The Basics of Critical Delay
Module 2 of the “Managing a Critical Delay” course, part of the “Project & Operations Management” collection
How to react when a project seriously derails? What to do when a critical milestone cannot be met?
This essential module provides concrete answers to these pressing questions, giving you the methodological fundamentals for identifying, analyzing, and understanding a critical delay. It can be followed independently or integrated into the complete course dedicated to managing crisis situations in a project environment.
Through this module, you will learn to:
• Differentiate between types of delays to adopt the right levers for action
• Explore root causes: analysis techniques and prioritization matrices
• Understand how the critical path (CPM) works and its influence on the overall schedule
• Identify alert thresholds to anticipate a critical delay
• Measure the consequences of a delay on other projects or deliverables (multi-project domino effect)
This module is essential for any project manager wishing to strengthen their management skills in a context of time pressure.
It also provides a strategic reading key, to better communicate with the steering committee, alert appropriately and propose actionable solutions, even in the emergency.