Management Interview Questions

8/13/2019 Management Interview Questions

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1) Explain your core competencies.i. Strategic Planning:Strategic Planning is a management tool that helps an organization focus its energy,to ensure that members of the organization are working toward the same goals, toassess and adjust the organization's direction in response to a changingenvironment. n short, strategic planning is a disciplined effort to produce

fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is,what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future.ii. Organizational PlanningProcessof identifying an organization'simmediate and long!termobjectives, andformulating and monitoringspecific strategiesto achievethem. talso entailsstaffingand resource allocation, and is one of the most importantresponsibilitiesof a managementteam. "n organizational plan is basically a #to do$list for an organization. t lists out the plan of work, programs, and organizationalgrowth over a period of time ! si% months, a year, five years. &hey can be prettysimple to create and use. riting a plan can just mean getting a clear list of thetypes of work that need to be done, the tasks involved, who is responsible for them,and when they(ll be done.iii. Client/Vendor Management)endor management can make or break your business. *ut far too many smallbusiness owners think that effective vendor management means they must retaincontrol by treating their vendors badly. " good vendor relationship comes about notfrom making arrogant demands with superior attitude that a business owner is farmore important than a lowly vendor.iv. Team Building/Recruitment

&eam building refers to a wide range of activities, usually in a business conte%t, forimproving team performance.v. Performance ManagementPerformance management refers to the process of setting goals and regularlychecking progress toward achieving those goals.vi. Project managementProject management is a methodical approach to planning and guiding projectprocesses from start to finish. &he processes are guided through five stages:initiation, planning, e%ecuting, controlling, and closing.vii. Policy Develoment+evelopment of the ontract between more than one party.viii. !uality "##urance-uality assurance, or -" for short, refers to planned and systematic productionprocesses that provide confidence in a product's suitability for its intended purpose.i$. Budget "dmini#tration*udget "dministration is responsible for the planning, developing, and maintenanceof the project budget. *udget can be referred as a sum of money allocated for aparticular purpose$. %#er Re&uirement# Con#ultinget user re/uirements professionally.

'( !uality a##urance ver#u# &uality control-uality control emphasizes testing of products to uncover defects, and reporting tomanagement who make the decision to allow or deny the release. hereas /ualityassurance attempts to improve and stabilize production, and associated processes,to avoid, or at least minimize, issues that led to the defects in the first place. &oprevent mistakes from arising, several -" methodologies are used. 0owever, -"does not necessarily eliminate the need for -: some product parameters are socritical that testing is still necessary. - activities are treated as an integral part ofthe overall -" processes
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/process.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/organization.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/organization.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/2885/long_term.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/objective.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/monitoring.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/strategy.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/achieve.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/entail.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/staffing.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/4218/resource_allocation.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/4218/resource_allocation.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/responsibility.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/management.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/team.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/organization.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/2885/long_term.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/objective.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/monitoring.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/strategy.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/achieve.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/entail.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/staffing.htmlhttp://www.investorwords.com/4218/resource_allocation.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/responsibility.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/management.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/team.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/process.html


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)( Critical Pat*&he se/uence of activities that must be completed on schedule for the entire projectis to be completed on schedule. &his is the longest duration path through the work!plan. f an activity on the critical path is delayed by one day, then entire project willbe delayed by one day 1unless another activity on the critical path can beaccelerated by one day2.

+( Project PlanProject planning is a discipline for stating how to complete a project within a certaintimeframe, usually with defined stages, and with designated resources. 3ne view ofproject planning divides the activity into:

Setting objectives 1these should be measurable2

dentifying deliverables4target4goal

Planning the schedule

5aking supporting plans

,( " roject i# imlemented- you eing t*e roject manager- *o ould youfind t*at all re&uirement# #tated in t*e Re&uirement# document *ave een#ati#fied0

6sing &raceability 5atri% one can track the re/uirements.

1( Say you are t*e Project Manager for a team *ic* get# an order toimlement t*e comany2# flag#*i roduct to a ne country/region for t*every fir#t time. 3*at attriute# ould you con#ider to #ucce##fullye#tali#* t*i# roduct in t*e region073 17eturn on investment2

RO47eturn on investment 1732 of a project is how much income is generated aftersubtracting the costs of the project.

5unction# of a manager

Planning and Setting objectives, 3rganizing, +irecting, 5otivating and ontrolling.

3or6 Brea6don Structure" deliverable!oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be e%ecuted by theproject team to accomplish the project objectives and create the re/uireddeliverables.

&he main purpose of ork *reakdown Structure is that firstly, it helps todefine and organize the scope of the total project more accurately and specifically.

&he most common way this is done is by using a hierarchical tree structure. 8achlevel of this structure breaks the project deliverables or objectives down to morespecific and measurable chunks. &he second reason for using a ork *reakdownStructure in your projects is to help with assigning responsibilities, resourceallocation, monitoring the project, and controlling the project. &he *S makes the

deliverables more precise and concrete so that the project team knows e%actly whathas to be accomplished within each deliverable.&his also allows for better estimating of cost, risk, and time because you can

work from the smaller tasks back up to the level of the entire project. 9inally, it allowsyou double check all the deliverables' specifics with the stakeholders and make surethere is nothing missing or overlapping.

3*at intere#t# you mo#t aout t*i# jo0


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Point out the new challenges and e%periences you look forward to in the position andwhy you are /ualified to handle them. "lign your interests with the attributes theyare looking for in the right candidate. 9or e%ample: want the challenge of selling a new product. consider strategy development oneof my key skills and would like to be able to use it to the fullest in developingstrategies for selling this product.$

get great satisfaction from training new staff members and helping them developand succeed. am e%cited by the sort of training programs would be running in thisposition....

"# a Project Manager if you ant to tell to your team t*at *at did eac*ieve toget*er and *ere did e fail7 mean# you ant to convey t*ecollective feedac6- *o ill you convey it0"s a project 5anager you can provide feedback to your team in following way

Provide positive 9eedback 9irst5ake sure that you first focus on achievements ; just the good news. 3ne of thefactors that make working together so difficult is our habit of focusing on issues andproblems to the e%clusion of achievements and successes. n such an environmentpeople feel undervalued and unmotivated and a feeling of hy bother< Shapes the

culture.7eview 9ailures=e%t take time to review failures, asking the team to make a full list ofdisappointments. >et them know that this e%ercise has nothing to do with pointingfingers and everything to do with creating a realistic picture of the current status ofthe team and the business.

&ake the >essons9inally ask each team member to consider what can be learned from what happened.+iscuss the potential lessons and align on the top three guidelines that would makethe most difference to your success. ?eep these alive throughout the year by regularreview and public display with news of the difference the lessons are making toperformance.

T*ere2# a guy in t*e comany *o doe# great or6 ut *a# a really #ourattitude

&here are lots of people with e%cellent technical skills, but that alone doesn't makethem valuable 1or even tolerable2 employees.

&o be an effective employee 1at any level2, technical skills must be combinedwith appropriate behaviors. nappropriate behavior negates the benefits of thetechnical skill, damages the people in contact with them and can threaten thee%istence of the entire organization.

&oo dramatic< =ot at all. =egative, cynical, angry employees are like a cancerin your business whether they're on a work crew, in the office or in the owner's chair.3ne negative cynic turns into two, two into four and so on. 8ventually your businesstakes on an atmosphere of angry negativity that's both unpleasant and bad forbusiness.

&hey're bad for business< hyeave the meeting with some clear direction both of you.Saving employees is really what you want to do and you want to clearlycommunicate that to the employee. want to improve your performance because wewant you to remain as a long term employee of my company. 5anaging performancefor employees is the best way that you can help improve performance for yourorganization.

:o to ;ive an 8ffective 8mloyee 8valuation"nd how to give an effective employee evaluation is one of those areas 've trained anumber of companies and organizations on. &here are some keys. &he first thing isplan the time for the evaluation and make sure you give the employee plenty ofnotice. &here's nothing worst than calling an employee in and spur the moment andsay, okay, 'm going to give you your evaluation. &he ne%t thing you want to do isyou always want to have a copy for you and a copy for the employee. @ou also wantto listen to the employeeA you want to give them an opportunity to dialogue aboutthings that are on the evaluation. "nd you also want to make sure that they have anopportunity to respond. n some cases, the employee may agree with you, in somecases they may disagree with you. &he other piece of an effective evaluation is thatyou want to have answers to particular performance issues. f it's the individual is,doesn't use ord for instance, to the e%tent that you think they should. "re youwilling to provide training< "re you willing to provide an opportunity for them to havee%tra time in the office to get their skill level up. &he purpose of an evaluation is thatyou will know where the employee will stand but most importantly, the employee willknow where they stand. "ny deficiencies will be improvedA any positive behavior willbe continued. "nd research shows that feedback is what employees value. t doesn'tmatter whether its a negative or positive, they value that more than no feedback atall.

:o to ;ive an 8mloyee a 3ritten 3arninge usually at some time in our career have to give a written warning to anemployee, and there are some specific steps that we want to make sure that weobserve. 9irst of all, normally a written warning is not the first level of escalation foran offense. &ake a look at what your company's policy is. f you don't have one, then would certainly institute one within my department of my organization. &he firstwarning is normally verbal. &he second warning, unless the infraction deserves to bea written warning. f you're going to give a written warning, make sure it is somethingthat you have observed yourself that you can document. @ou'll write it down. "gain,

you've got a copy for yourself and a copy for the employee, and you should have thatemployee sign that they have been given a rule, a warning. &he on the warningshould be some very specifics as to what happened, and also what behavior youwould like to see happen. @ou might also want to put on there a time frame whenyou're going to check back with the employee. &he purpose of the written warning isto eliminate the offensive behavior. >ook at it from that ston standpoint. 5ake sureyou communicate it to the employee. iving the right written warning can help savethat employee.


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:o to 5ire an 8mloyee9iring employees is never an easy task, but there's a way that you can do it thatmakes you feel good and the employee. 'd like to give you some ideas on how to firean employee. &he first thing you want to make sure that you do is that you are firingor you have taken this action as a last resort. 5ake sure that you counsel theemployee, that you documented what they have not done that was a job

re/uirement. "lso make sure that what you are holding them responsible for is partof their job and not someone else's. &he other thing that you want to do is you wantto make sure that you validate the employee as an individual. t's not a reflection onthem personally. 5aybe it's something that is above their skill level, maybe it'sthey're not part of the team, they're not gelling with the team. 've found that it'susually e%tremely hard to fire someone if it was my selection, if actually made thedecision to hire that person because it means that maybe didn't do something right.t happens. e're never going to have a hundred percent retention. *ut what wewant to do is we want to make sure that that employee leaves and still feels goodabout themselves and that we feel good about the job we did as a manager orsupervisor. 0iring an employee is never easy. 9iring an employee is never easy. *utdoing it the right way makes everyone feel better.

:o to De#troy t*e Morale of =our 8mloyee#+estroying the morale of your organization or your group is not what you want, butsomehow, people unintentionally do it. 3ne of the first things you want to do is youalways want to make sure that you're fair. 3ne of the things that 've seen thatdestroys morale /uickly within an organization is for a manager to have individualsthat they really like better than they do others, and they communicate thatthroughout the organization. &he other thing that destroys morale is une/ualworkloads. don't like you, so continue to shove stuff on you. &rust meA other peoplein the organization see that, and they don't respect that. "lso, another way todestroy morale is not valuing peopleA talking down to them, talking negatively tothem, using derogatory terms. &hose are all things that work to destroy the morale ofan organization. @our job as a manager is to help people achieve the best things thatthey can. 3ne of the best ways to destroy morale is to not treat people fairly, and tonot respect them.

:o to Reard Staff Performance7ewarding staff performance is one of the best ways to keep your companies growthhealthy. 0ow you reward staff performance is one of those ways that can help yourcompany continue to grow. Staff performance is one of those thing that doesn'tdepend on how much you put into it but the fact that you really do something.ertificates on the wall with that employees name on it. Set up a program where youhave employee of the month. ive them a parking space. ive them a couple ofhours off. ive them a gift certificate. hristmas parties are a great way to reward tostaff performance and it encourages everyone to get involved. know of onecompany and they reward individuals who provide great customer service. &hey havetheir customers call in to give the name of their employee and it goes into a hat.

&hen, once a month or once a /uarter they pull a name out of that hat and that

employee then gets to select from a list of prizes that they would like. &he moretimes that employee gets rewarded or gets their name put in by a customer, themore chances they have to win. &hese are things that, as a company, will not costyou a lot. &he dollar that you spend, invest in rewarding your staff will go a long way.7emember, the employee that you can retain. &he employee that is happy andproductive adds directly to your bottom line. ?eeping that employee and that staffhappy is one of the best things that you can do to keep morale up and to keep yourcompany growth going.


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:o to Create an 8mloyee Recognition Certificate7ecognition certificates are one of the great ways that you can motivate employeesto do a better job. &here's some elements that you want to make sure are part ofyour certificate program. 9irst you want to make sure that your name, companyname and the individuals name is on the certificate. @ou want to tell what it's for. 9or

instance, Bane +oe for outstanding customer service. @ou want to put a date on thereso that it would be "ugust, September, and whatever date and year. Sign it. &hepower of having a signed certificate increases the value in the employees mind byabout fifty percent. t means that you took some time, you actually put yoursignature on there. 5y personal favorite is to frame them. t's very ine%pensive to doand it really gives the employee the value that you want to translate by giving themthat certificate. &he other thing that they'll do is it's very easy then to go and hang iton their walls in their office or their cubicles. ertificates of recognition are one of theleast e%pensive ways that you can motivate your employees and keep performancegoing.

:o to Decide 3*en to !uit =our Day


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E. 3rganizing to manage projects isn't compatible with our culture, and the last thingwe need around this place is change.F. "ll our projects are easy, and they don't have cost, schedule, and technical risksanyway.G. e aren't smart enough to implement project management without stiflingcreativity and offending our technical geniuses.

H. e might have to understand our customers' re/uirements and document a lot ofstuff, and that is such a bother.I. Project management re/uires integrity and courage, so they would have to pay mee%tra.J. 3ur bosses won't provide the support needed for project managementA they wantus to get better results through magic.K. e'd have to apply project management blindly to all projects regardless of sizeand comple%ity, and that would be stupid.L. know there is a well!developed project management body of knowledge, but can't find it under this mess on my desk.C. e figure it's more profitable to have IDM overruns than to spend CDM on projectmanagement to fi% them.

Tell u# aout your e$erience in managing different roject# and *o t*i#can contriute to our o#ition.t is important to structure your interview answer because this is a multi!layered andfairly comple% /uestion. Start by e%plaining how you will answer the /uestion. &hiskeeps your answer on track and to the point.

"I will begin by giving you a short description of my last three projects. I will thendetail the skills and abilities I developed as a result of each project and thendemonstrate the value of these skills to this position."

@ou can then go on to provide a brief but concise summary of each project.

"I was the project manager for the XYZ project and this involved ..."

&hen describe the skills you ac/uired during the project.

"I encountered a number of difficulties on this project that required an innovativeapproach. I used group problem solving sessions as one of these approaches. hisworked well because it helped each team member to clarify their particular projectrole and responsibility and we were able to develop plans and realistic schedules thatthe whole project team contributed to ..."

+emonstrate how these skills will benefit the position and company.

"!rojects now are faced with tighter budgets and fewer resources. his approachmaimi#es the available resources and keeps everyone focused and motivated for

the duration of the project..."

De#crie *o you recently managed a diver#e roject team toard# acommon goal9ocus on your ability to delegate in a fair and practical way, how you clearly definedproject roles and responsibilities, kept personality clashes and conflict to a minimumand monitored and fed back to the project team. 3utline your management style andwhy it worked.


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De#crie t*e mo#t comle$ roject you *ave managed from #tart to fini#*Provide a comprehensive answer remembering to e%plain the project as you would toa client and not to somebody who has been involved in the project.

&he more comple% a project the more formal processes and techni/ues are

needed to effectively manage the work. 8%plain the purpose, value andimplementation of the most critical aspects of the project including managing theproject work plan, the project schedule, the project risks, the project issues andclosing the project.

*e enthusiastic about your accomplishments and specify how your e%periencewill benefit the company. Point out where you made a difference on the project interms of e%penditure, /uality, efficiency, customer satisfaction and business andorganizational success.

3*at are t*e nece##ary #te# to #ucce##ful roject management0hat is your understanding and e%perience of the project manager role< ncludeaspects such as setting clear project objectives, building the project re/uirements,managing project cost, time, /uality and scope. 7efer in you answer to the specificsteps you took to successfully manage and close a recent project.

:o to *andle ad Bo##0+o a reality check on yourself

&he first solution in handling a bad boss is an honest analysis of your actions andbehavior. "re you a good subordinate< 0ave you been handling yourself and your jobwell< f you aren(t then perhaps it is not your boss who is the problem but you. Pleasealso remember that all bosses have their own ways to do work and like it or not, it isthe subordinates who will have to adapt to their ways. &hey will be /uite reluctant toadapt to yours.

$ormal %ommunication7egardless of what type of boss you have, an important option you have is tocommunicate formally with them. Sometimes they may not be aware of theirbehavior and the aim of the communication process is to let him see your side of thework e/uation. n the formal meeting, make sure that you talk of the specificbehavior in /uestion and tell him how it makes you feel. >eave your emotions at thedoor, but be prepared for your boss to have an emotional reaction.

+o not make generalized statements like, #you are always nasty$ or #everyone in theoffice does not like the way you manage$. Soften your comments and avoiddefensiveness by allowing your boss to save face. Praise him if needed initially1obviously he must have his strengths too2, so that his defenses may be lowered.hen talking about the problem, use statements like @ou may not be aware . . . or@ou may not realize . . .. t(s possible that your boss is unaware of his4her actions,

and this meeting could be very positive for all involved. "t the same time, you mayrealize that you might have made many assumptions about his style of managementwhich may not necessarily be right.

9ormal communication may not necessarily solve the problem, but at least you willbe sure your boss has been informed of your views, feelings and frustrations. &here isno guarantee of success, however, and you need to be aware that your 5alaysianboss from a cultural perspective might misinterpret your Nconfrontation( as pushy oraggressive behavior. &his might lead to an escalation of your conflict with him.


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Informal %ommunication5ost of the time, the recommended action with a bad boss is to take him or her tolunch or a drink after work to discuss the problem in a non!confrontational way. &histype of informal encounter will serve to overcome the problem better as the non!work environment may lessen the tension and thus make it more amicable for a

more fruitful discussion. "lways thank him for taking the time to have the discussionand impress upon him that your only interest in this discussion is to have a morehealthy working relationship.

&anging 'p&his might seem to be an unorthodo% solution, but it has its strengths. f severalpeople from the same department voice similar views or frustrations, then there is achance that the head of department might take heed. &his voicing of opinions cantake place individually or else at a meeting where everyone is present. f it is thelatter, then it has to be handled sensitively, as you do not want to create theimpression that there is a mutiny in the department. "t the same time, be aware ofthe fact that there may be some people in the department who might try to gainpolitical mileage out of this situation by being the odd one out of the Ngang( to gainfavor. &he good thing about Nganging up( is that it is very difficult for a boss to takethe situation lightly as the number of messengers is high, and all carry the samemessage. +o not however e%pect the boss to change immediately.

(sk for a ransfer or )esignf none of these strategies work, then you have two choices. f you really love your

job because you are learning a lot and you like the people you're working with, thenyou will just have to Nbite the bullet( and accept your boss as best you can. 3r, if allelse fails, ask to be transferred to another department or finally simply hand in yourresignation letter. 3nly you know your own worth, and if you don't feel respected andmotivated then just move on. &his is a difficult course of action, but one that youmust always have as an option. 7emember however that the other side may notnecessarily be Ngreener(.

%onclusion" final piece of advice and that is, when dealing with bad bosses the worst thing youcan do is simply to do nothing, hoping the problems will get resolved. =o job, boss, orcompany is worth losing your health, sanity, or self!esteem. f you can(t find a way toresolve these issues and your boss simply will never change his behavior, then youshould immediately start looking for a new job, within or outside the organization. *utbefore you do this, please do carry out an objective performance appraisal onyourself. t might change your mind.

3*at are t*e rioritie# to con#ider *en lanning a Ayour field( roject07efer again to a recent project and outline your most important considerations in theplanning stage. &ime, scope and budget are the usual constraints to consider, buthow did you allocate and integrate all the necessary inputs to meet the project

objectives and plan for riskist the competencies re/uired for successful job performance. ompetenciesor behaviors commonly re/uired in the workplace include problem!solving ability, useof initiative, resilience, adaptability, organizing and planning and team work.+escribe to the interviewer how your e%perience is relevant to these re/uirementsand how you have successfully demonstrated these skills in your previous positions.

8mployers want to e%plore your commitment and motivation for the job."fter carefully reviewing this job would focus on these key skills as the mostessential to success. &he company is going through considerable restructuring and asa manager would need to properly manage any changes with my team. 5ycommunication, motivation, negotiation and conflict management skills are key tothis. n my last job had considerable e%perience in these areas when .................

3*ere el#e are you intervieing and for *at o#ition#0&his is an awkward interview /uestion and although candidates feel that interviewersshouldn't ask it, they doO So be prepared for it. *e brief, concise and straightforward."void trying to use this as an opportunity to impress by naming big firms in unrelatedindustries or that are offering different types of jobs. 8mployers want to hear that youare going for similar positions in the same sort of industry. &his confirms yourcommitment to the job they are interviewing you for. @ou can rather answer ingeneral terms.


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have focused only on jobs that offer me the same sort of opportunities andchallenges that your organization does in this particular industry. recentlyinterviewed with @Q organization for a similar position.

f you have not been for any other interviews you can deal with this interview/uestion in this way.

have concentrated my job search on positions that offer the same sort ofresponsibilities and challenges as this position and with similar organizations. &o date have sent my resume to a number of organizations, including @Q ompany and"* nc, and we are in the process of setting up interviews.

3*at *a# een your greate#t ac*ievement to date0hoose an achievement that is related to the position and is fairly recent. 7eview the

job description, if you have it, or the job posting or ad. hat skills are listed asnecessary for the job


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believe have had a number of successes to date. t is difficult to say which thinkhas been my greatest accomplishment as they were all important. am going tofocus on my recent achievements as being the most pertinent... and go on todescribe your relevant, recent accomplishments.

3*at do you #ee your#elf doing in five year#0

t is not easy to answer this interview /uestion in terms of specific job or companye%pectations. 3ne cannot accurately predict what the job or the company will looklike in I years time. @ou can answer in general terms about the type of situation youwould like to be in and the way you want to have grown and developed. "void givingspecific time frames or job titles.

9ocus on realistic career opportunities you could e%pect in your industry and whatyou hope to have gained from these opportunities.t is an uncertain world and one can't predict what is going to happen. 0owever, myhope is that will have contributed to the success of the company and grown bothpersonally and professionally within my position

@our interview answer should relate to the job you are being interviewed for in someway. &he interviewer does not want to hear that you hope to have published yourfirst novel or be running your own business.

&his interview /uestion is designed to assess a number of things.0ow long are you likely to stay with the companyead to communicate with him fre/uently R face to face. +on(t wait for the task tocomplete go to his seat, talk friendly, ask indirectly what he is doing and give yoursuggestions. +on(t point him forward some good article to whole team. ive yourfeedback early to the member. ndirectly share your e%perience about the problemshe is facing. 7ealize him that he the important valuable member of the project teamand you have lot of e%pectations from him.

Second thing is, some team members are careless or your environment is notproductive. &he solution is, e%plain clearly what is e%pected from the team. +on(twait for status report, communicate fre/uently with team and remind their goals stepby step goals."ppreciate the members who are doing good work. nvolvement is the key to handlenon productive members. +on(t assign them work through mail. 9irst meet withteam, e%plain the goals, divide the goals into parts R >et the team members picktasks of their own choice. &hat will make them more responsible for their task. thinkin this way you can change their professional attitude.

Cu#tomer or Develoment Team. 3*ic* one i# imortant for a rojectmanager0:o can you alance eteen to0 3*y roject manager ta6e care of *i#roject team0

@ou(ve to accept that the customer comes first. &he customer is always right. @oucan't take care of the customer if you first aren't taking care of your project team. t'sa challenge. hile there are some things you can do for the whole team, it comesdown to taking care of each team member as the individual that he or she is. "nd tomake it more difficult, then you must bring their various interests into coherence.

3*at are your goal# for t*e future0#5y long term goals are to find a company where can grow, continue to learn, takeon increasing responsibilities, and be a positive contributor$.


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:o do you *andle #tre## and re##ure0# find that work better under pressure, and enjoy working in an environment thatis challenging.$ # am the type of person that diffuses stress. am used to working ina demanding environment with deadlines, and enjoy the challenges.$

3*at i# t*e difference eteen a roject ri#6 and a roject i##ue and *atdifferent tye# can 4 e$ect to encounter0 3*at tool# can 4 u#e to managet*e ri#6# and i##ue# on a Project0" 7isk is something that is yet to happen, whilst an ssue is something that hasalready happened.C. *usiness 7iskL. Project 7iskK. Stage 7isk8ach risk 1however derived2 can be assessed using a simple methodology, wherebythe probability of the risk being realized 1'likelihood'2 and the size of the impact onthe project objectives 1'severity'2 can be measured. &he simplest system 1based onthe P7=8 project management method2 is to give a score of C!K for likelihood andseverity 1where C is low and K is high2. 9rom these scores, the importance of eachrisk can be measured as the product of likelihood and severity. learly, any risk ofimportance E demands immediate attention, followed by risks rated H and so on.

&he importance of each risk should be regularly maintained, based on the e%tent towhich the likelihood and severity of impact change over time. 9or each risk, oneshould enter a counter!measure in the risk plan. here a risk can be eliminated, thenthis will be the counter!measure. here it cannot be fully eliminated, then riskmitigation actions will be the most appropriate.

3*at i# CMM0&he apability 5aturity 5odel for Software describes the principles and practicesunderlying software process maturity and is intended to help software organizationsimprove the maturity of their software processes in terms of an evolutionary pathfrom ad hoc, chaotic processes to mature, disciplined software processes. n short itis a collection of practices to achieve a benchmark in product development. &he 55is organized into five maturity levels:

C2 nitial. &he software process is characterized as ad hoc, and occasionally evenchaotic. 9ew processes are defined, and success depends on individual effort andheroics.

L2 7epeatable. *asic project management processes are established to track cost,schedule, and functionality. &he necessary process discipline is in place to repeatearlier successes on projects with similar applications.

K2 +efined. &he software process for both management and engineering activities isdocumented, standardized, and integrated into a standard software process for the

organization. "ll projects use an approved, tailored version of the organization'sstandard software process for developing and maintaining software.

J2 5anaged. +etailed measures of the software process and product /uality arecollected. *oth the software process and products are /uantitatively understood andcontrolled.

I2 3ptimizing. ontinuous process improvement is enabled by /uantitative feedbackfrom the process and from piloting innovative ideas and technologies.


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Te#t ca#e" test caseis a detailed procedure that fully tests a feature or an aspect of a feature.

hereas the test plan describes what to test, a test case describes how to perform aparticular test. @ou need to develop a test case for each test listed in the test plan.9igure L.CD illustrates the point at which test case design occurs in the labdevelopment and testing process.

" test case includes:

&he purpose of the test.

Special hardware re/uirements, such as a modem.

Special software re/uirements, such as a tool.

Specific setup or configuration re/uirements.

" description of how to perform the test.

&he e%pected results or success criteria for the test.

8%ample: *rite est %ases for +,ignal

C.check whether it has got K colour lights

L.check whether there must be atleast L colour light K.check whether it has red colour and green colour J.check whether at a time both colour light should notglown I.check whether always it should have current

H.check whether each colour should be glown one afterother

%#e ca#e" use case in software engineering and systems engineering is a description of asystem(s behavior as it responds to a re/uest that originates from outside of thatsystem." use case in a use case diagram is a visual representation of a distinct businessfunctionality in a system. &he key term here is distinct business functionality. &ochoose a business process as a likely candidate for modeling as a use case, you needto ensure that the business process is discrete in nature. "s the first step inidentifying use cases, you should list the discrete business functions in your problemstatement. 8ach of these business functions can be classified as a potential use case.7emember that identifying use cases is a discovery rather than a creation. "sbusiness functionality becomes clearer, the underlying use cases become more easilyevident. " use case is shown as an ellipse in a use case diagram 1see 9igure K.L2.

9igure K.L shows two uses cases: 5ake appointment and Perform medical tests inthe use case diagram of a clinic system. "s another e%ample, consider that abusiness process such as manage patient records can in turn have sub!processeslike manage patient's personal information and manage patient's medicalinformation.

"n actor portrays any entity 1or entities2 that performs certain roles in a givensystem. &he different roles the actor represents are the actual business roles of usersin a given system. "n actor in a use case diagram interacts with a use case. 9or


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e%ample, for modeling a banking application, a customer entity represents an actorin the application.

" system boundary defines the scope of what a system will be. " systemcannot have infinite functionality. So, it follows that use cases also need to havedefinitive limits defined. " system boundary of a use case diagram defines the limitsof the system.

5unction Point "naly#i#t is a structured techni/ue of classifying components of a system. t is a methodused to break systems down into smaller components so that they can be betterunderstood and analyzed. 9unction Point "nalysis provides a structured techni/ue forproblem solving.9unction Points measure systems from a functional perspective andare independent of technology. 0ence, regardless of technology, language,development method, or hardware4software used, the number of function points for asystem will remain constant. &he variable in 9unction Point "nalysis is the amount ofeffort re/uired to deliver a given set of function points. &herefore, function pointanalysis can be used to determine which environment4language4tool is moreproductive.

:ig* 9evel De#ign or Sy#tem De#ign A:9D(0igh level +esign gives the overall System +esign in terms of 9unctional "rchitectureand +atabase design. &his is very useful for the developers to understand the flow ofthe system. n this phase design team review team 1testers2 and customers plays amajor role. 9or this the entry criteria are the re/uirement document that is S7S. "ndthe e%it criteria will be 0>+ projects standards the functional design documents andthe database design document.

9o 9evel De#ign A99D(+uring the detailed phase the view of the application developed during the high leveldesign is broken down into modules and programs. >ogic design is done for everyprogram and then documented as program specifications. 9or every program a unittest plan is created.

&he entry criteria for this will be the 0>+ document. "nd the e%it criteria will theprogram specification and unit test plan 1>>+2.

:ave you ever faced any di#agreement# in your reviou# jo0 :o did you#olve it out0" project manager has to take into consideration several disagreements. &hey can bebetween employees, between the superior and the employees, or even the client andthe employees.f you reply that you have never had any disagreements, the interviewer will wonderwhether you were really a project manager for your skills or simply because you area people pleaser.5ake sure that you come up with at least one incident where employees and

superiors had differences in thought and you were instrumental in changing thescenario.

:ave you ever *ad di#aointment#0=o job is without its disappointments. &he disappointments can be anything, from anemployee who left for personal reasons or the project that you did not bag becauseof the financials involved.

"S a Project Manager :o to add value to your roject0


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Project 5anager "dd )alue *y:a2+efine Proper ommunication Planb25aintain lear 9unctional and &echnical +ocumentationc2"rrange *rainstorming session within the team to deliver best /uality of servicesd2mprove &echnical competency in team thru different approache25aintain &eam 5orale with reative and fun activities

f2appropriate resource backup and risk plan

=ou are imlementing a roject. imlementation comleted anddeveloment #tarted and at t*at time you found t*at t*ere i# majorrolem it* t*e #y#tem .4t ould ta6e again time and cu#tomer i# not*ay it* t*at -in t*at ca#e *o do you convince cu#tomer0Say honestly apologies 4 sorry for delay, and also mention that you always striveto achieve customer's delight, probably /uote past e%cellent customer ratings, incase it is proper. &alk to customer confidently that you need a certain time to rectifythe problem, and mention that your team is already in 77" 17elentless 7oot ause"nalysis2. Submit this 77" to customer after completion of the main project.*ut remember while escalating to customer, please don't blame your organizationsystem, employees, facilities, or working hours, these all mean lot negativeness.

:o do you &uantitatively analy#i# t*e &uality of a roject duringdeveloment0

&here are many tools and techni/ues to determine the /uality of a project duringdevelopment. Some of them are:*enchmarking! ompare the project deliverables with a previous similar activitiesStatistical Sampling: identify a set of samples of deliverables or activities and inspectthem to check whether they are within the acceptable variances.ontrol charts, =ominal roup techni/ues, Pareto techni/ue, fish bone analysis etc.

"ll these would provide -uality metrics which would help in analyzing the /uality ofthe project.

T*e Project *ic* i# *andled y you i# in R8D- cu#tomer *a# given you +ee6# to #*o imrovement- and #till not*ing *a# or6ed out. T*eCu#tomer again give# ) ee6# to imrove and you do your e#t to imrove-ut not*ing or6# out. @o t*e cu#tomer i# not at all *ay- :O3 TOCO@V4@C8 T:4S C%STOM8R000

&he situation indicates failed re/uirement, time and communication management.9irst and foremost will be to do the analysis, confirm the deliverables, check the workbreak down structure and check the status of schedule against the deliverables. &hento identify the improvements which customer may not have realizedA estimate timefor individual deliverables. ith this statistics in hand, fi% up a meeting with thecustomer. &ake him into confidence, thank him for giving you time, apprise him ofthe real situation and probably what went wrong according to you.

&ell him about the /uality improvements 1if any2 and discuss with him the estimatedschedule with deliverables.

3*at are t*e rig*t# of cu#tomer in Project life cycle0n Project4Software life cycle client has the rights:

&o set objectives for the project and have them followed

&o know how long the software project will take and how much it will cost

&o decide which features are in and which are out of the software

&o make reasonable changes to re/uirements throughout the course of the

project and to know the costs of making those changes


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&o know the project's status clearly and confidently

&o be apprised regularly of risks that could affect cost, schedule, or /uality,

and to be provided with options for addressing potential problems

&o have ready access to project deliverables throughout the project

Difference eteen gantt c*art and CPM0

antt chart is a tool which is useful in scheduling the various activities of a project inthe form of horizontal bar graph where as P5 provides a graphical view and networkof events and activities in chronological manner.

3*at i# emotional intelligence08motional ntelligence refers to how well people work with others. &he more awareyou are of your emotions and others emotions, the better you can react R respond.

Define t*e zero date in roject management&he zero date of a project signals the effective start of the project. t is an importantpart of the project planning and establishment. &he completion of projection will be

counted from this point of time. t is important to ensure that all activities that effectproject performance like arrangement of finance, infrastructure facilities, formation ofnew company, division, government and clearance etc. beside time, cost andtechnical parameters are fully dealt4designed 4 established 4 started by this time.

3*at are t*e #6ill# re&uired to e a roject manager0C. communication skillsL. organizing and planning skillsK. budgeting skillsJ. conflict management skillsI. negotiation and influential skillsH. leadership skills

G. team building and motivation skills

3*at i# Readju#ting goal and Mile#tone in roject management androject lanning7e!adjusting goals can be viewed as a part of change management where impact ofchanges result in change of scope of the deliverables or project.5ilestone is used as a checkpoint at logical points in a schedule to ascertaincompleteness of work at that point. n 5icrosoft project a milestone is a zeroduration, zero resource intentive activity.

3*at i# your management Style

+epends upon the criticality of the stage the project is, organization and clientculture, the maturity, seniority, and dependability of the resources working on theproject and the state of the project, like if the project is in trouble shooting mode orthings are going as planned. t can vary from centralized to consensus. generallyprefer a consensus management style but with a veto power 1final say2 to ensureorganization and project interests do not clash with resource interests.

3*at ill you do- if your #uordinate *a# a rolem it* you0 :o ill youdeal it* t*i# #ituation0


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0ave a one on one with the team member and in a friendly manner elicit informationfrom him regarding the problems he4she has with you. &hese could be symptoms ofa bigger problem pertaining to perception or reality. "nalyze each of these veryobjectively encouraging the member to speak up without having to worry about anyconse/uences. 1n many instances, the members would not like to divulge criticalinformation which would be useful in resolving the issue. &his could stem from fear or

un!easiness2.f have another line of thought, discuss the same with e%amples, to help themember understand your point of viewA or if there is some issue which is an area ofimprovement!acknowledge it and thank him for making you aware of the issue andhelping me improve.Pursue the issues to resolution by gaining trust from the member. &his will help themember become more productive and also reduce non productive stress in the team

Suo#e you did all your or6 in a )' it #y#tem- t*e roduction #erver i#1+ it #y#tem- you find t*at during %"T- t*e #y#tem fail# and i# notor6ing- *o ill u communicate to your cu#tomer- *at #olution ill yourovide to t*e client0heck back with your specifications regarding the server re/uirements. f there/uirement was never specified, you have assumed that the re/uirement is a KL bitsystem. n this situation, list the possible reasons why it failed. 7un a system test ona KL bit machine and doubly ensure that the reason for failure in only the serverspecificationSchedule a meeting with the customer and let them know that the 6"& failed and themost probable reason being he server specification. Provide them the list of otherpossible reasons 1if you found any2 and also inform them about your plans on how toplan to tackle the issue and your guesstimate of the time for the same.*ased on the criticality of the system, one of the solutions could be to deploy thesoftware system on a KL bit server while you figure out a way to fi% the issue. &hisoption could be given to the customer. t is /uite possible that the customer wouldtake this option and this would save time for the customer and helpyour team to /uickly find a fi%. 3therwise go with whatever the customer thinks youshould do.

Management Style#+emocratic 5anagement Style" democratic manager delegates authority to his4her staff, giving them responsibilityto complete the task given to them 1also known as empowerment2. Staff willcomplete the tasks using their own work methods. 0owever, the task must becompleted on time. 8mployees are involved in decision making giving them a senseof belonging and motivating individuals. *ecause staff feels a sense of belonging andare motivated the /uality of decision making and work also improves. "lthoughpopular in business today, a democratic management style can slow decision makingdown because staff needs to be consulted. "lso some employees may take

advantage of the fact that their manager is democratic by not working to their fullpotential and allowing other group members to 'carry' them.

"utocratic 5anagement Stylen contrast to the above an autocratic manager dictates orders to their staff andmakes decisions without any consultation. &he leader likes to control the situationthey are in. +ecisions are /uick because staff is not consulted and work is usuallycompleted on time. 0owever this type of management style can decrease motivationand increase staff turnover because staff are not consulted and do not feel valued.


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onsultative 5anagement style" consultative management style can be viewed as a combination of the above two.

&he manager will ask views and opinions from their staff, allowing them to feelinvolved but will ultimately make the final decision.

>aissez 9aire 5anagement style" laissez faire manager sets the tasks and gives staff complete freedom to completethe task as they see fit. &here is minimal involvement from the manager. &hemanager however does not sit idle and watch them workO 0e or she is there to coachor answer /uestions, supply information if re/uired. &here are benefitsA staff again isdeveloped to take responsibility which may lead to improved motivation. 0oweverwith little direct guidance from the manager staff may begin to feel lost and notreach the goals originally set within the time frame.

Ba#eline*aseline is a point of reference 1that includes start and end dates, duration,assignments and cost estimates2 that you've planed prior to project start. &his wouldserve as a reference for comparison on monitoring your project performance1planned vs actual2 and would give basis for the earned value analysis.

Mile#tone5ilestone is the end of a stage that marks the completion of a work package orphase, typically marked by a high level event such as completion, endorsement orsigning of a deliverable, document or a high level review meeting.8arned valuet is a techni/ue where the project plan, actual work and work!completed value ismonitored to see if a project is on track. t is a method for measuring projectperformance. t compares the amount of work that was planned with what wasactually accomplished to determine if cost and schedule performance is as planned.8arned value management 18)52 is a project management techni/ue for measuringproject performance and progress in an objective manner.

If you were to deliver a project to a customer, and timely delivery depended upon a sub supplier,what contractual agreements would you put in place?

&here are three main documents and several other documents impacted also.C2 &he primary document is the contract between the main project and thevendor4supplier. t usually outlines a complete set of metrics and the overall plan ofwork.L2 &he statement of work may be included into the contract or be a separatedocument. t is about scope, /uality and other technical metrics of the workperformed by the contractor.K2 ontract management plan is the third very important document to have. &his is adetailed plan around administration of a contract or several contracts during project'slifetime. t has to cover documentation, delivery and performance re/uirements thatboth party has to meet during e%ecution of the contract."dding a contractor has impact on other parts of the project plan. P5 has to ensurecorrectly reflect the impact of adding a contract within at least the following sectionsof the project management plan:! learly define how authorization and start4finish of e%ecution of contractor's workhappensA! nclude in the overall plan for communicating performance reports a plan forcommunicating and tracking contractor's performance reports.


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! -uality control efforts have to be ready to inspect and verify the /uality ofdeliverables from the contractor.! Scope control has to be ready to accept parts of the scope delivered by contractors.! hange control has to consider changes coming from the contractor or changes thathave to be pushed to a contractor and outline how this is done.! 7isk control includes risks that are introduced into the project when a contractor

added.! 5onitoring of payments made to a contractor ensuring that compensation is linkedto the progress made by the contractor.

Metric#

" metric /uantifies a characteristic of a process or product. 5etrics can be directlyobservable /uantities or can be derived from one or more directly observable/uantities. 8%amples of raw metrics include the number of source lines of code,number of documentation pages, number of staff!hours, number of tests, number ofre/uirements, etc. 8%amples of derived metrics include source lines of code per staff!hour, defects per thousand lines of code, or a cost performance inde%.Software metrics are numerical data related to software development. 5etricsstrongly support software project management activities. &hey relate to the fourfunctions of management as follows:C. Planning ! 5etrics serve as a basis of cost estimating, training planning, resourceplanning, scheduling, and budgeting.L. 3rganizing ! Size and schedule metrics influence a project's organization.K. ontrolling ! 5etrics are used to status and track software development activitiesfor compliance to plans.J. mproving ! 5etrics are used as a tool for process improvement and to identifywhere improvement efforts should be concentrated and measure the effects ofprocess improvement efforts.

Common Ri#6# in 4T Project Management

C. 5id!project change in scope. hanges in scope are fre/uent in & projects and tosome e%tent they are /uite logical ; no matter how detailed your specification is,

there are always suggestions that come after you have started the implementation.&he problem starts, when these suggestions demand radical changes. &his isespecially unpleasant when you are in the middle of the project and actually thechoices you have are either to reject the changes, or to trash most of what you havedone up to here and go back to implement the new re/uests. Such change re/uestscan turn any schedule upside down.L. oing behind schedule due to unforeseen complications. 8ven if there are no mid!project changes in scope, unforeseen technical complications can also turn theproject upside down. @ou might know the technologies you are using in the projectvery well but still surprises are possible ; this component has always been workingfine but now when you integrate it with another component, the mess is complete.6nfortunately, very often you can't do much to avoid this common & project risk butpray that it doesn't happen to you.

K. &echnical inability for a given feature to be implemented. &echnical complicationslead not only to delays but they can also affect the scope. f a given functionalitycan't be implemented because it is technically impossible, the easiest solution is toskip this functionality but when other components depend on it, this isn't wise to do.enerally, the more e%perienced your technical people are, the lower the risk ofunforeseen technical limitations is but still this risk is always present.

J. =o problems are reported. hen everything is blissfully calm and no problems arereported, this should really worry you. f everything looks too good this spells trouble.


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&he fact that no problems are reported could mean that there are no problems toreport, which is e%tremely rare, or that problems e%ist but they are not reportedbecause nobody dares to. 8verybody knows the #shoot the messenger$ approachand sometimes even brave guys and gals are cautious to be the messenger, who willreport a severe problem.I. " key employee leaves. 3ne of the things that can really shatter a project is when

a key employee /uits. 8mployees /uit due to a variety of reasons and generally theyhave a notice. hen you are warned that a key employee is leaving soon, you needto rearrange the team but if there is no suitable person to take over the tasks of theperson, who is leaving, this can cause serious disruptions.

&hese common & project risk e%amples happen fre/uently. n some cases you anprevent them if you spot them early and this can save the project from failure.

>? Common 8$amle# of Project Ri#6#C. *eing late ! Probably a number one risk is that of the project being delivered late.Sometimes, this is unavoidableA life can happen at unwitting times, like a familyemergency or the project itself failing just as it was working out well. 0owever,sometimes the group members suffer from internal or e%ternal issues that causebreakdowns in communication.L. 3ver *udget ! &here is usually a budget that has been outlined for the project,depending on the e/uipment that is involved and things like that. oing over by alittle bit may be all right for some, worse for others, but by just presenting an over!budget project without first knowing it would go over in the first place is badplanning.K. ommunication *reakdown ! &his an important one, as without communication tothose who need it, the project may fail from the start. roup members need to knowwhat the project is and whom it is for, managers need to know the progress of theproject, shareholders need to know the finances behind it, etc. *y not speaking withthe important people involved, chaos can ensure when problems arise.J. 8mployee turnover ! 0aving project members leave for whatever reason can causestrife and stress among those members that remain. &he worst, of course, is if theperson leaving has valuable information or insight within the project. ertainly, ifthey are just on vacation or leave, there is the opportunity perhaps to speak to them,but if they leave the company ! no matter what the reasons ! they may not want tocontinue working with the group.I. =ot ?nowing hat's oing 3n ! " part of the e%ample number three is the failurefor the project manager or even the person who hands down the project to theproject manager to give details on what the project is and whom it's for. &he projectleader can't give details to the rest of the group if he himself doesn't have an ideawhat the project is.H. =ot 9it for the Bob ! &his is bringing in team members or a leader that doesn't knowthe specifics of his job role or who has never done that certain role before!!forinstance, bringing in the mail clerk to act as the project manager when he has nobackground ! or interest ! in the role.

G. 5embers +on't ?now the Project ! >ike with e%amples five and si%, this e%amplegoes with not knowing a certain aspect of the projectA in this case, not knowing thetechnology or information that the project will be dealing with.F. *ad 8nvironment ! " bad working environment can affect any employee, especiallyone who is working on a big project. f project meetings are being held within thestorage closet or a place that is physically and mentally ta%ing and uncomfortable,that could definitely affect your group, which leads your group members to numberseven.


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E. 6n!productivity ! 8ven if the si%th e%ample wasn't an issue, dealing with groupmembers that are being unproductive can also cause strife and stress for thoseinvolved.CD. 6ser ommitment ! &he testing results don't yield any feedback when given toconsumers.

SD9C Model# / Met*odologie#>. 3aterfall A9inearSe&uential( Modeln &he aterfall approach, the whole process of software development is dividedinto separate process phases. &he phases in aterfall model are: 7e/uirementSpecifications phase, Software +esign, mplementation and &esting R 5aintenance."ll these phases are cascaded to each other so that second phase is started as andwhen defined set of goals are achieved for first phase and it is signed off, so thename aterfall 5odel

'.4terative Model"n iterative lifecycle model does not attempt to start with a full specification ofre/uirements. nstead, development begins by specifying and implementing just partof the software, which can then be reviewed in order to identify further re/uirements.

&his process is then repeated, producing a new version of the software for each cycleof the model. onsider an iterative lifecycle model which consists of repeating thefollowing four phases in se/uence:

).V modelBust like the waterfall model, the )!Shaped life cycle is a se/uential path of e%ecutionof processes. 8ach phase must be completed before the ne%t phase begins. &estingis emphasized in this model more so than the waterfall model though. &he testingprocedures are developed early in the life cycle before any coding is done, duringeach of the phases preceding implementation.


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E.Siral Model&his model combines the features of the prototyping model and the waterfall model.&he spiral model is intended for large, e%pensive, and complicated projects. &hesteps in the spiral model can be generalized as follows:

C. &he new system re/uirements are defined in as much detail as possible. &hisusually involves interviewing a number of users representing all the e%ternalor internal users and other aspects of the e%isting system.

L. " preliminary design is created for the new system.K. " first prototype of the new system is constructed from the preliminary

design. &his is usually a scaled!down system, and represents anappro%imation of the characteristics of the final product.

J. " second prototype is evolved by a fourfold procedure: 1C2 evaluating the first

prototype in terms of its strengths, weaknesses, and risksA 1L2 defining there/uirements of the second prototypeA 1K2 planning and designing the secondprototypeA 1J2 constructing and testing the second prototype.

I. "t the customer's option, the entire project can be aborted if the risk isdeemed too great. 7isk factors might involve development cost overruns,operating!cost miscalculation, or any other factor that could, in the customer's

judgment, result in a less!than!satisfactory final product.H. &he e%isting prototype is evaluated in the same manner as was the previous

prototype, and, if necessary, another prototype is developed from it accordingto the fourfold procedure outlined above.

G. &he preceding steps are iterated until the customer is satisfied that therefined prototype represents the final product desired.

F. &he final system is constructed, based on the refined prototype.

E. &he final system is thoroughly evaluated and tested. 7outine maintenance iscarried out on a continuing basis to prevent large!scale failures and tominimize downtime.

&he spiral model is similar to the incremental model, with more emphases placedon risk analysis. &he spiral model has four phases: Planning, 7isk "nalysis,8ngineering and 8valuation. " software project repeatedly passes through thesephases in iterations 1called Spirals in this model2. &he baseline spiral, starting inthe planning phase, re/uirements are gathered and risk is assessed. 8achsubse/uent spirals builds on the baseline spiral. 7e/uirements are gathered


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during the planning phase. n the risk analysis phase, a process is undertaken toidentify risk and alternate solutions. " prototype is produced at the end of therisk analysis phase. Software is produced in the engineering phase, along withtesting at the end of the phase. &he evaluation phase allows the customer toevaluate the output of the project to date before the project continues to the ne%tspiral. n the spiral model, the angular component represents progress, and the

radius of the spiral represents cost.

F."gile DevelomentAgile software development uses iterative development as a basis but advocates a lighter andmore people-centric viewpoint than traditional approaches. Agile processes use feedback, ratherthan planning, as their primary control mechanism. The feedback is driven by regular tests andreleases of the evolving software.

Difference between QA and QCQuality control!

Checking at end of development process "e.g. Design activity#Qc is like testing a module against re$uirement specification or design doc,measuring responsetime, throughput etc.Quality control check that methods are in place and to discover where theyare notthen correction are to be made.Qc define features and levels define feature checkprocedure.Carrying out the check procedure.%ecord result take and recordQc is best carried outon products.Qc should take place at every stage of &D'C.Quality Assurance "QA#(t is about having an overall development management process that provides rightenvironmentfor ensuring $uality to the final product.QA gives us added assurance that the whole producing orchecking process isproperly planned and e)ecuted and thus maintaining high $uality.QAchecking process is being properly planned and e)ecuted and hence keeping highour chances ofproducing software of re$uired $uality.Determines of $uality policy through Q*&.Checking thatpredetermined QC activates are being properly taken care off.QA is best carried out on

process.QA should be done at end of every &D'C i.e., when product building is completeDifference between verification and validation+erification!+erification is a static testing procedure.(t involves verifying the re$uirements, detailed designdocs., test plans,walkthroughs, and inspections.(t is a preventive procedure.(t involves more than to persons and is a group activity.(t re$uires cooperation and scheduling of meetings anddiscussion.Are we building the product right(t is also called human testing, since it involvesfinding the errors by personsparticipating in a review or walkthrough.+erification occurs onre$uirements, design and code.+erification is made both in the e)ecutable and non e)ecutable forms of a workproduct.Aneffective tool for verification tool is a checklist.+erification tasks include! planning,


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e)action+erification activates include! re$uirement verification, functional designverification,internal design verification, code verification+erification deliverables "work products#are! verification test plan, inspection report,verification test report.+erification finds errors in the&D'C and hence reduces the cost of errors.+alidation!+alidation is dynamic testing procedure+alidations involves actual testing of the product as perthe test plan. "(, (T, &T andAT#Are we building the right product(t is a corrective procedure(tinvolves the tester and user "some times#(t is to check that the product satisfies the re$uirementsand is accepted by the user.(t is also called computer testing, since errors are found out by testing the softwareon acomputer.+alidation occurs only code and the e)ecutable application.+alidation is only one)ecutable forms of a work product.+alidation finds errors only during the testing stage andhence cost of errors reducedis less than verification.+arious manual and automated tools areavailable for validation.+alidation tasks include! planning, test case development, test e)ecution,test waremaintenance.+alidation activities include! ut, usability testing, function testing, systemtesting,and acceptance testing.+alidation deliverables are! test plan, test design specification, testcase specification, test procedure specification, test log, test incident report./hat is $ualityQuality is defined as meeting the customer0s re$uirements in the first time and every time. Qualitycan only seen through the eyes of the customers. An understanding of the customer0s e)ceptions

is the first step then e)ecuting those e)ceptions is re$uired and the main prospective of the$uality are possesses desiredfeatures, fitness for use, confirmation to re$uirements at anacceptable cost.

!uality "##urance Plan +efect tracing ; keeps track of each defect found, its source, when it was

detected, when it was resolved, how it was resolved, etc 6nit testing ; each individual module is tested Source code tracing ; step through source code line by line &echnical reviews ; completed work is reviewed by peers ntegration testing !! e%ercise new code in combination with code that

already has been integrated System testing ; e%ecution of the software for the purpose of finding defects.

:o ill u 6ee trac6 of t*e ug#Or:o many time# you are c*ec6ing t*eug #tatu# in a day0Or:o you are u#ing 4##ue Trac6er0n the ssue &racker iam checking the bug status for every Imin. if the bug statusisfi%ed then will do regression testing immediately. "ccording to that results willgive the bug status as #closed$ or #re!opened$."n issue tracker will give a mail tothe concerned persons automatically.n the development team raised any bugs in the ssue tracker


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Software has bugs due to:5iscommunications.Software omple%ity.hanging7e/uirements.&ime Pressure.9ully +ocumented code.hat should you do after bug is foundow:+efects in the user interface4navigation. #osmetic issues which are not crucialto theoperation of the system$.8%: 5isspelled or grammatical te%t.nappropriate,nconsistence, incorrect formatting such as te%t, font size,alignment, color, etc.,Priority:"ssign a priority to the defect which determines the order in which defectsshould befi%ed.&he importance of the bug that has to be cleared.e are putting time boundingfor the defect.&his will decide the test lead.>evels:mmediate:7esolve defect with immediate effect."t the 8arliest:3n priority at the second level.=ormal:7esolve the defect.

>ater:ould be resolved at the later stages

hat are 8ntrance criteria and e%it criteria" records a common understanding aboutservices, priorities, responsibilities, guarantees, and warranties. 8ach area of servicescope should have the level of service defined. &he S>" may specify the levels ofavailability, serviceability, performance, operation, or other attributes of the service,such as billing. &he level of service can also be specified as target andminimum, which allows customers to be informed what to e%pect 1the minimum2,while providing a measurable 1average2 target value that shows the level oforganization performance. n some contracts, penalties may be agreed upon in thecase of non!compliance of the S>" 1but see internal customers below2. t is


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important to note that the agreement relates to the services the customer receives,and not how the service provider delivers that service.S>"s commonly include segments to address: a definition of services, performancemeasurement, problem management, customer duties, warranties, disaster recovery,termination of agreement.

Service level agreement# at different level#S>"s are also defined at different levels:ustomer!based S>": "n agreement with an individual customer group, covering allthe services they use. 9or e%ample, an S>" between a supplier 1& service provider2and the finance department of a large organization for the services such as financesystem, payroll system, billing system, procurement4purchase system, etc.Service!based S>": "n agreement for all customers using the services beingdelivered by the service provider. 9or e%ample:" car service station offers a routine service to all the customers and offers certainmaintenance as a part of offer with the universal charging." mobile service provider offers a routine service to all the customers and offerscertain maintenance as a part of offer with the universal charging"n email system for the entire organization. &here are chances of difficulties arisingin this type of S>" as level of the services being offered may vary for differentcustomers 1for e%ample, head office staff may use high!speed >"= connections whilelocal offices may have to use a lower speed leased line2.5ultilevel S>": &he S>" is split into the different levels, each addressing different setof customers for the same services, in the same S>".orporate!level S>": overing all the generic service level management 1oftenabbreviated as S>52 issues appropriate to every customer throughout theorganization. &hese issues are likely to be less volatile and so updates 1S>" reviews2are less fre/uently re/uired.ustomer!level S>": covering all S>5 issues relevant to the particular customergroup, regardless of the services being used.Service!level S>": covering all S>5 issue relevant to the specific services, in relationto this specific customer group.Common metric#Service level agreements can contain numerous service performance metrics withcorresponding service level objectives. " common case in & service management isa call center or service desk. 5etrics commonly agreed to in these cases include:

"*" 1"bandonment 7ate2: Percentage of calls abandoned while waiting to beanswered.

"S" 1"verage Speed to "nswer2: "verage time 1usually in seconds2 it takes fora call to be answered by the service desk.

&S9 1&ime Service 9actor2: Percentage of calls answered within a definitetimeframe, e.g., FDM in LD seconds.

97 19irst!all 7esolution2: Percentage of incoming calls that can be resolvedwithout the use of a callback or without having the caller call back the

helpdesk to finish resolving the case. &"& 1&urn!"round &ime2: &ime taken to complete a certain task.

6ptime is also a common metric, often used for data services such as sharedhosting, virtual private servers and dedicated servers. ommon agreementsinclude percentage of network uptime, power uptime, number of scheduledmaintenance windows, etc.

Out#ourcing3utsourcing involves transfer of responsibility from an organization to a supplier. &hemanagement of this new arrangement is through a contract that may include a


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service level agreement. &he contract may involve financial penalties and the right toterminate if S>"s metrics are consistently missed. Setting, tracking, and managingS>"s are an important part of the outsourcing relationship management 13752discipline. t is typical that specific S>"s are negotiated up front as part of theoutsourcing contract, and they are utilized as one of the primary tools of outsourcinggovernance.

3*at i# t*e uro#e of a Service 9evel "greement AS9"(0Service >evel "greement 1S>"2 is an agreement between a customer and a providerof services. t provides an opportunity to foster a closer working relationship betweenthe customer and the provider. 8%pectations for services rendered, how they will bedelivered and at what costs provide an open and transparent environment. t fosterssmarter consumers and holds the provider accountability for delivering services asprescribed.

3*at information i# contained in a Service 9evel "greement0" Service >evel "greement typically has the following information contained on eachagreement:

" description of the services provided to the customerA " description of the performance service levels used by the provider todemonstrate the /uality of customer serviceA

Service level performance targets which are benchmarked against industrybest practicesA

7oles and responsibilities of Project &eamA

7oles and responsibilities of the ustomerA

7ates for services provided and billing processA

+ispute resolution processA

&he process for communicating with 3439&A and

&he S>" renewal process.

:o i# it t*e S9" different from t*e Term# of Service ATOS(0&here are significant differences between the two documents. &he new S>" Programfocuses on customer service, specific service level performance targets, a cleardescription of roles and responsibilities, a well!defined set of performancemeasurements and a clear understanding of the services and rates for each service.

&he former &erms of Service program did not clearly define roles and responsibilities,service descriptions, service level targets, billing dispute process or a cleare%planation of rates for each service. &he agencies were confused about services andthe rates association with each service.

Work products in SDLC

Various end products or work products are generated at each phase of SDLC. The work

products of classic waterfall model are tabulated below.

Phase Description Phase product/activit

!nitiation "egins when a need for Concept proposal


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developing a software

product arises.

Concept

development

Defines the scope of the

proposed software product.

Scope document# Cost

benefit analsis# $isk

management plan#

feasibilit stud

Planning !nvolves estimating or

planning for a software

product to get the re%uired

resources.

Pro&ect plan

$e%uirement

analsis

!nvolves ascertainment of

user re%uirements.

Software $e%uirement

Specification 'S$S(

Document

Design This phase focuses on how to

deliver the re%uired

functionalit. Transforms the

re%uirements into complete#

detailed sstems design.

Design document

Development Converts design into

complete software product.

Program codes#

Databases# Test cases#

reviews

!ntegration and

testing

Confirms if the developed

sstem corresponds to the

re%uirements in the S$S.

Test case e)ecution and

test analsis report

!mplementation !nvolves implementation of

the software product into a

production environment andresolution of the problems

identified in testing activities.

Test case e)ecution and

test analsis report#

!mplementation testing

*aintenance Describes the tasks re%uired

to operate and maintain

information sstems in a

production environment.

Post implementation

reviews of the software

product

+s seen above# the design phase is a vital activit in the entire SDLC. !n this phase# software

re%uirements stated b the customer are modeled or transformed into design models that

describe the details of data structures# sstem architecture# interface# and components. These

design models are represented in the design document.

Components of design document

High Level Design

,hile designing a software product# the most important consideration is to ensure that each

and ever re%uirement specified b the customer is catered to. -or this# a broader


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representation of the re%uirements in the form of design models is made. This process of

modeling the re%uirements refers to igh Level Design 'LD(.

LD essentiall represents the software architecture ie various components and the overall

look and feel or user interface of the software product. !t is the first step to anale and

consider all re%uirements for a software product and attempt to establish a structure or designwhich is able to fulfill these re%uirements.

Preparation of LD can be represented in the following steps.

0. The first step is to ascertain the components and then represent them. -or this# the

software re%uirements specification document 'S$S( is used as the base document.

The easiest method is to identif all the nouns in the S$S. *ost often# each noun

becomes the class.

1. !dentif the constituents 'attributes and methods( of each class.

2. +scertain the overlaps# if an. -or e)ample# ou ma find that some classes ou have

identified are merel the attributes of another class. +lso# identif the classes that arenot important to the current design or structural representation. -or e)ample# user3

interface components. These should be dealt with separatel.

4. ,rite a description of each constituent of identified classes# no matter how trivial each

constituent seems to be. This is called the data dictionar.

5. 6stablish the relationship between the classes. Sa# for e)ample# ou are creating a

database for tracking hospital records. + patient visits a doctor. ere# both doctor and

patient are individual classes. The relationship between them is as follows7 a patient

visits a doctor. + doctor treats the patient. + doctor has man other patients. "ut a

single patient usuall visits one doctor in a particular department. ere# ou are

identifing the relationships between classes as well as identifing the numerical

interactions or cardinalit between the relationships. Cardinalit can be one3to3oneand man3to3man.

User interface design (UID):

The 8!D las down the look and feel of the software product. -or a 98! 'graphic user

interface( based software product# the 8!D includes7

all options on a menu bar

all the submenus and all options in these submenus

functionalit of each of the mouse buttons# where appropriate

presentation of data# in form of graphics or te)t# or a combination of both

screen captures of prototpe interfaces

-or non398! applications# 8!D can be a Command Line !nterface or +pplication Programmatic

!nterface '+P!(. +P! is a collection of librar routines that allow ou to link or laer software

components. -or an +P!# the 8!D consists of identification of calling interfaces# names of

ob&ect methods or routines# parameters and description of what the will perform.


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!t is important to consider that the software product and the user interface are independent of

each3other. The user interface components should be as generic as possible.

Considerations for HLD

,hile documenting the LD# the following considerations should be made7

ow do ou intend to organie the overall software product:

ave ou clearl identified all the components and their interactions:

ave ou converted all data definitions into data structures and tpes:

+re there an available re3usable components that can be used in our software

product:

,hat will ou build and what will ou purchase: Cost analsis of building the

components and procuring them commerciall.

ave ou identified the dependencies on e)ternal factors ie factors that are outside

the control of our organiation# which can impact future change management and

software product updates:

Does the defined architecture adhere to organiation standards and industr

standards:

ave ou ascertained the scalabilit of the sstem to handle the level of use and

growth of components# such as data storage and new interfaces:

Low Level Design

Low level design 'LLD(# also called functional specification# provides the blueprint for coding. !t

details the LD. -or e)ample# the classes ou have identified during LD are detailed in LLD.

ere# ou identif the ob&ects 'instances( that are re%uired to implement the sstem. So#

considering the e)ample of an automated hospital sstem# the class doctor defines all

attributes of doctors# such as name# age# %ualification# charges# etc. The ob&ect ;Dang< refersto the specific attributes of a doctor Dang# whose other attributes are7 4=# *D# $s >==# etc.

The LLD7

defines algorithms and implementation details of class methods 'functions(.

establishes instantiation from class hierarch and their relationships with one another#

especiall associations and cardinalit.

provides algorithms for all class/ob&ect methods pseudo code. -or a 98! '9raphic 8ser

!nterface(# the LLD describes how a particular selection b a user is represented. -or

e)ample# in a te)t editor# a double click on the left mouse button will select a

particular te)t# while right click will displa a menu providing options such as cut#paste# font# etc.

uses state and event diagrams to define what happens when a user interacts with

particular graphical components. !t thus maps user interactions with graphical

components to underling application subsstems. -or the te)t editor e)ample# LLD

maps a particular selection in the right click menu to the ob&ect that corresponds to

cut# paste and font functions.


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contains 'fo

Documents

Management Interview Questions