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PMP Critical Path Method, which is abbreviated as CPM, is one of the most popular schedule network analysis technique, as defined in the online PMP courses. PMP Critical Path Method relies on determining the longest path in the network diagram.

After schedule network of the project has been finalized during the develop schedule process of Project Schedule Management, you will have start and end dates of each activity from the beginning of the project until the end. Activities of the project will be completed in order depending on the relationship between them. And PMP critical path method aims to determine the longest path of activities from start of the project until the end. Because this will give us the project duration.

In this video, we are going to see how PMP critical path is calculated and what are the important points about the PMP critical path method. It’s very important to learn this method well, so be sure to include it into your PMP study plan and assess your knowledge about the critical path with the help of online PMP exam simulator.

Important Notes About PMP Critical Path Method

PMP Critical Path Method is a very important topic. It is widely used in project management world and in real-world projects as well. Therefore, it is better to stress important notes about PMP critical path method.

1- There can be more than one critical paths in a project. If there are more than 1 critical paths which have the same duration, then, you need to focus on all of these critical paths to monitor the project duration.

2- Having several critical paths or having several near critical paths mean the project has high risk. Because, instead of only one critical path, your project schedule depends on several critical paths. Respectively, your project schedule performance will be depending on activities on those several critical paths. Several critical project activities will bring higher risks respectively.

3- The PMP critical path of the project can change over time. Let’s consider that you determined the critical path of the project and let’s assume that the near critical path was 32 days and the critical path was 33 days. If an activity is completed 2 days earlier in the critical path during execution, your near critical path can be the new PMP critical path of the project. Therefore, actual results must be updated on the project plan frequently, and an up-to-date critical path must be monitored to reach project deadlines.

4- There can be a negative float in a project. This means the schedule of the project is behind than the planned value. Normally, if everything is going as planned, float of an activity must be zero or positive. Only PMP critical path activities will have zero floats. However, if the project is delaying, some activities might have negative floats because the previous project duration is no longer valid.

5- If there is a negative float, you should compress the schedule. Negative float means the project is behind the schedule. In order to meet the agreed deadline, you must complete the remaining activities in shorter time and this is achieved by schedule compression.

6- If you need to cut an activity duration in the critical path, cut the earlier activity’s duration. Because, when you are getting close finishing the project, you will have less room to accommodate surprises or risks. But if you shorten the duration of an earlier activity, even if you experience any risk or surprise with that activity, since you will have more time, it will be better to deal with it.

Read more about PMP Critical Path in our blog post: [ Ссылка ]

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