Project management principles and practices

Project Management

What is the difference between free slack and total slack?

Both of these terms refer to the amount of time a task can be delayed. In the case of Free Slack, this is the time that a task can be delayed before the task succeeding it, or following it in a project schedule, will be delayed. Free Slack is very useful to know on a task-by-task basis in for a variety of reasons. The first is that when a resource needs more time to complete a task, knowing Free Slack helps alleviate potential resource conflicts quickly by knowing how much available time is available to complete a given task without impacting the projects' critical path. Free Slack is also used in many automated project management approaches for optimizing project schedules that are at risk of slipping. In summary, Free Slack is a commonly used feature throughout many project management applications including Microsoft Project, which provides for schedule optimizations based on accumulating Free Slack measures.

Total Slack, in contrast, is the measure of time than any given task can be delayed until it impacts the entire project schedule. Often project managers will monitor the differences between Total Slack and Free Slack, both on a task-by-task basis but also across an entire project to ensure the critical path is achievable given time and resource constraints. In projects where there is Free Slack time available on a task-by-task basis, this excess time accumulates up to a positive balance of time for Total Slack time. Total Slack time in a project signals the total amount of time that a project can be delayed and still be accomplished by the project finish date. it's also possible for Total Slack to be shown with a negative number, which represents the time needed to be saved in order for a project to stay on schedule. Resource conflicts, resource constraints, and time constraints in the form of conflicting dates all can lead to a negative Total Slack time. Total Slack time is one of the most critical measures of project management performance is monitored daily by project managers, who work to alleviate potential resource and time conflicts.

Q2. The chance of risk events occurring and their respective costs increasingly change over the project life cycle. What is the significance of this phenomenon to a project manager?

Managing risk throughout a projects' duration is one of the most challenging and complex series of tasks a project manager will need to contend with on a project-by-project basis. As the deadline for a project nears, the costs of risks both from a delay standpoint in addition to a complete re-definition of the project itself become potentially very costly. Given how critical risk management is in managing projects and keeping them on schedule, it is surprising how many it projects specifically don't rely on risk management approaches and strategies to mitigate the potential impact to projects. Risk management, at all phases of a project, is in fact insurance against unforeseen events that could significantly delay or even discontinue the project altogether. In managing the severity of risk over a projects' lifecycle, it is important for project managers to create a plan for first identifying risks, choose which risks are severe enough to respond to, and finally defining a strategy for alleviating them from impacting their projects. Project risk management plans begin with risk management planning, where project managers define a framework for evaluating and responding to risk, followed by risk identification. This step includes defining the potential impact of risks over time to the project. Next, qualitative and quantitative risk assessments are completed, where risks are characterized and analyzed from the standpoint of their impact on the projects' schedule. Quantitative risk assessment defines both probabilities and consequences of risks on the project. Risk response planning and risk monitoring and control are next completed as part of the risk management plan for projects. Clearly from this framework, which in fact becomes a methodology for assessing risk when put into use, quantifies which risks have the greatest potential impact on the project over time. As with any risk assessment, the greatest cost of an interruption to a project is in the final stages of completion, hence the need for creating a risk management plan early in a projects' planning phases.