Project Management Bullet Guide

Project Management

This is a list of important topics in Project Management, ordered in a logical way. It is to be used as a checklist and map.

• General Project Management Overview/Basics
  
• Introduction to project management
• Org. fit
  
• Terminology
  
• Project characteristics
  
• General Phases
  
• Project Initiation
  
• Project Planning
  
• Project Management
  
• Project Closure
  
• Stakeholders
  
• Project Management Difficulties
  
• Essential difficulties with software
  
• Essential difficulties with software project management
  
• Introduced Stepwise Model
  
• Project evaluation, assessment & selection
  
• Cost/benefit analysis & Basic evaluation techniques
  
• More Advanced Evaluation Techniques
  
• Net Present Value (NPV)
  
• Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
  
• Factoring in risk – Decision trees
  
• Further along Stepwise Model
  
• Project scope and objective
  
• Project infrastructure
  
• Analyse project characteristics
  
• High level risk assessment
  
• Emergence of technical plan
  
• Process/Lifecycle models
  
• Classical approaches (Waterfall, V-Model)
  
• Agile approaches (XP, DSDM, etc.)
  
• Estimation
  
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) identifying products & activities
  
• Estimates based on WBS
  
• Use of historical data
  
• Estimation techniques
  
• Function Point Analysis
  
• CoCoMo
  
• Activity Planning
  
• Sequencing & scheduling tasks & activities – Gantt Charts
  
• Network planning models
  
• Network construction
  
• Critical Path Method (CPM)
  
• Activity on Node
  
• Activity on Arrow
  
• Forward Pass
  
• Backward Pass
  
• Critical Path Identification
  
• Float – Types
  
• Risk Management
  
• Types of Risk
  
• Risk Management Process
  
• Hughes & Cotterall
  
• Boehm
  
• Marchewka
  
• Risk Reduction Techniques
  
• PERT – Assimilating Risks into Schedules
  
• Calculation of Probabilities of meeting/missing target dates
  
• Advantages of PERT
  
• Resource Management
  
• Types of Resources
  
• Resource Requirements List
  
• Resource Allocation
  
• Resource Balancing
  
• Schedule Prioritisation
  
• Cost Schedules
• Project Monitoring and Control

• Less well defined than planning
  
• Measuring actuals and comparing to planned
  
• Periodic (weekly, monthly, quarterly)
  
• Event Driven (handovers, major milestones)
  
• Sources of data
  
• Reporting mechanisms
  
• Gantt/Slip charts
  
• Stoplight charts
  
• Kiviat charts
  
• Cumulative charts
  
• Departures from plan and taking action
  
• Dangers of sacrificing software quality for content or schedule
  
• Reporting progress
  
• Reporting difficulties
  
• Seeing the big picture
  
• Project timeline charts
  
• Cost monitoring
  
• As a measure of progress
  
• Need for association with work completed
  
• More Advanced Monitoring and Control
  
• Earned Value Analysis (EVA)
  
• Constructing baseline budget from precedence network
  
• Analysing earned value
  
• Earned value tracking
  
• Indices
  
• Cost Performance Index (CPI)
  
• Schedule Performance Index (SPI)
  
• Contract Management
  
• ISO/IEEE Standard 12207 and process model for acquisition and supply
  
• Types of contract – Different classifications
  
• Legal implications
  
• Supply of goods
  
• Supply of services
  
• Licensing
  
• Payment terms
  
• Fixed Price
  
• Time & Materials
  
• Fixed price per unit delivered
  
• Supplier selection
  
• Open tendering
  
• Restricted tendering
  
• Negotiated procedure
  
• Awarding contracts
  
• Contract terminology
  
• Contract management and acceptance
  
• People and Teams
  
• Relevant theories
  
• Taylorism
  
• Theory X
  
• Theory Y
  
• Staff selection & development
  
• Motivation
  
• Maslow – Theory of needs
  
• Hertzberg – Two-factor theory
  
• Vroom – Expectancy theory
  
• Oldham & Hackman – Job characteristics model
  
• Team working
  
• Construction
  
• Skills mix
  
• Group decisions
  
• Leadership
  
• Managers v Leaders
  
• Leadership styles
  
• Organisational structures
  
• Functional/Task oriented
  
• Dispersed/Virtual
  
• Cultural differences
  
• Stress
  
• Quality Management
  
• Definitions of Quality
  
• Quality characteristics
  
• Quality indices; measurements, actuals, targets
  
• Project quality planning
  
• Inputs
  
• Techniques
  
• Outputs
  
• Performing quality assurance
  
• Performing quality control
  
• Quality standards
  
• Evolution
  
• ISO9001:2000
  
• Introduction
  
• Focus
  
• Implementation
  
• Construction
  
• Certification & Auditing
  
• Capability Maturity Model
  
• Introduction
  
• Construction
  
• Uses
  
• Internal structures
  
• Six Sigma
  
• Introduction
  
• Attraction & Criticism
  
• Concepts
  
• Roles
  
• Software Testing
  
• Definition
  
• Role of the tester
  
• Test performance
  
• Verification
  
• Inspections
  
• Walkthroughs
  
• Buddy checks
  
• Checklists
  
• Validation
  
• Black-box testing
  
• White-box testing
  
• Types of testing
  
• Low level
  
• Unit
  
• Integration
  
• High level
  
• Usability
  
• Functional
  
• System
  
• Acceptance
  
• Other
  
• Regression
  
• Test planning
  
• Test artefact