What Is The Project Management Triangle?

Project Management Triangle: Understanding The Concept

When someone is building a project, the overall outcome is decided by three boundaries or limitations. The three limitations are connected to each other. If any one of the three changes, it will affect the other two. The first thing is deciding what you are making (scope), second is how long it will take to build it (time), and at last how much you can spend on it (cost).

One of the three is always compromised. For example, you are planning a trip and want it to be luxurious (scope). At the same time, you want it to be cheap (cost) and a long trip (time). A long luxurious trip cannot be cheap. So, for a trip to be cheap, you can choose a short trip and look for affordable options.

But why is it a triangle?

Imagine a triangle with three sides of equal length. If one side is stretched, you need to make the other sides shrink to maintain the same perimeter. If someone wants to complete more work in a short time, they need to invest more. In this case, scope is greater, time is limited, and budget is extended.

Understanding The Triple Constraints of Project Management

Scope

A project's scope includes what should be done, what should be avoided, how the project will turn out, and how to determine whether it was successful. All of these are written or mentioned in a document called a scope document. For example, if a company is building a website, how many developers does it need to hire? The final product will be a mobile-friendly website, 10 web pages will be designed, contact form is to be added, and can be the scope of the project.

At the same time, what is not to be done, such as creating an app for mobile, should also be mentioned in a scope.

Time

When is the ideal time to start working on the project, when should it end, deadlines to complete a particular step or task, and milestones (checkpoints along the way), time covers all of these.

Time means to perform a task in a series, a task which is important to complete before, should be done and dusted, and then another step should be approached. If a task isn’t completed, and another step is approached, it may confuse leading to delaying of a project. Or, in other cases, if one task is taking time to be completed, it automatically delays the other parts, hence delaying the whole project.

Cost

People working on a project: how much money will they be paid, what amount of money will be spent to rent certain equipment, purchase supplies, and pay for other unforeseen costs that may arise during the project? The overall money to finish a project is cost. The project manager determines the budget before beginning work on a project in order to determine how much will be needed and how much the business has to meet the needs.

Practical Importance of Project Management Triangle

It governs trade-offs

If one of the three changes, then it will affect the other limitations. Suppose a client demands more work to be done, but doesn’t offer more time and is still restricted to the same budget; the project delivered will have no quality.

Brings Realism and Honesty

Due to the project management triangle, unrealistic demands can be discussed by stating facts. Suppose if someone wants more developers to join the team, with the help of pm triangle, the project manager can come to a decision that if they are increasing the number of developers, they need to increase the budget. As a result, the project will be delivered in less time than before.

Clarifies Priorities

With the help of project management triangle, before even beginning to start a project, clients and project managers can decide which part to keep fixed, and what can be changed further. For example, a company can have a fixed budget to build a website; they can adjust their time and scope accordingly.

Manages Stakeholder Expectations

The pm triangle gives an understanding of what everyone has agreed on, and any further changes can cause consequences. In this way, a burden like scope creep can be avoided.

​Aids Risk Management

Seeing the triple constraints of project management in a triangle helps everyone to identify what isn’t enough to complete a project. If the budget is less and the work is more, so is the time; you still have time before to fill the gaps, before things fall apart.

Tips For Balancing The Project Management Triangle

Prioritize and Identify Fixed Constraints

Everyone involved in the project should be clearly informed about what is fixed and which of the three can be adjusted. Suppose, on a particular date, a company wants their project to go on the floor; this means time cannot be compromised. Therefore, they have to compromise on budget (more money) and scope (launch the project with limited features).

Meticulously Define the Scope

Everyone involved in the project needs to be aware of the end product's appearance, what must be included, and what can be avoided. Therefore, before the project begins, everyone is well aware of what needless tasks they should avoid and become puzzled about.

Everyone involved in the project should focus on working on the most important task/feature first, and then move to the other features. If the budget is limited and time is also limited, then working on less important features can be either abandoned or delayed.

For example, if a company is making a shopping website, then important features such as browsing products, adding to cart, and making purchases should be prioritized. At the same time, features such as recommending similar products can be avoided or added afterwards.

Establish a Formal Change Management Process

Once working on a project has started, clients or the members working on a team may demand to make changes. But before making any changes, approval is necessary. What if the changes that have been requested increase the overall budget, extend the time the project has to be completed, or require more resources to make the changes?

Choose the Right Project Management Methodology

Choose the best suitable methodology for project management. From planning a project to organizing and finally completing the project, choosing the right approach makes it easier to manage the project's time, cost, and scope.

Communicate Continuously with Stakeholders

If team members, as well as clients, know what chunk of the project has been completed, how much is left, and how much is still in progress, they will clearly understand whether everything is going as planned. Which constraints cannot be changed and which can be adjusted should also be communicated to them. 

If there are any delays, the stakeholders should be informed. If extra money is used, the workload keeps fluctuating, and problems occur during the project, stakeholders should know.

Tools For PM Triangle Management

General Project Management Software

Asana: How much time has the team spent, and how much is left? Is the work progressing according to what was planned, within the available time and resources? This tool tracks all of these.

Microsoft Project: Project managers can create detailed schedules with the help of this tool. In this way, they can divide a large project into small portions and track which is more important and has to be completed first. Due to this, delays can be avoided.

Kanbanchi: For organizing different tasks, Kanban boards can be used. And to decide the end date of a project, Gantt charts is useful. With the help of this tool, which tasks are done and dusted, which tasks people are still working on, and which tasks are yet to begin are tracked. It is also helpful for project managers to check if the project is progressing as planned on the calendar. 

Lark: Team communication, document sharing, and project tracking can be combined in one platform. Team members can discuss tasks, share updates, and monitor project progress without using multiple applications.

Time & Schedule Management Tools

Trello: A team can arrange work using boards and cards. Each part or task of a project has a particular date on which it has to be finished, so with the help of this tool, it is easy to see what has been done, what is still waiting, and what is currently taking place. 

Teamhood: What should be the timetable for the project (start date, task completion, and end date)? Gantt charts is a useful tool for this. 

Zoho Projects: How much time has been spent to complete a task can be recorded with the help of this tool. It also aids teams in keeping track of crucial project deadlines and keeping an eye on the work's overall development.

Cost & Budget Management Tools

QuickBooks / FreshBooks: How much money has been spent? This tool helps project managers to keep a track of this. They can create invoices, keep a record of expenses, and stay informed about payments due with this tool.

Productive: Is the project under profit or loss? Is it earning more money than what it costs? This tool helps to monitor that. Not only that, agencies and service-based businesses can plan the budget of a project and also keep an eye on the money spent with the help of this tool.

Microsoft Excel: The different cells in a spreadsheet can be used to record different things, such as expenses, costs, and budgets, and to compare planned spending with actual spending.

Scope Management Tools

Jira: Helps teams organize what is required for a project, divide work into smaller portions, track new feature requests, and manage work in different stages. It is particularly useful for software development teams.

Confluence: With the help of this tool, teams can not only create documents that include information regarding the requirements to complete a project, plans, decisions, and progress updates, but also they can share the document. It is a common place where everyone associated with the project can get to know what the project includes and they have got approval to make which changes.

Project Management Triangle vs. Other Constraint Models

Conclusion

The project management triangle has three sides: scope, time and cost. If scope changes, time changes or cost changes the other two will also change. The three sides form a triangle. Quality sits in the middle. The project management triangle defines what must be delivered, which tasks are important and which tasks can be avoided or performed later. With the help of the project management triangle, all of these can be stated factually. Remember to use tools that facilitate your task. 

Nonetheless, our organization, Sprintzeal, offers various courses running in 490-plus locations across the globe. It offers different modes of training, from classroom and online to corporate training. With 2 million+ global learners, our organization is reputed for providing 100-plus courses running daily. The trainer who teaches the concepts not only has theoretical knowledge but also has real-world knowledge. The courses related to this topic are: 

PMP Certification Training

FAQ’s

1. Where is quality placed in the project management triangle?

Quality of a project is placed in the centre, enclosed by three sides representing three limitations that are scope, time, and cost. If the three constraints are balanced and managed properly, the project is delivered with quality.

2. What is the golden triangle in project management?

Golden triangle is just the other name of triple constraint or iron triangle.What must be delivered is included in the scope of the project. When to complete the project means time, and how much money is required to successfully finish the project is cost. All three are the sides of a triangle, enclosing quality, which is placed in the center of the triangle. Quality relies on how well balanced the three constraints are.

3. 5 C’s of project management, what are those?

The 5 C’s of project management are: Complexity, Criticality, Compliance, Culture, and Compassion. The 5 C’s not only cover the practical side of managing a project, such as planning and finishing a task, but also the people-related side, such as communication and teamwork.

4. What is meant by scope creep in project management, and why does it occur?

People have started to work on a project, after that requirement to increase the number of features, or do any other extra task is demanded, without providing extra time, money, and resources, then scope creep occurs. Communication gaps, weak governance, and behavioural habits lead to scope creep.