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Critical Paths

July 1, 2008 | Author: admin | Filed under: Time Management, Critical Path

Critical Paths
By Johanna Rothman

There are multiple critical paths in a given project. The tasklist generates a particular critical path. The people working on the project create another critical path. And, hard resource availability creates yet another critical path. The true project critical path is the critical path through all three views: tasks, people, and resources.

During the initial planning phase of many projects, the tasks and events are planned, and with any luck, the task critical path emerges. Many project managers are also aware that people and hard resources (i.e. machines, networks, etc.) have an impact on the critical path, and they plan for using these scarce resources appropriately.(Goldratt, 1997)

In a project where the project manager and the technical staff do not have sufficient knowledge of the full feature set under development, a traditional approach does not guarantee success. The traditional approach assumes the project manager knows and understands the critical paths of tasks, people, and resources. In a less-fully specified project, it is unlikely that the project manager will know all the critical paths. The project manager will probably be surprised by new tasks that arise, unforeseen tasks, or new expertise may have to be developed, and new resources may be required.

When project knowledge is imperfect an iterative approach is more successful:

1. Plan the major milestones. Estimate the feature freeze, code freeze, system test freeze, beta ship and product ship dates. Determine the criteria by which the project staff can agree that these milestones have occurred.
2. Plan each segment of the project as it crystallizes, staying at least four weeks ahead of the current state.
3. As each project segment completes, the project manager and technical staff have a better understanding of the project and the eventual product, so more complete planning can take place. By the time the project has reached the feature freeze milestone, the tasks required to get to code freeze are well understood. By the time code freeze is reached, the rest of schedule can be laid out and planned.

This iterative approach reduces uncertainty for the current project work, and allows replanning of the critical path at a number of points in the project.

This article is an excerpt from the article “Iterative Software Project Planning and Tracking”, which can be found at: http://www.jrothman.com/Papers/7ICSQ97.html

Johanna Rothman consults, speaks, and writes on managing high-technology product development. Johanna is the author of Manage It!’Your Guide to Modern Pragmatic Project Management’. She is the coauthor of the pragmatic Behind Closed Doors, Secrets of Great Management, and author of the highly acclaimed Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds: The Secrets and Science of Hiring Technical People. And, Johanna is a host and session leader at the Amplifying Your Effectiveness (AYE) conference (http://www.ayeconference.com). You can see Johanna’s other writings at http://www.jrothman.com.

Related Articles

• What Is Criticality Index?
• What Is Critical Performance Indicator?
• What Is Critical Activity?
• What Is Critical Path?
• What Is Critical Success Factor?

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