1.

What is total float? The amount of time that an activity can slip without delaying the end of the project. Usually computed as TF = LF EF.

2. What are the difference between free float and total float? FF is a special type of TF. Whereas TF is the amount of time that an activity can slip without delaying the end of the project, FF is the amount of time that an activity can slip without delaying the early dates of a successor.

3. What is a constraint? A limitation that reduces the efficiency with which a project can be accomplished. Scheduling constraints come in three main falvours: NET, NLT and ON, standing for No Earlier Than, No Later Than, and (surprisingly!) On. These are input to a schedule, are usually calendar-based, and override the predecessor/successor logic, thus often causing positive or negative float on the longest path. Negative float needs to be resolved, and often is by compromising on other parts of the plan. Resource availability is another type of constraint that can delay a projects schedule and efficiency. In general, constraints should not be input to the schedule until after the schedule ahs been optimized through critical path analysis, as it is important to be able to gauge the impact of a constraint from the Newtonian constraints of the work.

4. What are the difference between MS Project and Primavera? The same as between a Vespa and a Hummer. (Sometimes a Vespa can be more useful!)

5. How to load cost & resource in a program? Through the WBS, in a process called activitybased resource assignments, or ABRA. Assigned resources should be overhead-burdened to get an accurate picture of costs. It is important to note that cost can be assigned, tracked and managed at a higher level than schedule or resources a euro is a euro is a euro, but both resources and schedule dates are specific, and need to be managed with greater specificity.

6. What is WBS? Work breakdown structure, a hierarchical format for identifying, displaying, reporting, and changing project work. Since the WBS is the skeleton of work on which the resource, cost, schedule information is draped, it is the principle tool for implementing scope/cost/schedule integration.

7. What is a milestone? What are the types of milestone? A milestone is an event. Activity-driven milestones are usually entered into PM software as activities with durations of zero. Since milestones have no duration, once they are reached they are immediately in the past. It is therefore good practice to name activities using the past participle of the verb (i.e., Test component = activity; Component tested = milestone.

8. What are the difference between flag and milestone activity?

No idea -- Ive never heard the term flag activity.

9. What is a critical activity? Although the term may be mis-used (i.e., with other meanings), a critical activity is one that is on the longest path.

10. What is resource allocation and leveling? Resource allocation is assigning resources to activities (ABRA). Leveling is changing activity schedules to get rid of utilization spikes and use resources more efficiently. There are two different flavours of leveling: time-constrained and resource-constrained. Time- constrained leveling attempts to remove the resource utilization spikes/bottlenecks without delaying activities beyond an input date (often the CPM completion date, which means that no activity is delayed beyond its float). Resource-constrained leveling delays activities, if necessary, beyond their float(s) in order to reduce utilization levels, period by period, to availability levels. The Total Project Control (TPC) methodology incorporates a resource-leveling metric called the CLUB, or Cost of leveling with Unresolved Bottlenecks. This is the amount by which project expected value is reduced PLUS the cost by which the projects Marching Army costs (Overhead and LOEs) increase due to the delay caused by resource constraints. The CLUBs can be used to justify the additional resources that would make the bottlenecks go away.

11. What is a Baseline Program? I dont know that precise term. The baseline plan is the commitments in terms of product, cost, and schedule, both at project completion and at key interim points. On a fixed price, fixed deadline, contract, the delta between the baseline plan and the working plan is management reserve and profit. Changes to the baseline plan (re-baselining) is usually only permitted if both customer and contractor agree, and usually occur in the event of a mutually-agreed scope increase. Earned value tracking and analysis is usually performed based on the baseline plan.

12. What are BSWS, BSWP, and ACWP? First, its BCWS and BCWP. These three acronyms are earned value terms that stand for Budgeted Cost for Work Scheduled (planned value, or PV in the PMBOK Guides in my opinion ill-advised neologisms), Budgeted Cost for Work Performed (earned value, or EV), and Actual Cost for Work Performed (actual cost, or AC). Despite the terminology, it is crucial to understand that earned value has NOTHING to do with value its about COST, as the letter C in the three original acronyms shows. BCWS is what was budgeted for each work package as scheduled. BCWP is the sum of the budgets of all completed activities/milestones. ACWP is the sum of what it actually cost to complete each of the work packages/milestones.

13. What are SV and CV? SV is schedule variance, computed as BCWP BCWS, or the budgets for all

activities/milestones accomplished as of a given date minus the budgets for what was scheduled to have been accomplished by that date. It should be noted that SV (and its corollary SPI, or BCWP divided by BCWS) can be a very distorting metric, primarily because the BCWS weights are usually loaded onto the early dates, where non-critical activities have float. This means that starting or completing a big-budget activity that has a large amount of float will weigh much more heavily on the SV (and SPI) than a small-budget activity that is on the critical path, despite that fact that the latter is much more important to meeting schedule. CV is cost variance, computed as BCWP ACWP, or the budgets for all activities/milestones accomplished as of a given date minus what was actually spent to accomplish them. CV also has a corollary index, CPI, or BCWP divided by ACWP. This shows how much of the budgeted work you have been accomplishing for every dollar actually spent, and is an excellent metric for forecasting future cost profiles on a given project.

14. What is a Budget and how do you compare budget against Actual cost? Budget is the monetary amount assigned for resources to accomplish the work packages. Actual cost is the monetary amount in resource usage that it actually took.

15. What is an S Curve? An S-curve is the cumulative cost function plotted on a histogram, which can vaguely resemble the letter S. BCWS, BCWP, and ACWP are frequently plotted and compared on a histogram as separate and shadowing S-curves.

16. What is the difference between P3.1, P3E, and P5 etc. They are different versions of Primavera, but youll need to get a a description of the detailed differences from someone else.

17. What is an open end activity? Im not sure exactly how you are using the term. Ive heard it used for both activities with uncertain expected scope and no specific budget. Ive also heard it used in scheduling, for an activity that has no FS or FF successors (i.e., successors of its finish).

18. How often you update your program? Do you mean your baseline? It varies from project to project, depending on reporting/progressing periods. However, the working schedule should be updated on a continuous basis, as each activity is started or finished.

19. What is the difference between Retained Logic & Override Logic? I dont know. Anyone? Anyone? Buehler?

20. What is the difference between Continuous & Interruptible scheduling? Ditto.

21. What is the no. of activities that u monitor & how do u make the update? I sure hope its all, or at least all that have a variance!

(#22 - #24 I will leave to someone else.) 22. How do u measure & compare the progress? 23. Briefly outline the process you follow to build & agree a baseline construction plan. 24. When updating a plan, what key people and/or systems would you expect to need information from? What, if any, analysis of the updated programme would you perform? Who would you distribute your work to?

25. Briefly outline the benefits to a project of a well designed and maintained plan. A well-maintained plan provides a GPS system that (1) guides the project team; (2) identifies variances as soon as they occur; (3) provides the project with an efficient way to re-calculate the best route to recovery whenever a variance occurs.

26. Give an example of a mistake you have made when planning. What were the consequences? What did you learn from the episode? I will only reply that the greatest mistake in planning is not to plan, or not to plan in sufficient detail.

1. What is the 1st step of Programming? setup calendars, prepare wbs strucuture, then list activities and so on..

2. How will you allocate resources? using p6: define resources as required, then select activity use resource tab to assign... practically based on master schedule or internal daily activities schedule, check the activities on falling critical path and subject to resource availability.. allocate resources 3. When will you use Resource calender? if an resource is working for different timings or working days per week. if not following the base calendar. 4. How will you prepare budget on primavera? easiest way : prepare the list of activities use export to export data to excel and enter budget

info & use import option. here a single resource to be created or resource based means : while adding resources use units/prices to add budget/hr or day... 5. If we do not create WBS / activity code what affect will you find? we can't know who was responsible for group of activities, can't identify the % or budget and schedule dates for a particular structure or area or division. 6. How many activities have you handled in your past exp.? around 500 to 1500 activities per project 7. What is the procedure of updation? first set as baseline after approval of project, then set data date & update, specify start & finish date, set remaining duration of the activity.

8. How will you show your updates/ progress? by progress lines, show columns as orig / act duration, dur % of original, dur % complete, baseline start/finish, start & finish 9. How will you compare your past progress with current status? use maintain / assign baselines

10. What is Earned value? is the value of work performed in terms of approved budget assigned to that work or wbs 11. a. in terms of budget 12. a. describe the percentage completion of a project 13. a. longest path through the project 14.a. multiple