Re: Critical Path

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If you have built the plan from the finish date, all tasks will be scheduled as late as possible that will allow everything to finish by that date. "Float" is the amount of time a task could be delayed before the project finish date is affected but with all the tasks ALAP, ANY delay will affect the project finish and you don't HAVE any float. If by "have 5 days of float built into them" you mean you have padded the task durations by an extra five days, Project has no way of recognizing that you've done that or distinguishing between the portion of the task that is activity and the portion that is padding. You may think you have float but according to its definition, you don't. You simply have a project where all the tasks have inflated duration estimates.

Why are you using a schedule creation tool if you're not going to create the schedule according the methodology that underlies the tools design? "The schedule was not designed by using the textbook method of creating activities, estimating their times, sequencing them, and then determining relationships." Why not? If you're trying to use critical path methodology, as your concern with displaying the project's float makes it sound like you want to do, seems like you should built your schedule according to its foundation concepts instead of trying to force a square peg down a round hole.
--
Steve House
MS Project Trainer & Consultant


"Armand451" <Armand451@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:AC8A7054-1073-4E0C-AD6F-F5768AE86904@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hello all,
I have a question on how to show the critical path on a project constructed
with a specific end date. I know how to show all tasks that are technically
critical (defined in my Project by activities that have five or less days of
float), but I do not know how to show the thread from start to finish that
has the least amount of float. Because too many of the activities have more
than five days of float built into them. The schedule was not designed by
using the textbook method of creating activities, estimating their times,
sequencing them, and then determining relationships. So we have a good amount
of float in total, but I still want to be able to show with a click the
Critical Path.

Thanks in advance!
Jordan

.

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