Management of Schedule: Define activities

Question 1

What should be made reference to before defining activities? (Clue: Think the output of plan schedule management)

Answer 1

Schedule management plan
Scope statement

Question 2

What are the 8 processes in defining activities?

Answer 2

1. Scope statement - Project product
2. Major elements decomposed into work packages - WBS
3. Verify WBS - Project = WP1 + WP2 -…
4. Decompose work packages into major activities
5. Check major activities against CESMM4 to ensure they can be assigned to labour gang
6. Decompose into sub-activities where required
7. Verify work packages - WP = Activity 1 + Activity 2 +…
8. Final checks

Question 3

What are the four techniques that can be used to define activities?

Answer 3

1. Detail activities throughout the project
2. Rolling Wave Planning
3. Expert judgement
4. Meetings

Question 4

What are the final checks to ensure decomposition has occurred correctly?

Answer 4

1. Are sub-activities necessary
2. Are activity attributes clearly defined
3. Can durations be measured with accuracy

Question 5

What are the three outputs of the define activities processes and what should be done?

Answer 5

1. Activity list
2. Activity details/attributes
3. Milestone list

Activity list should be reviewed regularly! PDCA philosophy!

Question 6

What is rolling wave planning, when is it good, and when should it not be used?

Answer 6

The probability of scheduling activities correctly is higher for activities closer to when the schedule is created. Therefore activities at the start of the project are scheduled in more detail.

Can be good for complex projects.

This should not be used if time constraints take priority!