Question

To what extent can the three goals of a project be traded-off for one another?

How do you know if project completion is successful?

Answer 1

For any project, the performance is measured by considering three criteria – if project is on or before time, if the project is on or under the budget and if the project met all the required specification as per customer’s need or requirements. The performance for any given project is measured to the degree these criterions are achieved. As one of the goal is set by the client by agreeing the project contract, decides what capabilities are needed for ‘quality’ project deliverables. This results in great deal of effort from any Project Manager for any unpredicted changes in the project. This results in the trade-off of one objective for one another. For example, if a construction project slips its schedule due to bad weather then additional resources may be applied by a Project Manager. In case the existing budget does not support this change then the Project Manager need to negotiate on the ‘due date’ of the project. If both (budget and time) does not work, then it is fine to accept less profits or paying penalties. Hence, all projects are executed under uncertainty and the trade-offs which are straightforward, are taken care of during the project planning, scheduling and budgeting stages. Most of the time, budget and the duration are traded off but if not, then specification are changes. It is very important for a project manager to know from the early phases of the project which elements are inviolable and which ones are not. Lastly, a successful project always has some flexibility to work around. A project is completed successfully under all the three parameters of time, cost and performance, by meeting all the customer’s specifications and documenting all the know issues and lessons learnt.