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Crashing

Crashing is a technique that looks at cost and schedule trade-offs. Crashing is typically
implemented by adding more resources to the critical path tasks in order to complete
the project more quickly. Crashing can also be accomplished by requiring mandatory
overtime for those team members working on critical path tasks or by speeding up
delivery times from team members, vendors, and so on.

One common misconception about adding resources is that if you double
the resources, you can cut the duration in half. In other words, if two people can
finish the work in four weeks, then four people must be able to finish in two weeks.
This isn’t always the case. Typically, the original resources assigned to the task are
less productive when you add new resources because they’re busy helping the new
resources come up to speed on the work. Or, you may have so many resources
working on the project that they are in each other’s way.

Crashing can produce the desired results if used wisely, but you should be aware that

crashing the schedule may increase risks and will impact your budget. Be certain
you’ve examined these impacts to the project when using this technique.

Fast Tracking

Fast tracking is performing multiple tasks in parallel that were previously scheduled to
start sequentially.

Let’s go back to our painting example. Scraping and painting cannot start at the same
time. However, we have two painting tasks. One is painting the walls; the other is
painting the trim. The schedule currently shows the trim starting when the paint
finishes (an FS relationship). We could fast-track these activities and have the trim

start at the same time as the walls. Logistically, the crews will have to start from
different points in the building so they aren’t in each other’s way, but the tasks can be
started in parallel. There is a great deal of risk in fast tracking. If you decide to
compress your project schedule using this method, be sure you get input from the team
members as to what could go wrong. Document all the risks, and present them to your

sponsor and other key stakeholders. Don’t make the mistake of trying to do the project
faster without communicating any of the potential risks or impacts. You need to make
sure that everyone understands the potential consequences and agrees to the schedule
change.

Project-Scheduling Software

Project-scheduling software is a tool that can save you a lot of time. It will

automatically calculate task durations, determine the critical path, and help you
balance resources. It provides you with the ability to display a number of different

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