CPP Project Planning & Scheduling 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which scheduling technique uses three time estimates (optimistic, pessimistic, most likely) to calculate expected activity durations?
- Critical Path Method (CPM)
- Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) (Correct answer)
- Monte Carlo simulation
- Resource leveling
Correct answer: Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
PERT uses three-point estimates (optimistic, most likely, pessimistic) to calculate a weighted average expected duration for each activity.
Question 2: A project schedule network diagram shows activities A→C→E and A→B→D→E. Activity durations are: A=3, B=4, C=2, D=3, E=5. What is the critical path duration?
- 10 days
- 12 days (Correct answer)
- 15 days
- 14 days
Correct answer: 12 days
Path A→B→D→E = 3+4+3+5 = 15 days; Path A→C→E = 3+2+5 = 10 days; the critical path A→B→D→E is 15 days.
Question 3: What does the term 'free float' mean in project scheduling?
- The total amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project end date
- The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any successor activity (Correct answer)
- The difference between the late finish and early finish of an activity
- Slack time allocated for risk management purposes
Correct answer: The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any successor activity
Free float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without affecting the early start of any immediate successor activity.
Question 4: Which resource optimization technique adjusts start and finish dates without changing the critical path, accepting the resource peaks and valleys that result?
- Resource leveling
- Resource smoothing (Correct answer)
- Fast-tracking
- Crashing
Correct answer: Resource smoothing
Resource smoothing adjusts float activities to meet resource constraints while keeping the critical path and project end date unchanged.
Question 5: A schedule baseline differs from the project schedule primarily because the baseline is:
- Updated weekly to reflect actual progress
- The approved version used for comparison and performance measurement (Correct answer)
- Developed by the project team without sponsor approval
- A probabilistic range of possible completion dates
Correct answer: The approved version used for comparison and performance measurement
The schedule baseline is the formally approved version of the project schedule used as a benchmark for measuring schedule performance.
Question 6: Which scheduling output identifies the dates when project activities should start and finish, along with milestones and assigned resources?
- Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
- Project Schedule (Correct answer)
- Activity Attributes
- Schedule Management Plan
Correct answer: Project Schedule
The project schedule integrates planned start/finish dates, milestones, assigned resources, and dependencies for all project activities.
Question 7: When applying the precedence diagramming method (PDM), which dependency type allows a successor activity to start only after the predecessor has been completed?
- Start-to-Start (SS)
- Finish-to-Start (FS) (Correct answer)
- Finish-to-Finish (FF)
- Start-to-Finish (SF)
Correct answer: Finish-to-Start (FS)
Finish-to-Start (FS) is the most common dependency type, where the successor cannot begin until the predecessor activity is fully complete.
CPP Project Planning & Scheduling 2
Which scheduling technique uses three time estimates (optimistic, pessimistic, most likely) to calculate expected activity durations?