Project Management

Lesson 11
Critical Path Method (CPM)

Lesson 12
Project Evaluation and Review
Technique (PERT) and Gantt Chart
 Project
• A project is defined as a planned undertaking of
related activities to reach an objective that has a
beginning and an end.
• Simply put, a project is a series of tasks that
need to be completed to reach a specific
outcome.
• A project can also be defined as a set of inputs
and outputs required to achieve a particular goal.
• Projects can range from simple to complex and
can be managed by one person or a hundred.
 Seven primary characteristics of a
project include:
1. Objective:
– Each has a specific goal to reach.

2. Schedule:
– Point in time in which they must be accomplished.

3. Complexity:
– Does the technology exist to achieve the project
objectives?

4. Size and Nature of Task:

– Step-by-step plan of action.
 Seven primary characteristics of a
project include:

5. Resources:
– Labor, personnel, equipment, materials, facilities, etc.

6. Organizational Structure:
– The 'meshing' of project requirements into the existing
organization.
7. Information and Control Systems:
– These must be structured to handle problems through
the typical lines of authority
 Project Life Cycle

1. Conception:
– Identify the need

2. Feasibility analysis or study:

– costs benefits, and risks

3. Planning:
– who, how long, what to do?

4. Execution:
– doing the project

5. Termination:
– ending the project
 Project Management

• Project management is the application of

processes, methods, skills, knowledge and
experience to achieve specific project
objectives according to the project
acceptance criteria within agreed
parameters.
• Project management has final deliverables that
are constrained to a finite timescale and budget.
• In other words, the purpose of project
management is to plan and manage a project
to successfully complete its listed goals and
deliverables.
• It involves identifying and managing risks,
careful resource management, smart budgeting,
and clear communication across multiple teams
and stakeholders.
• Project management focuses on planning and
organizing a project and its resources.
• This includes identifying and managing the
lifecycle to be used, applying it to the
user-centered design process, formulating the
project team, and efficiently guiding the team
through all phases until project completion.

© Wiley 2010
 Project management goals

• The first is project outcome goals.

These are the statements of tasks that
need to be completed for the project to be
considered “complete.”
• The second is high-level project
management performance goals that
apply to the overall performance of the
team and project manager

© Wiley 2010
 Project Management
• Project management is a challenging task with
many complex responsibilities.
• Fortunately, there are many tools available to
assist with accomplishing the tasks and
executing the responsibilities.
• Some require a computer with supporting
software, while others can be used manually.
• Project managers should choose a project
management tool that best suits their
management style.
• No one tool addresses all project management
needs.
• Critical Path method (CPM), Program
Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) and
Gantt Charts are the most commonly used
project management tools.
• These project management tools can be
produced manually or with commercially
available project management software.
• PERT is a planning and control tool used for
defining and controlling the tasks necessary to
complete a project.

Note: We will learn these tools manually for

understanding the process and easy interpretation of
results.
• PERT charts and CPM charts are often used
interchangeably; the only difference is how task
times are computed.
• Both charts display the total project with all
scheduled tasks shown in sequence.
• The displayed tasks show which ones are in
parallel, those tasks that can be performed at the
same time.
• A graphic representation called a "Project
Network" or "CPM Diagram" is used to portray
graphically the interrelationships of the elements
of a project and to show the order in which the
activities must be performed.
 What Is the Difference Between PERT
and CPM?
• The Critical Path Method (CPM) and the Program
Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) are both visual
representations of a project schedule, but it’s important
to know the differences.

• The main difference between PERT and CPM is that

PERT was designed to plan projects with uncertain
activity times.

• This is why PERT uses three time estimates for each

task: optimistic, most likely and pessimistic.

• On the other hand, CPM was designed for projects

where activity times are certain.
 What Is the Difference Between PERT
and CPM?
• CPM uses a single time estimate for each task and
focuses on the analysis of task sequences to estimate
the total duration of a project.

• Another important difference is that the CPM is used to

identify critical activities that must be completed on time
to avoid affecting the project’s deadline, which is
something that PERT can’t do.

• PERT can be used alongside the CPM to help estimate

the duration of activities.
 Network Diagrams
(see attached review on basic graph theory)

Activity-on-Node (AON):
•Uses nodes to represent the activity
•Uses arrows to represent precedence relationships
 Lesson 11
Project Management:
Critical Path Method (CPM)
 Expected Learning Outcomes

1.Diagram networks of project activities

2.Determine the critical path in a project
3.Estimate the completion time of a project
Critical Path in Project Management

• The Critical Path Method(CPM) is one of the

many tools that project managers use when
creating their project plan and schedule.

• It informs them on the length of time, the amount

of resources and costs associated with each
task and the overall project.

• Once they have this mapped out they can start

plotting the timeline in their schedule and start
the process of managing their project.
 What Is the Critical Path?
• In project management, the critical path is the
longest sequence of tasks that must be
completed to successfully conclude a project,
from start to finish.
• The tasks on the critical path are known as
critical activities because if they’re delayed, the
whole project will be delayed.
• By identifying the critical path, you can
determine the total duration of a project.
• Calculating the critical path is key during the
planning phase because the critical path
identifies important deadlines and the activities
which must be completed on time.
• Once a critical path is determined, you’ll have a
clear picture of the project’s actual schedule.
• To find this, project managers use the critical
path method CPM algorithm to define the least
amount of time necessary to complete each task
with the least amount of slack.
 What is the Critical Path Method in
Project Management?
• The critical path method (CPM), also known as
critical path analysis (CPA), is a scheduling
procedure that uses a network diagram to depict a
project and the sequences of tasks required to
complete it, which are known as paths.
• Once the paths are defined, the duration of each
path is calculated by an algorithm to identify the
critical path, which determines the total duration of
the project.
• The critical path method (CPM) is used in project
management to create project schedules and helps
project managers create a timeline for the project.
 The critical path method includes:
1. Identifying every task necessary to complete the project
and the dependencies between them

2. Estimating the duration of the project tasks

3. Calculating the critical path based on the tasks’ duration

and dependencies to identify the critical activities

4. Focusing on planning, scheduling and controlling critical

activities

5. Setting project milestones and deliverables

6. Setting stakeholders expectations related to

deadlines
• After making these considerations, you gain
insight into which activities must be prioritized.
• Then, you can allocate the necessary
resources to get these important tasks done.
• Tasks you discover that aren’t on the critical path
are of a lesser priority in your project plan, and
can be delayed if they’re causing the project
team to become over allocated.
 Gain Insight When Planning Tasks

• Projects are made up of tasks that have to

adhere to a schedule in order to meet a
deadline.
• When you’re analyzing the critical path, you’re
looking closely at the time it will take to complete
each task, taking into account the task
dependencies and how they’ll impact your
schedule.
• It’s a technique to find the most realistic project
deadline. It can also help during the project as a
metric to track your progress.
• Therefore, when you’re doing critical path
analysis, you’re finding the sequence of tasks
that are both important and dependent on a
previous task.
• Less important tasks aren’t ignored and are part
of the analysis; however, they’re the ones you
know can be jettisoned if time and money won’t
permit.
 Critical Path – Definition of Terms
To properly understand the concept of critical path, you first
need to understand the various terms used in this method.
•Earliest start time (ES):
– This is simply the earliest time that a task can be started in your
project.
– You cannot determine this without first knowing if there are any
preceding tasks, or figuring out other constraints that might
impact the start of this task.

•Latest start time (LS):

– This is the very last minute in which you can start a task before it
threatens to upset your project schedule.
– And you need to calculate what the latest finish time is for the
same reason.
– By having a clear picture of this timeframe, you can better
schedule the project to meet its deadline.
• Earliest finish time (EF):
– The earliest an activity can be completed, based on its
duration and its earliest start time.
• Latest finish time (LF):
– The latest an activity can be completed, based on its
duration and its latest start time.
• Slack/Float.
– Also known as slack, float is a term that describes how long
you can delay a task before it impacts the planned schedule
and threatens the project’s deadline.
– The tasks on the critical path have zero float. You can
either calculate the float using the steps above, or by using
project management software.
– If an activity has a float greater than zero, it means it can be
delayed without affecting the project completion time.
• Crash duration.
– This describes the shortest amount of time that a task can
be scheduled.
– You can get there by moving around resources, adding
more towards the end of the task, to decrease the time
needed to complete the task.
– This often means a reduction in quality, but is based on a
relationship between cost and time.
• Critical path drag.
– If time is added to the project because of a constraint, that
is called a critical path drag, which is how much longer a
project will take because of constraints on tasks in the
critical path.
 How to Calculate the Critical Path
Now that you know the key definitions of CPM, here
are the steps to calculate the critical path in project
management:
1.Collect Activities:
– Use a work breakdown structure to collect all the project
activities that lead to the final deliverable.
2.Identify Dependencies:
– Figure out which tasks are dependent on other tasks before
they can begin.
3.Create a Network Diagram:
– A critical path analysis chart, or network diagram, depicts
the order of activities.
4. Estimate Timeline:
– Determine the duration of each activity.

5. Use the Critical Path Algorithm:

– The algorithm has two parts; a forward pass and a
backwards pass.

5(a) Forward Pass:

– Use the network diagram and the duration of each
activity to determine their earliest start (ES) and
earliest finish (EF).
– The ES of an activity is equal to the EF of its
predecessor, and its EF is determined by the formula
EF = ES + t (t is the activity duration).
– The EF of the last activity identifies the expected time
required to complete the entire project.
 5(b) Backward Pass:
– Begins by assigning the last activity’s earliest
finish(ES) as its latest finish(LF).
– Then the formula to find the LS is LS = LF – t (t is the
activity duration).
– For the previous activities, the LF is the smallest of
the start times for the activity that immediately follows.

7.Identify the slack/float of each activity:

– The float is the length of time an activity can be
delayed without increasing the total project
completion time.
– Since the critical path has no float, the float formula
reveals the critical path: Float = LS – ES
7. Identify the Critical Path:
– The activities with 0 slack/float make up the critical
path.

8. Revise During Execution:

– Continue to update the critical path network diagram
as you go through the execution phase.
• These step by step procedure determine what tasks are
critical and which can float, meaning they can be delayed
without negatively impacting the project by making it
longer.
• Now you have the information you need to plan the
schedule more accurately and have more of a guarantee
you’ll meet your project deadline.
• You also need to consider other constraints that might
change the project schedule.
• The more you can account for these issues, the more
accurate your critical path method will be.
• If time is added to the project because of these
constraints, that is called a critical path drag, which is
how much longer a project will take because of the task
and constraint.
 Example (CPM)

The Project:
Cables is bringing a new product on line to be
manufactured in their current facility in existing
space. The owners have identified 11 activities and
their precedence relationships.
Determine the critical path and the time duration
for this project.
Step 1 and 2 :
Collect activities and identify dependencies
Step 3:
Create a Network Diagram:
Network diagram for Cables
Step 4:
Add Deterministic Time Estimates
Step 5(a):
Use the critical Path algorithm:
Forward Pass

5(a) Forward Pass:

– Use the network diagram and the duration of each
activity to determine their earliest start (ES) and
earliest finish (EF).

– The ES of an activity is equal to the EF of its

predecessor, and its EF is determined by the formula
EF = ES + t (t is the activity duration).

– The EF of the last activity identifies the expected time

required to complete the entire project.
 Note:
•To find the ES and EF, we use the forward pass we start from
the first node A(4)
•Node G has 2 immediate predecessors (E and F). So G cannot
start unless E and F are finished.
•The EF of E is 30 and that of F is 12, hence, the ES of G is 30.
Choose the bigger value.
Step 5(b):
Use the critical Path algorithm:
Backward Pass

5(b) Backward Pass:

– Begins by assigning the last activity’s earliest
finish(EF) as its latest finish(LF).
– Then the formula to find the LS is LS = LF – t (t is the
activity duration).
– For the previous activities, the LF is the smallest of
the start times for the activity that immediately follows.
Note:
•To find LS and LF, we do the backward pass, we start from the last
node K(2).
•The LS of J(4) is 35, hence the LF of I(3) and H(2) are both 35
•G(2) has 2 adjacent nodes to the right, H(2) and I(3), LS of H(2) is 33
and LS of I(3) is 32, hence, LF of G(2) is 32 .This time choose the
smaller value.
Step 6:
Identify the slack/float of each activity:

– The slack is the length of time an activity can be

delayed without increasing the total project
completion time.

– Since the critical path has no slack/float, the slack

formula reveals the critical path:
Slack = LS – ES or Slack = LF – EF
Calculating Slack
Step 7:
Identify the Critical Path and Estimate
completion time
• The activities with 0 slack make up the critical path.

• The slack time of activities A,B,D,G,I,J, and K are all zero,

therefore, the critical path is : A-B-D-G-I-J-K
The critical path is : A-B-D-G-I-J-K
From the table below you will see that the estimated
completion time for Cables = 4+6+6+2+3+4+2= 27 weeks
 Why Critical Path is Important
To summarize,
•The critical path is important when managing a
project because
– it identifies all the tasks needed to complete the project
– it determines the tasks that must be done on time,
those that can be delayed if needed and how much
slack you have.

•Armed with this knowledge, you can

– prioritize,
– set realistic deadlines and
– assign the critical tasks to your most capable team
members.
Challenge !