CHAP9

The term ordered activity means:

• Tasks must either precede or follow other tasks in project planning and management.

• Tasks cannot be performed unless the project manager issues a specific command to perform the work.

• Prior project planning removes the need for any rush so that tasks can be performed in a methodical fashion.

• Tasks are not performed unless the customer issues a specific request to perform the work.

A sequence of activities defined by the project network logic is a(n):

• Event.

• Path.

• Node.

• Route.

One of the defining points of a network, a junction point joined to some or all of the others by dependency lines, is called a(n):

• Event.

• Path.

• Node.

• Burst.

These can be located by doing a backward pass through a network.

• Critical paths

• Merge activities

• Successors

• Burst activities

An activity has an expected duration and an expected cost. Another name for an activity is a(n):

• Work package.

• Node.

• Critical path.

• Event.

Serial activities are those that:

• Flow from one to the next in sequence.

• Have sequential numbers.

• Have the same numbers.

• Should be performed simultaneously.

Concurrent activities are:

• Activities that must be done one after the other.

• Activities that can be performed at the same time.

• Activities that use labor from the same group of workers.

• Activities that use resources from the same resource pool.

There's an old saying, "The job is not finished until the paperwork is done." From an activity network standpoint, this does not necessarily mean that the paperwork can't begin until the last non-paperwork activity is completed. It might be possible to work on some paperwork as early activities are completed. In order to depict this in an activity network:

• Hammock activities could be drawn.

• Subroutines could be added.

• Shortcuts can be added to the network.

• Laddering could be used to redraw the network.

The overall effect of laddering activities is to:

• Streamline the linkage and sequencing between activities and keep project resources fully employed.

• Summarize some subsets of the activities identified in the overall project network.

• Allow the project team to disaggregate the overall project network into logical summaries.

• Allow the project manager to more fully deploy resources and complete the project with zero slack.

Summaries for some subsets of the activities identified in the overall project network are called:

• Ladder activities.

• Hammock activities.

• Negative float activities.

• Compressed activities.