Project Planning & Scheduling Flashcards

Schedule compression by 'crashing' differs from 'fast-tracking' in that crashing:

Answer: Adds resources or cost to shorten critical path activity durations

Crashing reduces duration by adding resources (personnel, equipment, overtime) to critical path activities, increasing cost but shortening schedule.

Resource leveling in project scheduling typically results in:

Answer: A longer or equal project duration to smooth resource demand peaks

Resource leveling delays non-critical activities to avoid resource over-allocation, often extending the schedule beyond the CPM-calculated duration.

Monte Carlo simulation is used in project scheduling to:

Answer: Model range uncertainty in activity durations to produce probabilistic schedule outcomes

Monte Carlo runs thousands of iterations sampling activity duration distributions to generate a probability curve for project completion dates.

A 'schedule baseline' in project management is best described as:

Answer: The approved version of the schedule against which performance is measured

The schedule baseline is the formally approved project schedule that serves as the reference point for tracking variances throughout execution.

In DP project risk management, a 'contingency reserve' in the schedule is intended to cover:

Answer: Known risks that have been identified and quantified in the risk register

Contingency reserve addresses known risks (identified threats with probability and impact estimates), while management reserve covers unknown-unknowns.

The purpose of a 'schedule risk analysis' before a DP construction project is to:

Answer: Quantify the probability of meeting key milestone dates and size appropriate schedule reserves

Schedule risk analysis uses techniques like Monte Carlo to determine confidence levels for milestone achievement and justify the size of time reserves.

When a DP project schedule is 'resource-constrained,' it means:

Answer: Activity durations and dates are limited by the availability of required resources, not just logic

A resource-constrained schedule allows resource limits to push out activity starts even when the work is technically ready to begin, potentially extending the critical path.