Project duration is one of the key factors that affect the success of any project. However, reducing the time required to complete a project can also pose some challenges, such as compromising the quality, scope, or cost of the project. How can you shorten project duration without sacrificing quality? Here are some tips and techniques that can help you achieve this goal.
The critical path is the sequence of activities that determines the minimum possible duration of the project. Any delay in the critical path activities will directly impact the project completion date. Therefore, identifying and managing the critical path is essential for shortening project duration. You can use tools such as network diagrams, Gantt charts, or critical path method (CPM) to analyze the dependencies and durations of the project activities and find the critical path. Once you have the critical path, you can focus on optimizing its activities and reducing its length.
For smaller projects (less than 100 cores INR or 12 million USD), you can use CCPM (critical chain project management ) along with CCPM. For all projects, Reduce Time at the time of times estimates. Move to 3 shift operation from single shift. Do not allow change in the scope of work. If you are using CCPM/CPM/Gantt chart get contract signed with Contractor with penalty clause as well as good performance clause. Give monetary reward if the activity is finished before time. This is helped a major steel maker and PSU in Energy sector.
One thing I learned greatly as an Odoo consultant and project manager, is the importance of never compromising on the correct qualifications of each project. This helps to find pain points early, manage the expectations of all stakeholders, plan the expected deadlines accordingly, and ensure that the right communications and trust are built before the project even started. Starting with the right foot forward is always important. One can see whether the projects could delay, where the biggest drawback or issues maybe, and what kind of communication style fits the different personalities of different stakeholders. Being flexible is also very important, over-predicting future issues is better than under-predicting them!
In my opinion, this is not so much a nut to crack. There are four types of Dependencies: Mandatory, Discretionary (or Voluntary) Internal and External. 1. Remove the Discretionary (or Voluntary) Dependency and (2) run some activities (Tasks) simultaneously - parallel running. This way, you can shorten a Project's duration without compromising Quality.
From my opinion this is possible with proper planning. This may cost team little but higher than expected but this pays you back by market urgency of product to be sale. This is possible by proper coordination and outsourcing with proper documentation and checking.
Critical Path is just an essential indicator, not a solution for shortening the project. It indicates that our best estimations exceed the available calendar time. From that moment on, the party begins!
Fast-tracking is a technique that involves performing activities in parallel or overlapping them, instead of doing them sequentially. This can reduce the project duration by eliminating or reducing the waiting time between activities. However, fast-tracking also increases the risk of rework, errors, or conflicts, as some activities may depend on the outcomes of others. Therefore, you should carefully assess the feasibility and implications of fast-tracking before applying it. Monitor and communicate the progress and issues of the fast-tracked activities closely.
Yes, we can do activities in parallel that is already there in CPM. PERT is also a great tool The extra effort can be obtained from Concurrent engineering for the design stages. For developing new products (to get competitive advantage), any compression of time is important. The work by Eppinger at MIT in Developing Design Structure Matrix (or DSM). It is also called Dependency Structure Matrix. While we need to several iterations in Design and Prototype Development. There are possibly good application in defense and mobile phone development, but organizations are silent to share that are using fearing that they may lose competitive advantage.
Fast-tracking- 1. Plan Smartly: Choose tasks suitable for fast-tracking, considering their nature and dependencies. 2. Dependency Check: Ensure concurrent tasks won't clash or compromise outcomes. 3. Resource Focus: Allocate ample resources to support tasks running simultaneously. 4. Risk Preview: Assess potential pitfalls of fast-tracking, taking preemptive measures. 5. Team Coordination: Maintain open communication for seamless parallel task management. 6. Quality Assurance: Implement robust checks to prevent errors arising from swift execution. 7. Continuous Monitoring: Regularly review progress to spot and correct any deviations.
Leverage automation tools to speed up quality checking and to keep in control. Implement tools as per the technology stack. Keep tracking the progress regularly following the agile principles.
Crashing is a technique that involves adding more resources or working overtime to accelerate the completion of activities. This can reduce the project duration by increasing the productivity or efficiency of the project team or contractors. However, crashing also increases the project cost, as more resources or overtime hours incur more expenses. Weigh the benefits and costs of crashing before applying it. Consider the availability and quality of the additional resources and the impact of overtime on the team morale and performance.
Crashing the Project means, increasing work hours, and additional Resources. This will increase the final cost. Will the final cost justify the Project? If yes, then crash it. But I assume that there was a level of ROI that was expected at the beginning of the Project that got approval for the Project. With the ROI constant, can we justify crashing?
Crashing is good, but should be done with resource planning and monitoring. Material. Labor, equipment (machines) should be planned when crashing is done. While doing crashing looking at only project cost is myopic. We need to know what the project does. If the project is installation of manufacturing plant and by crashing by one week increase the project cost by X, the plant earns a profit higher than X, we must crash even if the project cost increases by X. Idea is to work like a Project manger, think like a CEO.
Scope creep is the unplanned and uncontrolled expansion of the project scope, which can result from unclear requirements, changing expectations, or poor change management. Scope creep can increase the project duration by adding more work, complexity, or uncertainty to the project. Reduce scope creep by defining and documenting the project scope clearly, managing the stakeholders' expectations and feedback and following a formal change control process. Communicate and document any changes to the project scope and their impact on the project duration.
Scope creep is unavoidable. A great way to reduce or control the extent of it is to involve all project parties into collaborative workshops in the very early stages of the project. Defining scope, brainstorming on how each party will deliver the scope and applying re-engineering techniques early on will create a transparent environment where scope can be well defined and understood to a deeper level. An important aspect of scope creep is that it applies to project management aspects of the project. Reporting processes and clear project controls procedures need to be established early on to avoid the emergence of changes when the project moves into the execution phase.
Scope creep will significantly delay your project if you are not the sole contributor. As not every individual are aware of the project management, it is best practice to showcase the criticial milestones within the project that have dependency. I prefer giving detailed demonstration of the project in scope and highlight the need to focus at present situation at hand. Of course, few things might come up, but discussing with the team is always better as to list pros/cons as that builds the team and makes one project leader with effective project management skills.
Communication is vital for any project, as it enables the exchange of information, ideas, and feedback among the project team and stakeholders. Effective communication can reduce the project duration by improving the coordination, collaboration, and problem-solving among the project participants. Improve communication by establishing and following a communication plan that defines the communication goals, methods, frequency, and channels. Use clear, concise, and consistent language and formats, and avoid ambiguity, jargon, or assumptions.
In my experience, when sharing complex information, use visual aids like charts, graphs, or diagrams to convey the message more effectively. In today’s World, where most of the time teams works remotely, Miro can be used as a channel to enhance collaboration, creativity, and productivity in a visually engaging and inclusive manner.
Improving communication is essential for the one leading the project. In my experience working in Clinical Data Management, I have initiated the project and have always highlighted critical path wherein I would require key personnel approval/review of the document before I proceed. I always highlight in meetings/agenda topics/related to the project as a whole. It can happen that key members are busy with other stuff, therefore taking accountability to highlight as and when possible to them is crucial for the overall success of the project.
Review and adjust the project duration regularly, as the project progresses and new information or issues emerge. Use tools such as earned value analysis (EVA) or schedule variance (SV) to measure and compare the actual and planned project performance and identify any deviations or trends. Conduct periodic reviews and audits to assess the quality and compliance of the project deliverables and processes. Based on the results of the review and adjustment, you should update and communicate the project schedule and take corrective or preventive actions if needed.
Start sooner It sounds simple but if you want to finish earlier, start sooner! Pushing to start sooner can help identify constraints. If time is of the essence then these constraints need to be untangled. Where design needs aren’t met, switch to design and build, where pre-sales aren’t met consider a leasing company to provide revenue guarantees or a partner to secure finance. Where linked activities extend the programme look for off site manufacturing. Identify the resources needed to deliver the project and procure the experienced resources ahead of schedule. Where a trusted experienced team is on hand early the solutions flow and the probability of success is increased.
We are well served with predictive techniques and tools to reduce project duration based on constraints, but when talking about best practices in IT/DEV projects, we can mention some another helpful actions: Conduct testing activities concurrently with the development. Divide the project into smaller, manageable modules that can be developed concurrently by different teams. Utilize existing libraries, frameworks, and components to speed up the development process. Implement CI/CD pipelines in order to automate testing, building, and deployment processes. Develop quick prototypes to validate the design concepts and gather feedback early. Implement automated unit, integration, and regression tests to catch and solve issues early.
Project management involves scope, cost, and calendar time. Generally, one variable cannot be improved without taking away from one or both of the others. However, there is one opportunity to adjust one variable without sacrifice: Work smarter, not harder. This often takes the form of technology. With the arrival of ChatGPT and Bing Chat, workers can now work much faster without loss of quality. Like with the advent of the personal computer, companies will discover that these tools can dramatically improve performance. However, unlike the personal computer, which required more than a decade to discover its true power within the workplace, ChatGPT and Bing Chat can produce immediate and dramatic results on virtually any project.
I would like to add one more criteria that affect time as well as money in any project 'Gold Plating'. Adding Extra features which is not a part of original scope which increase cost, time , risk and clients expectations. If client likes extra added features, leads to troubling precedent, expecting over deliver again. If client dislikes , it increased cost to remove extra features and further delays. Its best to avoid gold Plating and stick with agreed scope to mange client expectations, set a reliable precedent, avoid delays and control project budget.
Get over time dilation effect, where time will run faster for small program compared to complex large team size. Organise in smaller team size with short time delivery will help to sync and adjust speed of overall project delivery.
We have found a pro-active risk management approach by its nature can focus on timely mitigation of risks. Ensuring these events and actions are part of schedule keeps them in operating rhythm. Retiring of risk proactively also leads to finding those areas of shortening durations for work from baseline, identifying previously unseen opportunities in performance, or where crashing can be of value.