What is Time Management in Project Management?Time management is the management of the time spent, and progress made, on project tasks and activities. Excellent time management requires the planning, scheduling, monitoring, and controlling of all project activities. Time management is one of the six major functions of project management, according to the Project Management Institute. When some people refer to project time management, they’re also referring to the tools and techniques used for managing time. Show
Why is time management important in project management?A project, by definition, has an official end date. In order to meet this date, every project needs a schedule and to manage their own time and the team’s time to ensure that the schedule is met. Imagine you decide to renovate a bathroom in your house. You figure you’ll do it in your spare time, so you don’t give yourself an end date or create a project schedule. You also don’t do anything to make sure you regularly have time to work on the renovation. What happens? If you’re like most people, the answer is that years go by and your ‘project’ never gets finished. Likely it is faced with constant delays, and you may run into the following issues:
That’s why time management is so critical. Without it, projects won’t get done on time, and may not get done at all. The seven main processes in project time management
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0 Exact answers 0 Text answers 256 Multiple-choice answers You’re managing a project, when your client tells you that an external problem happened, and now you have to meet an earlier deadline. Your supervisor heard that in a situation like this, you can use schedule compression by either crashing or fast-tracking the schedule, but he’s not sure which is which. What do you tell him? Crashing the project adds risk, while fast-tracking adds cost When you crash a project, it always shortens the total duration of the project Crashing the project adds cost, while fast-tracking adds risk When you fast-track a project, it always shortens the total duration of the project
You are managing a software project. Your QA manager tells you that you need to plan to have her team start their test planning activity so that it finishes just before testing begins. But other than that, she says it can start as late in the project as necessary. What’s the relationship between the test planning activity and the testing activity? Start-to-Start (SS) Start-to-finish (SF) Finish-to-Start (FS) Finish-to-Finish (FF)You’re managing an industrial design project. You’ve come up with the complete activity list, created network diagrams, assigned resources to each activity, and estimated their durations. What’s the next thing that you do? Use Rolling Wave Planning to compensate for the fact that you don’t have complete information Create the schedule Consult the project scope statement and perform Sequence Activities Use fast-tracking to reduce the total durationWhich of the following is NOT an input to Develop Schedule? Activity list Project schedule network diagrams Resource calendars Schedule baselineThree members of your project team want to pad their estimates because they believe there are certain risks that might materialize. What is the BEST way to handle this situation? Estimate the activities honestly, and then use a contingency reserve to cover any unexpected costs Allow more time for the work by adding a buffer to every activity in the schedule Tell the team members not to worry about it, and if the schedule is wrong it’s okay for the project to be late Crash the scheduleWhich of the following tools is used for adding buffers to a schedule? Three-point estimates Critical chain method Expert judgment Critical path analysis
You’re managing an interior decoration project, when you find out that you need to get it done earlier than originally planned. You decide to fast-track the project. This means: Starting the project sooner and working overtime Assigning more people to the tasks at a greater total cost, especially for activities on the critical path Starting activities earlier and overlapping them more, which will cost more and could add risks Shortening the durations of the activities and asking people to work overtime to accommodate that.You’re managing a construction project. You’ve decomposed work packages into activities, and your client needs a duration estimate for each activity that you come up with. Which of the following will you use for this? Milestone list Activity list Critical path analysis Project schedule network diagramWhat’s the correct order of the Time Management planning processes? Sequence Activities, Define Activities, Estimate Activity Resources, Estimate Activity Durations, Develop Schedule Define Activities, Sequence Activities, Develop Schedule, Estimate Activity Resources, Estimate Activity Durations Define Activities, Sequence Activities, Estimate Activity Resources, Estimate Activity Durations, Develop Schedule Develop Schedule, Define Activities, Sequence Activities, Estimate Activity Resources, Estimate Activity DurationsWhich of the following is NOT a tool or technique used in Estimate Activity Durations? SWAG Estimation Parametric Estimation Analogous Estimation Three-Point Estimation
You’re managing a project to build a new project management information system. You work with the team to come up with an estimate of 27 weeks. In the best case, this could be shortened by two weeks because you can reuse a previous component. But there’s a risk that a vendor delay could cause the project to be delayed by five weeks. Use PERT to calculate a three-point estimate for this project. 25.83 weeks 26 weeks 27.5 weeks 28.3 weeksYou’re managing a software project, when your customer informs you that a schedule change is necessary. Which is the BEST thing to do? Consult the schedule management plan Notify the team and the sponsor that there’s going to be a schedule change Influence the factors that cause change Refuse to make the change because there’s already a schedule baselineYour company has previously run other projects similar to the one you’re currently managing. What is the BEST way to use that information? Check the organizational process assets for lessons learned and other information about the past projects Use parametric estimation to estimate your project based on past projects’ performance Start from scratch because you don’t want mistakes from past projects to influence you Reuse the project management plan from a past projectYou’re planning the schedule for a highway construction project, but the final date you came up with will run into the next budget year. The state comes up with capital from a reserve fund, and now you can increase the budget for your resources. What’s the BEST way to compress the schedule? Go back to your three-point estimates and use the most optimistic ones Use the extra budget to increase your contingency reserve Hire more experts to use expert judgment so your estimates are more accurate Crash the scheduleYou’re managing a software project. You’ve created the schedule, and you need to figure out which activities absolutely cannot slip. You’ve done critical path analysis, identifying the critical path and calculating the early start and early finish for each activity. Which activities cannot slip without making the project late? The ones with the biggest difference between ES and LF The activities on the critical path The activity with the most lag The last activity in the project, because it has no float
What are the 5 elements of time management?5 essential time management techniques. Be intentional: Keep a to-do list. ... . Be prioritized: Rank your tasks. ... . Be focused: manage distractions. ... . Be structured: Time block your work. ... . Be self-aware: Track your time.. What are the 4 key stages of effective time management?Four Steps to Project Time Management. Define the Activities.. Sequence the Activities.. Estimate Activity Resources.. Develop and Control the Schedule.. What are the 4 types of time management?The 4 Ds are: Do, Defer (Delay), Delegate, and Delete (Drop). Placing a task or project into one of these categories helps you manage your limited time more effectively and stay focused on what matters most to you.
What are the stages of time management?The four stages of time management focus on distinctive aspects of the way all of us use our time.. Idea Creation. “Passion is energy. ... . Strategy. The biggest risk is not taking any risk… ... . Process. ... . Reflection.. |