Google Project Management flashcards
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32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Project
- A temporary effort with a defined start and end that produces a unique deliverable and is constrained by scope, time, and cost.
- Operations
- Ongoing, repetitive work that sustains the business and is not a project because it has no defined end date or unique deliverable.
- Triple constraint
- The interdependent project constraints of scope, time, and cost; changing one usually requires adjusting at least one of the others, with quality affected.
- Projectized organization
- An organizational structure in which project managers have high authority and team members report primarily to the project, often co-located and dedicated.
- PMO
- A project management office that standardizes practices and may be supportive, controlling, or directive; directive PMOs directly manage projects.
- Business case
- A document that justifies a project by explaining the problem or opportunity, expected benefits, costs, risks, and strategic alignment before funding is approved.
- Project charter
- A document that formally authorizes a project, identifies the project manager, and records high-level scope, objectives, success criteria, budget, and key stakeholders.
- Power-interest grid
- A stakeholder analysis tool that maps stakeholders by influence and interest; high-power, high-interest stakeholders require close management and engagement.
- Assumption
- A factor believed to be true for planning purposes but not yet verified; if it proves false, it can affect scope, schedule, cost, or risk.
- Constraint
- A limitation such as a fixed budget, deadline, regulatory requirement, or resource cap that restricts project options and must be managed.
- Project sponsor
- The executive who champions the project, provides funding and resources, approves major changes, and helps escalate issues beyond the project manager's authority.
- Work breakdown structure
- A hierarchical decomposition of project scope into manageable work packages; the 100 percent rule requires that it capture all approved scope.
- Milestone
- A significant project event or checkpoint with zero duration, used to mark completion of a phase or major deliverable in the schedule.
- Critical path
- The longest sequence of dependent activities through a network diagram; it determines the shortest possible project duration and has zero float.
- Float
- The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project finish; float equals late start minus early start.
- PERT estimate
- A weighted three-point estimate calculated as (optimistic + 4 times most likely + pessimistic) divided by 6, used when duration is uncertain.
- Contingency reserve
- Time or money set aside for identified risks with known probability and impact; it is included in the project cost baseline.
- Management reserve
- Budget held for unknown risks outside the approved cost baseline; using it typically requires sponsor or management approval.
- Earned value
- The budgeted value of work actually completed; it is compared with planned value and actual cost to assess schedule and cost performance.
- Cost variance
- Earned value minus actual cost; a positive value means the project is under budget, while a negative value means it is over budget.
- Schedule variance
- Earned value minus planned value; a positive value indicates ahead of schedule, while a negative value indicates behind schedule.
- Change control board
- A group that reviews change requests, assesses impacts on scope, schedule, cost, and risk, and approves, rejects, or defers changes.
- Issue log
- A record of problems that have already occurred, including owner, priority, status, and resolution; it differs from a risk register of potential events.
- Sprint
- A fixed-length Scrum iteration, usually one to four weeks, at the end of which the team produces a potentially releasable product increment.
- Product backlog
- A prioritized list of product requirements, features, and fixes maintained by the product owner and refined throughout the project.
- Definition of done
- A shared checklist of criteria that a product increment must meet before it is considered complete and potentially releasable.
- Velocity
- The average number of story points a team completes per sprint, used to forecast future capacity rather than to compare teams.
- Kanban
- An agile method that visualizes workflow, limits work in progress, and manages flow using explicit policies and continuous improvement.
- Closeout report
- A final document summarizing project outcomes against objectives, budget and schedule performance, lessons learned, and formal acceptance of deliverables.
- Benefits realization
- The process of tracking whether the project's intended business benefits are actually achieved after deliverables are handed over to the organization.
- Transition plan
- A plan for handing over deliverables, knowledge, and ownership to the receiving team so the project's outputs remain supported after closure.
- Lessons learned
- Knowledge captured during or after a project about what worked, what did not, and what to repeat or avoid on future projects.