Can the reviewed pack make the meeting?
Recalculate an internal review plan when a handoff moves.
The question
An internal committee wants a reviewed pack by the end of business day 10. Kickoff is day 1. Each dependent task starts on the next business day after its predecessor finishes.
| Business days | Starts after | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor document | 4 | Kickoff |
| Quality review | 3 | Vendor document |
| Regulatory Affairs wording review | 2 | Quality review |
| Finance note | 5 | Kickoff |
The vendor and Finance both start on day 1. Each review owner confirms completion.
“When can the reviewed pack be ready, and what would you tell the meeting owner?”
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A strong answer, step by step
Open each step in turn. This is one strong answer, not the only one.
Step 1: Map the handoffs
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Track the vendor, Quality and Regulatory Affairs in order.
The strong move. Only the work that depends on the previous review adds to that sequence.
Schedule all four tasks back to back.
Tempting, but it misses something. Finance starts at kickoff. It does not wait for the three-step sequence.
See how a strong candidate says it
“The vendor finishes before Quality starts. Regulatory Affairs starts after Quality. Finance runs in parallel and joins at the end.”
Why it works: Only the work that depends on the previous review adds to that sequence.
Step 2: Check the first date
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Use day 9 and identify the one-day margin.
The strong move. The pack waits for the later of the two paths.
Add Finance to the other durations and forecast day 14.
Tempting, but it misses something. The five days of Finance work run alongside the sequence.
See how a strong candidate says it
“The three dependent tasks finish on day 9. Finance is ready on day 5. A reviewed pack on day 9 leaves one day before the meeting deadline.”
Why it works: The pack waits for the later of the two paths.
Step 3: Recalculate the date
The vendor revises delivery to the end of day 6. Quality, Regulatory Affairs and Finance confirm that their durations and dependencies are unchanged.
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Move the reviewed pack to day 11.
The strong move. The two-day vendor delay passes through both dependent reviews.
Keep day 10 because the original plan had a day spare.
Tempting, but it misses something. A two-day delay uses the one spare day and pushes the pack one day past the deadline.
See how a strong candidate says it
“Quality can finish on day 9 and Regulatory Affairs on day 11. The reviewed pack will be one business day late under this plan.”
Why it works: The two-day vendor delay passes through both dependent reviews.
Step 4: Brief the meeting owner
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Offer an internal status discussion and preserve the two owner reviews.
The strong move. The owner can choose a meeting plan with a clear view of the unfinished reviews.
Describe the pack as reviewed on day 10.
Tempting, but it misses something. The wording review finishes on day 11 in the current plan.
See how a strong candidate says it
“I’d give the meeting owner the new day 11 date and who owns the remaining reviews. I’d offer a status discussion on day 10 and leave the meeting choice with them.”
Why it works: The owner can choose a meeting plan with a clear view of the unfinished reviews.
The answer, in short
- Decision
- Plan a reviewed internal pack for day 11.
- Because
- The late vendor document shifts both dependent reviews.
- What would change it
- Confirmed changes to the dates or dependencies from the review owners would change the forecast.
Common traps
- Adding work that runs in parallel.
- Reporting completion before the review owner confirms it.
Check your answer
- I mapped the sequence.
- I checked the first finish date.
- I carried through the delay.
- I gave the meeting owner a choice.
Last reviewed Nov 11, 2026