Summary

We started this chapter with an understanding of CPM, which is the scheduling methodology of choice used in Project. Knowledge of slack, critical tasks, and the critical path allows the project manager to create and manage a truly flexible schedule. We also briefly touched on standard schedule compression techniques, such as project fast tracking and crashing. You are advised to learn more about these techniques and practice them. Finally, we concluded this chapter with two advanced algorithmic overallocation resolution techniques, always keeping the critical path in perspective.

In the next chapter, we will explore a wide assortment of built-in dynamic reports that are shipped with Project. These reports are graphical, and you will not need any third-party software to generate them. All the hard work you put into creating and managing the project schedule will come to fruition in the next chapter, with beautiful and impressive reports!