T7/ MS Project - Tutorial: Critical Path Optimization

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In this MS Project tutorial, you will learn how to identify and optimize the critical path of multi-project planning, you will discover tips to easily track complex projects of up to tens of thousands of tasks.

We will focus only on the planning factor. The resource factor will be considered in other trainings.

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First, break down your project into milestones. Add target milestones that represent due dates for completing each milestone.

To change the bar format on the Gantt chart, double-click the milestone or go to the Format tab and click Bars . You can select the target format and choose the red color for the milestone.

To optimize your critical path, we will use two methods. The first method is to visualize the chain of predecessors. To do this, go to the Format tab and select Task Path, then Predecessor . This will allow you to see the path of the predecessors of the selected task. This helps illustrate the path of the predecessors and determine which tasks are critical. In this example, we see that tasks, 8 and 9, are critical.

We have two options: either advance the start date of the task or reduce its duration. By advancing the start date of task 8, we see that the milestone is finishing on time and we are aligned with the target milestone.

The second method is to view critical tasks. In the Format tab, check Critical Task . As we browse through the project, we see that only project 2 is critical because it finishes last.

If you want to see the critical path by project, set a deadline for each milestone. Double-click on the milestone. Go to the advanced menu and set the deadline . We see that the project becomes critical, because we exceed the deadline. By reducing the duration of a critical task, the project becomes non-critical again.

And there you have it. In a few simple steps, you can optimize your project's critical path in Microsoft Project by taking into account the scheduling factor.