Part 109: Decision Making
(Project Integration Management: Monitor and Control Project Work)
(Project Integration Management: Perform Integrated Change Control)
(Project Scope Management: Collect Requirements)
(Project Scope Management: Define Scope)
(Project Scope Management: Validate Scope)
(Project Schedule Management: Estimate Activity Durations)
(Project Cost Management: Estimate Costs)
(Project Quality Management: Plan Quality Management)
(Project Quality Management: Manage Quality)
(Project Risk Management: Plan Risk Responses)
(Project Stakeholder Management: Plan Stakeholder Engagement)
(Project Stakeholder Management: Monitor Stakeholder Engagement)

  • There are many decision-making techniques, and the project manager should select the most appropriate one for each situation
  • Decision-making techniques are used to decide on whether to approve/deny change requests
    • Autocratic Decision Making = One person decides
    • Multicriteria Decision Analysis = Use a decision matrix to rank the choices based on different criteria
    • Voting = There are multiple alternatives, and the group collectively chooses one
      • Unanimity = all the voters agree
      • Majority = more than 50% of voters agree
      • Plurality = largest number of voters wins
      • Fist of Five Method
        • Used in agile projects
        • Each team member votes by holding up either a closed fist (no support) or up to five fingers (full support)
        • If a team member holds up less than three fingers, they must explain why they don’t agree with the option
        • This process continues until each person is holding up three fingers, in which case it is assumed that the team has reached a consensus
  • Decision-making can be used to select resources.  We can ask the following questions
    • Availability = Is the resource available during the project’s schedule?
    • Cost = Can we afford this resource?  Is the cost within the budget?
    • Ability = Does the resource have the skills that the project requires?
      For people, we can also ask
    • Experience = Does the team member have enough experience?
    • Knowledge = Does the team member have relevant knowledge?
    • Skills = Does the team member have skills to complete the project?
    • Attitude = Can this team member work with the project team?
    • International Factors = Is the team member in the correct location and time zone?