ISMN 5370 Project Management Paradice Exam 2

te=

(a + 4m + b)/6

total slack

= TL(finish node) - TE(EARLIEST start node) - t(task duration)

v

=(b-a)^2 / 36

it cannot represent the beginning or end of several tasks.

A node may represent the beginning of one task or the end of one task, ______________________________________.

external dependency

Activity B cannot begin until an external agent completes Activity A.

discretionary dependency

Activity B follows Activity A because that's the best way to do it.

mandatory dependency

Activity B must follow Activity A.

activity effort

After defining and sequencing the activities, the effort required to complete each activity must be estimated. Those doing the work must have input on the effort required. A common mistake of novice project managers is to estimate activity effort for others based on how long it would take the project manager to finish the activity.

only one event

An important characteristic of AOA diagrams is that a node represents...

PERT

Instead of using one estimate for activity duration, ____ addresses uncertainty in the duration by using three time estimates. These are OPTIMISTIC, MOST LIKELY, and PESSIMISTIC estimates. These estimates are then used to calculate the "expected time" for an activity.

schedule development

Once activities are defined, sequenced, and have durations, a schedule may be constructed. Several tools are used: Gantt charts CPM or PERT analysis Critical Path Analysis

overly optimistic

PERT statistical procedures have been criticized for providing ____________ results.

Network diagrams

Project ____________ model activity relationships. Precedence diagramming uses boxes to represent activities.

gantt charts

Provide a standard, well-known format for representing activities. normally do not show relationships among activities

varying the assumptions

Some resources can be shared across tasks, some cannot. *This is a characteristic that doesn't show up on the diagrams.

SMART

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-framed

larger

The _____ the variance (V), the less reliable the expected time (te), and the higher the likelihood that the task will be completed much earlier or much later than the expected time.

activity sequencing

The boxes contain activity information. This approach is useful in representing different types of dependencies among activities. Most software uses this approach. "Dummy" nodes, which are explained later, are not required in this approach. connected in 4 ways: -finish-to-start -start-to-finish -finish-to-finish -start-to-finish

sum

The expected duration of the project, Te, is the _____ of the expected durations of the tasks on the critical path.

critical path

The only way to shorten the duration of a project is to shorten the ___________. This might make others the _________.

automatically delays

When activities are in sequence, delaying one activity in the path _________________ others in the path and reduces remaining slack times.

planned value

according to schedule, amount of work you expected to complete by a certain point in time

project schedule model

activities, durations, and sequencing

schedule development

adding resource constraints to develop a schedule

milestones

are significant events that need to be documented typically appear as tasks that have zero duration should be SMART

Network Diagrams

are typically used to overcome the inability of Gantt charts to show relationships between tasks. Activity on Arrow (AOA), is frequently used because it lends itself to CPM and PERT techniques.

activity definition

begins with basic parameters in Project Charter (start / end dates, total budget, etc.). Project team develops detailed WBS. Critical supporting documentation regarding ASSUMPTIONS should be developed here.

contingency

budget for unknowns

durations (critical path)

can be used to calculate the earliest and latest possible start time for each activity.

finish-to-finish

connection focuses on when two tasks can end. In this relationship, one task cannot end until the other one does. An example would be that a quality assurance task related to building a component of a system shouldn't finish until the construction of the component finishes.

start-to-finish

connection is the most rare. It indicates a task can't finish until another task starts. An example could be a user acceptance task can't finish until the final installation of the system starts. In other words, perhaps by contract once the final installation is in progress, the user has committed to accepting the system.

start-to-start

connection occurs when a task cannot start until another task starts. An example could be once a help desk system is operational then one can start collecting data on user calls.

schedule control

controlling and managing changes to the schedule

direct costs

cost that you can tie to the project ex: bricks

indirect costs

costs of doing business ex: what you pay to keep the lights on

accuracy and level discussion

describes the accuracy of the estimates

planning schedule management

determining the policies, procedures, documentation for scheduling

cash flow

early and late times help manage _________

activity duration estimating

estimating how long an activity will take.

resource estimating

estimating the resources that should be used.

known unknowns

ex: bad weather days

unknown unknowns

ex: unexpected death or catastrophic illness

critical path method

focuses on activity durations.

process descriptions

how all processes will be performed

reporting formats

how information will be communicated

activity sequencing

identifying relationships between activities.

activity definition

identifying the specific activities (work tasks) required.

it is good and under budget

if the number is greater than 1 for the cost performance index, that means....

project is ahead of schedule!

if the number is greater than 1 for the schedule performance index, that means.....

task duration

includes the actual effort (amount of time worked on an) activity plus the elapsed time.

project cost management

includes the processes required to ensure that the project is completed within an approved budget.

project schedule management

involves the processes required to ensure timely completion of a project.

crashing

is a way of shortening the schedule.

negative slack

is an indication that time must be cut from a path to meet the desired target date or the target date must be changed to a later date.

Variance for the Project

is computed as the sum of the variances of the task durations along the critical path.

Activity on Arrow Diagram (AOA)

is constructed from nodes connected by lines task identifier is placed on the line to represent a task One node on the end of the line represents the start of the task and the other node on the end of line represents the end of the task.

activity on arrow diagrams (AOA)

is frequently used because it lends itself to CPM and PERT techniques.

PERT

is not a single estimate but an estimate subject to uncertainty owing to the uncertainties of the task times along the critical path.

planning schedule management (step 1)

is planning how the schedule will be managed throughout the life of the project.

early start time (TE)

is the earliest time a task can be started. It is found by taking the sum of all the task durations that lead to the task. When more than one path leads to a task, the longest path is used to determine the early start time.

late start time (TL)

is the latest allowable time the task can start and still not delay the completion of the project. It is computed by starting at the terminal node of the project and working backwards. *LONGEST path is used to determine late start time at a node

critical path

is the longest path in a network diagram and represents the earliest time a project may be completed. *might be more than one

pessimistic (b)

is the maximum time an activity could take; it is the situation where bad luck is encountered at every step.

optimistic time (a)

is the minimum time an activity could take under normal conditions.

finish-to-start

is the most common connection. This connection means the next task in the sequence starts after the previous one finishes. An example could be that training can't start until the system is installed.

most likely (m)

is the normal time to complete the job.

total slack

is the range of allowable variation between when an activity can be scheduled and when it must be scheduled for the project to be completed on target.

Beta distribution

is unimodal, has finite end points, and is not necessarily symmetrical.

sunk costs

money already spent

sequenced

once defined, activities must be _____. There are several different possible relationships. -mandatory dependency -discretionary dependency -external dependency

free slack

refers to the amount of time a task can be delayed without affecting the start time of any successor tasks. *assumes that it will be started at the earliest possible time

expected time (te)

represents the point on the distribution where there is a 50-50 chance that the task will be completed earlier or later than it.

smallest

slack on the critical path is always _____ (often 0)

performance measurement

specifies how performance will be measured

control threshold

specifies the variances that will be tolerated

shouldn't

sunk costs (should/shouldn't) effect a decision about future costs.

slack

tasks that can be delayed without impacting the duration of the project are said to have ________.

earned value

the actual work you have completed by a certain point in time

don't

when we shorten the schedule, we (do/don't) shorten the work.

using more resources and people work overtime

why is it when you shorten an activity / project, you incur more costs?

gap

you can move activities within the _____ to manage cash.