ISDS 551 Chapter 6

planning schedule management

The first process involved in project time management is _____ .

Defining activities

Which of the following processes in project time management involves identifying the specific tasks that the project team members and stakeholders must perform to produce the project deliverables?

Defining activities

In project time management, which of the following processes generate the main outputs of an activity list, activity attributes, and a milestone list?

Sequencing activities

In project time management, which of the following processes primarily involve identifying and documenting the relationships between project activities?

Estimating activity durations

In project time management, which of the following processes involve calculating the number of work periods that are needed to complete individual activities?

Developing the schedule

In project time management, which of the following processes involve analyzing activity sequences, activity resource estimates, and activity duration estimates to create the project schedule?

controlling the schedule

In project time management, the process of_____ primarily involves checking and managing changes to the project schedule.

project management plan update

In project time management, a(n) _____ is an output of controlling the schedule

Project charter

Which of the following documents is most likely to include planned project start and end dates which serve as the starting points for a detailed schedule?

An activity attribute provides more schedule-related information about each activity than an activity list.

Which of the following is a difference between an activity list and an activity attribute?

milestone

A(n) _____ on a project is a significant event that normally has no duration.

defining activities

In project time management, the main goal of _____ is to ensure that the project team has complete understanding of all the work they must do as part of the project scope so they can start scheduling the work.

determining their dependencies.

In project time management, the next step after defining project activities is:

Mandatory

Which of the following types of dependencies are inherent in the nature of work being performed on a project?

Discretionary

_____ dependencies are sometimes referred to as soft logic and should be used with care because they may limit later scheduling options.

External

Which of the following dependencies involve relationships between project and non-project activities?

bursts

In an AOA network diagram, _____ occur when two or more activities follow a single node.

PDM

A network diagramming technique in which boxes represent activities is known as a(n) _____.

finish-to-start

AOA network diagrams use only _____ dependencies.

Start-to-start

Which of the following is a relationship in which the "from" activity cannot start until the "to" activity is started?

It is a dependency in which the "from" activity must be finished before the "to" activity can be finished.

Which of the following is true of a finsih-to-finish dependency?

They show logical relationships between activities.

Which of the following is true of dummy activities?

Project documents update

Which of the following is one of the main outputs of estimating activity resources process?

estimate the duration of activities.

After working with key stakeholders to define activities and calculate their resources, the next process in project time management is to:

developing a schedule

In project time management, the ultimate goal of _____ is to provide a basis for monitoring project progress for the time dimension of the project.

Gantt charts

_____ provide(s) a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format.

Critical path analysis

Which of the following is a network diagramming technique used primarily to predict total project duration?

longest; shortest

The critical path is the _____ path through a network diagram, and it represents the _____ amount of slack or float.

free slack

The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any immediately following activities is known as a _____.

Total slack

_____ is the amount of time an activity can be delayed from its early start without delaying the planned project finish date.

late start date

The _____ for an activity is the latest possible time an activity might begin without delaying the project finish date.

crashing

The technique for making cost and schedule trade-offs to obtain the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost is known as _____.

Fast tracking

Which of the following techniques involve doing activities in parallel that one would normally do in sequence?

both can shorten the time needed to finish a project.

A similarity between the crashing technique and the fast tracking technique is that:

feeding buffers

Critical chain scheduling protects tasks on the critical chain from being delayed by using _____, which consist of additional time added before tasks on the critical chain that are preceded by non-critical-path tasks.

Parkinson’s Law

_____ states that work expands to fill the time allowed.

PERT uses different duration estimates whereas CPM uses one specific duration estimate.

A difference between the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and critical path method (CPM) is that:

Both are portions of the integrated change control process under project integration management.

Which of the following is a similarity between scope control and schedule control?

Lessons-learned reports

Which of the following is an output of schedule control?

project charter

A draft schedule for a project is most likely to be found in a _____.

True

Many information technology projects are failures in terms of meeting scope, time, and cost projections. T/F

False

Managers often cite cost issues during the end phase of a project as one of their biggest challenges and the main cause of conflict. T/F

True

Schedule performance can be estimated by subtracting the original timeestimate from how long it really took to complete the project. T/F

True

Individual work styles and cultural differences may cause schedule conflicts. T/F

True

Different cultures may have different perceptions of work ethic. T/F

False

The outputs to schedule development include activity duration estimates and project document updates. T/F

False

The main outputs of estimating activity resources include the activity list and attributes, project scope statement, milestone list, and organizational process assets. T/F

False

Most managers are unfamiliar with any forms of scheduling. T/F

True

Project schedules grow out of the basic documents that initiate a project. T/F

False

It only takes one activity to complete a milestone. T/F

False

Activity information is not a required input to the other time management processes. T/F

True

After defining project activities, the next step in project time management is sequencing them or determining their dependencies. T/F

True

Even though the delivery of new hardware may not be in the scope of a project, you should add an external dependency to it if required project activities depend on that delivery. T/F

False

Network diagrams are the preferred technique for showing activitydiscretionary dependencies. T/F

True

The arrows in a network diagram represent the activity sequencing or relationships between tasks. T/F

False

It is not necessary to complete all of the activities on the network diagram in order for the project to finish. T/F

False

Every item on the WBS needs to be on the network diagram. T/F

False

Start-to-finish relationships are the most common type of relationships. T/F

True

It is important that the people who help determine what resources arenecessary include people who have experience and expertise in similar projects and with the organization performing the project. T/F

False

Duration only includes the actual amount of time worked on an activity. T/F

True

In a Gantt chart created in Microsoft Project, a black diamond symbol represents a milestone. T/F

True

A Tracking Gantt chart is based on the percentage of work completed for project tasks or the actual start and finish dates. T/F

False

Most projects have one path through a network diagram. T/F

False

The critical path always includes the most critical activities. T/F

True

A fast and easy way to determine early and late start and finish dates and free and total slack amounts for activities is by using project management software. T/F

True

Fast tracking can end up lengthening the project schedule. T/F

False

By using the PERT weighted average for each activity duration estimate,the total project duration estimate does not account for the risk or uncertainty in the individual activity estimates. T/F

True

One of PERT’s main disadvantages is that it involves more work than CPM. T/F

True

Many projects, especially in information technology, have very unrealistic schedule expectations. T/F

False

Project management software does not have the capacity to automatically generate network diagrams and calculate the critical path(s) for the project. T/F

six

There are __ main processes involved in project time management.

defining activities

The main outputs of the ____ process are an activity list, activity attributes, and milestone list

sequencing activites

___ involves identifying and documenting the relationships between project activities

estimating activity durations

____ involves estimating the number of work periods that are needed tocomplete individual activities

developing the schedule

____ involves analyzing activity sequences, activity resource estimates, andactivity duration estimates to create the project schedule.

activity attributes

The ____ provide(s) schedule-related information about each activity, such as predecessors, successors, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, constraints, imposed dates, and assumptions related to the activity.

defining activities

he goal of ____ is to ensure that the project team has complete understanding of all the work they must do as part of the project scope so they can start scheduling the work.

defining activities

____ results in supporting detail to document important product information as well as assumptions and constraints related to specific activities

sequencing activities

____ involves evaluating the reasons for dependencies and the different types of dependencies.

mandatory

____ dependencies are inherent in the nature of the work being performed on a project.

discretionary

____ dependencies are sometimes referred to as soft logic and should be used with care since they may limit later scheduling options.

external

____ dependencies involve relationships between project and non-project activities

bursts

___ occur when two or more activities follow a single node.

right

On a network diagram, all arrowheads should face toward the ___

PDM

he ____ is a network diagramming technique in which boxes represent activities

finish to start

In a ____ relationship, the "from" activity must finish before the "to" activity can start

start to start

In a ____ relationship, the "from" activity cannot start until the "to" activity is started.

finish to finish

In a ____ relationship, one task cannot finish before another finishes.

resource breakdown structure

A ____ is a hierarchical structure that identifies the project’s resources by category and type.

duration estimates

The activity list, activity attributes, activity resource requirements, resource calendars, project scope statement, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets all include information that affect ____

developing the schedule

The ultimate goal of ____ is to create a realistic project schedule that provides a basis for monitoring project progress for the time dimension of the project.

Gantt charts

____ provide(s) a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format

critical path analysis

___ is a network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration.

longest; shortest

The critical path is the ____ path through a network diagram, and it represents the ____ time it takes to complete a project

free slack

____ is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any immediately following activities.

total slack

___ is the amount of time an activity can be delayed from its early start without delaying the planned project finish date.

late start date

he ____ for an activity is the latest possible time an activity might begin without delaying the project finish date

crashing

____ is a technique for making cost and schedule trade-offs to obtain the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost.

fast tracking

__ involves doing activities in parallel that you would normally do in sequence.

critical chain scheduling

_ is a method of scheduling that considers limited resources when creating a project schedule and includes buffers to protect the project completion date.

feeding buffers

Critical chain scheduling protects tasks on the critical chain from being delayed by using ____, which consist of additional time added before tasks on the critical chain that are preceded by non-critical-path tasks

parkinson’s law

___ states that work expands to fill the time allowed

PERT

___ use(s) probabilistic time estimates duration estimates based on using optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates of activity durations instead of one specific or discrete duration estimate.

schedule control

The goal of ____ is to know the status of the schedule, influence the factors that cause schedule changes, determine that the schedule has changed, and manage changes when they occur

tracking gantt chart

project managers often illustrate progress with a ____ showing key deliverables and activities

project schedules

Project managers must use discipline to control __

red

Project management software highlights the critical path in ____ on a network diagram

time

______________ is the one variable in project scheduling that has the least amount of flexibility

project time management

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

estimating activity resources

_________________ involves estimating how many people, equipment, and materials a project team should use to perform project activities

estimating activity durations

Outputs of ______________________________ include activity duration estimates and project document updates

activity list

The ____________________ is a tabulation of activities to be included on a project schedule

network diagram

A(n) ____________________ is a schematic display of the logical relationships among, or sequencing of, project activities

node

In a network diagram, a(n) ____________________ is simply the starting and ending point of an activity

dummy activities

________________ have no duration and no resources but are occasionally needed on AOA network diagrams to show logical relationships between activities

effort

____________ is the number of workdays or work hours required to complete a task.

three point estimate

Duration estimates are often provided as a discrete number, such as four weeks, or as a range, such as three to five weeks, or as a(n) __________________

slipped milestone

A white diamond on the Tracking Gantt chart represents a(n) ___________________

critical path

A(n) ____________________ for a project is the series of activities that determine the earliest time by which the project can be completed

forward pass

A(n) ____________________ determines the early start and early finish dates for each activity