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Adapting the Project Management Process - Identifying the Planning Process Group

Q: What is a scope statement?

It is a document that describes the work, and only the required work, necessary to meet the project objectives. It is based on the project charter, identified requirements, and organizational process assets. It established a common vision among the project stakeholders to establish the point and purpose of project work. It is used as a baseline against which all future project decisions are made to determine whether proposed changes or work results are aligned with expectations.

33 important questions on Adapting the Project Management Process - Identifying the Planning Process Group

Name a number of processes (5) that fall within the 'Planning Process Group'? (out of a total of 23)

Develop the Project Management Plan
Plan Scope Management
Collect and Document Project Requirements
Creating the Project Scope
Creating the Work Breakdown Structure
Plan Schedule Management
Defining the Project Activities
Sequence the Project Activities
Estimating the Project Activity Resources
Estimating Activity Durations
Developing the Project Schedule
Defining the Cost Management Plan
Completing Estimates
Determining the Project Budget
Creating a Quality Management Plan
Planning for Human Resource Needs
Creating a Communications Management Plan
Completing Risk Management Planning
Identifying Project Risks
Completing Qualitative and Quantitative Risk Analyses
Complete Risk Response Planning
Planning for Project Procurement
Planning for Stakeholder Management

What is the reason to involve customers and users in the project planning?

They can contribute to project management plan. They know things that the project team does not know. Thus these stakeholders should be used to help plan the project and help it succeed.

What do we mean with shared ownership? And what is the purpose of shared ownership?

Shared ownership means that the project stakeholders are included in the planning part of the project.
This ensures that customers recognize the value and intensity of the project work and process.
This also ensures that the project deliverables are in alignment with what the stakeholders and the project team are expecting to receive.

Develop the Project Management Plan - Give Input - Activity - Output

Input - The outputs of other planning processes
Activity - Gather all the subsidiary project plans and combine these into a comprehensive plan for the project
Output - A centralized document that serves as a guide for project decisions in execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing the project

Is the project management plan a fixed document?

No, it evolves over the life cycle of a project. And thus it is an example of progressive elaboration, as more information becomes available the document will be updated (e.g. the risk response plan).

Plan Scope Management - Give Input - Activity - Output ?

Input - Project Charter, Enterprise Environmental Factors, Organizational Process Assets
Activity - The project manager and project team meet with customers, users, subject matter experts and define the scope management plan. It defines how the scope statement and WBS will be created and how changes for the WBS will be dealt with.
Output - The scope management plan existing of project scope definition, scope validation, change control for scope

What is important when managing stakeholder's expectations?

Having a clear understanding of stakeholder's expectations by documenting, prioritizing requirements and finding balance between competing objectives.
Determine expectations and agreement on what the project should create (between customer and project manager) must be done before the creation process begins.

Define - rolling wave planning

Rolling wave planning focusses detailed planning activities on the immediate activities of the project rather than on remote, future activities that may be affected by the outcome of the direct project results. The activities further away are addressed by rolling wave planning, in high-level detail rather than focussed on the specifics.

What is a scope statement?

It is a document that describes the work, and only the required work, necessary to meet the project objectives.
It is based on the project charter, identified requirements, and organizational process assets.
It established a common vision among the project stakeholders to establish the point and purpose of project work.
It is used as a baseline against which all future project decisions are made to determine whether proposed changes or work results are aligned with expectations.

What is the activity and purpose of the plan schedule management process?

It defines how the project manager and team will develop, manage, execute, and control the project schedule.
By creating the approach it sets expectations and agreements with project members and stakeholders around integrated planning and schedule management during the project.
It defines how the scheduling work will take place during the project, with input from the stakeholders needed and the enterprise environmental factors.

What do we mean with 'the attributes of the activities' in the activity list?

Any risks, issues or concerns about the nature of the activity to prevent problems during project execution.

When defining the project activities in the activity list, what will the project manager typically do?

Define the project work packages and related activities
Define the attributes of the activities
Define the milestones related to the activities

What do we mean with sequencing of the project activities?

Sequencing of the activities in the order in which the work should be completed.

What is the network diagram or project network diagram (PND)?

It illustrates the flow of activities to complete the project and/ or the project phase. It defines which activities need to be scheduled sequentially versus in tandem.

What is the purpose of estimating project activity resources?

To estimate what resources are needed in order to create accurate time and cost estimates later in planning. Resources are people, equipment, facilities and materials needed to complete the project activities.

What is the purpose of a resource calendar?

It helps the project manager identify when resources are available and complete scheduling of the needed resources.

How will estimating the duration of activities help the project manager?

It will help to create the schedule and sequence of activities
It will help to identify bottlenecks
It will help to manage risks etc.

How can one overcome the challenges of estimating durations of activities?

Expert judgment as support
Having some insight in the type of work the project team will accomplish
Accepting that this is a process that will be revisited many times during a project

What is the input for a project schedule?

The work breakdown structure
The project network diagram (flow of activities)
availability of resources
Time constraints

What is the purpose of 'defining the cost management plan?'

Defines how the cost of materials, labor, equipment and resources needed in the project are defined
Defines how to estimate project costs, define project budget and control costs
Defining the requirements and procedures for cost management (based on environmental organizational factors)

What is important when completing cost and time estimates?

They should include a range of variance that reflects the degree of confidence of the estimate, the assumptions on which the estimate is based and how long the estimate is valid. (simply said several assumptions are tied to the estimate)

What should a project budget include?

The cost of a project
A qualifier (such as -/+ 10%) and assumptions for the qualifier
Cash flow projections (to make money available for the project)
How the money will be spent

What is the purpose of the quality management plan?

It details how the project will map to the organizational quality policy (e.g. ISO 9000 or Six Sigma), will meet the organizational quality expectations of the organizational QA program and how the project will deal with quality control (QC)

What are typical tasks performed by the project team?

Complete project work
Provide information on work needed to complete the project scope
Provide accuracy in project estimating
Report on project progress

What makes up a communications management plan?

All needed communications within a project
Who needs what information, how they need it and when it will be delivered
It specifies team meetings, reports, expectations for reports, expectations of communications among team members.

Define - risk management planning

The obligation of the project manager to acknowledge, document, research, and plan for risks within the project.

What is the purpose of initial risk assessment?

It allows the project manager and the team to determine which high level risks may influence the feasibility, resources, and requirements needed to complete the project.

What is the purpose of qualitative risk analysis?

It is the activity of classifying risks on probability and impact on a scale of high, medium and low.

What is the purpose of quantitative risk analysis?

It is more in depth analysis of the identified risk requiring a risk matrix based on probability and impact.

What do we mean with risk response planning?

Analyzing the risks on positive or negative impact
Identification of a response (accept, avoid, mitigate, counter, plan for through contingency)
Assign risk owners

What does a project procurement plan serve?

It guides the project manager through the processes of selecting vendors, selecting the appropriate procurement documents, contract selections and administration.

Why is the purpose of a stakeholder management plan?

It is the creation of a strategy to manage the depth of stakeholder participation, stakeholder involvement and the stakeholders' perceived threats, concerns and requirements in the project. (other words, how you interact, communicate with and influence the stakeholders for the sake of the project)

What does a stakeholder management plan consist of?

the relationships among the project stakeholders
the communication requirements for the stakeholders during the project
the level of influence the stakeholders have over the project decisions

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

PMP - project management professional study guide | 9780071775915 | Joseph Phillips

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