Critical path in MS PROJECT 2010–PART 2

Hi,

In this post I will explain how to find The CRITICAL PATH in MS PROJECT 2010

Here is an example from my previous blog:

I will put those tasks and durations in MS PROJECT 2010:

Now I will connect those tasks:

Task B and Task C have Task A as Predecessor, Task D has Task B as Predecessor, Task E and Task F have Task B and Task C as Predecessors, Task G has Task D and Task E as Predecessors, and Task H has Task G as Predecessor.

The project should have 28 days duration. I will check it:

and I will get:

OK!

Where is the Critical Path?

and then choose Detail Gantt:

I will get:

To get better look I will choose Entire Project in the Zoom group:

and I will get:

Red Tasks are on the Critical Path. Task E has 4 days SLACK (e.g. it can be late 4 days without delaying the whole Project). Task H has 8 days SLACK. Or, Task C + Task E can have totally 4 days SLACK, and Task C + Task F + Task H can have totally 8 days SLACK.

Now, I want to see on the left portion of the screen tasks on the CRITICAL PATH.

and I will get:

Tasks on the Critical Path are yellow now.

And finally, I will show you how can you get a picture in MS PROJECT 2010 similarly like in my example (first picture in this post).

and then I will choose Network Diagram:

and I will get:

Red boxes represent task on the CRITICAL PATH!

DO NOT FORGET! CRITICAL PATH IS PATH WITH THE LONGEST DURATION, AND TASKS ON THE CRITICAL PATH SHOUD NOT BE LATE! iF THEY DO, THE WHOLE PROJECT WILL BE LATE!

Bye,

About Nenad Trajkovski

Location: Zagreb, Croatia Occupation: Project Manager Interests: Project Management and MS PROJECT He was born in Zagreb, Croatia at 1963. After completing his college he started working on projects in different business areas (banking, manufacturing, automotive industry, distribution, oil companies, etc.) developing and implementing ERP systems into different companies. He has got a lot of experience working with people in different business processes and also possesses great knowledge in information technologies and financial services. Today he works as a business consultant, adn Project Manager in PERPETUUM MOBILE d.o.o. Zagreb. He is a regular lecturer for Project Management in MS Innovation Center in Varaždin, Logosoft Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina and SEAVUS GROUP in Skopje Macedonia. He was named the best lecturer of WINDAYS 2008 while his lecture was also voted as the best. In addition, he was in TOP 10 lecturers at the MS SINERGY 2009 and MS VISIA 2009, 2010. Shares first place as the best lecturer of KulenDays 2009 and 2010 and PMI Conference 2009 in Zagreb. He is also a regular lecturer in the MS Community. He is a Certified Accountant and a PMP (Project Manager Professional) and a PMI-RMP (Risk Manager Professional), MCP, MCT, and Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist - Microsoft Project 2010. From 01.01.2012 awarded with MVP (Microsoft Most Valuable Proffesional - Microsoft Project)!

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10 Responses to Critical path in MS PROJECT 2010–PART 2

Masita says:

September 10, 2013 at 9:31 am

great!

Atlanta says:

May 27, 2013 at 8:52 am

Thank you very much for explaining Critical Path!

Ayşegül says:

May 4, 2013 at 5:51 pm

Thanks!!!
it’ s very helpful…

leungcece says:

April 8, 2013 at 10:51 am

It’s very detail explaination.
Thanks very much!!

chaitanya chakravarthi gali says:

December 19, 2012 at 12:29 pm

Dear Nenad Trajkovski
I was deliberate to have a reply from you regarding the delay in project how to mark the delay in project in MS projects and how will it be demonstrated…
Regards..

chaitanya chakravarthi gali says:

December 19, 2012 at 12:19 pm

its a great review…… though luck though good job done…

neha says:

September 21, 2012 at 5:35 am

Thanks you so much it really helpful to me

Huy Nguyen says:

September 1, 2012 at 5:21 am

Thanks a lot

Raquel Devine says:

August 20, 2012 at 4:00 am

I thank you for the explanation to find the critical patch, currently learning ms project and your insightful knowledge has come to the rescue in understanding more about ms project, Thanks!

MsK says:

December 2, 2011 at 12:13 am

Thank you very much this helped me with my homework assignment , exactly what I need to know was your last few steps. Thanks for posting and being considerate enough to share .