The ‘Critical Path’ is a sequence of connected tasks without any slack time (or ‘float’) between them. These tasks form the longest consecutive sequence of tasks in the project and thus determine the finish date of the project. Due to the lack of any slack time between tasks in the critical path, any deviation in one task causes a deviation…
The baseline plan has one important goal: to act as the field of reference for the various stakeholders, one to which they can compare the actual state of the project at any point in time. Therefore, as soon as the project is approved, the approved plan must be “frozen” to generate the project’s first reference point and enable project control…
Resource Control deals with keeping track of all the resources assigned to the project—specifically, the human resources. This is accomplished by looking at the resources from two directions simultaneously: The tasks to which the resources are assigned (task usage). The project resources used (resource usage). As part of the ‘task usage control process’, verify that all non-milestone and non-summary tasks…
Any project is made up of many different tasks. Some of these are derived from the project content and are included in the work plan. Others are routine, short-term tasks, which are often peripheral to the project itself but that are nonetheless necessary for its completion. These important but peripheral tasks require management and control, too, and can provide significant…
In order to be a useful decision-making tool, the project work plan must reflect the project’s progress and any changes it is undergoing at any given time. Therefore, project control must begin with the tasks and milestones that were defined in the plan. In order to get an accurate picture of the actual progress of the project, those performing control…
Every project requires special control activities now and then, depending on specific needs or if a long time has passed since the matter was last inspected. Control activities of this type are intended to examine the big picture and ensure that the goals of the project are still relevant; the project is steadily progressing towards them; the work priority established…
