How To Build High-Performance Teams

APPENDIX 1

THE CRITICAL PATH METHOD

Whenever you plan projects you have to decide the minimum time the project will take and when the activities will be scheduled. A PERT chart by itself (see Chapter 3) cannot precisely answer these questions; you will need to find the longest path or sequence of connected activities in the diagram. This is called the critical path because it determines the duration of the project; the cumulative times of the activities along the critical path equals the length or duration of the project.

A critical path defines the sequence of the most important activities that connect the starting and ending points of a project, as mapped out on a PERT chart. Drawing a network diagram helps determine the schedule of a project ...