WGU - C722 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
LATEST UPDATE
Three essential drivers that must be achieved to generate positive characteristics
in project teams
Cohesiveness, Trust, Motivation
The five stages Dr. Bruce Tuckman (1965) introduced of group development
Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjorning
Forming
In this stage, team members may be meeting for the first time. Often, no one really
knows much about anyone else on the team. It may be premature to refer to this group
of individuals as a team. It is a time of introduction and forming relationships and
understanding from exchange of information.
Storming
Team members are beginning to know about each other, but they do not yet understand
how to work together. Members may "jockey for position" within the team. The dynamics
of working together beyond any written statement of "roles and responsibilities" are
being established. Personalities surface, showing the strengths, weaknesses, and
personal needs of each individual on the team. Integration into a team may come with
some struggle and conflict.
Norming
Team members have "figured out" how they will interact with each other. Working
relationships are beginning to form. Trust and understanding is beginning to form
between team members. They are beginning to feel comfortable working together and
openly and willingly sharing information.
Performing
Team members are fully comfortable working together. Trust has been developed.
Working relationships have jelled. Work is being conducted and project progress is
occurring.
Adjourning
This only occurs when all the team's work has been completed and the team is no
longer required. This may occur at any time in the project life cycle.
Co-located Teams
involves team members physically working at the same location or holding project
meetings together in a common setup.
Virtual Teams
are teams whose members interact primarily through electronic communications.
Members of a virtual team may be within the same building or across continents.
Two common situations occur that may prompt a change to the baseline scope
,The scope may be expanded to include additional functionality or the scope may be
diminished due to changes in the project environment such as reduced funding or
requirements or changing time/due date.
Scope creep
occurs when the project team integrates enhancements to the scope without proper
evaluation and approval.
work performance data
will identify the work activities that are completed, partially completed, or not started.
risk register
is a list of potential risks, how the risks will be monitored, and what action will be taken
should the risk event occur.
corrective action
is a document issued to identify quality failures and how they will be corrected. The
deliverable itself may need to be reworked and the project plan may need to be revised
to ensure that future deliverables do not include the same error.
The Four Categories of Change
Contingency plans, improvement changes, external events, scope change
The change management system
is in place to formally identify, evaluate, decide, and communicate project changes.
Recording
is the process of documenting and archiving project-related information.
Reporting
is a key nonverbal communications methodology used to inform and to document
project information.
Weekly status reports that are often working documents for the team to
communicate:
Accomplishments, Issues, Schedules, Resource utilization
Monthly status reports for senior stakeholders that would include:
Project overview bragging about progress, Issues including red light (critical) problems
needing immediate resolution, yellow light items that are warning flags, and resolved
issues, Current accomplishments, Future plans for the next month, Resource utilization
and plans
Monthly Financial Report
showing progress against the budget quantifying monies spent and planned to be spent
and identifying issues with recommendations for resolution
Change management reporting
showing changes identified, requiring approval, and resolution.
Project controls
are the data gathering, management, and analytical processes used to predict,
understand, and constructively influence the time and cost outcomes of a project or
program.
Three Aspects of Project Quality
quality management, quality assurance, and quality control.
Quality management
is the process of identifying the customer's requirements and how they will be
measured.
, Quality assurance
is the process of validating that the requirements and measurements are appropriate for
the project environment.
Quality control
is the process of monitoring and changing project execution to ensure that activities are
being executed as planned and will result in meeting the customer requirements. It is
the monitoring and controlling process that occurs during project execution.
Standards
are requirements that are generally accepted by a group of firms that produce similar
products or services.
Requirements
are what the customer needs to achieve from the completed project.
Quality audits
are rigorous reviews of the project performance. These reviews are often completed by
groups of experts outside of the project team such as a company's quality assurance
(QA) department or an outside consultant.
positive outcomes of the audit
Identifying issues before we go into production
Identifying best practices that can be adopted by future project teams
Identifying lessons learned that can improve performance on other projects
Identifying problems that can be corrected before additional costs are incurred
Checklists
are one way of monitoring that activities/tasks have been addressed and one method of
assuring that all needed documents are written.
project charters
contain enough information to understand who the project sponsor and project manager
are, the purpose the project, a general idea of the scope, budget, and schedule.
Statement of Work (SOW)
defines the project's outcomes in terms of objectives, specific deliverables, acceptance
criteria, technical requirements, milestones, constraints, and assumptions.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
is a methodical deconstruction of deliverables into activities and then tasks to be
performed. It details each activity that must be completed.
living documents
are all planning documents
project scope
describes how the project outcomes will be created. Documents the customer's
expectations with regard to when the project will be completed (the time/schedule
constraint) and how much the completed project will cost (the budget or cost constraint).
Evolution of the Scope Statement
Initial Scope (defining phase), Approved Scope Statement (planning phase), scope
management (executing phase), scope verification (closing phase)
product scope
is used to describe the portion of the scope statement that defines the features and
functions of the project outcome or deliverables.
project scope statement
LATEST UPDATE
Three essential drivers that must be achieved to generate positive characteristics
in project teams
Cohesiveness, Trust, Motivation
The five stages Dr. Bruce Tuckman (1965) introduced of group development
Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjorning
Forming
In this stage, team members may be meeting for the first time. Often, no one really
knows much about anyone else on the team. It may be premature to refer to this group
of individuals as a team. It is a time of introduction and forming relationships and
understanding from exchange of information.
Storming
Team members are beginning to know about each other, but they do not yet understand
how to work together. Members may "jockey for position" within the team. The dynamics
of working together beyond any written statement of "roles and responsibilities" are
being established. Personalities surface, showing the strengths, weaknesses, and
personal needs of each individual on the team. Integration into a team may come with
some struggle and conflict.
Norming
Team members have "figured out" how they will interact with each other. Working
relationships are beginning to form. Trust and understanding is beginning to form
between team members. They are beginning to feel comfortable working together and
openly and willingly sharing information.
Performing
Team members are fully comfortable working together. Trust has been developed.
Working relationships have jelled. Work is being conducted and project progress is
occurring.
Adjourning
This only occurs when all the team's work has been completed and the team is no
longer required. This may occur at any time in the project life cycle.
Co-located Teams
involves team members physically working at the same location or holding project
meetings together in a common setup.
Virtual Teams
are teams whose members interact primarily through electronic communications.
Members of a virtual team may be within the same building or across continents.
Two common situations occur that may prompt a change to the baseline scope
,The scope may be expanded to include additional functionality or the scope may be
diminished due to changes in the project environment such as reduced funding or
requirements or changing time/due date.
Scope creep
occurs when the project team integrates enhancements to the scope without proper
evaluation and approval.
work performance data
will identify the work activities that are completed, partially completed, or not started.
risk register
is a list of potential risks, how the risks will be monitored, and what action will be taken
should the risk event occur.
corrective action
is a document issued to identify quality failures and how they will be corrected. The
deliverable itself may need to be reworked and the project plan may need to be revised
to ensure that future deliverables do not include the same error.
The Four Categories of Change
Contingency plans, improvement changes, external events, scope change
The change management system
is in place to formally identify, evaluate, decide, and communicate project changes.
Recording
is the process of documenting and archiving project-related information.
Reporting
is a key nonverbal communications methodology used to inform and to document
project information.
Weekly status reports that are often working documents for the team to
communicate:
Accomplishments, Issues, Schedules, Resource utilization
Monthly status reports for senior stakeholders that would include:
Project overview bragging about progress, Issues including red light (critical) problems
needing immediate resolution, yellow light items that are warning flags, and resolved
issues, Current accomplishments, Future plans for the next month, Resource utilization
and plans
Monthly Financial Report
showing progress against the budget quantifying monies spent and planned to be spent
and identifying issues with recommendations for resolution
Change management reporting
showing changes identified, requiring approval, and resolution.
Project controls
are the data gathering, management, and analytical processes used to predict,
understand, and constructively influence the time and cost outcomes of a project or
program.
Three Aspects of Project Quality
quality management, quality assurance, and quality control.
Quality management
is the process of identifying the customer's requirements and how they will be
measured.
, Quality assurance
is the process of validating that the requirements and measurements are appropriate for
the project environment.
Quality control
is the process of monitoring and changing project execution to ensure that activities are
being executed as planned and will result in meeting the customer requirements. It is
the monitoring and controlling process that occurs during project execution.
Standards
are requirements that are generally accepted by a group of firms that produce similar
products or services.
Requirements
are what the customer needs to achieve from the completed project.
Quality audits
are rigorous reviews of the project performance. These reviews are often completed by
groups of experts outside of the project team such as a company's quality assurance
(QA) department or an outside consultant.
positive outcomes of the audit
Identifying issues before we go into production
Identifying best practices that can be adopted by future project teams
Identifying lessons learned that can improve performance on other projects
Identifying problems that can be corrected before additional costs are incurred
Checklists
are one way of monitoring that activities/tasks have been addressed and one method of
assuring that all needed documents are written.
project charters
contain enough information to understand who the project sponsor and project manager
are, the purpose the project, a general idea of the scope, budget, and schedule.
Statement of Work (SOW)
defines the project's outcomes in terms of objectives, specific deliverables, acceptance
criteria, technical requirements, milestones, constraints, and assumptions.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
is a methodical deconstruction of deliverables into activities and then tasks to be
performed. It details each activity that must be completed.
living documents
are all planning documents
project scope
describes how the project outcomes will be created. Documents the customer's
expectations with regard to when the project will be completed (the time/schedule
constraint) and how much the completed project will cost (the budget or cost constraint).
Evolution of the Scope Statement
Initial Scope (defining phase), Approved Scope Statement (planning phase), scope
management (executing phase), scope verification (closing phase)
product scope
is used to describe the portion of the scope statement that defines the features and
functions of the project outcome or deliverables.
project scope statement
