The Nature & Purpose of Critical Path Analysis
What You Need to Know
The value of network analysis in strategic implementation
Network analysis to include:
• understanding and interpreting network diagrams
• amendment of network diagrams
• identifying the critical path and total float
Introduction
Network, or as it is otherwise known - critical path analysis (“CPA”) - is a widely used
project management tool that uses network analysis to help project managers
handle complex and time-sensitive operations.
Many larger businesses get involved in projects that are complex and involve
significant investment and risk. As the complexity and risk increases it becomes even
more necessary to identify the relationships between the activities involved and to
work out the most efficient way of completing the project.
Building the Network Analysis Model
The essential technique for using CPA is to construct a model of the project that
includes the following:
• A list of all activities required to complete the project
• The time (duration) that each activity will take to completion
• The dependencies between the activities
Using this information, CPA calculates:
• The longest path of planned activities to the end of the project
• The earliest and latest that each activity can start and finish without making the
project longer
This process determines which activities are "critical" (i.e., on the longest path)
and which have "total float" (i.e. can be delayed without making the project longer).
In project management, a critical path is:
The sequence of project activities which add up to the longest overall duration
The critical path determines the shortest time possible to complete the project.
Any delay of an activity on the critical path directly impacts the planned project
completion date (i.e. there is no float on the critical path).
1|Page
What You Need to Know
The value of network analysis in strategic implementation
Network analysis to include:
• understanding and interpreting network diagrams
• amendment of network diagrams
• identifying the critical path and total float
Introduction
Network, or as it is otherwise known - critical path analysis (“CPA”) - is a widely used
project management tool that uses network analysis to help project managers
handle complex and time-sensitive operations.
Many larger businesses get involved in projects that are complex and involve
significant investment and risk. As the complexity and risk increases it becomes even
more necessary to identify the relationships between the activities involved and to
work out the most efficient way of completing the project.
Building the Network Analysis Model
The essential technique for using CPA is to construct a model of the project that
includes the following:
• A list of all activities required to complete the project
• The time (duration) that each activity will take to completion
• The dependencies between the activities
Using this information, CPA calculates:
• The longest path of planned activities to the end of the project
• The earliest and latest that each activity can start and finish without making the
project longer
This process determines which activities are "critical" (i.e., on the longest path)
and which have "total float" (i.e. can be delayed without making the project longer).
In project management, a critical path is:
The sequence of project activities which add up to the longest overall duration
The critical path determines the shortest time possible to complete the project.
Any delay of an activity on the critical path directly impacts the planned project
completion date (i.e. there is no float on the critical path).
1|Page
