PMP Schedule Management 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A project manager applies resource leveling to resolve resource conflicts. What is the most likely impact on the project schedule?
- The critical path shortens
- The project end date may be extended (Correct answer)
- Float is eliminated from all activities
- Costs decrease proportionally
Correct answer: The project end date may be extended
Resource leveling often extends the project end date because activities are delayed to balance resource demand against availability.
Question 2: In the Critical Chain Method, buffers are added to protect the project schedule. What is the purpose of a feeding buffer?
- Protect the project end date from delays on the critical chain
- Protect the critical chain from delays in non-critical paths feeding into it (Correct answer)
- Add contingency for scope changes
- Reserve time for quality reviews
Correct answer: Protect the critical chain from delays in non-critical paths feeding into it
Feeding buffers are placed where non-critical paths merge into the critical chain to prevent non-critical delays from impacting the critical chain.
Question 3: A project manager is conducting a schedule review and notices the Variance at Completion (VAC) for schedule is negative. What does this mean?
- The project will finish early
- The project is expected to finish later than the baseline (Correct answer)
- The project has exceeded its cost budget
- Schedule variance is within acceptable thresholds
Correct answer: The project is expected to finish later than the baseline
A negative VAC for schedule indicates the project is forecasted to complete later than the planned schedule baseline.
Question 4: During Define Activities, the project team decomposes work packages into schedule activities. What is the key output of this process?
- Work breakdown structure
- Activity list with attributes (Correct answer)
- Schedule baseline
- Project calendar
Correct answer: Activity list with attributes
The primary output of Define Activities is the activity list along with activity attributes that describe each schedule activity.
Question 5: Which dependency type involves an external constraint, such as a government permit that must be obtained before construction can begin?
- Discretionary dependency
- Mandatory dependency
- External dependency (Correct answer)
- Internal dependency
Correct answer: External dependency
External dependencies involve relationships between project activities and non-project activities, often outside the team's control.
Question 6: A project manager wants to shorten the project duration by adding resources to critical path activities. The cost increases significantly. This technique is called:
- Fast tracking
- Crashing (Correct answer)
- Schedule compression
- Lead and lag adjustment
Correct answer: Crashing
Crashing adds resources (cost) to critical path activities to shorten duration, always resulting in increased cost.
Question 7: When is the Schedule Management Plan created, and what does it govern?
- During project execution; governs change control for schedules
- During planning; defines how the schedule will be developed, managed, and controlled (Correct answer)
- During initiation; defines project milestones
- During monitoring; documents schedule variances
Correct answer: During planning; defines how the schedule will be developed, managed, and controlled
The Schedule Management Plan is created during the Plan Schedule Management process and establishes the policies and procedures for managing the project schedule.
PMP Schedule Management 3
A project manager applies resource leveling to resolve resource conflicts.
What is the most likely impact on the project schedule?