Module 5: Project Schedule Management

Question 1

Milestones

Answer 1

Major activities of the project

Question 2

Documents in time management

Answer 2

• activity list and attributes
• milestone list
• netword diagram
• activity duration estimates
• project schedule

Question 3

Schedule management plan

Answer 3

• methodology: how the schedule will be created, including tools used.
• level of accuracy needed to determine time estimates.
• Units of measure: staff (hours, days or weeks?); other resources (metres, litres, tonnes, yards?).
• Control threshold for monitoring schedule performance: typically represented as percentage deviations from acceptable performance, defined in the baseline schedule.
• Rules of performance measurement: earned value management (EVM) rules or other measurement rules.
• Reporting formats and frequency

Question 4

AOA

Answer 4

Activity on Arrow diagram show activities as circles called nodes. Arrows are used to show dependencies between nodes.
Can only show finish-to-start.

Question 5

Steps to AOA

Answer 5

1) List the activities and identify their start and finish nodes.
2) Find all activities that start at Node 1.
3) Draw the finish nodes and arrows between Node 1 and each of the subsequent nodes.
4) Continue drawing the networking diagram working from left to right.
5) Make all arrowheads face the right, with no arrows intersecting.

Question 6

AON or PDM

Answer 6

Activity on node or Precedence diagram method. Network diagram technique where boxes represent dependencies.

Question 7

Methods of creating estimates

Answer 7

• past projects
• provide a guide
• expert judgement of someone with similar experience.
  Need to evaluate all alternatives presented.

Question 8

Methods of estimating duration

Answer 8

• input from team
• estimate at first, as project progresses you can refine estimate to improve accuracy.
  Duration includes the time it would take and the elapsed time.

Question 9

PERT weighted average

Answer 9

Program Evaluation Review Technique

Question 10

PERT weighted average

Answer 10

Collect time estimates for optimistic, most likely and pessimistic duration estimates for each project activity.
(optimistic time + 4 X most likely time + pessimistic time) / 6

Question 11

Monte Carlo Simulation

Answer 11

quantitative risk analysis technique. Provides a probability distribution for outcome values for the whole project. Three-point estimate and probabilistic component, the probability of completing the activity between the optimistic estimate and the most likely time estimate. Use software to run the simulation.

Question 12

Gantt chart

Answer 12

• easy to read at a glance
• see activities concurrently
• projects that have lag
  project’s average duration
• see what team member is busy during a given time period

Question 13

Critical path method

Answer 13

Network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration

method is used to identify the minimum project duration based on a sequence of activities whose durations when added up are the longest path to the end of the project. To determine you need to calculate: early start, early finish, late start and late finish dates for all activities. If any activities on critical path delayed, whole project is delayed.

Question 14

Calculating the critical path

Answer 14

Step 1. Create a network diagram.
Step 2. Calculate the earliest start, earliest finish, latest start, and latest finish for each activity.
Step 3. Identify each path through the network.
Step 4. The path with the longest duration and no slack is the critical path.

Question 15

Trade-offs

Answer 15

Need to be ready to make trade-offs in time and resources. Increase time, reallocate resources?

Question 16

Crashing

Answer 16

Compress the schedule in either cost or time. (Ask people to work overtime). Finish on time but costs more.

Question 17

Fast-tracking

Answer 17

Doing tasks in parallel (or same time). Shorten time and free up staff later in teh proejct. Can increase risk if activities need to be redone.

Question 18

Multi-tasking

Answer 18

May contribute partially to each task and may not end up completing all tasks. Should not be assigned to two tasks simultaneously.

Question 19

Buffer

Answer 19

Safety net in case of interruptions, illness, etc. Time to cover unexpected delays before the project due date.

Question 20

Timebox

Answer 20

Most valuable work you can complete within each iteration. Agile/hybrid projects. Agreed upon time period to complete goal. Spring = timebox of </= 30 days.

Question 21

Product roadmap

Answer 21

Shows product strategy, shows a timeline at a high level. Gantt charts can be used but are updated after each sprint to reflect work customer needs. Usually has a couple sprints.

Question 22

Kanban method

Answer 22

Visual board. Design, manage and improve flow systems for knowledge work. It also allows organizations to start with their existing workflow and drive evolutionary change by visualizing their flow of work, limit work in progress (WIP), and stop starting and start finishing.

Question 23

Components of Kanban board

Answer 23

Card, column, swim lanes, and WIP limits

Question 24

Time estimates in agile projects

Answer 24

Use relative estimates. Instead of estimating each story separately, stories are compared to one another and grouped by relative difficulty based on risk, complexity and required labor. Bucket system (Large, uncertain, or small). T-shirt sizing.

Question 25

Finish to start dependency diagram

Answer 25

A over B but shifted to right

Question 26

Start to start dependency diagram

Answer 26

A on top of B, arrow on left side

Question 27

Finish to finish dependency diagram

Answer 27

A on top of B, arrow on right side

Question 28

Start to Finish Dependency diagram

Question 29

What is the most common type of dependency between activities?
Finish to start
Start to finish
Start to start
Finish to finish

Answer 29

Finish to start