Scheduling: Critical path, PERT and Gantt

Developed by Frank Almirudis, currently under construction

Title to be changed to: Choosing from Critical path, PERT or Gantt as scheduling method

Abstract

Under the aspect of Complexity in project management, Scheduling is the development and control of a plan which details when and how the products or services defined in a project scope will be delivered.

The resulting plan is known as a project schedule, which can also be used as a tool for management of stakeholders' expectations, means of communication and/or evaluating performance. Project data like planned dates, activities, resources, constraints, dependencies and activity sequence and duration are all inputs to the project schedule, and should be constantly monitored and updated by the project management team. To properly create and use the project schedule with the aforementioned inputs, the team must select the scheduling method that best suits the needs of their project.

Three scheduling methods are covered in this article:

• Critical path method (CPM)
• Program evaluation and review technique (PERT)
• Gantt

The focus of this article is to help the reader:

• Know the definition, theory and purpose behind each scheduling method.
• Understand under what circumstances each method is best applied.
• Decide which scheduling method fits their case best.
• Reference the reader to different sources on how to apply their selected method.
• Understand the limitations of their selected method.

TO TAs: Can you please review the structure set for the article below as well? this is the idea I have in my mind right now, I want to make sure that it makes sense, but also that it is a good way to approach the writing of this article.

Scheduling methods

Here I will explain to detail the definition and concepts behind each scheduling method

Best suitable method for particular cases

Here I will write about indicators that the reader should pay attention to in their particular project, and which of the methods they should choose according to their indicators