Determine Total Float & Free Float (AKA "Slack") of activities in a network diagram

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Project Management Tutorial: Determine Total Float & Free Float (AKA "Slack") of activities in a network diagram.
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[@Nice_nightmare]

Thank you so much! im taking project management as an online course and besides the book, nothing else can explain this to me. This along with the other videos were extremely clear, easy to follow, and all around helpful for me to understand. I have to do this kind of problem for my final and i was sure i was going to fail until I watched these videos!

[@thereisnospoon9059]

Missed my lecture, could spend 1h going through lecture notes or watch your 7:13 video, thanks for saving me time it was very concise and well explained.

[@Engineer4Free]

+There is no spoon (Ze Engineer) Thanks for the compliment! You can find the rest of the PM tutorials I made here: www.engineer4free.com/project-management good luck in your class!

[@antonvz19]

Attending a very expensive PM course, but hardly any one of the lecturers can compare to your simplistic way of teaching. Thank you very much!!

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks for the feedback, means a lot. Plz share my vids with some peers if it might help them out!

[@vallekinloch7421]

aja.. you fell for the course as well, haha.. me too. Did the course.. wasn't what I expected.. but it at least offered a good study guide.. anyways, this video rocks :)

[@zaradavidsonnotasinglestor3874]

8 years later, still very much useful. Thank you.

[@tripletalcantara6531]

RECOMMENDED THIS TO MY LECTURER AND HE WAS SHOOK!!!!!! CONGRATS FOR THIS.

[@Engineer4Free]

hahaha, you should send them the full course: engineer4free.com/project-management 😜

[@andualembuyeberhanu3881]

I was having trouble with this course, but after watching the videos I understand it so much better. Thank you so much. YOU ARE AWESOME!🙏🙏🙏

[@tpc8277]

Wow. Thank you soooo much. I was having a hard time understanding and calculating floats while studying for my CAPM exam. Now I can confidently say that I'm ready for any schedule questions!

[@kamaleshvasudeva1396]

You are my online Guru for network diagram.Thanks a lot for very simple explanations.

[@prathamIsOp]

Thank you so much sir, i spent 2 hours trying to figure out how to find out Free Float and Total float , i was many YT videos but none of them were explaining using this BOX Diagram method...Finally found your lectore...tysm, you are a life saver

[@saniisahabba4023]

Thanks very much for this explanation i got it really especially the FF calculation

[@haribabujikh]

Awesome explanation. Nobody else have explained this better. It helps a lot. Thanks a ton..

[@brownieb661]

Thank you very much for your videos. I went through all the videos that I could find about this topic and presented by you. I have a firm understanding on this topic now. Again, thanks.

[@Engineer4Free]

Awesome thanks for letting me know, I'm really glad to hear it :)

[@chuajingyu4324]

Great explanation, and it helps me prepare for my test tomorrow!!! Thumbs up!!!!

[@maksympt1]

Thanks man! I have a midterm in 2 days and my teacher couldn't explain it like you did in this video.

[@mariethsiku1076]

I was having trouble with my assignment, but after watching the videos I understand it so much better. Thank you so much. YOU ARE AWESOME!

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks for letting me know! Glad I can help 🙂

[@byaruice1]

in times of an urgent assignent due in 2 days, yo ur video saved me 3hours of repeating a lecture. god bless you.

[@manologodino941]

Thank you very much for this very clear explanation!! One small question, what happen when you have Start to start or finish to finish linked tasks (even including lead/lag), how to calculate the free float? Using the expression on the video obviously fall into negative values which makes no sense as per the concept of float, but I guess in that case the calculation expression mustchange right?

[@jenniferokeke4186]

Really really grateful... I completed my project plan with this lecture.

[@andaroomca]

helped a lot, much more clear and easier to understand than what my uni taught me, thanks!

[@Engineer4Free]

Glad it helped! Thanks for commenting!

[@jayschroniclesinc7827]

I wrote nothing on my Continuous Assessment Test today since I missed the class and had no notes..... But as we talk am now a master in Network Diagram even in dreams I can work it out without a Fail... Thanks ... In our local dialect we say Thengió Munó

[@bonyimakaveli633]

I knew I would find a Kenyan here💪🏿

[@MrRickykissel]

Thanks man! Im prepping for the civil PE and this is great stuff!

[@Engineer4Free]

Hey you're welcome Richard! Glad you're finding my videos helpful for the PE, hope it goes well! =)

[@hajiomer8236]

Cordially appreciate and thanks to Ian Hayes for making the calculation simple

[@tebogoprince6077]

i ddnt understand these things in class but now am familiar with them. thank u very much sir!

[@Engineer4Free]

I'm really happy that I can help you out, make sure you check out all my free PM videos at engineer4free.com/project-management if you haven't already :)

[@srilankamoscow]

astoundingly simple!! and Clarity of different level!!! Hats offf!!

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks sramkumar!! =)

[@gtravelpathways]

Thanks for exampling free float. My textbooks did a horrible job.

[@Engineer4Free]

Glad it helped! =)

[@rushabhbansode7056]

It really helped a lot, A big thank you!

[@Engineer4Free]

Great, thanks for letting me know!

[@mohammadkhashashneh7506]

best KZbin channel keep it up, 👍,u helped me alot

[@user679jk7]

What a fantastic explanation! Thank you so much!

[@asadullah1336]

Thank you for your informational video, it helped me in my test as i had missed the class of network diagram in my university.

[@Engineer4Free]

Glad I was able to help! If you haven't already, do check out the rest of my PM videos at engineer4free.com/project-management

[@norm5796]

Thank you so much !!! It helps at 2am.

[@nagihanakdeniz6888]

I couldn’t understand this topic in school. But after watched your videos I understood perfectly. Thanks a lot..:)

[@Engineer4Free]

Awesome glad to hear that I can help you out =) =)

[@srahimi3174]

Explained really well -- Thank you

[@adjmalosen6191]

Thank you sir. You're a life saver :)

[@saikrishpotlapalli5732]

can you please make a video on the independent and interfering float. Thank you

[@ababejama7505]

i love your examples thank you teacher

[@spearmethrough]

clear and concise, better than my lecturer, thank you

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks for the comment! =) =)

[@jacqueshollands5630]

Excellent explanation. This really helped me.

[@ReinierRuneScape]

Jesus christ finally a good tutorial. I liked how you actually did subtract ES and duration instead of just substracting EF.

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks! Might as well do it correctly :) Make sure you check out the rest of my PM videos at engineer4free.com/project-management if you haven't already. Cheers!

[@RealGame101]

Thank you. That was really good. Saved hours!

[@Engineer4Free]

+Ricky Brown Awesome glad to hear it! You can find the rest of the PM tutorials I made here: www.engineer4free.com/project-management ^_^

[@ace_cubes]

Great job on explaining the difference between TF and FF

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks!!! =)

[@paulaplantita8458]

Awesome video. But please please can you upload the calculation for free float with lead-lag reltionships. There's literally nothing out there on the web for this. Thank you!

[@leonfreezy8557]

Thanks for making it so concise and easy.

[@Engineer4Free]

Great! Have you checked out the rest of the videos too? engineer4free.com/project-management 👌

[@leonfreezy8557]

@@Engineer4Free I watched 50 percent of your playlist. Wonderful job. I Have a test coming up. Just revising things😆

[@nasrudeenmuhyideen3754]

This is fantastic, I find this helpful. Thanks

[@Engineer4Free]

Glad to hear it!!! =)

[@siyabkhan7873]

thanks wallah really appreciate it you explain it in very simple way

[@loupis1]

Perfect narration. Wish you taught at my school.

[@Engineer4Free]

+loupis1 Thanks for the compliment! You can find the rest of my PM tutorials here: www.engineer4free.com/project-management :)

[@rkd19]

thanks. good explanation !

[@lashinirabindrakumar6954]

very clear explanation. thanxx a lot

[@BasEniac]

Thanks to you I passed my complement exam

[@Engineer4Free]

[@SayantanM7]

thank you so much.. i think i will pass :D

[@ianhayes9101]

You make the computation of free float a bit more complicated than it has to be. Instead of subtracting ES and duration, just subtract EF.

[@TheROWAISHED]

I tried, it might make a mistake , look at the F and E activity in the video

[@mohammedal-mashehdi1271]

@@TheROWAISHED no mistakes FF activity = ES successor - EF activity

[@deep77thakkar]

Mohammed Al-Mashehdi Can you help for the formulae of independent float?

[@fatimajahangir9073]

@@mohammedal-mashehdi1271 Thanks a lot

[@suzanpathan1603]

@@deep77thakkar whats the formula for independent float?

[@poornimavithanage4455]

thanks! good explanation

[@nyklunglei6559]

Very good explanation. Thank you sir.

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks nyk :)

[@juhip1]

excellent video - some videos assume the ES of 1st activity as 1 and keep subtracting 1 from every successor activities ES , you have assumed 0 and are not subs 1 in forward pass . What is the correct method?

[@Engineer4Free]

Neither method is truly more "correct" than the other, they follow the same logic, but are just shifted from each other by one. If you are in school or studying for a certification, then just follow the method that your instructor is using. The reason that I start with zero stems from the way I label and draw my Gantt charts, you can see in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJSynn2Jp72MpbM where the column "0-1" represents day one, so therefore 0 represents the start of day one, and 1 represents the end of day one, but also the start of day two. And so on... Hope that helps, thanks for the question!

[@caveshlin]

Great vid! Quick question. If I have three activities with no predecessors, how do I construct the network? Will it have a 'start' node that bursts into the three activities? Or will I just have three separate activities starting points?

[@Engineer4Free]

For an Acticity on Node diagram like this one, you will not have a single start node that bursts into three. You will have three seperate initial nodes, all with ES=0. Organize them all on the left hand side, one over the other, and then use the logic from the table of dependencies to draw out their successors. When you do the forward pass, set all three initial activities' ES to zero, and count up as usual. When you do the backward pass, at least one MUST have a LS = 0 . The other two may have LS = 0, or an LS greater than zero.

[@dzidzaimangombe]

Well explained, thank you for this

[@Engineer4Free]

You are welcome! =)

[@rmnthbhagat]

extremely useful video . thanks a ton

[@Mrgaryaaron1]

Excellent demonstration.

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks!!! =)

[@pratikvaghasiya1488]

best concept taught in easy way thanks

[@entlekutlapye5343]

Thank you so much. I have passed because of you❤

[@Engineer4Free]

That's amazing!! So glad to hear it ♥️

[@lwazigambushe3402]

Thank you this was very useful 🙏

[@Engineer4Free]

You’re welcome!!! 🙂

[@maheshbathala7951]

Wow, wonder, we can save the time lot, good and perfect explanation

[@Engineer4Free]

Glad you liked it

[@Heiress983]

You just saved my graduation! Thank you!

[@Engineer4Free]

+Heiress983 Wow that's good to hear! Glad I could help! If you need any other tutorials you can find the rest that I made here: www.engineer4free.com/project-management Thanks for sharing your success story :)

[@sitimadihahtaib670]

thank you..very helpful for my study👍

[@OzgenurSahin]

ı am really thankfull for you!!!

[@i.Enigma]

Great :) Thank you so much!

[@Engineer4Free]

You're welcome Enigma!

[@ssdfgghsttuujkk5404]

great work man

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks bru

[@britney1395]

Thank you. I'm studying online during quarantine and my teacher just gives us assignments to do and tell us to study online. 😭😔

[@Engineer4Free]

Ooof, well I got Ur back. See all my PM videos at engineer4free.com/project-management please share with your class if you can! 😊😊

[@kaitlynli7538]

thanks!!! very useful and clear!!

[@Engineer4Free]

+Kaitlyn Lai Thanks for the feedback! You can check out all the PM tutorials I made here: www.engineer4free.com/project-management Good luck!

[@tumulpurwar8812]

hahah..cool ..u really deserve appreciation...nicely explained:)

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks Tumul!

[@ianpatrick23]

Great explanation!

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks Ian! 👍

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u are amazing sir

[@ShehzadAkhtar2010]

Superb bro! Superb...! Thanks a lot...

[@Engineer4Free]

+Shehzad Akhtar ahah thanks for the feedback! You can find all 45 free PM tutorials I made here: www.engineer4free.com/project-management.html Good luck studying!!

[@rikishi555]

Thank you Sir! ☺️

[@Engineer4Free]

You're welcome Rick, thanks for watching!

[@jammuKashmirpoint1974]

Good information ❤

[@cristianaweschenfelder3483]

Thank you!!!!

[@Engineer4Free]

Your welcome :)

[@muslimgirl7716]

Thannnnnkkkkkkkssss 🌸🌸🌸🌸🥺❤❤❤❤ u help me so much in my exam thanksss❤❤❤

[@Engineer4Free]

Most welcome 😊

[@nagarajanvn7655]

very useful. Thank you

[@Engineer4Free]

You're welcome!! =)

[@mister4972]

Life saver is all I have to say................

[@Engineer4Free]

=)

[@user-cp6em7eu4e]

Thank you 💗

[@Engineer4Free]

You're welcome!!!

[@bulaschannel2892]

thanks a lot for sharing. only idiots cant understand. you are a good teacher. I`m having my exams tomorrow. im ready now

[@Engineer4Free]

Hope the exam went well!

[@unfinished6404]

You r amazing! 👍

[@himanshumittal5430]

Plz also make video to find independent float

[@Chrissybabyboo1]

Hi. Do you have a gnatt chart for this network diagram

[@Engineer4Free]

Hey Chrissy, thanks for the comment. I didn't have one sitting around, but you made me realize that I should, so I drew one up and made a place on the website for clarifications like this. You can find the Gantt chart here: engineer4free.com/extras/gantt-chart Cheers :)

[@Chrissybabyboo1]

Thank you. :)

[@nourahahmed9841]

Thanx it really helpful☺

[@Engineer4Free]

Most welcome 😊

[@sondusalshaghdali8314]

Is it ok if my free slack was a negative number?

[@xalokim8454]

Which app do you use to draw these tables? sir

[@Engineer4Free]

The full list of hardware and software that I use to make the videos is here: engineer4free.com/tools

[@donaldradaza3525]

can you make a sample video on how to make an equipment and manpower utilization schedule? thank you

[@Engineer4Free]

Hey thanks for the suggestion. Probably won't get around to it any time soon as I'm working on a different subject, but I'll keep a note of it for the future

[@mohammedtaha3834]

Good explaning thanks

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks Mohammed!! 😁

[@alipirzada2974]

better then my prof...

[@Engineer4Free]

+Ali pirzada Glad to hear its helping!

[@abedose]

this is reality for your info :) really he doesn't make even half of what you do :(

[@THENKINGMr]

hate to say that,but it is a damn fact

[@melissadun207]

thank you very much!

[@Engineer4Free]

You're welcome!

[@stanleymakazhe593]

Hey, what if you have 3 end nodes with different earliest finishs?

[@Engineer4Free]

Take the largest of those 3 early finishes and then use it as the late finish for all 3 terminal activities.

[@juniali123]

how can I watch your other videos, you did put any info

[@Engineer4Free]

+Syed Ali Hey, you can find the rest of my PM videos here: www.engineer4free.com/project-management

[@Jamiewithtoast]

so the critical path is A, B, D, C, E, G, F, H? Or A, B, D, G, H? Surely you would miss completing C, E and F if this is the case?

[@sumindrabarod8]

Thank you 😊

[@CelestaleOfficial]

What is the free float of B, when E have predecessor of C and B.

[@kavitagupta6032]

Hii, video is amazing. Can you pls explain how to calculate independent and interferring float for this diagram.

[@Engineer4Free]

Mmmm, I just have some videos on general float, see numbers 13-15 here: engineer4free.com/project-management

[@kavitagupta6032]

@@Engineer4Free Thankyou

[@vanlillbonnie5750]

why successor's ES is on the same date of predecessor's EF? Should ES date of successor add one day more from EF of predecessor’s? You must wait for previous activity to finish and start ES on next activity. It doesn’t mean scenes when you put them on the same date.

[@Engineer4Free]

It comes from how the giant chart is drawn. Watch this video first: www.engineer4free.com/4/how-to-draw-a-gantt-chart You can see that 0 represents the beginning of the first day, 1 represents the end of the first day AND the beginning of the second day. 2 represents the end of the second day AND the beginning of the third day. 3 represents the end of the third day AND the beginning of the fourth day. And so on. So in that video, Activity A has a duration of two, so it starts at the beginning of the first day (0) and ends at the end of the second day (2), and Activity B then starts on the beginning of the third day, which is also marked by 2. On the network diagram, these come across as the activity’s Early Starts. Hope that helps clarify it for you!

[@zackkhabbazeh9937]

thank you

[@Engineer4Free]

You’re welcome!!

[@SandeepKaur-ft9pq]

thank u so much u saved me.... :-) .

[@Engineer4Free]

+Sandeep Kaur your welcome! Thanks for commenting!