Chapter 5A

Calculate the earliest finish for Task D if one of its predecessors, Task A, finishes on day 3, its other predecessor, Task C, finishes on day 4, and the duration of Task D is 2 days.

Day 6

Calculate the latest finish for Task D if one of its successors, Task F, has a latest start on day 9, its other successor, Task E, has a latest start on day 10, and the duration of Task D is 2 days.

Day 9

The ES and EF times are determined by calculating forward—that is, by

working through the network diagram from the beginning of the project to the end of the project.

One way to determine which activities make up the critical path is to find which ones have the least slack.

True

Padding estimates with the vision of becoming a hero when the activities are completed in less time than estimated is not a good practice.

True

A consistent time base, such as hours or days or weeks, should be used for all the estimated durations of activities in a network diagram.

True

An updated project schedule can (and should) be generated regularly that forecasts whether the project will finish ahead of or behind its required completion time.

True

If the total slack is zero, the activities on the path do not need to be accelerated but cannot be delayed - otherwise the project will fall behind schedule.

True

When estimating durations for activities with a high degree of uncertainty, one approach is to provide 3 estimates to help calculate your overall estimate... check this out in Chapter 5 Appendix A...these 3 estimates are....

an optimistic estimate, a pessimistic estimate, and a most likely estimate.

The earliest finish time (EF) for a single activity is the earliest time by which that specific activity can be completed, calculated

by adding the activity's estimated duration to the activity's earliest start time: EF = ES + Estimated Duration.

Total slack for the project is the difference between

by adding the activity's estimated duration to the activity's earliest start time: EF = ES + Estimated Duration.

Earliest start time (ES) is the earliest time at which a specific activity can begin

calculated on the basis of the project estimated start time and the estimated durations of preceding activities.

If an organization or subcontractor has performed similar projects in the past and has kept records of how long specific activities actually took, these historical data

can be used as a guide in estimating the durations of similar activities for future projects.

Latest finish time (LF) is the latest time by which a specific activity must be

completed in order for the entire project to be finished by its required completion time.

Calculate the earliest finish for Task B if its predecessor, Task A, finishes on day 3 and the duration of Task B is 2 days.

day 5

Having the person who will be responsible for performing a specific activity estimate the duration for that activity __________ from that person and _________ that may be introduced by having one person estimate the durations for all of the activities.

generates a commitment , avoids any bias

In order to establish a basis from which to calculate a schedule using the estimated durations for the activities, it is necessary to

select an estimated start time and a required completion time for the overall project.

Latest start time (LS) is the latest time by which a specific activity must be

started in order for the entire project to be finished by its required completion time.

Latest start time is calculated working from right-to-left on the network diagram... or rather by

subtracting the activity's estimated duration from the activity's latest finish time: LS = LF- Estimated Duration.

Positive slack indicates the maximum amount of time

that the activities on a particular path can be delayed without jeopardizing completion of the project by the required completion time.