Many projects fail to meet schedule expectations. For this there are two that are used for project planning. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Critical Path Method (CPM) The critical path method also known as critical path analysis is a network diagram technique used to estimate the total project duration. The network diagram will have the node structure for the purpose of forward pass and backward pass. This tool will help you reduce project schedule overruns. A critical path for a project is the series of activities that determine the earliest time by which the project can be completed. Normally in projects several tasks are performed in parallel and most projects have multiple paths through a network diagram. The longest path or the path containing the critical activities is what determines the project completion date. You will not be finished with the project until you have finished all the tasks. To calculate the critical path for a project, you need to: First create a network diagram, which, in turn, requires a good task list based on the WBS. Once you have created a network diagram, you also need to estimate the duration of each activity to determine the critical path. Calculating the critical path involves adding the durations of all activities on each path through the network diagram. The longest path is the critical path. For example: The critical path is the sequence of activities with the longest duration. A delay in any of these activities will result in a delay for the entire project. Below are some critical path examples to help you understand the key elements. Using the Critical Path Method (CPM) The duration of each activity is listed above each node in the diagram. For each path, add the duration of each node to determine its total duration. The critical path is the one with the longest duration. There are three paths through this project. Start -> Activity 1-> Activity 3-> Activity 4-> End 3+7+2=12 Start -> Activity 2-> Activity 3-> Activity 4-> end 5+7+2=14 (Critical path) Start -> Task2->Task5-> end 5+4=9Advantages of CPMMakes dependencies between project tasks visibleIncreases visibility of the impact of schedule revisionsAllows the Project Manager to optimize efficiencyDisadvantages of CPMFor large and complex projects, there there will be thousands of dependent activities and relationships. The critical path method does not take resources and resource allocation into account. Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) Another project time management technique is the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). PERT was initially used by the Navy in the Polaris project. In this method, the duration of activities is calculated using the following formula: Duration = E, A network analysis technique used to estimate project duration when there is uncertainty about the duration estimates of individual activities. PERT applies the critical path method (CPM) to a weighted average duration estimate. This approach was developed around the same time as CPM, in the late 1950s, and also uses network diagrams, which are still sometimes referred to as PERT charts. PERT uses probabilistic time estimates, duration estimates based on using optimistic, very probable, and pessimistic estimates of task durations instead of a specific or discrete duration estimate, as CPM does. Using the weighted average PERT for each duration estimate