Crashing

Crashing refers to the process of compressing the project duration and expediting the project schedule. This is useful for managers who want to avoid bad weather. The downside is that it takes more resources to speed up a section of a project. Resources may be taken from one aspect of the project and used to speed up the section that is behind. This may also depend on the availability of resources in non-critical activities. Resources can be reassigned for critical projects. It is important to ensure that the appropriate activities are not being crashed and that resources are not being diverted in a way that causes unnecessary risk and compromises project scope integrity.
It is a good idea to start crashing activities early in the project to allow for more flexibility to crash other activities later in the project. It is important that all project resources, costs, and guidelines are carefully tracked and aligned with the client’s goals and senior managers.
[Editor Note] Please also see the video I made on project crashing. You can get coaching from me at Project Management Strategies That Work (and How To Implement Them).