> I know it is picky but, if a task "needs to be done" then it is on the critical path. You are wrong. Critical path is the longest path from start to end of

> I know it is picky but, if a task "needs to be done" then it is on the critical path. You are wrong. Critical path is the longest path from start to end of the project. It dictates the length of the project. The idea is that if any of these tasks takes longer, entire project takes longer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_path_method https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_path_method Has nothing to do with whether the task is important in itself. But the task on critical path is important from the point of view that it has power to affect entire project. You can still have tasks that need to be done that are not on critical path. This usually means the task can be done in parallel of some other critical task and you have more time available to complete it than the time slot where you can work on it. Imagine you are manager with only two employees. One employee can only write code, the other can only write documentation. Your project requires delivering to the client completed application with documentation. It takes 1 month to complete development and it takes 1 week to complete documentation. Moreover both employees can start immediately because they both know what needs to be done. Which is critical path? If the documentation task slips by one day, the project will not take more time. On the other hand if development slips it will. From that point of view, development is on a critical path. It does not matter which task is more important. If you had bright coder that took one week for development and slow writer that took a month to prepare fantastic documentation, the situation would revers and now it would be documentation that is on the critical path and where you will focus as a project manager to deliver it on time.