Making a Party out of Project Management: Chapter 3 - Figuring Out the Details - Part 4 of 4

               The next day, Abby continued to work on the schedule of setting up the party. Most of the work on this was done, but she needed to make sure everything could get done in time for the party. To do this, Abby would calculate a very important timeline in project management known as the critical path. The critical path is the absolute minimum amount of time required to complete all the work for a project from start to finish, and any delays in the tasks on the critical path will cause a delay in when the project is finished. If you want to finish a project as soon as possible, what are the tasks that all have to happen one right after another with no break in between them?

Making a Party out of Project Management: Chapter 3 - Figuring Out the Details - Part 3 of 4

               With the requirements and scope in mind, Abby was ready to start developing a project schedule for her team to use. Would they be able to fit all the scope they had planned into the time left before the party? If not, Abby would have to identify what would be the easiest thing to cut out of the party, but even that would be a hard task and she really didn’t want to do that. De-scoping a project is never easy, but especially when it would take away from the fun of something like a birthday party.

Making a Party out of Project Management: Chapter 3 - Figuring Out the Details - Part 2 of 4

               The thought of the requirement to get the meat hot enough to be safe to eat stuck out in Abby’s mind as a definite risk to everyone’s safety, and it would really ruin the party if not successfully prevented. That would be a terrible way to remember Nathan’s 10^th birthday. Just the thought of it jolted Abby with a split second of fright.