Project Management Tools and Techniques

159Chapter nine: Creating the project schedule

Understanding both critical path and slack concepts is vital for effec-

tive time management and requires that the PM keep these parameter val-

ues in mind as the project unfolds. Also, recognize that errors in duration

estimates will cause the slack values to change during project execution,

so this is not a static view by any stretch. Understanding activity slack or

oat gives the PM exibility in scheduling the start of a particular activity

(Uher 2003). This also helps to facilitate prioritization of resource alloca-

tions across the project plan. For example, if there are two activities occur-

ring within the same time range, one critical and one noncritical that are

competing for the same re ...