What is the critical path method (CPM)? The critical path method (CPM) is a technique where you identify tasks that are necessary for project completion and determine scheduling flexibilities. A critical path in project management is the longest sequence of activities that must be finished on time in order for the entire project to be complete. Any delays in critical tasks will delay the rest of the project.critical path Finding the critical path involves looking at the duration of critical and non-critical tasks. Below is a breakdown of the steps with examples. 1. List activities Use a work breakdown structure to list all the project activities or tasks required to produce the deliverables. The list of activities in the work breakdown structure serves as the foundation for the rest of the CPM. seat tea wo 2 Zo elFor example, let’s say the marketing team is producing a new interactive blog post. Here are some tasks that might be in the work breakdown structure: beat) | J A B Cc acs Create outline Write draft Edit and create final draft Design post visuals Add animations to visuals Upload post Duration (days) 1 5 22. Identify dependencies Based on your work breakdown structure, determine the tasks that are dependent on one another. This will also help you identify any work that can be done in parallel with other tasks. Here are the task dependencies based on the example above: ° Task Bis dependent onA ° Task C is dependent on B ¢ Tasks C and D can run in parallel e Task E is dependent on D e Task Fis dependent on C, D, and E The list of dependent tasks is referred to as an activity sequence, which will be used to determine the critical path.3. Create a network diagram The next step is to turn the work breakdown structure into a network diagram, which is a flowchart displaying the chronology of activities. Create a box for each task and use arrows to depict task dependencies. You'll add other time-bound components to the network diagram until you have the general project schedule figured out. 4. Estimate task duration To calculate the critical path, the longest sequence of critical tasks, you first need to estimate the duration of each activity.Bolo Alter auively, ly USINY Le 1Orwalu pass and backward pass technique: ¢ Forward pass: This is used to calculate early start (ES) and early finish (EF) dates by using a previously specified start date. ES is the highest EF value from immediate predecessors, whereas EF is ES + duration. The calculation starts with O at the ES of the first activity and proceeds through the schedule. Determining ES and EF dates allows ‘or early allocation of resources to the project. ¢ Backward pass: This is used to calculate late start (LS) and late finish (LF) dates. LS is LF - duration, whereas LF is the lowest LS value from immediate successors. The calculation starts with the last scheduled activity and proceeds backward through the entire schedule. The early and late start and end dates can then be used to calculate float, orCalculating the critical path can be done manually, but you can save time by using a critical path algorithm instead. Here are the steps to calculate the critical path manually: Step 1: Write down the start and end time next to each activity. ° The first activity has a start time of O, and the end time is the duration of the activity. ° The next activity’s start time is the end time of the previous activity, and the end time is the start time plus the duration. Do this for all the activities. Step 2: Look at the end time of the last activity in the sequence to determine the duration of the entire sequence.Step 2: Look at the end time of the last activity in the sequence to determine the duration of the entire sequence. Step 3: The sequence of activities with the longest duration is the critical path. Using the same example above, here’s what the critical path diagram might look like: a e@-=—-e Start Finish a ae oe 4 Days 3 Days Once you have the critical path figured out, you can build the actual project schedule around it.6. Calculate the float Float, or slack, refers to the amount of flexibility of a given task. It indicates how much the task can be delayed without impacting subsequent tasks or the project end date.Total float vs. free float Here’s a breakdown of the two types of float: ¢ Total float: This is the amount of time that an activity can be delayed from the early start date without delaying the project finish date or violating a schedule constraint. Total float = LS - ES or LF - EF e Free float: This refers to how long an activity can be delayed without impacting the following activity. There can only be free float when two or more activities share a common successor. On a network diagram, this is where activities converge. Free float = ES (next task) - EF (current task)