Construction Management: Critical Path Fundamentals & Problems in Thinking & Application

In this video I go over Critical Path fundamentals and look at the advantages and in more depth look at the disadvantages of thinking the critical path is the only fundamental way to manage your construction project successfully. It goes much deeper, and CPM is important but there are other factors that are equally important. This video scratches the surface of things we need to do to improve our industry. I use an example of Kodak, Polaroid, and Apple and cameras to compare to feedback loops in construction management.
If you enjoyed this video, please select the subscribe, and like icons, and check out the many construction, business management, MS Project Professional and project management playlists on my channel. Click notifications to be notified of updates and leave a comment if you have experienced this topic in your work and wish to contribute to the construction community.
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Tom Stephenson is a national award-winning professor (George Brown College, University of Toronto) and best-selling author whose background in education spans nearly three decades. His diverse teaching disciplines include construction project management, business management, human resource management, architecture, carpentry, and brick and stone masonry. As a dual-professional, Tom is called upon by industry leaders to translate knowledge, reinvigorate corporate culture, and inspire innovation in emerging and established companies across Canada. Before breaking into the academic realm, Tom acquired more than a decade of practical project-management experience, operating a mid-sized Toronto-based general contracting firm. He is also the author of the newly released Planning, Scheduling, and Control of Construction Projects with American Technical Publishers and the four best-selling editions of Understanding Construction Drawings for Housing and Small Buildings with Nelson Publishing Canada. Tom most recently received the Toronto Construction Association’s 2020 Chancellor’s Award for “helping his peers become more ethical, knowledgeable and professional.” A champion of change management, Tom takes pride in helping students and businesses navigate uncharted territories, take calculated risks and rise above the status quo. Some of the companies he’s worked with include Mattamy Homes, EllisDon, BIRD Construction, MCA, Maple Reinders, and Tucker HiRise, University of Toronto Project Managers.

[@Ju794]

Hey Tom - Personally, I believe your videos are by far the best construction specific tutorials for MS Project on KZbin, they’re detailed yet don’t dig into all the various aspects of the software that aren’t really used in construction. Also, just an FYI, I shared a link to your channel on Reddit and have received a good amount of Up Votes (likes) for doing so. Hope, more people have been visiting your channel recently. Thanks for all your efforts.

[@TomStephensontraining]

Wow! Thanks Jerry! It is very thoughtful of you to take the time to share a link on Reddit. I’m happy that my videos help you in your learning goals.

[@Ju794]

@@TomStephensontraining I’m what you call a life long learner, to me, even if you’re proficient in something there’s always advancements being made and without staying up on everything you’ll be left behind. I’m also from a family of college professors, my grandfather was the founding director of the school of accounting at the university in my home town and my mother was a tenured professor of accounting also. I’ve really been considering pursuing a Ph.D in construction and teaching, but enjoy being able to get out in the field regularly and feel that would make teaching not as enjoyable.

[@keagan0000]

Thank you Tom!!! Applying for construction management positions with only supervisory experience and this is helping tons! Much appreciated

[@TomStephensontraining]

Excellent Keagan, good luck and keep learning, always learning

[@Sali1investment]

Wonderful as always!! Solid job Mr. Stevenson

[@TomStephensontraining]

Thanks so much Sali! I appreciate that.

[@FC-iw2ju]

Big thanks, we see how you love learning to each other, and it works

[@TomStephensontraining]

Thanks so much I really appreciate you taking the time to leave such a nice comment

[@user-zm2wo1it3x]

Thank you for making these great lectures. Hope to be a specialist at CM one day.

[@TomStephensontraining]

Wonderful, it can be a great career

[@oscargarciachamale]

Hi Tom, thanks for the content. I'm currently studying Technical project Management and have learned in construction many times LBMS is used instead of the Gantt for construction projects. Can you clarify, when one should be used over the other or how they complement each other. I work in the software/tech industry and would like to know how use/complement both project management concepts.

[@TomStephensontraining]

Hi Oscar, difficult to explain in a few sentences i will try to do a video on it though. LBMS or takt offer alot of time savings especially when there is a lot of repetition such as a multistory tower. It does however require strong commitments from the parties involved to be successful.

[@oscargarciachamale]

@@TomStephensontraining Thanks for the insight Tom.