There are four major phases of project management. However, the project planning phase is the most important one to contribute to the success of the project. In this phase of planning, project managers are using tools (Visual Diagram) name “Critical Path”. Template of critical path analysis in excel format, you can also request us for PPT slides also.
So, the critical path method is here to effectively contribute to the earliest possible completion of the project.
- Chart of Diagram-base template is for scheduling project
- Work with Work break down structure elements
- Other says project modeling technique
- PPT and Excel Templates are available
- Check out critical chain project management
Therefore, the project schedule is made in this phase that involves details of how the project will proceed to achieve the project deliverables.
The project schedule defines the list of activities, sequence of activities, and project start and completion dates. However, it is important to define all the project activities and sub-activities required for the completion of the project.
Tools Using in Critical Path Analysis Template
Therefore, different strategies are used for eliminating redundant activities from the project plan. Some of the tools used for project scheduling and analysis are:
- Project Gantt Chart
- Critical Path Method
- Project Evaluation and Review Technique
Above tools utilize the following data for analysis:
- Work Breakdown Structure
- List of Tasks and Sub-Tasks
- Start and End Dates
- Estimated Durations
Moreover, major tools use median time estimated, optimistic, deterministic, and pessimistic time.
The critical path method uses a project network diagram similar to the precedence network diagram. It calculates the project the longest time for completion. Critical and non-critical activities of the critical path, float, and slacks are all related to the output of the critical path method.
So, the critical path is a method used by project managers to find the longest project completion path that passes through all the critical activities of that project that have zero floats or slack.
Components of Critical Path Analysis Template:
There are several terms involved in the critical path method. It is important to grasp the concept of all terms for proper understanding and effective utilization.
Network Diagram: It is a visual representation of project tasks developed based on the interlinks of tasks and durations.
Nodes: These are null points just used to represent the events of tasks start or end.
Forward Pass: It’s a tool applied to find out the earliest start and end time of each task.
Backward Pass: It’s a tool applied to find out the latest start and end time of each task.
Critical Path: Critical path is a set of points joined to make a path that passes through all project activities that have zero margins of delay.
Float or Slack: Float is a margin available between activities that have zero impact on project completion time.
Critical Activities: All activities where the value of a forward and backward pass is equal are known as critical activities. These activities have zero margins of delay.
Non-Critical Activities: All activities where the value of the forward and backward pass isn’t equal are known as critical activities. These activities have some margin of delay.
Types of Critical Path Project Management Template
Critical path method can be easily applied on the project of any scale having below data ready to use,
- List of Project Activities
- Sequence of Activities
- Estimated Duration
The first step is to make a precedence network diagram using the information described above. just like project reviewing and evaluation technique, this analysis conduct according to the same principle.
After the development of the precedence network diagram. Forward pass tool is applied to all the activities represented using arrows and nodes. This tool helps to find the earliest start and finish time of tasks.
Later, a backward pass template is used to find the latest start and finish time of tasks in a similar way. That’s all required to do. Now the visual tool is ready for analysis.
Critical Path Construction Schedule Template
These templates are using in the construction projects in a routine base. Some software using this technique for diagram the project schedule.
Related Article: Construction Daily Report Format
Highlight all the tasks that have the same score for the forward and backward passes. The same score of both passes shows that there are zero margins of slack for these activities. So, these are the critical activities of the project.
Join all such activities with a hand-drawn line to make a Critical Path Analysis Template for the project. Moreover, all remaining activities other than those who lie on the critical path are non-critical. Therefore, subtract the forward pass score from the backward pass score of these activities to find out the slack value for such activities.