CST P6 & MS Project Proficiency 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In MS Project, what is the effect of linking tasks with a 'Start-to-Start' (SS) dependency with a 3-day lag?
- The successor must finish 3 days after the predecessor finishes
- The successor cannot start until 3 days after the predecessor starts (Correct answer)
- The successor must start 3 days before the predecessor starts
- The successor is delayed by 3 days from the project start date
Correct answer: The successor cannot start until 3 days after the predecessor starts
An SS+3 lag means the successor task's earliest start is 3 days after the predecessor task begins.
Question 2: Which P6 earned value method calculates BCWP (Budgeted Cost of Work Performed) based on the percentage of activity duration elapsed?
- Units Complete
- Physical % Complete
- Duration % Complete (Correct answer)
- Steps Complete
Correct answer: Duration % Complete
Duration % Complete calculates BCWP as the ratio of actual elapsed duration to total budgeted duration multiplied by the budgeted cost.
Question 3: In MS Project, what does the 'Leveling Delay' field represent after resource leveling is performed?
- The amount of free float consumed by the leveling algorithm
- The amount of time a task was delayed from its early start to resolve a resource conflict (Correct answer)
- The lag time added between predecessor and successor tasks
- The variance between baseline start and leveled start dates
Correct answer: The amount of time a task was delayed from its early start to resolve a resource conflict
Leveling Delay shows how many days the leveling algorithm pushed a task back from its network-calculated early start to resolve overallocations.
Question 4: In P6, which relationship type allows a successor activity to start before its predecessor is complete when a negative lag (lead) is applied to a Finish-to-Start link?
- Start-to-Finish with positive lag
- Finish-to-Start with negative lag (Correct answer)
- Start-to-Start with positive lag
- Finish-to-Finish with zero lag
Correct answer: Finish-to-Start with negative lag
A negative lag on a Finish-to-Start relationship (FS-3) allows the successor to begin 3 days before the predecessor is scheduled to finish, effectively creating a lead.
Question 5: What MS Project feature allows you to save a snapshot of the current schedule for later comparison against actuals?
- Interim Plan
- Baseline (Correct answer)
- Critical Path snapshot
- Resource Pool
Correct answer: Baseline
Setting a Baseline in MS Project saves a snapshot of the planned start, finish, duration, work, and cost fields for variance analysis throughout the project.
Question 6: In P6, which WBS level setting controls whether activities can be assigned directly to a WBS node that has child nodes?
- WBS Category (Correct answer)
- Summarize to WBS Level
- Open Ended Logic Check
- Lowest Effort Level
Correct answer: WBS Category
The WBS Category setting in P6 can be configured to control organizational behavior of the WBS hierarchy, including whether summary nodes accept direct activity assignments.
Question 7: In MS Project, what is the difference between 'Work' and 'Duration' for a task assigned to two full-time resources?
- Work and Duration are always equal regardless of resource count
- Work doubles (equals Duration × 2) while Duration stays the same (Correct answer)
- Duration doubles while Work stays equal to the single-resource scenario
- Work and Duration both double when two resources are assigned
Correct answer: Work doubles (equals Duration × 2) while Duration stays the same
With two full-time resources on a Fixed Duration task, Work = Duration × 2 units, so work hours double while the calendar duration remains unchanged.
CST P6 & MS Project Proficiency 3
In MS Project, what is the effect of linking tasks with a 'Start-to-Start' (SS) dependency with a 3-day lag?