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http://www.maxwideman.com/pmglossary/PMG_B00.htm#Baseline%20Review

1. What is total float? Total Float: The amount of time the selected activity can be delayed, without delaying the project's finish date. 2. What are the difference between free float and total float? Free Float: The amount of time the selected activity can be delayed, without delaying the immediate successor activities. 3. What is a constraint? A restriction you impose on an activity ftp://ftp.sfwmd.gov/pub/plannom/P6%20or%20Contractor%20Files/PDF_Instruction_Files/P6%20co

ntraint%20types%20and%20definitions.pdf

Constraint Types and Definitions

Mandatory start constraint A restriction you impose on an activity that sets its early and late start dates equal to the date you specify. The mandatory early start date is used regardless of its effect on network logic. A mandatory early start date could affect the late dates for all activities that lead to the constrained activity and all early dates for the activities that lead from the constrained activity. Note When mandatory constraints are placed on calendar nonworktime, the early and late dates are not set equal to each other. The early date is moved forward to the next valid worktime and the late date is moved back (earlier) to the first valid worktime. This can cause negative float in the schedule. Mandatory finish constraint A restriction you impose on an activity that sets its early and late finish dates equal to the date you specify. The mandatory finish date is used regardless of its effect on network logic. This constraint affects the late dates for all activities that lead to the constrained activity and all early dates for the activities that lead from the constrained activity. Note When mandatory constraints are placed on calendar nonworktime, the early and late dates are not set equal to each other. The early date is moved forward to the next valid worktime and the late date is moved back (earlier) to the first valid worktime. This can cause negative float in the schedule. Start on or after constraint A restriction you impose on an activity that limits the earliest time it can begin. When calculating a schedule, the start on or after constraint is used in the forward pass only if the calculated early start date will be earlier than the imposed date. This constraint affects only early dates. The early start date of an activity with a start on or after constraint cannot be earlier than the imposed date, although the network logic may cause the early start to occur later. Finish on or before constraint A restriction you impose on an activity that limits the latest time it can be finished. The finish on or before constraint affects only late dates. Use this constraint to ensure that the late finish date of an activity is not later than the date you impose. Start on constraint A restriction you place on an activity by imposing a start date. The start on constraint can delay an early start or accelerate a late start to satisfy the imposed date. Unlike the mandatory start constraint, which can violate the network logic, this constraint protects it. Finish on constraint A restriction you place on an activity by imposing a finish date. The finish on constraint

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can delay an early finish or accelerate a late finish to satisfy the imposed date.

4. What are the difference between MS Project and Primavera? http://www.scientificera.com/business/52-project-management/312-primaverap6-vs-ms-project.html Baselines In MS Project only 11 baselines can be created. In Primavera unlimited baselines can be created. Multiple User Access MS Project doesn't allow multiple users to work on a single project at the same time, Primvera allows you to do that. In Primavera you can even specify what features of Primavera a particular user can use , and which he can not.

Issues & Risks MS Project lacks the feature of tracking project issues or risks. In Primavera, we can record issues and risks. Web Support Primavera plan, documents and other information can be converted to HTML directly from the software. MS Project doesn't have such option. Steps Steps in Primavera allows you to create sub-activities (steps) of an activity. Each step can have its own start and finish date, and a completed step can be marked as completed. This useful feature is missing in MS Project. Expenses Besides Costs, in Primavera project expenses e.g training, travel, etc can also be added, in MS Project we can not. Custom Fields Both MS Project and Primavera allows us to create custom fields. But MS Project even allows us to set complex formulas or use fields and add additional values to it, to use in the custom field. In Primavera we can create a blank custom field, but can not set formulas to it, so users have to manually enter values in each in the field, for each column.

Columns Primavera P6 has many useful columns. It comes installed with over 200 columns, each giving you different information. Some column category to name include EVM, Budgeting, Costs, etc. On the other hand in MS Project, there are only around 40 columns. Multiple Activity Relationships In Primavera P6, more than one type of relationship can be established between activities e.g we can have FF and SS between the same two activities. In MS Project only one relationship can be made between two activities. Project Website The Primavera P6 software can create a comprehensive website comprising of complete project details including activities, resources, reports, risks, issues, WBS, and everything that has been entered in the software. This website is very valuable feature and is not present in MS Project. Multiple Project Creation, View and Tracking In Primavera multiple projects can be created and viewed. This can be done in MS Project too but since MS Project is not intended for multiple project use, it doesn't allow us to do things like we can do in Primavera like multiple project tracking, multiple project or WBS comparisons, cost and units calculations.

There are many more minor differences between Primavera P6 and and MS Project but above list is of major and prominent differences between the two software.

WBS In Primavera P6 WBS is created separated from activities. Once WBS has been created, then we can add activities with each WBS element. Whereas in MS Project, activities are indented to make them look like WBS. Which one You Should Learn? - See more at: http://www.scientificera.com/business/52-project-management/312-primaverap6-vs-ms-project.html#sthash.9rqAEvqB.dpuf

5. How to load cost & resource in a program? Hai Gokul

Try the Following Step if u Want to Type Budget Cost Directly

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1.Select Enterprise->Resource Dictionary

2.Resource Id Type BOQ

3.Resource Name (XXXXXX)

3.Resource Type As Material

4.Click ActivityDetail Tab->ResourceTab->Add Resource->Select BOQ(Resource Id)

5.Click Status Tab->Right Corner u Can See Labour unit->Change to Material Cost -> Budget Cost ->type the Cost Directly

In the Resource Dictonary Please Check the Following Option

1.Select the Resource

1.Units & Price tab- >Price/unit->1.00 (it May be Zero)

2.Details->uncheck the calculate cost from unit

Because in P6 if u assigned a resource it will default assigned a budget unit of (8*orginal duration)

If u run Recalculate Assignment Cost Ur Budget cost will become (Budget unit*Price/unit)

U need to uncheck the calculate cost from units

Recalculate Assignment Cost is Calculated base on Price/Unit*Budget Unit

3.Now if u run Recalculate Assignment Cost I hope it wont Change

4.U need to uncheck the calculate cost from unit for all the resource u have assigned to the project

6. What is WBS? WBS is a hierarchical (HI RAR IKAL)and incremental decomposition of the project into phases,

deliverables and work packages How to Create a Work Breakdown Structure Creating a work breakdown structure (WBS) helps you be both comprehensive and specific when managing a project: Thinking in detail is critical when planning your project, but you also need to consider the big picture. If you fail to identify a major part of your projects work, you wont have the chance to detail it. A work breakdown structure is key. The diagram here shows that the entire project, represented as a Level 1 component, can be subdivided into Level 2 components, and some or all Level 2 components can be subdivided into Level 3 components.

You can continue to subdivide all the components in the same manner until you reach a point at which you think the components you defined are sufficiently detailed for planning and management purposes. At this point, you now have Level n components, where n is the number of the lowest-level component in a particular WBS branch. Level n components are called work packages.

Develop a work breakdown structure to determine the hierarchy of a project.

7. What is a milestone? What are the types of milestone? Within the framework of project management, a milestone is an event that receives special attention. It

is often put at the end of a stage to mark the completion of a work package or phase. Milestones can be

put before the end of a phase so that corrective actions can be taken, if problems arise, and the

deliverable can be completed on time.

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Milestones can add significant value to project scheduling. Milestones allow project management to

much more accurately determine whether or not the project is on schedule. http://eastwoodharris.com/activity-types-and-milestones-in-primavera-p6-version-8-2/

8. What are the difference between flag and milestone activity? Shortly. flags are similar to milestones in that they are also zero duration activities and they flag either

the start or completion of an activity or group of activities.

Flags however can only have a predecessor, but no successor activities and thus have no impact on your

schedule. Flags do not need to be updated but are automatically completed when their predecessors

are completed.

A flag is purely a flag, indicating the start or completion of an event, or group of events.

9. What is a critical activity? Critical path activities are the project tasks that must start and finish on time to ensure that the project ends on schedule. A delay in any critical path activity will delay completion of the project, unless the project plan can be adjusted so that successor tasks finish more quickly than planned.

How are critical activities identified? You can choose between two options for identifying activities as critical: float and longest path.

Float is a measure of schedule flexibility. P6 Web Access uses the Critical Path Method (CPM) to generate a project schedule. This method calculates four dates for each activity in the

project plan: Early Start, Late Start, Early Finish, and Late Finish. If the Early Start date and Late Start date for an activity are the same, the activity is said to have zero float. Activities that have zero float must start on time to prevent the schedule from slipping. Critical activities can also have negative float. Negative float occurs when an imposed finish date creates a schedule that is shorter than the

duration calculated to complete the activities on the critical path. A project with negative float is behind schedule. To meet the specific requirements of your project, P6 Web Access lets you specify the float tolerance used to identify activities as critical. For

example, in some situations you might want critical activities to be those with zero or negative float. In other situations, activities with float of three days or less might need to be identified as critical.

Longest path defines the sequence of driving activities that determine the project end date.

The longest path is broken when activities are no longer driven by relationships; that is, when activity dates are driven by constraints or

resource leveling. Longest path calculation includes interproject relationships. Therefore, activities designated as on the longest path may change depending on whether you schedule a project alone or with its related projects. If a project has interproject relationships and you schedule it alone, the interproject relationships are treated as scheduling constraints.

10. What is resource allocation and leveling? Resource Allocation You have to determine the amount of labor, equipment, money and time required for any project. Whether you are ramping up production in anticipation of a major new customer or introducing a new product to the market, you have to make sure you have allocated enough resources to meet the goals of that project. Determine how much labor and equipment you will need, as well as cash for vendors, subcontractors and supplies for things like shipping. Resource Leveling With Slack Resource allocations are the result of an educated guess. These estimates of what will be required often turn out to have been both overstated and understated. In cases where you dont need as many resources as you thought you would (slack), you can reassign resources to areas that dont have enough. This is resource leveling by utilizing slack. You should always use up the slack in resources either by putting it to use in other projects or by investing it until you need it again. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/resource-allocation-vs-resource-leveling-35777.html

11. What is a Baseline Program? The word Baseline has many meanings. It can refer to the original schedule, to the project estimate or sometimes it means something completely different. In Primavera P6, a baseline is a copy of your schedule, stored in a static form. Think of it as Working with Baselines

Before you update a schedule for the first time, you should create a baseline plan. The simplest baseline plan is a complete copy, or snapshot, of the original schedule. This snapshot provides a target against which you can track a project's cost, schedule, and performance. You can save a

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copy of the current project to use as the baseline or you can convert another project in the EPS hierarchy to a baseline for the current project. To help categorize, or track, multiple baselines for a single project, you can assign each baseline a type that reflects its purpose, for example, initial planning baseline, What-if project baseline, customer sign-off, or midproject baseline. Regardless of the number of baselines you store for a project, at any given time you can only select at most two baselines for use in making comparisons in P6. The project-level baseline is used for project/activity usage spreadsheets and profiles, as well as for earned value calculations. You can convert another project in the EPS hierarchy to a baseline for use in comparisons with the current project. Before converting a project to a baseline, if you still want to have access to the original project, you should make a copy of it. Once you convert a project to a baseline, it is no longer available in the project hierarchy. You can restore a baseline, making it available again as a separate project in the project hierarchy, in order to modify it or update it. Table of Working with Baseline Elements Item Description

Define Baselines: Use Define Baselines to add, modify, convert, and restore projects and baselines.

Add Baselines: When you add a baseline, give it a name, assign it a type, and decide if you want to make it the Project Baseline or User's Primary Baseline for the currently selected project. Baseline designations are made in the projects rows of the table highlighted in blue.

Convert a Project to Baseline: Save a copy of the baseline before you convert it. Convert a project to use it as a baseline for a current project.

Restore a Baseline: Use restore a baseline to modify a baseline project. You must first unlink a baseline from its current project by restoring it as a separate project. You can then work with this restored baseline project as you would any other project in the EPS.

Baseline Type: Assign baseline types to baselines to help categorize multiple baselines for a single project. Configure the available baseline types along with your other Enterprise Data settings.

Project Baseline: Lists the available baselines for the selected project. Select the baseline to use as the project baseline. If a baseline does not exist, the current project is the default value.

User's Primary Baseline: Select the user's primary baseline from the list of available baselines. If a baseline does not exist, the current project is the default value.

12. What are BSWS, BSWP, and ACWP? BCWS= Budget cost of work scheduled.

If you have a project with 5 tasks, each task takes 1 week and will have a planned cost 100 each. At the

beginning of your project you can identify what the BCWS will be at any time during the project. It does

not change.

For example after three weeks you have scheduled three tasks to have completed = 300 cost

budgeted. The BCWS should be set in stone once you baseline (finally agree) the project plan. ie it is

what you judge the performance of your project against and does not change.

eg BCWS for above example

Week 1 100 TASK 1

Week 2 200 TASK 2

Week 3 300 TASK 3

Week 4 400 TASK 4

Week 5 500 TASK 5

BCWP = budget cost of work produced. This is calculated as you progress through your project. Take

the example above again. If everything goes to plan (like that ever happens!!) the BCWP will look just

like the BCWS. But say you discover a problem in task 2 and it doubles the time it takes ie it takes weeks

2 and 3 to do task 2 (and maybe an increase in cost.... see below). The table BCWP would look like

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this....

eg BCWP for above example

Week 1 100 TASK 1

Week 2 200 TASK 2

Week 3 200 TASK 2

Week 4 300 TASK 3

Week 5 400 TASK 4

Week 6 500 TASK 5

In the above example by week three you have completed 2 tasks... your budget for these two tasks was

200 hence BCWP = 200. But the BCWS will not alter..cos it is what you planned!

All you need now is ACWP = Actual cost of work produced. ie how much have you spent at a given

time! In the same example it may look like this.

eg ACWP for above example

Week 1 100 TASK 1

Week 2 200 TASK 2

Week 3 300 TASK 2

Week 4 400 TASK 3

Week 5 500 TASK 4

Week 6 600 TASK 5

ie due to the problems with task 2 you end up a week late and 100 over budget! you can work out the

cost/schedule/budget variences at any point in a project by subtracting the BCWS ACWP BCWP from

each other.

13. What are SV and CV? Schedule Variance Keeping a project on schedule is not only important from a time standpoint but also to avoid future cost overages. When a project loses site of its scheduled work, overtime -- or even double-time -- often is required to finish the project by the completion date. This can run project costs significantly over budget. Keeping a project on schedule is also important when sending the client project status reports. The client wants to know two things: Is the project on schedule, and is the project under budget? Schedule variance analysis shows the project manager whether the project is on schedule and, if not, how far it has fallen behind schedule. The manager can then correct the scheduling issue and present the solution with the status report, demonstrating to the client that the situation is already under control. Cost Variance Cost variance analysis is equally important to schedule variance analysis because project costs obviously need to stay within the budget. It is disastrous for both the company and its client if project costs exceed budgeted values. Unless there is a good explanation for the overage, the client is left with a poor impression of the company it hired to complete the project -- not to mention less money in its pocket. Cost variance analysis compares the budgeted costs of the project to the actual costs of the project by line item. This can quickly tell a project manager the portion of the project budget that is over the original estimated amount. For example, if the company budgeted a certain amount of money to cover the project

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license and permit costs and the county in question raised the fees unexpectedly, the "License and Permits" budgeted line item will show a cost variance that is over budget. Related Reading: How to Compute the Direct Labor Price Variance Calculating Schedule Variance To calculate schedule variance, accountants take the project's planned value and subtract it from the project's earned value. A project's earned value takes the scheduled amount of work and compares that with the actual work completed to date; planned value assesses the cost of the scheduled work budgeted in comparison to the cost of the work actually completed to date. So, earned value looks at hours, and planned value looks at costs. A positive result, which is when the project hours do not exceed the project costs to date, present a schedule variance that indicates the project is on schedule. A negative result, which is when the project costs exceed the project hours, present a schedule variance that indicates the project is behind schedule because the amount of work actually paid for exceeds the amount of scheduled work performed. Calculating Cost Variance Cost variance is much easier to calculate as the accountant simply takes the earned value of a line item and subtracts the actual cost of the line item. Taking the license and permit costs example discussed previously, if the company projected this line item at $5,000 and the actual costs were $5,500, the cost variance for this line item in the budget would be negative $500, showing this budgeted line item is $500 over the projected costs. If the budgeted permits and licenses actually cost $4,500, the cost variance would show a positive $500, showing the actual cost was $500 under budget -- a result any client would appreciate.

14. What is a Budget and how do you compare budget against Actual

cost? https://www.fmsd.gsu.edu/archibus/schema/ab-system/help/archibus_fm_help/Content/ls_propfinancials/budget_vs_cost_reports.htm

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/budget-variance-analysis-60250.html

http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/project-help/project-management-goal-manage-costs-and-the-budget-HA101951699.aspx

What is the difference between actual costs and budgeted costs? In: Budgeting and Forecasting [Edit categories]

Answer:

Actual Costs are costs which have occurred and can be reliably measured. Budgeted Costs are costs which have been estimated, possibly by using Forecasted Costs.

15. What is an S Curve? http://www.maxwideman.com/guests/s-curve/what.htm http://www.planningplanet.com/forums/planning-scheduling-programming-discussion/502846/what-s-curve-and-how-do-calculate-work-prog What is an S-curve?

An S-curve is defined as: "A display of cumulative costs, labor hours or other quantities plotted against time. The name derives from the S-like shape of the curve, flatter at the beginning and end and steeper in the middle, which is typical of most projects. The beginning represents a slow, deliberate but accelerating start, while the end represents a deceleration as the work runs out."[1] Types of S-curves There are a variety of S-curves that are applicable to project management applications, including:

Man Hours versus Time S-curve

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Costs versus Time S-curve

Baseline S-curve

Actual S-curve

Target S-curve

Value and Percentage S-curves

Each of these is described in the following pages.

16. What is the difference between P3.1, P3E, and P5 etc. http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Does-anyone-has-compartive-differences-153246.S.45237845

Well, now the new full release under Oracle P6 R.8 is a very sophisticated one, and i believe will elevate

PM into a whole new ball game.

Both P3 3.1 and Primavera P6 are project management tools that allow users to plan and control

projects with a high degree of accuracy, keeping them on time and under budget. Due to technological

limitations and other factors, development of P3 has been discontinued. However, Primavera P6

includes the addition of a number of new features requested by our user-base including the ability to

track and unravel multiple float paths, enhanced graphical reporting with features like multiple,

formatable curtains, and the long awaited option to UNDO! New features and enhancements will

continue to be added to this product with each successive release.

While P3 maintains each project as a separate group of files each existing completely independently of

the others. Primavera P6 stores all projects in a single database, allowing greater flexibility to view,

manage, and analyze projects singularly, as part of a master project, program, or enterprise. This single

database design increases efficiency, consistency and repeatability, saving organizations time and

money.

Additionally, while P3 has used the extremely reliable Btrieve database engine since 1985, its 16-bit

technology is quickly becoming outdated. Primavera P6 is built using the platform of the future. Project

data is stored in a central project database that resides on a server running Microsoft SQL Server, MSDE,

or Oracle. This type of relational database management system offers many advantages over the file

structure system used in P3. For one, not all projects are managed separately because data is stored in a

central database, rather than on the users PC, Primavera P6 enables managers to access project data

anywhere, at any time.

Unlimited number of activities per project

Assign multiple Codes, Resource Assignments, Expenses, etc to multiple activities at once

Activity ID up to 20 characters; Activity Name up to 120 characters

Can add Expenses on activities without Resource Assignments

Attach Documents and Notes to activities

Unlimited Activity Steps per activity with Notes, PCT and Completion Indicators

Step Templates

More robust Auto-increment Activity ID options

Durations with 2 decimal places

4 different duration types

3 Percent Complete types

Mixed duration units

Easily switch to view Durations in years, weeks, days or hours

Assign a Primary Resource to an activity (typically the resource responsible for coordinating an activity's

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work)

Organize activities in Assign Predecessor and Successor boxes by WBS, Project or Primary Resource

Create relationships by manually drawing relationships on Gantt Chart without having to display

relationship lines

Better drawing/placement of Relationship lines on Gantt Chart

Can assign Predecessors or Successors to multiple activities at the same time

Can link an unlimited number of activities from different projects at one time

17. What is an open end activity? http://www.planningplanet.com/forums/planning-scheduling-programming-discussion/504138/open-end-activity

Open ended are considred also the activities that are linked together with a start to start relation. No matter how much you change the duration or the Finish date of the predecessor the succesor is not afetced.

Practically, there will always be open-ended activities, but you can always provide artificial link (irrelevant for me) to close it.

Consider a project like a puzzle, where you group it part by part, and each part has its own end.

An open ended activity means that the activity in question, has no eny relation with the end of the project. It can be finished anytime even after the sun exploding. Fortunataly or unfortunately developers noticed that this problem arise often, so when they start the backward calculation (that is the phase for calculating late activity times) they set a maximum value which is the project end. This will result that their latest finish will be the end of the project.

What we teach, that all these activities has to be exemined carefully, because they are usually sign of a mising logic. (you simply forgot to define their successor)

Anyway the same thing when you have too many open started activities, but this occurs in a fewer case.

There are some rules which should be kept, so we teach that before going nto technical details always check the following:

number of start activities (open started) (indicates missing logic)

number of finish activities (open ended) (indicates missing logic)

number of start danglers (indicates missing logic)

number of finish danglers (indicates missing logic)

negative lags (always indicate incorrect logic, or opposite dependency)

activity length versus project duration (if the length of the activity can be compared to the

project duration than tracking will not be proper)

are there maximal relations or not (the lack of them indicates missing logic)

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Open ended activities provide flexibility. For my opinion, this is useful when you are scheduling group of activities (or projects under a project group). With this you can allow for any logic that you may find practicable. Or I guess, this is what they call "soft logics".

By the way, I'm refering to the development of a schedule.

Is it bad practice Mike?

Hi Abhishek

An open end activity is one that has no outgoing link.

It is bad planning practice as it makes any criticality meaningless.

Such activities can usually be detected because both free float and total float will be the same.

18. How often you update your program?

Activity Details Use the Activity Details to view and edit detailed information about the selected activity. The Activity Details appear in the Activities window. The available tabs are: General Use the General tab to define general information for the selected activity, including the activity's duration type, activity type, and percent complete type, priority level, assigned work breakdown structure (WBS) element, and cost account.

Activity Type: The selected activity's type, or how the activity's schedule is calculated. An activity's type can be Task Dependent, Resource Dependent, Level of Effort, Start Milestone, Finish Milestone, or WBS Summary. A Task Dependent activity is scheduled according to the activity's calendar rather than calendars of assigned resources. A Resource Dependent activity is scheduled according to the calendars of assigned resources. This activity type is used when several resources are assigned to the same activity, but may work separately.

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A Level of Effort activity has a duration which is determined by its dependent activities. Administration-type activities are typically Level of Effort. A Start/Finish Milestone is a zero-duration activity with no resources, marking a significant project event. A WBS summary activity has a duration which is determined by a group of activities that share a common WBS level. Resources that drive activity dates cannot be assigned to WBS summary activities. You can select a new type.

Duration Type: The basis for estimating the selected activity's completion time. An activity's duration type can be Fixed Units/Time, Fixed Duration & Units/Time, Fixed Units, or Fixed Duration & Units.

For Fixed Units/Time, the resource units per time are constant when the activity duration or units are changed. This type is used when an activity has fixed resources with fixed productivity output per time period. You most often choose this duration type when you are using resource dependent activities. For Fixed Duration & Units/Time, The activity duration is constant and the units are changed. This type is used when the activity is to be completed within a fixed time period regardless of the resources assigned. You most often choose this duration type when you are using task dependent activities. For Fixed Units, The activity units are constant when the duration or resource units per time are changed. This type is used when the total amount of work is fixed, and increasing the resources can decrease the activity duration. You most often choose this duration type when you are using resource dependent activities. For Fixed Duration & Units, the activity duration is constant and the units/time are changed. This type is used when the activity is to be completed within a fixed time period and the total amount of work is fixed. You most often choose this duration type when you are using task dependent activities.

% Complete Type: The way in which the percent complete for the selected activity is determined An activity's percent complete type can be Units, Duration, or Physical. For Duration, the selected activity's Activity % Complete is tied to its Duration % Complete. For Units, the selected activity's Activity % Complete is tied to its Units % Complete. For Physical, you may enter the selected activity's Activity % Complete in the Physical % field on the Status tab. Activity Calendar: The selected activity's calendar. To select a new calendar, click . WBS: The selected activity's assigned work breakdown structure (WBS) element. To assign a new WBS element to the selected activity, click . Responsible Manager: The name of the organizational breakdown structure (OBS) element assigned to the selected activity's WBS element. Primary Resource: The name of the selected activity's primary resource. The primary resource is the person responsible for the overall work on the activity and for updating activity status in Timesheets. To select a new primary resource, click . Status

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Use the Status tab to define the selected activity's duration, constraint, start and finish dates, labor and no labor units and costs, and material costs. You can also use the Status tab to view the selected activity's float, actual, and completion percentages. Duration Original: The expected number of work periods required to complete the selected activity. You can type a new time value and unit. Actual: The actual number of work periods spent on the selected activity. If the selected activity is complete, type a new number. Remaining: The remaining number of work periods needed to complete the selected activity. If the selected activity is in progress, type a new number. At Complete: An estimate of the duration at completion time for the selected activity. (At Complete Duration = Actual Duration + Remaining Duration). If the selected activity is in progress, type a new at complete estimate. Total Float: The amount of time the selected activity can be delayed, without delaying the project's finish date. Free Float: The amount of time the selected activity can be delayed, without delaying the immediate successor activities. Status Started: Mark to indicate that the selected activity has started. The field beside this checkbox displays the activity's planned start date. If the selected activity has started or is complete, this field displays the activity's actual start date. To select a start date, click . Finished: Mark to indicate that the selected activity is complete. The field beside this checkbox displays the activity's remaining finish date. If the selected activity is complete, this field displays the activity's actual finish date. To select the actual finish date, click . Exp Finish: The date the activity's primary resource expects the activity to end. Only the primary resource can edit this date. When you add an Expected Finish date, the calendar defaults to the date and time of the activity's Early Finish date. When you edit an Expected Finish date, the calendar defaults to the date and time that is currently in the Exp Finish field. %: If the selected activity's percent complete type is set to Duration, the selected activity's duration percent complete is calculated from the original and remaining duration. If the selected activity's percent complete type is set to Units, this field displays the selected activity's unit percent complete, as calculated from the actual and remaining units. If the selected activity's percent complete type is set to Physical, this field displays the selected activity's physical percent complete, which is manually entered. Note

The activity must be started to edit the % field. Suspend: Enter the date on which the activity's progress stopped. Note

The activity must be started to enter a Suspend date.

Resume: Enter the date on which the suspended activity's progress resumed. Constraints

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Primary: The selected activity's primary constraint type: start on , start on or after , start on or before , finish on , finish on or after , finish on or before , as late as possible , mandatory start , or mandatory finish . You can select a new type. Date: The selected activity's constraint date. Click to select a new date. Secondary: The selected activity's secondary constraint type. This list is filtered based on the value you select in the Primary field. You can select a new type. Date: The selected activity's constraint date. Click to select a new date. Note

You can enter a constraint date only after you select a constraint type. (Non)Labor Units/(Non)Labor Cost/Material Cost Budgeted: The expected number of labor or nonlabor units or cost, or material cost the selected activity will use, depending on your current display. You can type a new budgeted value. Actual: The actual number of labor or nonlabor units or cost, or material cost the selected activity has used, depending on your current display. If the selected activity has started, type a new actual value for units. You can enter actual cost on an activity that has not yet started. Remaining: The remaining number of labor or nonlabor units or cost, or material cost the selected activity will use, depending on your current display. If the selected activity is in progress, type a new remaining value. At Complete: An estimate of the labor or nonlabor units or cost, or material cost at the completion of the selected activity (At Complete Units(or Cost) = Actual Units(or Cost) + Remaining Units(or Cost)). If the selected activity is in progress, type a new At Complete estimate. Resources Use the Resources tab to add, edit, and remove resource assignments for the selected activity, including each resource's budgeted and actual hours for the activity and the role assignment for the activity. You can also define the activity's primary resource and change the rate type used for the resource or role assignment. The rate type determines which price/unit is used to calculate costs for resource and role assignments. You can change the columns that display under the Resources tab. To change the displayed columns, right-click in the Resources table, then choose Customize Resource Columns. Resource table: All resources assigned to the selected activity. To sort the display, click a column label. Add Resource: Assigns a resource to the selected activity. Add Role: Assigns a role to the selected activity. Assign By Role: Assigns a resource to the selected activity according to role. Remove: Removes the selected resource or role from the selected activity. Predecessors Use the Predecessors tab to add, edit, and remove predecessor relationships for the selected activity. You can change the columns that display under the Predecessors tab. To change the displayed columns, right-click in the Predecessors table, then choose Customize Predecessor Columns. Project ID: Identifies the project. WBS: Lists WBS codes for the selected activity's predecessors. Activity ID: Lists activity IDs for the selected activity's predecessors.

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Activity Name: Lists names of the selected activity's predecessors. Relationship Type: Lists each predecessor's relationship type for the selected activity. To change a relationship type, double-click it. The following relationship types are available: finish to start, finish to finish, start to start, and start to finish. Lag: Lists the lag time value associated with each of the selected activity's predecessor relationships. To change a lag time value, double-click it. Activity Status: Lists the status of each of the selected activity's predecessors. Primary Resource: Lists the primary resource for each of the selected activity's predecessors. The primary resource is the person responsible for the overall work on the activity and for updating activity status in the Timesheets module. Assign: Adds a predecessor to the selected activity. Remove: Removes the selected predecessor from the selected activity. Go To: Displays the selected predecessor activity's information. Note

To sort the display, click a column label. Successors Use the Successors tab to add, edit, and remove successor relationships for the selected activity. You can change the columns that display under the Successors tab. To change the displayed columns, right-click in the Successors table, then choose Customize Successor Columns. Project ID: Identifies the project. WBS: Lists WBS codes for the selected activity's successors. Activity ID: Lists activity IDs for the selected activity's successors. Activity Name: Lists activity names of the selected activity's successors. Relationship Type: Lists each successor's relationship type for the selected activity. The following relationship types are available: finish to start, finish to finish, start to start, and start to finish. To change a relationship type, double-click it. Lag: Lists the lag time value associated with each of the selected activity's successor dependencies. To change a lag time value, double-click it. Activity Status: Lists the status of each of the selected activity's successors. Primary Resource: Lists the primary resource for each of the selected activity's successors. Assign: Adds a successor to the selected activity. Remove: Removes the selected successor from the selected activity. Go To: Displays the selected successor activity's information. Note

To sort the display, click a column label. Codes Use the Codes tab to add and remove activity code value assignments for the selected activity. Activity Code: Lists the selected activity's assigned activity codes. Code Value: Lists the activity code values assigned to the selected activity. To change an activity code value, double-click it. Description: Describes each activity code value. Assign: Assigns an activity code and value to the selected activity. Remove: Removes the selected activity code and value from the selected activity. Note

To sort the display, click a column label.

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Notebook Use the Notebook tab to define the selected activity's notes. Notebook Topic: Any note categories or topics for the selected activity. You can select a note topic. Note topics are predefined by the project administrator. Notebook Description: A description of the selected note. The title of this section changes to match the currently selected Notebook Topic. All Timesheets users assigned to the selected activity can view this description. You can type a new description. You can use HTML editing features, which include formatting text, inserting pictures, copying and pasting information from other document files (while retaining formatting), and adding hyperlinks. Add: Assigns a notebook topic to the selected activity. Delete: Removes the selected notebook topic from the selected activity. Steps Use the Steps tab to define the selected activity's steps or procedures. Step Name: Lists the selected activity's steps or procedures in chronological order. You can select a step. Completed: Indicates the selected activity's completed steps. To indicate that a step is complete, mark the appropriate checkbox. Step Description: Displays the name of the selected step. You can type a description or any other relevant information. You can use HTML editing features, which include formatting text, inserting pictures, copying and pasting information from other document files (while retaining formatting), and adding hyperlinks. Add: Adds a step after the selected step. Add from template: Adds steps from user-defined Activity Step Templates. Delete: Deletes the selected step.

Moves the selected step to an earlier stage in the selected activity. Moves the selected step to a later stage in the selected activity.

To add these additional columns, right click on the Steps tab and choose Customize Steps Columns. Step % Complete: Enter the percent complete for the selected step. This field indicates progress on the step. Step % Complete is used to calculate the activity percent complete when you mark Activity Percent Complete Based on Activity Steps checkbox in the Calculations tab in the Projects window. Step Weight: Type a value for the weight of the step. The higher the value you enter, the more importance is attached to that step in the activity. Step Weight Percent: Based on the total weight for all steps in the activity, the Project Management module calculates and displays the percent for each step. This column is 0 percent for nonweighted steps. The step weight percent value is calculated based on the step weights assigned to the activity. For example, assume an activity has four steps: step 1 has a weight of 2, and steps 2, 3, and 4 each have a weight of 1. Step 1 would have a calculated Step Weight Percent of 40 and steps 2, 3, and 4 would each have a calculated Step Weight Percent of 20. User Defined Field columns: If you are the activity's primary resource, you can add or modify additional information about the step, such as start and finish dates, cost or other text. Define user fields in Enterprise, User Defined Fields. Right-click in the columns area and choose Columns to select the user field columns. Feedback

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Use the Feedback tab to share activity-specific messages or notes with Timesheets-licensed resources. Within the Timesheets application, all assigned resources can review the message you send and the primary resource can respond. Notes to Resources: Enter any comments you want to record about the selected activity. All of the activity's resources can view these comments. Feedback from Primary Resource: Displays comments about the selected activity from the activity's primary resource. New: When the primary adds or revises notes, the New checkbox is marked. After reviewing notes, clear the checkbox to indicate that you have reviewed the primary resource's feedback so that you will be notified of subsequent new feedback from the primary resource. WPs & Docs Use the WPs & Docs tab to add, edit, and remove work product and document assignments for the selected activity. You can also view details about and/or open an assigned work product or document. Title: Lists the selected activity's assigned work products and documents. To sort the display, click the Title column label. Status Code: Displays the status of the selected activity's work products and documents. Work Product: Mark this checkbox to indicate that the document is a work product. Assign: Assigns a document to the selected activity. Remove: Removes the selected work product or document assignment. Details: Displays details about the selected work product or document. Expenses Use the Expenses tab to add, edit, and remove expense assignments for the selected activity. You can change the columns that display under the Expenses tab. To change the displayed columns, right-click the Expenses table, then choose Customize Expense Columns. Expense Item: Lists the selected activity's expenses. To change an expense, double-click it. Cost Account: List the Cost Account to which this expense item is assigned. To change the Cost Account, double-click it. Expense Category: Lists each expense's assigned expense categories for the selected activity. To change an expense category, double-click it. Accrual Type: Lists accrual type for the selected activity's expenses. The accrual type determines how the expense is distributed: at the start of the activity (front-loaded), the end of the activity (back-loaded), or uniformly across the activity (linear). To change an expense's accrual type, double-click it. Budgeted Cost: Lists the expected total cost for each of the selected activity's expenses. To change an expense's budgeted cost, double-click it. Actual Cost: Lists the actual cost for each of the selected activity's expenses. To change an expense's actual cost, double-click it. Remaining Cost: Lists the remaining cost for each of the selected activity's expenses. (Remaining Cost = Budgeted Cost - Actual Cost) To change an expense's remaining cost, double-click it. At Completion Cost: Lists the at completion cost for each of the selected activity's expenses. (At Completion Cost = Remaining Cost + Actual Cost) To change an expense's at complete cost, double-click it.

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Vendor: Lists the business or organization to which each of the selected activity's expenses are payable. To change a vendor, double-click it. Auto Compute Actuals: Indicates if an expense's actual cost is automatically calculated according to the selected activity's completion percentage. To auto compute an expense, mark the appropriate checkbox. Add: Adds an expense to the selected activity. Delete: Deletes the selected expense. Note

To sort the display, click a column label.

Summary Use the Summary tab to view summary information for the selected activity, including the activity's budgeted, actual, and remaining units and costs. Display Units: Choose to view summary details about the selected activity's budgeted, actual, remaining, percent complete, at completion, and complete variance units for labor, nonlabor, and duration. Display Cost: Choose to view summary details about the selected activity's budgeted, actual, remaining, percent complete, at completion, and complete variance costs for labor, nonlabor, material, expenses, and total. Display Dates: Choose to view summary details about the selected activity's current, original, actual, remaining, early, late, and baseline start and finish dates. Contract Manager Docs Use the Contract Manager Docs tab to view Contract Manager (formerly known as Expedition) documents associated with the selected activity. Document: Lists Contract Manager documents related to the selected activity. Type: Lists the document's type, which is defined in Contract Manager. BIC: Lists the person responsible for the document. BIC Initials: Lists the initials of the responsible person. View: Displays the selected document.

For Expedition 8.54, the document displays in Expedition Print Preview.

For Contract Manager/Expedition 9.0 and higher, enter your Contract Manager/Expedition username and password. The document displays in your default web browser.

Refresh: Updates the list of documents to reflect changes made in Contract Manager. Relationships Use this tab to view and manage predecessors and successors from a single Activity Details tab. To enlarge either the Predecessor or Successor area, drag the split bar separating the right and left panes. The Predecessor area functions identically to the Predecessor tab, and the Successor area functions identically to the Successor tab. The data stored on the Relationships tab is synchronized with that on the Predecessors and Successors tabs. Predecessors Project ID: Identifies the project. WBS: Lists WBS codes for the selected activity's predecessors.

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Activity ID: Lists activity IDs for the selected activity's predecessors. Activity Name: Lists names of the selected activity's predecessors. Relationship Type: Lists each predecessor's relationship type for the selected activity. To change a relationship type, double-click it. The following relationship types are available: finish to start, finish to finish, start to start, and start to finish. Lag: Lists the lag time value associated with each of the selected activity's predecessor relationships. To change a lag time value, double-click it. Activity Status: Lists the status of each of the selected activity's predecessors. Primary Resource: Lists the primary resource for each of the selected activity's predecessors. The primary resource is the person responsible for the overall work on the activity and for updating activity status in Timesheets. Assign: Adds a predecessor to the selected activity. Remove: Removes the selected predecessor from the selected activity. Go To: Displays the selected predecessor activity's information. Note

To sort the display, click a column label. Successors Project ID: Identifies the project. WBS: Lists WBS codes for the selected activity's successors. Activity ID: Lists activity IDs for the selected activity's successors. Activity Name: Lists activity names of the selected activity's successors. Relationship Type: Lists each successor's relationship type for the selected activity. The following relationship types are available: finish to start, finish to finish, start to start, and start to finish. To change a relationship type, double-click it. Lag: Lists the lag time value associated with each of the selected activity's successor dependencies. To change a lag time value, double-click it. Activity Status: Lists the status of each of the selected activity's successors. Primary Resource: Lists the primary resource for each of the selected activity's successors. Assign: Adds a successor to the selected activity. Remove: Removes the selected successor from the selected activity. Go To: Displays the selected successor activity's information. Note

To sort the display, click a column label.

Activity Details appear on several tabs. To specify which tabs you want to display and their order, click the Display Options Bar, then choose Bottom Layout Options, or right-click in the Activity Details tab area and choose Customize Activity Details.

In addition, the following fields and buttons are available at the top of each tab: Previous : Displays information about the previous activity. Next : Displays information about the next activity. Activity: The selected activity's ID. You can type a new ID. Activity Name: The selected activity's name. You can type a new name. Project: The ID for the selected activity's project.

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RIMAVERA IMP QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEW Ratings: 0|Views: 7,655|Likes: 31

Published by Imran Khan

PRIMAVERA QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEW

Given below are list of interview questions faced by Planning Engineer , other than their

personal and Experience. if anyone like to add more u are welcome pls.............

Common Interview questions for Planning Engineer:

1. What is total float?

2. What are the difference between free float and total float?

3. What is a constraint?

4. What are the difference between MS Project and Primavera?

5. How to load cost & resource in a program?

6. What is WBS?

7. What is a milestone? What are the types of milestone?

8. What are the difference between flag and milestone activity?

9. What is a critical activity?

10. What is resource allocation and leveling?

11. What is a Baseline Program?

12. What are BSWS, BSWP, and ACWP?

13. What are SV and CV?

14. What is a Budget and how do you compare budget against Actual cost?

15. What is an S Curve?

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16. What is the difference between P3.1, P3E, and P5 etc.

17. What is an open end activity?

18. How often you update your program?

During an interview, ive been asked these questions:-

What is the difference between Retained Logic & Override Logic?-

What is the difference between Continuous & Interruptible scheduling?-

What is the no. of activities that u monitor & how do u make the update?-

How do u measure & compare the progress?-

Earned Value Terms (very detailed).

Regards.

Dear All It is really a very good interview tips at the senior/lead planner level. It is true as

some of our friend explain that it is bit hard for a fresh graduate or even a planner with

4-5 year of experience, except a very genius. Here the some answer that Mr Stephen did

not reply in detail or may be I could not got the point.

4. What are the difference between MS Project and Primavera? I will reply that the cost

& resource management is much better in P3 rather then MS project where as MS

project can produced more makeup(good fonts/color/tabbing and etc) reports then P3

for presentation.

8. What are the difference between flag and milestone activity?

Mile stone & flags both are events rather then activities. Some client likes those flags

rather than mile stone due the following differences.

1- With the use of flags the logic of main event can be easily tracked as these can

not be created without predecessor as stand alone allocating the constraint.

Where as mile stone can.

2- Flags can not update manually as P3 automatically update the status where as

milestone can be update manually.

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3- Flags can not be constraint only driven by predecessor where as milestone can.

17. What is an open end activity?

The open end activity is the activity that does not have any successor. Normally open

end activity is not accepted willingly in schedule because the total float will be calculate

from the end of the project and these entire activities late dates gather at the end of the

project and can not be prepare a logical late start plan.

19. What is the difference between Retained Logic & Override Logic?

I will really appreciate please some one answer these for the sake of others knowledge

20. What is the difference between Continuous & Interruptible scheduling?

Same as above

22. How do u measure & compare the progress?

I measured the Progress in term of EV (Earned values) such as EMH (Earned man-hours)

which is equivalent to the progress achieved by the define progress steps for each

activity multiply with SMH (Standard man-hours)

EMH can be calculated as EMH= SMH * % age of activity as describe above.

Comparison can be done in various different ways, tabular and graphically after getting

the planned values from the base line program.

24. When updating a plan, what key people and/or systems would you expect to need

information from? What, if any, analysis of the updated programme would you

perform? Who would you distribute your work to?

Normally all good companies have the monitoring system including the progress break

down steps agreed between all stack holders of the project to update the plan. But if

you dont have any kind of these program then I will always contact with the concern

activity / package supervisor and collect the information on a well define format. In

short the minimum people require for the updating of progress.

1- Job supervisor

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2- Quality control ( for the acceptance of job until this you are unable to finish 100%

a single)

3- After performing any kind of analysis the distribution should be as follow

minimum

4- Project Manager

5- Construction Managers (Concern discipline for action and other for information)

6- Job supervisor

7- Department heads in co-operate office

8- QA/QC and safety for info.

These will be my answer addition to Mr. stephen, it is not guarantee that

interviewer will agree with your opinion and approach towards planning.

Now, as to the other questions that I can answer:

1. What is total float?

The amount of time that an activity can slip without delaying the end of the

project. Usually computed as TF = LF EF.

2. What are the difference between free float and total float?

FF is a special type of TF. Whereas TF is the amount of time that an activity

can slip without delaying the end of the project, FF is the amount of time that

anactivity can slip without delaying the early dates of a successor.

3. What is a constraint?

A limitation that reduces the efficiency with which a project can be

accomplished. Scheduling constraints come in three main falvours: NET, NLT

and ON, standing for No Earlier Than, No Later Than, and (surprisingly!) On.

These are input to a schedule, are usually calendar-based, and override the

predecessor/successor logic, thus often causing positive or negative float on

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the longest path. Negative float needs to be resolved, and often is by

compromising on other parts of the plan.

Resource availability is another type of constraint that can delay a projects

schedule and efficiency. In general, constraints should not be input to the

schedule until after the schedule has been optimized through critical path

analysis, as it is important to be able to gauge the impact of a constraint from

the Newtonian constraints of the work.

4. What are the difference between MS Project and Primavera?

The same as between a Vespa and a Hummer. (Sometimes a Vespa can be

more useful!)

5. How to load cost & resource in a program?

Through the WBS, in a process called activity-based resource assignments, or

ABRA. Assigned resources should be overhead-burdened to get an accurate

picture of costs. It is important to note that cost can be assigned, tracked and

managed at a higher level than schedule or resources a euro is a euro is a

euro, but both resources and schedule dates are specific, and need to be

managed with greater specificity.

6. What is WBS? Work breakdown structure, a hierarchical format for

identifying, displaying, reporting, and changing project work. Since the WBS is

the skeleton of work on which the resource, cost, schedule information is

draped, it is the principle tool for implementing scope/cost/schedule

integration.

7. What is a milestone? What are the types of milestone?

A milestone is an event. Activity-driven milestones are usually entered into PM software

as activities with durations of zero. Since milestones have no duration, once they are

reached they are immediately in the past. It is therefore good practice to name activities

using the past participle of the verb (i.e., Test component = activity; Component

tested = milestone.

8. What are the difference between flag and milestone activity?

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No idea -- Ive never heard the term flag activity.

9. What is a critical activity? Although the term may be misused (i.e., with other

meanings), a critical activity is one that is on the longest path.

1) In project management, float or slack is the amount of time that a task in a project network can be

delayed without causing a delay to:

subsequent tasks ("free float")

project completion date ("total float")

An activity on critical path has "zero free float", but an activity that has zero free float might not be on

the critical path. Total float is associated with the path. If a project network chart/diagram has 4 non-

critical paths then that project would have 4 total float values. The total float of a path is the combined

free float values of all activities in a path.

The total float represents the schedule flexibility and can also be measured by subtracting early dates

from late dates of path completion.[1] Float is core to critical path method.

Example

Consider the process of replacing a broken pane of glass in the window of your home. There are various

component activities involved in the project as a whole; obtaining the glass and putty, installing the new

glass, choosing the paint, obtaining a tin tty once it has set, wiping the new glass free of finger smears

etc.

Some of these activities can run concurrently e.g. obtaining the glass,