Gantt Chart for the New Product Launch Project – with Critical Path and Slack:
This Gantt Chart provides even more detail. The tasks shown in red must be performed exactly as scheduled or the overall project schedule will be changed. These tasks are on the critical path, and we will learn more about it later in this lesson. The tasks shown in blue can be performed earlier or later without affecting the project schedule. In other words, there is slack or extra time in the schedule for those tasks, as shown by the light blue area. The weeks of slack time for each task off the critical path is indicated to the right of the bar.