ENT 411 Exam 2
To control the schedule, a project manager is reanalyzing the project to predict project duration. She does this by analyzing the sequence of activities with the least amount of scheduling flexibility. What technique is she using?
A. Critical path method
Which of the following represents the estimated value of the work actually accomplished? A. Earned value (EV) B. Planned value (PV) C. Actual cost (AC) D. Cost variance (CV)
A. Earned value (EV)
Variable costs
Costs that vary depending on the amount of Work or production (Cost of materials, supplies, wages etc..).
Your project management plan results in a project schedule that is too long. If the project network diagram cannot change but you have extra personnel resources, what is the BEST thing to do?
Crash the project.
SV (Schedule Variance)= EV-PV
(Difference between estimated value of work completed and estimated value of work planned)-Measure of schedule performance
Which of the following BEST describes the relationship between standard deviation and risk?
Standard deviation tells you how unsure the estimate is.
Decomposition
Subdividing the project work packages in to smaller more manageable components called ACTIVITIES. Activity is the effort needed to complete a work package.
Which of the following is CORRECT?
The critical path helps prove how long the project will take.
Develop Schedule
The process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements, and schedule constraints to create a schedule model for project execution and monitoring and controlling
Estimate Activity Resources
The process of estimating the type and quantities of material, people, equipment, or supplies required to perform each activity.
4. Control Costs
The process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project costs and managing changes to the cost baseline.
Control Schedule
The process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project schedule and managing changes to the schedule baseline
Activity attributes
extend the description of the activity by identifying the multiple components associated with each activity.
Earned Value(EV)
is a composite measurement of both cost and time performance in relation to scheduled or planned cost and time performance. EV is calculated by multiplying the percentage of work completed by the budgeted cost for the activity as laid out in the cost baseline.
Activity List
is a comprehensive list that includes all schedule activities required on the project, includes the activity identifier and a scope of work description.
Bottom-up estimating
is a method of estimating a component of work then rolling up the costs to higher levels. -this method is more expensive, it is also one of the most accurate.
Bottom-up Estimating:
is a method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating the estimates of the lower-level components of the WBS.
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
is a method used in Critical Path Methodology(CPM) for constructing a project schedule network diagram that uses boxes or rectangles, referred to as nodes, to represent activities, and connects them with arrows that show the logical relationships that exist between them. This is also called Activity on Node (AON).
Earned Value Management (EVM)
is a methodology that combines scope, schedule, and resource measurements to assess project performance and progress. EVM can be used for analysis of cost and schedule baselines Earned Value Management is carried out using the three main inputs: -Planned Value (PV) -Earned Value (EV) -ActualCost (AC)
Activity Attributes •During the initial stages of the project, they include
the activity identifier (ID), WBS ID, and activity label or name, and when completed, may include activity codes, activity description, predecessor activities, successor activities, logical relationships, leads and lags.
Analogous estimating is frequently used to
to estimate project duration when there is a limited amount of detailed information about the project. -is less costly and time consuming than other techniques, and less accurate.
Sequence Activities Tools- Two commonly used formulas
triangular and beta distributions
Resource Optimization
used to adjust the start and finish dates of activities to adjust planned resource use to be equal to or less than resource availability
Data Analysis: 2. Reserve analysis:
used to determine the amount of contingency and management reserve needed for the project.
Three Point Estimates
uses average of optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates and hence improving the accuracy.
Parametric estimating
uses statistical relationship between historical data and other variables. -Higher levels of accuracy.
CV (Cost Variance) = EV-AC
(Difference between estimated value of work completed and actual cost of work completed) -Captures budget deficit or surplus
TCPI
(based on original estimate or forecasted budget) will set a new baseline for performance efficiency to be achieved to complete the works with funds remaining.
Quality vs. Grade
(degree of functionality)
Develop Schedule: OutputsProject Schedule
- Bar Charts - Milestone Charts - Project schedule network diagrams
Project Cost Management
-Costing is different from Pricing. Costing includes the monetary resource required to complete the project and pricing normally include a profit margin. -Costing is based on WBS and managed by Control Accounts -Costing shall be ideally done by a team who perform the work
Three-point estimates (PERT)
-Trianguler Distribution. cE = (cO + cM + cP) / 3 -Beta Distribution (from a traditional PERT analysis). cE= (cO+ 4cM +cP) / 6
Develop Schedule Tools- Data Analysis
-What-If Scenario Analysis -Simulation -The most common simulation technique is Monte Carlo analysis
Milestone List
-is a significant point or event in a project. -is a list identifying all project milestones and indicates whether the milestone is mandatory, such as those required by contract, or optional, such as those based upon historical information. -are similar to regular schedule activities, with the same structure and attributes, but they have zero duration because milestones represent a moment in time.
Parametric Estimating
-is an estimating technique in which an algorithm is used to calculate cost or duration based on historical data and project parameters. -It uses a statistical relationship between historical data and other variables, it is more accurate than analogous estimate. -It is determined by multiplying the quantity of work to be performed by labour hours per unit of work.
If the optimistic estimate for an activity is 12 days, and the pessimistic estimate is 18 days, what is the standard deviation of this activity?
1 Explanation The standard deviation is computed by (P - 0)/6. Therefore, the answer is (18 - 12)/6 = 6/6 = 1.
Determine Budget- tools/techniques
1 Historical information e.g. residential home construction based on square footage 2 Funding limit reconciliation The expenditure of funds should be reconciled with any funding limits on the commitment of funds for the project. 3 Financing entails acquiring funding for projects. It is common for long-term infrastructure, industrial, and public services projects to seek external sources of funds.
Project Cost Management Processes
1. Plan Cost Management 2. Estimate Costs 3. Determine Budget 4. Control Costs
Project Quality Management Processes
1. Plan Quality Management 2. Manage Quality 3. Control Quality
two types of Resource Optimization
1. •Resource leveling. 2. •Resource Smoothing
Agile Release Planning
A high-level summary timeline of the release schedule (typically 3 to 6 months) based on the product roadmap and the product vision for the product's evolution.
Critical Path Method
A method used to estimate the minimum project duration and determine the amount of scheduling flexibility on the logical network paths within the schedule model. It evaluates the early/late start, and early/late finish for all activities.
Resource leveling
A technique in which start and finish dates are adjusted based on resource constraints with the goal of balancing demand for resources with the available supply. -Can be used when shared or critically required resources are available only at certain times or in limited quantities. -Can cause the critical path to change.
Resource Smoothing
A technique that adjusts the activities of a schedule model such that the requirements for resources on the project do not exceed certain predefined resource limits. -The critical path is not changed. -May not be available to optimize all resources.
Estimate costs- Data analysis 3 parts
A.Alternatives analysis: is a technique used to evaluate identified options in order to select which options or approaches to use to execute and perform the work B.Reserve Analysis: two types of reserves can be added to the project schedule; contingency reserves and management reserves - Its contingency reserves are added to costing to manage risks, cost overruns and error associated with costing. C.Cost of Quality (COQ) (cost of conformance vs non-conformance)
Estimate at completion (EAC) is a periodic evaluation of: A. The cost of work completed. B. The value of work performed. C. The anticipated total cost at project completion. D. What it will cost to finish the job.
C. The anticipated total cost at project completion.
Reserve analysis: two types of reserves can be added to the project schedule; contingency reserves and management reserves;
Contingency reserves are allocated for the identified risks remaining after plan risk responses (known unknowns) which are included in the project schedule baseline; it is percentage of estimate or fixed number. Management reserves are additional funds and time cover unforeseen risks that could impact the project's ability to meet the schedule (unknown unknowns) and are not part of the schedule.
Bar Chart type
Gantt Chart
EAC = AC + (BAC - EV)
If future work will be accomplished at the planned rate
A manufacturing project has a schedule performance index (SPI) of 0.89 and a cost performance index (CPI) of 0.91. Generally, what is the BEST explanation for why this occurred? A. The scope was changed. B. A supplier went out of business and a new one needed to be found. C. Additional equipment needed to be purchased. D. A critical path activity took longer and needed more labor hours to complete.
D. A critical path activity took longer and needed more labor hours to complete.
The cost contingency reserve should be: A. Hidden to prevent management from disallowing the reserve. B. Added to each activity to provide the customer with a shorter critical path. C. Maintained by management to cover cost overruns. D. Added to the base costs of the project to account for risks.
D. Added to the base costs of the project to account for risks.
The main focus of life cycle costing is to: A. Estimate installation costs. B. Estimate the cost of operations and maintenance. C. Consider installation costs when planning the project costs. D. Consider operations and maintenance costs in making project decisions..
D. Consider operations and maintenance costs in making project decisions..
iterative process
Developing an acceptable project schedule is an
Types of Costs
Direct, indirect, variable and fixed costs
PDM includes four types of dependencies or logical relationships
Finish to start is common used Start to Finish is least used
Dependency Determination: Four types of dependencies: 4. Internal dependencies.
Internal dependencies involve a precedence relationship between project activities and are generally inside the project team's control
A project has three critical paths. Which of the following BEST describes how this affects the project?
It increases the project risk
Dependency Determination: Four types of dependencies: 3. External dependencies:
It involve a relationship between project activities and non-project activities. (outside the project team's control).
Project Schedule Network Diagrams
It is a graphical representation of the logical relationships, also referred to as dependencies, among the project schedule activities.
EAC = AC + [BAC - EV / (Cumulative CPI x Cumulative SPI)]
It is used if both CPI and SPI influence the remaining work.
Schedule Compression- Crashing:
It may result in increased risk and/or cost- A technique used to shorten the schedule duration for the least incremental cost by adding resources. Examples of crashing include approving overtime, bringing in additional resources, or paying to expedite delivery to activities on the critical path.
Schedule Compression- Fast Tracking:
It may result in rework and increased risk- A technique in which activities or phases are performed in parallel at least a portion of their duration. An example is constructing the foundation for a building before completing all of the architectural drawings. Fast tracking only works when activities can be overlapped
Which of the following is the BEST project management tool to use to determine the longest time the project will take?
Network diagram
Indirect costs
Overhead costs that incurred for the benefit of more than one project (Taxes, Training, project management software license.
Padding
Pad is extra time or cost added to an estimate because the estimator doesn't has enough information
You are a project manager on a US $5,000,000 software development project. While working with your project team to develop a network diagram, you notice a series of activities that can be worked in parallel but must finish in a specific sequence. What type of activity sequencing method is required for these activities?
Precedence diagramming method
Duration Estimates
Quantitative assessments of the likely number of time periods that are required to complete an activity, a phase, or a project.
Rolling Wave Planning
Rolling wave planning is an iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail, while the work in the future is planned at a higher level. It is a form of progressive elaboration.
Schedule performance index (SPI)-measure of schedule efficiency
SPI (Schedule Performance Index) = EV/PV CPI (Cost Performance Index) = EV/AC
Variance analysis
SV (Schedule Variance) = EV-PV CV (Cost Variance) = EV-AC
You are taking over a project and determine the following: Task B has an early finish of day 3, a late finish of day 6, and an early start of day 2. Task L is being done by a hard-to-get resource. The CPI is 1.1 and the SPI is 0.8. Based on the information above, what would you be most concerned about?
Schedule.
Direct Costs
These costs are attributed directly to the project work and cannot be shared among projects (Wages, Material, Equipment etc).
Fixed costs
These costs remain constant throughout the project (Cost of office setup, rentals etc...).
Dependency Determination: Four types of dependencies: 2. Discretionary dependencies:
These dependencies are the preferred order of activities. It is defined by the project management team based on the knowledge of best practice in each field. These relationship are also known as soft logic, preferred logic, or preferential logic. When fast tracking is applied, normally these dependencies are reviewed or removed.
EAC =BAC/Cumulative CPI
This formula is used when the original estimation is met without any deviation. It signifies that your project is going well: you are maintaining the CPI and SPI as 1, and you should continue the project in the same way.
EAC = AC + Bottom-up ETC
This formula is used when the original estimation is no longer valid. It calculates the actual cost plus new estimate for the remaining work.
Lag means:
Waiting time.
Dependency Determination: Four types of dependencies: 1. Mandatory dependencies:
are those that are legally or contractually required or inherent in the nature of the work. This dependency is also called Hard Logic. For example, you can't begin building your house until your foundation is in place.
Analogous Estimating
is a technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity or a project using historical data from a similar activity or project. It uses information from a previous, similar project, such as duration, budget, size and complexity for future project.
.Leads
is the amount of time whereby a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor activity. It allows an acceleration of successor activity. Lead is often represented as a negative value for lag in scheduling software. Lead removes time
Lags
is the amount of time whereby a successor activity will be delayed with respect to a predecessor activity. A lag directs a delay in the successor activity. directs a delay in the successor activity; a technical writing team can begin editing the draft of a large document 15 days after they begin writing it. (start-start with 15 day lag). Lag adds time
Quality
is the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfillrequirements
3. Determine Budget
is the process of aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work packages to establish an authorized cost baseline.
1. Plan Cost Management
is the process of defining how the project costs will be estimated, budgeted, managed, monitored, and controlled.
2. Estimate costs
is the process of developing an approximation of the cost of resources needed to complete project work The accuracy of a project estimate will increase as the project progresses through the project life cycle The project in the initiation phase have a rough order of magnitude (ROM) −25% to +75%. Later, as more information is known, definitive estimates can narrow to -5% to +10%.
Plan Schedule Management
is the process of establishing the policies, procedures, and documentation for planning, developing, managing, executing, and controlling the project schedule.
Sequence Activities
is the process of identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities. The key benefit of this process is that it defines the logical sequence of work to obtain the greatest efficiency given all project constraints. Activities are sequenced using logical relationships.
Define Activities
is the process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables.
Plan Quality Management
is the process of identifying quality requirements and/or standards for the project and its deliverables, and documenting how the project will demonstrate compliance with relevant quality requirements.
Key benefit of estimate costs
it determines the monetary resources required for the project
TCPI value <1 means in future
lesser work need to be achieved for every dollar spent compared to past performance
TCPI value >1 means in future
more work must be achieved per every dollar spent in the future compared to actual work achieved previously per dollar.
Activity Attributes can be used to identify the
person responsible for executing the work, geographic area, or place where the work has to be performed, the project calendar the activity is assigned to, and activity type such as level of effort (often abbreviated as LOE), discrete effort, and apportioned effort.
To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI)
predicts the efficiency that must be achieved for remaining work to complete the remaining works with available budget.
Activities
provide a basis for estimating, scheduling, executing, monitoring and controlling the project work.
Project scheduling
provides a detailed plan that represents how and when the project will deliver the products, services, and results defined in the project scope.
If CPI falls below TCPI baseline
remaining works will not be completed with available funds. All future works shall be accelerated to bring CPI within TCPI range.
Schedule Compression
techniques are used to shorten or accelerate the schedule duration without reducing the project scope in order to meet schedule constraints, imposed dates, or other schedule objectives.
Analogous estimating
uses the values (such as scope, cost, budget, and duration or measures of scale such as size, weight, and complexity) from a previous, similar project as the basis for estimating the same parameter or measurement for a current project. -Using normally when there is a limited amount of detailed information about the project. -It is less costly and time consuming than other techniques and less accurate.
Data Analysis: 1. Alternatives Analysis:
using various levels of resource capability or skills, different size or type of machines, different tools, and make or buy decisions regarding the resource.
