Project Crashing in Project Management: Example, Stages, Tips

When managing a project, even the best-laid plans can encounter unexpected hurdles. In such situations, it's crucial to adapt quickly by either accelerating the timeline or modifying the plan to stay on track. This might mean adjusting the project scope or bringing in additional resources to meet deadlines.
In project management, this approach is known as "crashing." Though it's generally a last resort, project crashing can sometimes be the only way to prevent your project from derailing and ensure timely completion. In this blog, we will help you understand what is project crashing in project management entails, examples, tips, stages and how to execute project crashing smoothly.

What Is Project Crashing in Project Management?

Project crashing involves shortening the expected time taken for a project. This is primarily done by adding more resources to it. You may find diverse ways to add resources to a project depending on what is causing the delay or taking a lot of time. This needs to be done within the constraints of budget and quality and must be approved and supported by important stakeholders. But before we talk about project crashing, we should first define what is Project. A project is a temporary endeavor that has a defined beginning and end and is usually undertaken to achieve a specific goal or objective. Project management training can provide valuable insights into the intricacies of this project crashing.

What Prompts Crashing in Project Management?

• The reason for the need to crash a project need not be about something going wrong with the project itself. Sometimes it is also an external factor that changes the estimated delivery time or brings a need for faster completion.  
• If there is a heavy penalty for failing to meet a project completion deadline, then the increased cost of crashing could be justified to an extent. A bonus for faster completion can also similarly be a reason for crashing a project. 
• If there is an external change where a competitor is working on a similar project, the cost of not speeding up the project would lead to the loss of a competitive edge. 
• In case there is an activity that delays a host of other activities, crashing that activity could bring benefits across the project or if there are new people or an idle workforce available that was not previously anticipated, the Project plan can be changed to use this additional workforce to bring down the time for completion. 
• Sometimes the need for project crashing might depend on another project. If there is a new project that requires the individuals working on the current project to be available, you may need to crash the current project. There cannot be an exhaustive list of reasons for the need to crash a project. There could be any number of project environmental aspects or an external factor that requires the project to be completed at a faster pace. 

An Example of Crashing in Project Management

There are projects happening all around us. Projects frequently run into problems or might need to be reprioritized or sped up due to a range of reasons. One of the prominent examples we saw in this was developing vaccines. As the COVID pandemic was spreading around the world, several companies and countries were working on projects to develop a vaccine. A process that would normally take years was brought down to under a year by doing things differently. 

As the need to develop and deploy a vaccine became critical the funding needed was not an issue. Procedures involved were shortened or fast-tracked to speed up the project. Fast-tracking involves doing activities simultaneously and does not form a part of project crashing.

Caption: The image is an example of how fast-tracking helped in developing the vaccine faster by getting things done simultaneously. In a normal situation, each phase would start only after the completion of the previous phase.

Even though many of the bureaucratic processes and documentation were sped up, there were parts of the project that could not be sped up. Regardless of the money that goes into the project, the time required for testing and waiting to see the effectiveness of the vaccine in the volunteers could not be sped up. This is the crash limit.  

Within a year there were many projects around the world that successfully came out with a viable vaccine with more in the pipeline. This shows how project crashing can work effectively without compromising on quality. 

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Project Crashing in Project Management Stages

When the circumstances where a project crashing becomes evident, then you would need to do a crash analysis to identify what changes need to be made, which activities should be sped up, how they could be sped up, what would be the cost and more such details.

1. Crash Objective

The first stage of the project crashing is understanding the need for it and the objective in terms of what is to be accomplished. If the scope of the project has been reduced, then there may not be a need to add more resources to speed up the project. How to use the workforce or what amount of work can be outsourced etc. can be estimated at this stage. 

2, Critical Path

Each project will have a critical path identified at the beginning. This chain of activities is what needs to be crashed to speed up the project. Crashing an activity outside the critical path does not help in reducing the project time.

3. Identify Activities

Not every activity can be crashed. There may be activities that need very specific skills that are not easily transferable. Hence adding resources to that might prove to be counterproductive. The list of activities that can be crashed and are part of the critical path should be the ones in focus. 

4. Calculate Costs

Crashing involves an increase in cost. This increase in cost will be different for each process. Comparing these costs with each other will help you arrive at a reasonable cost at which some activities can be crashed to sufficiently advance the project completion date. 

5. Find Crash Limits

Each activity will have a crash limit. This is the point beyond which an action cannot be crashed. Understanding this information will give you an idea of how much the project can potentially be crashed.  

6. Choose the Economic Option

Once you have an idea of how much each activity can be crashed and the cost associated with it, it becomes easy to identify how many activities to target and to what extent they need to be crashed to meet the objective at the most reasonable cost. 

7. Get Approval from Sponsors

Once you have identified the most reasonable or most viable crashing plan, then you can convince the key stakeholders of the project and get their approval to implement it.

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Tips for Crashing in Project Management

Here are some straightforward tips I can give from my experience in project management endeavours, but always keep in mind every Project is unique, so apply these tips diligently: 

1. Know Your Critical Path - Understanding the critical path is like knowing the roadmap of your project. It's the sequence of tasks that determine your project's timeline. Identify these tasks because they are the ones you will want to focus on to speed things up. 

2. Prioritize Wisely - Not all tasks are created equal. Some hold more weight in steering the project towards completion. I make sure to prioritize these tasks to get the maximum benefits for my efforts when crashing. 

3. Break Tasks Down - Ever tried eating a whole pizza in one go? Sounds impossible, right? Likewise, breaking down tasks into smaller, manageable bits makes them easier to handle and speeds up the process. 

4. Team Up and Communicate - It's not a one-person show. I gather the team, explain the need to speed up, and ensure everyone knows their part. Good communication keeps us all on the same page. 

5. Smart Resource Allocation - Resources are like ingredients in a recipe. Using them wisely is key. I allocate resources where they're needed the most, especially on those critical tasks, to make sure we're not wasting any. 

6. Time Management Magic - Time is gold! I make a solid plan, setting realistic deadlines for tasks. It's crucial to manage time effectively to avoid last-minute rushes. 

7. Flexibility Is Key - Things might not always go according to plan. Being flexible helps in adapting to unexpected changes without losing sight of the end goal. 

8. Tech Savvy Solutions - In this digital age, technology is a gem. I use tools and software that streamline processes, making crashing a tad bit easier and more efficient. 

9. Keep an Eye on Costs - Money matters, right? I keep a close watch on the budget. Crashing might need extra resources, and I make sure it doesn't burn a hole in the pocket. 

10. Learn and Improve - After the hustle, I take a step back to assess what worked and what didn't. Learning from these experiences helps me fine-tune my crashing strategies for future projects. 

11. Celebrate Milestones - Every win, big or small, deserves a pat on the back. Celebrating milestones keeps the team motivated and the spirits high for doing it again. 

How Project Manager Makes Project Crashing Easier 

As a project manager, it is your responsibility to track how your resources are being allocated and if there is a need for “crashing”. If you are low on schedule, crashing the project efficiently will save you and deliver what is expected on time.

Below are the best strategies that I would suggest you to consider.

1. Track Resource Costs

To track your resource allocation instantly, you can use resource management tools for efficient cost tracking. This includes labor costs, equipment rentals, or other expenses incurred due to the accelerated pace.

You can establish a clear system with categories for different cost types and regularly update it with actual expenses. Generate reports to analyze cost trends, variances, and forecasts, integrating cost tracking seamlessly into overall project management for informed decision-making.

2. Use the Gantt to Schedule Resources & Tasks

You can use the project's Gantt chart to schedule your resources effortlessly. It helps you identify the key tasks that affect your project's timeline and allocate resources accordingly. Seeing how tasks depend on each other, and their timelines figure out where you might need more resources or effort to speed things up. Adjust the Gantt chart as you go to see how changes affect the overall schedule, so you can make informed decisions quickly.

3. Balance Your Team’s Workload for Efficient Project Crashing

When crashing a project, you must assess the team's current workload and redistribute tasks strategically. You must delegate tasks more efficiently, ensuring no one is overwhelmed while meeting deadlines.

By balancing workloads, you can prevent burnout and maintain productivity. You can leverage team strengths and cross-training to maximize efficiency to accelerate work.

Conclusion

In my perspective Project Crashing, after years of handling projects, is not a negative move but a smart strategy in project management. It's like finding the right balance between speed and quality. It's about getting things done faster without messing up the project's main deliverables and goals. Project Crashing in project management is not just about going fast; it's a way to meet tough deadlines, keep clients happy, and grab market chances within our set budget.