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Commonly confused · Project Management & Agile

Crashing vs Fast Tracking: What's the Difference?

Both are schedule compression techniques. Crashing adds resources, such as overtime or extra staff, to critical path activities and increases cost. Fast tracking performs activities in parallel that were planned in sequence, which increases risk and rework.

vs

Fast Tracking

Full definition
CrashingFast Tracking
TechniqueAdd resourcesOverlap activities
Main trade-offHigher costHigher risk and possible rework
Applies toCritical path activities where extra resources helpActivities with discretionary (soft) dependencies
ExampleHire two contractors to finish testing soonerStart coding before design is fully approved
Choose first whenBudget is available, risk must stay lowBudget is fixed, some risk is tolerable
Remember it

Crashing costs money; fast tracking costs risk.

Exam tip

PMP questions often say 'no additional budget available', which points to fast tracking. Crashing should target critical path activities with the lowest cost per day saved.

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