Adjusting time frames in a project plan

Name:

Date:

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A data cleaning task planned for 3 days will take 5 days. What should you update in the project plan?

A Leave the plan as it is and hope the later tasks catch up

B Change the task duration to 5 days and check later tasks

2. Task B cannot start until Task A finishes. Task A is extended by 2 days. What happens to Task B?

A Its start date moves back by 2 days

B Its start date stays the same

3. Which sentence best describes the knock-on effect of extending a task?

A Later tasks that depend on it may be delayed

B Only the extended task is ever affected

4. Task C is independent of the extended Task A and has plenty of float. Does its start date need to change?

A Not necessarily, because it does not depend on Task A

B Yes, every task must move back by the same amount

5. A project was due on 20 June. A task on the critical path is extended by 4 days with no time to catch up. What is the revised finish date?

A 20 June

B 24 June

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1Task B duration: 3 days → 5 days		AA shorter task may allow later tasks to start earlier and the finish date to be revised, but this was not checked.
2Task C start: Mon 10 → Wed 12		BExtending a task because it is taking longer than planned
3When a task is extended, every task that depends on it may have to start later		COriginal finish: Fri 21 + 2 day delay = Tue 25 (revised finish)
4Work out the revised finish date by adding the delay to the original finish date		DTask A (+2 days) → Task B start +2 days → Task C start +2 days
5Task A extended by 3 days. Task B start date left unchanged.		EThe dependent task's start date was not updated, so the plan now shows Task B starting before Task A has finished.
6Task runs 2 days short. Project finish date stays the same, so no change is needed.		FMoving a dependent task's start date because the task before it finished late

Definitions

Adjust time frames

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

=B2+__

=__+1

duration ← duration _ 3

=___(D2:D6)

newFinish ← oldFinish + _____

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A design_days = 5 - 2

B build_start = design_days + 1

C build_days = 4

D finish = build_start + build_days - 1

Question 2

A design_days = 5

B delay = 2

C design_days = design_days + delay

D build_start = design_days - 1

Question 3

A planned_end = 10

B change = 3

C new_end = planned_end * change

D print(new_end)

Question 4

A test_days = 6

B saved = 2

C test_days = test_days + saved

D print(test_days)

Question 5

A a_days = 3 + 2

B b_days = 4

C c_days = 2

D finish = a_days + c_days

Answer Key

Adjusting time frames in a project plan

Section A: Quick Questions

B — Change the task duration to 5 days and check later tasks

A — Its start date moves back by 2 days

A — Later tasks that depend on it may be delayed

A — Not necessarily, because it does not depend on Task A

B — 24 June

Section B: Match the Pairs

Task B duration: 3 days → 5 days → Extending a task because it is taking longer than planned

Task C start: Mon 10 → Wed 12 → Moving a dependent task's start date because the task before it finished late

When a task is extended, every task that depends on it may have to start later → Task A (+2 days) → Task B start +2 days → Task C start +2 days

Work out the revised finish date by adding the delay to the original finish date → Original finish: Fri 21 + 2 day delay = Tue 25 (revised finish)

Task A extended by 3 days. Task B start date left unchanged. → The dependent task's start date was not updated, so the plan now shows Task B starting before Task A has finished.

Task runs 2 days short. Project finish date stays the same, so no change is needed. → A shorter task may allow later tasks to start earlier and the finish date to be revised, but this was not checked.

Section C: Definitions

Adjust time frames — Update start dates, durations and deadlines when a task runs long or short, then check the knock-on effect on dependent tasks and work out the revised finish date.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

=B2+C2

=D2+1

duration ← duration + 3

=MAX(D2:D6)

newFinish ← oldFinish + delay

Section E: Spot the Error

A — Design ran 2 days longer than planned, so the extra days must be added (5 + 2), not subtracted. Extending a task increases its duration.

D — The dependent build task can only start after the extended design task ends, so its start is design_days + 1. Subtracting 1 would make it start before design is finished.

C — A 3 day extension moves the finish date by adding 3 days to the planned end. Multiplying gives 30, which is not the revised finish date. It should be planned_end + change.

C — Testing finished 2 days early, so the saved days must be subtracted to shorten the duration. Adding them would wrongly lengthen the task.

D — The revised finish date must include every dependent task in the chain. Task B was left out, so the knock-on effect is wrong. It should add a_days, b_days and c_days.