Here are the main steps to manually create a CPM diagram or critical path chart: 1. Specify each activity that makes up your project’s work breakdown structure. 2. Identify task dependencies to establish activity sequences. 3. Draw a network diagram using boxes to graphically represent your tasks and arrows to indicate dependencies. 4. Estimate the completion time (duration) for each of your tasks and add these values to the corresponding boxes. To view a real example of how CPM diagrams look like, check out our guide on how to identify a project’s critical path. Alternatively, you can use critical path software to generate such visuals.