What Actions Can You Take To Help Speed Up The Project?

posted 2¼years ago by Natalie2000
© Copyright: Project Management Professional (PMP) Study Guide by Kim Heldman, Sybex Inc., Alameda, CA, USA, 2002, page 35, question 26
Schedule | Schedule Compression | Time Management

The project sponsor has approached you with a dilemma. The CEO announced at the annual stockholders meeting that the project you’re managing will be completed by the end of this year. The problem is that this is six months prior to the scheduled completion date. It’s too late to go back and correct her mistake, and stockholders are expecting implementation by the announced date. You must speed up the delivery date of this project. Your primary constraint before this occurred was the budget. What actions can you take to help speed up the project?

A. Hire more resources to get the work completed faster.
B. Ask for more money so that you can contract out one of the phases you had planned to do with in-house resources.
C. Utilize negotiation and influencing skills to convince the project sponsor to speak with the CEO and make a correction to her announcement.
D. Examine the project plan to see if there are any phases that can be fast tracked, and then revise the project plan to reflect the compression of the schedule.

george (2¼years ago):
I think it's D. That's why:

A: To hire more resource you need to have more budget. And budget is already a primary concern, meaning that project lacks of money. More hiring will lead to more problems.

B: Out-contracting won't compress schedule. In most case this will even extend schedule.

C: It's possible, but key milestone has been already changed and CEO is responsible for this change. You, being a project manager, shall act in new circumstances, no matter how bad they are.

D: That's the most suitable scenario. Analyze, find options, and go for them.