Critical Path

Introduction
• Every task is important, but only some of them are critical.

• The critical path is a chain of linked tasks that directly affects the project
finish date.

• If any task on the critical path is late, the whole project is late.
• In project management, the “critical path” refers to the longest sequence of
dependent or floating tasks that must be completed in order to get the project done
on time.
• In the first place, the critical path is an indicator of the earliest date a project is
planned to complete. When the critical path is highlighted, the project manager
knows exactly what are the critical tasks he has to keep an eye on.
• When a delay occurs he has two options: automatically reschedule the remaining
activities keeping their initial duration (this will result in delaying the whole project)
or reduce the estimated time of one or multiple tasks in order to keep the initial
project completion date.
• The critical path is a series of tasks (or sometimes only a single task) that controls the
calculated start or finish date of the project.

• The tasks that make up the critical path are typically interrelated by task dependencies.

• There are likely to be many such networks of tasks throughout your project plan.

• When the last task in the critical path is complete, the project is also complete.
 Show the critical path in the Gantt Chart view

• The Gantt Chart view will likely be your most used view for showing the
critical path.
• Choose View > Gantt Chart.
• Choose Format, and then select the Critical Tasks check box.
• Tasks on the critical path now have red Gantt bars.
 Show the critical path in other task views
• You can see the critical path in any task view by highlighting it.
• On the View tab, pick a view from the Task Views group.
• Staying on the View tab, select Critical from the Highlight list.
The critical path shows up in yellow.
• To see only the tasks on the critical path, choose the Filter arrow, then
pick Critical.