OMGT 5983 Final Exam Questions and
Answers
Project Control Process (4 steps) - Answer-o 1) Setting a Baseline Plan
o 2) Measuring Progress and Performance
o 3) Comparing Plan against Actual
o 4) Taking Action
Reducing Project Duration - Answer-o When resources are not constrained
§ Add resources
§ Outsource
§ Schedule overtime
§ Establish a full time team
§ Fast & Dirty - then Correctly (do it twice, ie pontoon bridge)
o When resources are constrained
§ Improve efficiency (flattening the leadership structure, red tape)
§ Fast-tracking (critical tasks done in parallel)
§ Reduce scope
§ Compromise Quality
Crashing a project - Answer-project Activities need to be on critical path
· Project Schedule Management Overview - Answer-o Plan schedule management
o Estimate activity durations
o Define activities
o Develop Schedule
o Sequence Activities
o Control Schedule
what is Practice Standard Scheduling - Answer-· It is the framework to create, manage,
and maintain schedules in a project environment.
What is the Purpose of Standard Scheduling - Answer-· To lay out the standards and
guidelines for the minimum required items required for a schedule model.
4 Scheduling Methods - Answer-1. Critical path approach: derive the items that cannot
be delayed without extending completion timeline. Most prevalent method.
2. Critical Chain: A resource dependency and activity model that produces an efficient
schedule by focusing sharply on resource constraints and schedules accordingly.
Buffers are used with trigger points to start actions to restore schedule.
3. Adaptive Life Cycle: For projects that range from deterministic tasks (performed
before such as building a house ,low resource uncertainty) to high-uncertainty work
(Brand new technology). Scrum and Kanban may be employed.
, 4. Rolling Wave: "progressive elaboration". Close in work is planned in great detail and
future work is planned only partially.
8 steps/process to develop schedule model baseline` - Answer-1. Define Milestones
2. Define Project Activities
3. Sequence Activities
4. Determine Resources
5. Determine Duration
6. Analyze Schedule Output
7. Approve model
8. Baseline the Schedule Model (approved and used as measuring stick)
Critical Path - Answer-Longest path, consists of activities that cannot be delayed without
also delaying project completion; depending on milestones and project type - it is
possible to have multiple critical paths. Critical activities are those that are vital to
project success even though they may not reside on the critical path. They are high risk,
and have a high correlation to project failure
Total Float - Answer-The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed or
extended from its early start date without delaying the project finish date or violating a
schedule constraint.
Free Float - Answer-The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed without
delaying the early start date of any successor or violating a schedule constraint.
Level of Effort Activity - Answer-A support-type project activity that must be done to
support other work activities or the entire project effort.
PERT - Answer-· PERT uses three estimates (pessimistic, most likely, and optimistic) to
bound a beta-distribution representative of task duration. Each task is point estimated to
Te by the (a+4b+c)/6 equation. Then, we can estimate stand dev by (b-a)/6. Only use
the ones on the critical path.
Leads and Lags - Answer-· Leads/Lags refer to a task start time relative to another. In a
lead, you start a task by a set time in front of a subsequent/dependent task. Both
introduce some risk; and should be discretely modeled whenever possible.
Categories of Estimating - Answer-Quantitative
Qualitative
Relative
Relative Estimating - Answer-o Affinity Grouping - Placing projects of various complexity
together in groups to facilitate estimation
o Planning Poker - Silent method to avoid anchoring to get participants to state their
own estimation
Answers
Project Control Process (4 steps) - Answer-o 1) Setting a Baseline Plan
o 2) Measuring Progress and Performance
o 3) Comparing Plan against Actual
o 4) Taking Action
Reducing Project Duration - Answer-o When resources are not constrained
§ Add resources
§ Outsource
§ Schedule overtime
§ Establish a full time team
§ Fast & Dirty - then Correctly (do it twice, ie pontoon bridge)
o When resources are constrained
§ Improve efficiency (flattening the leadership structure, red tape)
§ Fast-tracking (critical tasks done in parallel)
§ Reduce scope
§ Compromise Quality
Crashing a project - Answer-project Activities need to be on critical path
· Project Schedule Management Overview - Answer-o Plan schedule management
o Estimate activity durations
o Define activities
o Develop Schedule
o Sequence Activities
o Control Schedule
what is Practice Standard Scheduling - Answer-· It is the framework to create, manage,
and maintain schedules in a project environment.
What is the Purpose of Standard Scheduling - Answer-· To lay out the standards and
guidelines for the minimum required items required for a schedule model.
4 Scheduling Methods - Answer-1. Critical path approach: derive the items that cannot
be delayed without extending completion timeline. Most prevalent method.
2. Critical Chain: A resource dependency and activity model that produces an efficient
schedule by focusing sharply on resource constraints and schedules accordingly.
Buffers are used with trigger points to start actions to restore schedule.
3. Adaptive Life Cycle: For projects that range from deterministic tasks (performed
before such as building a house ,low resource uncertainty) to high-uncertainty work
(Brand new technology). Scrum and Kanban may be employed.
, 4. Rolling Wave: "progressive elaboration". Close in work is planned in great detail and
future work is planned only partially.
8 steps/process to develop schedule model baseline` - Answer-1. Define Milestones
2. Define Project Activities
3. Sequence Activities
4. Determine Resources
5. Determine Duration
6. Analyze Schedule Output
7. Approve model
8. Baseline the Schedule Model (approved and used as measuring stick)
Critical Path - Answer-Longest path, consists of activities that cannot be delayed without
also delaying project completion; depending on milestones and project type - it is
possible to have multiple critical paths. Critical activities are those that are vital to
project success even though they may not reside on the critical path. They are high risk,
and have a high correlation to project failure
Total Float - Answer-The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed or
extended from its early start date without delaying the project finish date or violating a
schedule constraint.
Free Float - Answer-The amount of time that a schedule activity can be delayed without
delaying the early start date of any successor or violating a schedule constraint.
Level of Effort Activity - Answer-A support-type project activity that must be done to
support other work activities or the entire project effort.
PERT - Answer-· PERT uses three estimates (pessimistic, most likely, and optimistic) to
bound a beta-distribution representative of task duration. Each task is point estimated to
Te by the (a+4b+c)/6 equation. Then, we can estimate stand dev by (b-a)/6. Only use
the ones on the critical path.
Leads and Lags - Answer-· Leads/Lags refer to a task start time relative to another. In a
lead, you start a task by a set time in front of a subsequent/dependent task. Both
introduce some risk; and should be discretely modeled whenever possible.
Categories of Estimating - Answer-Quantitative
Qualitative
Relative
Relative Estimating - Answer-o Affinity Grouping - Placing projects of various complexity
together in groups to facilitate estimation
o Planning Poker - Silent method to avoid anchoring to get participants to state their
own estimation
