Pmp: Project Management Professional - Brossura

Heldman, Kim

Brossura

ISBN 10: 078213601X ISBN 13: 9780782136012

Casa editrice: Sybex Inc, 2005

Riassunto

Whether you’re a current project manager seeking to validate the skills and knowledge acquired through years of practical experience or a newcomer to the PM field looking to strengthen your resume, the PMP certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI) provides you with the means to do so. This new edition of the best-selling PMP: Project Management Professional Study Guide covers the 2005 updates to both the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and the PMP exam. Author Kim Heldman presents the material in a clear and accessible manner, taking you through the process groups in their logical order so you understand the parts and the whole equally well.

KEY TOPICS INCLUDE:

Project Initiation. Determining project goals, determining deliverables, determining process outputs, documenting constraints, documenting assumptions, defining strategies, producing formal documentation.

Project Planning. Refining a project, creating a WBS, developing a resource management plan, determining resource requirements, defining budgets, refining time and costs estimates, establishing project controls, obtaining plan approval.

Project Execution. Committing and implementing resources, managing and communicating progress, implementing quality assurance procedures.

Project Control. Measuring performance, refining control links, taking corrective action, evaluating effectiveness of corrective action, ensuring plan compliance, reassessing control plans, responding to risk event triggers, monitor project activity.

Project Closing. Obtaining acceptance of deliverables, documenting lessons learned, facilitating closure, preserving product records and tools, releasing resources.

Professional Responsibility. Ensuring integrity, contributing to knowledge base, balancing stakeholder interests, respecting differences.

Su questo libro

Informazioni sull?autore

Kim Heldman (Boulder, CO), PMP, MBA, is the Director of the IT Project Management Office for the Colorado Department of Revenue and is a member of the Denver chapter of PMI.

Dalla quarta di copertina

Whether you're a current project manager seeking to validate the skills and knowledge acquired through years of practical experience or a newcomer to the PM field looking to strengthen your resume, the PMP certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI) provides you with the means to do so. This new edition of the best-selling PMP: Project Management Professional Study Guide covers the 2005 updates to both the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and the PMP exam. Author Kim Heldman presents the material in a clear and accessible manner, taking you through the process groups in their logical order so you understand the parts and the whole equally well.

KEY TOPICS INCLUDE:

Project Initiation. Determining project goals, determining deliverables, determining process outputs, documenting constraints, documenting assumptions, defining strategies, producing formal documentation.

Project Planning. Refining a project, creating a WBS, developing a resource management plan, determining resource requirements, defining budgets, refining time and costs estimates, establishing project controls, obtaining plan approval.

Project Execution. Committing and implementing resources, managing and communicating progress, implementing quality assurance procedures.

Project Control. Measuring performance, refining control links, taking corrective action, evaluating effectiveness of corrective action, ensuring plan compliance, reassessing control plans, responding to risk event triggers, monitor project activity.

Project Closing. Obtaining acceptance of deliverables, documenting lessons learned, facilitating closure, preserving product records and tools, releasing resources.

Professional Responsibility. Ensuring integrity, contributing to knowledge base, balancing stakeholder interests, respecting differences.

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PMP

Project Management Professional Study GuideBy Kim Heldman

Jossey-Bass

Copyright © 2005 Kim Heldman
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7821-3601-2

Chapter One

What Is a Project?

Congratulations on your decision to study for and take the Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam. This book was written with you in mind. The focus and content of this book revolve heavily around the information contained in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK, Guide) Third Edition, published by PMI. I will refer to this guide throughout this book and elaborate on those areas that appear on the test. Keep in mind that the test covers all the project management processes, so don't skip anything in your study time.

When possible, I'll pass on hints and study tips that I collected while studying for the exam myself. Your first tip is to familiarize yourself with the terminology used in A Guide to the PMBOK. Volunteers from differing industries worked together to come up with the standards and terms used in the guide. These folks have worked hard to develop and define standard project management terms, and these terms are used interchangeably among industries. For example, resource planning means the same thing to someone working in construction, information technology, or telecommunications. You'll find A Guide to the PMBOK terms explained throughout this book. Even if you are an experienced project manager, you might find you use specific terms for processes or actions you regularly perform but A Guide to the PMBOK calls them by another name. So, step one is to get familiar with the terminology.

This chapter lays the foundation for building and managing your project. We'll address project and project management definitions as well as organizational structures. Good luck!

Is It a Project?

Consider the following scenario: The VP of marketing approaches you with a fabulous idea-"fabulous" because he's the big boss and because he thought it up. He wants to set up kiosks in local grocery stores as mini offices. These offices will offer customers the ability to sign up for new wireless phone services, make their wireless phone bill payments, and purchase equipment and accessories. He believes that the exposure in grocery stores will increase awareness of the company's offerings. After all, everyone has to eat, right? He told you that the board of directors has already cleared the project and he'll dedicate as many resources to this as he can. He wants the new kiosks in place in 12 stores by the end of next year. The best news is he's assigned you to head up this project.

Your first question should be, "Is it a project?" This may seem elementary, but confusing projects with ongoing operations happens often. Projects are temporary in nature, have definite start and end dates, result in the creation of a unique product or service, and are completed when their goals and objectives have been met and signed off by the stakeholders.

When considering whether or not you have a project on your hands, there are some things to keep in mind. First, is it a project or an ongoing operation? Next, if it is a project, who are the stakeholders? And third, what characteristics distinguish this endeavor as a project. We'll look at each of these next.

Projects versus Operations

Projects are temporary in nature and have definitive start dates and definitive end dates. The project is completed when its goals and objectives are accomplished. Sometimes projects end when it's determined that the goals and objectives cannot be accomplished or when the product or service of the project is no longer needed and the project is canceled. Projects exist to bring about a product or service that hasn't existed before. This may include tangible products, services such as consulting or project management, and business functions that support the organization. Projects may also produce a result or an outcome, such as a document that details findings of a research study. In this sense, a project is unique. However, don't get confused by the term unique. For example, Ford Motor Company is in the business of designing and assembling cars. Each model that Ford designs and produces can be considered a project. The models differ from each other in their features and are marketed to people with various needs. An SUV serves a different purpose and clientele than a luxury model. The design and marketing of these two models are unique projects. However, the actual assembly of the cars is considered an operation-a repetitive process that is followed for most makes and models.

Determining the characteristics and features of the different car models is carried out through what A Guide to the PMBOK terms progressive elaboration. This means the characteristics of the product or service of the project (the SUV, for example) are determined incrementally and are continually refined and worked out in detail as the project progresses. This concept goes along with the temporary and unique aspects of a project because when you first start the project, you don't know all the minute details of the end product. Product characteristics typically start out broad based at the beginning of the project and are progressively elaborated into more and more detail over time until they are complete and finalized. Keep in mind that product characteristics are progressively elaborated but the work of the project itself stays constant.

Operations are ongoing and repetitive. They involve work that is continuous without an ending date and you often repeat the same processes and produce the same results. The purpose of operations is to keep the organization functioning while the purpose of a project is to meet its goals and to conclude. Therefore, operations are ongoing while projects are unique and temporary.

Stakeholders

A project is successful when it achieves its objectives and meets or exceeds the expectations of the stakeholders. Stakeholders are those folks (or organizations) with a vested interest in your project. They are the people who are actively involved with the work of the project or have something to either gain or lose as a result of the project.

NOTE

Key stakeholders can make or break the success of a project. Even if all the deliverables are met and the objectives are satisfied, if your key stakeholders aren't happy, nobody's happy.

The project sponsor, generally an executive in the organization with the authority to assign resources and enforce decisions regarding the project, is a stakeholder. The customer is a stakeholder, as are contractors and suppliers. The project manager, project team members, and the managers from other departments in the organization are stakeholders as well. It's important to identify all the stakeholders in your project up front. If you leave out an important stakeholder or their department's function and don't discover the error until well into the project, it could be a project killer.

Figure 1.1 shows a sample listing of the kinds of stakeholders involved on a typical project.

Many times, stakeholders have conflicting interests. It's the project manager's responsibility to understand these conflicts and try to resolve them. It's also the project manager's responsibility to manage stakeholder expectations. Be certain to identify and meet with all key stakeholders early in the project to understand all their needs and constraints. And when in doubt, stakeholder conflicts should always be resolved in favor of the customer.

NOTE

We'll talk more about stakeholders and their needs in Chapter 3, "Developing the Project Scope Statement."

Project Characteristics

We've just learned that a project has several characteristics:

Projects are unique.

Projects are temporary in nature and have a definite beginning and ending date.

Projects are completed when the project goals are achieved or it's determined the project is no longer viable.

A successful project is one that meets or exceeds the expectations of your stakeholders.

Using these criteria, let's examine the assignment from the VP of marketing to determine if it is a project:

Is it unique? Yes, because the kiosks don't exist in the local grocery stores. This is a new way of offering the company's services to its customer base. While the service the company is offering isn't new, the way it is presenting its services is.

Does the project have a limited time frame? Yes, the start date of this project is today, and the end date is the end of next year. It is a temporary endeavor.

Is there a way to determine when the project is completed? Yes, the kiosks will be installed, and services will be offered from them. Once all of the kiosks are intact and operating, the project will come to a close.

Is there a way to determine stakeholder satisfaction? Yes, the expectations of the stakeholders will be documented in the form of requirements during the planning processes. These requirements will be compared to the finished product to determine if it meets the expectations of the stakeholder.

Houston, we have a project.

What Is Project Management?

You've determined that you indeed have a project. What now? The notes you scratched out on the back of a napkin at coffee break might get you started, but that's not exactly good project management practice.

We have all witnessed this scenario-an assignment is made and the project team members jump directly into the project, busying themselves with building the product or service requested. Often, careful thought is not given to the project-planning process. I'm sure you've heard co-workers toss around statements like "That would be a waste of valuable time" or "Why plan when you can just start building?" Project progress is rarely measured against the customer requirements. In the end, the delivered product or service doesn't meet the expectations of the customer! This is a frustrating experience for all those involved. Unfortunately, many projects follow this poorly constructed path.

Project management brings together a set of tools and techniques-performed by people-to describe, organize, and monitor the work of project activities. Project managers are the people responsible for managing the project processes and applying the tools and techniques used to carry out the project activities. All projects are composed of processes, even if they employ a haphazard approach. There are many advantages to organizing projects and teams around the project management processes endorsed by PMI. We'll be examining those processes and their advantages in depth throughout the remainder of this book.

Project management involves applying knowledge, skills, and techniques during the course of the project to accomplish the project requirements. It is the responsibility of the project manager to ensure that project management techniques are applied and followed.

Project management is a process that includes planning, putting the project plan into action, and measuring progress and performance. It involves identifying the project requirements, establishing project objectives, balancing constraints, and taking the needs and expectations of the key stakeholders into consideration. Planning is one of the most important functions you'll perform during the course of a project. It sets the standard for the rest of the project's life and is used to track future project performance. Before we begin the planning process, let's look at some of the ways the work of project management is organized.

Programs

Programs are groups of related projects that are managed using the same techniques in a coordinated fashion. When projects are managed collectively as programs, they capitalize on benefits that wouldn't be achievable if the projects were managed separately. This would be the case where a very large program exists with many subprojects under it-for example, building a new shopping mall. Many subprojects exist underneath this program, such as excavation, construction, interior design, store placement, marketing, facilities management, and so on. Each of the subprojects is really a project unto itself. Each subproject has its own project manager, who reports to a project manager with responsibility over several of the areas, who in turn reports to the head project manager over the entire program. All of the projects are related and are managed together so that collective benefits are realized and controls are implemented and managed in a coordinated fashion. Sometimes programs involve aspects of ongoing operations as well. After the shopping mall in our example is built, the management of the facility becomes the ongoing operations part of this program. The management of this collection of projects is called program management. Program management involves centrally managing and coordinating groups of related projects to meet the objectives of the program.

Portfolios

Portfolios are collections of programs and projects that meet a specific business goal or objective. Let's say our company is in the construction business. There are several business units within our organization: retail, single family residential, and multifamily residential. All projects and programs associated with the retail business unit belong to the retail portfolio. The program we talked about in the preceding section (the collection of projects associated with building the new shopping mall) is one of the programs that belongs to the retail portfolio. There could be other programs and projects within this portfolio as well. The objective of any program or project in this portfolio is to meet the strategic objectives of the portfolio, which in turn should meet the objectives of the department and ultimately the corporation. Portfolio management encompasses managing the collections of programs and projects in the portfolio. This includes weighing the value of each project, or potential project, against the portfolio's strategic objectives. It also concerns monitoring active projects for adherence to objectives, balancing the portfolio among the other investments of the organization, and assuring the efficient use of resources. Portfolio management is generally performed by a senior manager in the organization.

Project Management Offices

The concept of a project management office, sometimes referred to as the PMO, has been around for several years. You'll find that many organizations are establishing PMOs in many different forms. PMOs may also be called project offices or program management offices. The PMO is usually a centralized organizational unit that oversees the management of projects and programs throughout the organization. The most common reason a company starts a project management office is to establish and maintain procedures and standards for project management methodologies. In some organizations, project managers and team members might report directly to the PMO and are assigned to projects as they are initiated. In other organizations, the PMO only provides support functions for projects and trains others in project management procedures and techniques. Still others, depending on their size and function, have experts available that assist project managers in project planning, estimating, and business assumption verification tasks. They serve as mentors to junior-level project managers and act as consultants to the senior project managers.

NOTE

A PMO can exist in all organizational structures, functional, matrix, or projectized. It may have full authority to oversee projects, including the authority to cancel projects, or it may serve only in an advisory role.

The PMO usually has responsibility for maintaining and archiving project documentation for future reference. This office compares project goals with project progress and gives feedback to the project teams. It also measures the project performance of active projects and suggests corrective actions. The PMO evaluates completed projects for their adherence to the project plan and asks questions like the following: Did the project meet the time frames established, did it stay within budget, and was the quality acceptable?

(Continues...)

Excerpted from PMPby Kim Heldman Copyright © 2005 by Kim Heldman. Excerpted by permission.
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Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Sybex Inc
• Data di pubblicazione: 2005
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 078213601X
• ISBN 13: 9780782136012
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 544
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile