# Strategies for Reducing Task Duration

No matter how many times you look through your project plan for ways to cut the scope and eliminate tasks, sometimes you can’t find any. You may conclude that all of your project goals are essential and every task in your plan is needed to meet those goals. But that conclusion doesn’t help you do what you must — shorten the schedule.

Sort tasks by duration to see which critical tasks to shorten first.

When you’ve determined that the scope is just right and you can’t eliminate any more tasks, you can shorten the schedule by reducing the durations of critical tasks. Use the following methods to reduce the durations of critical tasks:

- Assign more resources to tasks. Use this method if you have extra resources or underused resources.
- Increase the working hours for one or more resources. Use this method if you can increase the working hours for the resources.
- Assign overtime work. Use this method if resources with the required skills are already fully utilized during their normal working hours and if the budget permits the increased cost.

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