Project schedule compression refers to techniques used to shorten the overall project schedule without modifications to scope.
There are two ways to compress a schedule.
Crashing
Crashing adds extra resources to the critical path activities to reduce their duration and compress the schedules. Crashing will increase risk and/or costs and will only work when additional resources will shorten duration.
When crashing a project schedule, the project manager must analyze the cost and schedule tradeoffs to determine how to obtain the greatest amount of compression for the least amount of cost.
Here some examples of crashing:
- Expanding work schedules or hours
- Approving overtime
- Adding staff or additional resources
- Replacing team member(s) with a more skilled person
- Paying a vendor to expedite delivery
Fast Tracking
Fast-tracking is a technique where activities that would have been performed sequentially using the original schedule are performed in parallel to shorten the project duration.
Fast tracking only works if the critical path activities can be overlapped to shorten the duration.
Here are some examples of fast tracking:
- Multiple sequential phases or tasks are performed in parallel
- Overlapping tasks
- Introduces complexity and potential coordination and communication challenges
- May result in rework and increased risk
- May reduce focus on individual task quality
Some final thoughts about schedule compression:
- Schedule compression increases the chances of mistakes and rework
- Squeezing the schedule can cause cutting corners that can compromise quality
- Adding resources increases cost
- May increase safety concerns for certain types of projects such as construction
- Intense compression may impact project morale
- Failure to meet certain contractual obligations may have legal consequences such as penalties or damage claims