1. Why do you think schedule issues often cause the most conflicts on projects?

[15 marks] Many people are juggling many different tasks, both related to their jobs and their personal lives. It is difficult to schedule good meeting times for all project stakeholders, and face-to-face meetings are still important in various aspects of projects. Many people also underestimate how long things will take and the degree to which certain tasks depend on other tasks being completed. People do not like wasting time, and poor time management often wastes time.
2.

Define Project time management process. [15 marks]

According to PMI, project time management process is defined as: 1. Activity definition: Identifying the specific activities that the project team members and stakeholders must perform to produce the project deliverables. 2. Activity sequencing: Identifying and documenting the relationships between project activities. 3. Activity resource estimating: Estimating how many resources a project team should use to perform project activities. 4. Activity duration estimating: Estimating the number of work periods that are needed to complete individual activities. 5. Schedule development: Analyzing activity sequences, activity resource estimates, and activity duration estimates to create the project schedule. 6. Schedule control: Controlling and managing changes to the project schedule. One cannot determine activity sequencing or develop good activity duration estimates unless one has a good understand of each activity, so it needs to perform activity definition first. How does activity resource estimating affect activity duration estimating? [15 marks] The duration of activities will vary based on the resources assigned to them. For example, an expert at an activity should be able to do it in less time than a novice. The number of resources assigned to an activity also affects its estimated duration.
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4.

Explain the difference between activity duration estimating and estimating the effort required to perform an activity. [20 marks]

The effort estimate related to how many hours will be spent performing an activity. The activity duration estimate includes the effort as well as how much time passes on a calendar in order to generate the project schedule. For example, an activity might only take 8 work hours to complete, but if it is done one hour per workday, it will take more than a week on the projects Gantt chart.

Explain the following schedule development tools and concepts: Gantt charts, critical path method, PERT, and critical chain scheduling. [20 marks] Ans.: A Gantt chart displays a project schedule in a calendar format. [5 marks]
5.

The critical path for a project determines the earliest completion time for a project. [5 marks] PERT is a network analysis technique where you apply a weighted average to determine the duration estimate for tasks. [5 marks] Critical chain scheduling accounts for resource constraints and suggests that you limit multitasking of resources in creating project schedules and include project and feeding buffers to protect the project completion date. [5 marks]

6.

How can one minimize or control changes to project schedules? [15 marks]

Answers will vary. It is important to develop realistic schedules and use leadership and discipline to meet schedule deadlines.