Schedule Compression

Schedule compression techniques are applied when the project schedule needs to be shortened to meet a required deadline or to recover from schedule slippage. The key constraint is that the project scope cannot be reduced. The two primary schedule compression techniques are crashing and fast tracking.

Crashing involves adding resources to critical path activities to reduce their duration. This typically increases project cost because additional resources (overtime, additional staff, expedited materials) must be funded. Crashing is most effective when applied to critical path activities where additional resources can actually reduce the duration, and it is most efficient when the cost increase is minimal relative to the time saved.

Fast tracking involves performing activities in parallel that would normally be done sequentially. This is accomplished by overlapping activities or removing discretionary dependencies. Fast tracking does not necessarily increase cost, but it increases risk because activities are being performed concurrently with incomplete information from predecessors. Both techniques are applied to critical path activities because shortening non-critical path activities will not reduce the project duration.