What Is Fast Tracking In Project Management

What is Fast Tracking in Project Management?

Okay, imagine you’re building a really cool Lego castle. You have a plan, right? You know you need to build the walls, then the towers, and then the roof. But what if your friend says, “Hey, we need to finish this castle super fast!” That’s kind of like what fast tracking is in project management. It’s a way to make a project go quicker by doing some steps at the same time that you would normally do one after the other. It’s like building the walls and starting the towers at the same time, instead of waiting for the walls to be completely finished. This sounds exciting and potentially faster, but it’s important to understand all the aspects of it.

The Basics of Fast Tracking

Let’s dig into the core idea. Fast tracking, at its heart, is a project schedule compression technique. This means that it aims to shorten the overall project duration. It’s employed when a project’s deadline looms or when it’s crucial to bring a product or service to market sooner than initially planned. Think of it like this – you’ve planned a fun day at the park that includes building a sandcastle, having a picnic, and playing frisbee. Usually, you’d do one after the other. With fast tracking, you might start making the sandwiches while also starting to dig the base of your castle. It’s about overlapping activities to save time.

Key Elements of Fast Tracking

There are some key things to know about how fast tracking works:

• Overlapping Activities: This is the biggest part of fast tracking. It means starting a new task before the task that came before it is finished. It’s like a relay race where the next runner starts before the first one has completely crossed the line.
• Critical Path Activities: You need to focus on the parts of your project that take the longest to finish. These are called critical path activities. They are the tasks that directly impact the project’s completion date. Fast tracking mainly deals with this critical path.
• Risk Management: Fast tracking introduces risks because it often means doing things faster than planned and that can cause errors. So you need to keep a close eye on all the things, and adjust as required.

How Fast Tracking Works

So, how do project managers actually use fast tracking? It’s not just about starting things whenever. It requires careful planning and thinking. Let’s break it down.

Steps Involved in Fast Tracking

Here are some specific steps that project teams take when employing fast tracking:

1. Identify the Critical Path: First, you need to figure out which tasks make up the project’s critical path. This is where a project management tool or just a good old drawing can be very helpful. Remember, these are the tasks that, if delayed, will delay the whole project.
2. Look for Overlap Opportunities: Next, the project team looks at those critical path tasks and decides which ones can be started sooner. Maybe you can start working on the website design while the coding is still happening, or you can have two teams working on two different sections of a new marketing campaign, while the first team is completing its portion.
3. Adjust Resources: Overlapping activities often need extra resources. You might need to involve more people, assign more equipment or provide extra software access. It’s like adding more builders to work on the castle at the same time.
4. Continuous Monitoring: With activities happening at an accelerated pace, frequent check-ins are vital. Project managers need to keep a close watch on progress, identify any problems early, and adjust plans to avoid more delays.

Advantages of Fast Tracking

Why would project managers choose to fast track? It comes with some really good benefits:

Key Benefits of Fast Tracking

• Shorter Project Duration: The most obvious benefit is that fast tracking can reduce the time it takes to complete a project. This means you can get your product or service to customers faster.
• Faster Time to Market: When you finish a project quickly, you can get your new product out into the market ahead of your competition. This can be a big advantage in today’s fast moving business world.
• Meeting Deadlines: Sometimes projects fall behind. Fast tracking can be a good way to get back on schedule if it’s getting close to the due date.
• Better Resource Utilization: By working on multiple activities simultaneously, your project can sometimes use resources more efficiently. It’s like having your team work on the castle and the garden at the same time, making the whole project go quicker.

Disadvantages and Risks of Fast Tracking

While fast tracking can be very helpful, it’s not all smooth sailing. There are risks and downsides to consider.

Potential Downsides and Risks

• Increased Risk: When you speed up a project, you increase the chances of something going wrong. More activities happening at the same time means that it might be difficult to monitor the tasks effectively.
• More Rework: If you overlap activities too much, you could find yourself needing to redo work if something changes in the first task. For example, if you start building the castle towers before the walls are completely finished, and you then have to make changes to the walls it could mean you need to adjust the towers which can cause delays.
• Increased Costs: Adding more resources to overlapping activities can end up costing more money. More people might need to be hired, and new equipment will need to be bought.
• Communication Challenges: Coordinating many activities at once can make communication more challenging and that can slow down the whole process. You must keep all teams well informed of all developments.
• Resource Overload: Attempting to do too much at once can overwhelm your team, and people can experience burnout, this might cause lower quality of work and increased risk of mistakes.

When to Use Fast Tracking

Fast tracking isn’t right for every project. Here’s when it can be beneficial:

Suitable Scenarios for Fast Tracking

• Urgent Projects: When you need to finish something very quickly to make the deadlines, fast tracking is something to consider.
• Fixed Deadlines: When you must finish a project by a specific date, fast tracking can be used to meet the deadline.
• Projects with Some Flexibility: Fast tracking works best when you have some room to adjust if things change.
• Experienced Teams: Teams that have worked together a lot and are good at communicating can use fast tracking successfully.
• Where Minor Scope Changes Are Acceptable: If you can afford minor changes in what the project delivers, you can do fast tracking.

Examples of Fast Tracking

Let’s look at some relatable real-world examples to see how fast tracking works in practice:

Fast Tracking Examples in Real World

• Software Development: In a software project, instead of finishing all coding before testing, you can start testing some parts while the other parts are still being coded. This saves time and identifies errors earlier.
• Construction: In construction, you can start working on the interior of a building while the exterior is still being completed.
• Marketing Campaigns: You can start designing marketing materials while the strategy is being finalized.
• Product Development: During new product development, user interface testing can begin before the complete product is available, so that the issues are identified sooner.
• Event Planning: When organizing an event, planning for the food and beverages can start while the location setup is being finalized.

Fast Tracking vs. Crashing

You might have heard another term: “crashing.” It’s another way to speed up a project. How is it different from fast tracking?

Key Differences Between Fast Tracking and Crashing

Here’s a simple comparison to understand them clearly:

In simple terms, fast tracking is like doing many things at once, while crashing is like making each task go faster by adding more people or tools. Both can speed up a project, but they do it in different ways and come with different potential problems.

Making Fast Tracking Effective

To do fast tracking successfully, it’s vital to follow some best practices to minimize risks:

Best Practices for Successful Fast Tracking

• Careful Planning: Don’t rush into fast tracking without a solid plan. Spend time to figure out which tasks can overlap safely.
• Effective Communication: Keep your team informed of the fast tracking plan and any changes that occur, and ensure that everyone is in the loop.
• Frequent Monitoring: Keep a close watch on how things are progressing. Check regularly to avoid bigger problems.
• Resource Management: Make sure you have enough resources (people, tools, etc.) to handle overlapping activities.
• Risk Assessment: Think about potential issues and have plans in place to deal with them.
• Flexibility: Be ready to make changes to your plan as things happen.

Fast tracking is a powerful tool, but it must be used with thought and care. By doing things the right way, you can make your projects go faster and be successful.