What is critical path and how can be managed effectively in KTern.AI ?

How Critical Path can be managed effectively In KTern.AI?

Understanding the Critical Path

The critical path in your project is a sequence of tasks that directly or indirectly affects the project completion date. Before understanding critical path, let's understand dependency management in KTern.AI - Simulation How To Manage Dependencies And Critical Path In KTern?

Importance of Critical Path in Project 

  1. The critical path identifies the longest sequence of tasks in the project that must be completed on time for the project to finish on schedule. It provides a clear timeline for how long the project will take from start to finish.
  2. By highlighting the critical tasks and their interdependencies, the critical path helps project managers and teams understand which activities are most critical to the overall project timeline. This understanding allows for better planning and resource allocation.
  3. Resources such as manpower, materials, and finances can be allocated more efficiently when the critical path is known. Project managers can prioritize resources for critical tasks to ensure they are completed on time and within budget.
  4. When facing delays or changes, knowing the critical path allows project managers to focus on speeding up tasks that are critical to the project's overall timeline. This can help in managing risks and uncertainties that may arise during the project execution.
  5. Monitoring progress along the critical path allows project managers to assess whether the project is on track or if adjustments need to be made. It provides a baseline against which actual progress can be compared, facilitating better control over the project's execution.
  6.  Understanding the critical path helps in making informed decisions about priorities, risks, and changes. It allows stakeholders to see the potential impacts of decisions on the project timeline and overall success.
  7. The critical path provides a visual representation of the project timeline and dependencies, which can be effectively communicated to stakeholders, team members, and clients. It enhances transparency and understanding of project goals and constraints.

Accessing the Critical Path using KTern.AI - Simulation

1. To ensure your project is on track, you need to regularly check the critical path. 

Navigate to Digital Projects->Timeline->Simulation->Critical Path

2. If project is progressing without any delays, the critical path will be clear, indicating that there are no tasks currently impacting the project timeline as mentioned in below image




Task Delay and Its Impact

Consider a situation where your project encounters a delay in a specific task and as a CSM / PM/ WSL you have how to identify and understand the impact of such delays. Now let's understand how KTern.AI can help in understanding the critical path and help in proactive steps for the completion on project on time considering the project timeline is from (June 5th,2024 - September 25,2024).

  1. Initially, your project is progressing smoothly, with no delays. All tasks are completed on time, and the critical path is clear. Due to unforeseen circumstances, task 1.1.1.1 gets delayed.



  2. This delay impacts subsequent tasks, such as task 1.2.6.1, since this task has Finish to Start (FS) dependency with the task 1.1.1.1 and hence the duration (Planed To Date) of the particular task also gets affected/increased. 
    Notes
    Note: The Child Dependency Tasks automatically gets updated based on the Planned From, Planned To, and type of dependency used with the Parent Dependency Task.



 Identifying the Impact:

  • Navigate to Digital Projects-> Timeline -> Simulation and Click on Critical Path
  • You will now see that both the delayed tasks (1.1.1.1 and 1.2.1.9.2) and their parent tasks are marked as critical, as d.layed in below image
  • Though the task 1.1.1.1 is getting completed before project's timeline 
  • The reason these tasks are marked as critical is that the delay in task 1.1.1.1 has caused a chain reaction, delayed other tasks and impacted the overall project schedule
With this visibility, project managers can take proactive steps to mitigate delays. This might involve reallocating resources, adjusting schedules, or focusing efforts on critical tasks to minimize the impact on project completion.