Project 2013 Intermediate

Project 2013

Lesson 4 – Working with the Critical Path

If necessary, switch to the Gantt Chart view.

Steps

Practice Data

1. Select the View tab.

Click

.

The View ribbon appears. .

2. Select the Filter list in the Data group. A list of filter options appears.

Click Filter

.

3. Select Critical .

Click

.

Only the critical tasks appear in the view.

Notice that the critical path begins with the 11 Build Structure task.

Filter again for by clicking No Filter or Clear Filter.

Practice the Concept: Apply the Detail Gantt view. Scroll in the right pane to view the blue and red Gantt bars. The 18 Frame Garage task is a critical task, and therefore appears in red. Return to the Gantt Chart view.

If you wish to print out the Critical Tasks, Go to the Reports tab and click In Progress . Select Critical Tasks .

Return to the Gantt Chart view.

V IEWING S LACK



Discussion

Noncritical tasks can start late without affecting other tasks or the project finish date. These tasks have slack, which is the amount of time a task can be delayed without affecting other tasks. It is helpful to know where slack exists in the schedule. You can use slack to adjust a plan so that a project finishes on schedule. For example, you might be able to move a task with slack to a later start date to free a resource. You can then assign that resource to a critical task to shorten its duration.

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