Reducing Project Duration Notes

Learning Objectives

  • 9-1: Understand different reasons for crashing a project.
  • 9-2: Identify options for crashing an activity when resources are not constrained.
  • 9-3: Identify options for crashing an activity when resources are constrained.
  • 9-4: Determine the optimum cost-time point in a project network.
  • 9-5: Understand risks associated with compressing or crashing a project.
  • 9-6: Identify options for reducing the costs of a project.

9.1 Rationale for Reducing Project Duration

  • Definition of Crash: The shortening of an activity or a project beyond its normal duration.
  • Reasons for Crashing:
    • Time-to-market pressures: Necessity to launch products rapidly.
    • Unforeseen delays: Unexpected issues delaying project timelines.
    • Incentive contracts: Bonuses given for early completion.
    • Imposed deadlines: Hard deadlines set by contracts.
    • Overhead costs: Reducing costs associated with extended duration.
    • Resource reallocation: Need to move resources to other projects.

9.2 Options for Accelerating Project Completion

When Resources Are Not Constrained:

  • Add resources: Bring in more people or tools to speed up work.
  • Outsource: Delegate project work to external vendors.
  • Schedule overtime: Increase work hours for the team to finish sooner.
  • Establish a core team: Create a focused team to streamline processes.
  • Double track tasks: Work on tasks in parallel, fast and correctly.

When Resources Are Constrained:

  • Improve efficiency: Train and support the project team to be more efficient.
  • Fast tracking: Overlap activities that were originally sequential.
  • Use Critical Chain Management: Adjust schedules based on resource constraint.
  • Reduce scope: Lower the amount of work or features in the project.
  • Compromise quality: Accept lower quality outputs to meet deadlines.

9.3 Project Cost-Duration Graph

  • Graph Overview:
    • Illustrates relationship between time and cost in project management.
    • Direct Costs: Costs directly associated with project activities (labor, materials).
    • Indirect Costs: Costs that vary with the duration of the project (administration, overhead).

9.4 Constructing a Project Cost-Duration Graph

Construction Steps:

  1. Calculate total direct costs for different project durations.
  2. Calculate total indirect costs for these durations.
  3. Sum direct and indirect costs to find total costs for each duration.

9.5 Practical Considerations

  • Graph Usage: Understanding how to interpret and use the cost-duration graph.
  • Linearity Assumption: Assumes a linear relationship between cost and time.
  • Activity Selection: Choosing which activities to crash for optimal results.
  • Sensitivity: Evaluating how changes impact the outcomes.

9.6 What If Cost, Not Time, Is the Issue?

  • Options for reducing costs include:
    • Reduce project scope: Decrease the scale of the project.
    • Owner involvement: Entrust more responsibilities to the project owner.
    • Outsourcing: Use external resources for tasks.
    • Brainstorming: Develop various strategies to save costs.

Key Terms

  • Crash: The act of shortening the duration of project activities.
  • Crash Point: The stage at which an activity is compressed.
  • Crash Time: The minimum time to complete a project activity under optimal conditions.
  • Direct Costs: Expenses directly tied to project tasks.
  • Fast Tracking: Performing tasks concurrently rather than sequentially.
  • Indirect Costs: Expenses not directly linked to specific project tasks.
  • Project Cost-Duration Graph: A visual tool used to analyze the costs associated with changes in project duration.