The Network Diagram view is also widely known as a PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) Chart, and is most useful for dealing with the relationships between tasks. It does a great job of showing how tasks are linked together, but because it is not timescaled, it does a poor job of showing how tasks lay out across time. For this reason, most project managers only use these views for dealing with the logical relationship between the tasks in their projects. These inter-relationships are commonly called networks , hence the name of these views.
Viewing a Network Diagram
Like the Gantt Chart view and most other views, the Network Diagram view can be accessed from either the View menu or the View bar.
In the Network Diagram, each task is a box. The box contains task data such as name, start and finish dates, duration, and so on.
Relationships between tasks are shown as lines connecting two task "boxes." This view shows an indicator defining what kind of link exists between the views.
Did You Know?
You can quickly get to the customization dialogs . If you right-click on an empty space in the Network Diagram view, you have quick access to the Box Styles dialog and the View Layout dialog.
For Your Information
Network Diagram as Error Check View
The Network Diagram view is the best way to work out errors in the logic you use to link your project tasks together. Although you might spend most of your time in Project in a Gantt Chart view, network diagrams give a better visual representation of the often complex network of task relationships that can exist in even a fairly simple project. This is especially important when you are working on a complicated project ”do not overlook these views.