# Case: the schedule to 1 February > Seventeen tasks, one fixed date. Find the critical path and the float, see that the plan lands a week late, compare cutting, parallel work and an extra reviewer, and write Leo the schedule decision. - Course: [Project Management Without the Bureaucracy: Run One Project from Brief to Closure](https://productovi.com/courses/project-management-without-bureaucracy.md) - Module: Time: dependencies and the critical path - Lesson 12/32, ~38 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/project-management-without-bureaucracy/schedule-to-a-fixed-date-case ## All seventeen tasks **Alex Tutor:** Mid-November. You have turned the approved scope into 17 tasks with durations in working days, owners and what each waits for. Leo asks one question: does 1 February hold? **Alex Tutor:** Day 1 is Monday 2 November. Classes open on Monday 1 February, so all work must end by Friday 29 January: day 65. Holidays aren't taken out in this first version. **Dataset (CSV):** [Physics launch: schedule, November 2026](https://productovi.com/datasets/project-management-without-bureaucracy/schedule-to-a-fixed-date-case/pm-schedule.csv) The approved scope as tasks. Durations are calendar working days (Monday to Friday), not effort: they include waiting, other duties and reviews. Day 1 = Monday 2 November 2026; deadline day 65 = Friday 29 January 2027. Dependencies are finish-to-start. - `id`: Task id - `task`: What is done - `owner`: The one person who answers for the task - `duration_days`: Duration in working days - `depends_on`: Tasks that must finish first - `deliverable`: Deliverable ids from the scope list **Vira:** I own a lot of rows. Most of the writing is done by authors; I review and sign. **Alex Tutor:** Do the forward pass on all 17. Start with the three that need nothing: T01, T05 and T13. > **Exercise:** Forward pass on the whole dataset: on which working day can all the work finish at the earliest? ## The path nobody expected **Leo:** Day 70 is Friday 5 February. A week late. Which part is late? **Sofia:** Not the tutors. The chain is the curriculum, Vira's review, the question bank, the test build, the level report, the pilot, the fixes and the go or no-go check. **Danylo:** So my test is the long pole. Fifteen days of build after eight days of questions after the review. **Alex Tutor:** Last lesson's eight tasks hid it: there the tutor chain looked critical. With the test chain added, the tutors have room to spare. **Vira:** And everything still starts from my review. > **Exercise:** Which of these tasks are on the **critical path**? Select all that apply. ## How much room the rest has **Alex Tutor:** Now the backward pass from day 70. The go or no-go check must start by 68; everything feeding it gets its latest finish from there. **Sofia:** The launch email and ads, T16, can finish as late as 68 but finish at 51 at the earliest. The tutor chain behind it gets the same room. **Alex Tutor:** Shared float, remember: demo lessons, onboarding and the launch email share one margin. **Leo:** Then the obvious move: cut the January ads. That saves 90,000 too. > **Exercise:** What is the **float** of T07, tutor onboarding? In working days. **Alex Tutor:** One more float: Vira's practice sets check. > **Exercise:** What is the **float** of T04, the practice sets sample check? It needs T02 and T03, and it feeds only the go or no-go check. In working days. ## Four options > **What can change** > > Options the owners agreed are possible (durations confirmed with them): > > - **Cut the January ads:** T16 becomes the launch email only, 2 days instead of 5. > - **A second reviewer:** T02 takes 7 days instead of 10 (8 ÷ 2 + 2 + 1, as in the last lesson); about 8,000 UAH, the plan's assumption. > - **Parallel question bank:** a freelance author writes T08 from the draft units, so it starts after T01, not after T02; Vira then checks the bank against the final curriculum in 2 days after her review, and T09 starts after that check. > - **Cut the level report:** T10 is dropped (it is next on the signed drop order); the pilot follows the test build directly. **Sofia:** Cutting the ads changes a task with 17 days of float. The end date stays at 70. **Alex Tutor:** Right: only changes on the critical path move the end. Work out the other three on their own. **Hanna:** The reviewer costs 8,000. After the scope cut we still have 154,550 under the ceiling. **Danylo:** And the level report is mine. I'd rather drop it than see the test pilot squeezed. > **Exercise:** Match each option, taken on its own, with the day the work ends (deadline: day 65). ## Combining moves **Sofia:** Alone, the parallel bank gives day 64, one day of float. Cutting the report gives day 65, zero. Neither is a plan I'd sign. **Alex Tutor:** Neither alone is enough. Try a combination. > **Exercise:** Combine two options: a second reviewer (T02 takes 7 days) **and** the parallel question bank (T08 after T01; Vira's 2-day check after her review and after T08). On which day does the work end? **Alex Tutor:** Then combine. A second reviewer plus the parallel bank ends on day 62, Tuesday 26 January: 3 days of float, full scope, 8,000 UAH. Parallel bank plus cutting the report ends on day 59: 6 days, no extra cost, but no level report. **Vira:** Three days isn't much. An outage during the test pilot could eat it. **Alex Tutor:** Then keep the report cut as a prepared step with a trigger: if the test build isn't finished by an agreed day, the report goes. That's what the drop order is for. **Alex Tutor:** Turn Vira's worry into a rule. > **Exercise:** With the recommended plan (day 62, 3 days of float), Vira worries an outage during the test pilot could eat the margin. What is the best way to keep the level-report cut in reserve? > **Exercise:** The full schedule currently ends on day 70 against a day-65 deadline. Leo says: "Just cut the ads. It saves 90,000 and some days." Answer him in two or three sentences. **Leo:** Write it up: does 1 February hold, what you're changing, what it costs, and what you do if it slips again. I'll answer within two days, as agreed. **Alex Tutor:** Lead with the answer, then the numbers. Leo should be able to decide from the first three lines. **Danylo:** And name the date by which you'd pull the report. I need to know when to stop building it. **Vira:** And tell my reviewer when to start. The briefing day is mine too. > **Exercise:** Write Leo the schedule decision: does 1 February hold, and what you change. > **Key ideas** > > - The full schedule finishes on day 70 (Friday 5 February), 5 working days after the day-65 deadline. > - The critical path runs units → review → question bank → test build → level report → pilot → fixes → go or no-go; the tutor chain has 17 days of float. > - Changes off the critical path (cutting the January ads) save nothing. A second reviewer alone saves 3 days, not enough (day 67). > - Changing the dependency (a parallel question bank) is the strongest single move (day 64); combined with a second reviewer it gives day 62 and 3 days of float, or with the report cut day 59 and 6 days. > - Keep the next cut prepared with a trigger date, and tell the sponsor the answer first. **Alex Tutor:** The schedule has a date you can defend. Next module: how sure are those durations? Estimates in ranges, and one shared buffer. - Previous lesson: [Effort is not duration: when adding people helps](https://productovi.com/courses/project-management-without-bureaucracy/effort-is-not-duration.md) - Next lesson: [Estimating in ranges](https://productovi.com/courses/project-management-without-bureaucracy/estimating-in-ranges.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.