
Sometimes Project identifies only the final task as critical. Again, your critical path will be highlighted. You can also go to the View tab, in the Data group, and click on the Filter icon. Selecting this will highlight the minimal tasks that Project deems must be accomplished to finish the projecct. FIrst, you can go to the Format tab (it’s a contextual tab, meaning it appears only when it’s relevant), look in the Bar Styles group, and find the checkbox for Critical Tasks. There are two ways to ask Project 2010 to show you the critical path. However, asking Project to calculate multiple critical paths shows us several tasks that require some focus. Initially in the project represented in the view below, only the ending task was identified as critical. Once you have listed your tasks and estimated durations or dates, you can then ask Project to identify those tasks deemed critical. Project therefore decides based on your task duration and task slack whether or not a task is critical.

All tasks, after all, are on the path to project completion.

Project 2010Ĭalculation of the critical path is a little more automated in Project 2010. On the next wizard page, select Yes to show link lines between dependent tasks.On the third page of the wizard, select Resources And Dates.On the second page of the wizard, select Critical Path and click Next.On the Welcome To The Gantt Chart Wizard page, click Next to begin.Alternatively, you can choose Format and then Gantt Chart Wizard from the Menu bar. On the Formatting toolbar, locate and click the Gantt Chart Wizard button.To display the critical path on the Gantt Chart, follow these steps: However, in Office Project 2007 the critical path is not displayed by default.Īpplying the Gantt Chart Wizard to display the critical path is a great way for you to see (in color) exactly which tasks are on the critical path and will affect the project finish date. Using the Gantt Chart Wizard, you can apply formatting to visualize which tasks are on the critical path. Knowing when a task is slipping or late or when a project’s end date must be adjusted enables you to make important decisions for your team. You can view the critical path using any Gantt Chart view. Thus far in the project planning process, the most common view has been the Gantt Chart. Any task on the critical path that will affect whether the project finish date is delayed is called a critical task.

As an experienced project manager, you know that the critical path is made up of a series of tasks that must finish on schedule.
