PMI CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management) Examination Content OutlinePredictive, Plan-Based MethodologiesEasy
A project manager is developing the project schedule for a complex engineering project. The team has identified various activities and their dependencies. To represent these activities and their logical relationships in a graphical format, which tool or technique should be used?
- APrecedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
- BCritical Path Method (CPM)
- CResource Leveling
- DGantt Chart
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
The Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) is a technique used for constructing a project schedule network diagram that uses nodes to represent activities and arrows to represent logical relationships between them. This directly addresses the need to represent activities and their relationships graphically.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. CPM is a method to calculate the longest path through the network diagram, not a tool for constructing the diagram itself.
- C. Resource Leveling is a technique to optimize resource allocation, not for diagramming activity relationships.
- D. A Gantt Chart displays activities against time, but doesn't primarily focus on showing logical relationships between activities in a diagrammatic way.
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
A technique used for constructing a schedule model in which activities are represented by nodes and are graphically linked by one or more logical relationships to show the sequence in which the activities are to be performed.
- Uses nodes for activities and arrows for relationships.
- Supports four types of dependencies: Finish-to-Start, Finish-to-Finish, Start-to-Start, Start-to-Finish.
- Is the basis for constructing a project schedule network diagram.
Memory trick: Precedence Diagrams: Activities in Nodes, Relationships by Lines, Sequence Unfolds.