Scope, Work Breakdown Structure, and Schedule Planning
What the exam tests
Scope planning defines what is included, and the WBS and schedule translate that scope into controllable work and dates. Expect decomposition, the 100% rule, dependencies, critical path, float, and schedule compression.
Core rules
- The scope statement includes product scope, deliverables, acceptance criteria, exclusions, assumptions, and constraints. The WBS decomposes deliverables into work packages; the 100% rule means child levels capture all parent scope and no extra scope.
- A work package is estimated and assigned; a control account is a management point above work packages. The WBS dictionary defines each component.
- Network scheduling links activities with dependencies. The critical path is the longest path through the network and has the least total float-usually zero. Total float is the amount an activity can slip without delaying the project finish.
- Crashing adds resources, usually for cost; fast tracking overlaps activities, usually for risk.
Worked example
Activities: A=2 days; B=4 days after A; C=5 days after A; D=3 days after both B and C. Paths are A-B-D=9 days and A-C-D=10 days, so A-C-D is critical and the project takes 10 days. B has 1 day of total float. If B slips 2 days, path A-B-D becomes 11 days and the project slips 1 day. Reasoning: float is shared along a path; exceeding it changes the critical path.
Traps
- Calling the shortest path critical, or assuming only one critical path exists.
- Confusing free float with total float.
- Forgetting that resource leveling can change the critical path.
- Building a WBS as an organization chart rather than a deliverable hierarchy.