Project Management

What this unit covers

The page is built around planning and running a software or ICT project. Many of the mind maps follow the same ground: formal project management methods, milestones, dependencies, agreed deliverables, timescales and monitoring progress, cost and quality. Others look at why projects succeed or fail, with points such as management involvement, end user involvement and client sign-off.

Where to start

Begin with the mind map Formal Project Management. It sets out the basic ideas in a short form. Then open Success & Failure of ICT projects to see how those ideas play out in practice. The several Project Life Cycle maps are a good next step if you want the stages in order.

If you are revising for OCR iMedia or Creative iMedia, look at the flashcard decks on work plans, timescales and contingency plans. Several of the maps titled R012 sit alongside them.

Teams, risk and methods

• The Project Team flashcards explain why large custom-written solutions need several people with different skills.
• Team Roles and Project Manager cover who does what.
• Risk Management is a mind map covering risk identification, assessment and control, including risk trees.
• Scrum Framework and the Agile quiz look at iterative ways of working.

University students can use the numbered chapter maps on project evaluation, choosing a project approach and estimating software effort.

Using quizzes and maps together

Read a map first, then test yourself. Try the quiz Module 1 True or False or Chapter 3 to see what stuck. Go back to the map for anything you missed, then use a flashcard deck for quick recall.

Where it fits

This unit sits in the Software and Systems Development strand of Computing and ICT. Pick a map or deck that matches your course and start there, then add your own notes and cards.