Project Management Triangle

Revision as of 16:53, 25 September 2016

The Project Management Triangle (called also Triple Constraint or the Iron Triangle) is a model of the constraints of project management.The triangle is used by managers to analyze or understand the difficulties that may arise due to implementing and executing a project.It is used to illustrate that project management success is measured by the project team's ability to manage the project, so that the expected results are produced while managing time and cost.All projects irrespective of their size will have many constraints.Although there are many such project constraints, these should not be barriers for successful project execution and for the effective decision making.There are three main interdependent constraints for every project; time, cost and scope. They are a part of every project and though they can be limiting, when properly managed they should not affect a successful project outcome. These are often characterized in the Project Management Triangle.

Figure-1:The Project Management Triangle

If we broaden this view and talk about projects, the triangle is a necessity for any project regardless of its size and nature. All three factors in the triangle have a single bounding force, i.e. “project success”. These constraints are highly interrelated to each other and any change in any one of the factor will affect the other two factors negatively or positively.The purpose of any Project Manager is to maintain a balance between the three factors to make the project successful. In most of the projects the shape of the triangle will not be equilateral because of the change in cost, scope and might be time over the cycle of the project. For example change in cost of work will surely affect the scope and time or change in scope will affect the other two factors. In well-defined projects (where scope definition is clear and detailed) there are fewer chances that the triangle will change its shape by great differences and in any poorly defined project it is vice versa, therefore it is always a good idea for Project Managers to put considerable amount of effort & time to outline the scope of the project as detailed as possible so there will be fewer chances in the variation of cost and time.Quality is another dimension which is related to PMT and many people believe that the outcome of triple constraint is quality. Majorly quality can be improved by increasing the cost and resources but as a project management professional we should keep the quality bench marks as such where cost should not increase beyond the acceptable level. It’s a good practice for project managers to keep routine checks on the progress of project and to use correct and efficient resources to perform tasks. Sometime critical path reorganization and to make critical activities parallel (if possible) to each other also results in terms of efficient outcomes for time, cost and scope scheduling.

The Three Constraints

The three constraints in a project management triangle are time, cost and scope. These three factors (commonly called 'the triple constraint') are represented as a triangle (see Figure 1). Equilateral triangle shows a balance and ideal condition between time, cost and scope. The prime purpose of any Project Manager is to maintain a balance between these three factors to make the project successful. In majority of the projects the shape of the triangle will not be equilateral because of the changing in cost, scope and might be time over the cycle of the project. For example, changing in scope of work will surely affect the cost and time or changing in cost will affect the other two factors.

Time

A project's activities can either take shorter or longer amount of time to complete. Completion of tasks depends on a number of factors such as the number of people working on the project, experience, skills, etc. Time is a crucial factor which is uncontrollable. On the other hand, failure to meet the deadlines in a project can create adverse effects. As the saying goes, 'time is money', a commodity that slips away too easily. Projects have a deadline date for delivery. When you reduce the project's time, you will either have to increase its cost or reduce its scope. Time constraint can begin as early as the project or task start date. While the goal of project management is to begin a task when ready and complete it as early as possible, a project manager may have factors that limit when the team can proceed. That can be something as simple as a start date specified in the contract, or specific issues like resource availability. Delays over which the project manager has no control can complicate the smooth running of the project. Most projects have deadlines, whether they’re formal requirements from a client or informal in-house expectations. This prevents projects from languishing around permanently, using up resources long after the original purpose of the project is forgotten. Reaching that deadline is the time constraint that project managers tend to focus on, because it’s the most definitive. If a project isn’t finished on schedule, it can affect the revenue earned for the task and injure the reputation for reliability of both the project manager and the company that employs her. If a task can't be performed when scheduled for example, if a programmer is in a car crash on the way to work on the day he’s supposed to complete a critical software patch, then your project manager will either have to find a replacement quickly or push other tasks back to compensate.

Cost

This second element of the Triple Constraint is known as either Resources or Cost. Resources always cost money so the two are interchangeable in many ways. When we talk about the cost of a project, we are talking about what needs to be applied or assigned to the project in terms of money and effort in order to make things happen. This can be resources like manpower/labor, it can be materials needed for the job, resources for risk management and assessment or any third party resources that might need to be secured. It’s imperative for both the project manager and the organization to have an estimated cost when undertaking a project. Budgets will ensure that project is developed or implemented below a certain cost. Sometimes, project managers have to allocate additional resources in order to meet the deadlines with a penalty of additional project costs. All projects have a finite budget; the customer is willing to spend a certain amount of money for delivery of a new product or service. If you reduce the project's cost, you will either have to reduce its scope or increase its time.

Scope

Scope looks at the outcome of the project undertaken. This consists of a list of deliverables, which need to be addressed by the project team. A successful project manager will know to manage both the scope of the project and any change in scope which impacts time and cost. Many projects fail on this constraint because the scope of the project is either not fully defined or understood from the start. When you increase a project's scope, you will either have to increase its cost or time. Once a customer asks you to complete a project, the person will state what is important; for example, the project must cost no more than the allocated budget, be delivered by a particular date, or contain certain features.

Figure-2: Quality Dilemma

Quality question- Where it should add?

Even before giving the answer of this question, one should understand that what is quality and how it is related to three constraints. Quality is an outcome and not the constraint itself, further the outcome of the Project Management Triangle/Triple Constraint is the finished project either with bad, good or acceptable quality. The equal or the more appropriate word is balanced share of all three constraints will comprise the overall quality. Percentage wise 33.33% share from each of the three constraints or mathematically 60o angle between two sides will result into a well-balanced project/product. The word high quality is not used (instead using well-balanced) because the definition of quality is vast and variable depending on the acceptance and satisfactory level. Whereas on the client/stakeholder side one must understand that you cannot afford or expect a Mercedes Benz in the price of Nissan; therefore, expectations should be limited, based on the limitations of scope, time & cost (most of the client either neglect that understanding or try to achieve three bananas in the price of one). In simple terms, the quality is another triangle inside the triple constraint triangle and all sides of the inside triangle are linked with the outer boundaries, if the inner triangle (quality-all three sides) is completely met with the outer triangle that means project is on its maximum quality level on the given limitations of scope, time & cost. File:Project

Examples of Failure in managing constraints

The triple constraint is about balancing each constraint to reach a successful conclusion. As the project progresses, the project manager may find that any changes impact one or more of the constraints. What might happen? Here are some examples: 1. During an engineering project, an unexpected budget cut is imposed on the project after the company posts poorer than expected 4th quarter financial results. Impact: Scope is cut, quality is reduced, and the schedule is pushed back so that cheaper resources can be found. The most significant constraint, in this case, is the cost (the money the company is willing to spend).

2. During a project to create a new mobile phone handset, the customer asks that the launch date is brought forward two weeks to coincide with a major industry show. Impact: Costs increase as more people are added to meet the new deadline. Some features of the product are removed and put into a phase two release to reduce delivery time and meet the new launch date. The most significant constraint, in this case, is time (project schedule).

3. During a software development project, your customer increases the scope. The client asks that new features be added to the software after learning that a competitor's product will be in direct competition with their own. It is important the product includes these new features if it is to compete successfully. Impact: The budget and schedule increase as a result of pushing up the final delivery date. More people are added to minimize disruption to the project schedule, thereby increasing the project's overall cost. The most significant constraint, in this case, is scope (features of the product). The triple constraint represents key elements of a project that, when balanced well, lead to success.

Managing the Constraints:

Project Scope Management

Project Scope Management includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully. Managing the project scope is primarily concerned with defining and controlling what is and is not included in the project. The Project Scope Management processes include the following:

Plan Scope Management: The process of creating a scope management plan that documents how the project scope will be defined, validated, and controlled.

Collect Requirements: The process of determining, documenting, and managing stakeholder needs and requirements to meet project objectives.

Define Scope: The process of developing a detailed description of the project and product.

Create WBS: The process of subdividing project deliverables and project work into smaller, more manageable components.

Validate Scope: The process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables.

Control Scope: The process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline. These processes interact with each other and with processes in other Knowledge areas as well. In the project context, the term scope can refer to:

Product scope. The features and functions that characterize a product, service, or result; and/or

Project scope The work performed to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions. The term project scope is sometimes viewed as including product scope. The processes used to manage project scope, as well as the supporting tools and techniques, can vary by project. The scope baseline for the project is the approved version of the project scope statement, work breakdown structure (WBS), and its associated WBS dictionary. A baseline can be changed only through formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison while performing Validate Scope and Control. Completion of the project scope is measured against the project management plan. Completion of the product scope is measured against the product requirements. The Project Scope Management processes need to be well integrated with the other Knowledge Area processes, so that the work of the project will result in delivery of the specified product scope.

Project Time Management

Project Time Management includes the processes required to manage the timely completion of the project. The Project Time Management processes are as follows:

Plan Schedule Management: The process of establishing the policies, procedures, and documentation for planning, developing, managing, executing, and controlling the project schedule.

Define Activities: The process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables.

Sequence Activities: The process of identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities.

Estimate Activity Resources: The process of estimating the type and quantities of material, human resources, equipment, or supplies required to perform each activity.

Estimate Activity Duration: The process of estimating the number of work periods needed to complete individual activities with estimated resources.

Develop Schedule: The process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements, and schedule constraints to create the project schedule model.

Control Schedule: The process of monitoring the status of project activities to update project progress and manage changes to the schedule baseline to achieve the plan.

Project Cost Management

Project Cost Management includes the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget. The following Project Cost Management processes are included:

Plan Cost Management: The process that establishes the policies, procedures, and documentation for planning, managing, expending, and controlling project costs. Estimate Costs: The process of developing an approximation of the monetary resources needed to complete project activities.

Determine Budget: The process of aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work packages to establish an authorized cost baseline.

Control Costs: The process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project costs and managing changes to the cost baseline.

On some projects, especially those of smaller scope, cost estimating and cost budgeting are tightly linked and can be viewed as a single process that can be performed by a single person over a relatively short period of time. These are presented here as distinct processes because the tools and techniques for each are different. The ability to influence cost is greatest at the early stages of the project, making early scope definition critical.

Equitable Relationship

On a practical side, the purpose of triple constraint is to maintain a balance of Scope, Cost & Time between parties involve in the project. Usually Clients and Designers have edge over Contractors to squeeze them by changing scope of work with the fixed amount of time and cost as agreed before. This is the point where PM are supposed to maintain the balance to safeguard the employer interest and ultimately to safeguard the project interest. The term “Equitable Relationship” best explain these phenomena of having fair and balanced relationship between each parties by keeping Scope, Cost & Time envelop in an agreed boundary as it was defined at the start of the project. Only by keeping this balance PMs are capable to smoothly start, initiate, execute, operate, finished and commissioned the project as per the defined parameters.

Conclusion

In a real time project the detailed scope definition, correct cost & time allocation is very necessary for the project success. In many projects around the world clients and owners don’t put considerable amount of time and effort to define the scope which lead to many conflicts and disputes later. In many cases clients/owners and designers are either not capable to define the scope properly or believe to be the waste of time to define it in detail before the start of the project. As project proceeds; their demands or needs start to change towards ask for more which bring the contractor into jeopardize situation.