Project Management Principles

Explain the purpose of financial models (Payback Period, NPV) in project selection

Calculate and use Payback Period and NPV to select a project from competing proposals

Develop a project charter including objectives, scope, constraints, and assumptions

Identify project stakeholders and assess their influence and interest

Create a stakeholder register to document analysis and communication strategies

Develop a detailed project scope statement as a foundation for planning

Create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) by decomposing the project scope into work packages

Explain how the WBS serves as a central integration point for planning

Develop a Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) to link work packages to team members

Distinguish between top-down and bottom-up estimating approaches

Estimate activity durations using analogous and parametric methods

Estimate project costs using top-down and bottom-up methods

Develop a time-phased cost baseline (budget) from aggregated cost estimates

Explain the concept of time-cost trade-offs in project planning

Define the four types of activity dependencies: Finish-to-Start (FS), Start-to-Start (SS), Finish-to-Finish (FF), and Start-to-Finish (SF)

Construct an Activity-on-Node (AON) network diagram from a list of activities and dependencies

Perform a forward pass to calculate Early Start (ES) and Early Finish (EF) for each activity

Perform a backward pass to calculate Late Start (LS) and Late Finish (LF) for each activity

Calculate total float (slack) for each activity and identify the critical path

Apply scheduling calculations (forward/backward pass, float) to a simple case study

Identify resource constraints and their impact on the project schedule

Apply resource leveling heuristics to a simple project schedule to resolve over-allocation

Distinguish between resource leveling and resource smoothing strategies

Explain methods for crashing and fast-tracking to reduce project duration

Identify project risks using structured techniques such as a Risk Breakdown Structure

Perform qualitative risk analysis using a probability-impact matrix

Develop risk response strategies: avoid, mitigate, transfer, and accept

Create a risk register to document risks, their analyses, and planned responses

Distinguish between contingency reserves and management reserves

Describe key project manager activities during the execution phase

Explain Tuckman's stages of team development and their relevance to project teams

Apply conflict resolution strategies in a project team context

Select appropriate communication methods for different project situations

Explain considerations for outsourcing and managing external partners

Explain the integrated project monitoring and control process

Define the core EVM metrics: Planned Value (PV), Earned Value (EV), and Actual Cost (AC)

Calculate and interpret Schedule Variance (SV) and Cost Variance (CV)

Calculate and interpret the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) and Cost Performance Index (CPI)

Forecast project completion metrics (EAC, ETC) based on performance data

Assess overall project health by synthesizing a set of EVM metrics for a case study

Describe the integrated change control process for managing scope, schedule, and cost changes

Describe the steps in the project closure process

Explain the purpose and process of a final project audit

Document and communicate lessons learned to benefit future projects

Explain key administrative and contractual closure activities