Question12 How can free float be used to shorten a project schedule?Select one alternative: By finishing the tasks with free floats sooner. By delaying the tasks with free float. By assigning free floats to the tasks in critical path to put the pressure off from resources. By reallocating resources from non-critical task with free float to the concurrent tasks in critical path. ResetMaximum marks: 2

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

To tackle this question, I’ll evaluate what free float means and how it can influence the project schedule.
Option 1: 'By finishing the tasks with free floats sooner.' While finishing tasks earlier can sometimes help, free float specifically refers to the flexibility to delay a task without affecting successor start times. Finishing earlier does not inherently shorten the project unless it frees up resources for critical work, which this option does not address directly. 
Option 2: 'By delaying the tasks with free float.' Free float exists precisely so that such delays won’t impact the overall project finish, but deliberately delaying tasks with free float does not shorten the schedule; it merely consumes the slack. This would not shorten the project, and could even risk misalignment with non-float constraints. 
Option 3: 'By assigning free floats to the tasks in critical path to put the pressure off from resources.' The concept of assigning free float to critical-path tasks is misleading: critical-path tasks typically have zero free float; reallocating float to them is not a standard or meaningful maneuver for shortening the schedule. In practice, critical-path tasks are the ones that determine the project duration, so this option misunderstands how float operates. 
Option 4: 'By reallocating resources from non-critical task with free float to the concurrent tasks in critical path.' This aligns with common project management practice: use the available free float in non-critical tasks to free up resources for critical-path tasks, thereby potentially accelerating the critical path and shortening the overall project duration. It leverages the slack where it exists to relieve resource bottlenecks on the path that drives the finish date. 
In summary, only option 4 correctly describes a valid approach to leveraging free float to shorten a project schedule; the other options either misconstrue the meaning of free float or fail to connect float with possible schedule compression.

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