PM Test Center

Resource leveling typically results in a:

A. Project cost overrun
B. Project cost savings
C. Project duration longer than the baseline
D. Project duration shorter than the baseline

Answer: C. Project duration longer than the baseline
When resource leveling, work scheduled for resources that are over-allocated will be spread over a longer period of time. As a result, this smoothing out process will usually cause the project to take longer.

While reviewing your weekly report, you notice that two of your resources are over-allocated. One way to solve this is to:

A. Level resources
B. Use PERT
C. Add lag
D. Crash the schedule

Answer: A. Level resources
Of the choices, only leveling resources is the only method that will relieve over-allocated resources. Leveling will take the extra work and move it to a different date so the resources will not exceed their maximum per day.

You plan on using a project management information system (PMIS) to develop a Gantt chart. One drawback of using a Gantt chart is:

A. Finish dates for each project cannot be manually set
B. WBS outline cannot be represented
C. Relationships between tasks are not displayed
D. Only one resource can be assigned to a task

Answer: C. Relationships between tasks are not displayed
Although some PMIS tools do show relationships between tasks (e.g. Microsoft Project), traditionally, Gantt charts do not display them.

While planning a project that has not been accomplished before at the company, your manager asks you to get a three point estimate from Shari, the lead designer. Shari provides you with an optimistic estimate (2 hours), a most likely estimate (4 hours), and a pessimistic estimate (12 hours). What must be the three point estimate for Shari’s task?

A. 5 hours
B. 6 hours
C. 10 hours
D. Not enough information and will need clarification from the manager

Answer: D. Not enough information and will need clarification from the manager
A three point estimate could be derived several ways. Two of the most common are the mean ((O+M+P)/3), which would give you 6 hours and PERT ((O+4M+P)/6), which would give you 5 hours. However, in this example, it is not clear what type of three point estimate to use.

Dwight’s project is behind schedule. As a result, he is looking to reduce the duration of his project to bring it back on track. If cost is not a factor, what tactic should he use?

A. Fast-track
B. Critical path
C. PERT
D. Crash

Answer: D. Crash
Crashing is one method to reduce the project duration. This is done by adding resources which leads to an increase in costs.

Dwight’s project is behind schedule. As a result, he is looking to reduce the duration of his project to bring it back on track. Dwight is also tasked with keeping costs as low as possible to reduce the risk of an overrun. What tactic should he use?

A. Fast-track
B. Critical path
C. PERT
D. Crash

Answer: A. Fast-track
Fast-tracking is one method to reduce the project duration. This is done by overlapping tasks (i.e. adding lead time). Although this does not typically increase cost, it does increase risk.

What is the typical duration of a milestone?

A. 0
B. 1
C. Milestone durations depend on the total duration of the project
D. Milestone durations depend on each predecessor

Answer: A. 0
Milestones typically have a duration of 0 since they do not require effort to complete. Effort is usually spent on work leading up to them. They are usually used to track time and cost targets. Milestones may also have durations other than zero but it is not the norm.

When developing a project schedule, you should have completed all of the following except:

A. Define Activities
B. Develop Project Team
C. Sequence Activities
D. Estimate Activity Resources

Answer: B. Develop Project Team
The Develop Project Team process actually involves improving team members in the Executing process group. The other choices on this list are all in the Planning process group under the Time knowledge area.

Julie is scheduling a project to develop a new feature for her company’s website. Since she works in a functional organization, her team has other assigned projects and therefore, have limited availability for her project. What type of scheduling technique should Julie use to get the best estimate for her project?

A. Resource leveling
B. Schedule compression
C. Critical chain method
D. Critical path method

Answer: C. Critical chain method
Critical chain is scheduling method that not only requires network analysis but also factors in limited resources. Basically, once a network diagram is created and resources are assigned, their availability is then accounted for and schedule adjustments are made.

Joan has been assigned to manage a project to recondition ten school buses. Although her company has never reconditioned more than a single bus at a time, Joan feels she can still give somewhat accurate estimates by using:

A. Bottom-up estimating
B. Analogous estimating
C. Parametric estimating
D. Engineering estimating

Answer: C. Parametric estimating
Parametric estimating takes historical information available and scales it provide time and cost estimates. In this example, if a typical school bus reconditioning project takes twenty days and costs $10,000, then reconditioning ten of them will simply take 200 days at $100,000. The project manager may then use expert judgment to fine-tune the estimate for learning curves, overlapping tasks, etc.