Critical Chain Method in Project Management is an important aspect to manage Project schedules based on Resource constraints and optimization.
3 steps to understand Critical Chain Method in Project Management
Step 1. Many a times, in order to suppress the ambiguity on projects and overcome the uncertainty, Project reserves are used. This is simply sometimes an extra timeline after the anticipated Ideal Project Completion.
Critical Path of Project with Project reserve makes the project more realistic towards end result.
Start-A-B-C-End is the Critical Path.
Start-G-H-B-C-End is alternate path.
Start-X-Y-B-C-End is alternate path.
Step 2. Critical Path of Project with Project Buffer makes the project more realistic towards end result.
In addition, all alternate paths collision to critical path activities need to be added reserve to stop derailment of critical path activities. This will protect the Project timeline by not cascading on each individual critical path activity.
Each feeding reserve size must account for uncertainty/ambiguity in the duration of the chain of dependent activities leading up to that Feeding Reserve.
Step 3. Application of resources over multiple activities on the project alters the critical path of the project. This optimized resource constrained critical path is known as Critical Chain.
Look at task H & Y to be performed by the same resource Person 1 after task A. This would mean that automatically the project critical path which was earlier:
Start-A-B-C-End this has now altered to become Start-A-H-Y-B-C-End
As new Critical Chain path emerges, this is the most practical critical path for Clients & Customers.