Project Management Jeopardy

This document formally defines what work is and is not included in a project, preventing unauthorized additions later.

What is a scope statement?

This term describes the uncontrolled expansion of a project's requirements beyond what was originally agreed, without matching adjustments to time or budget.

What is scope creep?

This technique breaks a project's total scope down into smaller, more manageable components arranged in a hierarchy.

What is a work breakdown structure?

This classic project management concept holds that scope, time, and cost are interdependent, so changing one forces a tradeoff in the others.

What is the triple constraint?

This budgeting technique estimates a project's total cost by adding up the estimated costs of every individual work package.

What is bottom-up estimating?

This visual board organizes tasks into columns such as "To Do," "In Progress," and "Done," and is a hallmark tool of Kanban.

What is a Kanban board?

This diagram maps out every task in a project and the dependencies between them, used to calculate the shortest possible project duration.

What is a network diagram?

This chart plots planned versus actual work remaining over time, commonly used in Agile sprints to track progress toward a deadline.

What is a burndown chart?

This visual grid plots project risks by their likelihood on one axis and their potential impact on the other.

What is a risk matrix?

This technique compares planned cost, actual cost, and the value of work actually completed to gauge whether a project is on budget and on schedule.

What is earned value management?

This term describes an uncertain future event that, if it occurs, would have a positive or negative effect on a project's objectives.

What is a risk?

This term describes a risk that has already happened and now must be actively managed and resolved.

What is an issue?

This document lists every identified project risk along with its likelihood, impact, and a plan for addressing it.

What is a risk register?

This strategy sets aside extra time or budget in advance, ready to absorb the impact of a risk if it actually occurs.

What is a contingency reserve?

This risk response strategy shifts the financial impact of a risk to a third party, such as through an insurance policy.

What is risk transfer?

This term describes any person or group with an interest in a project's outcome, from sponsors to end users.

What is a stakeholder?

This individual formally authorizes a project, provides its funding, and holds ultimate accountability for its success.

What is a project sponsor?

This document maps stakeholders by their level of power and interest, guiding how much attention each one needs.

What is a stakeholder matrix?

This regularly scheduled communication keeps stakeholders informed of a project's progress, risks, and upcoming milestones.

What is a status report?

This person, ultimately accountable for delivering a project's objectives, coordinates the team and serves as the main point of contact for stakeholders.

What is a project manager?

This traditional project management approach completes phases sequentially, one after another, like water flowing downhill.

What is waterfall?

This iterative approach to software and product development breaks work into short cycles and welcomes changing requirements even late in a project.

What is Agile?

This Agile framework organizes work into fixed-length iterations called sprints, led by roles including a product owner and a Scrum master.

What is Scrum?

This methodology, originating from the Toyota Production System, focuses on maximizing customer value while minimizing waste in a process.

What is Lean?

This process improvement methodology, developed at Motorola in the 1980s, uses statistical analysis and a martial-arts-style belt ranking system to reduce defects.

What is Six Sigma?

This single point in time marks the completion of a significant phase or deliverable within a project.

What is a milestone?

This document, produced at a project's very end, records lessons learned, successes, and what to improve next time.

What is a lessons learned report?

This is the specific, tangible output, such as a report, product, or service, that a project is undertaken to produce.

What is a deliverable?

This term describes a formal proposal to change a project's baseline scope, schedule, or budget, submitted through a defined approval process.

What is a change request?

This term describes the sequence of dependent tasks that determines the shortest possible time in which a project can be completed.

What is the critical path?