Introduction

One of the most important topics that product managers or project managers must know is the Iron Triangle. This is a model that visualizes the perfect balance between 3 project constraints. Constraints are scope, cost, and time—the trio that also appeared in our article on project management creeps. But in every project, there are 2 more project constrain that operate too – Quality & Resources. 

In total, we have 5 constraints.

  • Scope
  • Cost
  • Quality
  • Time
  • Resources
Project Management Triangle Iron Triangle

This triangle demonstrates how these variables are link to create an independent set. A change in one constraint requires a change in another constraint to maintain the equilibrium of the project.

Achieving a proper balance is crucial for project success; without it, failure is inevitable. Let’s do a brief discussion on every project constraint and understand them.

Project Success: Factors and Limitations

Scope: A statement that defines the boundary of a project. In the IT sector, we call functional requirements or Software requirements specifications (SRS). Scope constraint provides project managers with goals and enables them to estimate project costs and schedule all tasks for the right people. Moreover, a change in the project scope at any stage will create an impact on the project’s progress and the ultimate result will be, delayed delivery dates more labor costs, or both.

Cost: Cost is a major consideration throughout the project management life cycle. Firms generally allocate certain amount of funds for every projects. In more formal situations, the project manager prepares a proposal for the projected work. That proposal includes an estimate of the total cost of the project. This will also include even the preliminary assumptions.

Time: It’s an exact deadline or a time frame for project completion. The client specifies this. Partially, the expense and time are contrarily connected. An expanded scope can increase timelines.

Quality: Quality management is one area that should not be compromised. We have 2 types of quality that are part of every project.

  1. Product Quality: This refers to the quality of deliverables that we have in a project. We ensure the quality of the product by employing previously successful tools and models.
  2. Process Quality: How well a project manager maintains the process in its entire development life cycle is the process quality.

Resources: Resources are assets such as people, equipment, physical facilities, or inventory that have limited availabilities, can be scheduled, or can be leased from an outside party. Some are fixed others are variable only in the long term.

Final Thoughts

In project management, the factors which contribute to project success are also unironically the limiting factors or constraints. Among them is the Iron Triangle, the three limiting that no projects are free of. This is why, these factors requires the expert skills, experience and resourcefulness of a project manager. Project managers must carefully manage and balance these project constraints throughout the project lifecycle to ensure successful delivery.

This page was last edited on 13 June 2024, at 11:32 am