I had fun playing PM wars but got one answer wrong when I believe it should have been right.
When is resource levelling necessary?
I answered always but the right answer was when they are over allocated.
I strongly disagree with this. Under allocated resources need levelling so that your project finishes as soon as it can. Under utilised resources are adding time to the length of the schedule and potentially delaying the project unnecessarily. What does every one else think? Saving Changes...
Wayne MackRetired| RetiredSouth Riding, Va, United States
This is one of those "splitting hairs" type questions that I despise, but I believe the answer shown is based on word "necessary." If resources are over-allocated, then resource leveling must be done, while if resources are under-allocated, then resource leveling may be desirable but not absolutely required. Saving Changes...
Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
Excellent answer Wayne and good catch on the word 'necessary'. However, I don't think under utilised resources are necessary adding time to the length of the schedule as this depends on other factors, e.g. task dependencies, as well. Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
You guys are hard to beat..! Saving Changes...
Bernard GorePortfolio, Programme & Project Professional| NZ PoliceWellington, New Zealand
I'm a bit of a qualification junkie (so am loving both PMwars and PMprep here) - I have yet to see a single exam where at least one question wasn't a little "iffy" - and words like "necessary" are often the culprits implying a level of certainty that doesn't match the question and answers.
So I'd say it is actually no bad thing that a few of these appear in PMwars & PMprep - helps prepare us for when they do in the middle of an exam, so we aren't freaked out by a seemingly unanswerable question. Saving Changes...
Bernard GorePortfolio, Programme & Project Professional| NZ PoliceWellington, New Zealand
There's a few classics in PMprep -
"How many critical paths can exist on a network?" - the real answer to that would be one, but the answer it is looking fr is "multiple", and the justification it gives is "Networks can have multiple near critical paths" - that addition of the word "near", missing from the question itself, completely changes it.
"Q __________ is the process of numerically analyzing the effect of identified risks on overall project objectives." - obviously answer is "Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis", but if you choose that it tells you wrong - then gives as expalnation "Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis is the process of numerically analyzing the effect of identified risks on overall project objectives." - which is exactly the answer it has just told you is wrong.
Can we have a badge for identifying errors in PMprep or PMwars?
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1 reply by Senthil Somasundaram
Jun 27, 2017 11:51 PM
Senthil Somasundaram
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Yes, even i am thinking if
Q : How many critical paths can exist on a network?
A : Networks can have multiple near critical paths.
How we can have multiple critical path (As Bernard mentioned "near" was missing in the question.
Thanks for your answer Wayne, but I think it depends on the driver for the levelling. If you have an under used resource whose time is being charged to the project whether you use them or not, then as far as I am concerned levelling is necessary to keep the project costs down and resource utilisation up,
Love the idea of a badge for identifying wrong answers ;-) Saving Changes...
Andrew CotterellTransformation Manager| World Intellectual Property OrganisationGeneva, Switzerland
Clearly, you can make a case for levelling under-allocated resources, but it's a choice, not a necessity, which is what the question was referring to.
There are many cases where you would not want to level under-allocated resources but, strictly speaking, you should always, one way or another, level over-allocated resources, so I think the PM Wars answer was correct. Saving Changes...
I loved this question anad the debate on this. I also believe "necessary" is the key word here and I would also like to go with the overallocated resources for levelling or I''m cretainly risking the quality and re-work. Saving Changes...
I loved this question anad the debate on this. I also believe "necessary" is the key word here and I would also like to go with the overallocated resources for levelling or I''m cretainly risking the quality and re-work. Saving Changes...
John Caron, MBA, PMP, CSMVP - Technology Project Solutions Consultant| Bank of AmericaJacksonville, Fl, United States
Is this one area where a user should always where their PMI hat? Indeed, the above answers are great answers and the 90 seconds you have to answer as many questions as possible is a challenge in itself. Saving Changes...
