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Key formulas

Standard deviation= P-O / 6 ; where P is Pessimistic estimate and O is Optimistic estimate
PERT = O+P+4R/6 ; where O and P are defined above and R is Realistic estimate
# of channel of communication = N(N-1)/2; where N is the number of project members

Earned Value Management

BAC: Budget At Completion
EV: Earned Value = Actual % * BAC
PV: Planned Value = Planned % * BAC
AC: Actual Cost = Sum of all incurred costs
CV: Cost Variance = EV-AC
SV: Schedule Variance = EV-PV
CPI: Cost Performance Index = EV/AC
SPI: Schedule Performance Index = EV/PV
EAC: Estimate At Completion = BAC/CPI
ETC: Estimate To Completion = EAC-AC
VAC: Variance At Completion = BAC-EAC
BCWS = Budgeted Cost for Work Scheduled = PV
BCWP = Budgeted Cost for Work Performed = EV
ACWP = Actual Cost for Work Performed = AC

Rules based on numbers

8/80 rule is a heuristic which allows a work package to be no larger than 80 hours and no smaller than hours duration

80/20 rule is a reference to Pareto’s law where 80% of the problems come from 20% of the causes

0/50/100 is a method to track completion of work packages. It allows no credit for the work until it is 50% complete, and no additional credit until it is 100% complete

Human Resource

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: there are five layers of needs for all human:

1) physiological
2) safety
3) social needs (ex.: love and friendship)
4) self-esteem
5) crowning jewel (self actualization)

Herzberg’s Theory of Motivation: there are two catalysts for workers: hygiene agents and motivating agents

Hygiene agents: these do nothing to motivate, but their absence demotivates workers. Hygiene agents are the expectations all workers have: job security, a paycheck, clean and safe working conditions, a sense of belonging, civil working relationship, and other basic attributes associated with employment

Motivating agents: these are the elements that motivate people to excel. They include responsibility, appreciation of work, recognition, opportunity to excel, education, and other opportunities associated with work other than just financial rewards

McGregory’s Theory of X and Y: this theory states ‘X’ are lazy, don’t want to work, and need to be micromanaged. ‘Y’ people are self-led, motivated, and can accomplish things on their own

Ouchi’s Theory Z: this theory holds that the workers are motivated by a sense of commitment, opportunity, and advancement. Workers will work if they are challenged and motivated. Think participative management

Expectancy Theory: people will behave based on what they expect as a result of their behavior. In other words, people will work in relation to the expected reward of the work

Achievement Theory: people need three things: achievement , power and affiliation

Quality Management
Ishikawa = fishbone = cause-and-effect

Pareto diagrams identify project problems and their frequencies. These are based on the 80/20 rule where 80% of the project problems stem from 20% of the work

Flow charts show the relationship between components and the flow of a process through a system

Control charts ploy out the result of samplings to determine if projects are ‘in control’ or ‘out of control’

Kaizen technologies comprise approaches to make small improvements in an effort to reduce costs and achieve consistency

Just in time ordering reduces the cost of inventory but requires additional quality because materials would not be readily available if mistakes occur

Time Management

Precedence diagramming method (PDM). This is a method of constructing a project network diagram that uses boxes or rectangles (nodes) to represent the activities and connects them with arrows that show the dependencies. This technique is also called activity-on-node (AON) and is the method used by most project management software packages.

Arrow Diagram Method (ADM) aka Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) allows dummy activity
Conditional diagram method, Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT) allows loop

Duration compression method

Crashing: employ more resources to meet the deadline, often results in increased cost
Fast tracking: doing tasks in parallel, often results in reworks and usually increases risk

Early start and early finish are considered as ‘forward pass’
Late start and late finish are considered as ‘backward pass’

Float aka Slack are the margin that an activity has before becoming a critical path
Free float or free slack are margin that and activity has before impacting the early start of its subsequent dependant activity

Contract Closeout (Procurement) versus Administrative Closure (Communication)
Contract closeout happens before administrative closure
In contract closeout, both parties verify that everything specified in the contract has been satisfied

The contract is formally completed during the contract closeout process
Project records are updated and files are created related to the contract and contract performance

Procurement audits are a tool of the contract closeout process. Like the audits used in quality, they are conducted by management to ensure that the entire procurement process is being followed

Qualitative Risk Analysis versus Quantitative Risk Analysis

Qualitative Risk Analysis: What are the chances that a risk event will occur? What would the impact be if the event does occur?
Outputs: Prioritized list of risks and Overall risk ranking for the project

Quantitative Risk Analysis: this is all about assigning hard numbers to the risk
Tool and techniques: Interviewing, Sensitivity Analysis, Decision Tree Analysis, Simulation
Outputs: Prioritized list of quantified risks

Residual risks are those that could not be avoided, transferred or mitigated. They may also include minor risks that have been accepted after changing the project plan.

Secondary risks are those that arise from taking action on a primary risk

One of the things Monte Carlo analysis would show is where schedule risk exists on the project.

Workarounds are implemented for unanticipated risk events for which no response was planned

Project Integration:

Project Plan Execution Tool:
- Work Authorization System
- It is the most important tool for the project plan execution process. It is a formal system for getting the work done at the right time and the right order.

Status meetings (performance reviews)
Meetings are help with the team or others to discuss progress on project can help a project manager foresee and prevent many problems during project execution

Project Management Information System (PMIS)
In project plan execution, the PMIS is the tool that the PM uses to keep up to date on the status of work being performed on the project