Initiation – Define objectives, scope, and stakeholders.

Planning – Create roadmap, schedule, budget, risk plan.

Execution – Deliver project work, manage teams & resources.

Monitoring & Controlling – Track progress, manage risks, ensure quality.

Closure – Deliver final product, handover, lessons learned.

Key Scrum Metrics

Velocity – Work completed per sprint.

Sprint Burndown – Remaining work vs. sprint timeline.

Release Burndown – Progress toward release goals.

Lead Time & Cycle Time – Time from request to delivery.

Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) – Work status distribution over time.

Escaped Defects – Bugs found after release.

1. Identify the root cause (skills gap, motivation, workload).
2. Give clear, constructive feedback with specific examples.
3. Set SMART goals for improvement.
4. Offer support, training, or mentoring.
5. Monitor progress and escalate only if no improvement.

1. Match tasks to team members’ strengths and skills.
2. Clearly define expectations (scope, deadline, deliverables).
3. Provide necessary resources and authority.
4. Encourage autonomy, but keep checkpoints.
5. Give feedback and recognition upon completion.

1- Identify: A key vendor may delay critical components.

2- Assess: High impact on project timeline, medium probability.

3- Mitigate: Line up alternate suppliers, add buffer in schedule.

4- Monitor: Track vendor updates, review weekly.

5- Respond: If delay occurs, switch to alternate supplier.

1- Planning – Define scope, release goals, and timelines.

2- Development & Testing – Build features, conduct QA/UAT.

3- Deployment Prep – Create release notes, rollback plan, approvals.

4- Release/Deployment – Push changes to production (staged or full).

5- Validation – Post-release smoke testing and monitoring.

7- Review – Collect feedback, document lessons learned.

1. Initiation
2. Planning
3. Execution
4. Monitoring & Controlling
5. Closure<

1. Integration Management – coordinating project elements.
2. Scope Management – defining & controlling what is (and isn’t) included.
3. Schedule/Time Management – project timeline, milestones, deadlines.
4. Quality Management – ensuring deliverables meet standards..
5. Resource Management – people, equipment, materials.
6. Communications Management – information flow between stakeholders.
7. Resource Management – people, equipment, materials.
8. Risk Management – identifying, assessing, mitigating risks.
9. Procurement Management – contracts, vendors, third-party services.
10. Stakeholder Management – analyzing, engaging, and managing stakeholders.

1. Agile & Scrum Frameworks - (Sprints, Backlog, Retrospectives)
2. Change Management - (handling scope or requirement changes)
3. Dependency Management - (internal/external dependencies)
4. Issue Tracking & Escalation -
5. Governance & Compliance - (policies, audits, reporting)
6. Performance Metrics & KPIs - (earned value, velocity, burn-down charts)

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is created during the Project Planning Phase of project management lifecycle

These are the 5 Project Management Process Groups defined by PMI (Project Management Institute) in the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge).

Project planning is the process of defining what needs to be done, by whom, by when, and at what cost — ensuring a clear path from initiation to delivery.

Project Manager vs. People Manager Project Manager focus on Delivery of specific projects — on time, within scope and budget. while People Manager(Team Manager or Line Manager) focus Development, well-being, and performance of individual team members.

Project Goals are broad, long-term statements that define the overall "what" or why of a project,

project Objectives are specific, measurable, and time-bound steps that outline the "how" to achieve the goal.

Goals provide the vision and direction, whereas objectives create a concrete roadmap for planning and execution.

Program managers busy with multiple projects with long term business goals & strategic leadership while project managers busy with individual project with fixed time line (Start To End Date), fixed budget, fixed scope

Program managers often have more seniority and oversee multiple projects, while project managers focus on individual projects.

Program managers busy with daily ongoing activities while project managers focus on individual projects with specified time period (specific end & start date)

project managers manage multiple project managers

Why? Task sequencing is about understanding dependencies (what comes before/after).

1. Task order
2. Dependencies (FS, SS, FF, SF)
3. Critical path

1. Gantt Chart → Good for timelines & tracking, not best for defining sequence logic
2. WBS → Breaks work into components, not sequence
3. Simple tracking, no dependency logic

1. - Cost–Benefit Analysis
2. - Risk Matrix
3. - WBS
4. - CPM

1. - Strategic alignment
2. - Faster delivery
3. - Cost control
4. - Resource tracking

1. - Weak sponsorship
2. - Poor tools
3. - Missing templates
4. - Small teams

1. - Project Charter
2. - Scope Statement
3. - Risk Register
4. - Schedule

• Deliverables
• Boundaries (in-scope / out-of-scope)
• Acceptance criteria for deliverables
• Acceptance criteria are used later during Validate Scope for formal sign-off.

• Project Charter ❌ → High-level authorization, not detailed acceptance criteria
• Schedule ❌ → Defines timelines, not acceptance rules
• Risk Register ❌ → Tracks risks and responses

1. - Network Diagram
2. - Gantt Chart
3. - WBS
4. - Checklist

• Task order
• Dependencies (FS, SS, FF, SF)
• Critical path

• Gantt Chart → Good for timelines & tracking, not best for defining sequence logic
• WBS → Breaks work into components, not sequence
• Checklist → Simple tracking, no dependency logic

1. - Project Charter
2. - Sprint review
3. - Phase Gate Review
4. - Schedule

• Sprint Review ❌ Reviews incremental product output, not overall project viability
• Quality Audit ❌Ensures compliance with standards and processes
• Lessons Learned ❌Captures insights for future projects, not decision-making

1. - Project Charter
2. - Benefits-driven planning
3. - Resource leveling
4. - Task optimization

• It explicitly aligns delivery with long-term business goals
• Focuses on outcomes and value realization, not just outputs
• nsures work is prioritized based on strategic benefits, ROI, and impact
• Common in portfolio management, Agile, and benefits realization management

• Schedule compression → Short-term speed, may hurt sustainability
• Resource leveling → Capacity balancing, not strategy alignment
• Task optimization → Efficiency at task level, not business outcomes

1. - Revalidate business case
2. - Compress schedule
3. - Reduce scope
4. - Add resources

• When benefits erode mid-project, the first responsibility of a PM is to check whether the project is still worth doing & Revalidating the business case below
• Are the expected benefits still achievable?
• Has ROI changed due to cost, scope, or market conditions?
• Should the project continue, pivot, or stop?

• Compress schedule ❌ → Tactical fix without knowing if the project is still valuable.
• Reduce scope ❌ → May reduce benefits further if not aligned to business value.
• Add resources ❌ → Increases cost and risk before confirming justification.

1. - Decision-Making
2. - Team Leadership
3. - Reduce scope
4. - Stakeholder Alignment

• Project managers influence performance primarily through timely, informed decisions, especially when facing
• Trade-offs between scope, time, cost, and quality
• Uncertainty and changing priorities
• Risk escalation and issue resolution
• Risk escalation and issue resolution

1. Align stakeholders on goals, scope, and expectations
2. Introduce the team and define roles
3. Review timelines, milestones, risks, and communication plans

Earned Value Management (EVM) is a technique used to measure project performance and progress by integrating:

1. Scope
2. Schedule
3. Cost

1. PV (Planned Value) – What we planned to complete
2. EV (Earned Value) – What we actually completed
3. AC (Actual Cost) – What we actually spent

Risk identification is a core activity of the Planning process group in project management. This is where risks are identified, analyzed, and response strategies are defined before execution begins.

1. Initiation → Define project at a high level
2. Planning → Identify risks, plan responses
3. Execution → Perform the work
4. Monitoring → Track risks and manage new ones

Team members are confused about priorities. What is the PM missing?

1. Clear scope
2. More tools
3. Detailed reports
4. Longer meetings

A Project Manager’s primary responsibility under pressure is to:

1. Maintain clear judgment
2. Balance risk, scope, time, and quality
3. Avoid panic-driven or reactive choices

1. Requirements clarity
2. Effort level
3. Communication speed
4. Task tracking

When a risk becomes an issue, jumping to action without understanding impact creates chaos.

A PM must first assess:

1. Scope impact (what is affected?)
2. Schedule impact (how much delay?)
3. Cost impact (budget implications?)
4. Quality & risk amplification
5. Stakeholder impact

Only after understanding the impact can you:

1. ✔ Decide whether escalation is needed
2. ✔ Identify mitigation or workaround
options
3. ✔ Communicate clearly and credibly

When a sponsor disagrees with the plan, the PM’s role is not to argue, panic, or blindly comply—it’s to enable informed decision-making.

1. Clarify the impact on scope, timeline, cost, risk, and quality
2. Show that alternatives have been thought through
3. Keep the discussion objective and collaborative
4. Help the sponsor decide based on facts, not opinions
5. This reflects mature stakeholder management and leadership.