A conflict related to an issue may be a deeper problem. It can be personal - a lack of vision/direction of the people involved. This can manifest in the form of a disagreement or dispute when really its all about the people involved not knowing what they really want. Once this is clarified then...

Critical Path & Float help you to control the project better Activites on the critical path are high risk because any slippage here can delay the project Those Activities with Float allow some leeway as delay here will not delay the project