From the course: Project Management Foundations: Schedules

Fast-track to shorten a schedule - Microsoft Project Tutorial

From the course: Project Management Foundations: Schedules

Fast-track to shorten a schedule

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- Remember those activities you link together, so one starts after the previous one finishes? Once a project is underway, you can shorten the schedule by bending the rules a little for those dependencies. It's called fast-tracking, because you're pushing activities to occur faster than they normally would. The concept behind fast-tracking is simple. Overlap activities that normally would run in sequence, so the second one starts before the first one is finished. When you do this, though, you have to watch the predecessor for delays. If its finish day delays, you'll have to delay the second activity too. Because the goal is shortening the project schedule, candidates for fast-tracking are activities on the critical path. That's because shortening the critical path shortens the entire schedule. In this example, suppose the production editor doesn't start working on layout until the manuscript is done. To shorten the schedule, the production editor could start laying out the chapters as the writers complete them. With fast-tracking, these activities take nine weeks instead of 12. If they're on the critical path, the project finishes three weeks earlier. The disadvantage to fast-tracking is it adds some risk to the project. In our example, there's a risk that manuscript changes might require rework on the layout. To make the most of fast-tracking, choose activities that present the least amount of risk. For example, fast-tracking production work is less risky than fast-tracking the initial writing. Fast-track one pair of activities at a time. That's because the overlaps you add can change which activities are on the critical path. If you need to fast-track more, choose additional activities on the updated critical path. Fast-tracking shortens the schedule by the length of the overlaps between activities on the critical path. The secret to success is choosing the least risky activities to fast-track.

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