Project Schedule Management Flashcards
1
Q
Smaller projects and schedule management
A
- Can make defining activities, sequencing activities, estimating activity durations and developing the schedule model one single process
- This is difficult to do with larger projects
2
Q
Iterative Scheduling with a backlog
A
- Found in adaptive or hybrid environments
- Rolling wave planning of plans and executing over and over again
3
Q
Lean Manufacturing
A
- Backlog of assignments
- As team members become available the assignments go to the next available person
- Not as much planning on who does what
- Everyone must be capable of performing all of the tasks
4
Q
Scrum Master
A
Analogous to PM in Adaptive Environment
Acting as a Servant Leader to the team
5
Q
Theory of Contraints
A
- Identifying the most limiting factor (ex. time, resources, etc.)
- Improve that constraint until its no longer the limiting factor
- Scientific approach to improvement
- Lean manufacturing
6
Q
Schedule Management Plan
A
- First step in Schedule Management
- Defined how the schedule will be developed, managed, executed and controlled
7
Q
ITTOs: Planning Schedule Management
A
- Inputs:
- Project Charter
- Project Management Plan
- EEFs
- OPAs
T&T:
- Expert judgement
- Data Analysis
- Meetings
Outputs
- Schedule management plan
8
Q
What is in the schedule management plan?
A
- Project schedule model development
- Level of accuracy
- Units of measure
- Organizational procedure links (links to procurement, links to resources)
- Project schedule model maintenance
- Control thresholds
- Rules for performance measurements
- Reporting formats (# of activities on time, or # of activities complete, etc.)
9
Q
Define Activities
A
- Activities associated with work packages (taken from the WBS)
- Basis for estimating scheduling and controlling work
- Activity attributes
- Milestone list shows all of the activities leading up to a given milestone
10
Q
ITTOs: Define Activities
A
Inputs:
- Project Management Plan
- EEFs
- OPAs
T&T:
- Expert judgement
- Decomposition
- Rolling wave planning
- Meetings
Outputs:
- Activity list
- Activity attributes
- Milestone list
- Change requests
- PMP updates (schedule and/or cost baseline)
11
Q
8/80 rule
A
- Rule not to breaking down the WBS too far
- Between 8 hours and 80 hours is how long a work package should take. Anything below 8 hours is too granular. Anything greater than 80 hours is too big
12
Q
Control Accounts
A
- Marker in the WBS
-
13
Q
Planning Packages
A
- Decisions to be completed for a given Control Account
14
Q
Rolling Wave Planning
A
- Imminent work is planned in detail
- Distant work is planned at a high level
- As work approaches, the work is planned in more detail
- Focus on most important
- Example of progressive elaboration
- Possible to do this with phase gate
15
Q
Activity List
A
- Separate document
- Lists all project activities
- Scope of work for each activity and an identifier
- Links back to WBS identifier
- Establishes relationships between activities (dependencies)
- Reosourcing requirements
- Imposed dates
- Constraints and assumptions
16
Q
Lead
A
- negative time
- when we are allowing time to overlap for multiple activities
17
Q
Lag time
A
- positive time
- waiting longer for one tag before completing another
18
Q
LOE
A
- Level of effort
- Reporting/Budgeting
- Don’t contribute to project scope but are needed to manage the work
19
Q
Discrete effort activities
A
- Required to complete the project scope
- Most activities are discrete effort activities
20
Q
Apportioned effort
A
- Project Management work
- QA
- Integrated Change Control
- Communications
21
Q
Milestones
A
- marker that show progress
- noting significant events or delivery items
- no duration or resources
22
Q
Milestone Chart
A
Up Triangle = Planned
Down Triangle = Actual
Shows variance
23
Q
Sequencing Project Activities
A
- Computer driven, manual or blended approach
24
Q
ITTOs: Sequencing Project Activities
A
Inputs:
- PMP
- Project documents
- EEF
- OPA
T&T:
- Precedence diagramming method
- Dependence determination and integration
- Leads and Lags
- PMIS
Outputs:
- Project schedule network diagrams
- Project doc updates
25
Dependency determination
- mandatory dependencies - hard logic (not optional)
- discretionary dependencies - soft logic (can happen whenever)
- external dependencies - external constraint (waiting on someone else or another project deliverable)
- internal dependencies - type of hard logic ( project team member taking a vacation)
26
Precedence Diagramming Method
- most common (Microsoft Project)
- Activities in boxes or circles, called nodes
- Number represent durations
- Can go through and identify the paths to completion and the relative durations for each path
- Identifies the critical path, early start and early finish
- Arrows represent the relationship and the dependencies of the work packages
- Creates the Network Diagram
- Critical path should not have any float. Whole project must be done in the time from the critical path
27
Float
The amount of time a task can be delayed without impacting subsequent tasks and overall project completion
28
Law of Diminishing Returns
- Increase in resources will eventually yield diminishing returns
- Some things take a set amount of time no matter how many resources you throw at the problem
29
Parkinson's Law/Student Syndrome
- Work will expand to fill the time a lotted to it
30
Range of variance
- range of +/- days or weeks
| - percentage of acceptable target date
31
Basis of estimates
- Assumptions made
- Known constraints
- Range of possible estimates
- Confidence level and risks that could impact the duration
32
Analogous estimating
- Takes similar project work to create a basis for the duration
- Aka Top-Down Estimating
- Fast/least expensive but also the least reliable
- Requires expert judgement and historical/reliable information
33
Parametric Estimate
- Parameter for estimating
| - Ex. Algorithm to calculate duration (time per unit),
34
Duration vs. Effort
- Duration is how long something will take
- Effort is the billable time for labor
- Ex. if you have two people who can do the same task but one is a more senior engineer and bills more, the duration is the same but the effort will be different
35
Three-Point Estimate
- Find an average of Optimistic, Most Likely and Pessimistic
| - (O + ML+P)/3 = Estimate
36
PERT Estimates
- Program Evaluation and Review Technique
- Beta distribution
- Weighted towards the most likely
- (O+ (4ML)+P)/6 = Estimate
37
Bottom-up Estimating (Resources)
- Requires a fully-decomposed WBS for each work package
- Estimate how many and what type of resources you'll need to create that work package
- Takes longer than other approaches, but is the most accurate
38
Contingency Reserve
- Usually associated with money
| - Risk events that disrupt the project
39
Management Reserve
- Typically associated with time or money
- Activities take longer than expected which interferes with the given pool of time and money because you have only budgeted for a certain amount of time
40
Reserve Analysis
- Amount of buffer in the project durations
| - Goes down over time as tasks are delayed
41
Free Float
- An activity can be delayed without delaying the early float of any successor activities
- Late finish - Early Finish = Late Start - Early Start = Float
42
Total Float
- An activity can be delayed without delaying project completion
43
Project Float
- A project can be delayed without passing the customer expected completion date
44
Critical Path
Longest path in terms of duration
| Has no float since you can't delay any of the activities otherwise the project will be late
45
Forward Pass
Early Start + Duration - 1 = Early Finish
46
Backward Pass
Late Finish - Duration +1 = Late Start
47
Crashing a project
- Add people to get something done faster
- increases costs
- Subject to the law of diminishing returns (Only so many people are helpful)
- Useful for projects that are effort driven
48
Fast tracking
- Multiple phases overlapping
| - Increases risk since an error found in an earlier phase can impact another phase since they overlap
49
Heuristic
- Limits labor in a time period
| - Extends the schedule
50
Resource Smoothing
- Limits labor except for the critical path (allow overtime)
| _ Try to adhere to the deadline
51
Agile Release Planning
- High-level summary timeline of the release schedule
- 3 to 6 months
- Product roadmap and product vision
- Determines the number of iterations or sprints
- How much needs to be developed
52
ITTOs: Control Schedule
Inputs:
- Project Management Plan
- Project Documents
- WPA
- OPA
T&T:
- Data Analysis
- Critical Path method
- PMIS
- Resource optimization
- Leads and Lags
- Schedule Compression
Ouputs:
- WPI
- Schedule forecasts
- Change Requests
- PMP. updates
- Project doc updates
53
Story Points
- Rating of requirements given to determine how many requirements can be completed in a sprint
54
Soft Logic
Allows the PM to make decisions based on conditions outside of the project, best practices or guidelines
