Develop Project Schedules by Analyzing

Network Diagrams
Project managers develop project schedules by analyzing network diagrams a skill
that may seem overwhelming at first. Knowing how to analyze network diagrams
requires a little patience and understanding the purpose of the two types of analysis
required: the forward pass and the backward pass.

Forward pass: Determines critical paths, noncritical paths, and earliest start and
finish dates
Backward pass: Determines latest start and finish dates and slack times

Analyze network diagrams with the forward pass

Your first step in analyzing your projects network diagram is to start at the beginning
and see how quickly you can complete the activities along each path. This start-to-finish
analysis is called the forward pass.
To help you understand what a forward pass is, you can perform one through the
diagram here. First, consider Activities 1 and 2 on the upper path:

Consider working on either Activity 1 or Activity 3 as soon as the project starts.

The earliest you can start Activity 1 is the moment the project starts (the
beginning of week 1).

The earliest you can finish Activity 1 is the end of week 5 (add Activity 1s
estimated duration of five weeks to its earliest start time, which is the start of the
project).

The earliest you can start Activity 2 is the beginning of week 6 because the arrow
from Activity 1 is the only one leading to Activity 2.

The earliest you can finish Activity 2 is the end of week 6 (add Activity 2s
estimated duration of one week to its earliest start time at the beginning of week 6).

The earliest you can start Activity 3 is the moment the project starts (the
beginning of week 1).

The earliest you can finish Activity 3 is the end of week 1.

The earliest you can start Activity 4 is the beginning of week 2.

The earliest you can finish Activity 4 is the end of week 4.

The earliest you can start Activity 5 is the beginning of week 6.

The earliest you can finish Activity 5 is the end of week 7.

The earliest you can finish Activity 2 is the end of week 6. Therefore, the earliest
you can finish the entire project (and reach the milestone calledEnd) is the end of
week 7.

So far, you have the following information about your project:

The length of the critical path (the shortest time in which you can complete the
project) is seven weeks. Only one critical path takes seven weeks; it includes the
milestone Start, Activity 1, Activity 5, and the milestone End.
Activity 2, Activity 3, and Activity 4 arent on critical paths.

Analyze network diagrams with the backward pass

In case resource conflicts or unexpected delays prevent you from beginning all the
project activities at their earliest possible start times, you want to know how much you
can delay the activities along each path and still finish the project at the earliest possible
date. This finish-to-start analysis is called thebackward pass.
You found out from the forward pass that the earliest date you can reach the
milestone End is the end of week 7. However, you cant reach the milestoneEnd until
youve completed Activities 2 and 5. Therefore, to finish your project by the end of week
7, the latest you can finish Activities 2 and 5 is the end of week 7. Therefore,

You must start Activity 5 by the beginning of week 6 to finish it by the end of week
7 (because Activity 5s estimated duration is two weeks).

According to Rule 2, you cant start Activity 5 until you finish Activities 1 and 4.
So, you must finish Activities 1 and 4 by the end of week 5.

You must start Activity 4 by the beginning of week 3.

You must finish Activity 3 before you can work on Activity 4. Therefore, you must
finish Activity 3 by the end of week 2.

You must start Activity 3 by the beginning of week 2.

You must start Activity 2 by the beginning of week 7.

You cant work on Activity 2 until you finish Activity 1. Therefore, you must finish
Activity 1 by the end of week 6.

You must finish Activity 1 by the end of week 5 to start Activity 5 at the beginning of
week 6. But, to start work on Activity 2 at the beginning of week 7, you must finish
Activity 1 by the end of week 6. So, finishing Activity 1 by the end of week 5 satisfies
both requirements.
To organize the dates you calculate in the forward and backward passes, consider
writing the earliest and latest start dates and the earliest and latest finish dates at the
top of each milestone or activity box in the projects network diagram.

A network diagram with earliest and latest start and finish dates.