SUMMARY
The object of research is a test network diagram, in relation to which the task of minimizing the objective function qmax/qmin?min is posed, which requires maximizing the uniformity of the workload of personnel when implementing an arbitrary project using network planning. The formulation of the optimization problem, therefore, assumed finding such times of the beginning of the execution of operations, taken as input variables, in order to ensure the minimum value of the ratio of the peak workload of personnel to the minimum workload.The procedure for studying the response surface proposed in the framework of RSM is described in relation to the problem of optimizing network diagrams. A feature of this procedure is the study of the response surface by a combination of two methods – canonical transformation and ridge analysis. This combination of methods for studying the response surface allows to see the difference between optimal solutions in the sense of "extreme" and in the sense of "best". For the considered test network diagram, the results of the canonical transformation showed the position on the response surface of the extrema in the form of maxima, which is unacceptable for the chosen criterion for minimizing the objective function qmax/qmin?min. It is shown that the direction of movement towards the best solutions with respect to minimizing the value of the objective function is determined on the basis of a parametric description of the objective function and the restrictions imposed by the experiment planning area. A procedure for constructing nomograms of optimal solutions is proposed, which allows, after its implementation, to purposefully choose the best solutions based on the real network diagrams of your project