1. Briefly describe what happens in each of the five project
management process groups (initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and
controlling, and closing). What types of activities occur before initiating a
project?
2. Approximately how much time do good project managers
spend on each process group, and why?
3. Why do organizations need to tailor project management
concepts, such as those found in the PM BOK Guide, to create their own
methodologies?
4. What are some of the key outputs of each process group?
5. What are some of the typical challenges project teams
face during each of the five process groups? You can frame your discussion
based on a project described in one of the feature boxes in this chapter (for
example, the What Went Right? or What Went Wrong? feature). You can also frame
your discussion on one of PMI’s Project of the Year Award winners or on a
well-known project failure like the Denver International Airport baggage
handling system.
6. What are the main differences between the two versions of
the JWD Consulting case study? When should you use a more prescriptive or agile
approach? Do you think users of the JWD Consulting Intranet site would prefer
one release of the software or several incremental ones? What are some pros and
cons of each approach?
