DİPLOMATİK YAZIŞMA VE PROTOKOL - Deneme Sınavı - 11

Both a program and a project aim at accomplishing a task within budget in quality manner and maintaining customer’s satisfaction at a given time. However, the main distinction lies in life span and objective. A program covers a longer time period and includes several parallel or sequential projects that share common goals and resources. As an example, Climate Change Program may include several projects such as recycling of paper, plastic, newspaper, glass and aluminium cans, minimization of carbon emission, increasing planting density, and so on. Among the choices in this question, ‘providing clean energy’ is broadest in scope and may include the other choices as projects within it. The correct answer is A.

A project life cycle consists of four distinct phases: initiation, planning, performing and closure. Initiation Phase is the first phase of project life cycle, and it involves identification and specification of the project. Project objectives and requirements are determined. The project team members are formed and their tasks are assigned. The correct answer is C.

In the planning phase, more formal set of plans are established to determine when the project will be scheduled, what the budget will be and what quality level should be maintained. Then, individual tasks and requirements of the project are defined. The correct answer is D.

In the last years, organizational life has changed dramatically. With rising expenses, many companies tried to downsize and focusing core qualifications to survive. Also, today’s organizations are flatter and leaner, and they need a change. In this respect, project management does the work of middle management for improving things. Corporate downsizing also lets companies approach their projects differently. The correct answer is B.

Three main attributes of project management distinguish it from traditional forms of management: project manager, project team, and project methodology. The correct answer is D.

Planning Process Group involves detailing the project scope, time frames, resources costs, quality, communication and risks. An efficient planning process includes definition of scope of the reasons for the project, creating Work Breakdown Structure and description of how to manage any significant risks and uncertainties among others. The correct answer is B.

The Executing Process Group includes the following project management processes:

Reporting performance belongs to the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group. The correct answer is E.

The outcomes of a project are generally evaluated by three factors: cost, schedule, and performance. The cost of a project is the budget which represents financial limits that are needed for the project implementation. It might include labor costs, material procurement costs, and operating costs. The project schedule is the timetable that shows in detail when each activity should begin and end. The last one is required performance. It is expected that the outcomes of the project meet the requirements of the customers. The correct answer is B.

The definition of a project includes:
• An activity with a specific and unique objective,
• An activity with a start and end date,
• Typically, any non-routine activity which has never done before,
• An activity that has specific time, cost and performance requirements,
• A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.

Some examples of ordinary work and projects are given below;

Determining the project scope brings the essential elements for developing a project plan. Its basic definition is the required work to get the expected result/outcome of a project. Therefore, project scope management is characterized by the processes to accomplish the project successfully.

Here are the elements of scope management;

Clearly, the project scope is the keystone engaging all elements of a project plan. To guarantee that scope definition is complete, the following checklist
can be used:
a. Project objective
b. Deliverables
c. Milestones
d. Technical Requirements
e. Limits and Exclusions
f. Reviews with the customer.
In order to satisfy customer requirements, the total objective of the project
needs to be defined in the first step. The project objective gives answers to the “what, when and how much” questions.

A product or service will have technical requirements to guarantee full performance. For example, a technical requirement for a laptop might be the ability to accept 120-volt alternating current or 240-volt direct current without any adapters or user switches. Another example would be the 112 emergency service, which has the ability of identifying the caller’s phone number and the location of the phone.

Seven important points about defining a project work package are as follows:
• The work package typically forms the lowest level in the WBS. Although some projects may employ the term subtask, the majority leave work package–level activities as the most basic WBS step.
• A work package has a deliverable result. Each work package should have its own outcome. One work package does not summarize or modify another. Together, work packages identify all the work that must be contributed to complete the project.
• A work package has one owner assigned—a project team member who will be most responsible for that package’s completion. Although other team members can provide support as needed, only one person should be directly answerable for the work package.

• A work package may be considered by its owner as a project in itself. If we adopt the notion that all work packages, because they are of finite length and budget and have a specific deliverable, can be considered miniature projects, each package owner can view his activities as a micro project. 
• A work package may include several milestones. A milestone is defined as a significant event in the project. Depending on the size and complexity of a project work package, it may contain a number of significant checkpoints or milestones that determine its progress toward completion. 
• A work package should fit organizational procedures and culture. Tasks undertaken to support project outcomes should be in accord with the overall cultural norms of the project organization. Performing a work package should never lead a team member to violate company policy (either codified or implicit); that is, assigned activities must pass both relevant legal standards for ethical behaviour and also adhere to the accepted behaviours and procedures of the organization. 
• The optimal size of a work package may be expressed in terms of labour hours, calendar time, cost, report period, and risks. All work packages should be capable of being tracked, meaning that they must be structured to allow the project manager to monitor their progress. Progress is usually a measurable concept, delineated by metrics such as time and cost.

Each sub deliverable requires work packages that will be completed by an assigned organizational unit. The lowest level of the WBS is called a work package. Work packages are short-duration tasks that have a definite start
and stop point, consume resources, and represent cost. Each work package is a control point. A work package manager is responsible for seeing that the package is completed on time, within budget, and according to the technical specifications. To review, each package in the WBS, a work package manager;
1. defines work (what),
2. identifies time to complete a work package (how long),
3. identifies a time-phased budget to complete a work package (cost),
4. identifies resources needed to complete a work package (how much),
5. identifies a single person responsible for units of work (who), and
6. identifies monitoring points for measuring progress (how well).

To draw an activity-on-node project network, one needs to obey the following general rules:
• A network commonly flows from left to right.
• When all preceding connected activities have been performed, a new activity can start.
• Precedence relations and flows are represented by arrows on networks, arrows can also cross over each other.
• An identification number should be given to each activity.
• Activity numbers should be given in order; it is not convenient to give a smaller number to an activity if other activities follow it.
• Any loop of activities is not allowed in the network.
• There should be no conditional statements between activities.
• A typical begin and end node should be used to depict the start and end dates of the project

This is an activity that has more than one activity immediately preceding it (more than one dependency arrow flowing to it). Figure 2.5.c. shows us that activities J, K, and L can occur simultaneously if desired, and activity M cannot begin until activities J, K, and L are all completed. Activities J, K and L are parallel activities. Activity M is called a merge activity because more than one activity must be completed before M can begin

The definition of a project includes: • An activity with a specific and unique objective, • An activity with a start and end date, • Typically, any non-routine activity which has never done before, • An activity that have specific time, cost and performance requirements, • A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result (PMI®, 2008). More clearly, a project can also be defined as follows: “A project is a non-simple, non-repetitive, one-time effort limited by budget, schedule and performance specifications designed to meet customer needs”

A project is not related with every day’s routine and repetitive/ordinary work. While the routine work, often called Business As Usual (BAU), occurs/repeats in cycles, a project is performed just once, and when the desired result is reached, the project ends. Taking lecture notes is a routine.

Scope definition is the process of developing a detailed description of the project and product. While preparing the project scope, the main decision would be what is and is not included in the project. Another definition of project scope is the work that needs to be accomplished to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions.