Time Estimating & Resource Allocation Flashcards

An activity has an optimistic estimate of 3 days, a pessimistic estimate of 15 days, and a most likely estimate of 6 days. What is the PERT expected duration?

Answer: 7 days

PERT = (3 + 4×6 + 15) / 6 = (3 + 24 + 15) / 6 = 42 / 6 = 7 days.

What does a resource histogram primarily display?

Answer: The amount of work planned for a resource over time

A resource histogram is a bar chart showing the quantity of resource usage over the project timeline, making over-allocations visually apparent.

Which technique reassigns non-critical tasks to off-peak periods to smooth resource demand without changing the project end date?

Answer: Resource smoothing

Resource smoothing adjusts activities within their available float to reduce peak resource demand while keeping the project finish date unchanged.

A PMI-SP candidate needs to estimate effort for writing 50 test cases. Historical data shows a senior tester writes 5 test cases per day. What estimating technique uses this productivity rate?

Answer: Parametric estimating

Parametric estimating multiplies a unit productivity rate (5 test cases/day) by the quantity (50 test cases) to derive the effort estimate.

When a project has a fixed end date and insufficient resources, which strategy is MOST appropriate?

Answer: Add resources to critical path activities

Adding resources to critical path activities (crashing) can compress the schedule to meet a fixed end date when resources are the constraint.

The standard deviation of a PERT activity estimate is calculated as:

Answer: (P - O) / 6

The standard deviation for a PERT estimate is (Pessimistic - Optimistic) / 6, representing the uncertainty spread of the estimate.

What term describes the maximum amount of time an activity can be delayed from its early start without delaying any successor activity?

Answer: Free float

Free float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without affecting the early start of any immediately following activity.