Featured Article: Microsoft Project Critical Path 101
Video Tutorial: How to Use the Relationship Diagram View in Microsoft Project
Live Event (5/13): A New Look at Network Diagrams
PM Best Practice: Don't rely on a single schedule view
Tuesday Brief: Most project managers spend their days inside the Gantt view, but the dependency logic underneath that timeline is where schedule risk actually lives. This week we look at three practical ways to surface that logic in tools you already use, plus a live session on Wednesday that previews what comes next for schedule visualization.
New Article:A New Look at Network Diagrams
Network diagrams trace back to the late 1950s, when PERT and CPM were developed to manage projects too complex for bar charts. Eric Christoph walks through how that legacy still shapes the way modern tools like Microsoft Project handle schedule logic, and previews what newer Activity-on-Edge models can do that traditional Activity-on-Node tools cannot.
Featured Article: Microsoft Project Critical Path 101
Knowing where your critical path is matters, but actually getting Microsoft Project to display it correctly is another matter. This step-by-step walkthrough by Jeffrey Thompson covers the foundational settings, dependencies, and constraints that determine whether your critical path calculation is reliable. A useful refresher whether you're new to MS Project or troubleshooting a schedule that isn't behaving the way you'd expect.
Video Tutorial: How to Use the Relationship Diagram View in Microsoft Project
The Relationship Diagram is one of the more overlooked views in MS Project, and Dale Howard explains why it's most useful when paired with the Gantt or Task Usage view rather than used on its own. A quick tutorial on a feature that can save real time when you're trying to untangle a single task's predecessors and successors.
Eric and Jeff Christoph are presenting live this Wednesday on the evolution of schedule visualization. The session starts with a practical walkthrough of what MS Project's Network Diagram view can and can't do, then introduces Activity-on-Edge modeling and shows how it supports native hammock tasks, event-based dependency ties, and a smarter approach to building complex schedule logic.
What You'll Learn:
How PERT and CPM evolved into today's Activity-on-Node scheduling tools, and why that legacy still shapes how schedules get built
The structural differences between Activity-on-Node and Activity-on-Edge models, and how each handles tasks, dependencies, and events
When Activity-on-Edge modeling delivers real advantages through native hammock tasks and event-based dependency ties
📅 Wednesday, May 13, 2026 🕛 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET 📍 Live on Zoom 🏅 1 PDU (0.5 Ways of Working, 0.5 Business Acumen)
MPUG hosts live events with leading experts on Wednesdays from 12:00pm - 1:00pm ET! MPUG members get access to live events where you get direct access to industry leaders, actionable insights, hands-on training, and opportunities to earn PDUs.
PM Best Practice: Don't rely on a single schedule view.
The Gantt chart, network diagram, and relationship diagram each reveal something different about your schedule logic. The Gantt shows you timeline and progress at a glance. The network diagram exposes dependency structure and your critical path. The relationship diagram zooms in on a single task's predecessors and successors. When you're troubleshooting a slipping milestone or validating a complex dependency chain, switching between views often surfaces issues that any one view alone would hide.
