ABSTRACT
The critical path through the network plan will drive the end date of the project. There are many project and departmental managers who simply attempt to begin all project tasks at the earliest dates predicted by the critical path network. The criticality of each project as a whole can be determined by fixed dates imposed on its start and finish milestones. The computer will calculate where there are too many or too few resources available and reschedule the activities accordingly. Resource levelling is used to optimize the distribution of work among resources. Schedule compression is used to find ways of bringing activities that are behind into alignment with the plan. The bold horizontal line in the histogram in the lower half of the illustration shows the level of resources normally available. Most organizations will be able to provide access to Microsoft Project through their corporate licensing arrangements so this option will often be considered.
