PMI-ACP flashcards
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32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Agile Manifesto four values
- The Agile Manifesto prefers individuals and interactions, working software, customer collaboration, and responding to change over processes and tools, documentation, contract negotiation, and following a plan.
- Empirical process control
- A management approach using transparency, inspection, and adaptation; work is visible, checked frequently, and adjusted based on observed results rather than assuming plans are correct.
- Shu-ha-ri
- A Japanese learning model with three stages: shu (follow the rules), ha (break and adapt rules), and ri (transcend rules through mastery).
- Servant leadership
- A leadership style in which the leader removes impediments, coaches, facilitates, and protects the team so that team members can self-organize and deliver value.
- Agile triangle
- A project constraint model that fixes cost and time, holds quality high, and allows scope to vary as learning occurs; contrast with the traditional fixed-scope triple constraint.
- Cost of Delay
- The economic loss per unit of time caused by not delivering a product, feature, or capability; it combines lost revenue, increased cost, and risk exposure.
- Weighted Shortest Job First
- A prioritization formula: WSJF = Cost of Delay ÷ Job Size or duration. Items with the highest WSJF are sequenced first to maximize economic value.
- Minimum viable product
- The smallest product increment that allows a team to validate key assumptions and learn from real customer behavior; it is not simply the smallest feature set.
- Minimum marketable feature
- The smallest feature set that delivers meaningful value to customers and can be released; it balances customer value with development effort.
- Kano model
- A satisfaction model with must-be (basic), performance (linear), and delighter (attractive) categories; missing must-be needs causes dissatisfaction, while delighters create disproportionate satisfaction.
- Communication channels formula
- The number of communication paths among n people equals n(n − 1) ÷ 2; adding people increases coordination complexity quadratically.
- Power/interest grid
- A stakeholder analysis tool: high power/high interest = manage closely; high power/low interest = keep satisfied; low power/high interest = keep informed; low/low = monitor.
- Stakeholder engagement levels
- Five levels of stakeholder commitment: unaware, resistant, neutral, supportive, and leading; engagement plans aim to move key stakeholders toward supportive or leading.
- Osmotic communication
- Information transfer that occurs when team members overhear nearby conversations and absorb context without formal meetings; it works best in co-located or open communication environments.
- Sprint review
- A collaborative event where the team demonstrates a working increment to stakeholders, collects feedback, and adapts the product backlog for the next iteration.
- Tuckman stages
- Team development stages: forming (orientation), storming (conflict), norming (agreement), performing (high productivity), and adjourning (disbanding).
- Velocity
- The average number of story points a team completes per iteration over several iterations; it is team-specific, relative, and useful for forecasting rather than cross-team comparison.
- Team charter
- A document created by the team that defines purpose, scope, roles, decision rules, working agreements, and communication norms; it guides behavior and resolves ambiguity.
- Thomas-Kilmann conflict modes
- Five conflict-handling modes: competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating; collaborating seeks a win-win solution and is often best for important, complex issues.
- Collective code ownership
- A practice where any team member may change any part of the codebase; shared standards, tests, and reviews protect quality and reduce dependency on individual experts.
- Rolling wave planning
- A planning approach that elaborates near-term work in detail while keeping farther-term work at a high level until more information is available.
- Cone of uncertainty
- A visual model showing that estimate ranges are widest early in a project and narrow as uncertainty is reduced through learning and delivery.
- Planning poker
- A consensus estimation technique where each team member privately selects a relative estimate card, extreme values are discussed, and rounds repeat until agreement.
- Little's Law
- Average work in process equals throughput multiplied by average cycle time (WIP = throughput × cycle time); reducing WIP shortens cycle time for a given throughput.
- Lead time versus cycle time
- Lead time is measured from request or commitment to delivery; cycle time is measured from start of active work to completion. Both reveal flow efficiency.
- Cumulative flow diagram
- A chart plotting work items in each state over time; widening bands indicate growing WIP or bottlenecks, while stable bands indicate smooth flow.
- 5 Whys
- A root-cause technique that repeatedly asks 'why' about a problem, typically five times, to move from symptoms to underlying causes; it is strengthened by direct observation.
- Control chart
- A time-series chart with a mean and control limits used to distinguish normal variation from special-cause signals such as points outside limits or long runs.
- Retrospective prime directive
- A retrospective guideline stating that everyone did the best job possible given the situation and available information; it reduces blame and supports honest reflection.
- PDCA cycle
- Plan-Do-Check-Act: plan a small experiment, run it, check the results, and act by standardizing the improvement or adjusting the approach.
- Value stream mapping
- A visual analysis of the steps and handoffs required to deliver value; it highlights waiting, rework, and other waste to target improvement.
- Improvement backlog
- A prioritized list of agreed improvement actions from retrospectives and metrics, each with an owner, due date, and measurable success criterion.