Predictive Project Scheduling

The critical path method lays out every task's dependencies and durations to find the longest sequence of dependent work through the project — the critical path — which determines the shortest possible project duration. Any delay on the critical path delays the whole project; delay on a non-critical path task may not, if there's slack (float) to absorb it. Schedule variance (SV) is a simple, exam-favorite calculation: SV = Earned Value (EV) − Planned Value (PV). A positive SV means the project is ahead of schedule; a negative SV means it's behind.

A work breakdown structure (WBS) decomposes the total scope of a project into smaller, more manageable pieces, down to a level where each lowest-level piece — a work package — can be realistically estimated, scheduled, and assigned. The WBS doesn't show time or sequence (that's the schedule's job); it shows everything that has to be done, organized hierarchically, with nothing missing and nothing extra — a principle often called the "100% rule."

Study focus: a quality management plan describes how quality will be managed and verified throughout the project, while an integration management plan ties every other piece of the project plan together so they work as one coherent whole rather than as disconnected documents — a change to scope that isn't reflected in the schedule and budget is exactly the kind of gap integration management exists to prevent.