View Critical Tasks

The Linarc scheduler is equipped with an advanced critical path calculator that uses 'Retained Logic Method' to automatically and dynamically identify and calculate the critical path within your project schedule. 

The critical tasks are highlighted in both grid and Gantt chart views, providing clear visibility into task dependencies and priority sequences. Additionally, it allows for manual recalculations, enabling users to update the critical path after making schedule adjustments, adding new tasks, or tracking task progress. This flexibility supports a proactive approach to project management, helping teams stay on track and meet deadlines efficiently.

Background: 
The critical tasks in a project schedule decide the completion of the project on time. These tasks must be commenced and completed on the planned dates without fail.
The critical path calculation helps identify the top priority tasks in a project schedule. The path is the branch of the WBS tree, with the chain of interdependent tasks that takes the longest duration. All tasks in a critical path are critical tasks. If any task in the critical path is delayed, the whole project suffers a schedule slip. Other tasks in the WBS can have an allowance of a float or slack, as they do not affect the project's end date. 
In complex projects, there may be more than one critical path in a project schedule.Identifying and completing critical tasks on time is crucial to any construction project management. This allows the project managers to deploy appropriate resources like manpower and equipment, adjust dependencies, adjust start dates of dependent tasks, and more to ensure the on-time completion of critical tasks.The critical path can change from time to time from one sequence of tasks to another for many reasons, for example, work progress, completion or delay in the previously identified critical tasks, schedule baseline changes and more. It is evident that the project manager should closely watch the critical path in the schedule

The critical path calculator also computes the key parameters like the  Early Start (ES), Late Start (LS), Early Finish (EF), Late Finish (LF) and Slack/Float for all the activities in the Schedule.

• View critical tasks in the grid view
• View critical tasks in Gantt view

View critical tasks in the grid view

• Navigate to the schedule interface of the project management console and ensure that you are in the grid view

The identified critical tasks are identified with the icon on their left.

• Click the icon on the top to instantly re-calculate the critical path and update the critical task indicators if you have made any modifications.
• Click theicon to switch the view to other critical path, if the schedule has more than one critical path.

View critical tasks in Gantt view

• Navigate to the schedule interface of the project management console
• Choose 'Gantt View' or 'Grid and Gantt' from the drop-down at the top left
• Alternatively, click 'Gantt' on the left-hand side menu 

The critical tasks are highlighted and shown with a red border. An example is shown below: