Review - Chapter 6 Flashcards
Define Project Schedule Management
Involves the processes required to ensure timely completion of a project
What are the six main processes involved in Project Schedule Management?
- Planning schedule management
- Defining activities
- Sequencing activities
- Estimating activity durations
- Developing the schedule
- Controlling the schedule
What information is included in a schedule management plan?
Project schedule model development Level of accuracy Control thresholds Rules of performance Reporting formats Process descriptions
What are outputs of the Defining Activities process?
Activity list, activity attributes, a milestone list, change requests, and project management plan updates.
What is the Activity List?
A tabulation of activities to be included on a project schedule. Should include the activity name, ID or number, and a brief description of the activity.
What are Activity Attributes?
They provide schedule-related information about each activity (logical relationships, resource requirements, assumptions related to the activity, etc.)
What is a Milestone?
A significant event that normally has no duration which often takes several activities and a lot of work to complete.
Dependency/Relationship
Pertains to the sequencing of project activities or tasks.
Types of Dependencies
Mandatory dependencies
Discretionary dependencies
External dependencies
Internal dependencies
What are network diagrams?
A schematic display of the logical relationships among project activities and their sequencing and is the preferred technique for showing activity sequencing.
What is the AOA or ADM?
The Activity-on-Arrow approach or Arrow Diagramming Method is a network diagramming technique in which activities are represented by arrows and connected at points called nodes to illustrate the sequence of activities.
Node
The starting and ending point of an activity
Bursts
Occur when two or more activities follow a single node
Merge
Occurs when two or more nodes precede a single node
What is the Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)?
A network diagramming technique in which boxes represent activities and is particularly useful for visualizing certain types of time relationships.
Types of Relationships Between Activities
Finish-to-start
Start-to-start
Finish-to-finish
Start-to-finish
What are Dummy Activities?
Activities that have no duration and no resources, but are occasionally needed on AOA network diagrams to show logical relationships between activities.
Duration
Includes the actual amount of time worked on an activity plus elapsed time.
What is Effort?
The number of workdays or work hours required to complete a task.
Tools and techniques for Schedule Development
Gantt chart
Critical chain scheduling
PERT analysis
Gantt Charts
Provide a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in calendar form.
What is the SMART Criteria
Guidelines suggesting that milestones should be: Specific Measurable Assignable Realistic Time-framed
Tracking Gantt Chart
A Gantt that compares planned and actual project schedule information.
Baseline Dates
The planned schedule dates for activities
Schedule Baseline
The entire approved planned schedule
What is a Slipped Milestone?
A white diamond that means the milestone activity was completed later than originally planned.
What is the Critical Path Method (CPM)?
AKA Critical Path Analysis; A network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration.
What is a Critical Path?
The series of activities that determine the earliest time by which the project can be completed. Is the longest path through the network diagram and has the least amount of slack or float.
What is Slack/Float?
The amount of time an activity may be delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or the project finish date.
What is Free Slack/Free Float?
The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any immediately following activities.
Early Start Date
The earliest possible time an activity can start based on the project network logic.
Total Slack/Total Float
The amount of time an activity can be delayed from its early start without delaying the planned project finish date.
Forward Pass
Determines the early start and early finish dates for each activity.
Early Finish Date
The earliest possible time an activity can finish based on the project network logic.
Backward Pass
Determines the late start and late finish dates for each activity.
Late Start Date
The latest possible time an activity might begin without delaying the project finish date.
Late Finish Date
The latest possible time an activity can be completed without delaying the project finish date.
What is Crashing?
A technique for making cost and schedule trade-offs to obtain the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost.
Fast Tracking
Involves doing activities in parallel that you would normally do in sequence.
What is the Theory of Constraints (TOC)?
A management philosophy developed by Eliyahu M. Goldratt that is based on the metaphor of a chain and its weakest link.
What does the Theory of Constraints state?
Any complex system at any point in time often has only one aspect or constraint that limits the ability to achieve more of the system’s goal.
What is Critical Chain Scheduling?
A method that considers limited resources when creating a project schedule and includes buffers to protect the project completion date.
Buffer
Additional time to complete a task.
Murphy’s Law
If something can go wrong, it will.
Project Buffer
Time added before the project’s due date.
Parkinson’s Law
Work expands to fill the time allowed.
What does PERT stand for?
Program Evaluation and Review Technique
What is PERT?
Can be used to estimate project duration, it applies the CPM to a weighted average duration estimate.
Probabilistic Time Estimates
Duration estimates based on using optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates of activity durations.
