The Name Is Bond, James Bond.
And when I’m not saving the world, the UK, or some other super power nation from an end-of-days
terror cell threat or from some villainous, evil-mined criminal mastermind hidden whose
hell-bent on either world domination or word destruction…
I manage projects.
That’s right, projects.
And my project management weapon of choice… is Microsoft Project.
This armament holds a wealth of hidden features, as one would expect, that I use on a weekly
basis to guarantee my projects deliver successfully.
One of my favorite features is the one that provides me with the ability to view my schedule’s
Critical Path.
The Critical Path, you understand, is the sequence of project tasks, or activities,
which add up to the longest overall duration.
It essentially determines the shortest time possible to complete the project.
So, how do I employ this weapon in an effort to convince it to show me this valuable information?
Let’s take a look.
Unfortunately, using the out of box Critical Path feature may not give you the clearest
vantage of your path.
But that’s where we’ll start, however.
A drink Mr. Bond?
Vodka Martini……shaken not stirred.
Now, where were we?
Oh yes, the critical path.
Let’s navigate to our awaiting project schedule.
While in the Gantt view, click the Format tab and in the Bar Styles section of the ribbon,
click the checkbox for Critical Tasks.
Now… notice how my 3rd task, Interview and Select New double O Agent, does not appear
to be on the Critical Path.
That’s curious, isn’t it?
Q branch was kind enough to supply Microsoft Project with a hidden “Select All” button
in the upper left of the view’s table, like so (pause a second), and I’ll chose a new
table for my view, I’ll select Schedule table.
In this table, we can find the Total Slack column.
Notice that my 3rd task has a slack value of 2 days!
So, this task isn’t categorically on the Critical Path.
But, because it has such a small amount of Total Slack, if it slips more than 2 days,
it will certainly affect my project, causing the whole thing to slip.
And that is something neither M nor Moneypenny would find satisfactory.
So, what’s the story here?
How can I guarantee I don’t overlook a task with low slack and possibly miss a project
delivery date?
Every double O agent has a backstage area you see.
I’ll click File… then Options.
In the Advanced section, I’ll scroll to the bottom of the page.
Notice how there’s a setting that says, “Tasks are Critical if slack is less than
or equal to… 0 days.
Let’s loosen this up a bit, shall we?
I’ll set it to use less than or equal to two days.
After I click Ok, we can see that the Interview and Select New double O Agent task now appears
on the critical path.
And onward from here, whenever I choose to view Critical tasks, I’ll also be viewing
those that are almost critical.
Very good, then.
Agent Double-Oh-Seven, signing off for now.
If you still have an appetite for more, please reach out to those highly skilled chaps at
EPMA for more on using Microsoft Project weaponry to your most skillful advantage.