As you begin to read this blog I need to make it clear that I’m not going to be talking about the success of the famous pop group One Direction, but a useful planning technique crucial to aid the completion of complex engineering projects.
Familiar to many people, I’m sure, the critical path method is a systematic approach which defines goals and plots activities along a timeline with the aim of logging the progress of all project activities and accomplishments. For cross departmental and company wide relationships, it is designed to provide visibility and keep everyone moving in the same one direction.
Certainly speaking from our own experience as a design engineering business, working in the area of the development of new products, the critical path method doesn’t always go to plan, as often unforeseen issues detrimentally impact the timeline, sometimes creating a technical bottleneck. But it's times like this that we fall back on the depths of our experience and technical capability to problem solve and work through any issues for our clients, in a calm and logical manner.
Although sometimes we recognise that we may wish to throw in the towel with frustration, it’s generally not “goodbye yellow brick road” but moving forward on our journey down the yellow brick road, with a positive attitude and the belief that the critical pathway will lead to success for our clients and design partners alike.
