You are the program manager for your organization and are working with Tracy, one of the project managers in your program. Tracy is having some trouble understanding the concept of the critical path…

The critical path is not defined by risk level; a path with high risk may have float and not be on the critical path at all.

The critical path is the longest sequence of dependent activities in the project network diagram and has zero total float. Because it is the longest path, it determines the minimum time required to complete the project - meaning it reveals the earliest date the project can finish. Any delay on the critical path directly delays the project end date.

The critical path is determined by duration and dependencies, not by the subjective importance of the activities contained within it.

Summing all project activity durations regardless of dependencies would overstate the project duration; the critical path accounts for parallel paths and sequencing.