Critical Path
TL;DR
Critical path in Wrike helps you identify the tasks that have the biggest impact on your project finish date. In Gantt Chart view, Wrike highlights these tasks so you can quickly see which delays could push your project off schedule. In the New Gantt Chart, you can also check Total float and Free float to understand how much flexibility each task has.
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Availability: Legacy Business, Legacy Enterprise.; Unavailability: Legacy Free, Legacy Professional.; |
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Availability: Business, Pinnacle, Apex. ; Unavailability: Free, Team; |
Critical paths are available to all users (except Collaborators, Contributors, and Viewers) on Business, Legacy Enterprise, Pinnacle and Apex accounts.
Critical path helps you see which tasks directly affect your project’s finish date. If a task on the critical path is delayed, your project due date may also be delayed.
In the Gantt chart, tasks on the critical path are highlighted so you can quickly spot the work that has the biggest impact on your timeline.
Note
A task on the critical path isn’t necessarily overdue. It simply means that any delay to that task can delay the whole project.
You can use critical paths to:
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Focus on the tasks that have the biggest impact on project completion.
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See which tasks can be delayed without affecting the project due date.
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Spot tasks that are already behind schedule.
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Make better planning decisions during project reviews.
Critical paths highlight:
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The latest scheduled task in a folder, project, or space.
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If the latest scheduled task is linked to other tasks via dependencies, then any task where even a one-day delay would push out the final task’s end date is also highlighted in red.
Critical path highlights:
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The latest scheduled task in a folder, project, or space.
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Any dependent task where even a one-day delay would push out the final task’s end date.
A task on the critical path is not always overdue. It means that if the task is delayed, the project completion date will also be delayed.
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Navigate to the selected folder, project, or space and switch to Gantt Chart view 1.
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Click the three-dot menu button 2 on the toolbar.
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Click on the Critical path 3 from the drop-down menu that appears.
After you enable it, any task where a delay would push out the project deadline is highlighted in red.
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Navigate to the selected folder, project, or space and switch to Gantt Chart view 1.
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Click the Try new Gantt Chart button 2 in the upper-right corner of the workspace.
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Click the three-dot menu 3 in the toolbar.
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Click on the Critical path 4 from the drop-down menu.
When enabled, the chart highlights the tasks that drive the project finish date. Non-critical tasks may appear grayed out.
In the New Gantt chart, critical path gives you more context about why a task is critical and how much schedule flexibility it has.
Total float
Total Float shows how long a task can be delayed without delaying the overall project finish date.
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Total Float = 0: The task is critical.
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Total Float > 0: The task has flexibility.
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Total Float < 0: The task is already behind schedule, and the project finish date cannot be met as planned.
You can use the Total Float column in the Gantt table to understand how much room each task has.
Free float
Free Float shows how long a task can be delayed without delaying any of its immediate successor tasks.
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Free Float = 0: The task is tightly constrained.
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Free Float > 0: The task has some flexibility.
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Free Float < 0: The task is already delaying successor tasks.
Click Fields 1 in the toolbar, and turn on the toggles 2 for Total float and Free float to show these columns in the table.
You can also hover over a task in the timeline portion of the Gantt Chart view to see why it’s critical.
Note
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Critical paths can appear or change as schedules, dependencies, and milestones change.
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A task highlighted on the critical path is not necessarily overdue. It means the task affects the project finish date.