Learn schedule-risk management
Plain-English guides to the methods behind CritPath AI — critical chain, Monte Carlo, critical path, Theory of Constraints, and AACE Level 4 risk-driven scheduling.
What is Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM)?
A plain-English guide to Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM): how it differs from the critical path, how project and feeding buffers work, and how to manage with a fever chart.
What is schedule risk analysis (SRA)?
A plain-English guide to schedule risk analysis: why deterministic Gantts mislead, the inputs (three-point estimates, risk register), and the outputs (P50/P80/P90, criticality, contingency).
Monte Carlo schedule risk analysis (and what a P80 date is)
How Monte Carlo schedule risk analysis works: three-point/PERT-Beta durations, risk-event injection, finish-date distributions, and how to read a P50, P80, and P90 date.
What is the Critical Path Method (CPM)?
A plain-English guide to the Critical Path Method (CPM): the forward and backward pass, early/late dates, total vs. free float, near-critical paths, the four dependency types, and lag.
Theory of Constraints in project management
How the Theory of Constraints and Drum-Buffer-Rope work in project management: the five focusing steps, the drum constraint, subordination, buffers, and the link to CCPM.
AACE 132R-23 Level 4 risk-driven scheduling explained
AACE Recommended Practice 132R-23 explained: the four QSRA maturity levels, what fully risk-driven Level 4 requires, and why pharma and federal R&D programs need it.
WSJF and Cost of Delay explained
A plain-English guide to Cost of Delay and Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF): the formula, how it sequences work economically, and how it pairs with Monte Carlo and CPM.
Decision gates in project management
Decision gates in project management — Go/No-Go/Pivot/Defer, where they sit in R&D (TRL gates, IND milestones), and why a gate should re-cascade the schedule.
Fever charts and buffer management in Critical Chain
How a Critical Chain fever chart plots buffer consumption vs. chain completion, what the green/yellow/red zones mean, and how to manage by buffer instead of task dates.
Earned Value Management (EVM) explained
A plain-English guide to Earned Value Management: BAC, PV, EV, AC, SPI, CPI, EAC and ETC — what each metric tells you, where EVM alone falls short, and how to pair it with risk.
What is a three-point estimate?
A plain-English guide to three-point estimates: optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic values, the PERT weighted mean (O+4M+P)/6, the PERT-Beta distribution, and why single-point dates mislead.
Tornado charts and schedule sensitivity analysis
How a tornado chart ranks the tasks and risks driving your finish-date variance, how sensitivity comes from a Monte Carlo run, and how to prioritize response.
Criticality index in Monte Carlo schedule analysis
What the criticality index is, how it differs from the deterministic critical path, why near-critical tasks matter, and how CritPath AI reports it from a Monte Carlo run.
Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR) explained
A plain-English guide to Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR): the drum that sets the pace, the buffer that protects it, and the rope that releases work in sync — and how it underpins CCPM.
Schedule contingency: what it is and how to calculate it
What schedule contingency is, why deterministic plans hide it, and the AACE-aligned way to derive it from a Monte Carlo distribution (P80 minus P50) — with worked examples.