PERT

Program Evaluation and Review Technique. A PERT chart depicts the steps in the path to the accomplishment of a goal. The charts used in PERT can depict alternate paths and from these, a critical path can be discerned. This critical path method was used in the 1950s. Important variations on PERT have been developed, including charts with probabilistic estimates of the time to move from one node to another, permitting the chart to be used to estimate a range of times to completion. A PERT chart displays a network of tasks leading to the completion of a project. The "nodes" of the chart display significant events on the road to completion, and the sequence of the tasks involved in their interdependencies. Analysis of the chart leads to identification of the critical path, i.e., the specific sequence of events that controls the timing of the end result.