Time Management

Question 0

What are the four types of logical relationships between activities in the precedence diagramming method?

Answer 0

Finish-to-Start (FS): An activity must finish before the successor can start
Start to Start (SS): An activity must start before the successor can start
Finish to Finish (FF): An activity must finish before the successor can finish
Start to Finish (SF): An activity must start before the successor can finish

Question 1

What are the key outputs of the Control Schedule process?

Answer 1

Work performance information
Schedule forecasts
Change requests

Question 2

What are mandatory dependencies?

What are discretionary dependencies?

Answer 2

Mandatory: the order in which the activities MUST be done, due to the inherent nature of the work; also called “hard logic”
Disretionary: the order in which the organization has CHOSEN that activities be performed; also called preferred, preferential, or soft logic

Question 3

What are external dependencies?

What are internal dependencies?

Answer 3

External: dependencies based on the need of a party OUTSIDE the project
Internal: dependencies based on the needs of the project; may be under the control of the project team

Question 4

What is lag?

What is lead?

Answer 4

Lag: waiting time inserted between activities
Lead: how soon an activity can start before its predecessor activity is completed

Question 5

What is a resource breakdown structure?

Answer 5

An organizational chart or table showing identified resources, organized by category and type

Question 6

How does a schedule model differ from a schedule?

Answer 6

The schedule model consists of all the project data that will be used to calculate the schedule, such as the activities, dependencies, leads and lags, etc.
The project schedule is the output of the schedule model - this refers to the final printed dates that make up the schedule that becomes the baseline and part of the project management plan

Question 7

What is the critical path?

What is the near-critical path?

Answer 7

Critical: the longest path through the network diagram

Near-critical: the path closest in length to the critical path

Question 8

How does the critical path help us manage the project?

Answer 8

It shows the project manager the shortest time in which the project can be completed
It shows the project manager where to focus his/her time
It is used in compressing or adjusting the schedule

Question 9

Define total float, free float, and project float

Answer 9

Total float: the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project end date or an intermediary milestone
Free float: the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of its successor(s)
Project float: the amount of time the project can be delayed without affecting the projects required end date

Question 10

What are the two formulas for calculating float?

Answer 10

Late start - early start
OR
Late finish - early finish

Question 11

What are the methods that can be used to compress a schedule?

Answer 11

Crashing

Fast Tracking

Question 12

What is crashing?

Answer 12

Adding or adjusting resources in order to compress the schedule while maintaining the original project scope

Question 13

What is fast tracking?

Answer 13

Compressing the schedule by doing more critical path activities in parallel

Question 14

What is the critical chain method?

Answer 14

A schedule network analysis tool that builds in buffers at critical milestones

Question 15

What is reestimating?

Answer 15

Estimating the project again after planning to make sure you can still meet the end date, budget, or other objectives, and adjusting the project if you cannot

Question 16

What is resource optimization?

Answer 16

Finding ways to adjust the use of resources

Question 17

What is resource leveling?

Answer 17

A resource optimization technique that keeps the amount of resources used for each time period constant, resulting in a more stable level of resources and a longer project duration

Question 18

What is resource smoothing?

Answer 18

A modified form of resource leveling where resources are leveled only within the limits of the float of their activities, so the completion dates of activities are not delayed

Question 19

What is the schedule baseline?

Answer 19

The approved version of the schedule model, along with any approved changes, used to measure the project schedule performance

Question 20

What are the main presentation formats for a schedule?

Answer 20

Network diagram
Bar charts
Milestone charts

Question 21

What do network diagrams show?

Answer 21

Dependencies (logical relationships) between activities
How project activities will flow from beginning to end
May also be used to determine the critical path

Question 22

What do simple bar charts show?

Answer 22

Project schedule or project status

Question 23

What do milestone charts show?

Answer 23

High-level project status

Question 24

What is Monte Carlo analysis?

Answer 24

A schedule network analysis technique used to simulate the project to determine the likelihood that the project will be completed by a specific date or for a specific cost
Also used in Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis to determine the overall level of risk on the project