hardMultiple Choice
PK0-005 Practice Question: A project manager is performing schedule…
A project manager is performing schedule compression. The team decides to start a successor activity before its predecessor is fully complete. Which technique are they using, and what is a primary downside?
⚠ Common exam trap
PK0-005 often tests the distinction between crashing (cost increase) and fast-tracking (risk increase), so candidates who remember 'compression increases something' may swap the downsides.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Fast-tracking, which increases risk
Fast-tracking is a schedule compression technique where activities that would normally be done sequentially are performed in parallel, such as starting a successor before its predecessor finishes. The primary downside is increased risk because overlapping activities can cause rework if the predecessor's output changes. Crashing, by contrast, adds resources and increases cost, not risk.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Crashing, which increases cost
Why it's wrong here
Crashing adds resources to critical-path activities to shorten duration; it does not overlap activities, so it fails this scenario. It is tempting because crashing is the other schedule-compression technique, and would be correct where extra budget exists to buy duration, but here the team is overlapping work, which is fast-tracking.
- ✗
Crashing, which increases risk
Why it's wrong here
Crashing adds resources to critical-path activities; it never starts a successor before its predecessor finishes, so it does not match the described overlap. It is tempting as the sibling compression technique, and would be correct when adding resources to shorten duration, but the stem describes parallel working, which is fast-tracking.
- ✗
Fast-tracking, which increases cost
Why it's wrong here
Fast-tracking is the correct technique, but its primary downside is increased risk from rework, not increased cost; cost is crashing's downside. It is tempting because the technique matches, yet the stated consequence is wrong, so the pairing fails the question.
- ✓
Fast-tracking, which increases risk
Why this is correct
Fast-tracking overlaps activities that would normally run sequentially, letting the successor start before its predecessor finishes — exactly the compression technique described. Its primary downside is increased risk, since overlapping dependent work can force rework if the predecessor's output changes. Crashing, by contrast, adds cost rather than risk.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This PK0-005 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PK0-005 exam.