EVM Certification EVM Certification Schedule Management & Performance 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In EVM, Planned Value (PV) is also known by the legacy term:
- Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) (Correct answer)
- Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP)
- Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP)
- Budget at Completion (BAC)
Correct answer: Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS)
BCWS is the older DoD/ANSI term for Planned Value, representing the time-phased budget for scheduled work.
Question 2: What does a Schedule Performance Index (SPI) of exactly 1.0 indicate?
- The project is precisely on schedule — work accomplished matches what was planned (Correct answer)
- The project has completed all scheduled work with no cost variance
- The project schedule is compressed by one time period
- The project's earned value equals its actual cost
Correct answer: The project is precisely on schedule — work accomplished matches what was planned
SPI = 1.0 means EV = PV, so the team is accomplishing exactly the amount of work that was scheduled.
Question 3: Which technique for measuring earned value is most appropriate for long-duration work packages with objective milestones?
- Weighted milestones (Correct answer)
- 0/100 rule
- Fixed formula (25/75 or 50/50)
- Level of effort
Correct answer: Weighted milestones
Weighted milestones assign budget to intermediate deliverables within a long work package, enabling objective progress measurement.
Question 4: What is the primary purpose of an Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) in EVM programs?
- To provide the networked schedule that underpins the Performance Measurement Baseline (Correct answer)
- To document all risks and mitigation actions in a single register
- To summarize actual costs at the work package level
- To track contractor invoice milestones for payment purposes
Correct answer: To provide the networked schedule that underpins the Performance Measurement Baseline
The IMS is the comprehensive, logic-linked schedule that forms the schedule foundation of the PMB in government and large EVM programs.
Question 5: If a project's SPI is 0.78, the most appropriate action for the project manager is to:
- Analyze the root cause of the schedule slippage and develop a recovery plan (Correct answer)
- Immediately re-baseline the project to reflect current performance
- Ignore the metric since SPI converges to 1.0 at project end
- Increase the management reserve to compensate for lost time
Correct answer: Analyze the root cause of the schedule slippage and develop a recovery plan
An SPI of 0.78 signals significant schedule slippage requiring root cause analysis and a formal corrective action plan.
Question 6: In EVM terminology, what does 'statusing the schedule' mean?
- Updating percent complete and actual dates on activities to reflect current progress (Correct answer)
- Formally approving a baseline change request
- Generating a new S-curve from updated forecast data
- Reviewing the critical path for float erosion
Correct answer: Updating percent complete and actual dates on activities to reflect current progress
Statusing involves entering actual start/finish dates and percent complete into the schedule so EV can be accurately calculated.
EVM Certification EVM Certification Schedule Management & Performance 2
In EVM, Planned Value (PV) is also known by the legacy term: