How to Calculate Slack Time? slack time formula, slack in project management

how to calculate slack


Before going into detail about slack time and the slack time formula, it's important to grasp what the term "slack" means. Slack is a phrase that alludes to sloth in general. For example, you may have heard your teacher refer to tardy kids as slackers.

Slack is also utilized in project management in similar ways, but in a constructive way. Slack time, in this context, refers to completing a project on time.


What Is Slack Time?

The time discrepancy between the required date to complete the critical path and the scheduled completion date is referred to as slack time.

Slack time, in terms of pert and CPM, is the amount of time that can be used to delay the completion of a task without delaying the completion of other tasks or the project's overall deadline.

"Float" is another name for "Slack" that we use interchangeably. Don't get them mixed up; in project management, "slack" and "float" are the same thing.

You've probably come across the term "slack." You may have even heard someone refer to another person as a slacker. What exactly does that imply to you? Being lazy is generally associated with the term slacking. You are not putting out your best effort if you are slacking in school.

Slack time at work, on the other hand, carries a similar connotation. Working slack time is linked to completing a project on time. It's defined as the period of time that project-related tasks can be postponed without affecting the project's overall completion. This may appear strange; it may even appear to be laziness. However, in the corporate sector, things are a little different.


What is slack time example?

To calculate slack, subtract the time you've set aside to perform a task from the time it actually takes to finish the work. For example, if you give yourself 10 days to accomplish a task but it only takes you 6 hours, your slack is 4 days.


Slack Time Formula

The project coordinator will use a formula to calculate the slack time for each task at each stage of the project during the planning phase. It's a straightforward formula that you'll remember:

Slack time = Latest start time - Earliest start time


PERT Charts and Slack Time

Despite the fact that PERT charts aren't the focus of this essay, let's take a look at pert charts for slack time. PERT charts, on the other hand, will be the subject of a separate article. Keep coming back to Businesstudynotes.

When it comes to PERT charts, we may establish a PERT network by using an activity card for each activity. Each activity card must include all of the activity's details, including any slack time information.

The following items must be included on the PERT activity card:

  1. Duration: Total time required to finish the activity
  2. Latest Start Time (LST)
  3. Latest Finish Time (LFT)
  4. Earliest Start Time (EST)
  5. Earliest Finish Time (EFT)
  6. Slack Time (ST = LST – EFT)

Note that an activity card's early start time (EST) will be the same as the prior activity's early completion time (EFT). Similarly, the activity's latest start time (LST) will be the preceding activity's latest completion time (LFT).

In this scenario, use the finish time of the prior activity that finishes at the end as the start time of the current activity if an activity has several preceding activities and can only start when the previous activities finish.


How do you calculate slack and free slack?

When comparing early start minus late start, total slack is calculated as the smaller value of the late finish minus the early finish. Total laxity might be a good thing or a bad thing. If total slack is positive, it means the project can be postponed for a longer period of time without having to extend it.


What is slack time in critical path?

Slack event time refers to the time that an event has available in order to stay on schedule. It's calculated by subtracting the earliest and most recent event times. Because there is no extra time available for that event, all events in the critical route will have a slack time of 0.


How do you calculate slack time in Excel?

(LS=LF-Duration) is the formula for computing the Late Start Time. Slack time is derived by subtracting LF from EF. It can also be determined by subtracting LS from ES. The task is on the critical path if the slack is zero.


How to Calculate Slack Time in Project Management

  1. Determine the earliest start time for the project,
  2. Establish the latest start time for the project,
  3. Calculate the difference between the most recent and the most recent start timings,
  4. Determine when your job will be completed as soon as possible,
  5. Set the most recent deadline for the project,
  6. Examine your crucial path as well as your total slack time.

Activity Slack

Within the ESS and LSS, the quantity of slack (or float) associated with each activity is utilized to signify the free time of each activity. It specifies the amount of time each activity can be postponed without jeopardizing the project's overall timeline. The gap between an activity's latest start and earliest start time, or alternately, the difference between its latest and earliest finishing time, is the slack.

Critical activities are those that have no slack and cannot be delayed without hurting the project's overall time. Activities A, B, E, and F make up the crucial route, which is made up of a series of critical activities.


In project management, what is a crucial path?

In project management, the crucial path is the path on the PERT chart when all of the activities have 0% slack time. It indicates that all operations on the critical path must begin and end within the time frame set. Otherwise, the project deadline may be delayed, and the project budget may be increased.

How can you figure out how much slack there is in a crucial path?

Because each task/activity on the crucial path has zero slack, we don't calculate slack on the critical path. It indicates that we cannot, under any circumstances, postpone tasks on the vital path.

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