Scope Management

Question 1

what 4 points define scope management

Answer 1

1. concerned with all the tools and processes that ensure enough work, but no more, is carried out to produce the project deliverables
2. controlling boundaries of project so work done is related to objectives
3. any new work is subject to formal change control process
4. clearly establish what is excluded from project scope

Question 2

what are 6 main areas that work together to identify, define and control Scope Management

Answer 2

1. requirements management - Gathering and assessing stakeholders wants and needs. They should be solution-free, i.e. ‘descriptive’ not ‘prescriptive’.
2. solutions development - Using the stakeholders requirements the project team considers how to achieve them in the most effective and efficient way.
3. benefits management - Taking requirements that have been expressed in terms of benefits and manages them through to eventual delivery. This runs in parallel with Requirements Management and Solutions Development, and utilises Change Management.
4. change management - Deals with the transformation of BaU needed to utilise outputs and realise benefits.
5. change control - The mechanism for capturing and assessing potential changes to scope, ensuring only beneficial changes are made.
6. configuration management - Monitoring and documenting the development or products. It makes sure that approved changes are recorded and superseded versions are archived.

Question 3

what are 5 benefits of a formal requirements analysis process

Answer 3

1. clear definition and agreement of project requirements will reduce future change requests. getting it right 1st time will minimise deviations from the plan
2. facilitates change control by providing a baseline of signed-off and agreed requirements reducing likelihood of major changes. clear baseline aids assessment of proposed changes
3. having all the requirements identified up front enables them to be prioritised so focus can be put on most important
4. a clear handover and acceptance process can be defined based on complete and agreed requirements. this provides unambiguous acceptance criteria to test and verify
5. provides a clear view of what the project needs to deliver facilitating robust plans which reduce risk to schedule and budget, and also increase stakeholder confidence

Question 4

what are the 4 steps to the requirements process

Answer 4

1. capture - mainly by interviewing stakeholders. necessary to gain a wide spectrum of opinions so all possible requirements are captured.
2. analysis - gathered requirements must be tested for feasibility, validity, compatibility, acceptability, applicability and consistency. different stakeholders may have opposing or difficult requirements. issues must be red before finalising requirements, sponsor may have to referee
3. prioritise - it may not be possible to include all requirements into time/budget constraints. it’s usual to prioritise and then exclude from scope, sponsor may have to referee
4. acceptance tests - once requirements are confirmed acceptance tests must be devised and agreed. best done early to clarify understanding of requirements. best devised by end users under guidance of project team

Question 5

what is documented in the functional specification

Answer 5

this captures all agreed user requirements in an unambiguous manner. it defines what is required but not how the requirement will be met

Question 6

once a function is defined what 2 actions are required

Answer 6

1. appropriate acceptance test will be agreed

2. the functional specification will specify appropriate quality parameters

Question 7

what are the points that describe the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Answer 7

• it is an activity based decomposition of the work to be carried out
• project is broken down level by level
• lowest levels are work packages (or tasks)
• each WP has a defined end product and acceptance test
• WBS contains all the work required to produce the project deliverables
• it totally defines the project scope

Question 8

what are 7 defining attributes of a work package/task

Answer 8

1. specification
2. acceptance criteria
3. responsibility
4. budget
5. duration
6. resource requirements
7. dependencies

Question 9

why is the size of WP important

Answer 9

they must be small enough to allow realistic estimates to be made, but not so small the volume overwhelms the planning and control process

Question 10

what are 7 benefits of the WBS

Answer 10

1. its production facilitates team building
2. it focuses attention on project objectives
3. it forces detailed planning
4. it facilitates the allocation of responsibility for WP’s
5. it graphically illustrates project scope
6. it facilitates rolling wave planning
7. it’s the starting point for:
   - budgeting
   - estimating
   - scheduling
   - controlling
   - change control
   - configuration management

Question 11

what is the difference between the WBS and PBS

Answer 11

WBS is activity related, PBS is product related. it breaks the project down into its constituent products and sub-products

Question 12

what are the 3 main objectives of the PBS

Answer 12

1. to identify customer products
2. to identify additional products which will facilitate building and supporting these products
3. to gain consensus on sensible product groupings

Question 13

what are product characteristics within the PBS

Answer 13

• topmost product is the ‘final’ product or project outcome
• PBS includes as lower level items products supplied by external sources
• each higher level product is completed defined by the levels below
• the PBS will generally include ‘intermediate’ or ‘enabling’ products or ‘sub-assemblies’

Question 14

what is the relationship between the WBS and PBS

Answer 14

WBS breaks down the work into individual tasks and each task delivers a ‘product’

PBS breaks down the product into individual components and each component requires ‘work’

it is common to have hybrid solutions where a product is broken down into the work needed to produce it

Question 15

what is a Cost Breakdown Structure CBS

Answer 15

CBS shows all the different cost categories that make up the total project costs

the costs are applied to every WP/task on the WBS or end items on the PBS enabling costs to be rolled up to any required level

Question 16

what is a Organisational Breakdown Structure OBS

Answer 16

OBS shows how the project team is organised

it shows the reporting relationships and communication channels

it can be developed to show how the project team communicates with and reports to the owning organisation

Question 17

what is a Responsibility Assignment Matrix

Answer 17

the WBS and OBS can be combined to produce a matrix which shows the personnel required to execute each WP/task

Question 18

what are the 5 definitions within a RASCI chart

Answer 18

Responsible
Accountable/Authorise
Support
Consult
Inform

Question 19

what are 5 examples of cost categories within and CBS

Answer 19

• labour
• consumables
• overheads
• contractors
• expenses

Question 20

what is the definition of the Scope Baseline

Answer 20

The reference levels against which a project, programme or portfolio is monitored or controlled

Question 21

what is the scope baseline used for

Answer 21

1. to control requests for change and is invaluable in helping to prevent ‘scope-creep’ on the project.
2. The agreed scope will also form the basis of the project plan and ultimately the project budget.
3. The scope baseline is therefore an essential component in the implementation of effective cost control and Earned Value Management (EVM).