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55 Cards in this Set

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Exam Essential

Describe the Activity Sequencing process.
The process of identifying dependency relationships between the project activities and scheduling activities in the proper order.
Exam Essential

Name the two major relationships between dependent tasks.
A predecessor is a task that exists on a path with another task and occurs before the task in question.

A successor is a task that exists on a common path with another task and occurs after the task in question.
Exam Essential

Name the four types of logical relationships
Finish-to-start
The successor activity cannot begin until the predecessor activity has completed.

Start-to-finish
The predecessor activity must start before the successor activity can finish

Finish to Finish
The predecessor activity must finish before the successor activity finishes

Start-to-start
The predecessor activity depends on starting before the successive activity can start
Exam Essential

What are the five most common estimating techniques?
Expert Judgment
Relies on the knowledge of someone familiar with the tasks

Analogous
(aka – Top-Down Estimating)
Bases the estimate on similar activities from a previous project.

Parametric Estimate
Quantitatively based estimates that typically calculate the rate times quantity

Three-point estimates
Use the most likely, optimistic and pessimistic estimates to determine an average.

PERT
Uses the same estimates three-point estimates, but it calculates an expected value or weighted average estimate.
When is analogous estimating most effective?

What is a downfall of analogous estimating?
When the person doing the estimates is familiar with both projects and is able to understand the differences that could impact the activity durations on the new project.

It is typically the least accurate means of obtaining an estimate.
When using expert judgment as an estimating technique, who should ideally complete the estimates?
Project team members who will be doing the task.
What information must you know to use parametric estimating?
The productivity rate of the resource performing the task or have a company or industry standard that can be applied to the task in question.
Exam Essential

Define the purpose of CPM.
CPM calculates the longest path in the project.

This path controls the finish date of the project. Any delay to a critical path task will delay the completion date of the project.
Exam Essential

Explain a network diagram
A network diagram is used in Activity Sequencing to depict project activities and the interrelationships and dependencies among these activities.
Exam Essential

Name the two most common ways project schedules are displayed.
Project schedules are typically displayed as:
• milestone charts
• Gantt Charts
Key Terms

Activity Duration
Assessing the number of work periods needed to complete the project activities.

Work periods are usually expressed in hours or days.

Large projects might express duration in weeks or months.
Key Terms

Activity List

What must be included on the activity list?

Where is the activity list created from?
A list of every activity that need to be completed for a project.

Also includes the WBS identifier code it’s associated with.

Activities are broken down from the work package level of the WBS.
Key Terms

Activity Definition
The process of breaking down the work packages from the WBS into individual activities that make up all the work of the work package.
Key Terms

Activity Sequencing
Sequencing activities in logical order and determining whether dependencies exist among the activities.
Key Terms

Analogous Estimating
(aka. Top-Down Estimating)
An estimating technique that uses the actual duration of a similar, completed activity to determine the duration of an existing activity.
Key Terms

Backward Pass
Calculating late start and late finish dates by starting at the end of the network diagram and working back through each path until reaching the start of the network diagram.

This is part of critical path method (CPM), which is a mathematical technique to develop the project schedule.
Key Terms

Crashing
A schedule compression technique that adds resources to the project to reduce the time it takes to complete the project.

Crashing could also be accomplished by requiring mandatory overtime for critical path tasks, by speeding up delivery times from vendors, and so on.
What are the downfalls of “crashing” a project schedule?
It may increase risk and/or impact the budget
Key Terms

Critical Path (CP)

What do all critical path activities have in common?
The longest path through all project activities (as represented in a network diagram) that determines the duration of the project.

The activities on the critical path usually have zero float
Key Terms

Critical Path Method (CPM)
A technique used to determine the duration of a project by looking at the sequence of activities and their flexibility in scheduling.

CPM creates a schedule by calculating forward and backward passes through the network diagram and then determining float.
Key Terms

Dependencies
The relationship between project activities.
Key Terms

Discretionary Dependency
A type of dependency that the project manager and project team chose to impose on the project schedule.

Example: Use of an established corporate practice.
Key Terms

Duration Compression
Techniques to shorten the planned duration of a project to resolve schedule slippage, such as:
• Fast-tracking
• Crashing
Key Terms

Expected Value
Used in the Program Evaluation & Review Technique (PERT), it is a weighted average.

It is calculated using the 3-point estimates fro activity duration and then finding the weighted average of those estimates.

Example: (optimistic + pessimistic + ( 4 x most likely)) / 6
Key Terms

External Dependency
A relationship between a project activity and a factor outside the scope of the project that influences the completion of that activity.

Example: Weather conditions that impact the ability to drive between locations.
Key Terms

Expert Judgment
Using subject matter experts to assist in decision making.
Key Terms

Fast Tracking
A schedule compression technique where two activities that were previously scheduled to start sequentially start at the same time.

Fast tracking reduces schedule duration.
Before using fast-tracking as a schedule compression technique, what must a project manager do?

Why?
• Be sure to get input from project team members
• Document all the risks and present them to the project sponsor, the client and other key stakeholders

Fast-tracking increases risk
Key Terms

Float Time
The amount of time that the early start of an activity can be delayed without affecting the completion date of the project.

Also known as slack time.
Key Terms

Forward Pass
The process of working from the left to the right of a network diagram in order to calculate early start nd early finish dates for each activity.
Key terms

Late Start
Late Finish
Early Finish
Early Start
Late Start
The latest date an activity can begin without affecting the completion of the entire project.

Late Finish
The latest date an activity can be completed without delaying the completion of the entire project.

Early Finish
The earliest date that an activity may be completed in the activity sequence.

Early Start
The earliest date that an activity can be started in the activity sequence.
Key Terms

Logical Relationships
The dependency relationships that may exist between tasks.

Finish-to-start is the most common logical relationship.
Key Terms

Mandatory dependency
A type of dependency where the relationship between two tasks is created by the type of work the project requires.

Example: A utility crew can’t lay the cable for a new housing area until a trench is dug.
Key Terms

Network Diagram
A depiction of project activities and the interrelationships between these activities.
Types include:
• Activity-On-Node (AON),
• Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
• Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM)
Key Terms

Parametric Estimating
A quantitatively based estimating technique that is typically calculated by multiplying rate times quantity.
Key Terms

Precedence diagramming method (PDM)
A network diagraming method that places activities on nodes (or in boxes), which connect to dependent activities using arrow.

Also known as Activity On Node.
Key Terms

Successor
A task on the network diagram that occurs after another task.
Key Terms

Three –point estimates
Use the most likely, optimistic and pessimistic estimates to determine an average.

Most likely
Assumes that work proceeds according to plan

Optimistic
The fastest timeframe in which your resources can complete the activity

Pessimistic
Assumes the work will take a long time to complete.
Key Terms

Predecessor
An activity that is on the same network diagram path and occurs before another activity.
Key Terms

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
A weighted average time estimate of project duration using optimistic (O), pessimistic (P) and most likely (ML) estimates of project duration. Also known as three-point estimating.

PERT = O + P + (4 X ML)/6
What does a completed and approved project schedule become the baseline for?
Reporting project progress – it is used to track actual progress against what was planned when you begin the work of the project.
What is progress reported against?
The project schedule
Who should be involved in creating the schedule?

How long does it take to create the schedule?
Several subject matter experts should be involved in the process.

It could take several sessions to finalize the schedule.
What is the key to Activity Definition?
Identify all the tasks required to produce the work packages (and ultimately the deliverables).
What are the three categories of activity dependencies?
• Mandatory
• Discretionary
• External
What questions can be asked to establish the logical relationships between activities?
1. How does the dependency impact the start and finish of each of the activities?
2. Does one activity have to start first?
3. Can you start the second activity before the first activity is finished?
Why is it critical to identify the correct relationship between dependent activities?
To develop an accurate schedule.
Key Terms

Conditional Diagramming Method (CDM)

What are the two types of CDM?
A way to diagram activities that loop, or are repeated throughout the project, and is a way to diagram activities that are not in sequential order

• Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT)
• System Dynamics
Key Terms

Critical Chain Method (CCM)
A scheduling approach that considers the availability of the resources needed to complete the project work. Unavailable resources may cause the network diagram to be reconfigured or the project duration to take longer than originally planned
What are the three most common techniques used for developing schedules?
• The critical path method
• Duration compression
• Project management software
Other than identifying the time to complete the project, critical path and critical path activities what else is the CPM useful for?
It determines which tasks can start late or can take longer than planned without impacting the project end date.
What is the purpose of the project schedule?
To determine the start and finish dates of each of the project activities.
Define: Milestone

What is a milestone chart?

What are milestone dates a good trigger for?
A milestone marks a key event in the project life cycle of the completion of a major deliverable.

A milestone chart tracks the scheduled dates and actual completion dates for the major milestones.

Communication
Define: Gantt Chart

What can be illustrated on a Gantt Chart?
A type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule.

Milestones, deliverables, sub-deliverables, or all activities of the project if needed
Key Terms

Schedule Baseline

After the baseline is created what important step must be completed.
The final, approved version of the project schedule that includes the baselines start and finish dates and resource assignments.

Get sign-off and approval from the sponsor, stakeholders and functional managers.