Level: Intermediate
TCM Section(s):
7.2. Schedule Planning and Development
9.2. Progress and Performance Measurement
Venue: 2023 AACE International Conference & Expo
Abstract: From the moment a project is scheduled until it is finished, one phrase—"critical path", is consistently conveyed in all project meetings at various levels. This phrase is the essence of the critical path method (CPM) as the most widely used and accepted planning and scheduling method.
Since the total float values define the criticality and near-criticality of the activities, or in other words, the flexibility within a schedule, any action that has a detrimental impact on the validity of the total float values may cause some activities to mistakenly appear critical.
This inaccurate result may mislead the project management team into making wrong decisions for the remainder of the project, which could violate the contractual completion date of the project.
Incorrect logic, missing activities, multiple calendars, out-of-sequence progress, and time constraints all may result in discordance and confusion in total float values, and consequently, a meaningless critical path.
In addition to resulting in inaccurate time management for the remainder of the project, these flaws in total float values can also undermine the accuracy of resource management, risk management, and delay analysis.
It is essential for the project management team, including the planner and schedulers, to professionally know how to identify inaccurate and meaningless total float values and to fix them in a proper and professional way. The negative impacts and recommended resolving practices will be described in this article through the discussion of several actual case study large-scale schedules.
TCM Section(s):
7.2. Schedule Planning and Development
9.2. Progress and Performance Measurement
Venue: 2023 AACE International Conference & Expo
Abstract: From the moment a project is scheduled until it is finished, one phrase—"critical path", is consistently conveyed in all project meetings at various levels. This phrase is the essence of the critical path method (CPM) as the most widely used and accepted planning and scheduling method.
Since the total float values define the criticality and near-criticality of the activities, or in other words, the flexibility within a schedule, any action that has a detrimental impact on the validity of the total float values may cause some activities to mistakenly appear critical.
This inaccurate result may mislead the project management team into making wrong decisions for the remainder of the project, which could violate the contractual completion date of the project.
Incorrect logic, missing activities, multiple calendars, out-of-sequence progress, and time constraints all may result in discordance and confusion in total float values, and consequently, a meaningless critical path.
In addition to resulting in inaccurate time management for the remainder of the project, these flaws in total float values can also undermine the accuracy of resource management, risk management, and delay analysis.
It is essential for the project management team, including the planner and schedulers, to professionally know how to identify inaccurate and meaningless total float values and to fix them in a proper and professional way. The negative impacts and recommended resolving practices will be described in this article through the discussion of several actual case study large-scale schedules.