Planning: Schedule Management Flashcards
The processes required to manage timely completion of the project.
Project Schedule Management
The process of establishing the policies, procedures, and documentation for planning, developing, managing, executing, and controlling the project schedule.
3.6 Plan Schedule Management
What is this the key benefit for?
It provides guidance and direction on how the project schedule will be managed throughout the project.
3.6 Plan Schedule Management
A component of the project or program management plan that establishes the criteria and the activities for developing, monitoring, and controlling the schedule
Schedule Management Plan
Thresholds indicating allowable schedule variation before action must be taken
Control thresholds
The process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables.
‘3.7 Define Activities’
A documented tabulation of schedule activities that shows the activity description, activity identifier, and a sufficiently detailed scope of work description so project team members understand what work is to be performed.
Activity list
Multiple attributes associated with each schedule activity that can be included within the activity list
can include: activity codes, predecessor activities, successor activities, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, etc.
Activity Attributes
A distinct, scheduled portion of work performed during the course of a project.
Activity
VERBS!
A list of significant points or events in a project
ex: submission of a prototype to the FDA
Milestone list
The process of planning near-term activities in great detail and longer-term activities at a high level.
Iterative, ongoing process, and is a form of progressive elaboration
Rolling-Wave Planning
The work defined at the lowest level of the WBS for which cost and duration are estimated and managed.
Work Package
NOUNS!
Any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that is required to be produced to complete a process, phase, or project
Deliverable
Activities are never included in the ___.
Activities are shown separately on the ___.
WBS
Activity List
The process of identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities.
3.8 Sequence Activities
A graphical representation of the logical relationships among the project schedule activities.
Project Schedule Network Diagram
A method used in Critical Path Methodology (CPM) to build a network diagram showing activity relationships
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
Name and describe the four types of PDM relationships.
- Finish-to-start: A finishes before B starts (most common)
- Start-to-finish (A starts before B finishes (rarely used)
- Finish-to-finish: A finishes before B finishes
- Start-to-start: A starts before B starts
What does PDM stand for and what is it also known as?
Precedence Diagraming Method
Activity on Node (AON)
What are the four types of Dependencies?
Mandatory (aka hard logic or hard dependencies)
Discretionary (aka soft logic or preferred dependency)
External
Internal
Dependency that is contractually required, physical limitations, etc.
Mandatory dependency
(aka hard logic or hard dependency)
Dependency where there is a preferred order or logic
(focus on these when you need to re-sequence tasks)
Discretionary dependency
(aka soft logic or preferred dependency)
Dependency outside the project team’s control
ex: must wait for FDA approval before proceeding with next steps in development
External dependency
Dependency generally within the control of the project team.
Internal dependency
The amount of time whereby a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor activity.
Lead
The amount of time whereby a successor activity will be delayed with respect to a predecessor activity.
Lag
an information system consisting of the tools and techniques used to gather, integrate, and disseminate the outputs of project management processes.
Project Management Information System (PMIS)
Visual representation of the relationships between schedule activities.
Project Schedule Network Diagrams
The process of estimating the number of work periods needed to complete individual activities with estimated resources.
‘3.9 Estimate Activity Durations’
The total number of work periods required to complete an activity or WBS component, expressed in hours, days, or weeks.
Duration
The number of labor units required to complete a schedule activity or WBS component, often expressed in hours, days, or weeks
Effort
Supporting documentation outlining the details used in establishing project estimates such as assumptions, constraints, level of detail, ranges, and confidence levels.
Basis of Estimates
A technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity or a project using historical data from a similar activity or project.
Analogous Estimating
An estimating technique in which an algorithm is used to calculate cost or duration based on historical data and project parameters.
Parametric Estimating
A technique used to estimate cost or duration by applying an average or weighted average of optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely estimates when there is uncertainty with the individual activity estimates.
Three-Point Estimating
A point will eventually be reached when adding one factor (resources) yields less (products).
Law of diminishing returns
Work expands to fill time available
Parkinson’s Law
What is Student Syndrome?
Procrastination
A hierarchical representation of resources by category and type.
Resource Breakdown Structure
A calendar that identifies the working days and shifts upon which each specific resource is available.
Resource Calendar
The types and quantities of resources required for each activity in a work package.
Resource Requirements
What is the formula for Three-Point Estimating?
[Optimistic + Most Likely + Pessimistic] / 3
aka Triangular Distribution (simple average)
A method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating the estimates of the lower-level components of the WBS.
Bottom-Up Estimating
(most accurate form of estimating and most time-consuming)
An analytical technique to determine the essential features and relationships of components in the PMP to establish a reserve for the schedule duration, budget, estimated cost, or funds for a project.
Reserve Analysis
A provision in the PMP to mitigate cost and/or schedule risk.
Reserve
Often used with a modifier to provide further detail on what types of risk are meant to be mitigated.
Time or money allocated in the schedule or cost baseline for known risks with active response strategies.
Contingency Reserve
An amount of time of the project budget or project schedule held outside of the performance measurement baseline (PMB) for management control purposes, that is reserved for unforeseen work that is within scope of the project.
Management Reserve
Integrated scope, schedule, cost baselines used for comparison to manage, measure, and control project execution.
Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB)
___ reserves (known-unknowns) are included in the baseline, and ___ reserves (unknown-unknowns) are not included in the baseline.
Contingency reserves
Management reserves
Effort vs Duration
Effort is the total amount of labor needed while Duration is how long it will take for that labor to be done.
Formula for Standard Deviation
SD = (P - O) / 6
Formula for Three-Point Estimating
(t)E = (O + M + P) / 3
Formula for PERT (beta) distribution formula
(t)E = (O + 4M + P) / 6
A method used to estimate the minimum project duration and determine the amount of schedule flexibility on the logical network paths within the schedule model.
Critical Path Method (CPM)
A technique to identify early and late start dates, as well as early and late finish dates, for the uncompleted portions of project activities.
Schedule Network Analysis
A representation of the plan for executing the project’s activities including durations, dependencies, and other planning information, used to produce a project schedule along with other scheduling artifacts.
Schedule Model
Estimates or predictions of conditions and events in the project’s future based on information and knowledge available at the time the schedule is calculated.
Schedule Forecasts
A technique in which activity start and finish dates are adjusted to balance demand for resources with the available supply.
Resource Optimization Technique
A resource optimization technique in which adjustments are made to the project schedule to optimize the allocation of resources and which may affect critical path.
Resource Leveling
A resource optimization technique in which free and total float are used without affecting the critical path.
Resource Smoothing
The process of evaluating scenarios in order to predict their effect on project objectives.
What-If Scenario Analysis
An analytical technique that models the combined effect of uncertainties to evaluate their potential impact on objectives
Simulation
A technique used to shorten the schedule duration without reducing the project scope.
Schedule Compression
The approved version of a schedule model that can be changed using formal change control procedures and is used as the basis for comparison to actual results.
Schedule Baseline
An output of a schedule model that presents linked activities with planned dates, durations, milestones, and resources.
Project Schedule
The collection of information for describing and controlling the schedule.
Schedule Data
A calendar that identifies working days and shifts that are available for scheduled activities.
Project Calendar
A formal proposal to modify a document, deliverable, or baseline.
Change Request
What are the three types of float?
Total float (slack)
Free float
Project Float
The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed or extended from its early start date without delaying the project finish date or violating a schedule constraint.
Total Float (slack)
The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any successor or violating a schedule constraint.
Free Float
The amount of time a project can be delayed without impacting the externally imposed project deadline set by a customer or management.
Project Float
Adding resources to critical path tasks, which exchanges higher costs for shorter schedule duration
(try to do this at the lowest incremental cost)
Crashing
(type of Schedule Compression)
Converts sequential activities to parallel, which primarily increases risk
Fast tracking
(type of Schedule Compression)
High level summary timeline of release schedule (3-6 months) based on product roadmap/vision
Agile Release Planning
random, iterative computer model showing probability distributions
Monte Carlo Analysis
(type of Simulation)
What is the difference between a Project Schedule and Project Calendar?
Project Schedule - planned start/finish dates for each activity
Project Calendar - identifies working days and shifts available for scheduled activities
A critical path method technique for calculating the early start and early finish dates by working forward through the schedule model from the project start date or a given point in time.
Forward Pass
A critical path method technique for calculating the late start and late finish dates by working backward through the schedule model from the project end date.
Backward Pass
How do you calculate the float (aka slack)?
LF - EF
Late Finish - Early Finish
What is the difference of One Day Scheduling Method and Zero Day Scheduling Method?
One Day subtracts from the duration
Zero Day adds to the duration to the ES
