Five Methods to Accelerate Your Project Schedule
When a project kicks off you create a construction schedule that represents your best thinking on how the project should progress. But it seems on many projects that one day after your baseline schedule is created, you are already behind. Here are five techniques to help stay on track.
1. Accelerate early
It is inevitable you are going to face delays at some time on your project. Therefore, if at all possible, try to get ahead of schedule early. This might be done by starting the project earlier than planned or adding resources earlier than planned. You need to have a mindset that you are not going to start out late, and you are not even happy to be on schedule. You want to get ahead of schedule to build an early buffer to protect against future delays.
2. Fast-track dependent activities
Most of the activities in your schedule are linked to others with a finish-to-start relationship. Think about whether you really need to wait until the first task finishes, or if there is an opportunity to move forward with the second task early. For example, you may have two activities called “run electrical wiring first floor” and “rough in plumbing 2nd floor” that is linked in your schedule. You might ask whether you really have to wait until 100% completion of one task or work on both simultaneously. If that’s the case then the overall elapsed time for the project will be shorter. There is some risk with this approach, but it may be worthwhile to you.
3. Remove activities that are no longer needed
When you first write your schedule, you are assuming all of the activities are necessary and achievable. However, as the project progresses, things change. You need to review the remaining activities and remove anything that isn’t absolutely necessary. Some activities may no longer be needed. Perhaps some can be pushed to post-implementation.
4. Add resources to the critical path
Check if you have the flexibility to add resources. These may be specialists, or perhaps there are some general activities that anyone can do. This technique is also called “crashing”
5. Optimize your processes
Look for process improvement opportunities that will save time. For example, a submittal may take two weeks. Is there a way it can be done in one week or one day? Or perhaps you realize a process that takes four activities can actually be done with three activities.
As the project progresses, question everything that remains. You might be surprised that the work you thought was vital may later be shown to be unnecessary.
