PMP PREPARATION : SCOPE

 I cleared my PMP on 26th may 2014. I have gone through all the three books PMBOK, RITA MULCAHY'S and HEAD FIRST. During preparation I made few notes. so the material has been picked up from all the three books and these are just the key points. 
 NOTE : IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT ONE SHOULD READ THESE POINTS IN DETAIL FROM THE BOOKS (which ever interests you more) AND ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE FINISHED A THOROUGH READING, YOU CAN GO THROUGH THESE POINTS FOR CONSOLIDATION.

SCOPE

• ANY CHANGE IN SCOPE : CCB, change should not be approved if they relate to work that does not fit within the project charter.

• PRODUCT SCOPE : requirements related to the product e.g. features and functions of the product or service , what end result is needed. each requirement is assigned to someone

• PROJECT SCOPE : all the work that needs to be done to make the product, work the project will do to deliver the product of the project

NOTE : remember the difference, its important to know

PROJECT SCOPE ENCOMPASSES PRODUCT SCOPE

• PROJECT SCOPE STATEMENT : Important

            1. Project scope

            2. Product scope

            3. Deliverables

            4. Acceptance Criteria

            5. what is NOT PART OF THE PROJECT

            6. Assumptions and Constraints 

• WBS : understand this. this is very important

[ WBS { CONTROL ACCOUNTS ( WORK PACKAGE )}] 

      Each work package in the WBS should be assigned to only one control account. BUT one control account can have many work packages.

      small projects : work package 4 to 40 hours

      big projects :     work package 8 to 80 hours

WBS DOES NOT SHOW DATES OR RESPONSIBILITIES ASSIGNMENT

• WBS NUMBERING SYSTEM : Identify the level at which individual elements are found 

• VALIDATE SCOPE : you do it many times, closely related to the control quality 

• PRODUCT ANALYSIS : to create a project scope statement gaining a better understanding of the product of the project

• USER STORY : document features or functions required by stake holders. you have to write it all and that is called a user story . funny name. no ??? :)

• SCOPE CREEP : all the extra work that your team does which is not part of scope . uncontrolled changes that cause the team to do the extra work. 

• SCOPE MANAGEMENT : figuring out what is out of scope, not just what is part of it.

• FOCUS GROUP : group discussion, people from only one department will take part . e.g. only finance or only HR

• FACILITATED WORKSHOP : group discussion, people from all the departments take part e.g. finance, HR, Admin etc all together 

GROUP CREATIVITY TECHNIQUES :  VERY IMPORTANT

            1. Brainstorming : collect allllll the ideas, good bad useful waste . alll. quantity matters not quality

            2. Nominal Group Technique : rank the ideas 

            3. Delphi Technique : questionnaire to experts but anonymously, no biasing, un ambiguous 

            4. Idea/ Mind Mapping : individual brainstorming , ideas on single map 

            5. Affinity diagram : large number of ideas sorted into groups, grouping the things similar in nature like features, value etc

GROUP DECISION MAKING TECHNIQUES :  VERY IMPORTANT

            1. Unanimity : EVERYONE agrees

            2. Majority : more than 50% agrees

            3. Plurality : most votes, largest block , when more than two options are there

            4. Dictatorship : one person decides

• FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS : Measurable, Quantifiable e.g. new features, bug fixes 

• NON FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS : Things that you expect from your deliverables but are not specific. e.g. quality attributes

• REQUIREMENT TRACEABILITY MATRIX : WHERE the requirement came from, WHERE they get implemented and HOW they get verified .

• REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTS : APPROVED documents (by the stakeholders)

• DEFINE SCOPE : Quantifiable goals

NOTE : please feel free to ask any questions regarding the content, blog, exam, procedure. i shall reply immediately. if you find any point wrong please let me know. i shall check and correct immediately.