ICDL Project Planning (ICDL) study guide
ICDL Project Planning · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
ICDL Project Planning (also delivered as ECDL Project Planning in some markets) is a vendor-neutral certification that tests whether you can build and maintain a project schedule using standard planning concepts and a software tool. It suits coordinators, team leads, administrators and anyone who has to turn a scope statement into dated, resourced tasks rather than just track work informally. The ICDL Project Planning study guide has 7 sections and about 2,539 words.
01Project Planning Fundamentals
A project plan is a decision tool, not a document to file. It converts an agreed objective into a sequence of commitments: what will be delivered, by when, by whom, with what resources, and how deviation will be detected.
340 words, about 2 min02Project Scope and Work Breakdown
Scope is defined by the scope statement : product scope (features of what is delivered) and project scope (the work to deliver it). It sets inclusions and exclusions - explicit exclusions prevent later disputes.
325 words, about 2 min03Task Dependencies and Sequencing
Sequencing links activities with logical relationships . Know the four: Finish-to-Start (FS) - successor cannot start until predecessor finishes, the most common; Start-to-Start (SS) - successor cannot start until predecessor starts; Finish-to-Finish (FF) - successor cannot finish until predecessor finishes; Start-to-Finish (SF) - successor cannot finish until predecessor starts, rare.
312 words, about 2 min04Estimating Duration and Resources
Analogous estimating uses a similar past project; fast and cheap, low accuracy. Parametric uses a rate (e.g.
302 words, about 2 min05Scheduling and Critical Path
A schedule network is built from activities, durations and dependencies. Forward pass computes earliest start (ES) and earliest finish (EF) ; backward pass computes latest start (LS) and latest finish (LF) .
329 words, about 2 min06Resource Allocation and Leveling
After the logic is set, assign people and equipment to activities. Resource histograms show demand over time; resource calendars show availability.
314 words, about 2 min07Project Tracking
Tracking compares actuals to the plan. Percent complete is easy but misleading (90% done for weeks).
617 words, about 3 min