Planning and Scheduling
Planning integrates scope, schedule, cost, resources, and risk into a coherent baseline. Candidates must understand the schedule management process: define activities, sequence them, estimate durations and resources, and develop and control the schedule. Know precedence diagramming method relationships (finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, start-to-finish), leads and lags, and the difference between a milestone, an activity, and a summary task. Understand critical path method: the longest path through the network, determining the shortest possible project duration, with zero total float on critical activities.
Traps: assuming the critical path is the most important or most expensive path (it is defined by duration/float, not importance). Confusing total float (delay possible without delaying project finish) with free float (delay possible without delaying the next successor). Questions may present crashing (adding resources, often raising cost) versus fast tracking (overlapping activities, raising risk). Also watch for resource leveling (may extend duration) versus resource smoothing (does not extend the critical path).
Rule of thumb: when asked how to shorten the schedule, first compress the critical path; compressing non-critical activities does not shorten the project.
Worked example: An activity on the critical path has zero total float; delaying it by two days delays project completion by two days unless the schedule is re-planned.