Schedule Tools Flashcards
7 cards from real PMI-SP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Schedule Tools flashcards as text
Which feature in scheduling software allows multiple projects to share a common pool of resources and see cross-project resource demand?
Answer: Resource pool / enterprise resource pool
An enterprise or shared resource pool links multiple projects so schedulers can view and manage resource conflicts across the portfolio.
A scheduler notices that changing a task's calendar from a standard 5-day week to a 7-day calendar reduces its duration in calendar days but not in work hours. This is because:
Answer: Duration in work units stays constant; calendar days change with available working days
The number of work hours (effort) remains the same; the calendar dictates how many working days are needed to complete those hours.
In the context of scheduling tools, 'task type' settings (Fixed Units, Fixed Duration, Fixed Work) affect how the tool recalculates when one variable changes. If a task is 'Fixed Work' and duration is shortened, the tool will:
Answer: Increase the resource units to maintain the same total work
Fixed Work keeps total effort constant, so shortening duration causes the tool to increase required resource units to complete the same work.
Which scheduling technique, supported by most professional scheduling tools, probabilistically estimates project completion dates using thousands of iterations?
Answer: Monte Carlo simulation
Monte Carlo simulation runs thousands of iterations with varied duration inputs to produce a probability distribution of completion dates.
A project manager uses the scheduling tool's 'Compare Baselines' feature and finds Baseline Finish is earlier than the Current Finish. This indicates:
Answer: The project is behind schedule relative to the baseline
When the current finish date is later than the baseline finish, the project has slipped beyond its original approved schedule.
When a scheduling tool calculates 'free float' for an activity, it represents:
Answer: The amount an activity can be delayed without delaying its immediate successors
Free float is the delay an activity can absorb without pushing back the early start of any of its direct successors.
Which scheduling tool function helps identify activities that, if delayed, will immediately impact the project finish date?
Answer: Float filter showing tasks with total float ≤ 0
Filtering for tasks with total float of zero or less quickly isolates critical path activities whose delay directly extends the project end date.