TEST ARCHED flashcards

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

Project vs program

A project is a temporary endeavor producing a unique result; a program is a group of related projects managed together to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually.

Project charter

A document issued by the sponsor that formally authorizes the project, names the project manager, and grants authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.

Triple constraint

The interdependent balance of scope, time, and cost, with quality at the center; changing one constraint typically forces adjustment to at least one other.

PMO types

Supportive PMOs provide templates and best practices; controlling PMOs enforce compliance with frameworks; directive PMOs directly manage and take responsibility for projects.

Scope baseline

The approved combination of the project scope statement, work breakdown structure, and WBS dictionary, used as the reference for measuring scope performance and controlling changes.

Work breakdown structure

A deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of total project scope; its lowest level, the work package, can be estimated, scheduled, and assigned to one owner.

Validate vs control scope

Validate Scope is formal acceptance of completed deliverables by the customer; Control Scope monitors scope status and manages changes to the scope baseline.

Requirements traceability matrix

A grid linking each requirement to its source, design elements, build components, and test cases, confirming that every requirement is covered and every deliverable justified.

Scope creep

Uncontrolled expansion of project scope through undocumented additions, often without corresponding adjustments to time, cost, or resources.

Coupling and cohesion

Coupling is the degree of dependency between modules, which should be low; cohesion is the relatedness of work within a module, which should be high.

CAP theorem

A distributed data system cannot simultaneously guarantee consistency, availability, and partition tolerance; under a network partition it must sacrifice consistency or availability.

Availability formula

Availability equals mean time between failures divided by the sum of mean time between failures and mean time to repair; reducing repair time raises availability.

Design trade-off analysis

A weighted evaluation of design alternatives against criteria such as cost, risk, performance, and maintainability, documenting the selected option and rejected alternatives with rationale.

Critical path

The longest duration path through the project network, which determines the shortest possible project duration; activities on it have zero total float.

Cost performance index

CPI equals earned value divided by actual cost; a value below one indicates the project is spending more than the work performed is worth.

Schedule performance index

SPI equals earned value divided by planned value; a value below one indicates work is progressing slower than the baseline plan.

Estimate at completion

EAC is the forecast total cost at completion; when current variances are expected to continue, EAC equals budget at completion divided by CPI.

Crashing vs fast tracking

Crashing shortens duration by adding resources and cost; fast tracking overlaps sequential activities, shortening duration but increasing risk and rework potential.

Total float

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

Quality assurance vs control

Quality assurance focuses on processes to prevent defects; quality control inspects deliverables to detect defects and verify they meet specified quality standards.

Cost of quality

The total cost of conformance (prevention and appraisal) plus cost of non-conformance (internal and external failures), used to justify quality investment.

Control chart rule

A process is out of control when a data point falls outside control limits or seven consecutive points fall on one side of the mean, indicating special-cause variation.

Definition of Done

A shared checklist of criteria an increment must satisfy to be considered complete; work not meeting it is not accepted as finished.

Risk vs issue

A risk is an uncertain event that may affect the project if it occurs; an issue is a risk that has occurred and now requires active management.

Threat response strategies

Avoid eliminates the threat, transfer shifts impact to a third party, mitigate reduces probability or impact, accept acknowledges it, and escalate moves it beyond project authority.

Change control board

A group with authority to review, approve, reject, or defer change requests, evaluating impacts on scope, schedule, cost, quality, and risk before deciding.

Residual and secondary risk

Residual risk remains after responses are applied; secondary risk is a new risk created by implementing a risk response.

Communication channels formula

The number of communication channels equals n times n minus one, divided by two, where n is the number of stakeholders; channels grow quadratically as stakeholders are added.

Power-interest grid

A stakeholder classification plotting influence against interest; high power and high interest stakeholders are managed closely, while low power and low interest are monitored.

RACI matrix

A responsibility assignment grid where each task has one Accountable owner, plus Responsible doers, Consulted contributors, and Informed recipients of updates.

Phase gate

A governance review at the end of a phase that checks deliverables against exit criteria before authorizing funding and work for the next phase.

Escalation threshold

A predefined numeric or criteria-based trigger, such as a variance exceeding ten percent, that requires raising an issue to a higher governance authority.