Module II Processes and Domains
1. What covers in Project Management Process
This knowledge area requires you to understand the five project management process groups: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling, and closing. Many people find this knowledge area to be one of the most difficult, because the exam tests your understanding of these processes at the expert level.
If you feel you need additional help, use the tricks, games, and activities in the book PMP® Exam Prep to help you study this topic quickly and effectively.
1. What is the Project life cycle
The project life cycle is made up of five project stages: project initiation, project planning, project execution, monitoring & control, and project closing. Each of these phases is necessary for the effective delivery of the project.
2. What is a development life cycle
A progression of phases through a series of development stages. Serves as the methodology for managing a project and is the logical breakdown of what needs to be done to produce the project deliverables.
3. What is the difference between a plan-driven project and a change-driven project
Plan-driven projects have predictive development life cycles (also called waterfall or traditional life cycle) that require scope, schedule, and cost to be determined in detail early in the project.
Change-driven projects use iterative, incremental, or adaptive (agile) development life cycles and have varying levels of early planning for scope, schedule and cost.
4. What is the project management process
The Project Management process is connecting all the components necessary to meet specific goals and criteria for success. The Project Manager is essentially the captain of the project at hand and is responsible for ensuring that project challenges are addressed, risks are mitigated and, overall, it runs as planned.
5. What are the five process groups and what occurs during each process group
- Initiating
- Stakeholders are identified and analyzed.
- The project version is created.
- A project or phase is formally authorized.
- The project Manager is provided with the authority and information necessary to begin the project.
- Planning
- A determination is made about whether the objectives in the project charter and the expected business benefits can be achieved.
- A decision is made about how the project objectives will be accomplished.
- Executing
- Work defined in the project mgmt. plan is completed to meet project objectives and achieve the expected business value.
- Monitoring and Controlling
In Monitoring
- Attention is focused on how the project is progressing.
- An assessment is made about how stakeholders are participating, communicating, and feeling about the project, the work, and the identified project uncertainties.
In Controlling
- Hard data on how the project is conforming to the plan is evaluated.
- Action is taken to address variances outside of acceptable limits.
- By recommending changes to the way the work is being done (including corrective and preventive actions and defect repair) or adjusting baselines to reflect more achievable outcomes
- Closing
- Acceptance of the final product of the project is obtained and documented.
- The completed project is transferred to those who will use it.
- Customer feedback about the product and product is solicited.
- Lessons learned are completed.
- Files are indexed and archived.
6. What is the execution approach in an agile project
- Additional efforts may be made to replan some or all a project due to the complex nature of some projects that may require a lot of change.
- Occurs through multiple iterations each iteration is a short and focused time period to undertake work followed by an iteration review (including a product demo with the customer) and a team retrospective.
7. What is the agile approach for monitoring a project
- More demos and feedback, demos, and business discussions are more subjective but eventual success is often a subjective measure.
8. What is a key part of the process for change-driven projects
- Experimentation and learning
9. How does planning work in an agile environment and who is responsible for planning
- Planning in an agile environment is deliberately more incremental and a process that iterates to discover and refine scope.
- The team does release and iteration planning and backlog prioritization.
10. What is iteration
In agile software development, an iteration is a set amount of time reserved for development. Typical iterations last 1-2 weeks, however, some may go as long as 4 weeks.
11. When are lessons learned collected on an agile project
After every iteration
12. What is Progressive elaboration
The process of continually refining estimates and scope definition
13. What are the three domains
People Process and Business Environment
14. What does the people domain relate to
Several tools and techniques along with a unique set of skills may include leadership, team building, motivation, and conflict management. This domain also relates to the ability to interact with and support the needs of project stakeholders.
15. What are the responsibilities of the project manager in the process domain
- Keeping the project’s many aspects integrated, as in managing the project planning and artifacts.
- Managing the project governance, structure, changes, and issues and the transfer of lessons learned and other knowledge as well as the product turnover
16. What are some key tasks in the business environment domain
- Evaluate and deliver project benefits and value.
- Knowledge and understanding of project and organizational lessons learned and the importance of how they are used between projects.
- Understanding organizational and project governance
- Monitoring environmental changes for impact on the project