How do I view an entire Network Diagram in MS project?

By nature, projects consist of tasks. But not every task directly impacts on project duration or accomplishment. Some assignments are critical and any changes in them will influence all other tasks and the whole project. This is where we can speak about the critical path.

From this article, as a part of our MS Project tutorial for beginners, you will learn more about the critical path in Micorosft Project.

• What is the critical path?
• The critical path and Gantt charts.
• The purpose of the critical path.
• How to show critical path in MS Project.

What is the critical path?

The chain of the linked assignments makes the critical path. This is the shortest way to fulfill a project. If something goes wrong with one of them, it will affect the accomplishment date of the entire project. Pay attention that even a single task from a project can make the critical path. Also, note that critical path method in project management is based on this technique.

The critical path and Gantt charts

The most convenient way to view, track, and work with the critical path is to use a Gantt chart maker. It perfectly shows all the assignments that look like bars on a timeline with dates. There is nothing difficult in building it. Most of the software allows enabling the critical path and all the crucial tasks will be highlighted in some other color.

The purpose of the critical path

This efficient tool is able to foresee risks, avoid them in a timely manner, and simply save your plan from project scope creep. With that in mind, do the following:

• Monitor it. Remember that each task in the chain is critical. Once it slips, it can ruin your project.
• Regularly view it. The critical path is not a static chain of tasks. They can change depending on their statuses.
• Have a close look at all other tasks. Note that any chain of assignments can become the critical path if there is a significant slippage inside it.

How to show critical path in MS Project

Let’s figure out how to enable and show the critical path in Microsoft Project, the very popular tool.

To show the critical path in MS Project, in the Gantt chart view, we go to Format, then Critical path.

So, we click View tab → Gantt chart.

Format tab → Critical tasks.

After that, critical assignments will be highlighted in red.

But what if you have a lot of tasks and crucial ones are spread in your project so you need to view only critical ones? The Microsoft product offers solutions. To show the critical path in MS Project in other views, we go to the View button and apply the filter.

View → Filter → Critical.

This option will allow you to see in red only those duties that make the critical path.

This was the way of how to show the critical path in MS Project. However, if you are not a Microsoft Project fan or you find the tool quite difficult to work in, you can go on and choose other tools to enable the critical path in your project. For example, GanttPRO online Gantt chart maker.

How to show the critical path in GanttPRO

In case you find Microsoft Project and the Gantt chart critical path in it complicated, try GanttPRO as one of the best MS Project alternatives.

To enable this feature, you literally need to click twice: Project settings button and the Critical path toggle – that’s it!

In GanttPRO, it’s very simple to work with assignments, teams, and the entire project. Try it for free!

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The number of layout controls available for the network diagram increased significantly starting in Project 2000 over those previously available for the PERT chart that was available in Project 98 and earlier. As Figure 8-23 demonstrates, you can control the layout mode, the box arrangement, the link style and color, and several overall options for the network diagram.

By default, Project automatically positions all boxes on the diagram, but you can choose to manually position the boxes by choosing the Allow manual box positioning option at the top of the Layout box.

Using the Arrangement list box, you can change the order in which Project displays the boxes. Choose from Top Down From Left, Top Down By Day, Top Down By Week, Top Down By Month, Top Down - Critical First, Centered From Left, and Centered From Top. The varying arrangements change the number of pages that are required to print your network diagram.

You also can change the row and column alignment and spacing as well as row height and column width. Using check boxes in the Box Layout section, you can hide or display summary tasks, keep tasks with their summaries, and adjust for page breaks.

You can control the style of the link lines, and you can choose to show arrows and link labels, which, by default, show the type of link dependency that exists between two tasks (Finish-to-Start, Finish-to-Finish, and so on). And, you can select different colors for both critical and noncritical links.

- Cross- For more information on types of links, see Chapter 4.

' Reference

Tip To choose a background color or pattern for individual nodes, use the Format Box or Format Box Styles dialog box; you saw the Format Box Styles dialog box in > Figure 8-19.

For the network diagram as a whole (not the individual nodes) you can choose a background color and pattern. You also can mark in-progress tasks with half an X and completed tasks with an entire X. If you hide all information on the nodes except the ID, Project reduces the size of the nodes on your network diagram and therefore reduces the number of pages that will print. You can also choose to show page breaks, which appear as dotted lines on-screen in the Network Diagram view. In Figure 8-24, I've included link labels and hidden all task information except the ID. A page break appears at the right side of the diagram (not shown in the figure).

Remember, creating too many kinds of formatting with too many variables can make your schedule difficult to read. The advice given previously in this chapter about standardizing these settings across your organization also holds for changes that you make to network diagram layouts.

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