PCC Scheduling & Time Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In a Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) network, which relationship type allows a successor activity to start only after the predecessor has been completed?
- Start-to-Start (SS)
- Finish-to-Finish (FF)
- Finish-to-Start (FS) (Correct answer)
- Start-to-Finish (SF)
Correct answer: Finish-to-Start (FS)
Finish-to-Start (FS) is the most common PDM relationship, requiring the predecessor to finish before the successor can begin.
Question 2: Which schedule compression technique involves adding resources to critical path activities to reduce their duration without changing the project scope?
- Fast tracking
- Crashing (Correct answer)
- Resource leveling
- Schedule rebaselining
Correct answer: Crashing
Crashing involves adding resources (cost) to shorten critical path activity durations.
Question 3: When calculating the Schedule Performance Index (SPI), an SPI of 0.85 indicates that the project is:
- Ahead of schedule
- On schedule
- Behind schedule (Correct answer)
- Over budget
Correct answer: Behind schedule
An SPI below 1.0 means the project is earning less value than planned, indicating it is behind schedule.
Question 4: A project manager identifies that two activities share the same resources and cannot overlap. What scheduling technique should be applied?
- Monte Carlo simulation
- Resource leveling (Correct answer)
- Lead application
- Critical path compression
Correct answer: Resource leveling
Resource leveling adjusts start and finish dates to resolve resource conflicts when shared resources cannot work on multiple activities simultaneously.
Question 5: In an Activity-on-Node (AON) network diagram, nodes represent:
- Dependencies between activities
- Milestones only
- Activities or tasks (Correct answer)
- Float values
Correct answer: Activities or tasks
In AON (PDM) networks, each node (box) represents an activity, while arrows represent dependencies.
Question 6: Which type of float represents the amount of time a non-critical activity can be delayed without delaying a specific milestone, but may affect other activities?
- Total float
- Free float
- Negative float
- Interfering float (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Interfering float
Interfering float is the portion of total float that, when used, will delay the start of a successor activity on the critical path.
Question 7: A project schedule baseline is BEST described as:
- The original schedule before any work begins
- The approved version of the schedule used to measure performance (Correct answer)
- The latest updated schedule reflecting actual progress
- A forecast schedule based on earned value calculations
Correct answer: The approved version of the schedule used to measure performance
The schedule baseline is the approved, formal version of the schedule used as a reference for measuring and reporting schedule performance.
PCC Scheduling & Time Management 2
In a Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) network, which relationship type allows a successor activity to start only after the predecessor has been completed?