ack

e Sl
Fre

Total Slack

Free Slack and Total Slack

by Michael Kelly, M.A.

Free Slack the slack an activity has before it

delays the next activity.
Notice the 2 days of Free Slack associated
with Task B and the 3 days associated with
Task C.
Since Task B has a start to start relationship
with Task C, it can start two days later (on the
Monday rather than the Thursday) and still not
affect Task C. Any time later than that will
affect Task C.
Task C has 3 days of Free Slack meaning that
it can be delayed 3 days without affecting the
next task which happens to be The End.
Michael Kelly, 2007

Total Slack the slack an activity has before

it delays the end of the project.
Notice the 5 days of Total Slack associated
with Task B and the 3 days with Task C.
First the easy one. Task C can be delayed 3
days without affecting the project end
(April16). A 4-day delay will postpone the
project by 1 day.
Now the hard one. With Task B the total slack
consists of the 3 days of total slack from Task
C plus the 2 days of its own free slack
(remember it can be delayed 2 days without
affecting the next task).