QUESTION BANK PROJECT MANAGEMENT.

Q1.TRIPLE CONSTRAINTS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT.

● The project management triangle is used by managers to analyze or understand the

difficulties that may arise due to implementing and executing a project.
● There are three main interdependent constraints for every project; time, cost and scope.
This is known as Project Management Triangle or Triple constraints in project
management.

● Time
1. A project's activities can either take a shorter or longer amount of time to
complete.
2. Completion of tasks depends on a number of factors such as the number of
people working on the project, experience, skills, etc.
3. Time is a crucial factor which is uncontrollable.
4. On the other hand, failure to meet the deadlines in a project can create adverse
effects. Most often, the main reason for organizations to fail in terms of time is
due to lack of resources.
● Cost
1. It's imperative for both the project manager and the organization to have an
estimated cost when undertaking a project.
2. Budgets will ensure that the project is developed or implemented below a certain
cost.
3. Sometimes, project managers have to allocate additional resources in order to
meet the deadlines with a penalty of additional project costs.
● Scope
1. Scope looks at the outcome of the project undertaken.
2. This consists of a list of deliverables, which need to be addressed by the project
team.
3. A successful project manager will know to manage both the scope of the project
and any change in scope which impacts time and cost.
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Q2.WHY COMMUNICATION IS MOST IMPORTANT PART OF PROJECT
MANAGERS JOB?

1. Successfully managing a project from start to finish requires certain key skills such as
Scheduling, time management, Leadership, risk management,critical thinking and so on.
2. But the skill that is perhaps most important in project management is the one that
underlies all of these others: Communication.
3. Communication is the most important aspect in project management, because what
project managers do a majority of the time is communicate to coordinate efforts
4. To coordinate efforts, they have to gather a lot of information and circulate it across all
teams involved with the project
5. Without this communication, it’s possible that efforts might be duplicated by multiple
people or teams involved in the project, that important goals and milestones might be
missed, that resources become misallocated, or that the project’s scope begins to creep
outside of the realm of what was originally intended.
6. The end result is that projects can screech to a halt, or worse: fail altogether.
7. Communication is one of the most essential ingredients [in successful project
management] and skills that a project manager has to have.
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Q3.WHO ARE STAKEHOLDERS IN PROJECT? WHY COMMUNICATION IS MOST

IMPORTANT PART OF PROJECT MANAGERS JOB?

1. According to the Project Management Institute, project stakeholders are defined as:
“Individuals and organizations who are actively involved in the project, or whose
interests may be positively or negatively affected as a result of project execution or
successful project completion.”
2. In other words, your project’s stakeholders are the people or groups who have something
to gain (or lose) from your project’s outcome.
3. Successfully managing a project from start to finish requires certain key skills such as
Scheduling, time management, Leadership, risk management,critical thinking and so on.
4. But the skill that is perhaps most important in project management is the one that
underlies all of these others: Communication.
5. Communication is the most important aspect in project management, because what
project managers do a majority of the time is communicate to coordinate efforts
6. To coordinate efforts, they have to gather a lot of information and disseminate it across
all teams involved with the project
7. Without this communication, it’s possible that efforts might be duplicated by multiple
people or teams involved in the project, that important goals and milestones might be
missed, that resources become misallocated, or that the project’s scope begins to creep
outside of the realm of what was originally intended.
 8. The end result is that projects can screech to a halt, or worse: fail altogether.
9. Communication is one of the most essential ingredients [in successful project
management] and skills that a project manager has to have.
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Q4.EXPLAIN NEED OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT ?

1. The purpose of project management is to plan and manage a project to successfully
complete its listed goals and deliverables.
2. Project management is important Because projects are often complex and involve
numerous stakeholders.
3. Having a project manager to lead the initiative and keep everyone on the same page is
critical to project success.
4. In fact, PMI found that organizations using any type of project management methodology
are better at meeting budget, staying on schedule and meeting scope, quality standards
and expected benefits.
5. Here are some of the reasons why you should use project management:

➔ Realistic project planning:

● The importance of project planning cannot be overstated.
● To set realistic goals, budgets, and timelines, the project manager communicates
with different stakeholders to understand the strategic priorities and business
objectives of the initiative.
● Based on their research, the project manager then outlines a project plan that
balances those priorities within the constraints of time and budget. This process
involves cost estimation, resource management, and risk assessment.
➔ Clear focus and objectives:
● When project management is left to the team to handle, the scope and objectives
can easily get muddled.
● Unclear focus can lead to scope creep, missed deadlines, and overspending.
● A good project manager keeps an eye on all these factors so that the team can
focus on the right tasks at the right time and adapt as needed.
➔ Quality control:
● Quality control is an essential component of project management.
● Your project could meet all parameters for time and budget, but if the quality
standards aren’t met, the project will be deemed a failure.
● Project managers help outline deliverables and define their quality standards so
that everyone knows exactly what they’re aiming for.
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Q5.EXPLAIN PROJECT PORTFOLIO PROCESS AND EXPLAIN DIFFERENT STEPS

INVOLVED IN IT.
➔ Project portfolio management is the process of managing a group of related projects
together with the goal of improving overall business performance.
➔ Instead of focusing on projects one at a time, this centralized management process
considers how prioritizing specific projects affects your ability to meet broader business
objectives.
➔ The 5-step project portfolio management process:
Identify Business goal and strategy:
● The first step towards an effective Project portfolio process is to identify
organizational goals and clearly define a business strategy to achieve those goals.
● This will help companies develop an action plan.Each of the projects in a
portfolio should align with the organization's strategic vision.

Establish a project Management Office (PMO):

● Companies should create a business unit to oversee portfolio management
processes and coordinate efforts across the whole organization.
● In many cases this unit is referred to as a PMO.
● Many organizations might already have informal teams that support managers and
projects.
● But for PPM efforts to be successful, a team needs to be given recognition and
support from senior executives. Without this, the system of checks and balances
will not work.
Develop project evaluation criteria
● The PMO can work with business leaders to create project evaluation criteria,
which will help the organization review, evaluate, and authorize projects to ensure
that they align with strategic objectives of the enterprise.
● Among the questions to ask when evaluating new project initiatives are:
● Whether the project drives business goals
● What the expected tangible outcomes will be
● Whether the outcomes can be achieved by a project already underway
● What the project’s risk-return profile is
● What resources are needed to complete the projects

Develop a risk management strategy

● Evaluating the risk-return profiles for projects is a key step in the review phase.
● But developing an organizational risk management strategy is included as a best
practice by itself because it’s so vital to PPM success.
● It’s important to conduct risk assessments several times over the course of a
project’s life cycle, because this enables project managers to keep the PMO and
stakeholders up-to-date on any changes.
● Stakeholders, in turn, can weigh new initiatives against the overall portfolio more
accurately.

Invest in a PPM solution

○ Finally, companies need to deploy a PPM solution that can increase cohesion and
visibility into their PPM processes.
 ○ PPM platforms can identify projects that do not warrant investment and provide
clarity into projects at every level, from objectives to cost.
○ They can provide strategic insight and visibility into the most important projects
that make sense for an organization, prioritize the most valuable work, and help
deliver project initiatives on time and on budget.
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Q6.EXPLAIN WBS

● A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical outline of the tasks required to

complete a project.
● The WBS “breaks down” the structure of a project into manageable deliverables.
● The advantage of using a WBS as part of project lifecycle management is that it takes
large, complex projects and breaks them into smaller, more manageable tasks that can be
assigned to specific people or teams to deliver.
● The primary purpose of the WBS is to plan the schedule for the project.
● The parts of the WBS include:
1. Tasks – a number, ID, title, and description of each task.
2. Task Owner – who is responsible for completing the task.
3. Task Dependency and Predecessors – linking two tasks together if one depends on the
completion of the other.
4. Start and Finish Date of Task – estimates the time each task will take and ultimately the
entire project.
5. Duration – how long will each task take on the calendar (usually number of days or
hours).
6. Work Estimate – how many hours/days of work are required to complete the task
(combining all resource hours together if working in parallel).
7. Task Status – whether each task is assigned to an owner/resource, started, in progress,
late, complete, etc.
8. Gantt Chart – a visualization of the WBS with tasks represented graphically over time.
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Q7. WHAT ARE THE NON NUMERIC MODELS OF PROJECT SELECTION ?

EXPLAIN IN BRIEF

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Q8. EXPLAIN PROJECT MANAGEMENT LIFE CYCLE

● A Project Management life cycle is a five-step framework planned to assist project
managers in completing projects successfully.
● The project management life cycle is usually broken down into FIVE phases: initiation,
planning, execution, monitor and control and closure.
➔ Project Initiation
1. Project initiation is the first Project Management life cycle phase, where the
project starts.
2. It provides an overview of the project, along with the strategies required to attain
desired results.
3. It is the phase where the feasibility and business value of the project are
determined.
➔ Project Planning
1. A lot of planning related to the project takes place during this phase.
2. The planning phase frames a set of plans which help to guide your team through
the implementation phase and closing phase.
3. The program created at this point will surely help you to manage cost, quality,
risk, changes, and time.
4. The project plan developed should include all the essential details related to the
project goals and objectives and should also detail how to achieve them.
➔ Project Execution
1. Project execution is the phase where project-related processes are implemented,
tasks are assigned, and resources are allocated.
2. Project managers or team leaders accomplish the task through resource allocation
and by keeping the team members focused.
3. This phase determines whether your project will succeed or not.
 4. The success of the project mainly depends on the project execution phase.
➔ Project Monitoring and Control
1. The project monitoring and control phase is all about measuring the performance
of the project and tracking progress. It is implemented during the execution phase.
2. The main goal of this phase is to check whether everything aligns with the Project
Management plan
3. Monitoring project activity after the project execution phase will allow the project
manager to take corrective actions.
➔ Project Closure
1. The project closure phase represents the final phase of the Project Management
life cycle, which is also known as the “follow-up” phase.
2. Around this time, the final product is ready for delivery.
3. Here the main focus of the project manager and the team should be on product
release and product delivery.
4. In this stage, all the activities related to the project are wrapped up.
5. The closure phase is not necessarily after a successful completion phase alone.
Sometimes a project may have to be closed due to project failure.
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Q9.TOP DOWN & BOTTOM UP BUDGETING

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Q10.Explain stages of team development and growth

1. Forming stage
● The forming stage involves a period of orientation and getting acquainted.
● The first step in a team’s life is bringing together a group of individuals.
● Individuals focus on defining and assigning tasks, establishing a schedule,
organizing the team’s work, and other startup matters.
2. Storming stage
● The storming stage is the most difficult and critical stage to pass through.
● It is a period marked by conflict and competition as individual personalities
emerge. Team performance may actually decrease in this stage because energy is
put into unproductive activities.
● To get through this stage, members must work to overcome obstacles, to accept
individual differences, and to work through conflicting ideas on team tasks and
goals.
3. Norming stage
● If teams get through the storming stage, conflict is resolved and some degree of
unity emerges.
● In the norming stage, consensus develops around who the leader or leaders are,
and individual member’s roles.
● Team performance increases during this stage as members learn to cooperate and
begin to focus on team goals.
● However, the harmony is precarious, and if disagreements re-emerge the team can
slide back into storming.
 4. Performing stage
● In the performing stage, consensus and cooperation have been well-established
and the team is mature, organized, and well-functioning.
● There is a clear and stable structure, and members are committed to the team’s
mission.
5. Adjourning stage
● In the adjourning stage, most of the team’s goals have been accomplished.
● The emphasis is on wrapping up final tasks and documenting the effort and
results.
● As the workload is diminished, individual members may be reassigned to other
teams, and the team disbands.
● If the team is a standing committee with ongoing responsibility, members may be
replaced by new people and the team can go back to a forming or storming stage
and repeat the development process.

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Q11.EXPLAIN CONCURRENT ENGINEERING

1. Concurrent engineering is a method of designing and developing engineering products, in
which different departments work on the different stages of engineering product
development simultaneously.
2. If managed well, it helps to increase the efficiency of product development and marketing
considerably, reducing the time and contributing to the reduction of the overall
development cost while improving the final product quality.
3. Concurrent engineering, also known as integrated product development (IPD) or
simultaneous engineering was introduced a few decades ago to eliminate the issues from
sequential engineering or the so-called “over the wall” process.
4. People, process, and technology are crucial to any organization and essential in
implementing concurrent engineering to achieve shorter development time, lower cost,
improved product quality and fulfill customer needs.
5. Key elements of concurrent engineering are as follows:
 6. People:
● Concurrent product development is a multidisciplinary team task and it’s
necessary that companies utilize the right skilled personnel at the right time to
accelerate product development.
● It is also necessary to find people with the right skills and experience.
7. Process
● A process is a series of product development steps that need to happen to achieve
a goal.
● These can be project planning stages, milestone management, problem-solving
methodologies, product development key stages, information sharing workflow,
etc., as just people are ineffective without processes in place to support their tasks
and decisions.

8. Technology
● For concurrent engineering to be successful, the effective introduction of tools,
techniques, and technologies to aid a smooth integration of people and processes
is vital.
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