The term critical activity refers to any particular schedule activity that happens to be part of a critical path that takes place within a project schedule. Critical activities are most commonly determined through the implementation and utilization of the of the critical path method (described as part of a separate entry). It is important to consider the usage of the term “critical ” in regards to project management functionality is rarely used in the context that one would find in a standard dictionary. When described typically and in common usage, the term critical can refer to something that is essential, something that is vital, or something of extreme importance. However, the term critical rarely means this in the context of project management. In project management terms, critical (such as critical activity) refers to the primary, such as being on the primary (or critical path), the main path of the life of an activity.

This term is defined in the 3rd and the 4th edition of the PMBOK.

Related Entries:

 

  • Near-Critical Activity The project management term near-critical activity refers specifically to a project work schedule activity that is designated by the project...
    •  
  • Critical Path The term critical path refers to an input/output mechanism that is of fundamental and critical importance to the life of...
    •  
  • Critical Chain Method The phrase critical chain method refers to a specific project management technique in which a schedule network analysis is used...
    •  
  • Critical Path Method (CPM) The term critical path method refers to a specific technique of schedule network analysis that is used to determine the...
    •  
  • Summary Activity, Hammock Activity A project can be broken down into segments with each subproject being used to develop a subnetwork diagram of activities....