Fast Tracking or Backtracking?

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Friend or Foe: Fast Tracking for Schedule Compression

We've all been there. The customer or the calendar demands a quicker than planned completion to the project. Should you consider fast tracking to compress the schedule? Can you fast track, without backtracking through new costs or delays?

Fast tracking is a simple concept. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)—Third edition (Project Management Institute, 2004) defines fast tracking as a schedule compression technique “where phases that normally would be done in sequence are performed in parallel.” However, the PMBOK® Guide also warns that fast tracking can result in rework and increased risk. While fast tracking trades cost for time, it can actually increase the risk of achieving a shortened schedule.

Let’s look at a practical example: a home improvement project planned for completion in 10 days. If we fast track the project, and simultaneously paint the walls while laying the carpet, it looks like we could finish in five days.

So what’s the risk? By simultaneously painting and laying carpet, there’s a risk of getting paint on the carpet. Backtracking to clean paint from the carpet lengthens the schedule again. This mess and delay would not have occurred if the painting had been finished before carpet laying began.

Despite the…

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