www.projectmanager.com: Think of critical path in project management as a project modeling technique. It’s a sequence of stages where you figure out what the least amount of time is necessary to complete a task with the least amount of slack. So, the critical path is really the longest length of time it will take to complete the project tasks.
4 comments:
When I read the title of the article and even when I was two sentences into the article, I thought that critical path was like a kind of a philosophy but I was completely wrong. Frankly speaking, I am happy that I was wrong because I feel delighted to have learned what the critical path is, how it is put to use and why is it important.
As someone who is interested in going to the production and management aspect of theatrical productions, knowing that their project that has been created to ensure that a show reaches its full scope, at-least in production terms, is a real delight.
The way the project has been laid out having counted anything that can possible affect the processing and finishing periods of a show, I believe, must serve as a real saver for anyone who deals with the delivery of projects.
This probably is the best part of the methodology- that it counts for any possibility that might hamper with the show and its deadlines.
I read this and my brain immediately screamed Rube, and, as much as that project felt like a sad void at the time, it is honestly one of the most valuable things that I have learned here. I got to apply the idea this summer while working at a summer stock. We had two weeks to build and load in each show to our theatre, so the concept of critical path was actually really important, as our sets were extravagantly built and painted. I think the most important part of this concept, as outlined at the end of this article, is to ensure that the path is monitored and, ideally, kept on schedule, but, more likely, consistently being updated and reconfigured to ensure the final deadline is met. I think that this pathway is really effective especially for pieces that have to move through several departments or people to reach completion because it accurately shows time in a combination of working hours and the hours something might take to dry, cure, etc.
This is a great little breakdown of what critical path is and why it’s so important in project management. I really love the lists that it breaks up some of the most important topics about. Also I think this article more so then any other I have seen/read on critical path is able to simplify and explain aspects like floating and crash duration the best at least for beginner level. The other thing that I know isn’t directly related but is still really awesome is the issue tracking template that they attached in this article. Now while I’ve never used a program like project manager I did decided to look around the website and explore it more then I ever have and I have to say I see the reasons why one would use it. Being able to create custom documents with particular templates already created to do what general what you want is great and saving said things so that you may recreate and rearrange them is an amazing tool to have at your disposal.
I think this idea of critical path is something that we are constantly discussing in Carnegie Scenic and negotiating the build schedule and calendar to reach our goals on time. When things become particularly crunched on time we start looking at these components and the time factor is frequently referred to as lin-time when we are looking at the element of time alone without the other components. I honestly think that this aspect of CMU’s program is one of the strongest facets of the program. We see so much of this work with the volume of shows we’re dealing with that you’ll inevitably get this sort of estimation experience whether you are the project manager or not. As far as the industry goes it is an extremely valuable skill to have, the article talks more about the formatting of it in paperwork and organizational structure that is enormously beneficial but what may be even better is a sense of almost intrinsic understanding and response to these situations, because in tense last minute situations you may not have time to produce that paperwork required for the conversation you’re having mid-tech.
Post a Comment