Quick answer
Crashing adds resources to shorten (costs money); fast-tracking overlaps sequential tasks (adds risk) — the two schedule compression levers with different prices.
Crashing
More resources on the critical path — overtime, extra people, faster vendors; compresses by spending.
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Fast-tracking
Overlap what was sequential — parallel the parallelizable; compresses by risking rework.
The trade-offs
Crashing: budget for schedule. Fast-tracking: risk for schedule — different currencies.
The rule
Compress the critical path only — compressing non-critical work buys nothing.
Bottom line
Crashing adds resources to shorten (costs money); fast-tracking overlaps sequential tasks (adds risk) — the two schedule compression levers with different prices.
FAQ
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