Project Time Management - Leeds School of Business



Project Time Management

Answer Key

1. d. Clear requirements

Clear requirements provide a source of focus for the project plan. Consensus among stakeholders minimizes change management and provides a smooth transition at the end of the project between the team and the customer.

PM11996,61

2. b. The precedence diagram represents activities as nodes.

Both diagramming methods show the logical relationships of project activities. The arrow diagram represents activities as arrows.

Meredith and Mante11995, 339

3. a. lag

For example, in a finish-to-start dependency with a 10-day lag, the successor activity cannot start until1 a days after the predecessor has finished.

PMI 1996, 164

4. D. Monetary units

The developers of the earned value method were interested in the relationship between cost and time. Thus, the method integrates cost and time and computes progress measurement in monetary values.

Burke 1993, 276

5. e. Best utilized when denoting start and finish of all activities

Because milestones represent significant project events, a milestone for the start and finish of every activity would be excessive.

PMI 1996, 70

6. e. Resource production rate

Leveling is a basic mathematical exercise that uses length of activities, dates, criticality of an activity, and other measurements. Production rate is used as an input to determine activity duration, not to level resources.

Zells 1990, 136 and 137

7. c. Displays the logical relationships between project activities

The project activities {work packages) are connected by lines of precedence indicating their logical relationships, or dependencies

PMI 1996, 64

8. b. Minimize the overall project duration given the available resources

Resource constrained means having a finite number of resources available to the project. Therefore, the challenge to the project scheduler is to complete the project in as little time as possible through the judicious assignment and use of resources using the practice of resource leveling.

AGCA 1994,201

9. b. Activity definition, activity sequencing, activity duration estimates, schedule development, and schedule control

These components provide a logical methodology for time management. The specific steps and level of interaction with other knowledge areas wi II vary by project.

PMI 1996, 59

10. d. a and b

The duration of A, which is 3, is added to the duration of B, which is 4, for a total of 7. The 3 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-workday, 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.

Dreger 1992, 49

11. e. All the above

These activities must be thoroughly integrated with the other project management control processes.

PMI 1996, 71

12. d. Mandatory or hard

Mandatory dependencies 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).

ESI 1996b, 3-4

13. c. CPM

CPM determines the longest path of logic through the project activities. Comparing the difference between early and late starts will determine float or slack.

PMI 1996, 67

14. d. Scheduling flexibility

In the assignment of resources to activities, float, or slack, can be used to help maximize (level) the available resources.

Zells 1990, 131

15. b. Reducing project duration by redefining logical relationships

The objective of fast-tracking is to redefine the logic in a project to accomplish activities in parallel as start-to-start, rather than finish-to-start, relationships.

PMI 1996, 68

16. c. Several identical or nearly identical series of activities are repeated throughout the project.

When identical network descriptions are repeated throughout a project, templates of those activities can be developed. If those series of tasks are repeated several times, the template can be updated several times. Software can be used with the templates to facilitate documenting and

adapting them for future use.

PMI 1996, 64

17. b. Free float

Free float is defined as the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any immediately following activities.

Dreger 1992, 151-153

18. c. Final output is described as activities or action steps.

In scope definition, final output is described as deliverables or tangible items.

PM11996,61

[pic]

First, the volume or quantity of work to be completed must be measured, in other words, the scope of the activity. Next, the productivity rate as it relates to the work quantity must be determined. Dividing the work quantity by the production rate yields an estimate of the activity duration.

AGCA 1994, 30

20. c. Precedence, arrow, and conditional

The three types in use are the precedence diagramming method (PDM), also called activity-on-node (AON); the arrow diagramming method (ADM), also called activity-on-arrow (AOA); and the conditional diagramming method, which includes techniques such as the graphical evaluation and review technique (GERT) and system dynamic models.

PMI 1996, 63

21. a. Cost and time slope for each activity that can be expedited

Slope = (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.

Meredith and Mante11995, 392

22. a. Because PDM and ADM do not allow non-sequential activities, such as loops or conditional branches

Conditional diagramming methods are designed to accommodate loops, such as a test that must be repeated more than once, or conditional branches, such as a design update that is needed only if the inspection detects errors.

PMI 1996, 63

23. d. WBS updates

Activity duration estimating focuses on determining the number of work periods that will be required to complete an activity, not the number of work packages in the project.

PMI 1996, 66

24. a. Earliest time each activity in the network can start and finish

A forward pass starts with the earliest start date of the first activity and calculates early start and finish times for each activity.

AGCA 1994, 71

25. e. All the above

These methods, individually or together, are used by many organizations.

PMI 1996, 70

26. a. Scheduled start or completion of major deliverables and key events

Milestones are singular points in time, such as the start or completion of a significant activity or group of activities.

PMI 1996, 70

27. e. a and b

Total float is computed by subtracting the early start date from the late start date. The early finish date is computed by adding the duration to the early start date.

Dreger 1992,45-51

28. a. Schedule baseline

The schedule baseline is the approved project schedule and is a component of the overall project plan.

PMI 1996, 71

29. b. WBS

The WBS provides an important foundation for constructing a realistic schedule because it identifies all the work that must be accomplished.

PMI 1996, 54-56, 61

30. d. a and b

The number, skill level, and productivity of staff, combined with the quantity and grade of materials, are the principal determining factors in time and cost estimates of an activity or project.

AGCA 1994,37

31. e. All the above

The extent of the project team's knowledge about resource requirements and capabilities and about the activities themselves will determine the accuracy of the estimates. Past project files document valuable experience that can be applied to the current project.

PMI 1996, 65

32. b. 68.26%

First, compute the standard deviation:

[pic]

Next, compute PERT expected time:

[pic]

Finally, determine range of outcomes using 10":

21 -5 = 16 days and 21 + 5 = 26 days

Simply defined, 1 0- is the amount on either side of the mean of a normal distribution that will contain approximately 68.26% of the population.

ES11996b, 2-6 and 2-8

33. a. Uses the distribution's mean (expected value) in computing the schedule

CPM uses the most likely estimate. Both PERT and CPM focus on calculating float to determine which activities have the least scheduling flexibility.

PMI 1996, 64

34. c. Refinements

In using the WBS to identify which activities are needed, the project team may identify missing deliverables or find that deliverable descriptions need clarification or correction. Updates then need to be reflected in the WBS and related documentation. These updates are known as refinements to the WBS.

PMI 1996, 62

35. c. An identifiable point in a project that denotes a reporting requirement or completion of an important activity

A milestone is a key event in a project-a significant goal set by and for the project team that marks completion of a measurable step in the project.

Meredith and Mante11995, 372

36. e. Applying additional resources to critical path activities by priority

When applying additional resources to reduce project duration, the emphasis is on those activities whose cost of crashing will gain the most time for the costs incurred.

PMI 1996, 68

37. e. All the above

In the arrow diagramming method, a dummy activity can help to indicate a particular precedence. The dummy activity has no duration and uses no resources. It simply indicates a precedence relationship between two activities on a network diagram.

Meredith and Mante11995, 341

38. a. Lead

For example, in a finish-to-start dependency with a 1 O-day lead, the successor activity can start 10 days before the predecessor has finished.

PMI 1996, 164

39. a. Incorporates risk as an element of the estimate

By providing the pessimistic, most likely, and optimistic time estimates, the range and probability of possible outcomes can be computed using standard deviation.

Zells 1990, 68 and 69

40. b. II and III

[pic]

Path A-B-D-E = 1 7 days

Path A-B-D-F = 18 days = Critical path

Path A-C = 11 days

Activity E, installing inside plumbing, has 1 day of slack: 1 8 days -1 7 days = 1 day.

Activity B, pouring foundation, is on the critical path.

PMI 1996, 63

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