Some of the snippets and knowledge points for project management assessment
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Two-factor theory
(Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, Dual-Factor Theory)
- Motivators (e.g., challenging work, recognition, responsibility) that give positive satisfaction, arising from intrinsic conditions of the job itself, such as recognition, achievement, or personal growth, and
- Hygiene factors (e.g. status, job security, salary, fringe benefits, work conditions) that do not give positive satisfaction, though dissatisfaction results from their absence. These are extrinsic to the work itself, and include aspects such as company policies, supervisory practices, or wages/salary.
Conflict management
Belong to Human Resource Management -> Manage Project Team
- Withdrawing/Avoiding: retreating from an actual or potential conflict situation.
- Smoothing/Accommodating: emphasizing areas of agreement rather than areas of difference. 求同存异。
- Compromising: searching for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to all parties.
- Forcing: Pushing one’s viewpoint at the expense of others; offers only win-lose solutions.
- Collaborating: Incorporating multiple viewpoints and insights from differing perspectives; leads to consensus and commitment.
- Confronting/Problem Solving: Treating conflict as a problem to be solved by examining alternatives; requires a give and take attitude and open dialogue.
Strategies for Negative Risks or Threats
- Avoid
- Transfer
- Mitigate
- Accept
Strategies for Positive Risks or Opportunities
- Exploit
- Share
- Enhance
- Accept
Contract types
Fixed-price contracts – 准确定义范围
- Firm Fixed Price Contracts (FFP) – 准确定义范围
- Fixed Price Incentive Fee Contracts (FPIF) – 有绩效目标，允许偏离
- Fixed Price with Economic Price Adjustment Contracts (FP-EPA) – 长期合作，保护双方
Cost-reimbursable contracts – 开始时，无法准确定义范围
- Cost Plus Fixed Fee Contracts (CPFF) – 费用不变（除非范围变更）
- Cost Plus Incentive Fee Contracts (CPIF) – 有绩效目标，分摊范围偏离
- Cost Plus Award Fee Contracts (CPAF) – 由买方决定奖励
Time and Material Contracts (T&M): They are often used for staff augmentation, acquisition of experts, and any outside support when a precise statement of work cannot be quickly prescribed. – 不能很快制定SOW、总价、数量，一般在时间紧急的时候使用。
不同合同类型卖方权衡关系的有限顺序
- FFP: 同等重要
- FPIF：成本、绩效、时间
- CPFF：绩效、时间、成本
- CPIF：成本、绩效、时间
- CPAF：绩效、时间、成本
Team development stages and strategies
- Formation – Directing
- Storming – Coaching
- Conforming – Supporting
- Performing – Authorization
Managerial grid model
Cost Estimation Degree of Accuracy
- Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM), Ballpark, Scientific Wild Anatomical Guess (SWAG): -25% ~ +75% (PMBOK 4th edition: +-50%)
- Budget Estimate (top-down estimate): -10% ~ +25%
- Definitive Estimate (bottom-up estimate: -5% ~ +10% (PMBOK 4th edition: +-10%)
Direct and Indirect Costs
- Direct Costs: Costs that are directly attribute to work on the project. Eg. training cost, travel cost, wages, cost of material used in the project, etc.
- Indirect Costs: Overhead items or costs incurred for the benefit of more than one project. Eg. taxes, fringe benefits, etc. Controlled by Executive Management.
Deliverables
Perform Quality Control -> Validated Deliverables -> Verify Scope -> Accepted Deliverables
NPV vs EPV
NPV (Net Present Value) takes risks into consideration, but EPV (Expected Present Value) doesn’t.
Program Evaluation Review Techniques (PERT)
- Free float: the amount of time that a project task can be delayed without causing a delay in any subsequent tasks.
- Total float: the amount of time that a project task can be delayed without causing a delay in the whole project.
- Lead time: the time by which a predecessor event must be completed in order to allow sufficient time for the activities that must elapse before a specific PERT event reaches completion. A lead time is the latency (delay) between the initiation and execution of a process. For example, the lead time between the placement of an order and delivery of a new car from a manufacturer may be anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months.
- Lag time: the earliest time by which a successor event can follow a specific PERT event.
- Fast tracking: performing more critical activities in parallel.
- Crashing critical path: Shortening duration of critical activities. E.g. OT.
- E = (O + 4M + P) / 6 (O: optimistic time, P: pessimistic time, M: most likely time, E: expected time)
Reserves
Management Reserves are not counted in the budget, but Contingent Reserves are counted in the budget.
Some project documents
Project Statement of Work
- Business need
- Product scope description
- Strategic plan
Project Charter
- Project purpose or justification
- Measurable project objectives and related success criteria
- High-level requirements
- High-level project descriptions
- High-level risks
- Summary milestone schedule
- Summary budget
- Project approval requirements (what contributes project success, who decides the project is successful, and who signs off on the project)
- Assigned project manager, responsibility, and authority level, and
- Name and authority of the sponsor or other person(s) authorizing the project charter
Project Scope Statement
- Product scope description
- Product acceptance criteria
- Project deliverables
- Project exclusions
- Project constraints
- Project assumptions
Project expeditor vs Project coordinator
- 项目联络员（Project expeditor）——出现在职能或弱矩阵组织中，项目的各成员仍然向他们的上司汇报，联络员没有决策权。
- 项目协调员（Project coordinator）——出现在职能或弱矩阵组织中，项目协调员有一定的决策权，可以接触成员的上级经理，向中高层经理汇报。
Design of Experiment (DOE)
实验设计（Design of Experiment, DOE）是一种统计方法，用来识别哪些因素会对正在开发的流程活正在生产的产品的特定变了产生影响。应在规划质量过程中使用DOE，来确定测量的类别、数量，以及这些测试对质量成本的影响。
属性抽样（Attribute Sampling） vs 变量抽样（Variable Sampling）
它们的区别在于测试的种类、目标不同。
- 属性抽样（Attribute Sampling）测试采用控制测试，目标：估计总体既定控制的偏差率(次数)。控制测试：推断出总体偏差率上限为9.4%——这就是属性抽样。
- 变量抽样（Variable Sampling）测试采用实质测试，目标：估计总体金额或者总体中的错误金额。细节测试：推断出来总体错报上限12345元——这就是变量抽样。
属性抽样法和变量抽样法，分别适用于符合性测试与实质性测试。
属性样本与一致性有关，变量样本与一致性的成都有关。属性抽样：结果合格或不合格；变量抽样：衡量符合或合格程度。
应急储备 vs 管理储备
应急储备的特点：
- 用来处理预期但不确定的事件（已知的未知）；
- 是成本绩效基准的一部分；
- 项目经理可以自由使用；
- 作为预算分配；
- 是挣值计算的一部分。
管理储备的特点：
- 用来处理非预期且不确定的事件（未知的未知）；
- 不属于成本绩效基准；
- 动用之前一般需要获得批准；
- 不作为预算分配；
- 不是挣值计算的一部分。
Learning Curve
表示单位产品生产时间与所生产的产品总数量之间的关系的一条曲线。美国康乃尔大学的商特博士总结飞机制造经验而得出了学习曲线规律，认为每当飞机的产量积累增加1倍时，平均单位工时就下降约20%，即下降到产量加倍前的80%。商特则将累积平均工时与产量的函数称为“学习曲线”。学习曲线 learning curve 以横轴表示反复次数（探索次数）。以纵轴表示各种学习测试的学习过程的曲线。
TBD:
Utility Theory (效用理论)
管理方格理论
Reference
- Wikipedia.org
- PMBok 2008
- http://blog.csai.cn/user1/12337/archives/2010/41841.html