PMP PREPARATION : TIME : IMPORTANT POINTS

I cleared my PMP on 26th may 2014. I have gone through all the three books PMBOK, RITA MULCAHY'S and HEAD FIRST. During preparation I made few notes. so the material has been picked up from all the three books and these are just the key points. 
 NOTE : IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT ONE SHOULD READ THESE POINTS IN DETAIL FROM THE BOOKS (which ever interests you more) AND ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE FINISHED A THOROUGH READING, YOU CAN GO THROUGH THESE POINTS FOR CONSOLIDATION.

PMP PREPARATION : TIME 

1. Reestimate : atleast once.
2. Schedule Network Analysis is a technique that generates the Project Schedule Model.
3. Standard Deviation tells you how uncertain the schedule is.
4. You want to see scheduling flexibility - Critical Path .
5. If the number of resources are most important and not the cost and schedule - Perform Resource Optimization.
6. Crashing also has some risk in it.
7. Ask team members about their estimate of time for their activities and enter that in calendar - Develop Schedule
8. You are drawing a network diagram - PDM
9. If you have to shorten an activity - pick the one on critical path - if there are more then one -  pick the one who is coming first  - not the one with bigger duration.
10. As part of the estimate activity duration process, reserves are created (to cover risk)
11. Schedule is not finalized until after Schedule Compression 
12. Compress Schedule - finalize - gain approval 
13. Rolling Wave Planning : should be used where it is not possible to plan in any other way.
14. Activities are broken down to a level where they can be estimated accurately.
15. Activity List : lower then the WBS
16. Activity Attribute : description of each activity (any predecessor activity, successor activity, constraints, resources for that activity etc.)
17. Network Diagram : visualize the way activities relate
18. PDM : activities in rectangle, relationship as arrow, AON 
19. Activity Attribute should list the predecessor and successor 
20. Resources are people, equipment, location. anything that you need to do an activity. 
21. Every activity in the activity list needs to have resources assigned to it.
22. Resource Calendar : what resources can you use for your project. when are they available to you.
23. Parametric Estimation : put the data about your project in a spread sheet , formula, database or computer program.
24. Analogous Estimation : trends, historical data, previous project.
25. Develop Schedule : all the outputs from the other time management processes are input to this process
26. Sequence Activity : see the dependencies between activities - create a diagram of the activity network 
27. Critical Path - string of activities - if anyone of them is delayed - the project will get delayed 
28. FLOAT = SLACK = how much extra time can you take for doing that activity without delaying the project
29. Float = how much extra time do you have 
30. Low float can be a problem
31. ES/ EF (early start / early finish) : freedom you have to move the start date of that activity without causing any problem to the project
32. LS/ LF (late start / late finish) : activity with large late start or late finish date means you have more options 
33. Fast Tracking : work in parallel, risk, may have to redo
34. Crashing : add resources, more cost, expensive
35. Update the resource requirement OR update the activity attribute : no CCB
36. Project Calendar : working days for the team member, holidays, non working days, planned training, dates that could affect the project etc.
37. Any time you generate data for your project - add it to your OPA
38. How long an activity can slip before the whole project is delayed : FLOAT.
39. Plugging data into a database or spreadsheet : Parametric 
40. Kind of analysis where you ask many questions : what-if analysis.
41. Duration : calendar time, how long the activity takes
42. Efforts : person hours. it takes two people 6 hours to complete a work. duration = 6 hours. efforts = 2 * 6 = 12 hours
43. Resource estimate : how many people + other resources for one activity