4.4 Project Mangament

1. How does having a scope and WBS help project teams during project execution? Why is it difficult to develop good plans?

The main purpose of project planning is to guide project execution. To guide execution, plans must be realistic and useful, so a fair amount of effort must go into the project planning process (Schwalbe, 2013).

Planning is often the most difficult and unappreciated process in project management because people often do not want to take the time to plan well, but theory and practice show that good planning is crucial to good execution (Schwalbe, 2013).

2. Name the main planning tasks performed as part of project integration management? What are the main documents created, and what should they contain?

Project integration management involves coordinating all the project management knowledge areas throughout a project’s life span. The one planning process performed as part of project integration management, according to PMI, is called “develop project management plan.” Some project teams also create a team contract in addition to developing the project management plan (Schwalbe, 2013).

3. Identify the planning tasks performed as part of project time management. What is the critical path for a project? Why is it important to know which tasks are on the critical path? How would you gain support from the project sponsor on the tasks on the critical path?

Project time management involves the processes required to ensure timely completion of a project. The main planning processes performed as part of project time management are planning schedule management, defining activities, sequencing activities, estimating activity resource, estimating activity durations, and developing the project schedule (Schwalbe, 2013).

A critical path for a project is the series of activities that determine the earliest time by which the project can be completed. It is the longest path through the network diagram and has the least amount of slack or float...