Google Project Management cheat sheet

A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined start and finish that creates a unique product, service, or result; operations are ongoing and repetitive.

The triple constraint links scope, time, and cost; a change to any one typically forces a trade-off in at least one other, and quality is affected by all three.

Predictive (waterfall) delivery fits stable, well-understood requirements; adaptive (agile) delivery fits high uncertainty and frequent feedback.

Project manager authority is lowest in a functional organization, moderate in a matrix, and highest in a projectized organization.

A supportive PMO provides templates and consulting; a controlling PMO enforces compliance; a directive PMO directly manages projects.

SMART objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

The project lifecycle generally runs initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closure; monitoring and controlling overlaps execution.

A project sponsor funds and champions the project and approves major changes; stakeholders are anyone who affects or is affected by the project.

The business case justifies the project through problem or opportunity, expected benefits, costs, risks, and strategic alignment; approval authorizes funding.

The project charter formally authorizes the project and names the project manager; it contains high-level scope, objectives, success criteria, budget, and key stakeholders, not a detailed schedule.

In a power-interest grid, high-power/high-interest stakeholders are managed closely; high-power/low-interest are kept satisfied; low-power/high-interest are kept informed; low-power/low-interest are monitored.

An assumption is believed true but unverified; a constraint is a real limitation such as a fixed deadline, budget cap, or regulatory requirement.

A project objective should state a measurable outcome, a time frame, and a success criterion so acceptance can be judged.

The scope statement defines deliverables, acceptance criteria, exclusions, assumptions, and constraints; exclusions reduce ambiguity about out-of-scope work.

A kickoff meeting aligns participants on goals, scope, roles, schedule, and communication before execution begins.

Return on investment equals (benefit minus cost) divided by cost; payback period is the time needed to recover the initial investment.

A work breakdown structure decomposes approved scope into work packages; the 100 percent rule requires that the WBS include all scope and no extra work.

A milestone has zero duration and marks a significant event; an activity has duration and consumes resources.

The critical path is the longest dependent path through the schedule network; it determines the shortest project duration and has zero total float.

Total float equals late start minus early start, or late finish minus early finish; a critical activity has zero float.

PERT expected duration = (optimistic + 4 × most likely + pessimistic) ÷ 6; PERT standard deviation = (pessimistic − optimistic) ÷ 6.

Dependencies include finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish; lead allows overlap and lag inserts delay.

The cost baseline is the approved budget for authorized work, including contingency reserves for identified risks but excluding management reserve for unknown risks.

Risk responses are avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept, and escalate; the risk register records probability, impact, owner, and response.

Quality assurance focuses on processes; quality control focuses on inspecting deliverables against requirements.

Earned value management compares planned value (PV), earned value (EV), and actual cost (AC) to measure cost and schedule performance.

Cost variance CV = EV − AC; schedule variance SV = EV − PV; positive values are favorable and negative values are unfavorable.

Cost performance index CPI = EV ÷ AC; schedule performance index SPI = EV ÷ PV; CPI or SPI above 1 is favorable and below 1 is unfavorable.

Estimate at completion EAC = BAC ÷ CPI when current cost performance is expected to continue; estimate to complete ETC = EAC − AC.

Variance at completion VAC = BAC − EAC; a positive VAC indicates an expected underrun and a negative VAC indicates an expected overrun.

A change request enters integrated change control, where impact on scope, schedule, cost, and risk is assessed before approval, rejection, or deferral.

An issue has already occurred and is tracked in an issue log; a risk is a potential future event tracked in a risk register.

Tuckman team stages are forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning; storming typically involves conflict about roles and process.

Closing includes formal deliverable acceptance, contract closure, resource release, lessons learned, and archive of project records.

The Agile Manifesto values individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and responding to change over following a plan.

Scrum roles are product owner (backlog value), Scrum Master (process facilitation), and developers (deliver the increment).

Scrum events are sprint planning, daily scrum, sprint review, and sprint retrospective; the sprint itself is a fixed-length container, usually one to four weeks.

Scrum artifacts are the product backlog, sprint backlog, and increment; the definition of done determines when an increment is complete.

A user story follows the form 'As a [user], I want [goal] so that [benefit]' and is ready when it meets INVEST criteria and has acceptance criteria.

Kanban visualizes workflow, limits work in progress, makes policies explicit, and manages flow; it does not require fixed-length sprints.

Velocity is average story points completed per sprint; it is used to forecast capacity and not to compare teams.

A burndown chart shows remaining work over time; a burnup chart shows completed work and total scope over time.

A capstone project should trace the full lifecycle: charter, stakeholder analysis, WBS, schedule, budget, risk register, execution controls, and closeout.

Scope creep is uncontrolled expansion of scope without corresponding changes to time, cost, or approval; change control is the defense.

Success criteria should be measurable and tied to the charter objectives so final acceptance and benefits can be evaluated.

A transition plan assigns ownership, training, documentation, and support for deliverables after the project closes.

Benefits realization tracks whether intended business outcomes occur after handover; project completion alone does not prove benefit.

Lessons learned capture what worked, what did not, and recommendations; they are most useful when recorded throughout the project, not only at closure.

A closeout report summarizes outcomes against objectives, schedule and budget performance, accepted deliverables, and lessons learned.

Stakeholder engagement should be reassessed at phase gates because influence and interest can change.