Predictive or plan-driven planning occurs when the majority of planning is done before any part of the project is executed. This is used when it is easy to estimate the amount of work required and, therefore, there is a high degree of certainty as to what the project scope will be.
17. What is adaptive or change-driven planning and when should it be used? (Objective #5, p. 9)
Also known as iterative planning, this is used when there is a great degree of uncertainty at project inception as to what its overall scope will be. As the project moves forward and more details emerge, planning changes from general to specific. Agile is an example of adaptive or change-driven project management.
18. What makes someone a project stakeholder? (Objective #6, p. 4)
Stakeholders are people or organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by either the process of performing the project or the project results.
19. What are four project executive-level roles? (objective #6, pp. 17-18)
There are four project executive level roles in traditional project management: sponsor, customer, steering team, and project management office. The sponsor has a financial stake in the project, charters the project, reviews project progress, is often part of the steering team, and often mentors the project manager. The customer needs to ensure that a good contractor for external projects or project manager for internal projects is selected, make sure requirements are clear, and maintain communications throughout the project. A steering or leadership team for an organization is often the top leader (CEO or other) and his or her direct reports. The project management office (PMO) is the keeper, facilitator, and improver of the project management system.
The four project executive level roles in agile project management are customer (product owner), sponsor (product manager), portfolio team, and project management/scrum office. The customer ensures that the needs and wants of the various constituents in the customer’s organization are identified and prioritized and that project progress and decisions continually support the customer’s desires. The sponsor controls the budget. The portfolio team often performs much of the work of a traditional steering team, and a similar office that may be titled differently such as Scrum office performs much of the work of a project office.
20. List and describe each of the managerial and associate roles. (objective #6, pp. 19-20)
The three traditional project managerial level roles are the project manager, functional manager, and facilitator. The project manager: is directly accountable for the project results, schedule, and budget; is the main communicator; and often must get things done through the power of influence since his or her formal power may be limited. The functional managers are department heads that determine how the work of the project gets accomplished; often supervise that work and often negotiate with the project manager regarding which workers are assigned to the project. A facilitator is sometimes assigned to complex or controversial projects to assist the project manager with the process of running meetings and making decisions.
The two associate level project roles are core team members and subject matter experts. Core team members are assigned to the project for its entire duration if possible and jointly make decisions with the project manager. Subject matter experts are brought in as needed to help with specific project activities.
In agile project management the four managerial roles are customer (product owner), scrum master, functional manager, and coach. As stated in the executive roles above, the customer ensures that the needs and wants of the various constituents in the customer’s organization are identified and prioritized and that project progress and decisions continually support the customer’s desires. We group customer as a managerial role also as this person needs to be closely involved on a daily basis and often performs some of the duties a project manager would on a traditional project. The Scrum Master serves and leads in a facilitating and collaborative manner. This is a more limited, yet more empowering role than the traditional project manager. The functional manager has a similar, but sometimes more limited, role than the traditional department head. Many organizations using Agile also have a coach who acts as a facilitator and trainer.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Using an example, describe a project in terms that are common to most projects. (Objective #1, Understanding, p. 4)