Chapter 5:
NETWORK DIAGRAM
A depiction of project activities and the interrelationships between these activities.
ACTIVITY LIST
A list of all the activities required to complete the work of the project that also includes an identifier code and the WBS code it's associated with. Activities are broken down from the work package level of the WBS.
What is a network diagram?
A network diagram is used to depict project activities and the interrelationships and dependencies among these activities.
PRECEDENCE DIAGRAMMING METHOD (PDM)
A network diagramming method that places activities on nodes, which connect to dependent activities using arrows. Also known as activity on node.
What are the two major relationships between dependent tasks?
A predecessor is a task that exists on a path with another task and occurs before the task in question. A successor is a task that exists on a common path with another task and occurs after the task in question.
FINISH-TO-FINISH
A project task relationship in which the finish of the successor task is dependent on the finish of the predecessor task.
FINISH-TO-START
A project task relationship in which the successor task cannot begin until the predecessor task has completed.
START-TO-START
A project task relationship where the start of the successor task depends on the start of the predecessor task.
FAST-TRACKING
A schedule compression technique where two activities that were previously scheduled to start sequentially start at the same time. Fast-tracing reduces schedule duration.
CRITICAL PATH METHOD (CPM)
A schedule development method that determines a single early and late start date, dearly and late finish date, and the float for each activity on the project.
START-TO-FINISH
A task relationship where the finish of the successor task is dependent on the start of its predecessor.
EXTERNAL DEPENDENCY
A type of dependency where a relationship between a project task and a factor outside the project, such as weather conditions, drives the scheduling of that task.
MANDATORY DEPENDENCY
A type of dependency where the relationship between two tasks is created by the type of work the project requires.
ANALOGOUS ESTIMATING
An estimating technique that uses the actual duration of a similar, completed activity to determine the duration of the current activity. This is also called top-down estimating.
ACTIVITY DURATION
Assessing the num er of work periods needed to complete the project activities. Work periods are usually expressed in hours or days. Large projects might express duration in weeks or months.
What is the purpose of CPM?
CPM calculates the longest full path in the project. This path controls the finish date of the project. Any delay to a critical path task will delay the completion date of the project.
PROGRAM EVALUATION AND REVIEW TECHNIQUE (PERT)
Calculates the expected value, or weighed average, of critical path tasks to determine project duration by using three estimates: most likely, pessimistic, and optimistic. The PERT calculation is (optimistic + pessimistic + (4 x most likely ))/6.
What are the three most commonly used techniques to estimate activity duration?
Expert judgement relies on the knowledge of someone familiar with the tasks. Analogous or top-down estimating bases the estimate on similar activities from a previous project. Parametric estimates are quantitatively based estimates that typically calculate the rate times the quantity.
Name the three most common ways project schedules are displayed:
Project schedules are typically as milestone charts, PERT network diagrams, or Gantt charts; a Gantt chart is a type of bar chart.
Define quality gates and governance gates:
Quality gates are used to check the work, and governance gates are used as client sign-offs, management approvals, and legislative approvals.
What is the sequencing process?
Sequencing is the process of identifying dependency relationships between the project activities and scheduling activities in the proper order.
FLOAT TIME
The amount of time the early start of a task may be delayed without delaying the finish date of the project. Also known as slack time.
LOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS
The dependency relationships that may exist between tasks. Finish-to-start is the most common logical relationship.
SCHEDULE BASELINE
The final, approved project schedule that is used during the project execution to monitor project progress.
What are the four types of logical relationships?
The four types of logical relationships are finish-to-start, start-to-start, start-to-finish, and finish-to-finish.
CRITICAL PATH (CP)
The longest path through the project. Activities with zero float are considered critical path tasks.
DEPENDENCIES
The relationship between project activities.
DEPENDENCY RELATIONSHIPS
The type of dependency between two activities and the specific relationship between the activities.
DURATION COMPRESSION
The use of techniques such as fast-tracking or crashing to shorten the planned duration of a project or to resolve schedule slippage.
CRASHING
This is a schedule compression technique that adds resources to the project to reduce the time it takes to complete the project.
