Project Management Fundamentals Flashcards

What does the term 'gold plating' refer to in project management?

Answer: Adding extra features or quality beyond what the customer requested

Gold plating is the practice of adding unnecessary features or enhancements beyond the agreed scope, which wastes resources and can introduce risk.

A project has an Estimate at Completion (EAC) of $500,000 and a Budget at Completion (BAC) of $450,000. What does this indicate?

Answer: The project is expected to overrun the original budget by $50,000

When EAC exceeds BAC, the project is forecasted to cost more than originally budgeted, indicating a cost overrun.

Which risk response strategy involves shifting the negative impact of a risk to a third party?

Answer: Transfer

Transferring risk shifts the financial impact or ownership to a third party, such as through insurance or outsourcing.

What is the critical path in a project network diagram?

Answer: The longest path through the network that determines project duration

The critical path is the longest sequence of dependent activities and determines the minimum project completion time.

In software project management, what is a 'sprint' most closely associated with?

Answer: A time-boxed iteration in Agile/Scrum methodology

A sprint is a fixed-length iteration (typically 1-4 weeks) in Scrum where a usable product increment is delivered.

Which document captures the agreed-upon deliverables, requirements, and acceptance criteria between the project team and the customer?

Answer: Scope Statement

The Project Scope Statement formally documents deliverables, project boundaries, assumptions, constraints, and acceptance criteria.

A project manager is using Monte Carlo simulation for risk analysis. What does this technique primarily produce?

Answer: A probability distribution of possible project outcomes

Monte Carlo simulation runs thousands of iterations using probability distributions for uncertain inputs to produce a range of possible project outcomes.