Discussion Questions:

1. Why do you think schedule issues often cause the most conflicts on projects?

2. Why is defining activities a process of project time management instead of project scope management?

3. Why is it important to determine activity sequencing on projects? Discuss diagrams you have seen that are similar to network diagrams. Describe their similarities and differences.

4. How does activity resource estimating affect estimating activity durations?

5. Explain the difference between estimating activity durations and estimating the effort required to perform an activity.

6. Explain the following schedule development tools and concepts: Gantt charts, critical path method, PERT, critical chain scheduling, and sprints.

7. What do you think about adding slack to individual task estimates (sometimes called pad-ding estimates)? What do you think about adding a project buffer for the entire project, as critical chain scheduling suggests? What are some ethical considerations when using slack and buffers?

8. How can you minimize or control changes to project schedules?

9. List some of the reports you can generate with Project 2013 to assist with project time management.

10. Why is it difficult to use project management software well?