Project Time Management
What are the six main processes involved in project time management?
1. Defining Activities 2. Sequencing Activities 3. Estimating Activity Resources 4. Estimating Activity Durations 5. Developing the schedule 6. Controlling the Schedule
What are the four types of dependencies or relationships between activities?
1. Finish-to-Start 2. Start-to-Start 3. Finish-to-Finish 4. Start-to-Finish
What are some tools and techniques that assist in schedule development?
1. Gantt chart 2. Critical path analysis 3. Critical chain scheduling 4. PERT analysis
What are the three basic reasons for creating dependencies among project activities?
1. Mandatory dependencies 2. Discretionary Dependencies 3. External Dependencies
What are some of the advantages that PDM has over AOA diagramming?
1. Most PM software uses the Precedence Diagramming Method 2. PDM avoids the need to use dummy activities 3. PDM shows different dependencies among tasks, whereas AOA network diagrams use only F-to-S dependencies
What are some outputs of the Developing the Schedule process?
1. Project Schedule 2. Schedule Baseline 3. Schedule Data 4. Project Document Updates
People sometimes refer to network diagrams as __________ or _____________ .
1. Project Schedule Network Diagrams 2. PERT charts
What are a couple of the main outputs of the Sequencing Activities process?
1. Project Schedule Network Diagrams 2. Project Document Updates
According to the SMART criteria, what are the five guidelines for what milestones should be?
1. Specific 2. Measureable 3. Assignable 4. Realistic 5. Time-framed
In a tracking Gantt chart, what do the two horizontal bars represent?
1. The top bar represents the planned or baseline duration for each task. 2. The bottom bar represents the actual duration.
What are some of the outputs of the Developing the Schedule process
1. Work Performance Measurements 2. Organizational Process Assets Updates 3. Change Requests 4. Project Management Plan Updates 5. Project Document Updates
What is the main disadvantage of "fast tracking" ?
It can end up lengthening the project schedule since starting some tasks too soon often increases project risk and results in rework.
What is the main advantage of "fast tracking" ?
It can shorten the time it takes to finish a project.
What is the Theory of Constraints (TOC)?
It is a management philosophy based on the fact that, like a chain with its weakest link, any complex system at any point in time often has only one aspect or constraint that limits its ability to achieve more of its goal.
What is a three-point estimate?
It is an estimate that includes an optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimate.
What is a slipped milestone?
It means the milestone activity was actually completed later than originally planned.
What is the main disadvantage of "crashing" ?
It often increases total project costs.
Which project time management process involves identifying and documenting the relationships between project activities?
Sequencing Activities
What is the main advantage of "crashing" ?
Shortening the time it takes to finish a project
What is a Tracking Gantt chart?
A Gantt chart that compares planned and actual project schedule information
What is a buffer?
A buffer is additional time to complete a task.
What provides a standard format for displaying project schdule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format?
Gantt chart
What is the relationship called where the "from" activity cannot start until the "to" activity or successor is started?
Start-to-start dependency
The main outputs of the Defining Activities process are an __________, _____________, and ______________.
activity list, activity attributes, and milestone list
A ___________ or ____________ relates to the sequencing of project activities or tasks.
dependency or relationship
What are some things that the activity list should include?
1. Acitvity Name 2. Activity Identifier Number 3. Brief Description of the Activity
What are the main outputs of the Estimating Activity Resources process?
1. Acitvity Resource Requirements 2. Resource Breakdown Structure 3. Project Doument Updates
What are the main outputs of the Estimating Activity Durations process?
1. Activity Duration Estimates 2. Project Document Updates
What are some inputs to the Activity Sequencing process?
1. Activity List and Attributes 2. Project Scope Statement 3. Milestone List 4. Organizational Process Assets
What are "death march projects" as coined by software development expert Ed Yourdon?
Death march projects are are projects that are doomed for failure from the start, due to unclear and/or unrealistic expectations, especially for meeting time constraints.
What are probabilistic time estimates?
Duration estimate based on using optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates of activity duration, instead of one specific or discrete duration estimate.
What is fast tracking?
Fast tracking involves doing activities in parallel that you would normally do in sequence.
What are resources?
People, equipment , and materials
What diagramming method is most commonly used as opposed to AOA or ADM?
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
What does PERT stand for?
Program Evaluation and Review Technique
What does a backward pass through the network diagram determine?
The late start and late finish dates for each activity in a similar fashion
What is the formula for determing the PERT weighted average?
(Optimistic time + 4 * most likely time + pessimistic time) / 6
What is a "merge" in a network diagram?
A merge occurs when two or more nodes precede a single node.
What is Critical Chain Scheduling?
A method pf scheduling that considers limited resources when creating a project schedule and includes buffers to protect the project completion date
What does a black diamond on a Gantt chart represent?
A milestone
What is PERT?
A network analysis technique used to estimate project duration when the is a high degree of uncertainty about the individual activity duration estimates
______________ is a tabulation of activities to be included on a project schedule.
Activity list
What is hard-coding?
Hard-coding involves entering all activity dates manually instead of letting the software calculate them based on durations and relationships.
What is the term for a significant event that normally has no duration?
Milestone
What is the PDM diagramming technique particularly useful for?
Visulaiizing vertain types of time relationships
What is the relationship called where the "from" activity or predecessor must finish before the "to" activity or succesor can start?
Finish-to-start dependency
What are Gantt charts sometimes referred to as, and why?
Gantt charts are sometimes referred to as bar charts because activities start and end dates are shown as horizontal bars.
What is a project buffer?
Project buffers are dditional time added before the project's due date
What is the late start date for an activity?
The latest possible time an activity can be completed without delaying the project finish date
What is the late finish date for an activity?
The latest possible time and activity can be completed without delaying the project finish time
What is the most likely scenario based on?
The most likely or expected scenario
What are baseline dates?
The planned schedule dates for activities
What do the first and last node represent?
The start and end of a project
What is a node?
The starting and ending point of an activity
The ______________ provide more schedule-related information about each activity, such as predecessors, successors, logical relationships, leads and lags, resources requirements, constraints, imposed dates, and assumptions related to the activity.
Activity Attributes
An _________ or ________ is an element of work normally found on the WBS that has an expected duration, a cost, and resource requirements.
Activity or task
What does AOA stand for?
Activity-on-Arrow
What is a good rule of thumb in regards to arrowheads in a network diagram?
All arrowheads should face towards the right, and no arrows should cross on an AOA network diagram.
What does ADM stand for?
Arrow Diagramming Method
Why should discretionary dependencies be used with care?
Because they may limit later scheduling options.
What is the optimistic estimate in a three-point estimate based on?
Best case scenario
What are "bursts" in a network diagrams?
Bursts occur when two or more activities follow a single node.
How do project managers calculate free slack and total slack?
By doing a forward and backward pass through a network diagram
Which project time management process involves controlling and managing changes to the project schedule?
Controlling the Schedule
What are feeding buffers?
Feeding buffers consist of additional time added before tasks on the critical chain that are preceded by non-critical-path tasks.
What is the relationship called where the "from" activity must be finished before the "to" acitvity can be finished?
Finish-to-finish dependency
Which dependencies are inherent in the nature of the work being performed on a project, and are sometimes referred to as "hard logic" ?
Mandatory Dependencies
What is multitasking?
Multitasking occurs when a resource works on more than one task at a time.
What are the preferred technique for showing activity sequencing?
Network Diagrams
Is every deliverable or output created considered a milestone?
No. Milestones are only the most important and visible ones.
Which items in the WBS need to be on the network diagram?
Only those activities which have dependencies need to be shown on the network diagram.
What is PDM?
PDM is a network diagramming technique in which boxes represent activities
What is the name for a hierarchical structure that identifies the project's resources by category and type?
Resource Breakdown Structure
_______________is a hierarchical structure that identifies the project's resources by category and type.
Resource Breakdown Structure
What is the amount of time an activity may be delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or the project finish date?
Slack or float
What is the relationship called where the "from" activity must start before the "to" activity can be finished?
Start-to_finish dependency
What does critical chain scheduling assume?
That resources do not multitask or at least minimize multitasking
What does Parkinson's Law state?
That work expands to fill the time allowed.
What does duration include?
The actual amount of time worked on an activity plus elapsed time.
What is the total slack or total float?
The amount of time an activity can be delayed from its early start without delaying the planned project finish date
What is one of the most important considerations in making activity duration estimates?
The availability of resources, especially human resources
What is the early finish date for an activity??
The earliest possible time an activity can finish based on the project network logic
What is the early start date for an activity?
The earliest possible time an activity can start based on the project network logic
What does a forward pass through the network diagram determine?
The early start and early finish dates for each activity
Explain how the AOA or ADM diagramming method works.
They are both techniques where activities are represented by arrows ansd connected at points called nodes to illustrate the sequence of activities.
What is the pessimistic estimate based on in a three-point estimate?
Worst case scenario
The critical path is the ___________ path through the network diagram and has the least amount of slack or float?
longest
An important concept in critical chain scheduling is ___________________.
the availability of scarce resources
What is the entire approved planned schedule called?
the Scheduling Baseline
What is a network diagram?
A schematic display of the logical relationships among, or sequencing of, project activities
What does a white diamond on the Tracking Gantt chart represent?
A slipped milestone
What is crashing?
Crashing is a technique for making cost and schedule trade-offs to obtain the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost.
What is Critical Path Method?
Critical Path Methof (also called critical path analysis) is a network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration.
What is the series of activities that determine the earliest time by which the project can be completed?
Critical path
PERT applies the ______________ to a weighted average duration estimate.
Critical path method (CPM)
Which project time management process involves identifying the specific activities that the project team members and stakeholders must perform to produce the project deliverables?
Defining activities
What must be determined in order to use critical path analysis?
Dependencies
Which project time management process involves analyzing activity sequences, activity resource estimates, and activity duration estimate to create the project schedule?
Developing the Schedule
Which dependencies are defined by the project team, and are sometimes referred to as "soft logic" ?
Discretionary Dependencies
What are dummy activities?
Dummy Activities have no duration and no resources but are occasional needed on AOA network diagrams to show logical realtionships between activities.
What is the term for the number of workdays or work hours required to complete a task?
Effort
Which project time management process involves estimating the number of work periods that are needed to complete individual activities?
Estimating Activity Durations
Which project time management process involves estimating how many resources (people, equipment, and materials) a project team should use to perform project activities?
Estimating Activity Resources
Which dependencies involve relationships between project and non-project activities?
External Dependencies
