Another key element to project management is having a critical path, which is essentially a project plan stripped of everything that’s not needed to make a minimum viable product (project). The critical path framework is helpful to think about because it eliminates the ‘nice to haves, that don’t really have deadlines’ and focuses on what needs to happen by when.
Especially important to the critical path is contingencies. Critical paths are helpful for establishing which workstreams can happen concurrently, meaning that you can see which lead times need to happen, versus what is merely convenient. This means that if something is going wrong, you can address which part of the iron triangle you need to adjust. Do you need more budget, scope, or schedule? Seeing a schedule can help you determine where would make sense to adjust.
For instance, seeing a long workstream, the immediate question is whether having more budget to finish tasks faster will help. Paying overtime to get something done might fix the underlying issue affecting schedule. Adjusting scope might improve schedule. Understanding your primary goal allows you to adapt and adjust.
The critical path also allows you to understand how much slack your project has, such as when people aren’t especially efficient, or some unforeseen obstacle stands in your way. Knowing that the MVP takes 3 months, but you have 4 months scheduled means you can act around certain problems.
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