A critical path is a sequence of tasks that can affect a project completion date. So, if some of the tasks from the critical path are delayed, the end date of the project will also be delayed.
Traditionally, a critical path has been calculated by hand, but GanttPRO can do it automatically for you. So, if you enable a critical path on a Gantt chart, you will immediately see all the tasks that directly impact the project completion date.
In GanttPRO you can also enable the float function to see how much extra time you have to move a task.
How to use Critical path in GanttPRO?
Let’s see how it works in a simple example.
Suppose you have to organize a conference that will be held on February 16. To prepare for it, you need to perform a set of sequential tasks that cannot start before the previous one is completed. Thus, you will define the start and end dates for every task and establish dependencies between them.
After that, you will need to enable the Critical path on your Gantt chart. For that, go to the top left corner of the project grid and click on the corresponding sign. All the critical tasks will be highlighted in red.
On the other hand, you may have a project where the tasks are not dependent and can be completed simultaneously. In this case, the only critical tasks that will affect the project completion date are the ones that finish the last.
So, for example, if you are performing marketing activities for an event that must be completed by February 16, your critical tasks will be the ones that end on the same day.
Following critical tasks can be helpful to redistribute resources from other not so important tasks when there is a probability that the project may be going behind schedule. Or, to focus on tasks with higher priority should the circumstances require.
How to use float in GanttPRO?
In projects, schedules change all the time. The Float feature helps project managers and teams see which tasks can be delayed without impact to the project end date and which ones need to stay on track to meet the project deadline.
To use float metrics, enable the Float 1 in your top menu. Once activated, two changes will be performed:
- Two new columns will appear in the grid: Total float 2 and Free float 3. The values are displayed in days, hours, weeks, or months, depending on your project settings.
- The Total float will be visually displayed on the Gantt chart 4. You will see a graphical indicator (a bar/shadow) on the right of tasks, showing how far a task can be extended or shifted.
2 Total Float is the maximum amount of time a task can be delayed without pushing back the overall project completion date.
- If a task has Total float = 5 days, you can safely delay it by 5 days without affecting the final project deadline. However, this may cause subsequent tasks in the chain to shift.
- Tasks with Total float = 0 automatically form the project's Critical Path. Any delay to these tasks will result in the entire project running late.
3 Free Float is the amount of time a task can be delayed without pushing back the start date of the next (dependent) task.
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If a task has Free float = 2 days, the assignee can fall behind by two days and the next team member will still start their work exactly on schedule, with no delays or shifts.
Note that Free Float can never exceed Total Float.
Note that the lag time is a strict rule that moves the dependent task, while the float time doesn't affect tasks running ahead the moved task.
How to manage critical tasks?
Let’s use another example to see how to reduce the overall project duration by managing critical tasks. This is the list of tasks with dependencies and highlighted critical tasks.
As we can see, tasks “Stage 1”, and “Stage 2” in Product Concept are the longest ones and impact directly project completion date. Thus, we can redistribute resources from the other tasks to these ones, so that they can be finished earlier.
In particular, in our case, we can reassign project members from the tasks “Target Customers” and “Similar Products Research” to the tasks “Stage 1”, and “Stage 2”. Project duration will be reduced by 5 days.
Another option could be to invite other team members to the project or hire external consultants.