Lessons · Project management · Quick reference
Project management quick reference
41 topics, one line each, in the order Hone teaches them.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This sheet is the whole Project management track at a glance: every idea it covers, in the order they are taught, one line each. It is a map rather than a lesson. Read opens the full explanation of an idea; Practise gives you a question on it. Both are free, and reading needs no account at all.
From a request to a report that is true · What a project is
a project vs operationsA project has a start, an end and a result that did not exist before; operations is the same work repeated to keep things running. Read: A project is temporary work that makes something new · Practise a project vs operations
scope, time and costEvery project balances what is built (scope), how long it takes (time) and what it costs (cost); change one and at least one other changes, and quality is what suffers when nobody admits it. Read: Scope, time and cost: pull one, the other two move · Practise scope, time and cost
stakeholders and who decidesA stakeholder is anyone who is affected by the project or can affect it; the job is to find them early and know who has the power to decide. Read: Stakeholders: everyone the project touches, and the few who decide · Practise stakeholders and who decides
the project charterThe charter names the project, its purpose, its rough scope, budget and dates, its sponsor and its manager, and is signed by the person who can pay for it. Read: The charter: one page that says the project exists and why · Practise the project charter
the project life cycleEvery project passes through the same five kinds of work: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing; the middle three overlap, the first and last do not. Read: The life cycle: start, plan, do, watch, finish · Practise the project life cycle
predictive vs agileA predictive approach plans the whole scope up front and measures against the plan; an agile approach delivers small usable pieces in short cycles and re-plans after each one. Read: Predictive or agile: plan it all first, or plan a little and show it often · Practise predictive vs agile
From a request to a report that is true · Scope and the work
the work breakdown structureThe WBS breaks the final deliverable into smaller deliverables, level by level, until each piece is small enough to estimate, assign and finish. Read: The work breakdown structure: the whole job, cut into pieces you can hand to someone · Practise the work breakdown structure
the 100% ruleEvery level of the WBS contains all of the work of the level above and nothing more; the children of any box sum to exactly that box. Read: The 100% rule: the children add up to the parent, exactly · Practise the 100% rule
work packages and their sizeThe lowest box of the WBS is a work package: one deliverable, one owner, an estimate you would sign, and a common rule of thumb of 8 to 80 hours of effort. Read: A work package: small enough to estimate, big enough to be worth tracking · Practise work packages and their size
the scope statementThe scope statement describes the deliverables, the acceptance criteria, what is explicitly excluded, and the assumptions and constraints the plan rests on. Read: The scope statement: what is in, what is out, and how you will know it is done · Practise the scope statement
change control, in stepsA change to a baseline is written down, its impact on scope, time, cost and risk is assessed, the right person approves or rejects it, and only then are the baselines and the work updated. Read: Change control: the change is welcome, the surprise is not · Practise change control, in steps
requirements traceabilityA requirements traceability matrix links each requirement to the business need it serves, the WBS element that builds it, and the test that proves it was met. Read: Traceability: every requirement can be followed to the thing that proves it · Practise requirements traceability
From a request to a report that is true · Schedule
activities and dependenciesA dependency says one activity cannot start or finish until another has: finish-to-start is the common one, and start-to-start, finish-to-finish and start-to-finish cover the rest. Read: Dependencies: which activity has to wait for which · Practise activities and dependencies
the network diagramA network diagram draws each activity as a box and each dependency as an arrow, so every path from start to finish can be seen and added up. Read: The network diagram: the activities drawn as a chain of boxes and arrows · Practise the network diagram
the forward pass (early start, early finish)Walk the network from the start: an activity's early start is the largest early finish among its predecessors, and its early finish is its early start plus its duration. Read: The forward pass: the earliest each activity can start and finish · Practise the forward pass (early start, early finish)
the backward pass (late start, late finish)Walk the network from the end: an activity's late finish is the smallest late start among its successors, and its late start is its late finish minus its duration. Read: The backward pass: the latest each activity can start and finish without delaying the end · Practise the backward pass (late start, late finish)
floatTotal float is late start minus early start (equally, late finish minus early finish); it is the slack an activity has before it delays the project. Read: Float: how much an activity can slip before the end date moves · Practise float
the critical pathThe critical path is the longest path through the network and the chain of activities with zero float; its length is the project's duration, and any slip on it moves the end date. Read: The critical path: the chain with no room · Practise the critical path
three-point estimates and PERTAsk for the optimistic, most likely and pessimistic durations; the PERT expected value is (O + 4M + P) / 6 and the standard deviation is (P − O) / 6. Read: Three-point estimates: an honest number from three guesses · Practise three-point estimates and PERT
crashing vs fast-trackingCrashing adds resources to critical activities and costs money; fast-tracking overlaps activities that were planned in sequence and costs risk. Read: Crashing and fast-tracking: two ways to buy time, at two different prices · Practise crashing vs fast-tracking
From a request to a report that is true · Cost and earned value
estimating: analogous, parametric, bottom-upAn analogous estimate scales a past project, a parametric estimate multiplies a quantity by a rate, and a bottom-up estimate adds up every work package; each is more accurate, and slower, than the one before. Read: Estimating: by comparison, by rate, or by adding up the pieces · Practise estimating: analogous, parametric, bottom-up
the budget and the baselineThe cost baseline is the sum of the work-package estimates plus contingency reserve, spread over time; its total is the budget at completion (BAC), and every later cost measurement is taken against it. Read: The budget and the baseline: the yardstick you will be measured against · Practise the budget and the baseline
planned value, earned value, actual costPlanned value is the budgeted cost of the work scheduled to date; earned value is the budgeted cost of the work actually done; actual cost is what that work really cost. Read: PV, EV and AC: what you planned to have done, what you did, what it cost · Practise planned value, earned value, actual cost
cost and schedule varianceCost variance is EV − AC and schedule variance is EV − PV; negative is bad, positive is good, and both are in dollars. Read: CV and SV: how far off, in dollars · Practise cost and schedule variance
CPI and SPIThe cost performance index is EV / AC and the schedule performance index is EV / PV; 1.0 is on plan, below 1.0 is bad, above 1.0 is good. Read: CPI and SPI: what each dollar bought, and how fast · Practise CPI and SPI
estimate at completionThe estimate at completion forecasts the final cost: BAC / CPI when the current cost pattern will continue, AC + (BAC − EV) when the overrun was a one-off, and AC + (BAC − EV) / (CPI × SPI) when the schedule slip will cost money too. Read: EAC: what the whole project will cost, if the pattern holds · Practise estimate at completion
estimate to complete and TCPIThe estimate to complete is EAC − AC, the money still to be spent; the to-complete performance index is (BAC − EV) / (BAC − AC), the CPI the remaining work would need to finish on budget. Read: ETC and TCPI: what is left to spend, and how well you would have to perform · Practise estimate to complete and TCPI
reading a status from the indexesCPI and SPI together give one of four stories: both above 1.0 is ahead and under, both below is late and over, and the mixed cases each have a usual cause worth checking. Read: Reading the status from two numbers · Practise reading a status from the indexes
From a request to a report that is true · Risk and quality
writing a risk: cause, event, effectA risk statement names the cause (a fact today), the event (an uncertain thing that might happen) and the effect (what it would do to scope, time or cost). Read: A risk is a sentence: because of this, that might happen, and it would cost this · Practise writing a risk: cause, event, effect
expected monetary valueThe expected monetary value of a risk is its probability multiplied by its impact in dollars; threats are negative, opportunities positive, and the sum across the register is the money the risks are worth. Read: Expected monetary value: probability times impact · Practise expected monetary value
the risk registerThe risk register holds every identified risk with its statement, probability, impact, score, response, owner and status, and it is reviewed on a fixed rhythm. Read: The risk register: the list that is read every week or not at all · Practise the risk register
risk responses: avoid, mitigate, transfer, acceptA threat can be avoided (change the plan so it cannot happen), mitigated (make it less likely or less painful), transferred (make it someone else's, usually for a fee), or accepted (do nothing now, hold reserve). Read: Four things you can do about a threat · Practise risk responses: avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept
contingency and management reserveContingency reserve is for the risks you identified and sits inside the cost baseline, spent by the project manager; management reserve is for the unknown, sits above the baseline, and is released by the sponsor. Read: Contingency and management reserve: two pots, two owners · Practise contingency and management reserve
a control chartA control chart plots a measurement over time against its mean and control limits at plus and minus three standard deviations; a point outside the limits, or seven in a row on one side of the mean, says the process has changed. Read: A control chart: is the process wobbling normally, or has something changed · Practise a control chart
cost of qualityThe cost of quality is the cost of conformance (prevention and appraisal) plus the cost of nonconformance (internal failure before delivery, external failure after); money spent on the first side usually saves more on the second. Read: Cost of quality: paying to get it right, or paying for getting it wrong · Practise cost of quality
From a request to a report that is true · People and communication
communication channelsThe number of one-to-one channels among n people is n(n − 1) / 2, and it grows much faster than the team. Read: Communication channels: why a bigger team is much harder to keep in step · Practise communication channels
the RACI chartA RACI chart lists work packages down the side and people across the top, marking each as Responsible (does the work), Accountable (answers for it), Consulted (asked before) or Informed (told after); every row has exactly one A. Read: RACI: who does it, who answers for it, who is asked, who is told · Practise the RACI chart
the stages of a teamA team passes through forming (polite and unsure), storming (friction as roles get sorted), norming (agreed ways of working) and performing (getting on with it), then adjourning when the project ends. Read: Forming, storming, norming, performing: a new team is not a team yet · Practise the stages of a team
a status report in three numbersA status report leads with one line of status, then percent complete, CPI and SPI, then what changed, the top risks and issues, and the decisions needed from the reader. Read: A status report that tells the truth in three numbers · Practise a status report in three numbers
lessons learnedA lesson learned is a specific, actionable recommendation drawn from what went well or badly, collected throughout the project and filed where the next project manager will read it. Read: Lessons learned: written so the next project can use them · Practise lessons learned
closing a project, in orderA project closes in order: deliverables accepted in writing, contracts closed and final invoices paid, the result handed to operations, lessons learned finished, records archived, and the team released. Read: Closing a project: it is over when the signatures say so · Practise closing a project, in order