"On time" project completion--managing the critical path

Those project owners who demand that their project team follow a tight schedule and complete the work on a specific date are causing their projects to most likely fail in terms of either cost or quality. This article examines how project managers can realistically manage their project's critical path. In doing so, it discusses the natural inclination to meet the originally estimated project deadline and the costs involved in trying to accomplish this feat. It then defines an approach for compressing the critical path and details a process for accomplishing this while minimizing potential project risks, a process that reduces task duration, defines precedence (natural, environmental, preferential) relationships, and builds in contingency. It concludes by outlining six ways that project managers can effectively plan and control schedules.