Project Schedule Management Quiz Project Schedule Management Quiz 1 / 35 1. Your company, which operates one of the region’s largest chemical processing plants, has been convicted of illegally dumping toxic substances into the local river. The court has mandated that the required cleanup activities be completed by February 15. This date is an example of— a. A key event b. A milestone c. A discretionary dependency d. An external dependency 5. b. A milestoneA milestone is a significant point or event in the project. Milestones may be required by the project sponsor, customer, or other external factors, such as those required by contract, for the completion of certain deliverables. They are similar to schedule activities, with the same structure and objectives, but they have zero duration as they represent a moment in time. A milestone list is an output of Define Activities. 2 / 35 2. You are managing a construction project for a new city water system. The contract requires you to use special titanium piping equipment that is guaranteed not to corrode. The titanium pipe must be resting in the ground a total of 10 days before connectors can be installed. In this example, the 10-day period is defined as— a. Lag b. Lead c. Float d. Slack a. LagFor example, in a finish-to-start dependency with a 20-day lag, the successor activity cannot start until 20 days after the predecessor has finished. A lag is the amount of time that a successor activity will be delayed with respect to a predecessor activity. The project management team determines those dependencies that may require a lead or a lag to best define the logical relationship. Keep in mind that leads [the amount of time a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor activity] and lags should not replace schedule logic, and their use should be docu 3 / 35 3. You are working to control your schedule. You have a number of tools and techniques you can use and may need to use several of them for effectiveness. You decide you want to track work remaining to be done so you will use— a. Iteration burndown charts b. Milestone charts c. Applied schedule reserves d. Calculation of multiple work package durations a. Iteration burndown chartsIn Control Schedule, there are a number of tools and techniques you can use. Iteration burndown charts are an approach as part of the data analysis techniques to consider. These charts are useful to track the work that remains to be completed in the iteration backlog to evaluate the variance to an ideal burndown, which is based on work remaining from iteration planning. In agile, release planning may be done, and it determines the number of iterations or sprints in the release. This approach enables the product owner and team to determine how much needs to be developed, and the time it will take. Using the burndown chart enables the likely variances at completion and actions to take during the iteration. A trend line can be calculated to forecast the completion of remaining work 4 / 35 4. You are planning to conduct the team-building portion of your new project management training curriculum out-of-doors in the local park. You are limited to scheduling the course at certain times of the year, and the best time for the course to begin is mid-July. You are using the precedence diagramming method for your schedule. In it, you can show relationships between tasks in four ways, and the most common is— a. Finish-to-start b. Finish-to-finish c. Start-to-start d. Start-to-finish a. Finish-to-startWhile many schedules use all four approaches, especially on complex projects, the most common approach is finish to start. In it a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has finished. The start-to-finish approach is rarely used, but you should recognize it could be used in case you have an exam question about it. 5 / 35 5. Project schedule development is an iterative process. If the start and finish dates are not realistic, the project probably will not finish as planned. You are working with your team to define how to monitor any schedule changes. You documented your decisions in which of the following? a. Schedule change control procedures b. Schedule management plan c. Schedule risk plan d. Service-level agreement b. Schedule management planThe schedule management plan is part of the overall project management plan. Whether it is formal or informal, highly detailed or broadly framed, it is based on specific project needs. It is the output of the Plan Schedule Management process. It Includes appropriate control thresholds. It establishes criteria and activities to develop, maintain, and control the schedule. 6 / 35 6. If, when developing your project schedule, you want to define a distribution of probable results for each schedule activity and use that distribution to calculate another distribution of probable results for the total project, the most common technique to use is— a. What-if scenario analysis b. Monte Carlo analysis c. Linear programming d. Concurrent engineering b. Monte Carlo analysisSimulation is a data analysis tool and technique in Develop Schedule. It involves calculating multiple work package durations with different sets of assumption, constraints, risks, issues, or scenario using probability distributions and other representations of uncertainty. It shows a probability distribution for the project of achieving a certain target date or project finish date. 7 / 35 7. Your lead engineer estimates that a work package will most likely require 50 weeks to complete. It could be completed in 40 weeks if all goes well, but it could take 180 weeks in the worst case. What is the expected duration of the work package? a. 45 weeks b. 70 weeks c. 90 weeks d. 140 weeks b. 70 weeksUse of the three-point estimates [optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic] is a tool and technique used in Estimate Activity Duration. The optimistic estimate is based on the duration of the activity given the resources and their productivity, realistic estimates of their availability for the activity, dependencies on other participants, and interruptions. The optimistic estimate is the duration based on analysis of the best-case scenario for the activity. The pessimistic estimate in contrast is the duration based on the worst-case scenario for the activity. Depending on the distribution of values in the range of the three estimates, the expected duration can be calculated. A commonly-used formula is the triangular distribution especially if there is insufficient historical information or judgmental data. Using three-point estimates with an assumed distribution provide an expected duration and clarify the range of uncertainty around the expected duration. 8 / 35 8. Your customer wants the project to be completed six months earlier than planned. You believe you can meet this target by overlapping project activities. The approach you plan to use is known as— a. Critical chain b. Fast tracking c. Resource leveling d. Crashing b. Fast trackingFast tracking is a way to accelerate the project schedule. It is a schedule compression tool and technique in the Develop Schedule process in which activities or phases normally done in sequence are performed in parallel for part of their duration. However, it may result in rework and increased risk. Consider it for activities that can be overlapped to shorten the project schedule. It only works effectively when activities can be overlapped to shorten the project duration on the critical path. Using leads in case of schedule acceleration may increase coordination efforts between the activities concerned. It may increase the project’s costs and risks to quality. 9 / 35 9. Activity A has a duration of three days and begins on the morning of Monday the 4th. The successor activity, B, has a finish-to-start relationship with A. The finish-to-start relationship has three days of lag, and activity B has a duration of four days. Sunday is a non-workday. Such data can help to determine— a. The total duration of both activities is 8 days b. Calendar time between the start of A to the finish of B is 11 days c. The finish date of B is Wednesday the 13th d. Calendar time between the start of A to the finish of B is 14 days b. Calendar time between the start of A to the finish of B is 11 daysThe duration of A, which is three, is added to the duration of B, which is four, for a total of seven. The three days between the activities is lag and not duration. The lag is a constraint and must be taken into account as part of the network calculations, but it does not consume resources. The total time by the calendar is 11 days as counted from the morning of Monday the 4th. The lag occurs over Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Sunday is a non-work day, so activity B does not start until Monday the 11th. Therefore, the calendar time is 11 days, and activity B ends on Thursday the 14th. In the Sequence Activities and Develop Schedule processes, leads and lags are a tool and technique 10 / 35 10. You can use various estimating approaches to determine activity durations. When you have a limited amount of information available about your project, especially when in the early phases, the best approach to use is— a. Bottom-up estimating b. Analogous estimating c. Reserve analysis d. Parametric analysis b. Analogous estimatingAnalogous estimating is a tool and technique in Estimate Activity Durations. Although limitations exist with all estimating approach, analogous estimating is often used when there is a limited amount of information for the project. It uses historical information from a similar activity or a project. It uses data from a previous but similar project such as duration, budget, size, weight, and complexity to estimate the same data or measure for a future project. It is considered as a gross value estimating approach, which often is adjusted for known differences in project complexity 11 / 35 11. “I cannot test the software until I code the software.” This expression describes which of the following dependencies? a. Internal b. Rational c. Preferential d. Mandatory or hard d. Mandatory or hardMandatory dependencies may be required contractually or may be inherent in the nature of the project work. Dependency determination and integration is a tool and technique in the Sequence Activity process. They describe a relationship in which the successor activity cannot be started because of physical constraints until the predecessor activity has been finished. For example, software cannot be tested until it has been developed (or coded). They may be called hard logic or hard dependencies; however, technical dependencies may not be mandatory. This distinction is important to remember. The project team determines the dependencies that are mandatory as it sequences the activities. However, these dependencies should not be confused with assigning constraints in the scheduling tool. 12 / 35 12. Working with your team to provide the basis for measuring and reporting schedule progress, you agree to consider the— a. Schedule data b. Network diagram c. Schedule baseline d. Technical baseline c. Schedule baselineThe schedule baseline is a key input to the Control Schedule process. It is compared with actual results to determine if a change requires corrective or preventive action. 13 / 35 13. Your project schedule was approved. Management has now mandated that the project be completed as soon as possible. However, you do not think it is possible given resource constraints. In order to convince your management of your need for additional resources, you decide to use— a. Resource manipulation b. Resource breakdown structure c. Critical chain scheduling d. Resource leveling d. Resource levelingWhile resource leveling will often result in a project duration that is longer than the preliminary schedule as the original critical path probably will change and increase, it can also be used to get a schedule back on track by reassigning activities from noncritical to critical path activities. It is a resource optimization technique in the Develop Schedule process. Start and finish dates are adjusted based on resource constraints, and the goal is to balance demand with the available supply of resources. It is used when scarce or critically required resources are only available at certain times or in limited quantities, are over allocated if the resource is assigned to two activities at the same time, or to keep resource use at a constant level. 14 / 35 14. You are working on a project to remodel a home, and you and your team decided you should first finish the plumbing work and then do the electrical work. In this example, this is an example of a— a. Start-to-finish approach b. Discretionary dependency c. Mandatory dependency d. Finish-to-start approach b. Discretionary dependencyThis situation is an example of a discretionary dependency. It is a dependency determination and integration tool and technique in the Sequence Activity process. These dependencies may be called preferred logic or soft logic They are established based on knowledge of best practices in an application area or in an unusual aspect of the project where a specific sequence may be desired. They often are used in construction, and the order is not mandatory, but if the activities are performed in a sequential order, the overall risk is reduced. As a project manager, you should document these dependencies as they can create arbitrary total float and can limit later scheduling options. The project team makes the decision as to which dependencies are discretionary 15 / 35 15. Decomposition is a technique used for both WBS development and activity definition. However, in Define Activities, decomposition— a. The final output is described in terms of work packages in the WBS b. The final output is described as deliverables or tangible items c. The final output is described as activities d. Is used the same way in scope definition and activity definition c. The final output is described as activitiesIn the Create WBS process, the work package is defined as the lowest level of the WBS to then estimate and manage cost and duration. In the Define Activities process, the final output is described as activities. It is a tool and technique in both processes as it divides and subdivides the project scope and deliverables into smaller, more manageable parts. Activities represent the effort to create the work package in Create WBS. The best approach is to involve team members in decomposition in both processes. 16 / 35 16. When sequencing project activities in the schedule, you should ensure— a. There always are scheduled dates for specific milestones b. Every activity is connected to at least one predecessor and at least one successor c. Lead or lag time should be used in each schedule d. Necessary sequencing of events may be described by the activity attributes b. Every activity is connected to at least one predecessor and at least one successorThe Sequence Activity process involves identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities. Every activity is connected to at least one predecessor or successor except the first and last. Logical relationships are set up to create a realistic project schedule. Some leads and lags may be used. The purpose of the Sequence Activity process is to convert the activity list into a diagram, which is the first step in establishing the schedule baseline. 17 / 35 17. A schedule performance index of less than 1.0 indicates that the— a. Project is running behind the monetary value of the work it planned to accomplish b. Earned value physically accomplished thus far is 100% c. Project has experienced a permanent loss of time d. Project may not be on schedule, but the project manager need not be concerned a. Project is running behind the monetary value of the work it planned to accomplishThe SPI represents how much of the originally scheduled work has been accomplished at a given period in time, thus providing the project team with insight as to whether the project is on schedule. It is a measure of schedule efficiency and is calculated by EV/PV. A SPI of 1 means the project is on schedule, and the work that has been done to date is exactly the same as the work that was planned. Other values show how much costs are over or under [as in this example] the budgeted amount for the work planned. 18 / 35 18. Assume you are working to sequence the activities in your schedule. You have focused on the need for predecessors and successors for your tasks. Now, you have finished, and you realize— a. You have a fragnet b. There can be multiple predecessors for some tasks c. Several identical or nearly identical series of activities are repeated throughout the project d. There are too many successors b. There can be multiple predecessors for some tasks.The main output in Sequence Activities is a project network diagram of the logical relationships or dependencies in the schedule activities. A summary narrative can accompany the diagram. You also may have multiple predecessors for a task or activity, which is known as path convergence. Activities with multiple successors are known as path divergence. In both of these situations, these activities or tasks are at greater risk. 19 / 35 19. To meet regulatory requirements, you need to crash your project schedule. Your first step is to compute— a. The cost and time slope for each critical activity that can be expedited b. The cost of additional resources to be added to the project’s critical path c. The time saved in the overall schedule when tasks are expedited on the critical path d. Three probabilistic time estimates of PERT for each critical path activity a. The cost and time slope for each critical activity that can be expeditedSlope = (Crash cost – Normal cost)/(Crash time – Normal time). This calculation shows the cost per day of crashing the project. The slope is negative to indicate that as the time required for a project or task decreases, the cost increases. If the costs and times are the same regardless of whether they are crashed or normal, the activity cannot be expedited. Crashing only works well for those activities on the critical path, may not produce a viable alternative, and may result in increased risk or cost. It is important to know how it is done in case you might see an exam question about how to do it. 20 / 35 20. A key input to the Define Activities process is the— a. Project management plan b. Project scope statement c. Project scope baseline d. Project charter a. Project management planThe project management plan is the key input to Define Activities. It includes the project’s components, and it also includes the schedule management plan and the scope baseline. The schedule management plan defines the schedule methodology; waves if rolling wave planning is done; and the necessary level of detail for the project. The scope baseline shows the WBS, scope statement, and WBS dictionary. It also contains deliverables, constraints, and assumptions as documented in the scope statement. 21 / 35 21. Unlike bar charts, milestone charts show— a. Scheduled start or completion of major deliverables and key external interfaces b. Activity start and end dates of critical tasks c. Expected durations of the critical path d. Dependencies between complementary projects a. Scheduled start or completion of major deliverables and key external interfacesMilestones are singular points in time, such as the start or completion of a significant activity or group of activities. Milestone charts are an output of the Develop Schedule process, and while they are similar to bar charts, their focus is only on the scheduled start or completion of major deliverables and key external influences. 22 / 35 22. Project managers should pay attention to critical and subcritical activities when evaluating project time performance. One way to do this is to analyze 10 subcritical paths in order of ascending float. This approach is part of— a. Variance analysis b. Simulation c. Earned value management d. Trend analysis a. Variance analysisPerformance of variance analysis during Control Schedule is a tool and technique that can be used. It focuses on variance analysis in planned versus actual start and finish dates, planned versus actual durations, and variances in float. Float variance is an essential planning component for evaluating project time performance. It determines the cause and degree of variance relative to the schedule baseline, estimates the implications of the variances for future work to complete the project, and helps decide if corrective or preventive action is needed. It may not be needed on some activities not on the critical path, but an activity on the critical path may need immediate attention. 23 / 35 23. An activity has an early start date of the 10th and a late start date of the 19th. The activity has a duration of four days. There are no non-workdays. From the information given, what can be concluded about the activity? a. Total float for the activity is nine days b. The early finish date of the activity is the end of the day on the 14th c. The late finish date is the 25th d. The activity can be completed in two days if the resources devoted to it are doubled a. Total float for the activity is nine days.Total float or slack is computed by subtracting the early start date from the late start date, or 19 – 10 = 9. To compute the early finish date given a duration of 4, we would start counting the activity on the morning of the 10th; therefore, the activity would be completed at the end of day 13, not 14 (10, 11, 12, 13). If we started the activity on its late start date on the morning of the 19th, we would finish at the end of day 22, not 25. Insufficient information is provided to determine whether this activity can be completed in 2 days if the resources are doubled. 24 / 35 24. In project development, schedule information, such as who will perform the work, where the work will be performed, activity type, and WBS classification, are examples of— a. Activity attributes b. Constraints c. Data in the WBS repository d. Refinements a. Activity attributesIdentifying activity attributes is helpful for further selection and sorting of planned activities. They are used for schedule development, for report formatting purposes, and for selecting, ordering, and sorting planned schedule activities in various ways in reports. They extend the definition of activities by identifying multiple components associated with each activity. They include an activity identifier that is unique, the WBS identification number, and activity label or name. Once they are finished, they may include activity predecessors and successors, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, imposed dates, constraints and assumptions. They can be used to determine where the work has to be performed, the project calendar, the person responsible, and the type of activity involved. 25 / 35 25. There are purposes and benefits in the Control Schedule process. Its benefit is— a. It maintains the schedule baseline b. It minimizes risk c. It reprioritizes remaining work as required d. It describes how the schedule will be managed and controlled a. It maintains the schedule baselineIn Control Schedule the benefit is it maintains the schedule baseline throughout the project. The purpose of the Control Schedule process is to update the schedule and manage any changes to the baseline. 26 / 35 26. It is important to use the critical path method in Control Schedule because— a. It assists in reviewing scenarios to bring the schedule in line with the plan b. It enables a consideration of the resource availability and the project time c. It examines project performance over time d. It can help identify schedule risks d. It can help identify schedule risksIn Control Schedule, the critical path method is a tool and technique to use. It compares progress along the critical path to help determine schedule status. Any variance on the critical path has an impact on the project’s end date. Also, evaluating progress of the critical path activities on a near critical path can help identify schedule risk. 27 / 35 27. Several types of float are found in project networks. Float that is used by a particular activity and does NOT affect the float in later activities is called— a. Extra float b. Free float c. Total float d. Expected float b. Free floatFree float is defined as the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any immediately succeeding activities or violating a schedule constraint. It is important to know the difference between zero total float, positive total float, negative total float, and free float and be able to recognize examples of all four types of float. 28 / 35 28. Assume your organization has decided to use agile for most of it projects. You are managing a project using agile and are working to develop your schedule. In doing so, you are using agile release planning. Your schedule is based on the— a. Resources available b. The requirements plan c. Start and finish dates from activities d. Product roadmap d. Product roadmapWhen using agile release planning, it provides a high-level summary timeline of the release schedule, which tends to be three to six months. It is based on the product roadmap and the product vison for the project’s execution. It also determines the number of iterations or sprints in the release and enables the product owner and team to decide how much needs to be developed and how long it will take to have a reasonable product based on business goals, dependencies, and any impediments. 29 / 35 29. You are managing a new technology project designed to improve the removal of hazardous waste from your city. You are in the planning phase of this project and have prepared your network diagram. Your next step is to— a. Describe any unusual sequencing in the network b. State the number resources required to complete each activity c. Establish a project calendar and link it to individual resource calendars d. Determine which schedule compression technique is the most appropriate, because your customer requests that the project be completed as soon as possible a. Describe any unusual sequencing in the networkA summary narrative can accompany the schedule network diagramand describe the basic approach used to sequence the activities in thenetwork. This narrative also should describe any unusual sequences inthe network. The project schedule network diagrams are an output ofthe Sequence Activities process. The project schedule network diagramis a graphic representation of the logical relationships or dependenciesamong the project schedule activities. 30 / 35 30. Assume you are working to Estimate Activity Durations. You need to determine the amount of work to complete each activity and the resources required. As you work to do so, you should consider— a. Consulting with people who may have worked on similar projects b. The requirements documentation c. Staff motivation d. Adding buffers for needed but often scare resources c. Staff motivationThe Estimate Activity durations process determines the number of workperiods needed to complete the activity using the resource calendars. Itis difficult to do especially considering the nature of the work involvedand any constraints. You also need to consider staff motivation as theproject manager must be aware of the Student Syndrome, which isprocrastination. Many people, especially if they are not working fulltime on the project, may tend to apply themselves at the last minutepossible before the deadline. Parkinson’s Law also may apply wherework expands to fill the time available for completion. 31 / 35 31. You are managing a project that will use a virtual team with team members on three different continents. Your company is looking to use the virtual team to provide a lower cost product by using resources in countries that have a favorable exchange rate to that of your country. To assist in this process as you estimate resource requirements, it is helpful to consider— a. Bottom-up estimating b. Reserve analysis c. Analogous estimating d. Assumptions analysis b. Reserve analysisIn estimating activity resources, reserve analysis is a data analysis tooland technique. In it, the amount of contingency and managementreserves required are determined, which fits the situation in thequestion. Contingency reserves may be called schedule reserves forschedule uncertainty. Contingency reserves are the estimated durationwithin the schedule baseline used for any schedule-related risks. Theymay be associated with the percent of the estimated duration or a fixednumber of work periods. Any use of contingency reserves should bedocumented as should management reserves. Management reservesare a specified amount of the project budget withheld for managementcontrol purposes. They are used for any unknown-unknowns. 32 / 35 32. Activity A has a pessimistic (P) estimate of 36 days, a most likely (ML) estimate of 21 days, and an optimistic (O) estimate of 6 days. What is the probability that activity A will be completed in 16 to 26 days? a. 55.70 percent b. 68.26 percent c. 95.46 percent d. 99.73 percent b. 68.26 percentSimply defined, 1σ is the amount on either side of the mean of a normal distribution that will contain approximately 68.26 percent of the population. Duration estimates based on three-point estimates with an assumed distribution provide an expected duration and clarify the range of uncertainty around the expected duration. 33 / 35 33. You are managing a project to redesign a retail store layout to improve customer throughput and efficiency. Much project work must be done on site and will require the active participation of store employees who are life-long members of a powerful union with a reputation for labor unrest. One important component of your schedule must be— a. A resource capabilities matrix b. Buffers and reserves c. A resource calendar d. A resource histogram c. A resource calendarProject and resource calendars identify periods when work is allowed. Project calendars affect all resources. Resource calendars affect a specific resource or a resource category, such as a labor contract that requires certain workers to work on certain days of the week. The resource calendar identifies the working days and shifts that each specific resource is available and is used to estimate resource use. The resource calendars specify when and how long identified project resources will be available during the project, and this information may be at the activity or project level. This knowledge includes considerations of resource experience and/or skill level and where the resources are located and when they may be available. Resource calendars are an input to Estimate Activity Durations. 34 / 35 34. Assume you are working on a on a project using lean manufacturing. Now you are preparing your schedule. You feel your tasks may be relatively similar in size and scope. You should consider— a. Fixed number of work periods b. Percent of the estimated activity duration c. Buffers d. Kanban system d. Kanban systemThe Kanban system is also known as on-demand scheduling. It is basedon the theory of constraints and pull-based scheduling concepts fromlean manufacturing as described in the question. The idea is to limit theteam’s work in progress to balance demand against the team’s deliverythroughout. It does not rely on a previously developed schedule butinstead pulls work from a backlog or intermediate queue of work to bedone immediately when resources become available. It often is used forprojects that evolve from the product requirements incrementally or asin the question where takes may be similar in size and scope. 35 / 35 35. The reason that the schedule performance index (SPI) is shown as a ratio is to— a. Enable a detailed analysis of the schedule regardless of the value of the schedule variance b. Distinguish between critical path and noncritical path work packages c. Provide the ability to show performance for a specified time period for trend analysis d. Measure the actual time to complete the project c. Provide the ability to show performance for a specified time period fortrend analysisBecause schedule performance index (SPI) and cost performance index(CPI) are expressed as ratios, they can be used to show performancefor a specific time period or trends over a long-time horizon. TheSPI measures schedule efficiency as EV/PV and measures howefficiently the project team is using its time. If it is less than 1, lesswork was completed than planned; greater than 1 shows more workwas completed than was planned. It is important to also analyzeperformance on the critical path to determine if the project will finishahead of or behind finish dates. Your score is LinkedIn Facebook Twitter VKontakte 0% Restart quiz
