Project Management & Planning Flashcards

A consultant overlaps design and build phases that were originally planned sequentially to shorten the schedule. Which technique is this?

Answer: Fast tracking

Fast tracking performs activities in parallel that were normally done in sequence, increasing rework risk.

Adding extra staff to critical path activities to shorten duration at additional cost is known as what?

Answer: Crashing

Crashing adds resources to critical path tasks to compress the schedule at the lowest incremental cost.

Using PERT three-point estimating, an activity has optimistic 4 days, most likely 6 days, and pessimistic 14 days. What is the expected duration?

Answer: 7 days

PERT expected time = (O + 4M + P) / 6 = (4 + 24 + 14) / 6 = 7 days.

Which dependency type is most common in network diagrams, where the successor cannot start until the predecessor finishes?

Answer: Finish-to-start

Finish-to-start is the default and most common logical relationship in precedence diagramming.

A client requests a change to a deliverable mid-project. What should the consultant do first?

Answer: Submit it through the formal change control process to assess impact

Integrated change control evaluates the impact on scope, schedule, cost, and quality before approval.

Which planning approach details near-term work while leaving future work at a higher level until more information is available?

Answer: Rolling wave planning

Rolling wave planning is a form of progressive elaboration that plans near-term work in detail.

What does the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) measure?

Answer: Earned value versus planned value

SPI = EV/PV and shows schedule efficiency; below 1.0 means behind schedule.