PM Chapter 13

Place the project control steps for measuring and evaluating project performance in the correct order of occurrence.

1. Setting a baseline plan. 2. Measuring progress and performance. 3. Comparing plan against actual. 4. Taking action.

In a tracking Gantt chart, how many bars are there for each activity?

2

Identify the percent complete rules for placing costs in baselines.

50/50 percent rule 0/100 percent rule Percent complete with weighted monitoring gates

When measuring percent complete in the monitoring phase of the project, it is common to limit the amount earned to ______ percent complete until the work package is 100 percent complete.

80 to 90

Which of the following is the correct equation used to calculate the total forecasted cost?

AC + ETC

______ is the sum of the costs incurred in accomplishing work; also known as the actual cost of work performed.

AC- Actual Cost

Data _____ is time consuming and costly.

Acquisition, gathering, or collection

Periodic monitoring and measuring of the status of the project allow for comparisons of _________.

Actual versus expected plans

In a project control chart, several observations trending in one direction indicate a high probability of ___ .

An identifiable cause

What does a tracking Gantt chart use to show activity duration?

Bars

In the project control process, the ____ provides the project control process with the elements for measuring performance.

Baseline plan

What is the meaning of an index of "<1.00" on SPI?

Behind schedule

The two indexes that measure performance efficiency are ___.

CPI and SPI Cost performance index and schedule performance index are the two measures of performance efficiency in the earned value system.

What tool should a project manager use to ensure that information about project progress is shared with the appropriate stakeholders?

Communication plan

In variance analysis, measuring accomplishments centers on two key computations. Identify the two computations.

Comparing earned value with the actual costs Comparing earned value with the expected schedule value

The third step in the project control process of the measurement and evaluation of project performance is ___.

Comparing planned against actual performance

The project __________ is a tool used to monitor past project schedule performance and to estimate future schedule trends.

Control chart

If deviations from plans are significant, _____ will be needed to bring the project back in line with the original or revised plan.

Corrective action

What problem sometimes occurs with data about project progress?

Data are not sent to the stakeholders who need to see it.

The following terms are used to calculate the revised estimate at completion. Match each term with its meaning. EACre and EACf ETC AC CPI BAC EV

EACre and EACf Forecasted total cost at completion. ETC Estimated cost to complete remaining work. AC Cumulative actual cost of work completed to date. CPI Cumulative cost index to date. BAC Total budget of the baseline. EV Cumulative budgeted cost of work completed to date.

_______ means of collecting data have vastly improved data assembly, analysis, and dissemination.

Electronic

Baseline costs typically include labor, equipment, materials and direct overhead cost.

False

Overhead costs and profit are typically included in the project baseline.

False

Work packages can be in which of following conditions?

Finished In process or partially complete Not yet started

The best method for assigning costs to the baseline under the percent complete rule is to establish ___________ over the duration of the work package.

Frequent checkpoints

Change during the life cycle of projects is ____.

Inevitable

Schedules are often used to keep more distal stakeholders informed on the progress of a project.

Milestone

A system for determining what data to collect, analyzing that data; and reporting current progress is called a project _______ system.

Monitoring

What is the meaning of an index of "=1.00" on SPI?

On schedule

Although scope changes are usually viewed negatively, they can represent significant

Opportunities

What is the meaning of an index of "<1.00" on CPI?

Over cost

Several project percent complete indexes are used, depending on your judgment of which one is most representative of your project. What are they?

PCIB PCIC

The ________ indexes compare the to-date progress to the end of the project.

Percent complete

Earned value for a task is _______.

Percent of the original budget that has been earned by actual work

CPI and SPI are two types of indexes that measure ________.

Performance efficiency

Project managers should not use baseline changes to disguise ______ _______ on past or current work.

Poor performance

Which of the following might collect data on a project?

Project manager Contractors Engineers Project team

Time and budgets are _________ measures of performance that readily fit into the integrated information system.

Quantitative

A project monitoring system involves which of the following?

Reporting on the data Collecting and analyzing data Deciding what data to collect

What variances can be computed using the three data elements of PV, AC, and EV, in the earned value/schedule system?

SV (schedule variance) CV (cost variance)

Project managers use a ______ to keep distal stakeholders informed of project progress.

Schedule of major project milestones

Small, undocumented changes in a project's scope are known as ___.

Scope creep

Measuring progress and performance is the _______ step in creating a project control system for measuring and evaluating project performance.

Second

The first step in creating a project control system for measuring and evaluating project performance is to:

Setting a baseline plan.

A _______ report is analogous to a camera snapshot of a project at a specific point in time.

Status

The fourth step in the project control process of the measurement and evaluation of project performance is to ____________.

Take necessary corrective actions

It is very difficult to specify how to measure _______ performance because it depends on the nature of the project.

Technical

_________ performance is frequently where quality control processes are needed and used.

Technical

In project monitoring information systems, ___ determine(s) what data to collect.

The metrics used for project control

What is the major goal of progress reporting?

To determine whether corrective action is necessary

What is the main advantage of using 0/100 and 50/50 rules, over the percent complete rule?

To reduce overhead costs of collecting data

Control is a process of comparing actual performance against plan to identify deviations, evaluate possible alternative courses of actions, and take appropriate corrective action.

True

A major goal of progress reporting is to catch any negative variances from plan as early as possible to determine if corrective action is necessary. The project network schedule, derived from the ______, serves as the baseline to compare against actual performance.

Work breakdown structure (WBS)/ organization breakdown structure (OBS)

Project progress reports are designed and communicated in:

Written or oral form.

In a project monitoring system, data collected from ______ activity duration, resource usage, and costs are compared against ______ activity duration, resource usage, and costs.

actual; planned

Although different stakeholders need different levels of detail, most project progress reports include ___.

current status of project schedule

The tracking Gantt chart ___________.

shows progress against plan with a solid bar below the original schedule bar.