Essay Example on Documenting Project Assumptions: An Essential Step for Any Project Manager

Introduction

The project management body of knowledge defines project assumptions as factors in every planning process that are viewed as true, real, or correct without the need for evidence (PMI, 2017). A good project manager will always document them to prevent the project from facing many issues. It will also help in the proper analyzation of the assumptions and, in the end, complete the specified project without any case of obstruction. Documentation of the project assumptions will help in creating a proper risk management plan for the whole project. It is recommended that the manager must have appropriate analysis and documentation of every premise in the project.

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What is the purpose of a benefits management plan, and what inputs are utilized to create it?

All benefit management plans are significant because they have the possible benefits or business values that the project wants to create. The program helps in showing how the project will get proper maintenance after it is complemented (PMI, 2017). It also assists in making sure that the results of the project become part of the operations of the organization. Indeed, it makes the benefits of a project to be permanently attached to the organization. Inputs utilized in the creation of a benefits management plan come from the business case for the project. The contributions are the project charter, the business case, and the management plan.

You have just taken over as project manager on a project that is approximately 50% complete after the previous project manager left the company. You don’t understand some of the requirements for this project, where might you find more information regarding these requirements and what types of information would you expect to be able to find?

As a project manager, the best place to acquire the information will be at the project management office (PMO) (PMI, 2017). Since they take control of projects by having direct management, they are the ones to ensure that they own up to the details of progress. It will help in the provision of most of the information of the relevant information and the features that include the objectives, plans and development of the project. The PMO will also provide information about how resources were shared, the communication plan, monitoring compliance reports, among many other activities leading to a success of the project.

As a new breakfast drink project gets started, you are reminded that you will need to capture lessons learned throughout the project. How will you accomplish this, and what purpose will they serve?

The lessons that are learned throughout the project will be captured through having proper knowledge and skills of a project manager. It all begins from identifying the probable lesson learned, documenting them, carry out an adequate analyzation, store the lessons learnt and retrieve them for future references (PMI, 2017). All these methods are essential, but the crucial one is observing the comments used, and that could be valuable for the adjustment of the breakfast drink project. The lesson captured will assist in modifying future plans of the organization. It will also help in designing different policies that will be used in various projects.

You are the project manager for a project that is 92% complete. A new project was just announced, and that project manager wants many on your project team to join her project. What steps will you need to take to make sure that your project is closed out properly? Why are these steps important?

It will entail the processes that are performed to finish up all activities in the project management process groups. A project manager ensures that work is done according to the requirements as they close the project (PMI, 2017). It includes three steps that are proper expert judgement, data analysis, and meetings to confirm acceptance of deliverables. The steps are essential because they will ensure that all objectives are completed. They will also ensure that there is execution of the management processes, and a formal recognition that the project is executed. It will also help in proper project documentation, result transition, creation of a final report and updating of appropriate organizational assets.

What is configuration management and explain why it would be important to the end customer of a project by providing an example?

Configuration management is a plan provides a good definition of items that can get configured, those that need control of the formal change and all processes required to control the modifications applied to such items (PMI, 2017). It puts focus on all specifications of deliverables and processes involved. All the differences involved will favor the services given to any targeted customer of the project. A good example is when a project entails developing a particular product, but the client chooses to add some features. The configuration management will be applied to configure the project to suit the needs of the customers.

Project management as a profession has grown considerably over the latter half of the 20th century and into the 21st century, please explain the reasons behind this tremendous growth.

The profession of project management has experienced noticeable growth over the better half of the 20th century as many people seek to come up with several values and benefits of organizations. Several businesses are growing, and because of that, they all need people to apply their knowledge if skills, and various principles in the programs (PMI, 2017). Multiple plans that a growing number of businesses owners will need proper management skills. This action is also a tangible reason as to why the profession has grown considerably. It is because of the services that people have the interest of having the job on their side

Describe the triple constraints of project management and explain why they are typically shown as a triangle.

The triple constraints of project management entail three ideas which are time, scope, and the costs involved in any project management. All these items guide a project manager on how a project can achieve success. It is a very vital concept in project management. They typically displayed as a triangle because of the simple fact that they are only three items revolving with close to the same target, which is doing a project to be successful (PMI, 2017). All managers in any given project work with the thought of the triple triangle. All the objectives rotate around the idea of the triple constraints.

A new employee has just joined your organization but has little project knowledge. How would you describe the difference between a project and ongoing operations to this new hire?

According to the project management body of knowledge, a project is explained as a temporary activity that is done to come up with a specified plan and outcome. On the other hand, ongoing operations are the activities that are not permanent, but keep on being made, and thus they keep the organization to be active. Once a new employee is given such a definition, one will know the exact difference (PMI, 2017). In some cases, the new employees can get to confuse ongoing operations together with a project in an organization. It is therefore essential to stipulate to them the differences during their orientation.

What is a WBS, and what value does it bring to a project?

A WBS is simply a work breakdown structure. It is one of the essential tools that any organization or project would need to make sure that a project is well-managed. The necessary process of creating a WBS involves taking a project with its deliverables and breaking down into smaller parts or rather sub-dividing them to packages that are easily managed (PMI, 2017). Once the project manager divides all the elements into understandable and straightforward terms, it will assist them in the smooth running of the project. In the end, it will be a contributing factor to the success of the plan.

Describe what project scope management is and why it is important in project management.

The project management body of knowledge defines scope management as the process that is needed to ensure that the project entails only the activities that are required. The events will be necessary to ensure that the project is successfully concluded. Under project management, it is an essential tool in ensuring that there is proper definition and control of what is included and what is not entailed (PMI, 2017). All details involved in scope management of the project assist in ensuring that the details of achieving the objectives are well-covered without missing any details. The success of the project will depend on a reasonable scope.

Why would having a documented scope statement be relevant to the project team?

The documentation of every scope statement is merely essential in ensuring that the plans of the project are well in place. It also provides that the manager observes the targets and objectives of the project at all times. This action will assist the plan to cover all their goals within a given timeline. Everything will have the possibility of being achieved when there is proper documentation of the scope statement of the project (PMI, 2017). In the end, it will help the manager to determine the cost and labor needed for the project. With documentation, there will also be a proper flow of communication in ideas.

Explain the concept of culture with regards to project organizational structure.

The concept of the culture of any organization that runs a given project depends on how they conduct their activities besides the existing project. All these are dependable on how they carry their communications, various policies, specified procedures, and methods used to carry out the activities (PMI, 2017). The activities mentioned above will always determine the face of the organization and its norms. It is from the culture that the vision and mission of the organization will obtain the trends of the organization. Without all these, the organization will not have any sort of tangible focus of its activities in any given way.

Describe the strengths and weaknesses of project management in a matrix organizational structure. Provide an example of a type of project that would do well in this type of structure.

In every type of project management, a matrix structure provides an effective system for the organization as they manage their projects. Different professional tasks organize the teams. It is usually a simplified hybrid between a functional organization and organizations that are project-oriented (PMI, 2017). The strength of this organizational structure is that the project manager has the highest authority and spends the most time with the team. This act is quite good as the project will have god performances with close monitoring. Indeed, the weakness of the organizational structure is that in weak matrix organizations, the project manager has minimal authority and less control of the resources used by the team.

Explain how and why an organization might move to a “heavyweight project organization”. Provide an example of a type of project that would do well in this type of structure.

A heavyweight project organization refers to the belief that organizations have regarding their capabilities of performing in different projects. Most organizations tend to believe that the scorecards will be in their favor when they make use of the structure of governance (PMI, 2017). Most of them use it because it also provides a reasonable time frame for handling long-term projects. A good example can be a project that needs to be executed for quite sometimes and involves various phases.