MG-585 Chapter 8
According to PMI, after planning schedule management, the next process in project time management is to ___________. a. Sequence activities b. Define activities c. Estimate activity durations d. Develop schedule
b. Define activities
In order to be useful as schedule building blocks, activities should have certain characteristics. Which of these is NOT one of the characteristics that an activity should have? a. Tangible output that can be verified b. It is the element at the lowest level of the WBS and has a deliverable associated with it c. Resources, other costs, and schedule that can be estimated and controlled d. Clear starting and ending points
b. It is the element at the lowest level of the WBS and has a deliverable associated with it
If a painted room must dry for four hours before work can continue, the result is a delay in the successor activity. The wait for paint to dry is an example of a _____ a. Lead b. Lag c. Mandatory dependency d. Discretionary dependency
b. Lag
What is another name for the Activity-on-Node (AON) network diagramming technique? a. Activity on Arrow (AOA) b. Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) c. Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) d. Critical Path Method (CPM)
b. Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
Which of these is NOT a typical situation for creating a project schedule milestone? a. Time just before a large amount of money needs to be committed to the project b. Time for weekly project meetings c. Merging point in the schedule where multiple project activities need to be completed d. Completion of a critical activity
b. Time for weekly project meetings
A critical path activity has ________ float during the planning process. a. The most b. Zero c. Negative d. Positive
b. Zero
A lead is a change in the logical relationship that results in the _____ of the successor activity. a. Delay b. Overlap c. Acceleration d. Elimination
c. Acceleration
Which of these four most common types of logical dependencies would be represented by the situation "the carton must be sealed and labelled before the package can be shipped?" a. Start-to-start (SS) b. Start-to-finish (SF) c. Finish-to-start (FS) d. Finish-to-finish (FF)
c. Finish-to-start (FS)
______ is defined as "the amount of time a schedule activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of immediately following schedule activities." a. Total float b. Lag time c. Free float d. Lead time
c. Free float
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of an activity? a. It has clear starting and ending points b. It is a distinct, scheduled portion of work performed during a project c. It is one of the deliverables at the lowest level of the WBS d. It is defined using a verb / noun format
c. It is one of the deliverables at the lowest level of the WBS
Which of these is NOT an advantage of using Monte Carlo analysis for predicting a project schedule? a. It allows for more realistic estimates. b. It is flexible, and allows for an entire range of possible time estimates to be used for any activity. c. It uses three time estimates - Optimistic, Pessimistic, and Most Likely. d. It can provide extensive information about individual activities and different paths through the project.
c. It uses three time estimates - Optimistic, Pessimistic, and Most Likely.
You are planning the schedule and come to an activity you are unfamiliar with. Your SMEs give you the following time estimates: most likely = 5 hours; optimistic = 2 hours; pessimistic = 14 hours. Using PERT, which activity duration do you use in your plan? a. 6 hours b. 2 hours c. 10 hours d. 5 hours
a. 6 hours
Which of these is NOT one of the actions that should be completed during the Two-Pass Method of determining the critical path? a. List all of the paths through the network b. Complete the backward pass through the network c. Complete the forward pass through the network d. Calculate float and the critical path
a. List all of the paths through the network
Potential problems can occur with activity duration estimating when omissions are made. All of these are potential remedies for this problem EXCEPT: a. Rolling wave planning b. Checklists, templates, devil's advocate c. Refining scope and WBS d. Lessons learned
a. Rolling wave planning
The Bluestar Creative Agency is developing a new marketing campaign for a client. They have determined that the client's marketing plan must be completed before the graphic design can begin. This situation describes what type of dependency? a. finish-to-start (FS) b. finish-to-finish (FF) c. start-to-start (SS) d. start-to-finish (SF)
a. finish-to-start (FS)
If an activity on the critical path falls behind schedule, what effect will this have on the entire project? a. It will not have an effect on the project if the critical path activity has free float b. It will only have an effect on its successor activity, not the entire project c. It will increase the length of the entire project by the amount of schedule slippage for the activity d. It will not have an effect on the project if the critical path activity has total float
c. It will increase the length of the entire project by the amount of schedule slippage for the activity
As a project manager, which of the following situations would concern you the most? a. realizing that an activity on your critical path only took two days instead of the four you assigned it using the PERT method b. a three-day delay on an activity with five days total float c. a one-day delay to an activity with 0 total float d. a two-day delay to a noncritical path activity with two predecessor activities
c. a one-day delay to an activity with 0 total float
A Gantt chart represents project schedule information in an easy-to-read, graphical format. Which of these is NOT a component of this type of Gantt chart? a. activities b. start and end dates c. budget data d. durations
c. budget data
A professor who always grades on a curve cannot finish scoring the midterm exams until all of the students have completed taking the test. What kind of relationship is this? a. Start-to-start (SS) b. Start-to-finish (SF) c. Finish-to-start (FS) d. Finish-to-finish (FF)
d. Finish-to-finish (FF)
What is an advantage of using Monte Carlo analysis when estimating the duration for an activity? a. It uses brainstorming techniques to reach a team consensus for the duration. b. It uses historical data from a similar activity or project to calculate the duration. c. It is less costly and time consuming than other estimating techniques. d. It can provide a great deal of information about how activity times may vary.
d. It can provide a great deal of information about how activity times may vary.
A basic Gantt Chart can be helpful in project planning in all of these ways EXCEPT: a. It provides a visual representation of the project schedule b. It is easy to understand when each activity should be performed c. It shows the critical path activities in red or boldface d. It shows predecessor-successor relationships, late start dates, etc.
d. It shows predecessor-successor relationships, late start dates, etc.
How do you calculate Late Start, using the two-pass method? a. Duration-Early Start b. Late Finish-Early Finish c. Early Finish-Early Start d. Late Finish-Duration
d. Late Finish-Duration
The schedule activity that follows a predecessor activity, as determined by their logical relationship, is called a ________. a. Lag b. Predecessor activity c. Lead d. Successor activity
d. Successor activity
The Midlands Company is eager to develop a project schedule. They have already completed the scope statement, work breakdown structure and schedule management plan. What is the next thing they should do in order to start creating a project schedule? a. estimate activity durations b. nothing; they are ready to proceed c. sequence activities d. define activities
d. define activities
Another term for "activity on node," the most commonly used technique for constructing a schedule model is: a. arrow diagramming method (ADM) b. activity on arrow (AOA) c. activity attribute method (AAM) d. precedence diagramming method (PDM)
d. precedence diagramming method (PDM)
