Which task should you actually chase?
Every plan has a chain that sets the date and a majority of tasks that quietly do not. Critical path analysis separates them in one run, which turns "everyone push harder" into "these five tasks decide it".
Words on this sheet
- Predecessors: The tasks that have to finish before this one can start. Put their IDs here, separated by commas, and leave it blank when nothing has to come first.
Operations Starter Critical Path Pro engine
After you install, this is the model to open.
Office Move: What Sets the Date?
- In your spreadsheet, click the Sortia icon in the strip of icons down the right-hand edge. No strip? Click the arrow at the bottom-right to open it. You can also use Extensions, then Sortia, then Open Sortia.
- Click Start from a template and put that name in the search box.
- Pick the card with that name and click Load this template. It arrives on a new tab with real numbers already in it.
This one runs on a Pro engine, and every free install includes five full-quality runs on your own numbers, shared across all five Pro engines rather than five for each. After that, Pro is $199/year.
The answer
The path and the slack:
- Move date
- Day 44
- Critical tasks
- 5 of 6
- Furniture slack
- 11 days
- Driver
- Build-out 20 days
The move lands on day 44, set by the lease, design, build-out, IT and the move itself. Ordering furniture carries 11 days of slack, so pressure on that supplier buys you nothing while the build-out runs late. Run Resource Load on the same table next to check whether the plan is quietly asking one person to be in two places at once.
The model
Six tasks with owners and dependencies. The build-out and the furniture order both follow the design.
| Sign the lease | 5 days |
| Design the fit-out | 10 days, after the lease |
| Order furniture | 15 days, after design |
| Build out the space | 20 days, after design |
| Set up IT | 6 days, after build-out |
| Move and settle in | 3 days |
Once it is in your sheet
- The model arrives with real numbers in it and runs as it stands, so you can press the button first and understand it second.
- Change the numbers to yours. The sheet marks which cells are inputs and which hold formulas, and most labels carry a note explaining the row.
- Press the run button at the bottom of the panel. It is labeled for the tool you are in, and the result lands on its own tab, with a written reading of it beside the figures.
Never used Google Sheets? Start here goes the whole way, in seven steps, and assumes nothing.
Next question
- How much of the schedule is hidden padding?Certification: Buffer the Chain, Not the Tasks
- How few nurses can cover every hour of your unit?How Many Nurses Does Each Shift Need?
- Is this security control worth the budget line?Is This Security Control Worth It?
- What does that broken process actually cost per year?What a Broken Process Costs per Year
- How much should you produce each month?Production & Demand Planner
- Which risks stay red after controls?IT Risk: Still Red After Controls?
Every model like this one, and the method behind them: Schedule risk analysis.