653 ch 5-7 practice

which is a key benefit of using lags with finish to start relationships?

proper accounting of resource cost

A _________ is a list of questions that address traditional areas of uncertainty on a project, drawn from previous, similar projects.

risk profile

what term is used to describe the documents needed to develop an adequate risk response control plan?

risk register

the critical path is the path with _________.

the longest duration through the network

The average project duration is _________.

the sum of all the average activities times along the critical path

what is the goal of numbering activities in a project network?

to define network paths, locate specific activities, and troubleshoot

which statement is correct with respect to transferring risk?

transfer of risk does not change the likelihood or impact

when constructing a project network for a project with 25-100 tasks, a common industry practice is to _________.

utilize the "yellow sticky" approach

Which statement best defines the methodology for accepting project opportunities?

when the event occurs, implement increased application of resources, but don't expend any pursuing it

what is the definition of the term "slack" or "float" in a project network?

-the difference between the early and late finish of an activity. [LF- EF = SL] -the time an activity can be delayed before it becomes critical. [fundamental to understanding concept of slack] -the difference btw the early and late start of an activity. [LS - ES = SL]

List the steps of risk management in their proper sequence

1. Risk Identification 2. Risk Assessment 3. Risk Response Development 4. Risk Response Control

There are 3 reasons risks may be accepted. Match the reason a risk is "accepted," with how that type of risk is handled. 1. Too large to be transferred. 2. Costs are too small to mitigate 3. So unlikely it is ignored

1. The project owner assumes the risk of an event occurring 2. The budget reserve absorbs the risk if they materialize 3. A cost overrun is accepted should the risk event occur

Match the type of contingency with the correct definition 1. Budget 2. Management 3. Time

1. set up to cover identified risks 2. set up cover unknown/unidentified 3. set up to cover identified and/or unknown risks

PERT uses _________ for each activity.

3 time estimates [PERT uses optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely durations.]

For project standard Time unit of days (most typical), what is the rule of thumb for duration of an individual work package within a WBS?

5-10 days [ will allow for more frequent control points and not allow a single task to fall too far behind and ruin a project schedule]

what is the horizontal bar chart showing activities/tasks with duration and timing?

A Gantt Chart

Cost of labor, materials, and equipment are examples of_________ costs.

Direct

Total slack relates to the project and date, while free slack relates to the _________.

Successor (next) activity start date

According to project estimation guidelines, each task estimate is supposed to be done independently of other tasks. Why does this lead to inaccurate estimates?

Task interdependencies influence actual time and cost requirements

True or false: poorly written scope statement for a new technology leads to errors and estimating time and costs.

True [new technology often has a lots of unknowns]

Monger project durations will negatively influence estimating quality due to which cause?

Uncertainty increases over time

Which costs are examples of G&A overhead costs?

VP of sales Advertising

Which condition is indicative that total slack has/will not be completely consumed (i.e."used")?

When an activity begins before the late start date. [that's the underlying concept of slack, you don't have to start at the earliest time, just get done by the late finish.]

Why is past experience the best starting point for creating quality time and cost estimate?

While projects are unique, many elements are similar to past work

Why is bottom up estimating generally considered more accurate than top-down?

Work packages are individually considered/ estimated

what identifying risk, a team should initially focus on what aspect of risk?

a chance event happening

What best describes a contingency fund for a project?

a reserve to manage all known and unknown project risks

Which statement best defines the methodology for sharing project opportunities?

allocate some or all ownership to another party best able to capture the opportunity for the benefit of the project

what is the meaning of the term "lag" in a project network?

an amount of time to delay a successor activity after the predecessor starts

The goal of the failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) is to prioritize risk by _________.

assigning numerical FMEA rankings

Which statements are correct with respect to time buffers?

buffers should be added to projects with high uncertainties

which best describes what is meant by "risk avoidance" in a risk management plan?

changing the project plan eliminate a risk condition

T or F: conditional statements are allowed in project networks.

false

what is key to developing a risk transfer approach to risk management?

identify and document responsibility for absorbing the impact of the risk occurence

A _________ is the contingency budget set aside to deal with risk events.

management reserve

Which statements about management reserves are correct?

management reserves are established after the budget reserves are identified

What is the benefit of a risk management plan for a project?

minimizing the impact of risks occurring

Which is a significant concern with sing consensus for top down project estimating?

people may yield to the opinion of the highest ranking person in the room

when a project Activity on Node (AON) network includes time and resource estimates, it may be used for which project management functions(s)?

planning, scheduling, and controlling

where in the project life cycle should a project manager begin the risk identification process?

planning. [risk mangt is about considering the WBS and developing a plan, so this is the correct place.]

WOTF statements summarize why estimates are generally so inaccurate?

-lack of info in the planning phase -predicting the future is difficult

What identifies and documents an initial set of risks?

-risk profile -Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS)

why is keeping task estimates independent of each other needed for sound project planning?

--prevents developing individual estimates to fit a predetermined total duration and/or cost --dependencies, and potential impacts, may not be known

Which are project factors that would tend to require a greater level of detail and a work breakdown structure WBS used for estimating?

-A high degree of project complexity -A need for tight budget or time control

What factors inherent to a dedicated project team structures Will improve the quality of time and cost estimates?

-Estimator's time allocated to project versus "regular" work -Estimator's sense of project ownership

Top-down estimating for projects is best suited for situations when_________

-Project proposals are being evaluated -a WBS cannot easily defined

Why should project task time, cost, and resource estimates be based on "normal conditions"?

-Provides a common frame of reference for interpreting the estimates -prevents overly optimistic estimates

WOTF is considered a direct overhead cost?

-Salary of the project manager -temporary rental space for the project team

Identify the main reasons why the project cost estimate is broken down into direct costs, direct project overhead costs, in general and administrative overhead costs.

-To sharpen the control process -to improve decision-making

What elements are included in a project network?

-Work packages within a WBS -The sequence of activities to complete the project...[referred to as precedence relationship.] -Interdependencies of activities.

WOTF correctly describe a network activity?

-an activity usually represents one or more task from a work package -an activity defines the time required to complete

Project networks modeled and project management software are extremely useful for doing which of these analysis?

-calculating forward and backward pass info -running "what is" analysis

Change management systems utilize what process steps?

-controlling [manage the input, evaluation, and execution of a change request] -recording [you can't control what you don't document] -reporting [if change is not properly communicated, the process will not be beneficial]

what are the benefits of using the resource (person) most familiar with a task to do something?

-establishes "buy in" for the project -builds communication channels early -increases probability of accurate estimates

Portion is a multi-faceted and top-down approach and maybe used in such situations?

-estimating a project for a relatively standard product with minor changes -assigning WBS major deliverable costs by percentage of total project

What functions are included in risk response control?

-executing the response strategies -watching for new risks -monitoring "triggering" events -initiating contingency plans

WOTF are used by a risk assessment matrix to prioritize identified risk?

-impact -likelihood

WOTF our potential impacts caused by adding time or cost (padding) to a work breakdown structure element estimate?

-Gaming the system may cause management to unilaterally cut the estimate -total project cost or time may cause the project to be canceled or not executed

Good time and cost estimates are needed within project execution to allow a project manager to do WOTF?

-Monitor project progress -schedule work -Support decision-making

What are the benefits of using past project estimates and actuals to create a new project estimate?

-Past projects can provide specific work package info -actuals from past projects provide benchmark measurements

what "people factors" influence the quality of the project estimates?

-familiarity with the task -individual skills [fundamentally it ALWAYS comes to this]

What is required for using the template method of bottom up estimating?

-good Historical information -Understanding differences between projects

What are the project characteristics that would benefit from phase estimating?

-high degree of scope uncertainty -Long duration with progressive design

WOTF statements summarize my estimates are generally so inaccurate

-lack of info in the planning phase -predicting the future is difficult

WOTF stmts are true about laddering a series of activities in a project network?

-large activities can be segmented so that the following activities can begin sooner and not delay the work -when one activity has a long duration and overlaps the start of another

What planning functions are available with a project network?

-logical sequencing of activities -scheduling project progress

Which are key rules to building a project network?

-no "if-then" statements -should have come and start and end node...[seeks to establish that there aren't no "dead end" paths in the network] -numbering activities aids clarity

which statements are reasons why the finish to start relationship may not be the "best" approach in a project network?

-not all tasks have to wait for a predecessor to complete -using all finish to start relationships will develop the longest project duration

what network analysis may be completed only after completing both the forward and backward passes?

-project sensitivity -critical path determination

WOTF are key benefits of using lags with start to start relationships?

-reduction of project delay -reduction of network detail

Which of the following statements are true about project network sensitivity?

-sensitivity is a result of many "near critical" (low slack) activities. -the higher the sensitivity, the more likely the critical path will change.

What you project managers care about project network sensitivity?

-sensitivity serves as a guide to where a project manager concentrates control efforts. -high sensitivity means focusing on tasks off the critical path

what key pieces of activity related info are obtained after completing both the forward and backward passes?

-slack durations -early and late start dates

most computer progrmas will assign calendar dates automatically after you identify_________.

-start dates -time units -non-working days

what are the reasons that most project networks "fail" or are never completed in practice?

-the WBS is poorly constructed -different people define the work packages and network activities

which statements are true about using a finish precedence relationship?

-the successor activity may start at any time -the finish of one activity is dependent on the finish of another activity

Identify the true statements about general and administrative (G&A) overhead costs?

-these costs include organization costs across all products and projects such as advertising -these represent organization costs that are not directly linked to a specific project

what are the benefits of prohibiting dangler paths in a multiple project network?

-total planning period of projects can be identified. -different start dates for each project can be achieved

Identify the responses to a risk event when the risk has been identified and assessed.

-transfer -mitigate -avoid -retain

A white elephant megaproject is one that is_________.

-under value -over budget -cost exceeds benefits

what information is needed to build a project network?

-work package durations -technical knowledge of deliverables -list of work packages

Direct Costs are cash flows expended as the project progresses and maybe influenced by WOTF

-work package leader -project team manager -project manager

For projects with a standard Time unit of days (most typical) what is the rule of thumb for duration of an individual work package within a work breakdown structure?

1- 5 days [PMs say that a task duration should not exceed five workdays]

factors outside the organization, project team, or project itself may influence which aspect of a time/cost estimate?

accuracy of the estiimate

which is key benefit of using a hammock activity in a project network?

assignment and control of indirect costs

which 2 precedence relationships are typically combined when more than one precedence relationship is used on a predecessor - successor pair of activities?

start to start. finish to finish.

top-down and bottom up are estimating both paramedic (ratio) estimating, the difference is that...

top down look at the project as a total unit, whereas bottom up looks at individual tasks

true or false: the start-to-finish relationship represents situations in which the finish of an activity depends on the start of another activity

true

with respect to using software to build a project network, the authors contention is that...

understanding the calculations used is vital to proper use

true or false: a project network with activity time estimates has no links to planning, scheduling and controlling of projects.

false

when the learning curve can be applied, what effect does it have on project estimation?

increases accuracy of time and cost estimates

what is the difference in the info between the work package and network activity?

networks include timing whereas work packages do not

WOTF statements is true of the level of detail for activities?

In some cases it is possible to end up with too much information to manage. [it's never easy to determine; it's a learning curve for a project manager]

Bottom up estimating is considered by the authors to be more accurate than top-down because...

It considers specific tasks [this is the strength bottom up completing more specific estimates and rolling them up]

What is the outcome of the statistical methodology used in the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)?

the likelihood of various project durations

Which statement best defines the methodology for enhancing project opportunities?

the opposite of mitigation, take actions to increase the probability and/or impact of a positive occurrence

Which statement best describes the scales used to measure/predict probability, impact, and detection?

they may vary depending on project. [will range from simple to complex, but should be defined prior to beginning the process]

Which of the following pertain to "risk" in the context of project management?

-a risk is an uncertain event or condition -a risk may have a negative impact on project objectives -a risk may have a positive impact on project objectives

What are key components of contingency plan?

-all parties affected should have the authority to make commitments -defining the event that will initiate/trigger the plan into action -cost estimates in the planning, not execution, phase

What are the potential actions of project funding cuts such as the reduction or elimination of the source of project cash inflow?

-cancel remainder of the project -reduce project scope

In scenario analysis, WOTF is used to assess risk?

-impact of an event -probability of an event

Which methods may be used to transfer risk in a project?

-insurance -warranties and/or guarantees -fixed price contracts

What are drawbacks in using insurance to transfer risk?

-insurance is often costly -it may be difficult to explain the risk and its consequences to an insurance broker

Which response explains why monitoring risk during project execution is important?

-new risks may emerge as project activities complete -people may hide problems until they become difficult to manage

Which of the following are true assessing risks?

-not all risks deserve attention -project managers have to sift through the through the list of risks -some risks are trivial and can be ignored

In addition to the core project team, who should/may participate in identifying risk?

-outside vendors/contractors -sponsors -customers

which are potential impacts given a project with risk responses but no contingency plan?

-panic -incorrect actions taken -delayed corrective action

Which source(s) of project information must be reviewed and, if necessary, updated/changed upon approval of a change request proposal?

-project baseline -WBS

When assigning responsibility for responding to risk on a work package, which stakeholders should be involved in the decision-making?

-project manager -person responsible for work package -person responsible to risk response

what are potential actions of project funding cuts such as the reduction or elimination of the source of project cash inflow?

-reduce project scope -cancel remainder of the project

Which statements about budget reserves are correct?

-tagged to specific work packages or deliverables -allocated funds deducted after work package/deliverable completed

what are appropriate methods for handling technical (project technology related issues) risk?

-testing and assessment methods -back-up or alternate plans

What aspects of project change control are documented within a communication plan at the start of a project?

-the evaluation/decision making process -how stakeholders will be notified of changes

In a generic project life cycle, which phase(s) has the highest probability of risk occurring?

Defining and Planning [this is where scope and WBS uncertainty is the greatest, and many planning questions are yet to be answered]

Top-down methods, sometimes called parametric, usually use_________ to estimate project times or costs.

Ratios or surrogates

Why is the accuracy of the estimates for current events greater than that for more distant events?

Uncertainty increases overtime [major factor impacting time and cost]

True or False: a risk breakdown structure should focus on task-level risks during the initial risk identification stage.

False [the RBS should be used to focus on project-level risks at the beginning.]

Weighted average activity time formula

te = a + 4m + b / 6 te = weighted average activity time a = optimistic activity time b = pessimistic activity time m = most likely activity time

Which is the purpose of a contingency fund in executing a response to an opportunity (positive risk) occurring?

to take advantage of opportunities

True or false: a learning curve is most applicable in non-repetitive tasks

False [Learning curves are most applicable in labor intensive tasks which required repetition]

For a project task, the optimistic activity time is 3 hours, the pessimistic time is 10 hours, and the most likely time is 7 hours. Calculate the weighted average activity time.

6.8 hours [ (3 + (4 x 7) + 10) / 6 ====> 6.8

The goal of the failure mode effects analysis (FMEA) is to prioritize risk by _________.

assigning numerical FMEA rankings

What type of contingency is typically required to manage a "schedule risk" finishing a project late?

budget reserves , cash

Which statement best defines the methodology for exploiting project opportunities?

eliminate the uncertainty associated with an opportunity to ensure that it definitely happens

Which are appropriate methods for handling cost risk?

item-by-item price risk analysis

Match the factor that causes an inaccurate time and cost estimates to its root cause because of which the factor occurs. 1. Normal conditions do not apply [assumes the only minor deviations from plan will occur] 2. Scope creep [tool to trigger a revision of estimate] 3. Things go wrong [Extreme weather, accidents, and design flaws]

1. Estimations should be used on past experience with resource availability, that while this is a good starting point, it rarely holds true during a project. 2. As the project progresses, a manager better understand what needs to be done to accomplish the project; plans may change without adequate documentation. 3. The guideline is not to plan for disaster or accidents while estimating a specific task, but in reality, events happen which affects time and cost estimates.

assume a student is given a new assignment today and has 7 days to complete it. The student estimate it will take 2 days of work. When is the activity's early finish (EF)?

2 [this is the activity duration, and is also the Early Finish if they start immediately

Estimating a project's time and cost should be_________?

A continual process rather than a one time event

Range estimating works best when work packages have significant uncertainty, and a_________ estimation will usually arrive at a more reasonable average?

A group

Project promoters are often accused of using_________ to promote mega projects?

Deception

How does total slack relate to a project networks critical path?

Activities with the minimum amount of slack make up the critical path. [this is the glossary definition because once you're into a project, you fall behind so far as to make slack negative; inferring the amount of the project will be late if nothing else changes.]

Project promoters are often accused of using__________ to promote mega projects?

Deception [when the motive is personal gain, a projects benefits may be exaggerated, It's costs under estimated

Establishing costs and time estimates will allow a project manager to do which of the following?

Control the project [creating a time phased estimate of costs will establish a project "baseline" to which a project manager can monitor her progress and thereby control a project]

Why is top-down estimating generally not effective at developing a low cost project estimate?

Estimators may be influenced by the proposed budget

Why should time estimates use common units(hours, days, weeks,etc) across all project tasks?

Facilitates network analysis

What estimating influence is described by the general statement that some organizations encouraged padding of estimates while others discourage the practice and want the most realistic and/ or accurate estimate?

Organization culture

One of the major advantages of a dedicated project team is the speed gained from concentrated focus and localized project decisions what is the additional cost of that speed gained?

Personnel are 100% allocated to that project. [yes, and a dedicated project team structure, team members often work full time on the project]

What is the term used to define the starting point by which a project estimate is "frozen" and then measured to determine accuracy?

Project baseline

Good time and cost estimates are needed within a project execution to allow a project manager to do WOTF?

Schedule work --> knowing the timing and cost requirements are critical inputs] Monitor project progress --> the basis for reviewing progress reports from team members] Support decision making --> knowing timing and cost requirements are critical inputs]

What term is used to describe the likelihood (probability) that a project network's original critical path will change over the course of executing the project?

Sensitivity. [the higher the sensitivity, the more likely the critical path will change.]

Which type of project lends itself to the function point method of top-down estimating?

Software development

RangeEstimating Will provide an estimation for a "high" and "low" cost and or time frame to complete a project. Which project characteristics would need this type of approach?

Software/Technology projects with relatively unknown requirements. When work packages have a high degree of an certainty.

In the forward pass, activity times are added as one proceeds along the network. In the backward pass, activity times are_________.

Subtracted [we start with the last activity and subtract activity times to find a late start and late finish for each activity]

Which approach is estimating project time and cost is usually completed by upper management?

Top down [using analogies, Group consensus, or some type of mathematical relationship two prior projects]

Which approach to estimating project time and cost is usually completed by upper management?

Top down [using analogies, group consensus, or some type of mathematical relationship to prior projects]

what is a project network?

a graphical representation of the project in flow chart form

What is a primary benefit of using several people to generate a time or cost estimate for a project rather than have a single estimator do all the estimating?

eliminates extreme estimates

In general terms, risk mitigation will approach an identified risk by planning to reduce its_________.

likelihood impact