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- The Basic Principles of Project Management
- Top PMP Exam Questions and Answers for 2020
- Risk Management Strategies
- Roles and Responsibilities of A Scrum Master
- ROM Estimate Vs Definitive Estimate
- Guidelines for Creating and Maintaining a WBS Dictionary
- How to Become a Certified ScrumMaster?
- Top Professional Skills for 2020
- Fast Tracking Vs Crashing
- PMP Vs PRINCE2 Vs CAPM
- PMP Earned Value Management (EVM) And Formulas
- What is Certified Scrum Professional (CSM)?
- Top Leadership Theories Every Manager Should Know
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- History and evolution of the PMP Certification
- What Is Float In Microsoft Project?
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- What is Scrum Project Management?
- What Is Estimating Activity Duration in Project Management?
- What Are The PMP Terminologies Relating To Cost Knowledge Area?
- What is Project Scope Management processes?
- What Are The Types of Organization In PMP?
- Books to Beat the Scrum Master Certification
- Agile Coach Vs Agile Consultant
- What is the cost of quality in project management?
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- Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) Certification
- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification
- What is schedule Activity in project management?
- Why Do We Need a Project Charter?
- PMP Certification Exam Preparation Mind Map
- Why Quality Professionals Should Use Infographics In Project Management?
- Role of Earned Value Technique in Project Management
- What is Project Quality Management?
- Tools and Techniques to Estimate Project Cost
- What is a Project Charter And Project Scope in Project Management?
- Why Should You Conduct Project Status Meetings with Your Team?
- The 7 R’s of Change Management
- What Are The Categories and sources of risk in your project?
- What Is a Network Diagram in Project Management?
- What are The Types of Contracts In PMP?
- Residual Risk Vs Secondary Risk
- Impact of the stakeholders on the projects
- Effort Vs Duration Vs Elapsed Time
- Agile vs Scrum
- What Is Six Sigma Quality Assurance?
- How to Close a Project?
- What Qualifications Do You Need to be a Project Manager?
- Project Management Vs General Operations Management
- Enterprise Environmental Factors & Organizational Process Assets
- What is a project manager?
- Important Questions for PMP Certification Exam
- How is the PMP Exam changing, in 2015 & 2020?
- How To Renew Your PMP Certification?
- The Importance of Having Project Acceptance Criteria in Your Projects
- Tips for PMP Exam Preparation
- What is requirement traceability matrix RTM in Project Management?
- Poor Performance Appraisal? Here are the tips to turn any negative feedback into positive.
- How to build a successful Career in Agile and Scrum?
- Importance of Tuckman ladder model in HR management
- How To Apply For The PMP® Exam In Easy Steps
- How to Write a Six Sigma Problem Statement
- What is a lessons learned document in PMI?
- Perform Quality Assurance Vs Perform Quality Control
- How to Improve Quality Management Consistently?
- Interactive Vs Push Vs Pull Communication
- what is risk management?
- Key Appraisal Questions to Prepare For
- What are the MSP Certifications?
- What Is A Six Sigma Control Plan?
- How to Create a Project Plan in Excel?
- Agile Prioritization Techniques
- Tips to Help Millennials Climb the Corporate Ladder
- What is an Issue Log?
- Advantages of PMP over MBA
- Top Successful Project Estimation Techniques
- PMP Examination Preparation – ITTO’s
- Employee Training Rewards That Actually Improve Learning
- Lean principles
- What Does It Take to Become a Successful Agile Coach
- Projects VS Programs
- The Role of Six Sigma in Manufacturing
- The Top Formulas to Memorize Before Your PMP Exam
- Roadmap to CSM (Certified Scrum Master) Certification
- What are Some Qualities of a Good Manager and Good Leader?
- How to Handle Project Monitoring and Controlling Processes?
- Top Free Agile Tools For Any Project Manager
- Risk Assessment in Project Management
- The Concept of Zero Defects in Quality Management
- The Importance of Work Packages in Project Scope Management
- How to Get Project Management Experience for PMP Certification
- Different Ways to Calculate the Estimate at Completion (EAC)
- What Is a ScrumMaster?
- What is Risk Register?
- Agile Certifications
- Top-down Approach Vs Bottom-up Approach
- Leadership Vs Management
- What is Feasibility Study and Its Importance in Project Management?
- What Is a Project Management Plan?
- The Professional Advantages of the CAPM Certification
- PRINCE2 Vs PMP
- Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Prep and PMBOK® Guide
- What is Project Cycle Management?
- What is Project and Process Metrics?
- PMBOK® Sixth Edition is Here! What Project Managers Should Know?
- CAPM Certification
- Top Project Selection Methods for Project Managers
- Free Float Vs Total Float
- What is Critical Chain Project Management?
- How to Build a Career in Project Management?
- Scrum Master or Product Owner: What Suits You Better?
- Project Documentation and its Importance
- What is Performance Reporting in the Project Management?
- Top Highest Paying Tech Jobs in India

Fast Tracking Vs Crashing
Last updated on 14th Oct 2020, Artciles, Blog, Project Management
Fast-tracking and crashing are techniques without which a project manager can’t survive. I know many of Project managers out there reading this blog will agree with me.
These are schedule compression techniques, and we are not supposed to used commonly. But, these are very common in real life. There are many driving forces which need compressing the schedule. Many times business reasons encourage to use them. Or, sometimes projects managers have pressures from business stakeholders.
So for both practical usages as well as for clearing certification aspirant’s doubts around these techniques, I am penning down this blog. Let’s look into the details of these techniques.
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A schedule compression technique :
When there is a need to compress the schedule first, we look for fast-tracking. We analyze dependencies on the schedule to see if they are mandatory or discretionary. In the case of discretionary, we see how we can play around dependencies. Let’s take an example – Activity 1 and Activity 2 have finish-to-start relationships, and the total duration is ten days. Suppose there is a need to finish these activities in eight days. Here we look for the possibilities to start activity 2 after two days of activity 1. In this way, on day 3, both activities are getting executed in parallel. And, total duration reduced from 10 days to 8 days.
Here, the critical point is that we cannot start activities in parallel blindly. If there is a schedule dependency, there is a reason behind it. Like, there could be some information flow from predecessor activity to successor activity. We need to see to what extent we can execute activities parallel. Like, on what day, there would be comparatively less risk to start activities parallel? And are we ready to accept those risks? What could be the risk response strategies in case of risk occurs by running activities parallel?
We can do Fast tracking to some limits after which if continued –
It may only add risk and rework and not schedule compression. Like, you have to wait for concrete to settle before the start of painting your house.
And yes, in case of mandatory dependencies, there is no scope to use fast-tracking. Also, we apply this technique on the activities of critical path; we may end up owning risk without any tangible output of it
Based on PMBOK® Guide Sixth Edition Crashing :
This is a technique used to shorten the schedule duration for the least incremental cost by adding resources.We see possibilities of the crash the schedule in case if we see a high risk of running activities in parallel. Since in this technique, we use additional resources to finish work early,-
We do a cost-benefit analysis to explore the least additional cost and maximum compression.
Also, additional resources doesn’t only mean additional number of heads but it can be any of below
- Approving overtime
- Paying extra
- Adding more resources
This option is always explored after exploring fast-tracking. The reason is obvious, it incurs an additional cost. Also, we apply it on activities of critical path activities. Else, we may end up owning risk without any tangible output of it.
Here the important point is that we can crash the schedule to some limits, after which if continued –
It may only consume money without schedule compression. Ultimately you can’t deliver a baby in one month if resources increased from 1 to 9. Increasing resources introduce further communication and collaboration efforts, which impacts the schedule for sure.
Difference between Fast tracking and Crashing :
Sno | Fast Tracking | Crashing |
1 | Activities or phases are performed in parallel to compress the schedule | More resources are added to the activities or phases to compress the schedule |
2 | Increases rework and risk | Increases cost and can result in increased risk/cost too |
3 | Works only when activities/phases can be overlapped to shorten the project duration | Works only for activities where additional resources will shorten the activity’s duration |
4 | Always tried first | Always tried when fast tracking hasn’t given required compression in schedule |
5 | Applied on critical path activities. If not it will only add to float | Applied on critical path activities. If not it will only add to float |
Frequently asked questions :
1. What is fast tracking? Is it same as lead?
Ans:
Fast tracking is schedule compression technique. Here, we execute activities in parallel to shorten the schedule duration. Lead is a type of dependency which helps in doing this schedule compression.
Though when we put lead as part of schedule compression, it has risk associated (Rework). But we can’t avoid project challenges –
E.g., starting development when one part of the design is ready (earlier planned to start development at the end of full design)
2. What is crashing? Is it same as fast tracking?
Ans:
In crashing schedule compression technique additional resources are added to bring the desired timelines. No, it is not the same as fast-tracking. In fast-tracking, we play around discretionary dependencies to compress the schedule.
3. What is the Difference between Fast tracking and Crashing?
Ans:
Refer above table for comparison of both
4. Which technique is better?
Ans:
Depends on needs. If you can manage enough with fast-tracking that’s the best. Because fast-tracking doesn’t involve an additional cost. However, crashing helps in bringing timelines in considerably in some scenarios. E.g., construction projects, more workers can build the wall earlier.
5. Why we apply schedule compression on Critical path activities?
Ans:
What comprises project length? It’s the critical path. If we apply compression on activities, not on the critical path, we are just increasing the float. Schedule compression is not as easy as it appears. Sometimes while doing compression you may end up getting more than one critical paths which will make project riskier. There is always a lot of analysis at the background to do schedule vs. cost trade-off to achieve an optimized schedule after compression.