Dependencies and lags
Represent the actual conditions that allow work to begin or finish.
Reference · Guide · Foundation
Understand what controls completion
Check dependencies, duration assumptions and resource availability.
Understand
Find what controls the finish
The critical path is the longest duration chain through a valid dependency network under the schedule’s assumptions. It can change as durations and logic change.
Method · Guide · Applied
Milestone plan
A milestone marks a verifiable state or decision in delivery. It helps coordinate commitments without pretending to be the detailed schedule.
Model · Guide · Foundation
Critical path method (CPM)
Find the chain that sets the shortest possible duration: the work whose delay moves the end date.
Model · Study sheet · Foundation
Milestone trend analysis
Track how successive forecasts of the same milestone change over time.
Reference · Guide · Foundation
Schedule compression
Schedule compression seeks an earlier finish by changing how critical work is performed, overlapped or resourced.
Model · Guide · Foundation
Total float and free float
How long each activity can slip before the end date moves, or before the next activity must wait.
Model · Study sheet · Foundation
Calculate
Critical-path network calculator
Calculate earliest and latest dates and total float, then draw an activity-on-node (AON) diagram with critical paths highlighted.
Tool · Calculator + guide · Applied
Schedule crashing cost slope
Compare additional activity cost per unit of possible duration reduction.
Tool · Calculator + guide · Applied
Three-point fixed-path estimate
Combine weighted activity means and approximate variances on one defined path.
Tool · Calculator + guide · Applied
Original sources
Critical chain and constraints
Investigate resource constraints and schedule protection through the originating author’s work.
Framework · Source pointer · Foundation