PROJECT MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS 2

Project Management Questions

Define and discuss scope and scheduling as they each relate to project management and
provide a “Statement of Importance” to your project team so they know the relevance of
each task.
Project scope is a set of all the deliverables of a project (Kloppenborg, Anantatmula, &
Wells, 2019). These deliverables are derived from the requirements of the project. Project scope,
therefore, shows what is required to be done in order to complete the project.
Project scheduling communicates the tasks that need to be accomplished and the
resources to be allocated to each task so that the project is completed on time (Kloppenborg et
al., 2019). Project scheduling, therefore, specifies not just the task to be done and the resources
required to perform the task but also the duration within which the task has to be completed
(Kloppenborg et al., 2019). A project can only be completed on time through strict adherence to
project scheduling.
While developing project scope and project scheduling, a statement of importance is
often included as well. This statement states why the project being undertaken is important
(Kloppenborg et al., 2019). It details the benefits that the project is likely to bring to its
stakeholders.
Review the behavioral skills associated with project resourcing listed in the textbook at
Section 9.1 and select any four (4) of the skills you consider more critical. Be sure to
explain why.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS 3
For a project to be accomplished successfully, there are many behavioral skills that
project managers need to have. In my view the most important ones are selecting the right
people, assembling effective team, ensuring performance capability, and dealing with work
schedules.
Selecting the right people
This skill is very important because the success or failure of a project depends largely on
the people tasked with implementing it. Every phase of a project requires people with specific
expertise to accomplish its tasks. While an organization may have all the talent and resources
that it requires, sometimes it may forced to get such talent and resources from outside of the
organization through contract work (Klojcnik, Sagadin, & Kralj, 2018). Regardless of where the
project manager is going to get the right people for the project, selecting resources with
capability to accomplish the project is key to the success of the project.
Assembling effective team
No matter how talented and experienced individual members of a team are, they cannot
achieve much if they cannot work together as a team. Since projects are mainly carried out in
teams, individuals members of teams not only need to be knowledgeable, motivated, and
technically skilled, they also need to be good at team working. They need to be ready to share
ideas and explore ways of accomplishing the team’s common goals. Without these qualities, it
may be difficult to finish the project successfully.
Ensuring performance capability

PROJECT MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS 4
Just because an individual has a lot of experience or possesses excellent technical skills
does not mean that they will perform as required. They may have such qualities but lack
motivation or have negative attitude. Thus, it is not enough to select the right people for various
tasks of the project, their performance needs to be constantly evaluated and corrective measures
taken in order for the project to completed on time (Klojcnik et al., 2018). Ensuring performance
capability involves checking work results such as measuring quantity and quality of output of the
workers, observing job related attributes of the workers such as their ability to show initiative
and cooperation with other workers, and, lastly, checking the work behaviors of the workers such
as their punctuality at work (Kliem & Ludin, 2019). Observing and checking of these factors
allows the project manager to take corrective measures that will ensure that the project’s
implementation progresses as planned. They can also be used as a basis for motivating the
workers.
Dealing with work schedules
This skill is important because it helps to keep the project within the required time
schedule. It involves figuring out how long each activity in the project takes and allocating the
appropriate time for its completion (Klojcnik et al., 2018). In coming up with work schedules,
project managers can use their own judgement if they are experienced enough or make analogous
estimations. Regardless of the method that they use to establish the work schedules, having such
schedules helps in ensuring that the project is completed on time.
Explain to the management team and to your project team how you have determined the
budget associated with project costs. How are costs aggregated? How do you explain
determining cash flow for separate activities? Be specific with your responses.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS 5
Perhaps the most important factor for the accomplishment of any project is money.
Without adequate financial resources, a project cannot be accomplished successfully. That is
why it is important to accurately determine the budget associated with project costs. The
following tools and methods can be used to perform these tasks.
Analogous estimate
This method uses other projects to determine the costs of the project being undertaken
(Kloppenborg et al., 2019). The assumption behind this method is that two similar projects are
likely to roughly cost the same. Thus, if project A cost a certain amount of money, project B,
which is similar to project A, should also cost the same amount of money. However, since no
two projects are exactly of the same size and complexity, adjustments are often done on the
budget when using this method to cater for the differences, no matter how small they are,
between the two projects.
Parametric estimate
This method is similar to analogous estimate except that it uses estimates of individual
components of the project instead of the project in its entirety and also compares with projects
having the same parameters. The cost of these components is compared to the cost of similar
components in projects sharing the same parameters such as location and size (Kloppenborg et
al., 2019). For instance, if the project involves constructing a building in a given town or city, the
cost of the project can be estimated by checking the cost of constructing a building sharing the
same parameters (constructed in the same city, using the same materials, being of the same size,
and using workers of the same skills and expertise). Once average costs per unit are estimated,
the cost of constructing the whole building can also be estimated.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS 6
Bottom-up estimation
This method is the most accurate for determining the budget associated with given
project costs. However, it is also very time consuming. The method involves listing of all items
in every project activity and then determining their costs (Klojcnik et al., 2018). These items
include both labor and the materials used in the project. Once all the prices of individual items
for each activity in the project have been determined, they are summed up to determine the total
cost of the activity (Klojcnik et al., 2018). The costs of the individual activities are then added up
to get the total cost of the project. This is how costs of a project are aggregated.
Determining cash flow for separate activities
Sometimes a project may fail even when there are adequate financial resources to fund it.
Every activity needs to be fully funded at the time that it is carried out. Ideally, this should be
achieved by providing the project manager with all the money that they require. However, this is
often not the case. The financial department may be reluctant to release all the money for the
project at once because it means that most of the money may lie idle as the project progresses.
Instead of the money remaining idle in the checking account, they may prefer to have the money
invested elsewhere where it can be used to generate other income for the organization.
Contractors may want to be paid for their work as soon as possible so that they can invest it in
their other activities. Project managers, on the other hand, may want to have all the money
availed to them so that they can pay for the project’s expenses on time (Kloppenborg et al.,
2019). Thus, differing priorities of the main stakeholders in the project’s implementation may
cause cash flow problems even if there are enough financial resources for the project.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS 7
To make sure that there is always enough money for every activity, it is important that
the project manager provides the cost of labor and materials for each activity on time for their
payments.
Discuss at lease three (3) ways the project manager is able to identify possible project risks.
Risks are uncertain conditions or events that have the potential of affecting the project’s
costs or schedule (Klojcnik et al., 2018). Even projects that have been planned in an extremely
careful manner sometimes run into unexpected problems. For instance, team members may fall
sick or get injured during the project’s implementation or extreme weather conditions such as
heavy rains resulting in floods may have huge negative implications for the project. Given the
potential impact of such events on the project, it is important to identify potential risks and then
come up with mitigating measures for the risks.
One way in which risks can be identified is through creating a checklist of all potential
risks for the project (Kloppenborg et al., 2019). Based on previous projects, the project manager
may be able to determine the most likely risks that the project may face.
Another risk identification method is using experts. People with very long experience
implementing given projects may know the likely risks that a given project may face and
recommend appropriate mitigation measures. Thus, industry experts can also be used to identify
risks in a project.
Lastly, risks can be identified through identifying source of risk for different categories of
the project (Kloppenborg et al., 2019). These categories include people, cost, political, technical,
and weather. For each of these categories, the potential risk is carefully evaluated. For instance,
with regards to political, the project manager may carefully study all current political events and

PROJECT MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS 8
those scheduled in future such as elections to determine the potential risks that such events may
bring.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS 9

References

Kliem, R. L., & Ludin, I. S. (2019). Reducing project risk. Routledge.
Klojcnik, T., Sagadin, T. A., & Kralj, D. (2018). Project Management: A Systematic Approach
to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling Sustainable Transformation. International
Journal of Economics and Management Systems, 3.
Kloppenborg, T. J., Anantatmula, V. S., & Wells, K. N. (2019). Contemporary Project
Management. Cengage.