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How Does a PERT Chart Improve Cross-Departmental Project Coordination?
A Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) chart is the most effective tool for understanding how departmental workstreams influence each other in complex, interdependent projects like launching a bank-wide loyalty rewards program.
Question
You work for a successful regional bank. You have been assigned to develop a new loyalty rewards program and integrate it throughout the bank. You need a reporting tool that will help each department monitor how its part of the product launch affects other departments—and how it is affected by other departments. Which scheduling tool would be the most appropriate?
A. A flowchart.
B. A Gantt chart.
C. A bar chart.
D. A PERT chart.
Answer
D. A PERT chart.
Explanation
The PERT chart shows all tasks in progress at a given time and all the dependencies between outcomes, tasks, and events. Thus, they are useful for assessing the impact of a change in one area on the rest of a project.
A PERT chart provides a visual network representation of all project activities, their sequence, durations, and dependencies. By illustrating the logical relationships between tasks—what must happen before, after, or simultaneously—it highlights both critical paths and how changes in one task affect others. This makes it ideal when departments must monitor cross-functional impacts, such as when marketing decisions affect IT timelines or compliance activities influence product rollout.
The chart’s strength lies in its ability to:
- Identify interdependencies across multiple functions.
- Highlight time sensitivities and tasks on the critical path.
- Facilitate scenario analysis when adjusting schedules or resources.
- Improve coordination across departments by making dependencies transparent.
Incorrect options:
- A. Flowchart: Focuses on process steps or decision sequences, not on time or task dependency.
- B. Gantt chart: Displays task timelines and progress visually but does not effectively show interdependencies between tasks across departments.
- C. Bar chart: Provides a simple time-based view but lacks the detail to illustrate complex relationships.
A PERT chart is therefore the optimal scheduling tool for multi-departmental initiatives requiring strong interdependency mapping and critical path awareness.
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