What activities are required for formal Project Administrative Closure?

1. Obtain formal written customer acceptance/sign-off of final deliverables; 2. Complete final performance reporting; 3. Index, document, and archive project records; 4. Update and archive organizational process assets and final Lessons Learned Register; 5. Reassign project team members and release facilities/equipment; 6. Close out financial procurement contracts.

Explain the formal Change Control process in predictive project management.

1. Prevent unnecessary changes; 2. Document formal Change Request; 3. Assess impact across ALL project constraints (scope, schedule, budget, quality, risk, resources); 4. Identify alternatives; 5. Submit Change Request to Change Control Board (CCB) for decision; 6. Update Project Management Plan and Baselines if approved; 7. Communicate decision to stakeholders.

Distinguish between Quality and Grade, and Prevention versus Inspection.

Quality: degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills customer requirements. Grade: design category assigned to deliverables having same functional use but different technical characteristics (low quality is a defect; low grade is acceptable if fit for use). Prevention focuses on keeping errors out of the process; Inspection focuses on keeping errors out of the customer's hands (prevention is cheaper).

Explain the Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix (SEAM).

A matrix used to compare stakeholders' Current engagement level (C) with the Desired engagement level (D) required for project success. Stakeholders are classified into five states: Unaware, Resistant, Neutral, Supportive, and Leading. The project manager designs tailored communication strategies to close identified gaps.

What does the INVEST mnemonic represent for well-written User Stories?

I - Independent (can be developed in any order); N - Negotiable (open to discussion); V - Valuable (delivers clear business value to customer); E - Estimable (team can gauge effort); S - Small (fits within a single sprint); T - Testable (has verifiable acceptance criteria).

Distinguish between the Risk Register and the Risk Report.

Risk Register: comprehensive log capturing detailed records of all identified individual project risks, including risk description, risk owner, root causes, probability, impact, overall score, planned response strategies, triggers, and status. Risk Report: executive summary presenting overall project risk exposure and summary trends of key individual risks.

In Lean and Kanban, explain Work In Progress (WIP) Limits and the difference between Lead Time and Cycle Time.

WIP Limits restrict the maximum number of work items allowed in each workflow column simultaneously, preventing bottlenecks and enforcing a pull system. Lead Time: total elapsed time from when a work item is requested/created until it is delivered. Cycle Time: elapsed time from when active work actually begins on an item until it is completed.

Explain Agile Story Points and Planning Poker estimation technique.

Story Points measure relative effort, complexity, and technical uncertainty of a user story rather than calendar time, using a modified Fibonacci sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21). In Planning Poker, each team member simultaneously reveals a card estimating points; highest and lowest estimators discuss reasoning to reach consensus, eliminating anchoring bias.

What is the purpose, timebox, and primary output of the Sprint Planning meeting?

Purpose: Scrum team collaborates to define what can be delivered in the sprint and how that work will be accomplished. Timebox: maximum 8 hours for a 1-month sprint (proportionately shorter for 2-week sprints). Primary Outputs: the Sprint Goal, selected Product Backlog items, and the actionable execution plan, which together form the Sprint Backlog.

What are the five Risk Response Strategies for Threats (Negative Risks)?

1. Escalate (outside project scope, transferred to program/portfolio level); 2. Avoid (eliminate threat entirely: cancel work, change scope); 3. Transfer (shift financial impact to third party: insurance, warranties, fixed-price contract); 4. Mitigate (reduce probability or impact); 5. Accept (passive acceptance or active acceptance with contingency reserve).

What is the purpose and timebox of the Daily Scrum (Daily Stand-up)?

Purpose: a 15-minute daily synchronization meeting for Developers to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog for the next 24 hours. Focuses on: What did I complete yesterday? What will I work on today? What blockers or impediments are obstructing my progress?

Compare the Sprint Review and the Sprint Retrospective across purpose, attendees, and timing.

Sprint Review: held at the end of the sprint to inspect the Increment with business stakeholders; team demonstrates completed working software and adapts the Product Backlog. Sprint Retrospective: held after the Sprint Review and before next Sprint Planning; internal Scrum Team only; inspects people, relationships, processes, and tools, creating actionable improvements for the next sprint.

Compare Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF), and Time & Materials (T&M) contracts regarding cost risk.

FFP: buyer has lowest cost risk; seller assumes financial risk of cost overruns (well-defined scope required). CPFF: buyer pays all allowable costs plus a fixed fee; buyer bears cost overrun risk; used when scope cannot be defined. T&M: hybrid contract where unit labor/material rates are fixed but total hours are open-ended; buyer bears risk of runaway volume.

Compare Agile Velocity, Sprint Burndown Charts, and Release Burnup Charts.

Velocity: average number of story points completed by the team per sprint, used for future capacity planning. Burndown Chart: tracks remaining work (story points or hours) over time, showing if the team is on pace to complete the sprint backlog. Burnup Chart: tracks completed work against total planned scope over time, clearly showing scope increases versus actual progress.

What is the primary function of the Project Charter, and who must authorize it?

The Project Charter formally authorizes the existence of a project, establishes high-level objectives, scope boundaries, budget constraints, key milestones, and risks. Crucially, it grants the Project Manager formal organizational authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. It must be issued and signed by the Project Sponsor or initiating executive.

What are the 8 Project Performance Domains defined in the PMBOK Guide 7th Edition?

1. Stakeholders Domain; 2. Team Domain; 3. Development Approach and Life Cycle Domain; 4. Planning Domain; 5. Project Work Domain; 6. Delivery Domain; 7. Measurement Domain; 8. Uncertainty Domain.

Compare Cause-and-Effect (Fishbone/Ishikawa) diagrams, Pareto Charts, and Control Charts.

Fishbone Diagram: organizes potential root causes of a quality defect across standardized categories (6Ms). Pareto Chart: combination histogram and line graph ranking defect causes by frequency, identifying the 20% of causes producing 80% of problems (80/20 rule). Control Charts: graphical plots evaluating process stability over time using Upper/Lower Control Limits (+/- 3 sigma).

What are the three core Scrum Artifacts and their corresponding Commitments?

1. Product Backlog (Commitment: Product Goal); 2. Sprint Backlog (Commitment: Sprint Goal); 3. Increment (Commitment: Definition of Done). These commitments ensure transparency, focus, and measurable progress against empirical inspection.

In Scrum, distinguish between the responsibilities of the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers.

Product Owner: defines product vision, owns and prioritizes the Product Backlog, maximizes product value, and accepts/rejects completed work. Scrum Master: servant leader who coaches the team on Scrum theory, facilitates ceremonies, shields the team from distractions, and removes impediments. Developers: cross-functional professionals who build the Increment and decide how many story points to pull into the sprint.

Contrast Scope Creep and Gold Plating.

Scope Creep: uncontrolled, unauthorized expansion of product or project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources (violates change control). Gold Plating: project team intentionally delivering extra features or higher quality than requested without customer approval; wastes resources and increases risk.

What are the three attributes evaluated in the Stakeholder Salience Model?

1. Power (ability to influence project direction or impose will); 2. Legitimacy (appropriateness/authority of stakeholder involvement); 3. Urgency (need for immediate attention or time-sensitive claims). Stakeholders with all three attributes are classified as 'Definitive Stakeholders' requiring the highest priority focus.

What are the 12 Principles of Project Management defined in the PMBOK Guide 7th Edition?

1. Stewardship (be a diligent, respectful steward); 2. Team (collaborative environment); 3. Stakeholders (effective engagement); 4. Value (focus on value); 5. Systems Thinking (holistic interactions); 6. Leadership (demonstrate leadership behaviors); 7. Tailoring (context-based adaptation); 8. Quality (build quality into processes and deliverables); 9. Complexity (navigate complexity); 10. Risk (optimize risk responses); 11. Adaptability and Resiliency (embrace adaptability); 12. Change (enable change to achieve intended future state).

Compare Contingency Reserve and Management Reserve in project budget formulation.

Contingency Reserve: addresses 'Known-Unknowns' (identified individual risks with planned responses); included in the Cost Baseline; managed and expended directly by the Project Manager. Management Reserve: addresses 'Unknown-Unknowns' (unforeseen risks); outside the Cost Baseline but part of the total Project Budget; requires approved formal change request to access.

Distinguish between Definition of Ready (DoR) and Definition of Done (DoD) in agile development.

Definition of Ready (DoR): set of criteria ensuring a user story is clear, estimated, feasible, and satisfies INVEST criteria before Developers pull it into a Sprint. Definition of Done (DoD): formal, agreed-upon checklist of quality, coding, testing, and documentation standards an Increment must satisfy before it can be considered shippable.

What are the five Risk Response Strategies for Opportunities (Positive Risks)?

1. Escalate (opportunity exceeds project boundaries); 2. Exploit (eliminate uncertainty to ensure opportunity is 100% realized, e.g., assign top talent); 3. Share (partner with third party to jointly capture benefits); 4. Enhance (increase probability or positive impact); 5. Accept (take advantage if it arises without active investment).

What is the purpose of the Project Business Case versus the Benefits Realization Plan?

Business Case: documents the economic feasibility study justifying project investment (NPV, ROI, IRR, Payback Period) and explains business need. Benefits Realization Plan: outlines the processes for creating, maximizing, sustaining, and measuring the specific business benefits delivered by the project during and after project completion.

Compare Predictive, Iterative, Incremental, Agile, and Hybrid project development lifecycles.

Predictive (Waterfall): scope, time, and cost defined upfront; phases executed sequentially. Iterative: dynamic requirements; develops concept through repeated cycles/prototypes. Incremental: delivers functional deliverable portions progressively across successive iterations. Agile: both iterative and incremental; rapid feedback cycles; responds to change. Hybrid: combines predictive structure (e.g., fixed hardware deadlines) with agile software sprints.

What are the six sequential processes of Project Risk Management in predictive lifecycles?

1. Plan Risk Management; 2. Identify Risks (create Risk Register); 3. Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis (Probability/Impact Matrix); 4. Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis (Monte Carlo, EMV); 5. Plan Risk Responses; 6. Implement Risk Responses; 7. Monitor Risks.

How is Expected Monetary Value (EMV) calculated, and how is it used in Decision Tree Analysis?

EMV = Probability * Impact (in currency). In Decision Tree Analysis, branches represent alternative options and uncertain chance outcomes with respective probabilities and payoffs. The EMV of each branch is computed by multiplying payoff by probability, and the sum of branches determines the economically optimal path.

Explain the five Conflict Management techniques in the PMBOK Guide.

1. Collaborate / Problem Solve (integrates multiple perspectives; win-win; long-term resolution); 2. Compromise / Reconcile (both parties forfeit something to reach a temporary middle ground); 3. Force / Direct (pushes one viewpoint at expense of others; win-lose; emergency use); 4. Smooth / Accommodate (emphasizes agreement, ignores conflict); 5. Withdraw / Avoid (postpones issue).

What are the three components of the Scope Baseline?

1. Approved Project Scope Statement (project description, deliverables, acceptance criteria, exclusions); 2. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS: hierarchical deliverable-oriented decomposition of total scope); 3. WBS Dictionary (detailed work package descriptions, account codes, acceptance criteria, resource requirements, and cost estimates).

What is the Project Governance Framework, and what are the three types of Project Management Offices (PMO)?

Governance provides the oversight, control, and integration framework aligning project decisions with organizational strategy. Three PMO types: 1. Supportive (provides templates, best practices, training; low control); 2. Controlling (provides support and mandates compliance with governance frameworks/audits; moderate control); 3. Directive (directly manages projects by assigning project managers; high control).

PMP Project Management (PMBOK 7th Ed.) — Predictive, Agile & Hybrid Lifecycles, Scrum Ceremonies, Stakeholder & Risk Management

Project Management Professional (PMP) examination mastery aligned with PMBOK Guide 7th Edition: 12 Principles, 8 Performance Domains, predictive/agile/hybrid lifecycles, Scrum roles and ceremonies, backlog refinement, stakeholder matrices, risk management, and formal change control.

Level: advanced
Languages: en → en
Cards: 32
Markdown: PMP Project Management (PMBOK 7th Ed.) — Predictive, Agile & Hybrid Lifecycles, Scrum Ceremonies, Stakeholder & Risk Management (.md)

Flashcards (32)

#	Front (Term / Question)	Back (Definition / Answer)
1	What activities are required for formal Project Administrative Closure?	1. Obtain formal written customer acceptance/sign-off of final deliverables; 2. Complete final performance reporting; 3. Index, document, and archive project records; 4. Update and archive organizational process assets and final Lessons Learned Register; 5. Reassign project team members and release facilities/equipment; 6. Close out financial procurement contracts.
2	Explain the formal Change Control process in predictive project management.	1. Prevent unnecessary changes; 2. Document formal Change Request; 3. Assess impact across ALL project constraints (scope, schedule, budget, quality, risk, resources); 4. Identify alternatives; 5. Submit Change Request to Change Control Board (CCB) for decision; 6. Update Project Management Plan and Baselines if approved; 7. Communicate decision to stakeholders.
3	Distinguish between Quality and Grade, and Prevention versus Inspection.	Quality: degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills customer requirements. Grade: design category assigned to deliverables having same functional use but different technical characteristics (low quality is a defect; low grade is acceptable if fit for use). Prevention focuses on keeping errors out of the process; Inspection focuses on keeping errors out of the customer's hands (prevention is cheaper).
4	Explain the Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix (SEAM).	A matrix used to compare stakeholders' Current engagement level (C) with the Desired engagement level (D) required for project success. Stakeholders are classified into five states: Unaware, Resistant, Neutral, Supportive, and Leading. The project manager designs tailored communication strategies to close identified gaps.
5	What does the INVEST mnemonic represent for well-written User Stories?	I - Independent (can be developed in any order); N - Negotiable (open to discussion); V - Valuable (delivers clear business value to customer); E - Estimable (team can gauge effort); S - Small (fits within a single sprint); T - Testable (has verifiable acceptance criteria).
6	Distinguish between the Risk Register and the Risk Report.	Risk Register: comprehensive log capturing detailed records of all identified individual project risks, including risk description, risk owner, root causes, probability, impact, overall score, planned response strategies, triggers, and status. Risk Report: executive summary presenting overall project risk exposure and summary trends of key individual risks.
7	In Lean and Kanban, explain Work In Progress (WIP) Limits and the difference between Lead Time and Cycle Time.	WIP Limits restrict the maximum number of work items allowed in each workflow column simultaneously, preventing bottlenecks and enforcing a pull system. Lead Time: total elapsed time from when a work item is requested/created until it is delivered. Cycle Time: elapsed time from when active work actually begins on an item until it is completed.
8	Explain Agile Story Points and Planning Poker estimation technique.	Story Points measure relative effort, complexity, and technical uncertainty of a user story rather than calendar time, using a modified Fibonacci sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21). In Planning Poker, each team member simultaneously reveals a card estimating points; highest and lowest estimators discuss reasoning to reach consensus, eliminating anchoring bias.
9	What is the purpose, timebox, and primary output of the Sprint Planning meeting?	Purpose: Scrum team collaborates to define what can be delivered in the sprint and how that work will be accomplished. Timebox: maximum 8 hours for a 1-month sprint (proportionately shorter for 2-week sprints). Primary Outputs: the Sprint Goal, selected Product Backlog items, and the actionable execution plan, which together form the Sprint Backlog.
10	What are the five Risk Response Strategies for Threats (Negative Risks)?	1. Escalate (outside project scope, transferred to program/portfolio level); 2. Avoid (eliminate threat entirely: cancel work, change scope); 3. Transfer (shift financial impact to third party: insurance, warranties, fixed-price contract); 4. Mitigate (reduce probability or impact); 5. Accept (passive acceptance or active acceptance with contingency reserve).
11	What is the purpose and timebox of the Daily Scrum (Daily Stand-up)?	Purpose: a 15-minute daily synchronization meeting for Developers to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog for the next 24 hours. Focuses on: What did I complete yesterday? What will I work on today? What blockers or impediments are obstructing my progress?
12	Compare the Sprint Review and the Sprint Retrospective across purpose, attendees, and timing.	Sprint Review: held at the end of the sprint to inspect the Increment with business stakeholders; team demonstrates completed working software and adapts the Product Backlog. Sprint Retrospective: held after the Sprint Review and before next Sprint Planning; internal Scrum Team only; inspects people, relationships, processes, and tools, creating actionable improvements for the next sprint.
13	Compare Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF), and Time & Materials (T&M) contracts regarding cost risk.	FFP: buyer has lowest cost risk; seller assumes financial risk of cost overruns (well-defined scope required). CPFF: buyer pays all allowable costs plus a fixed fee; buyer bears cost overrun risk; used when scope cannot be defined. T&M: hybrid contract where unit labor/material rates are fixed but total hours are open-ended; buyer bears risk of runaway volume.
14	Compare Agile Velocity, Sprint Burndown Charts, and Release Burnup Charts.	Velocity: average number of story points completed by the team per sprint, used for future capacity planning. Burndown Chart: tracks remaining work (story points or hours) over time, showing if the team is on pace to complete the sprint backlog. Burnup Chart: tracks completed work against total planned scope over time, clearly showing scope increases versus actual progress.
15	What is the primary function of the Project Charter, and who must authorize it?	The Project Charter formally authorizes the existence of a project, establishes high-level objectives, scope boundaries, budget constraints, key milestones, and risks. Crucially, it grants the Project Manager formal organizational authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. It must be issued and signed by the Project Sponsor or initiating executive.
16	What are the 8 Project Performance Domains defined in the PMBOK Guide 7th Edition?	1. Stakeholders Domain; 2. Team Domain; 3. Development Approach and Life Cycle Domain; 4. Planning Domain; 5. Project Work Domain; 6. Delivery Domain; 7. Measurement Domain; 8. Uncertainty Domain.
17	Compare Cause-and-Effect (Fishbone/Ishikawa) diagrams, Pareto Charts, and Control Charts.	Fishbone Diagram: organizes potential root causes of a quality defect across standardized categories (6Ms). Pareto Chart: combination histogram and line graph ranking defect causes by frequency, identifying the 20% of causes producing 80% of problems (80/20 rule). Control Charts: graphical plots evaluating process stability over time using Upper/Lower Control Limits (+/- 3 sigma).
18	What are the three core Scrum Artifacts and their corresponding Commitments?	1. Product Backlog (Commitment: Product Goal); 2. Sprint Backlog (Commitment: Sprint Goal); 3. Increment (Commitment: Definition of Done). These commitments ensure transparency, focus, and measurable progress against empirical inspection.
19	In Scrum, distinguish between the responsibilities of the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers.	Product Owner: defines product vision, owns and prioritizes the Product Backlog, maximizes product value, and accepts/rejects completed work. Scrum Master: servant leader who coaches the team on Scrum theory, facilitates ceremonies, shields the team from distractions, and removes impediments. Developers: cross-functional professionals who build the Increment and decide how many story points to pull into the sprint.
20	Contrast Scope Creep and Gold Plating.	Scope Creep: uncontrolled, unauthorized expansion of product or project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources (violates change control). Gold Plating: project team intentionally delivering extra features or higher quality than requested without customer approval; wastes resources and increases risk.
21	What are the three attributes evaluated in the Stakeholder Salience Model?	1. Power (ability to influence project direction or impose will); 2. Legitimacy (appropriateness/authority of stakeholder involvement); 3. Urgency (need for immediate attention or time-sensitive claims). Stakeholders with all three attributes are classified as 'Definitive Stakeholders' requiring the highest priority focus.
22	What are the 12 Principles of Project Management defined in the PMBOK Guide 7th Edition?	1. Stewardship (be a diligent, respectful steward); 2. Team (collaborative environment); 3. Stakeholders (effective engagement); 4. Value (focus on value); 5. Systems Thinking (holistic interactions); 6. Leadership (demonstrate leadership behaviors); 7. Tailoring (context-based adaptation); 8. Quality (build quality into processes and deliverables); 9. Complexity (navigate complexity); 10. Risk (optimize risk responses); 11. Adaptability and Resiliency (embrace adaptability); 12. Change (enable change to achieve intended future state).
23	Compare Contingency Reserve and Management Reserve in project budget formulation.	Contingency Reserve: addresses 'Known-Unknowns' (identified individual risks with planned responses); included in the Cost Baseline; managed and expended directly by the Project Manager. Management Reserve: addresses 'Unknown-Unknowns' (unforeseen risks); outside the Cost Baseline but part of the total Project Budget; requires approved formal change request to access.
24	Distinguish between Definition of Ready (DoR) and Definition of Done (DoD) in agile development.	Definition of Ready (DoR): set of criteria ensuring a user story is clear, estimated, feasible, and satisfies INVEST criteria before Developers pull it into a Sprint. Definition of Done (DoD): formal, agreed-upon checklist of quality, coding, testing, and documentation standards an Increment must satisfy before it can be considered shippable.
25	What are the five Risk Response Strategies for Opportunities (Positive Risks)?	1. Escalate (opportunity exceeds project boundaries); 2. Exploit (eliminate uncertainty to ensure opportunity is 100% realized, e.g., assign top talent); 3. Share (partner with third party to jointly capture benefits); 4. Enhance (increase probability or positive impact); 5. Accept (take advantage if it arises without active investment).
26	What is the purpose of the Project Business Case versus the Benefits Realization Plan?	Business Case: documents the economic feasibility study justifying project investment (NPV, ROI, IRR, Payback Period) and explains business need. Benefits Realization Plan: outlines the processes for creating, maximizing, sustaining, and measuring the specific business benefits delivered by the project during and after project completion.
27	Compare Predictive, Iterative, Incremental, Agile, and Hybrid project development lifecycles.	Predictive (Waterfall): scope, time, and cost defined upfront; phases executed sequentially. Iterative: dynamic requirements; develops concept through repeated cycles/prototypes. Incremental: delivers functional deliverable portions progressively across successive iterations. Agile: both iterative and incremental; rapid feedback cycles; responds to change. Hybrid: combines predictive structure (e.g., fixed hardware deadlines) with agile software sprints.
28	What are the six sequential processes of Project Risk Management in predictive lifecycles?	1. Plan Risk Management; 2. Identify Risks (create Risk Register); 3. Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis (Probability/Impact Matrix); 4. Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis (Monte Carlo, EMV); 5. Plan Risk Responses; 6. Implement Risk Responses; 7. Monitor Risks.
29	How is Expected Monetary Value (EMV) calculated, and how is it used in Decision Tree Analysis?	EMV = Probability * Impact (in currency). In Decision Tree Analysis, branches represent alternative options and uncertain chance outcomes with respective probabilities and payoffs. The EMV of each branch is computed by multiplying payoff by probability, and the sum of branches determines the economically optimal path.
30	Explain the five Conflict Management techniques in the PMBOK Guide.	1. Collaborate / Problem Solve (integrates multiple perspectives; win-win; long-term resolution); 2. Compromise / Reconcile (both parties forfeit something to reach a temporary middle ground); 3. Force / Direct (pushes one viewpoint at expense of others; win-lose; emergency use); 4. Smooth / Accommodate (emphasizes agreement, ignores conflict); 5. Withdraw / Avoid (postpones issue).
31	What are the three components of the Scope Baseline?	1. Approved Project Scope Statement (project description, deliverables, acceptance criteria, exclusions); 2. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS: hierarchical deliverable-oriented decomposition of total scope); 3. WBS Dictionary (detailed work package descriptions, account codes, acceptance criteria, resource requirements, and cost estimates).
32	What is the Project Governance Framework, and what are the three types of Project Management Offices (PMO)?	Governance provides the oversight, control, and integration framework aligning project decisions with organizational strategy. Three PMO types: 1. Supportive (provides templates, best practices, training; low control); 2. Controlling (provides support and mandates compliance with governance frameworks/audits; moderate control); 3. Directive (directly manages projects by assigning project managers; high control).