical activities with the lowest cost-per-unit-time slope until a new critical path emerges.

Finish-to-start is the default dependency; start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish links each require a defined lag to be meaningful.

Resource leveling changes start and finish dates to resolve over-allocation and may extend the critical path; resource smoothing uses float without moving the finish date.

Cost baseline = sum of authorized work package budgets plus contingency reserves; the management reserve sits outside the baseline and covers unknown-unknown scope.

Analogous estimating uses historical comparable projects and is fast but less accurate; bottom-up estimating aggregates detailed work package estimates and is more accurate but costly.

Parametric estimating applies a unit rate (cost per unit, per square metre, per line of code) to a measurable parameter; accuracy depends on the validity of the underlying data.

Earned value: CV = EV - AC and SV = EV - PV; CPI = EV / AC and SPI = EV / PV; negative variances and indices below 1.0 indicate adverse performance.

Estimate at completion (typical variance) = BAC / CPI; EAC (atypical variance) = AC + (BAC - EV); EAC (both variances) = AC + (BAC - EV) / (CPI x SPI).

Estimate to complete = EAC - AC; variance at completion = BAC - EAC; to-complete performance index = (BAC - EV) / (BAC - AC).

Cost of quality = cost of conformance (prevention plus appraisal) plus cost of non-conformance (internal plus external failure); prevention is generally cheaper than failure.

Contingency reserves cover identified risks and are released by the risk owner; management reserves cover unidentified risks and require sponsor approval to use.

Sunk costs are excluded from forward-looking decisions; opportunity cost of the chosen option is included in the comparison of alternatives.

Risk management sequence: plan risk management, identify risks, perform qualitative analysis, perform quantitative analysis, plan responses, implement responses, monitor risks.

Risk exposure (expected monetary value) = probability x impact; EMV of the project is the sum of EMVs across all identified risks and feeds the contingency reserve.

Threat responses: avoid, transfer, mitigate, escalate, accept; opportunity responses: exploit, enhance, share, escalate, accept.

A risk register records risk ID, cause, event, effect, probability, impact, score, owner, response, residual risk, and trigger conditions.

Qualitative analysis uses a probability-impact matrix and urgency assessment; quantitative analysis uses Monte Carlo simulation, decision trees, or sensitivity analysis.

A risk trigger is an early warning condition indicating that a risk is about to occur; a secondary risk results from a response, and a residual risk remains after the response.

A risk owner is accountable for the response; a risk action owner performs specific response actions; the two roles may be assigned to different people.

Monte Carlo simulation produces a distribution of possible project outcomes; the cumulative distribution supports selecting a confidence level for the cost or schedule reserve.

Risk appetite is the willingness to accept risk; risk threshold is the measurable level at which exposure becomes unacceptable and escalation is required.

Quality management comprises plan quality management, manage quality (assurance), and control quality; control quality verifies deliverables, manage quality audits processes.

Prevention over inspection: prevention costs are incurred to avoid defects, appraisal costs to detect them, and failure costs arise when defects reach the customer.

A Pareto chart ranks causes by frequency and supports the 80/20 rule; an Ishikawa (fishbone) diagram organizes causes into categories such as people, process, and materials.

A control chart distinguishes common-cause variation from special-cause variation; a process is out of control when a point exceeds a control limit or shows a defined non-random pattern.

A histogram shows the frequency distribution of a variable; a scatter diagram tests whether two variables are correlated; a flowchart maps process steps and decision points.

Quality metrics are measurable attributes of a deliverable or process, such as defect density, cycle time, or first-pass yield, and are recorded in the quality management plan.

Marginal analysis compares the cost of achieving the next increment of quality with the benefit obtained; optimal quality is where marginal cost equals marginal benefit.

Gold plating is adding unrequested features; it is a defect of scope management and consumes budget without adding validated value.

A quality audit is a structured, independent review of whether project activities comply with organizational policies, processes, and procedures.

Fixed-price contracts place cost risk on the seller; cost-reimbursable contracts place cost risk on the buyer; time-and-materials contracts share risk and require a not-to-exceed ceiling.

Contract types: firm-fixed-price (FFP), fixed-price incentive fee (FPIF), fixed-price with economic price adjustment (FP-EPA), cost plus fixed fee (CPFF), cost plus incentive fee (CPIF), cost plus award fee (CPAF).

A statement of work describes the work in sufficient detail for sellers to respond; a statement of requirements describes the need and is used when the solution is not yet defined.

Procurement documents: request for information gathers market data; request for quotation is used for low-value standard items; request for proposal is used for complex requirements.

Source selection may use lowest price, lowest price technically acceptable, or best value with weighted technical and commercial criteria.

The bidder conference ensures all prospective sellers receive identical information; any clarification must be communicated to all bidders.

A contract change must be formally documented and approved by an authorized person; informal direction from a non-authorized person does not modify the contract.

Inspection and acceptance criteria are defined in the contract; final payment is normally conditional on formal acceptance of the deliverables.

Contract closure confirms that all deliverables were accepted and all administrative matters, including final payment and records, are complete.

Stakeholder identification records interest, influence, power, impact, and expectations; the power/interest grid classifies stakeholders as manage closely, keep satisfied, keep informed, or monitor.

Engagement levels range from unaware and resistant through neutral and supportive to leading; the engagement plan records current and desired levels with gap-closing actions.

Communication channels for n stakeholders = n(n - 1) / 2; channel count grows quadratically with the number of participants.

Communication methods: interactive (meetings, calls), push (email, reports), and pull (intranet, repositories); selection depends on urgency, audience, and information sensitivity.

The communication management plan defines who receives what information, in what format, at what frequency, through which channel, and with what escalation path.

Sender-receiver models include encoding, the medium, decoding, and feedback; noise is any interference that distorts the message, and feedback confirms receipt and understanding.

A stakeholder register is a living document; it is reviewed and updated at defined intervals and at every phase gate or significant change.

Escalation paths, decision rights, and meeting cadence are agreed during planning; unplanned escalation is a communication risk and should be logged.

Formal written communication is required for contractual matters, approvals, and changes; informal verbal communication suits routine coordination.

Integrated change control: every change request is logged, assessed for impact on scope, schedule, cost, quality, and risk, then approved or rejected by the change control board.

A change approved without updating the baseline creates a discrepancy between plan and performance; the baseline is re-set only through formal approval.

Scope creep is uncontrolled scope addition without change control; gold plating is adding unrequested features; both are detected by comparing work to the scope baseline.

Earned value uses EV = percent complete x BAC; percent complete should be based on objective measures such as milestones or weighted deliverables.

Variance analysis compares planned versus actual performance; trend analysis projects future performance from historical data; earned schedule expresses schedule performance in time units.

A work performance report consolidates status, progress, variances, and forecasts; a work performance information process compares actuals with the plan.

The issue log records issues, their owners, and resolution status; issues are current problems, distinct from risks, which are uncertain future events.

Configuration management controls versions of deliverables and documents; a configuration management system tracks changes and ensures only approved versions are used.

Quality control measurements are compared against quality metrics; failed deliverables enter the change request or rework process, not the acceptance process.

Closure activities: verify deliverables are accepted, obtain formal sign-off, transition the product, release resources, archive records, and capture lessons learned.

Administrative closure documents final performance against baselines, records variances and their causes, and closes contracts and financial accounts.

Final product transition includes training, support arrangements, warranty terms, and confirmation that operational owners accept the deliverable.

Lessons learned are captured throughout the project and consolidated at closure; they are stored in the organizational process assets for future projects.

Benefits realization occurs after project closure; the project delivers outputs and capabilities, while the sponsoring organization realizes outcomes and benefits.

A benefits register records each benefit, its owner, the metric, the baseline, the target value, the measurement date, and the realization mechanism.

Benefits may be tangible (revenue, cost reduction) or intangible (customer satisfaction, compliance); intangible benefits still require a defined measurement approach.

A post-implementation review compares realized benefits with the business case and identifies corrective action or lessons for future investment decisions.

The project manager's authority typically ends at closure; ongoing ownership of benefits transfers to the business owner or operations manager.

Core ethical duties: responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty; these apply to stakeholders, the profession, and society.

Conflicts of interest must be disclosed promptly and managed; a project manager must not use position for personal benefit or accept gifts that could influence decisions.

Confidential and proprietary information is protected and used only for the purpose for which it was provided, including after the project ends.

Estimates, status reports, and forecasts must be accurate and not manipulated to please sponsors; withholding material bad news is a misrepresentation.

Whistleblowing is appropriate when internal escalation fails and there is a genuine risk to safety, law, or the public interest; follow organizational channels first where feasible.

Cultural sensitivity, non-discrimination, and equal treatment of stakeholders are components of the respect principle in professional conduct.

Real or perceived conflicts, gifts, and outside employment are governed by organizational policy; where policy is silent, the stricter ethical standard applies.

Professional development is an obligation; certification holders commit to continuing education and to accurate representation of their qualifications.

When a directive is unethical or illegal, the project manager escalates, documents the concern, and declines to participate; contractual obligation does not override law or ethics.