PMcrunch

Basic project management teaches us that quality is defined by meeting requirements, but not exceeding them. If we deliver more than what the customer asked for, it is considered to be gold plating – a bad thing. The premise is that there is a balance as per the triple constraint among quality, cost and schedule, and that it is the job of the project manager to manage that balance. In these tough times, however, how can a project manager produce excellence and in essence exceed customer expectations without gold plating?

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What does you organization “tolerate”? This is an important question to ask because you will know where you have some flexibility, and you will know where you have risks and inflexibility. You may very well also find out where your organization is lacking, and where it needs some reform in its project management practices to become a much more streamlined, and lean operating machine. A useful tool for thinking about this is the triple constraint.

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Parkinson’s Law – the concept that work expands to meet the time available – is a common human behavioral reality. To deal with it, we can always tighten up the timeframe or define the work and deliverables more explicitly, but it is not always so straightforward to deal with.

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Preparing for certification exams is hard work. We are looking for the shortest route to certification, and we run into a well-known concept in the project management field – the Triple Constraint, representing the trade-off among Quality, Time, and Cost.

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We all know the definition of a project is an undertaking that produces a product by a target date and within an agreed cost. This triple constraint (product, time and cost) is what the project manager must plan for and track progress against. But are the three dimensions equal in priority?

The answer is no – some projects are cost constrained; some have an immovable end date while others may place a priority on the product quality. Understanding the priorities on your project (and agreeing with your project sponsor on the priorities) is critical.

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When trying to rescue a failing project, or revive a failed one, it is important to quickly ‘cut to the chafe’! This is not about tools or about tracking. It’s about starting a whole new project!

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In a world where there is so much happening, so much coming at us, one big question is: “Should I complete the project I am working on before taking on a new one?” Well, the answer is undoubtedly different for each person and in each situation. But the considerations are similar.

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