Can you make your projects defy gravity?
Can you make your projects defy gravity and fall up? Project managers can sometimes be expected to defy the fundamental laws of project management and to so to speak, make the apple ‘fall up’. Many times, project managers make a commitment to do this. This article outlines how to respond to these not uncommon situations by using one of the fundamental laws of project management – the relativity of time, cost and quality as defined by the triple constraints.
These three parameters are sometimes called the triple constraints and are represented by the three sides of a triangle encompassing the currently agreed scope of the project. The job of the project manager is to ensure that the triple constraints are continually balanced and that at completion, the project meets the agreed and predetermined targets of the triple constraints.
The triple constraints are fundamentally connected to each other and a change in one will always have an impact on one or more of the others. If the budget is cut (the cost side of the triangle is shortened), then the time and quality sides of the triangle cannot both remain the same length. Similarly, if the schedule is shortened, the cost and quality sides of the triangle cannot both remain the same.
The management of scope is also a central theme as it is the currently agreed scope that provides the fulcrum for the balancing act. If scope increases it can add time, or cost, or possibly both or the acceptable level of quality can be lowered.
The triple constraints and the relationships between them are to project management what Newton’s laws are to physics. Many business people involved in projects, including the most senior executives, do not understand this most fundamental law of project management. Many expect that if enough pressure is applied, the project manager and team can indeed defy gravity and make the apple fall up!
Consider the Following Common Project Scenario.
Mary, your boss, has invited you into her office to talk about the new software system being developed and for which you are the project manager. The project sponsor is insisting that the project must be finished in nine months instead of the originally planned one year. You are also told that due to budget cutbacks, the project must be completed within the original budget. When you protest, Mary is not willing to listen to any of your ‘excuses’. Your head is spinning and you don’t know what to do as you are just six weeks into the project and it is already starting to fall behind schedule and costs so far have exceeded the planned costs.
How can you Respond to Mary?
The triple constraints will tell you that Mary and the project’s sponsor are expecting that you can defy the fundamental laws of project management and so to speak, make the apple fall up. The worst thing you can do is to agree to her demands there and then. Imagine going back to your already pressurised project team and announcing that you have agreed to a 25% cut in the schedule and that the time will have to be made up from within the existing team. Your credibility will be shot to pieces and it will be time to don the bullet proof vest when in the office. Put Mary off and request a few days to undertake a detailed analysis of her request with the project team and the other impacted stakeholders.
The trick then is to use the law of the triple constraints to your advantage and to use the inherent logic to convince Mary of the folly of her ways. Also, as a project manager you are a ‘can do’ person and you will respond to Mary in a positive, professional and logical way. But you are definitely not an idiot so don’t respond like one.
Here’s what to do.
Perform an analysis of the situation with the project team and other impacted stakeholders. Cost and document the options that exist, including the options that will result in an increased budget. When completed, send the results of the analysis in an email to Mary and request a meeting to discuss the matter. Examples of realistic options might be:
- Hire in additional programmers and testers on short term contract at a cost of €X
- Outsource the development of selected software modules at a cost of €Y
- Reduce the testing schedule by 50% by purchasing an automated testing system at a cost of €Z (original quality parameters maintained)
Or...
The project can be delivered within the revised schedule and without an increase in budget using the following options:
- Reduce the testing schedule by 50% and continue to do manual testing (quality is reduced).
- Deliver less functions by splitting the project into phases and delivering only key features in phase one to the level of quality currently specified. You should detail the features that will be delivered in phase one and those that will be held over until phase two.
As a project manager, you are bound by the laws of project management and just like it is not possible to will the apple to fall up, it is not possible to will the delivery of the same specification in less time, while maintaining the original budget and quality parameters.
Don’t ever forget it!