Project Scope Management Test Answer Key Part 4

55. A(n) _____ is a table that lists requirements, their various attributes, and the status of the requirements to ensure that all are addressed. ANSWER: requirements traceability matrix requirements traceability matrix (RTM) RTM 56. The main outputs of scope definition are the _____ and project document updates. ANSWER: project scope statement 57. A(n) _____ is a deliverable-oriented grouping of the work involved in a project that defines its total scope. ANSWER: WBS work breakdown structure 58. Subdividing the project deliverables into smaller pieces is known as _____. ANSWER: decomposition 59. The _____ includes the approved project scope statement and its associated WBS and WBS dictionary. ANSWER: scope baseline 60. When using project management software, estimates of work time should be entered only at the work package level; the rest of the WBS items are just groupings or _____ tasks. ANSWER: summary 61. A hierarchy is used to show the levels of _____ in the WBS. ANSWER: task 62. A work package is a task at the _____ level of the WBS. ANSWER: lowest 63. Some organizations prescribe the form and content for WBSs for particular projects. These are known as _____. ANSWER: guidelines 64. In the _____ approach to creating a WBS, team members first identify as many specific tasks related to the project as possible. ANSWER: bottom-up 65. _____ is a technique that uses branches radiating out from a core idea to structure thoughts and ideas when creating a WBS. ANSWER: Mind mapping 66. A(n) _____ is a document that describes detailed information about each WBS item. ANSWER: WBS dictionary 67. _____ is the tendency for project scope to keep getting bigger and bigger. ANSWER: Scope creep 68. The main tool for performing scope validation is _____ and group decision making techniques. ANSWER: inspection 69. _____ involves controlling changes to the project scope while keeping project goals and business strategy in mind. ANSWER: Scope control 70. _____ is the difference between planned and actual performance. ANSWER: Variance 71. _____ involves developing a working replica of the system or some aspect of the system. ANSWER: Prototyping 72. _____ is a process for identifying and modeling business events, who initiated them, and how the system should respond to them. ANSWER: Use case modeling 73. List and briefly describe the six main processes involved in project scope management. ANSWER: 1. Planning scope management involves determining how the project’s scope and requirements will be managed. 2. Collecting requirements involves defining and documenting the features and functions of the products as well as the processes used for creating them. 3. Defining scope involves reviewing the scope management plan, project charter, requirements documents, and organizational process assets to create a scope statement, adding more information as requirements are developed and change requests are approved. 4. Creating the WBS involves subdividing the major project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components. 5. Validating scope involves formalizing acceptance of the project deliverables. Key project stakeholders, such as the customer and sponsor for the project, inspect and then formally accept the deliverables during this process. If the deliverables are not acceptable, the customer or sponsor usually requests changes. 6. Controlling scope involves controlling changes to project scope throughout the life of the project—a challenge on many IT projects. Scope changes often influence the team’s ability to meet project time and cost goals, so project managers must carefully weigh the costs and benefits of scope changes. 74. What is a work breakdown structure? What are the inputs and tools used for creating one? ANSWER: A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a deliverable-oriented grouping of the work involved in a project that defines the total scope of the project. Because most projects involve many people and many different deliverables, it is important to organize and divide the work into logical parts based on how the work will be performed. The WBS is a foundation document in project management because it provides the basis for planning and managing project schedules, costs, resources, and changes. Since the WBS defines the total scope of the project, some project management experts believe that work should not be done on a project if it is not included in the WBS. Therefore, it is crucial to develop a good WBS. The project management plan, project documents, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets are the primary inputs for creating a WBS.In addition to expert judgment, the main tool or technique is decomposition —that is, subdividing project deliverables into smaller pieces. The outputs of the process ofcreating the WBS are the scope baseline and project documents updates. The scope baseline includes the approved project scope statement and its associated WBS and WBS dictionary. 75. List and briefly describe five approaches for creating work breakdown structures. ANSWER: Using Guidelines If guidelines for developing a WBS exist, it is very important to follow them. Some organizations—the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for example— prescribe the form and content for WBSs for particular projects. Many organizations provide guidelines and templates for developing WBSs, as well as examples of WBSs from past projects. At the request of many of its members, the Project Management Institute recently developed a WBS Practice Standard to provide guidance for developing and applying the WBS to project management. Project managers and their teams should review appropriate information to develop their unique project WBSs more efficiently. The Analogy Approach In the analogy approach, you use a similar project’s WBS as a starting point. Some organizations keep a repository of WBSs and other project documentation on file to assist people working on projects. Viewing examples of other similar projects’ WBSs allows you to understand different ways to create a WBS. The Top-down and Bottom-up Approaches Most project managers consider the top-down approach of WBS construction to be conventional. To use the top-down approach, start with the largest items of the project and break them into their subordinate items. This process involves refining the work into greater and greater levels of detail. After finishing the process, all resources should be assigned at the work package level. The topdown approach is best suited to project managers who have vast technical insight and a big-picture perspective. In the bottom-up approach, team members first identify as many specific tasks related to the project as possible. They then aggregate the specific tasks and organize them into summary activities, or higher levels in the WBS. The bottomup approach can be very time-consuming, but it can also be a very effective way to create a WBS. Project managers often use the bottom-up approach for projects that represent entirely new systems or approaches to doing a job, or to help create buy-in and synergy with a project team. Mind Mapping Mind mapping is a technique that uses branches radiating out from a core idea to structure thoughts and ideas. Instead of writing tasks down in a list or immediately trying to create a structure for tasks, mind mapping allows people to write and even draw pictures of ideas in a nonlinear format. This more visual, less structured approach to defining and then grouping tasks can unlock creativity among individuals and increase participation and morale among teams. After discovering WBS items and structure using the mind-mapping technique, you could then translate the information into chart or tabular form. Mind mapping can be used for developing WBSs using the top-down or bottom-up approach. 76. Describe the process of scope validation. ANSWER: Scope validation involves formal acceptance of the completed project deliverables. This acceptance is often achieved by a customer inspection and then sign-off on key deliverables. To receive formal acceptance of the project scope, the project team must develop clear documentation of the project’s products and procedures to evaluate whether they were completed correctly and satisfactorily. Recall from Chapter 4 that configuration management specialists identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of the project’s products, record and report the changes, and audit the products to verify conformance to requirements. To minimize scope changes, it is crucial to do a good job of configuration management and validating project scope. The project management plan, project documents, verified deliverables, and work performance data are the main inputs for scope validation. The main tools for performing scope validation are inspection and decision-making techniques. The customer, sponsor, or user inspects the work after it is delivered and decides if it meets requirements. The main outputs of scope validation are accepted deliverables, change requests, work performance information, and project documents updates. 77. What are some of the suggestions for improving the requirements process? ANSWER: 1. Develop and follow a requirements management process that includes procedures for initial requirements determination. 2. Employ techniques such as prototyping, use case modeling, and Joint Application Design to understand user requirements thoroughly. Prototyping involves developing a working replica of the system or some aspect of the system. These working replicas may be throwaways or an incremental component of the deliverable system. Prototyping is an effective tool for gaining an understanding of requirements, determining the feasibility of requirements, and resolving user interface uncertainties. Use case modeling is a process for identifying and modeling business events, who initiated them, and how the system should respond to them. It is an effective tool for understanding requirements for information systems. Joint Application Design (JAD) uses highly organized and intensive workshops to bring together project stakeholders —the sponsor, users, business analysts, programmers, and so on—to jointly define and design information systems. These techniques also help users become more active in defining system requirements. 3. Put all requirements in writing and keep them current and readily available. Several tools are available to automate this function. For example, a type of software called a requirements management tool aids in capturing and maintaining requirements information, provides immediate access to the information, and assists in establishing necessary relationships between requirements and information created by other tools. 4. Create a requirements management database for documenting and controlling requirements. Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools or other technologies can assist in maintaining a repository for project data. A CASE tool’s database can also be used to document and control requirements. 5. Provide adequate testing to verify that the project’s products perform as expected. Conduct testing throughout the project life cycle. 6. Use a process for reviewing requested requirements changes from a systems perspective. 7. Emphasize completion dates. 8. Allocate resources specifically for handling change requests.