Critical Path Analysis

KENYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

NAME: OTIENO SHARON ATIENO

ADM: KIM/14727/15

COURSE CODE: DPM 205

COURSE NAME: PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION.

CRITICAL PATH ANALYSIS

The critical path analysis is a powerful tool that helps to schedule and manage complex projects. A tool developed in 1950s with an objective of determining how best it was to reduce the time required to perform routine and repetitive tasks that are needed to support an organization. Critical path analysis helps to plan tasks that are supposed to be completed as part of the project

CPM acts as the basis for preparation of a schedule and of resource planning. During management of a project, it allows you to monitor achievement of a project goal.CPM also helps you to see where remedial action needs to be taken to get a project back on course.

Mostly within an organization or a project, it is likely that the final project plan will be displayed as a Gantt chart. However, the benefit of using Critical Path Analysis within the planning process is that it helps to develop and test the plan to ensure that it is robust.

Critical Path Analysis basically identifies tasks which must be completed on time for the whole project to be completed on time. It also identifies tasks that can be delayed if resource need to be reallocated to catch up on missed or over-running tasks.

Majorly, CPA is used to assess the following:

1. What tasks must be carried out

2. Where parallel activities can be performed

3. The shortest time which you can complete a project

4. Resources need to execute a project

5. The sequence of activities , scheduling at timing involved

6. Tasks priorities

7. The most efficient way of shortening time on urgent projects.

Critical Path Analysis method uses a work breakdown structure where all projects are divided into individual tasks or activities .Every project has a sequence of events that have to be undertaken. Some are dependent on the completion of...