Chapter 9
In a perfect world, you'd define the project scope, schedule tasks, assign resources, and presto! The project plan would be finished and ready to execute.
In reality, however, this is rarely the case. After you've scheduled tasks and assigned resources, you generally need to check the results and see if they meet expectations and requirements. Ultimately, you might need to answer one or all of the following questions to your satisfaction and to the satisfaction of your managing stakeholders:
If you get the wrong answers to any of these questions, you need to adjust your project plan until you get the right answers. For example, if the finish date is too far away, you can add more resources to major tasks.
After you make such adjustments, you'll need to check the project plan again. Adding resources to tasks might bring in the finish date but it also might add cost if you hired additional resources or authorized overtime. And if you assigned more tasks to existing resources, those resources might be overallocated.
To save time as well as money, you might decide to cut certain tasks, a deliverable, or a phase. But if this means you're cutting project scope, you'll probably need to get approval from your managing stakeholders.
This relationship between time, money, and scope is sometimes referred to as the project triangle (see Figure 9-1). When you change one side of the triangle, it affects at least one of the other sides of the triangle.
Figure 9-1. Managing your project requires balancing time, money, and scope.
You need to know which side of the triangle is your most important consideration. Is it scheduleyou definitely have to finish by November 14? Is it budgetthere is absolutely $264,300 for this project, and not a penny more? Is it scopeit is imperative that each and every task in your project plan be implemented? Only one side of the triangle can be "absolute." The other two sides must be flexible so you can adjust the project plan to hit that one absolute.
Depending on which side of your project triangle is your absolute, you might adjust your project plan to do one of the following:
Although not strictly a part of your project triangle, it's likely that you're also going to check resource workloads. Resources are the biggest part of your project costs. If any resources are overallocated, you might be facing more overtime than your budget will allow. If resources are grossly overallocated, you run the risk that the tasks won't be done on time and the entire project will slip. If any resources are underallocated, you might be paying more for resources than you should, which also affects your budget.
After you've made your adjustments and balanced your project triangle to meet the project requirements, you'll be ready for stakeholder buyoff. After you have buyoff, you'll be ready to start the execution phase of the project.
Sources of Your Project Scope, Finish Date, and Budget
Your project scope, finish date, and budget can be imposed on you for various reasons, depending on the type of project and the specific situation. The following are a few examples: