CHAPTER 5: DEVELOPING THE SCHEDULE
1. The estimated resources required for an activity will influence the estimated duration to perform the activity.
a. True
b. False
2. The estimated activity resources will also be used later for estimating activity costs and determining the project
budget.
a. True
b. False
3. It is a good practice to have the person who will be responsible for performing a specific activity estimate the
duration that other resources would need to complete that activity.
a. True
b. False
4. For large projects that involve several hundred people performing various activities over several years, it is practical
to have each person estimate activity durations at the beginning of the project.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
5. Each organization or subcontractor responsible for a group or type of activities should always designate an
inexperienced individual to estimate the durations for all the activities for which the organization or subcontractor is
responsible.
a. True
b. False
6. The estimated duration for an activity must be based on the estimated quantity of resources required to perform the
activity.
a. True
b. False
7. The estimated duration should be aggressive, yet unrealistic.
a. True
b. False
8. Playing the game of inflating estimated durations in anticipation of the project manager negotiating shorter durations
is a good practice.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
9. Padding estimates with the vision of becoming a hero when the activities are completed in less time than estimated is
not a good practice.
a. True
b. False
10. At the beginning of every project, it is possible to estimate the durations for all activities with a high level of
confidence regarding their accuracy.
a. True
b. False
11. The project team can progressively elaborate the estimated durations as more information is known or becomes
clear to allow for more accurate estimated durations.
a. True
b. False
12. A consistent time base, such as hours or days or weeks, should be used for all the estimated durations of activities in
a network diagram.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
13. The sponsor or customer often states the project required completion time in the project charter, RFP, or contract.
a. True
b. False
14. The contractor may not want to commit to completing the project by a specific date until the customer has approved
the contract.
a. True
b. False
15. The latest finish time for a specific activity must be the same as or earlier than the earliest of all the latest start times
of all the activities emerging directly from that specific activity.
a. True
b. False
16. If the total slack is zero, the activities on the path do not need to be accelerated but cannot be delayed.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
17. A Gantt chart is the often the name for the network diagram tool for planning and scheduling.
a. True
b. False
18. This longest path in the overall network diagram is called the network path.
a. True
b. False
19. One way to determine which activities make up the critical path is to find which ones have the least slack.
a. True
b. False
20. The project control process starts with establishing a baseline plan that shows how the project scope will be
accomplished on schedule and over budget.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
21. Once this baseline plan is agreed upon by the customer and the contractor or project team, the project work can be
performed.
a. True
b. False
22. It is necessary to monitor the progress to ensure that everything is going according to the plan.
a. True
b. False
23. Project management is a proactive approach to controlling a project to ensure that the project objective is
accomplished, even when things do not go according to plan.
a. True
b. False
24. Throughout a project, changes may occur that have an impact on the schedule.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
25. Changes might be initiated by the customer or the project team, or they might be the result of an unanticipated
occurrence.
a. True
b. False
26. Changes requested early in the project always have less impact on schedule and budget than if they are requested
later in the project.
a. True
b. False
27. When the customer requests a change, the contractor or project team should estimate the impact on the project
schedule and budget and then go ahead with the work without customer approval.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
28. An updated project schedule can be generated regularly that forecasts whether the project will finish ahead of or
behind its required completion time.
a. True
b. False
29. The amount of slack should determine the priority with which these concentrated efforts are applied.
a. True
b. False
30. A change in the estimated duration of any activity on that path will cause a corresponding change in the slack for
that path.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
31. When estimating resources for activities to estimate the activity’s duration, the
a. availability of each resource has to be taken into account.
b. name of each resource has to be taken into account.
c. cost of each resource has to be taken into account.
d. security clearance of each resource has to be taken into account.
32. It is important to know what types of resources are available, in what quantities, and during what time periods to
determine
a. that the project team will be larger than necessary to complete the project.
b. how to enter resources into a project management information system.
c. if the right types of resources will be available in sufficient quantities during the time periods that the project
requires.
d. that the project will be less expensive than estimated.
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
33. When considering the availability of resources, it may be necessary to make some assumptions, such as
a. the unemployment rate in the community.
b. the ability to hire additional individuals with the appropriate expertise in time for when they will be required to
work on a project.
c. the number of project deliverables.
d. the type of organizational structure of the sponsor.
34. In many cases, especially for smaller projects, most activities involve people resources—that is,
a. all the people who are employed by the project sponsor.
b. all the people who are employed by the project contractor.
c. the members of the project team who may be utilized full time or part time during the project.
d. the stakeholders for the project.
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
35. The estimated types and quantities of resources required for an activity together with the availability of those
resources will influence the
a. estimated duration for how long it will take to perform the activity.
b. project scope document description.
c. project’s acceptance criteria.
d. actual costs of work performed.
36. When estimating the types and quantities of resources required for each specific activity, it is valuable to involve a
person who
a. is hired by the customer to be a consultant regardless of experience on the type of project.
b. has expertise or experience with the activity to help make the estimate.
c. has experience negotiating contracts.
d. has the most experience using a project management information system.
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
37. The estimated duration for each activity must be the total elapsed time,
a. the time for the work to be done plus any associated waiting time.
b. the time for the task plus the planning time for the project.
c. the time required for the work times the number of resources assigned to the project.
d. the time for the task plus the time to review and accept the deliverable.
38. Having the person who will be responsible for performing a specific activity estimate the duration for that activity
from that person and that may be introduced by having one person estimate the durations for all of the
activities.
a. takes more effort, creates a problem
b. gives the status of the project, sets best practices
c. generates a commitment , avoids any bias
d. elevates the placement perception, creates errors
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
39. If an organization or subcontractor has performed similar projects in the past and has kept records of how long
specific activities actually took, these historical data
a. can be used as a guide in estimating the durations of similar activities for future projects.
b. have no value for the current project.
c. should be stored in files.
d. should be shared with the customer after the contract is signed to show that the contractor can complete the
project.
40. People sometimes perform to expectations, their effort will expand to fill the whole number of scheduled days
allotted,
a. even if the number of resources assigned to the task is reduced.
b. even if the activity could have been performed in a shorter time.
c. even if part of the time for the task is waiting time.
d. even if the activity could have been performed in a longer time.
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
41. Throughout the performance of the project, some activities will take longer than their estimated duration, others will
be done in less time than their estimated duration, and
a. many will take no time to complete.
b. many will not be completed.
c. others are to be done by two project teams.
d. a few may conform to the estimated duration exactly.
42. With projects for which there is a high degree of uncertainty about the estimated durations for activities, it is possible
to use three time estimates:
a. an original estimate, a petrified estimate, and a most likely estimate.
b. an optimistic estimate, a pessimistic estimate, and a most likely estimate.
c. an optimized estimate, a primary estimate, and a most likely estimate.
d. an opportunity estimate, a pragmatic estimate, and a most likely estimate.
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
43. In order to establish a basis from which to calculate a schedule using the estimated durations for the activities, it is
necessary to
a. say who has responsibility for the first task.
b. enter the tasks into a project management information system.
c. select an estimated start time and a required completion time for the overall project.
d. edit the calendars for the resources in the project management information system.
44. Earliest start time (ES) is the earliest time at which a specific activity can begin
a. calculated on the basis of the project estimated start time and the estimated durations of preceding activities.
b. calculated on the basis of the project estimated finish time and the estimated durations of preceding activities.
c. calculated on the basis of the project estimated start time and the estimated durations of succeeding activities.
d. calculated on the basis of the project estimated start time and the estimated durations of approaching
activities.
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
45. Earliest finish time (EF) is the earliest time by which a specific activity can be completed, calculated
a. by subtracting the activity’s estimated duration from the earliest finish time of the activity‘s predecessor: EF =
EF predecessor – Estimated Duration.
b. by subtracting the activity’s estimated duration to the activity’s earliest start time: EF = ES • Estimated
Duration.
c. by adding the activity’s estimated duration to the earliest start time of the activity‘s succeeding activity: EF =
ES succeeding activity + Estimated Duration.
d. by adding the activity’s estimated duration to the activity’s earliest start time: EF = ES + Estimated Duration.
46. The ES and EF times are determined by calculating forward, that is, by
a. adding all the times together for the project.
b. working through the network diagram from the beginning of the project to the end of the project.
c. calculating the optimistic and pessimistic times for the project.
d. working through the network diagram from the end of the project to the beginning of the project.
Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule
47. The earliest start time for a specific activity must be the latest of all the earliest finish times of all the activities
leading directly into that specific activity.
a. earlier than
b. the same as
c. the same as or later than
d. later than
48. Calculate the earliest finish for Task B if its predecessor, Task A, finishes on day 3 and the duration of Task B is 2
days.
a. day 5
b. day 3
c. day 1
d. Cannot be calculated based upon information given.