Critical Path and Gantt
Project Schedule/Time Management
Gantt Charts
Gantt charts provide a standard format for
displaying project schedule information by
listing project activities and their
corresponding start and finish dates in a
calendar format
Symbols include:
A black diamond: a milestones
Thick black bars: summary tasks
Lighter horizontal bars: durations of tasks
Arrows: dependencies between tasks
Gantt Chart for Project X
Gantt Chart for Software Launch Project
Adding Milestones to Gantt Charts
Many people like to focus on meeting milestones,
especially for large projects
Milestones emphasize important events or
accomplishments on projects
Normally create milestone by entering tasks with a zero
duration, or you can mark any task as a milestone
SMART Criteria
Milestones should be
Specific
Measurable
Assignable
Realistic
Time-framed
Best Practice
Schedule risk is inherent in the development of complex systems. Luc
Richard, the founder of www.projectmangler.com, suggests that
project managers can reduce schedule risk through project
milestones, a best practice that involves identifying and tracking
significant points or achievements in the project.
The five key points of using project milestones include the following:
1. Define milestones early in the project and include them in the Gantt chart
to provide a visual guide
2. Keep milestones small and frequent
3. The set of milestones must be all-encompassing
4. Each milestone must be binary, meaning it is either complete or
incomplete.
5. Carefully monitor the critical path
Sample Tracking Gantt Chart
Critical Path Method (CPM)
CPM is a network diagramming technique
used to predict total project duration
A critical path for a project is the series of
activities that determines the earliest time by
which the project can be completed
The critical path is the longest path through
the network diagram and has the least
amount of slack or float
Slack or float is the amount of time an
activity may be delayed without delaying a
succeeding activity or the project finish date
Calculating the Critical Path
First develop a good network diagram
Add the duration estimates for all activities on each path
through the network diagram
The longest path is the critical path
If one or more of the activities on the critical path takes
longer than planned, the whole project schedule will slip
unless the project manager takes corrective action
Determining the Critical Path for Project
X
More on the Critical Path
A project team at Apple computer put a stuffed
gorilla on the top of the cubicle of the person
currently managing critical task
The critical path is not the one with all the
critical activities; it only accounts for time
Remember the example of growing grass being on
the critical path for Disney’s Animal Kingdom
There can be more than one critical path if the
lengths of two or more paths are the same
The critical path can change as the project
progresses
Using Critical Path Analysis to
Make Schedule Trade-offs
Free slack or free float is the amount of time an
activity can be delayed without delaying the
early start of any immediately following
activities
Total slack or total float is the amount of time
an activity may be delayed from its early start
without delaying the planned project finish
date
A forward pass through the network diagram
determines the early start and finish dates
A backward pass determines the late start and
finish dates
Calculating Early and Late Start and Finish
Dates
Free and Total Float or Slack for Project X
Using the Critical Path to Shorten a
Project Schedule
Three main techniques for shortening schedules
Shortening durations of critical activities/tasks by adding more
resources or changing their scope
Crashing activities by obtaining the greatest amount of schedule
compression for the least incremental cost
Fast tracking activities by doing them in parallel or overlapping
them
Importance of Updating Critical Path
Data
It is important to update project schedule information to
meet time goals for a project
The critical path may change as you enter actual start
and finish dates
If you know the project completion date will slip,
negotiate with the project sponsor
Critical Chain Scheduling
Critical chain scheduling
a method of scheduling that considers limited
resources when creating a project schedule and
includes buffers to protect the project completion
date
Uses the Theory of Constraints (TOC)
a management philosophy developed by Eliyahu
M. Goldratt and introduced in his book The Goal.
Attempts to minimize multitasking
when a resource works on more than one task at a
time
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Multitasking Example
Buffers and Critical Chain
A buffer is additional time to complete a task
Murphy’s Law states that if something can go wrong, it will
Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time
allowed
In traditional estimates, people often add a buffer to each
task and use it if it’s needed or not
Critical chain scheduling removes buffers from individual
tasks and instead creates
a project buffer or additional time added before the project’s due
date
feeding buffers or additional time added before tasks on the critical
path
Example of Critical Chain Scheduling
