Thanks for the feedback, I am very pleased that the video was helpful for you.
It is still important to know that Float/Slack is LS minus ES, or LF minus EF, even though you most likely won't have to calculate values for ES and LS. You might, for example, get a question where you are told that an activity has an ES of 15th March and a LS of 15th March. The question will ask if the task is critical, and of course it is, because slack is zero in this case. (Beware the Ides of March!)
To be able to sit for this exam, we have to accumulate at least 3 years of experience. I contacted the PMI local chapter to find out how it is possible for us to gain experience and satisfy the hour requirements, nobody ever responded me. It's so frustrating. What's the point of taking the exam prep class if we can't find ways to accumulate the years of experience to be able to sit for the exam?
It is possible. You need to have, and be able to list, experience managing projects or leading activities within projects. How much experience you need depends on if you have a Bachelors degree. If you do, you need to show 4500 hours experience over at least 3 years. If not, then 7500 hours over at least 5 years. You also need to have 35 hours of project management training. Go to the PMI web site and search for and download the "PMP Credential Handbook" for more details. Good luck.....
Hello, I have one question for you if you don't mind answering: if there are two paths with same duration i.e. longest duration = 10 days and 2 paths have a duration of 10 days how do you determine which one is the critical path?
There are several different ways to set out the diagrams. In fact, there is more than one type of diagram altogether, the "Activity on Arrow" diagram. I'm sure the way you learned is just fine. The key thing is to understand what the REASONS are for the steps you take. So, learn an approach that you like, and stick with that. Good luck.
@SirGanttalot : Thanks a million for the videos. I am appearing for the CAPM exam next month. The videos are extremely useful and it is free. WOW! If I were is UK I would have certainly signed up for a formal training with WestMurray.
Thanks for the comments and good luck with your exam. We are US-based rather than UK. However, we will shortly be starting on-line web-based seminar PMP and CAPM preparation courses, as well as other on-line and on-site courses. Please stay connected for more information. Regards.
I have been studying this off and on for two months with Rita/Head First/Prepcast and in 9 minutes I FULLY understand this concept after two months of other examples! Thanks!
All this is great! Be sure to go to tythepmcoach (com) to and the knowledge center for experience project management.. Also, go to ghostrade a new social network site that will be launched by project managers that is being touted as the next Google
All this is great! Be sure to go to tythepmcoach (com) to and the knowledge center for experience project management.. Also, go to ghostrade a new social network site that will be launched by project managers that is being touted as the next google
Very helpful. It is videos such as this that will help me remember the quick tips. I just went to a prep class to kick off my studies so this made sense to me. It would not have before the class.
Did you look at the Part 2 Video? That covers Early Start and Finish, Late Start and Finish. If you still need clarification, ask again on the Part 2 video if you would. Thanks.....
Yes that's right. Take a look at my Part 2 Video, which covers the Forward Pass/Backward Pass technique (the "Critical Path Method"). The purpose of CPM is basically to calculate the float (schedule flexibility or leeway) of every activity in the network. Typically, the Critical Path activities are then the ones that have ZERO float. In fact, most scheduling software does the CPM technique as the way to determine the critical path. Hope this helps......
Do you mean how do you identify the paths? If so, "paths" means all the different routes you can take from start to finish, or from A to I. In this network there are three paths in total: A-B-D-I; A-C-E-G-I; and A-C-F-H-I. Of these, the last is the longest duration, and is therefore the critical path. Hope this helps.
Thanx for the video sir, and my question is in regard to the second question. would the total float of activity D (3 days) would be same for its predesesor activity B?
Yes that's right. You can look at it this way: 3 days of float is AVAILABLE to any activity in that sub-path. In other words EITHER activity B or activity D could slip by 3 days without delaying the project, but they cannot BOTH get delayed by 3 days EACH because that would add 6 days to that sub-path within the overall network. Thanks for the question, and I hope the answer helps.
Sir, you just saved my semester! I had a PM exam today and just came back from a trip. Basically I had only a few hours to understand basic PM concepts and that would have taken weeks to go through with my university notes. By watching your clear, short and great videos I could get not even the required knowledge but even more in 2 hours!
I am really glad to be of help. Best of luck with your other studies. Are there any additional PM topics you think would make good items I could cover in a video?
Sir, I think it is already pretty complete. I got an A in Project Management whereas I believed i would barely pass before seeing your videos. I am so grateful to you! Let us know if you have any publications in PMP, I would definitely buy them...
What if task B would be of 6 days duration. That would make ABDI a second critical path of 15 days duration. What will be the critical path in this case? Why?
Thanks for the question. In that case there would be 2 critical paths. This is perfectly possible. In fact there can be as many critical paths as there are paths altogether. If Task G was 6 days, and Task B was also 6 days, there would be 3 critical paths. Sometimes you hear people say there can only be one critical path. That is incorrect. Bear in mind that any critical path is the most risky path, so having more than one critical path means the project has extra risk. Hope this helps.
Because it has 3 days of float. If you look at the possible paths, there are three: ABDI is one path, it's duration is 12, ACEGI is another path, duration is 11, and the last path is ACFHI. The last path duration is 15, so that is the longest and therefore critical path. The path that contains D is only 12 days in duration so that path is not critical. It is 3 days shorter than the critical path, so B and D both have 3 days of float. Hope this helps.
Well, you are right to be puzzled by a question like that because you need additional information. You need to know the sequence of activities. In the PMBOK itself, "Sequence Activities" is the process immediately after "Identify Activities", so any question about a network has to give you information that allows you to sequence the tasks, or it is an invalid question. Sometimes the questions are asked against an actual diagram of course, with the sequence shown. Feel free to send an example.
PART 1 reply: I'm not familiar with the way the questions are structured for the A level. Feel free to email me an example. Generally, however, when constructing the diagram all you are doing at that point is "sequencing" the activities. So the only info you care about at that point is each activity's ID plus its predecessor(s).
PART 2 reply: Just go one activity at a time, draw a box, and draw links to any predecessors. For example, in my own network diagram the description of Task G says it can start after activity E is finished. This means that E is a predecessor to G. Some activities, like Task I, can have more than one predecessor. Hope this helps.
I'm doing it a A level too. But this was less helpful to me because i get confused by how to construct the diagram itself. Everyone seems to breeze past that so i must be missing something. Any advice?
Float and slack mean exactly the same thing. You can use either word with no problem. "Lag" is different though. Lag is a delay you build in between tasks (like waiting for paint to dry, or something similar).
That's right. First, work out the Critical Path duration. Then, for the activity you want to know the float of, work out the duration of the longest path that goes through that activity, and subtract it from the duration of the critical path. This even works when an activity itself is on the critical path, bacause then the longest path through it will actually be the critical path, and the subtraction will give you the answer of zero, which is what you would expect.
that was great.... I do not have to do any early start, late start calculations any more!!
jigneshngadhia 1 month ago in playlist More videos from SirGanttalot
Thanks for the feedback, I am very pleased that the video was helpful for you.
It is still important to know that Float/Slack is LS minus ES, or LF minus EF, even though you most likely won't have to calculate values for ES and LS. You might, for example, get a question where you are told that an activity has an ES of 15th March and a LS of 15th March. The question will ask if the task is critical, and of course it is, because slack is zero in this case. (Beware the Ides of March!)
SirGanttalot 4 weeks ago
Comment removed
katharinefoley 4 months ago
Comment removed
katharinefoley 4 months ago
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!
Dilanthaonline 4 months ago
To be able to sit for this exam, we have to accumulate at least 3 years of experience. I contacted the PMI local chapter to find out how it is possible for us to gain experience and satisfy the hour requirements, nobody ever responded me. It's so frustrating. What's the point of taking the exam prep class if we can't find ways to accumulate the years of experience to be able to sit for the exam?
ttiiyy 7 months ago
It is possible. You need to have, and be able to list, experience managing projects or leading activities within projects. How much experience you need depends on if you have a Bachelors degree. If you do, you need to show 4500 hours experience over at least 3 years. If not, then 7500 hours over at least 5 years. You also need to have 35 hours of project management training. Go to the PMI web site and search for and download the "PMP Credential Handbook" for more details. Good luck.....
SirGanttalot 8 months ago
Can 25 year old get PMP?
damthatriver09 8 months ago
this is great it help me to understand unlike my lecturer at school....
butifulsally 8 months ago
Very good, sir. Thank you so much!
1chabot1 9 months ago
Really great representation. Your voice and explanation is unambiguous. Big ups mate :)
tranzoditty 10 months ago
Hello, I have one question for you if you don't mind answering: if there are two paths with same duration i.e. longest duration = 10 days and 2 paths have a duration of 10 days how do you determine which one is the critical path?
metallica929 11 months ago
i did find this quite helpful though for my exam, we were told to set out the diagrams a little differently.
demonblood002 1 year ago
There are several different ways to set out the diagrams. In fact, there is more than one type of diagram altogether, the "Activity on Arrow" diagram. I'm sure the way you learned is just fine. The key thing is to understand what the REASONS are for the steps you take. So, learn an approach that you like, and stick with that. Good luck.
SirGanttalot 1 year ago
@SirGanttalot : Thanks a million for the videos. I am appearing for the CAPM exam next month. The videos are extremely useful and it is free. WOW!
bidyut101 1 year ago
@SirGanttalot : Thanks a million for the videos. I am appearing for the CAPM exam next month. The videos are extremely useful and it is free. WOW! If I were is UK I would have certainly signed up for a formal training with WestMurray.
bidyut101 1 year ago
Thanks for the comments and good luck with your exam. We are US-based rather than UK. However, we will shortly be starting on-line web-based seminar PMP and CAPM preparation courses, as well as other on-line and on-site courses. Please stay connected for more information. Regards.
SirGanttalot 1 year ago
@SirGanttalot
Do you have any proposed dates for the online web based seminar fro PMP?
Thanks
drawohr 11 months ago
Thank you for the best coach.
6myearsoldcoming 1 year ago
I have been studying this off and on for two months with Rita/Head First/Prepcast and in 9 minutes I FULLY understand this concept after two months of other examples! Thanks!
fotoobscura 1 year ago
very clear!!! thank u so so so much. Now, i'm off to the second clip.
batmandarknite3972 1 year ago
@yesIdoLikeDogs
Did this in a PM class a few months ago. These videos are a great help for revision.
exactly what was required.
colinmaharaj 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
All this is great! Be sure to go to tythepmcoach (com) to and the knowledge center for experience project management.. Also, go to ghostrade a new social network site that will be launched by project managers that is being touted as the next Google
Ghostrade2010 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
All this is great! Be sure to go to tythepmcoach (com) to and the knowledge center for experience project management.. Also, go to ghostrade a new social network site that will be launched by project managers that is being touted as the next google
Ghostrade2010 1 year ago
Very helpful. It is videos such as this that will help me remember the quick tips. I just went to a prep class to kick off my studies so this made sense to me. It would not have before the class.
dkazmir 1 year ago
Very nice video Sir. I am still confused in calculating Early finish and Late finish? Wud appreciate if you cud help me out. Thankyou.
tomatosing 1 year ago
Did you look at the Part 2 Video? That covers Early Start and Finish, Late Start and Finish. If you still need clarification, ask again on the Part 2 video if you would. Thanks.....
SirGanttalot 1 year ago
@SirGanttalot
Thankyou Sir. I got the answer in one of the comments posted on your video. Thanks again.
tomatosing 1 year ago
Would appreciate your assistance, would the following statement be correct
'’Float can help to identify critical path as on the critical path there is no float therefore no lee-way for delay’’ ?
pigleet1 1 year ago
Yes that's right. Take a look at my Part 2 Video, which covers the Forward Pass/Backward Pass technique (the "Critical Path Method"). The purpose of CPM is basically to calculate the float (schedule flexibility or leeway) of every activity in the network. Typically, the Critical Path activities are then the ones that have ZERO float. In fact, most scheduling software does the CPM technique as the way to determine the critical path. Hope this helps......
SirGanttalot 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Fantastic, very well done, this is the best explanation of Critical Path method I have seen.
dimitargg1 1 year ago
thank u very much. if u say node mode, wot dos that actually mean
doust 1 year ago
How did you come upto paths?
maabaig 1 year ago
Do you mean how do you identify the paths? If so, "paths" means all the different routes you can take from start to finish, or from A to I. In this network there are three paths in total: A-B-D-I; A-C-E-G-I; and A-C-F-H-I. Of these, the last is the longest duration, and is therefore the critical path. Hope this helps.
SirGanttalot 1 year ago
What country do you come from, you sound short of British and Ausie.
85thday 1 year ago
Thanx for the video sir, and my question is in regard to the second question. would the total float of activity D (3 days) would be same for its predesesor activity B?
mysticq8 1 year ago
Yes that's right. You can look at it this way: 3 days of float is AVAILABLE to any activity in that sub-path. In other words EITHER activity B or activity D could slip by 3 days without delaying the project, but they cannot BOTH get delayed by 3 days EACH because that would add 6 days to that sub-path within the overall network. Thanks for the question, and I hope the answer helps.
SirGanttalot 1 year ago
Sir, you just saved my semester! I had a PM exam today and just came back from a trip. Basically I had only a few hours to understand basic PM concepts and that would have taken weeks to go through with my university notes. By watching your clear, short and great videos I could get not even the required knowledge but even more in 2 hours!
You're a star! thanks a lot!
jclamberthk 1 year ago
I am really glad to be of help. Best of luck with your other studies. Are there any additional PM topics you think would make good items I could cover in a video?
SirGanttalot 1 year ago
Sir, I think it is already pretty complete. I got an A in Project Management whereas I believed i would barely pass before seeing your videos. I am so grateful to you! Let us know if you have any publications in PMP, I would definitely buy them...
jclamberthk 1 year ago
Nice and one of the most informative Short Tutorial...i ever came across...
Thanx Sir
DalkhoziMarwat 2 years ago 2
Thanks for sharing the video, it was good.
vishal18agarwal 2 years ago 3
Really nice Sir
todaladentro 2 years ago 2
What if task B would be of 6 days duration. That would make ABDI a second critical path of 15 days duration. What will be the critical path in this case? Why?
wasilamjad 2 years ago 2
Thanks for the question. In that case there would be 2 critical paths. This is perfectly possible. In fact there can be as many critical paths as there are paths altogether. If Task G was 6 days, and Task B was also 6 days, there would be 3 critical paths. Sometimes you hear people say there can only be one critical path. That is incorrect. Bear in mind that any critical path is the most risky path, so having more than one critical path means the project has extra risk. Hope this helps.
SirGanttalot 2 years ago
Thanks alot sir!!
wasilamjad 2 years ago
i should pay u the tuition fees not the f'ing college..
thanks a lot for the helpful tutorial..
monier20 2 years ago 8
Question.
Activity D, has 5 days duration. Why it is not the in critial path?
goodcraze 2 years ago
Because it has 3 days of float. If you look at the possible paths, there are three: ABDI is one path, it's duration is 12, ACEGI is another path, duration is 11, and the last path is ACFHI. The last path duration is 15, so that is the longest and therefore critical path. The path that contains D is only 12 days in duration so that path is not critical. It is 3 days shorter than the critical path, so B and D both have 3 days of float. Hope this helps.
SirGanttalot 2 years ago
Comment removed
shabsovich 2 years ago
Well, you are right to be puzzled by a question like that because you need additional information. You need to know the sequence of activities. In the PMBOK itself, "Sequence Activities" is the process immediately after "Identify Activities", so any question about a network has to give you information that allows you to sequence the tasks, or it is an invalid question. Sometimes the questions are asked against an actual diagram of course, with the sequence shown. Feel free to send an example.
SirGanttalot 2 years ago
Comment removed
shabsovich 2 years ago
Great Video, Thanks,
shabsovich 2 years ago
You are welcome. Glad it was useful to you.
SirGanttalot 2 years ago
Thanks. It helps me to better understand the concept!
TheBreze 2 years ago
Great work! Thanks for publishing it!
MikeLyanOnDanera 2 years ago
Sir Gantalott, you are the BEST, Great job.
Keep it up.
guyrogers3456 2 years ago
PART 1 reply: I'm not familiar with the way the questions are structured for the A level. Feel free to email me an example. Generally, however, when constructing the diagram all you are doing at that point is "sequencing" the activities. So the only info you care about at that point is each activity's ID plus its predecessor(s).
SirGanttalot 2 years ago
PART 2 reply: Just go one activity at a time, draw a box, and draw links to any predecessors. For example, in my own network diagram the description of Task G says it can start after activity E is finished. This means that E is a predecessor to G. Some activities, like Task I, can have more than one predecessor. Hope this helps.
SirGanttalot 2 years ago
I'm doing it a A level too. But this was less helpful to me because i get confused by how to construct the diagram itself. Everyone seems to breeze past that so i must be missing something. Any advice?
1990ricky1990 2 years ago
man you are the best !!!! thank u a lot !! keep your great job !!!
tecnocrata20 2 years ago
really goood teaching keep it up !
glenpizu 2 years ago
heya this has been very helpful...but i was just wondering, whats the difference between float/slack!?
thanks!
jaiirose 2 years ago
Float and slack mean exactly the same thing. You can use either word with no problem. "Lag" is different though. Lag is a delay you build in between tasks (like waiting for paint to dry, or something similar).
SirGanttalot 2 years ago
ah ok thanks!!
sorry my teacher didnt explain that very well lol.
jaiirose 2 years ago
You are the man! Thanks for this, very helpful indeed
lewissteve7 2 years ago
i am doing it at A level in college i got my exam next week so this has been helpful
rajus0 3 years ago
to work out the float you take away the next longest path to work out slack time?
rajus0 3 years ago
That's right. First, work out the Critical Path duration. Then, for the activity you want to know the float of, work out the duration of the longest path that goes through that activity, and subtract it from the duration of the critical path. This even works when an activity itself is on the critical path, bacause then the longest path through it will actually be the critical path, and the subtraction will give you the answer of zero, which is what you would expect.
SirGanttalot 3 years ago
Just in time, to help me with my PMP exam!
Thanks!
Seek284 3 years ago
very useful...thanks a lot, i learnt how to calculate float/slack .
s3lokchand 3 years ago