Beyond the Triple Constraint

I comment this week about the extra elements which complement the Triple Constraint: Risk, Quality, and Resources. One of the reasons while it is often said that the Triple Constraint is not really triple. 

-o- 

In my last post I commented about the Triple Constraint of Scope, Time and Cost, which is one of the basic building blocks of Project Management: how to align and make sound decisions around (highly) competing demands. Whereas there is general consensus that other critical factors also compete against these three; there is not always agreement on which ones are those elements. This week I will elaborate around some of them: Risk, Quality and Resources. Some authors like Rita Mulcahy use for example Customer Satisfaction instead of Resources. Others may use other factors.

Risk – from the Arabic term “rizq” which means “what the providence brings”, risk management is one of the most challenging demands in a project, always impacting at least one or more of the other components of the triple constraint. Whereas most of the time it is associated with events that can make the things go wrong, it can also refer to events that can make things go well. In summary is like having your radar on at all times, trying to catch as early as possible what could go wrong and try to make something about it; and  also catch what could make things go well, and try to make that happen. It often requires a pragmatic mindset depending on the context of the project. 

Quality – another concept which is not very easily achieved, it deals with how well specific requirements, standards, parameters or guidelines are met. In the most desirable scenario, quality is preferred to be built in, than to be inspected in. In plain terms it tells that if you are doing something, it is worth it to do it right from the beginning; instead of waiting until the end to check how good is it, and find that you need to fix lots of things or do it all over again. It requires clarity, discipline, but also a realistic approach. 

Resources – this is what you have available to complete the project (people and resources). Depending on these elements the other components of the Constraint will be likely impacted. It is not the same to tackle a project with a junior team than with a team of seasoned colleagues. The availability of specific resources or their characteristics would likely affect the outcomes of your project. 

At the end of the day the Triple Constraint is a conceptual model to help us understand the nature of the project, its purpose and the several elements that need to be aligned, balanced and prioritized to get it right. 

No matter the specific framework that you choose to approach your work, it should be systematic, consistent, and disciplined; otherwise you may find yourself lost instead of finding yourself managing the project.

Have a rewarding week!
- Sergio Calvo

The Triple Constraint

I leave you today with one of the core concepts in Project Management. The triple constraint of Scope, Time and Cost. They are at the core of the discipline and anyone interested in achieving success in a project should stay tuned with the basics of their relationship. 

-o- 

You can’t have everything you want all the time. This is as true in Project Management as it is in life itself. The more you deny it, the more you are likely to suffer it. It is perfectly fine to try to get as much as you can with whatever you have. But it is also wise to assess when you can’t push it any further to avoid jeopardizing the  goals of the project you pursue. 

That’s what the triple constraint reminds us. 

There is the scope - the product, result, or service that you want to achieve. Everything that you want to get done; and not less important, what you don’t want to get done. 

There is the time - how much time do you have to get the product, result, or service that you want. 

There is the cost - how much it is going to cost you get the product, result, or service that you want by the time that you want it. 

These three are constrained with one another. The more you want to get done is almost certainly to increase your cost and likely to demand more time. The less time you have to get the things done is likely to increase your cost for it or would demand to decrease eventually what you want done. An increase in your costs for whatever reason is likely to force you to reduce what you want done or the time to do it or both. 

That’s just how they work. Your role as a leader is to be aware of that inherent relationship, to monitor and properly document how a change in one of them impacts the others, to stay grounded to the earth about them and to use your skills and those of your Project Team to get done as much as you can, for the best possible cost and in as less time as suitable. 

That’s easier said than done. 

In fact you may choose to look the other way instead of doing it. However reality is going to come back at you the hard way. You may end up working for free. You may fall short on your commitments with your customer. Your customer may end up paying more than expected or getting less than expected. Your project would be at risk and eventually your reputation would suffer.  

All the frameworks and the theory in Project Management are developed to help those involved in the discipline to manage these three things as effectively as possible. 

The following questions may come handy when you are dealing with these three:

- When is the final deadline for the project?

- Have you broken the product, service or result pursued down to its more basic packages?

- Have all the involved costs being calculated? Could there be any hidden costs so far?

- Are we going to work holidays, weekends, extra hours? How would that affect cost?

- What does the contract say about scope, time and costs?

- Are there any penalties for being late, for leaving a feature behind, for additional fees?

- Is any of the elements more tightly restricted than the others? 

- How this change in one of them would impact the other two?

There are other factors pretty closely related: quality, resources and risk. This is why some people say that the triple constraint is not really triple. We shall come with these ones at a later time. 

Have a nice week! 

- Sergio Calvo