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Critical Path Walkthrough for a Small Project

Table output Has example

Find the tasks that control the finish date.

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Walk me through finding the critical path. Tasks with durations and predecessors: [TASKS_DURATIONS_PREDECESSORS]. Project start date: [START_DATE]. Working days per week and holidays: [CALENDAR].

Build the network in a table with columns for task, duration, predecessors, earliest start, earliest finish, latest start, latest finish, and float. Show the forward pass and backward pass calculations for each task step by step, identify the critical path, and state the project duration. List tasks with the least float and what would happen if each slipped by two days. Suggest three ways to shorten the schedule (fast-tracking, crashing, scope change) and the risk each adds. Draw the network as text. Point out any missing predecessor information and ask me for it rather than guessing.

Add a verification step: check that every task except the first has at least one predecessor and every task except the last has at least one successor, and list any task that breaks this rule. Explain in two sentences the difference between float and slack in everyday terms, and show how the critical path can change when a non-critical task uses up its float. Finish with a one-paragraph summary for a sponsor who does not read the table.

Add a worked network of six invented tasks (A 3 days, B 2 days after A, C 4 days after A, D 3 days after B, E 2 days after C, F 1 day after D and E) with the forward and backward pass tables, float for each task, the critical path A-C-E-F of 10 days, and what happens if B slips by two days (still no effect on the end date because B has float). Label it an illustration. Then add a sensitivity exercise: which task would you crash first and what would the cost trade-off need to be, using my numbers when I supply them. Include guidance for a project with resource constraints, where the critical path can differ from the logical one, and a one-page schedule summary for a sponsor.

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Tasks: A (3 days), B (4, after A), C (2, after A), D (5, after B and C), E (2, after D).
Forward pass: A 0-3; B 3-7; C 3-5; D 7-12; E 12-14. Duration 14 days.
Backward pass: E 12-14; D 7-12; B 3-7; C 5-7 (float 2); A 0-3.
Critical path: A - B - D - E (float 0).
Task C has float 2: a two-day slip is safe.
Shorten options: fast-track C and D overlap (risk of rework); crash B with extra people (cost); reduce scope of E.
Check: every task except the first has a predecessor.

• schedule