PMI-SP Schedule Tools 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which feature in scheduling software allows multiple projects to share a common pool of resources and see cross-project resource demand?
- Resource calendar
- Resource pool / enterprise resource pool (Correct answer)
- Resource histogram
- Resource breakdown structure
Correct 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.
Question 2: 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:
- The software recalculates work based on the new available hours
- Duration in work units stays constant; calendar days change with available working days (Correct answer)
- Fixed-duration tasks recalculate resource units, not work
- The baseline overrides calendar changes automatically
Correct 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.
Question 3: 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:
- Reduce the work content proportionally
- Increase the resource units to maintain the same total work (Correct answer)
- Lock the task and require manual override
- Extend the successor tasks to compensate
Correct 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.
Question 4: Which scheduling technique, supported by most professional scheduling tools, probabilistically estimates project completion dates using thousands of iterations?
- PERT three-point analysis
- Monte Carlo simulation (Correct answer)
- Critical Chain Method
- Schedule compression
Correct answer: Monte Carlo simulation
Monte Carlo simulation runs thousands of iterations with varied duration inputs to produce a probability distribution of completion dates.
Question 5: A project manager uses the scheduling tool's 'Compare Baselines' feature and finds Baseline Finish is earlier than the Current Finish. This indicates:
- The project is ahead of schedule
- The project is behind schedule relative to the baseline (Correct answer)
- Resources have been added since the baseline was set
- The schedule has been optimized since baselining
Correct 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.
Question 6: When a scheduling tool calculates 'free float' for an activity, it represents:
- The amount any activity can be delayed without delaying the project end
- The amount an activity can be delayed without delaying its immediate successors (Correct answer)
- The difference between early finish and late finish
- Total available slack in the entire project
Correct 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.
Question 7: Which scheduling tool function helps identify activities that, if delayed, will immediately impact the project finish date?
- Float filter showing tasks with total float ≤ 0 (Correct answer)
- Resource histogram
- Baseline comparison report
- Work breakdown structure view
Correct 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.
PMI-SP Schedule Tools 4
Which feature in scheduling software allows multiple projects to share a common pool of resources and see cross-project resource demand?