- using a specific tool helps you to clarify your own thinking
and spot any omissions or errors - a graphic enables you to
share your thinking with others in a structured and systematic
way - a common tool means a common language and common
understanding All of this should be part of the basic training
for an EB-HR practitioner (see ‘EBM Lessons’ category) but there
is one tool that is particularly useful at several levels in HR
– Critical Path Analysis (CPA). The critical path is the one
that dictates the minimum time it takes for a process to be
completed. In the illustrative diagram shown, where the times
taken for each step or event are shown above the boxes (say in
days), the red path dictates it will take at least 10 days for
the entire process to be completed (Events 3, 5, 8 and 11 take
3, 1, 3 and 3 days respectively). Most of us automatically think
like this and apply it quite naturally to our daily lives. We
organise our errands by starting with the longest task first
(e.g. taking the car in for a r