Module 11 Study Guide, SCM300 Module 12 Study Guide
unique, one-time endeavor w/ limited budget and a
What is a project? deadline - typically big and time-consuming - aiming for
something new - ex: making a movie
define the project - establish project priorities - work
4 steps in project management
breakdown structure - track project progress
Clearly state goals and desired outcomes, clarifying what
Define the project
the project aims to achieve for success
balance time, cost, and performance - optimizing one
often compromises the others - low cost > may result in
Project priorities a longer timeline and lower quality - fast timeline > often
requires higher costs and compromises quality - high
performance > involves higher costs and a longer timeline
breaks down every project step into its smallest elements
Work Breakdown Structure to allocate resources and create a schedule - avoid over or
underfunding
use a management chart to track project status (on sched-
Track Project process ule, behind schedule, ahead of schedule) - notify the
project team of any needed adjustments
desired outcomes of a project (goals that need to be
Objectives achieved) - can relate to performance, cost, time and/or
quality
tangible products or services that a project is expected to
Deliverables
produce or provide by its completion
specific events targeted as important to staying on track -
occur throughout the project and serve as checkpoints - if
Milestones
milestones aren't achieved, it might impede the project's
progression
, when a project's objectives keep expanding w/o addition-
Scope Creep/Inflation al resources or time > potentially leading to problems and
causing problems even when intentions are good
simplifies complex projects by automating AON diagrams
- tracking progress and managing tasks, resources, and
Project Management Software
timelines eflciently - offers dashboards and scenario
planning and adapts to various project sizes
use circle to represent activities and arrows to show de-
pendencies > basic framework to understand timelines
AON Diagrams
the routes from beginning to end > important to find and
Project Path analyze all potential from start to finish, not just one to
ensure project completion
the project path with the longest total duration - the ex-
Critical Path
pected length of the project
having multiple critical paths means that to reduce the
project duration, something from each path must be
shortened > increases pressure on the team because
more activities become critical > more opportunities for
Multiple Critical Path
delays as more activities must be completed on time >
when multiple critical paths exist, crashing requires reduc-
ing activities on all critical paths simultaneously to effec-
tively shorten the project duration
the time a task can be delayed w/o affecting the project's
Slack
end date - critical paths have zero slack