Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts
This chapter covers the vocabulary and foundations that everything else builds on: what a project is, the constraints that shape it, and the core documents that authorize and guide the work. It reflects the largest domain of the CAPM exam.
Projects, constraints, and value
A project is a temporary endeavor that creates a unique product, service, or result, distinct from ongoing operations. Projects are shaped by competing constraints, classically scope, schedule, and cost, with quality, risk, and resources also in balance. Delivering value to stakeholders is the ultimate aim.
Charter and stakeholders
The project charter formally authorizes the project and empowers the project manager to apply resources. Stakeholders are anyone who can affect, be affected by, or perceive themselves affected by the project, and identifying and engaging them early is critical.
The plan and the WBS
The project management plan integrates subsidiary plans and defines how the work is executed, monitored, controlled, and closed. The work breakdown structure decomposes scope into work packages, the lowest level at which cost and duration are estimated and work is controlled.