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6 - PROJECT TIME MANAGEMENT

6.6.1.12 Enterprise Environmental Factors

Described in Section 2.1.5. The enterprise environmental factors include, but are not limited to:

• Standards,
• Communication channels, and

• Scheduling tool to be used in developing the schedule model.

6.6.1.13 organizational Process Assets

Described in Section 2.1.4. The organizational process assets that can influence the Develop Schedule process
include, but are not limited to: scheduling methodology and project calendar(s).

6.6.2 develop Schedule: tools and techniques

6.6.2.1 Schedule network Analysis

Schedule network analysis is a technique that generates the project schedule model. It employs various analytical
techniques, such as critical path method, critical chain method, what-if analysis, and resource optimization
techniques to calculate the early and late start and finish dates for the uncompleted portions of project activities.
Some network paths may have points of path convergence or path divergence that can be identified and used in
schedule compression analysis or other analyses.

6.6.2.2 critical Path Method

The critical path method, which is a method used to estimate the minimum project duration and determine the
amount of scheduling flexibility on the logical network paths within the schedule model. This schedule network
analysis technique calculates the early start, early finish, late start, and late finish dates for all activities without
regard for any resource limitations by performing a forward and backward pass analysis through the schedule
network, as shown in Figure 6-18. In this example the longest path includes activities A, C, and D, and, therefore, the
sequence of A-C-D is the critical path. The critical path is the sequence of activities that represents the longest path
through a project, which determines the shortest possible project duration. The resulting early and late start and
finish dates are not necessarily the project schedule, rather they indicate the time periods within which the activity
could be executed, using the parameters entered in the schedule model for activity durations, logical relationships,
leads, lags, and other known constraints. The critical path method is used to calculate the amount of scheduling
flexibility on the logical network paths within the schedule model.

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