Skip to content
CAPMMedium

CAPM Practice: Demonstrate an understanding of project management planning

Question 79 of 100 in Demonstrate an understanding of project management planning

Samir Shimizu is planning resource allocation for a mobile app development project at Paragon Projects. The project requires 3 developers for 4 months, 2 UI designers for 2 months, 1 QA tester for 3 months, and 1 business analyst for the entire 6-month project duration. Senior management asks Samir to calculate the total resource effort. What calculation should he perform to determine this?
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: Multiply each resource quantity by its duration, then sum: (3×4) + (2×2) + (1×3) + (1×6) = 25 person-months

Explanation

Total resource effort is calculated by multiplying the number of resources by their duration, then summing across all resource types. This gives person-months (or person-hours/days): 12 person-months (developers) + 4 person-months (designers) + 3 person-months (QA) + 6 person-months (BA) = 25 person-months total. This metric helps in budgeting and resource planning.

**Why not B:** Simply counting the total number of resources (7) does not account for how long each resource is needed. This figure tells you headcount but not the total effort required, which is essential for budgeting and capacity planning.

**Why not C:** Adding durations across resource types (15 months) ignores that multiple resources work simultaneously. This approach does not reflect the actual effort being consumed and would underestimate the resource commitment significantly.

**Why not D:** Using only the longest duration (6 months) describes the project timeline, not the total resource effort. It ignores the fact that multiple resources are working in parallel at different durations, which is critical for cost and capacity planning.

Key Concept

This question covers Demonstrate an understanding of project management planning under Demonstrate an understanding of project management planning (Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts).

Share:

All 1,500+ CAPM questions are free

Sign up to track your progress, see detailed analytics, and get personalized study recommendations.

Sign Up Free