Topic 4: Project schedule development and tracking

Question 1

What is project scheduling?

Answer 1

The process of defining project activities, determining

their sequence, and estimating their duration.

Question 2

When is a project schedule typically created?

Answer 2

During the project initiation and planning phases.

Question 3

What are the top challenges in project scope?

Answer 3

1. Lack of clarity in scope of the project
2. Shifting organizational priorities
3. Project changes not well managed
4. A lack of project management skills
5. Training of project sponsors

Question 4

What is the ‘cone of uncertainty?’

Answer 4

A progressively more detailed and accurate projection of the project schedule and duration as the project manager or project team specifies project deliverables and activities in more detail.

Question 5

What are the processes in the project schedule management process?

Answer 5

1. Plan Schedule Management
2. Define Activities
3. Sequence Activities
4. Estimate Activity Duration
5. Develop Schedule
6. Control Schedule

Question 6

What are rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimates?

Answer 6

Important but inexact estimates occurring very early in a project’s life cycle—that may be used to justify a
project’s consideration.

Question 7

What are Budgetary estimates?

Answer 7

Estimates that occur later as the various project components are specified in greater detail.

Question 8

What are definitive estimates?

Answer 8

Estimates that are developed when the project’s resources and activities are highly detailed - and therefore only have a minor degree of potential error.

Question 9

What is a work breakdown structure?

Answer 9

A WBS is a way to illustrate the project’s scope and as a launching point for describing the activities necessary for creating the various subcomponents of the project.

Question 10

What is a work breakdown structure similar to?

Answer 10

A product breakdown structure.

Question 11

What are the inputs a PM uses to create a WBS?

Answer 11

1. The project management plan
2. Project scope statement
3. Documented requirements
4. Other factors

Question 12

What is the primary process for creating a WBS?

Answer 12

Decomposition.

Question 13

What is ‘rolling wave planning’?

Answer 13

A scheduling technique in which the team defers breaking down components until they are further clarified and the decomposition takes place as the project progresses.

Question 14

What are different methods for working out the high level deliverables in the WBS

Answer 14

1. Breaking down by major deliverables
2. Use the phases in the System Development Lifecycle as a guide
3. Breaking down by functional areas

Question 15

What is the ideal time for a work package within a work breakdown structure

Answer 15

No less than 8 hours, no longer than 80.

Question 16

What is a Gantt Chart

Answer 16

Gantt charts help teams to plan work around deadlines and properly allocate resources. Projects planners also use Gantt charts to maintain a bird’s eye view of projects. They depict, among other things, the relationship between the start and end dates of tasks, milestones, and dependent tasks.

Question 17

What is a scope baseline?

Answer 17

A document containing the WBS and the WBS Dictionary that specifies the deliverables and components of a project and serves to measure any deviations from that baseline during project execution..

Question 18

What is a WBS dictionary?

Answer 18

A document that accompanies the WBS and provides additional information about the individual components of the WBS.

Question 19

What does the defining activities stage involve?

Answer 19

In this stage, the different work packages of the WBS are broken down into discrete activities, and the attributes of these activities are defined, including a description, resource requirements, logical predecessor or successor activities, and the like.

Question 20

What are the tools and techniques a PM can use to define activities in a WBS?

Answer 20

1. Decomposition - decompose work packages into activities.
2. Templates
3. Prior experience
4. Expert input
5. Rolling wave planning

Question 21

What is a work package?

Answer 21

A work package can be thought of as a sub-project, which, when combined with other work package units, form the completed project.

Question 22

What are the typical features of an activity?

Answer 22

• Can be performed by one person or a well-defined group
• Has a single, clearly identifiable deliverable
• Has a known method or technique
• Has well-defined predecessor and successor steps
• Is measurable so that the level of completion can be determined

Question 23

What is a network diagram?

Answer 23

A network diagram is a schematic display that illustrates the various activities (or tasks) in a project
as well as their sequential relationships

Question 24

What is a dependency?

Answer 24

The process of determining relationships and logical sequence among activities.

Question 25

What does 'Sequencing activities' involve?

Answer 25

The process of determining relationships and logical sequence among activities.

Question 26

What is the relationship between sequencing and dependency?

Answer 26

Dependency influences the sequence of activities (e.g. to put a roof on a house, you generally need walls first).

Question 27

What are ways to speed up a projects completion?

Answer 27

1. Fast Track (making activities parallel) 2. Crashing (more people) 3. Reduce scope

Question 28

What are some factors that influence sequencing?

Answer 28

1. Technical requirements and specifications 2. Safety and efficiency 3. Preferences and policies 4. Resource availability

Question 29

What is the precedence diagram method?

Answer 29

A network diagramming technique that uses boxes connected by arrows to represent activities and their precedence relationships. This is the method with the arrows and boxes Shaun showed us in class.

Question 30

What are the 4 kinds of task dependencies?

Answer 30

S = Start, F = Finish S to S - the start of one activity depends on the start of another. S to F - basically doesn't happen, successor cant finish until the predecessor starts. F to F - completion of the successor depends on the completion of the predecessor. F to S - most common, one doesn't start till another finishes.

Question 31

What is lead time?

Answer 31

The amount of time by which a successor activity can be accelerated.

Question 32

What is lag time?

Answer 32

The time delay between the completion of one task | and the start of the successor.