Answer – 1

A project is a set of tasks that must be completed in order to arrive at a

particular goal or outcome. Depending on the size and scope of the project,
these tasks may be simple or elaborate, but all projects can be broken down
into objectives and what needs to be done to achieve them.
A project is defined as a sequence of tasks that must be completed to attain a
certain outcome.
 the term Project refers to ” to any temporary endeavor with a definite beginning
and end”. Depending on its complexity, it can be managed by a single person or
hundreds.
The importance of project management cuts across different businesses and industries. While
the goals and objectives can be achieved in any setting, they are better and more efficiently
achieved within a project management structure.

Characteristics of a project
A project is a set of interdependent tasks that have a common goal. Projects

have the following characteristics:

1. A clear start and end date – There are projects that last several years but a

project cannot go on forever. It needs to have a clear beginning, a definite end,

and an overview of what happens in between.

2. A project creates something new – Every project is unique, producing

something that did not previously exist. A project is a one-time, once-off activity,

never to be repeated exactly the same way again.

3. A project has boundaries – A project operates within certain constraints of

time, money, quality, and functionality. We’ll see more about this in later

sections.
4. A project is not business as usual – Projects are often confused with

processes. A Process is a series of routine, predefined steps to perform a

particular function, say, expense reimbursement approvals. It’s not a one-off

activity. It determines how a specific function is performed every single time.

Answer - 4
The importance of quality management in project management
cannot be overstated. Effective project quality management ensures
that your team consistently delivers quality products and services.
Your customers will take notice and continue to rely on you for
transparent, efficient, and quality work.

Project quality management is the process of continually measuring

the quality of all activities and taking corrective action until the
team achieves the desired quality. Quality management processes
help to:

 Control the cost of a project

 Establish standards to aim for
 Determine steps to achieve standards

Effective quality management of a project also lowers the risk of

product failure or unsatisfied clients.

Quality management involves typically three phases – Quality Planning, Quality Assurance and
Quality Control.

 Quality Planning: Here, the quality plan is created. Every plan should have a desired
objective or goal and quality plan is no exception. The goal of quality management
should be clearly communicated to all the stakeholders in a project. After the goal is
defined, the measures to ensure the level of standard should be worked out. How will
the customers be satisfied? What is the level of quality that the stakeholders are
 expecting? How to determine if the quality measures will lead to project success?
When all the answers to these questions are in place, tasks should be delegated to
respective team members and quality plan is initiated.

 Quality Assurance: This is a process that moves along with project throughout the
lifecycle. Quality assurance is all about evaluating if a project is moving towards
delivering quality services. If all the quality characteristics are in place the quality plan
can proceeding in an effective manner. When quality goals are not achieved or are
not in the process of getting achieved, necessary steps and corrective actions should
be identified. Ensuring corrective actions too falls in the phase of quality assurance.

 Quality Control: Here, operational techniques are used in order to ensure quality

standards. Any time a problem arises relating to quality or if the quality plan is not
executed in the desired manner, corrective actions should be effective. Quality
control involves monitoring project results and delivery to check if they are meeting
desired results or not. If not then alternative actions should be implemented.

Answer – 5

Limitations of PERT and CPM

PERT and CPM work best when you're tackling a project that you understand well. If
you or your team members have the experience to estimate the timeframe accurately,
these tools are effective. If you don't have the information to identify all the tasks or
the experience to gauge how long the tasks will take, a PERT or CPM diagram is less
useful.

Another of the limitations of PERT and CPM is that the larger the project, the more
complicated the diagram. Above a certain level of complexity, all the lines you map out
start to look incomprehensible rather than enlightening.

Disadvantages of PERT –

Various Demerits of PERT are mentioned below:

 Time Focused Method – PERT is a time-bound method, so finishing projects

or activities on time is of high importance. If it does not happen than a problem
can arise
 Subjective Analysis – Here, the project activities are recognized according to
the available data. However, it is difficult in PEERT projects as it is applicable
for the only new project are which is not repetitive in nature, therefore, the
collection of information to be subjective in nature.
 Prediction Inaccuracy – PERT does not have any past records for a
framework of a project, so prediction comes into play. The project will be ruined
if the prediction is not accurate.
 Expensive – Too expensive in terms of time consumed, research, prediction,
and resources utilized.
 Other Issues with PERT – This method is highly labor-intensive in nature. As
there are chances of an increase in project activities large and complicated
networks are developed as many task dependencies come into existence. If
two activities share common resources, this technique won’t find very apt for
the project.

Disadvantages of CPM –

Various Demerits of Critical Path Method (CPM) are mentioned below:

 The scheduling of personnel is not handled by the CPM.

 In CPM, it is difficult to estimate the completion time of activity.
 The critical path is not always clear in CPM.
 For bigger projects, CPM networks can be complicated too.
 It also does not handle the scheduling of resource allocation.
 In CPM, a critical path needs to be calculated precisely.

Actually, PERT is stipulated according to events whilst CPM is ranged towards

activities. A deterministic model is used in CPM. While PERT uses a probabilistic
model.

Answer – 5
Project management pitfalls could trigger problems like budget overrun,
missed deadlines, etc. and these are enough to break client relationships and
put your business’s credibility into question.
Here are 10 of the most common pitfalls, and simple solutions to keep in mind to address
them before they have lasting impact:
1. Poorly defined goals. It becomes impossible to lead a successful project management
team when a project’s goals are not clearly defined at the onset
Solution: If the goal isn’t clearly defined it becomes impossible to produce the necessary
deliverables. The role of the project manager is to ensure sufficient communication occurs
with all  stakeholders to get agreement on the Project goals. As project manager, you need
to ask the right questions until you are satisfied that the stakeholders are in agreement with
the project’s goal.
2. Project scope is a moving target. Some project managers refer to this as “scope
creep.” Too often, project managers make the mistake of implementing every change
requested, essentially making the project’s scope a moving target.
Solution: When receiving a change request, evaluate how the change will impact budget
and deadlines before deciding how or if to implement it. Project Managers need to
constantly juggle and balance the 3 aspects of project delivery namely scope, time and cost
so don’t allow scope change to send your project off course.
3. Inadequate knowledge for the project. Sometimes, a project comes along that requires
a specialised skills set, one that is not held by any members of your team. Even when a
project manager recognizes that this is the case, too often it is not addressed.
Solution: As project manager, you should be able to evaluate the situation and determine
what competencies are needed. Then, assess the skills of your available team members
and determine what training or out-sourcing are necessary for project success.
4. Inadequate accountability. A general lack of accountability has the power to bring even
the biggest project to a screeching halt.
Solution: When leading the team ensure each member of your team has a clear
understanding of his or her role, and take on the responsibility it requires. This will allow you
to direct your team toward common goals and achieve buy-in from team members who
understand expectations.
5. Lack of risk management. All projects have risks and spending time assessing the
outside impacts that could derail your project is key. Do not ignore risks and simply assume
everything will just be fine.
Solution: Gather whatever data or input is required for you to better understand your
project risks and clearly define your plans to prevent them occurring

Answer – 7
Total Quality Management is a process to ensure that all work aims toward the
common goal of improving product quality or service. TQM also enhances the
production process or process of delivering service. However, in TQM the emphasis lies
on fact-based decision making which uses performance matrices to monitor progress.

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management framework based on the

belief that an organization can build long-term success by having all its
members -- from low-level workers to its highest-ranking executives -- focus
on improving quality and, thus, delivering customer satisfaction.

This management approach is used to simplify supply chain management, as

well as to detect, reduce or remove errors. TQM requires organizations to
focus on continuous improvement, or Kaizen. TQM focuses on continual
internal and process improvements over the long term, thereby enhancing the
quality of produced products or services.

Total Quality Management Example:

TQM Example: One of the most famous examples of total quality management is
Toyota.  Toyota implemented Kanban System to make its assembly line more efficient. 
The company decided to keep just enough inventories to fulfill customer orders as they
were generated.
Total quality management drives customer satisfaction by ensuring that consistent delivery of
high-quality product or services is in place. For achieving results beyond customer expectations,
you need to implement an effective quality management process for your testing team.

Answer – 8

IT project management (ITPM) is the planning, scheduling, execution,

monitoring and reporting of IT projects. While many industries focus
exclusively on IT projects, IT is unique in that most, if not all, industries have
some level of an IT component.

Since they are often very wide in scope, IT project managers must deal with
risk, interdependent integrations, software updates, scope creep and so on.
Therefore, IT projects require more than the typical project management tools
and skills to complete.

Specialized IT project management software complete with online Gantt

charts, kanban boards, dashboards and reports provide the essential
functions necessary for successful IT projects.

The six phases of an IT project are based on the six phases of project
management, which are used in conjunction with the IT phases to manage the
project. They are as follows:

Initiation

During the first phase of an IT project, one must ask “why is this project
needed?”—in other words, the objective of the project must be identified.
Then, a project proposal, including a business plan, that meets the needs of
the project must be written. In addition, a feasibility study might be conducted
to ensure the proposal is airtight.

Definition

After the project proposal has been approved, the project moves into the
definition phase. This is where the objectives of the project are finalized and
the requirements for a successful project are identified. The project scope can
also be outlined, and a project plan may be created during this phase.
Budgets are also set, and resources are determined.
Design

The design phase of an IT project is when the project team sets out to find the
best solution for achieving their goal. This includes creating multiple designs
and prototypes. Once a suitable design has been chosen, specifications for
the development team are created and shared.

Development

The development phase is when the development team is assigned tasks

and project management tools are selected. Additionally, technicalities are
outlined, raw materials are requested and so on. The main goal of this phase
is to make the entire plan as crystal clear as possible to avoid issues in the
implementation phase.

Implementation

The implementation phase is where the final deliverable of the IT project is

developed; unsurprisingly, this is often the longest phase of the project. The
project team sets out to complete their tasks, while the manager monitors and
controls the work, resources, cost, quality and risk.

Follow Up

Finally, once the implementation phase is complete, the final project is

delivered to the customer/client/stakeholder. The follow up phase is all the
work that comes after the project is delivered, and includes setting up support
teams, training the end-users, creating a postmortem and ultimately ending
the project.