Project Schedule Overruns

byPietjo

190 followers

Updated 11 years ago

Delivering a project on-time will always be challenging for project managers. You’re midway through a project and realize that the project will miss a key milestone. You are also afraid that through the domino effect you may also miss the deadline for project completion. There is always a consequence to a schedule overrun. The client is unhappy because she can’t take ownership of a building and is consequently losing money.
Remedial techniques
In the first instance the initial project planning must be done properly. If the schedule is under estimated or not logical, planning inefficiencies are introduced to the project. Invariably this can lead to delays in the project and increase the initial schedule. There are two techniques that project managers use to attempt re-mediating project schedule overruns namely compressing and crashing the schedule.
Compressing the schedule
Schedule compression is a technique that is used by taking the initial schedule and shortening the project schedule duration. Compressing a schedule means that you will be conducting project activities in parallel.
Schedule Crashing
Crashing is a resource based methodology, since its inception in the 1940s. “Crashing” has involved adding additional resources at a project to reduce the overall duration of the work. You either work the existing resources harder/longer or get more resources.

Sometimes compressing or crashing the project schedule is just not viable or worth the effort and costs. You can’t add more resources to a pregnancy to deliver a baby in 5 months instead of 9 months.