Critical Path

MosMash

I'm new in PM and wonder why a schedule must have a critical path in the first place?
Shouldn't such situation (critical activity) be avoided at project's initial planning?

Harwinder

Hi @MosMash

Sorry for the late response. I had been travelling and not able to keep up.

A simple way to think of the Critical Path is to look at it as the longest path in the project schedule network. Even if you remove the Critical Path or shorten it, you'll still end up with some path that would become the new longest path in the network, and that path would become the new Critical Path. So, you can't remove the Critical Path.

To give an analogy, think of a class full of students. Somebody comes and says - this class should not have the tallest kid. So, you identify the tallest kid and remove him/her from the class. Then the next tallest kid in the class becomes the tallest kid. Then you remove him/her as well. Then the third tallest becomes the tallest and you remove him/her as well .. and it goes on. You'll always have someone who's the tallest.

It's the same with Critical Path. It's just the longest path in the project schedule network. You'll always have one (or more) longest path in the network.

Hope it helps.