2020

MS Gantt Chart, Network

Diagram, and Critical
Path
PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRACTICAL

Abdulla Waleed H00348749

Mohammed Saleh H00323197

0
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Problem Statement...........................................................................................................................2
Apparatus.........................................................................................................................................3
Predecessor...................................................................................................................................3
Auto-Schedule..............................................................................................................................3
Gantt Chart View.........................................................................................................................3
Critical Task Tracking.................................................................................................................4
WBS Define Codes......................................................................................................................4
Free Slack.....................................................................................................................................4
Objectives.........................................................................................................................................5
Procedure.........................................................................................................................................5
Discussion and Conclusions.............................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

1
Introduction
With Microsoft project, we’re able to complete tasks related to the Gantt chart, network diagram
and the critical path.
Gantt chart is a visual representation of the scheduled tasks over time, while the network diagram
is a visual representation of the network architecture. Lastly, the critical path is the sequence of
stages to determine the minimum time necessary for an event, especially when analyzed on a
large organization's computer.
Through the problem statement given, we project the Gantt chart, network diagram and identify
the critical path.

Problem Statement
PM Computers is an international manufacturer of computer equipment and software. It is going
to introduce a number of new products in the coming year, and it want to develop marketing
programs to accompany the product introductions. The marketing program includes the
preparation of printed materials distributed directly by the company and used by the company’s
marketing personnel, vendors, and representative; print advertising in regular magazines, trade
journals, and newspapers; and television commercials. The program also includes extensive
training programs for marketing personnel, vendors, and representatives about the new products.
A project management team with members from the marketing department and manufacturing
areas has developed the following list of activities for the development of the marketing
program.

2
Apparatus
MS Project has a plethora of tools to conduct work with. These are the various functions that
were used to develop our project.

Predecessor
The Predecessors lists the task ID numbers for the predecessor tasks that depend on the task
before it can be started or completed. Every predecessor is linked by a particular form of task
dependence and a lead time or lag time to the task. This can be found by double-clicking the
current job.

Auto-Schedule
Auto scheduling takes care of all planning for the user. MS Project schedules the whole project
from start to finish instead of having to schedule each job manually.

Gantt Chart View

It lists the tasks in your project, and demonstrates how they relate to each other and the schedule
using Gantt bars. The default view for new projects is the Gantt Chart view.

Critical Task Tracking

An analytical column may be added to find and track tasks that are important to the project
activities. The column shows that the tasks at hand are important.

3
WBS Define Codes
A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a decomposition of a project into different hierarchical
parts. According to this hierarchy, WBS codes provide a means of numbering the tasks in a

project.

Free Slack
The Free Slack contains the amount of time needed to postpone a task without delaying any
successor tasks. If the task doesn't have successors, free slack is the amount of time a task can be
postponed without losing the deadline of the entire project.

4
Objectives
The aim of this project is to create a Gantt project diagram and a project network diagram which
will define the project's critical path.

It’s all based on previous activities and projects done prior to this one.

Procedure
1. First, all the task names were applied to the respective columns from which the task
number is included in the problem statement as seen in its order. Once all activities are
listed, they are applied using the predecessor dialog to the previous tasks. All previous
tasks have participated.

2. When the predecessors are inserted, the previous columns are filled in accordingly,
followed by the tasks later. Job icons are automatically filled in.

5
3. Critical tasks can be found using the Free Slack feature. Tasks displaying the number of
days as 0 days are important, and it indicated that other tasks are unnecessary.

4. Once the previous steps are completed, the Gantt chart will be shown as follows

6
5. The network diagram is displayed using the Gantt chart tool, where you can further
observe the diagram. The tasks in the red dialog box are extremely important, unlike the
rest. In the project network diagram the critical path of the project is also seen.

6. WBS columns are generated to create project task codes for project activities. WBS
column determine the number of tasks that are based on task activities. The figure below
shows the WBS column which was created for the task activities.

7
Discussion and Conclusions
There's a lot we learned from this part of the project. First, we studied various ways of adding
predecessors to tasks, and we understood their roots and functions. Additionally, I’ve learned
how to create a Gantt chart through various steps. I also understood the concept of critical tasks
and how to determine whether or not jobs are critical. Lastly , I discovered the idea of
constructing a network diagram.

The columns in this project, such as the critical task column, were a little difficult to get the hang
of. Other than that, difficulties were rarely faced in this project. MS project allows for its tools to
be easily accessible, clear and concise.

The main difficulty faced in this project is the concept of network diagrams. However, with
plenty of practice and attempts to understand the relationship between activities, it became clear.

8
References
Bai. (2017). Microsoft Project - Full Tutorial for Beginners [Video File]. Retrieved [20
April 2020] from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUqbhkJWt_4

MsAngela0810. (2014). Network Diagram in MS Project showing Critical Path.

Retrieved [20 April 2020] from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URdxhl_8qIE

TeachUComp. (2017). Project 2016 Tutorial Using WBS Codes Microsoft Training
[Video file]. Retrieved [20 April 2020] from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=YJLdFQuDpFM