forProject Encyclopedia

Activity

Activity is another name for a Task, the basic building block of a project schedule.

Backward Pass

The Backward Pass is the Critical Path Method calculation that works backward from the project end date to find the latest each task can start and finish without delaying the project.

Baseline Execution Index (BEI)

The Baseline Execution Index (BEI) is the ratio of tasks actually completed to tasks the baseline schedule says should have been completed by now. It measures how well the project is keeping pace with its plan.

Baseline Schedule

The Baseline Schedule is the approved version of a project schedule. Schedule progress is measured against it.

Constraint

In scheduling, a Constraint is a date limit placed on a task or milestone, such as "start no earlier than" or "finish no later than" a given date.

Contract Milestone

A Contract Milestone is a type of Milestone that marks an event with contractual significance, such as a commitment in the contract to finish certain work by a certain date.

Critical Path

The Critical Path is the sequence of linked tasks that determines the project's finish date. Delay any task on it and the project finishes later.

Critical Path Analysis

Critical Path Analysis is another name for the Critical Path Method (CPM), the scheduling calculation that uses task Durations and logical relationships to work out each task's dates and Float and to find the Critical Path.

Critical Path Length Index (CPLI)

The Critical Path Length Index (CPLI) measures how realistic the project's completion date is, based on the remaining length of the critical path and the total float available to the completion task.

Critical Path Method (CPM)

Critical Path Method (CPM) is the scheduling calculation that turns task durations and their logical relationships into dates — determining when each task can start and finish, how much float each one has, and which sequence of tasks sets the project's finish date.

DCMA 14-Point Assessment

The DCMA 14-Point Assessment is a set of 14 standard checks, developed by the Defense Contract Management Agency, for judging the health and quality of a project's Integrated Master Schedule.

Driving Path

The Driving Path is the sequence of linked tasks that determines the completion date of a specific milestone or task, calculated the same way as the Critical Path but traced back from that milestone rather than from the project finish.

Duration

Duration is the number of work periods — usually working days — that a task spans on its Working Calendar, not counting non-working periods such as weekends and holidays. Duration is not effort: a one-day task might involve one labor hour or a hundred.

Duration Percent Complete

Duration Percent Complete is the percentage of a task's planned Duration that has passed as of the Status Date, calculated as Working Periods (e.g., Days) up through the Status Date divided by total Working Periods in the Duration.

Early Finish Date (EF)

The Early Finish Date is the earliest a task can finish: its Early Start Date advanced by the task's Duration across its Working Calendar.

Early Start Date (ES)

The Early Start Date is the earliest a task can begin, given its predecessor relationships — including their type and any Lead or Lag — and its Working Calendar.

Float

Float (also called Slack) is the amount of time a task can be delayed before it affects other tasks or the project's finish date.

Forecast Schedule

The Forecast Schedule is the working set of schedule values for every task — actual start, actual finish, and progress for work already performed, plus forecast dates and durations for work still remaining — updated each status cycle.

Forward Pass

The Forward Pass is the Critical Path Method calculation that works forward from the project start date (or the status date, once work is underway) to find the earliest each task can start and finish.

Free Float

Free Float (also called Free Slack) is the amount of time a task can be delayed without delaying the early start of its immediately following (successor) tasks.

Hard Constraint

A Hard Constraint is a Constraint that limits how late a task or milestone can start or finish, or imposes a specific date, and so can inhibit the logical flow of the schedule.

Horizontal Schedule Integration

Horizontal Schedule Integration means Work Packages and tasks are logically sequenced and linked to their interdependencies across the same level of the schedule, including hand-offs between different teams.

Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)

The Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) is a detailed, networked schedule containing all the Work Packages, Planning Packages, and lower-level tasks needed to support a project's events, accomplishments, and criteria.

Lag

A Lag is a delay built into a logical relationship, holding the successor task back for a set amount of time after the predecessor condition is met.

Late Finish Date (LF)

The Late Finish Date is the latest a task can finish without delaying the project, given its successor relationships — including their type and any Lead or Lag — and its Working Calendar.

Late Start Date (LS)

The Late Start Date is the latest a task can start without delaying the project: its Late Finish Date less the task's Duration across its Working Calendar.

Lead

A Lead is a planned overlap built into a logical relationship, allowing the successor task to start before the predecessor condition is fully met.

Milestone

A Milestone is a zero-Duration schedule event that marks a point in time, from a major deliverable or phase end to a detail point used to link Tasks in the schedule logic.

Near Critical Path

A Near Critical Path is a chain of tasks that isn't on the Critical Path today but is the most likely to become critical if conditions change.

Negative Float

Negative Float (also called Negative Slack) is Total Float below zero. It means the current schedule can't meet a date it's required to meet.

Network Schedule

A Network Schedule is a schedule format that shows tasks and milestones along with their logical dependencies (predecessors and successors).

Relationship

A Relationship is the logical link between two schedule tasks that establishes the order in which they must occur, such as Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start, Finish-to-Finish, or Start-to-Finish.

Resource

A Resource is any personnel, material, equipment, service, or other cost needed to complete project work.

Schedule

A Schedule is a plan that shows when specified work will be performed to meet project objectives on time.

Schedule Risk Assessment (SRA)

A Schedule Risk Assessment (SRA) is a process that uses statistical or probabilistic techniques to identify and quantify technical, programmatic, and schedule risks affecting a project's schedule.

Schedule Visibility Task (SVT)

A Schedule Visibility Task (SVT) is a task with no resources, shown in the schedule for visibility only, that represents work or waiting that affects the project but isn't part of its Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB).

Simulation

Simulation is a technique that uses random numbers and probability — most commonly Monte Carlo simulation — to test how uncertainty affects a schedule's reliability.

Slack

Slack is another name for Float — the amount of time a task can be delayed before it affects other tasks or the project's finish date.

Soft Constraint

A Soft Constraint is a Constraint that guides when a task or milestone is scheduled, such as how early it can start or finish, without inhibiting the logical flow of the schedule.

Task

A Task, also called an Activity, is a distinct piece of work with a clear start and finish, and the basic building block of a project schedule.

Total Float

Total Float (also called Total Slack) is the amount of time a task can be delayed from its Early Start without delaying the project finish date or any other date the schedule is required to meet.

Vertical Schedule Integration

Vertical Schedule Integration is the practice of tying higher-level summary schedules to lower-level, detailed schedules so that data is consistent across all levels of the project's schedule hierarchy.

Working Calendar

A Working Calendar sets which periods are available for work, such as the working hours in a day, the working days in a week, and holidays or other non-working days.