Deck 11: Advanced Topics in Planning and Scheduling: Agile and Critical Chain

Question 1

Which adjective is most appropriate for Agile Project Management?

A) Iterative
B) Sequential
C) Linear
D) Hirsute

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of these numerical (quantity) comparisons is CORRECT?

A) Scrum meeting > Sprint
B) Scrum master > Development team
C) Sprint time box > Project duration
D) Daily scrum duration < Development work duration

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The sprint portion of the Agile Project Management process is targeted to last:

A) 10 plus or minus 2 weeks.
B) 7 plus or minus 1.5 weeks.
C) 5 plus or minus 1.5 weeks.
D) 2.5 plus or minus 1.5 weeks.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What is Agile PM and what makes it ideal for many software development projects?

Question 5

What are some arguments against the XP technique of pair programming?

Question 6

In Agile Project Management, the term "scrum" refers to:

A) A period of enforced chaos.
B) A meeting.
C) The time when code is actually being written.
D) Disagreements between the customer and the project team.

Question 7

What is the waterfall planning process and when is the ideal approach to project development?

Question 8

Compose a haiku using three or more of the key terms in Agile PM.

Question 9

The waterfall project development process is well-suited for instances where:

A) Requirements are allowed to float throughout the duration of the project.
B) Customer needs change quickly.
C) Time constraints exist.
D) Budget constraints exist.

Question 10

Agile project management is well-suited for the case where requirements change in the middle of project development.

Question 11

What are the key elements of extreme programming?

Question 12

Traditional, highly structured approaches to planning and managing projects are recognized as being less effective for ________ than Agile Project Management.

A) construction projects
B) software development
C) wedding planning
D) university baccalaureate degrees

Question 13

What takes place in the Scrum process?

Question 14

The customers articulate the necessary features of a software project through:

A) Stories.
B) Tasks.
C) Requests for proposal.
D) Bid rigging.

Question 15

In Agile Project Management, a sprint backlog is essentially a:

A) Period of time.
B) Punch list.
C) Forecast.
D) Meeting.

Question 16

A product backlog:

A) Shows remaining work in the sprint backlog.
B) Is controlled by the customer.
C) Shows what has been ordered to complete the project but not yet received from suppliers.
D) Is a constantly evolving list.

Question 17

Agile project management features a logical series of steps that occur sequentially, each one is begun only when its predecessor is complete.

Question 18

Agile Project Management is well-suited for instances where

A) Customer needs are well-defined.
B) Time constraints exist.
C) Customer needs change quickly.
D) Budget constraints exist.

Question 19

What is the motivation for programming in pairs using one terminal? How can this approach be more productive than having each of the two programmers at his own terminal?

Question 20

All of these happen during the sprint phase EXCEPT:

A) Technical issues are forwarded to the product owner.
B) Scope clarification.
C) Sprint goal modification.
D) Scope renegotiation.

Question 21

Which of these is a drawback for Agile Project Management?

A) Final outcomes are well-defined since Agile requirements are clearly articulated at the start of the design phase.
B) The users of the project deliverable tend to be uninformed as to project status until the delivery phase once the initial bid process has ended.
C) The project team will be unsure the deliverable works since testing is delayed to the very end of the project.
D) The frequent rescoping of a predictable project becomes wasted expense as it won't deliver added benefits.

Question 22

Wayne and Garth are engaged in XP and are constantly streamlining the design and improving the code. In XP terminology, they are engaged in:

A) Scrumming.
B) Refactoring.
C) Sprinting.
D) Time boxing.

Question 23

XYZ project organization has one workstation that is capable of generating the drawings that their clients study before accepting XYZ's bid. XYZ is currently in the midst of three proposal projects and knows exactly when it will need to use the workstation. All other work to be done, both before and after the workstation is used, is scheduled such that it flows to the workstation and keeps it busy. Resources used after this step are less critical; so while the subsequent work and resources are important, they aren't viewed with the same reverence as the workstation. This is an example of:

A) Identifying a constraint.
B) Elevating a constraint.
C) Subordinating a system.
D) Exploiting a constraint.

Question 24

The Central Limit Theorem says that if a number of probability distributions are summed:

A) The standard deviation of the sum equals the sum of the standard deviations.
B) The variance of the sum equals the sum of the variances.
C) The standard deviation of the sum is greater than the sum of the standard deviations.
D) The variance of the sum is less than the sum of the variances.

Question 25

A key element of extreme programming is:

A) Frequent communication among programmers, but infrequent communication with the customer.
B) Understanding the problem completely before coding begins.
C) A hierarchical management structure.
D) Avoidance of programming features until they are actually needed.

Question 26

Refactoring is the continuous process of streamlining the design and improving code; not waiting until final testing to edit and fix code for a software project.

Question 27

The first step in TOC methodology is to:

A) Identify the constraint.
B) Exploit the constraint.
C) Subordinate the system to the constraint.
D) Elevate the constraint.

Question 28

Which of these is a drawback for Agile Project Management?

A) Final outcomes are well-defined since Agile requirements are clearly articulated at the start of the design phase.
B) The users of the project deliverable tend to be uninformed as to project status until the delivery phase once the initial bid process has ended.
C) The project team will be unsure the deliverable works since testing is delayed to the very end of the project.
D) The frequent rescoping of a predictable project becomes wasted expense as it won't deliver added benefits.

Question 29

ABC project organization has one workstation that is capable of generating the drawings that their clients study before accepting ABC's bid. ABC is currently in the midst of three proposal projects and knows which proposed project will be most profitable and which will be least profitable. The workstation is scheduled so that the most profitable project's work is done first and the least profitable project work is done last. This is an example of:

A) Identifying a constraint.
B) Exploiting a constraint.
C) Elevating a constraint.
D) Subordinating a system.

Question 30

The one element that Agile shares with traditional project management in a software development environment is that all testing is done at the very end of the project.

Question 31

A project consists of four activities with information as shown in the table. What is the overall standard deviation of the project?

A) 24
B) 18
C) 8.41
D) 4.24

Question 32

Which of these is difficult when Agile Project Management is used?

A) Fixed-price contracts between customers and the project organization
B) Altering or updating the project requirements
C) Knowing for certain that the software is working as you progress through the project
D) The frequent rescoping of a predictable project becomes wasted expense as it won't deliver added benefits.

Question 33

A scrum is one iteration of the Agile planning and executing cycle, that is, the actual "work" being done.

Question 34

A product backlog is the final list of what is needed to complete the project.

Question 35

A project consists of four activities with information as shown in the table. What is the overall variance of the project?

A) 4.24
B) 8.41
C) 18
D) 24

Question 36

A project consists of four activities with information as shown in the table. What is the overall variance of the project?

A) 18
B) 8
C) 2.82
D) 5.56

Question 37

Extreme programming advocates a large development staff, several times the number of programmers than would appear in a traditional software project, since the objective is to deliver the project quickly.

Question 38

Wayne and Garth are engaged in XP and are writing code while sitting at one terminal. In XP terminology, they are engaged in:

A) Scrumming.
B) Refactoring.
C) Pair programming.
D) Time boxing.

Question 39

Keith welds a one-fourth-inch diameter ball bearing and a three-eighths-inch diameter ball bearing on each end of an eighth-inch diameter cylinder. Sure, the work is tedious, but he knows he's doing his part keeping this country running and lining his employer's pockets with sweet cash. His employer hopes to speed up this activity by hiring another skilled worker, and in doing so will:

A) Subordinate the rest of the system.
B) Identify the constraint.
C) Exploit the constraint.
D) Elevate the system constraint.

Question 40

The one element that Agile shares with traditional project management in a software development environment is that all testing is done at the very end of the project.

Question 41

A project consists of four activities with information as shown in the table. What is the overall standard deviation of the project?

A) 8.00
B) 4.24
C) 2.82
D) 5.56

Question 42

Alexander Demetrius Dickson, ADD to his friends, has three big projects he is working on, and he can't seem to organize his time effectively. Each of the three projects, we'll call them A, B, and C, should take ten days to complete. He is currently contemplating two different approaches. Approach one is to work each project to completion before starting on the next. The problem with this approach is that he tends to burn out if he works on one task for an extended period of time. For every two days he works on one single task, he finds he must take a half day off. ADD's alternative is to multitask, that is, work on project A for a day, then switch to project B for a day, before switching to project C for a day. The problem with this approach is that there is a small setup time equaling one-quarter of a day associated with each transition. Use a Gantt chart to show the effect of each approach and determine which method is the best (has the overall fastest completion time) for performing this work.

Question 43

Which statement about critical chain methodology is BEST?

A) Activity durations estimated at a 50% level of successful completion are shorter than those estimated at a 90% level of successful completion.
B) Aggregated activity durations at a 90% level of successful completion are shorter than aggregated activity durations at a 50% level of successful completion.
C) The total safety buffer for aggregated activity durations is smaller than the sum of safety buffers for individual activity durations at any likely level estimate.
D) None of these statements is correct.

Question 44

Successful implementation of CCPM depends on first:

A) Identifying the critical chain that meanders through the project organization's portfolio of projects.
B) Identifying the constraint that holds hostage the project organization's other resources.
C) Examining and changing the culture of the project organization.
D) Exploiting the drum by using it to subordinate the existing PERT network.

Question 45

An important departure from traditional project management is that critical chain project management logic:

A) Changes from a late finish to an early start approach.
B) Factors in the effects of resource contention.
C) Adjusts expected activity durations to reflect a 95% probability of completion on time.
D) Creates a separate safety margin for each activity in the project.

Question 46

A project consists of four activities with information as shown in the table. What is the overall variance of the project's duration?

A) 13
B) 17
C) 26
D) 35

Question 47

The critical chain is usually the same as the critical path.

Question 48

Your next project consists of 5 consecutive 10-day activities, each estimated by a different worker in your organization. You have all secretly added your own safety margin of 4 days into your estimates and you watch in horror as the project manager whips out his copy of Critical Chain and slams it on the table midway through their first project meeting. "I'm taking your buffers and making them my own," he bellows. You recoil from this news and do some quick mental arithmetic. Now that you know the project manager is a Goldratt disciple, you know that the new project buffer will be:

A) 25 days
B) 20 days
C) 15 days
D) 10 days

Question 49

Your next project consists of 8 consecutive 8-day activities, each estimated by a different worker in your organization. Your organizational culture dictates that you add your own safety margin of 3 days into your estimates. Unbeknownst to you, the project manager has recently converted to a critical chain project management view. The project manager knows perfectly well what sorts of games are played with activity estimates and she knows exactly how much activity padding takes place. What will the overall project safety margin be once the project manager reviews your estimates and makes the project schedule?

A) 12 days
B) 6 days
C) 18 days
D) 9 days

Question 50

Your next project consists of 10 consecutive 8-day activities, each estimated by a different worker in your organization. Note that the estimators have not yet added any buffer to the 8-day figure. Your organizational culture dictates that you add your own safety margin of 30% into your estimates. The new project manager has just completed an excellent course in project management offered at the local university. When the first project meeting begins, he dazzles you with his wit and sophistication. You are considerably less charmed when he reveals that he has an exciting new technique for managing projects. He adheres to critical chain project management ideas and plans to create an overall project safety buffer after trimming the safety buffers from each of the 10 activities. How much closer has the project deadline moved?

A) 12 days
B) 6 days
C) 18 days
D) 9 days

Question 51

What are the five steps behind the Theory of Constraints methodology and what takes place in each?

Question 52

The Central Limit Theorem states that if a number of probability distributions are summed, the variance of the sum equals the sum of the variances of individual distributions.

Question 53

What is aggregated buffer and how can the appropriate amount be determined?

Question 54

Once the organization elevates its constraint, its system has no constraint.

Question 55

Which statement about critical chain project management is BEST?

A) CCPM is a complete solution to current project management scheduling needs.
B) In a multi-project environment where resources are shared, it is impossible to avoid multitasking.
C) There is substantial large-scale empirical research that confirms the efficacy of CCPM.
D) Lack of milestones within CCPM make coordination with external suppliers and subcontractors much easier.

Question 56

Your boss catches you at the water cooler one morning and assigns you an important task-to remove all the constraints from your project using the Theory of Constraints (TOC) five step process. What should your response be to your boss??

Question 57

Which of the following statements about CCPM activity networks is CORRECT?

A) Project workers are more likely to meet a deadline for their activity than miss it.
B) There are no milestones in the CCPM activity network.
C) Project workers are more likely to miss a deadline for their activity than meet it.
D) There is no project delivery deadline in the CCPM activity network.

Question 58

A project consists of four activities with information as shown in the table. What is the overall standard deviation of the project's duration?

A) 6.2
B) 4.1
C) 2.8
D) 5.1

Question 59

What is the difference between the critical path and the key system constraint?

Question 60

List any three criticisms of critical chain project management and rank them in order from the greatest to smallest threat to universal adoption of CCPM.

Question 61

A project is represented by the activity durations (estimated at 90% likelihood of completion) and precedence requirements shown in the table. What is the overall duration of this project if it is managed using critical chain methodology?

A) 22.5
B) 24.75
C) 27.0
D) 33.75

Question 62

A project is represented by the activity durations (in days, estimated at 90% likelihood of completion) and precedence requirements shown in the table. What is the length of a feeder buffer if this project is managed using critical chain methodology?

A) 4 days
B) 3 days
C) 2 days
D) 1 days

Question 63

A project is represented by the activity durations (in days, estimated at 90% likelihood of completion) and precedence requirements shown in the table. What is the length of a feeder buffer if this project is managed using critical chain methodology?

A) 3.5 days
B) 2.5 days
C) 1.5 days
D) 0.5 days

Question 64

A project consists of six consecutive tasks that have average duration and worst-case duration estimates (in days) as shown in the table. Use Newbold's method to determine the aggregated two sigma buffer for this project.

A) 44 days
B) 6 days
C) 17 days
D) 9 days

Question 65

A project is represented by the activity durations (in days, estimated at 90% likelihood of completion) and precedence requirements shown in the table. What is the length of the project buffer if this project is managed using critical chain methodology? Use the rule of thumb approach.

A) 8.5 days
B) 17 days
C) 24.5 days
D) 34 days

Question 66

The buffers supplied to non-critical paths in critical chain project management are called:

A) Slack buffers.
B) Drum buffers.
C) Rope buffers.
D) Feeder buffers.

Question 67

A project consists of six consecutive tasks that have average duration and worst-case duration estimates (in weeks) as shown in the table. Use Newbold's method to determine the aggregated two sigma buffer for this project.

A) 5 days
B) 6 days
C) 7 days
D) 9 days

Question 68

A project is represented by the activity durations (in days, estimated at 90% likelihood of completion) and precedence requirements shown in the table. How many feeder buffers are needed if this project is managed using critical chain methodology?

A) 0
B) 1
C) 2
D) 3

Question 69

A project is represented by the activity durations (in days, estimated at 90% likelihood of completion) and precedence requirements shown in the table. How many project buffers are needed if this project is managed using critical chain methodology?

A) 0
B) 1
C) 2
D) 3

Question 70

CCPM advocates performing all non-critical activities:

A) As late as possible.
B) As early as possible.
C) Before starting the critical path.
D) After completing the critical path.

Question 71

A project is represented by the activity durations (estimated at 90% likelihood of completion) and precedence requirements shown in the table. What is the length of the feeder buffer if this project is managed using critical chain methodology?

A) 9.0
B) 7.5
C) 4.5
D) 6.0

Question 72

A project consists of four consecutive tasks that have average duration and worst-case duration estimates (in days) as shown in the table. Use Newbold's model to determine the aggregated buffer of one standard deviation for this project.

A) 31 days
B) 16 days
C) 8 days
D) 5 days

Question 73

A project is represented by the activity durations (estimated at 90% likelihood of completion) and precedence requirements shown in the table. What is the length of the project buffer if this project is managed using critical chain methodology?

A) 4.5
B) 11.5
C) 20.5
D) 16

Question 74

A project consists of four consecutive tasks that have average duration and worst-case duration estimates (in days) as shown in the table. Use Goldratt's model to determine the aggregated buffer for this project.

A) 8.5 days
B) 15.9 days
C) 7.9 days
D) 15.5 days

Question 75

A project is represented by the activity durations (estimated at 90% likelihood of completion) and precedence requirements shown in the table. What is the overall duration of this project if it is managed using critical chain methodology?

A) 48
B) 32
C) 64
D) 43.5

Question 76

A project consists of four consecutive tasks that have average duration and worst-case duration estimates (in days) as shown in the table. Use Goldratt's model to determine the aggregated buffer for this project.

A) 20 days
B) 10 days
C) 15 days
D) 5 days

Question 77

A project consists of four consecutive tasks that have average duration and worst-case duration estimates (in days) as shown in the table. Use Newbold's model to determine the aggregated one sigma buffer for this project.

A) 20 days
B) 10 days
C) 15 days
D) 5 days

Question 78

Subcontractor deliveries are difficult to schedule with the critical chain project methodology because:

A) The project manager cannot force subcontractors to use this project management approach.
B) The feeder buffers for a subcontractor are as much as 50% shorter than for an employee or internal team.
C) Subcontractors routinely operate according to calendar delivery dates.
D) The corporate culture of "no blame" does not naturally extend to subcontractors.

Question 79

A project is represented by the activity durations (estimated at 90% likelihood of completion) and precedence requirements shown in the table. What is the length of the feeder buffer for path NQT if this project is managed using critical chain methodology?

A) 9.0
B) 2.25
C) 4.5
D) 6.75

Question 80

A project is represented by the activity durations (estimated at 90% likelihood of completion) and precedence requirements shown in the table. What is the length of the project buffer if this project is managed using critical chain methodology?

A) 13.5
B) 22.5
C) 11.25
D) 9.0