Project Management Triangle: Importance, Types & Benefits

Types of Relationships in Triple Constraints

Two types of relationships exist among the triple constraints of project management. They are Direct and Indirect:

1. Direct Relationship

A direct relationship is a relationship between scope and the other two variables (that is, time and budget). The project management scope is directly proportional to project cost and time. This means that time and cost should also increase when the scope increases.

2. Inverse Relationship

An inverse relationship is an inversely proportional relationship between time and cost. When cost is minimized, the deadlines should be extended and vice versa.

The relationships mentioned above cannot be changed. Project managers cannot bend the triple constraints of project management to their will, no matter how hard or strongly they act. That is why the triple constraints are called the “iron triangle” of project management.

Relationship Between the Project Management Constraints

Project managers can reduce or increase the project scope, cost, and time with trade-offs to maintain schedule and budget. Below are some examples to show how triple constraints of project management trade-offs work:

1. Time and Scope:

If the project is behind schedule, the project manager should reduce time to minimize project costs. Conversely, they should increase the project duration when the stakeholders assign extra activities.

2. Cost and Scope:

When we minimize the project scope, it results in reduced project costs and vice versa.

3. Cost and Time:

Time and cost are also directly related in most cases. For example, if you need heavy machinery for more time, the cost of rent will be increased accordingly.

How Project Managers Should Handle Triple Constraints of Project Management?

A project manager must thoroughly understand each variable in the triple constraints of project management and be adaptable to changes as the project progresses. Here are the sugguestions for project managers on how to handle their project management triple constraints for better results:

1. Managing Scope Constraint

The scope is the length of the project and measures the quality, magnitude, and details of all project deliverables. You must ensure that your project length is management. As the length of the project increases, it ultimately needs more time and budget for the completion of project.

2. Managing Budget Constraint

The budget, referred to as “resources,” comprises all of the instruments, apparatus, and assistance needed to finish the project. For example, adding staff necessitates a larger compensation budget, seizing the chance to extend office hours, which also requires a larger budget for electricity and consumption of other utilities.

3. Managing Time Constraint

Time is an important factor in triple constraints of project management, which is widely considered for the project management success. As a project manager, you can figure out budget cuts or scope expansions by easing some time limits of a project.

How to Get a Better Project Management Triangle?

Here are some important considerations in order to get a better project management triangle in your project:

1. Decide Top Priorities

No project can succeed if the triple constraints of project management are inflexible. So, we should find and consider at least one of the triple constraints, where we have the flexibility to make changes when needed.

2. Set Well-defined Expectations

To avoid unfulfilled expectations, we need to clearly define our project’s priorities to our client and any other project stakeholders. Unanticipated issues often impact project management contracts in engineering and construction fields. They will contain unique provisions that assist the project manager in bringing all parties together before the start of the project. Among these components are:

• Client-approved Contingency Budgets in AdvanceA list of typical possible postponements (weather, natural disasters, regional events, etc.)
• A list of commonly used action plans the time and expense that would need to be added in the event of each eventuality for every delay.

3. Correspond to Stakeholders

After establishing a mutually acceptable course of action that consists of a potential budget, scope adjustments, and schedule for various circumstances, it is mandatory to update all stakeholders of any changes and predictions throughout the project.

4. Create Risk Management Procedures

Your project management procedure should include risk planning to avoid scope creep, maintain timeliness and budget, determine the project risks, and then create a plan to reduce them.

5. Establish Change Management Procedures

Change in project management is unavoidable. A change management procedure provides an organized method for approving or rejecting changes to guarantee team members are informed about any change and their effects on the project.

6. Select a Method Based on Project Management Triple Constraint

Depending on the limitations encountered, you should decide to use the right project management methodology. Waterfall project management methodology is widely used to manage projects with stringent constraints. An Agile project management approach can be more appropriate if greater flexibility is required. A lean project management strategy can help with projects where inefficiencies are reduced as much as feasible.

7. Practice Project Management Software

Appropriate project management software tool is required to increase visibility, promote stakeholder communication, manage resources, allocate and schedule activities, and issue project alerts.

How to Balance the Project Management Triangle?

The triple constraints of project management look very simple, but each of the three in the project management triangle is unpacked to expose deep meaning. Let us find out how you can balance the three constraints:

1. Balancing Cost in Project Management Triangle

The financial assurance of the project is based on several variables and resources, from people to materials, and other fixed and variable costs associated with the project, like equipment or labor. This can come into play with the use of outsourcing. To keep expenses under control, you, as a project manager, must perform the following tasks:

• Calculate the expenses for each task included in the project’s scope.
• Create a project budget depending on the project’s expenses.
• Utilize the project budget to keep expenses under control while the project is being carried out.
• Manage all project expenses to maintain spending within the allocated budget.
• If required, modify the project budget.

2. Balancing Scope in Project Management Triangle

The project’s scope includes all project work necessary to finish. For a project to be successful, managing that work is essential. Prioritize your tasks is scope management, which helps you plan and allocate resources. Project managers can control scope in the following ways:

• Use a scope management plan to specify exactly what will be done for the project.
• Distribute the scope management strategy to all parties involved to ensure everyone agrees.
• Use change orders to prevent scope creep and maintain track of all modifications made to the project scope.
• Control stakeholder expectations to keep the project’s scope intact.
• Keep track of every project activity inside the scope using task management tools and procedures.

3. Balancing Time in Project Management Triangle

The project schedule is the calculated time needed to finish the project or generate the final output. This is often determined by how long each project job will take.

Every project activity is identified using a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). The project’s overall time is ascertained by project managers using various scheduling techniques, such as PERT charts or the critical path method. To manage time and balance project management triple constraints, you must perform the following tasks:

• Use a Gantt chart to see the project schedule, establish task sequences, and track each activity’s length.
• Establish guidelines, protocols, and records to organize, carry out, and oversee the project schedule.
• Utilize a resource schedule to distribute resources and prevent bottlenecks in your projects.
• Compare the actual progress of your project to its schedule baseline in order to see if your project is on track or not.

5 Key Benefits of the Project Management Triangle

The project management triple constraint enables project managers to analyze resources, prioritize tasks, and achieve goals effectively by concentrating on the three components: scope, time, and cost. Let us review the important benefits of the Project Management Triangle and how it leads to project success.

1. Clear Prioritization of Project Goals

The Project Management Triangle helps set clear project priorities, which is one of its biggest advantages.

• Scope: Sets deliverables and makes sure everybody knows what the project entails.
• Time: Assists in setting deadlines and balancing schedules.
• Cost: Helps prevent overspending, reducing financial risk.

For Example:

Suppose a project is about to get budget cuts. In that case, the project management triangle can help stakeholders decide which factor is less important: to drop the scope or have a longer timeline but maintain quality. Identifying and judging these factors also facilitates informed and consistent decision-making amongst your project team.

2. Enhanced Resouce Optimization

In Project Management Triangle, if you adjust one point, it affects the other two. So, their resources are easier to distribute and manage. Knowing how one constraint impacts the others allows you to be a more thoughtful project manager about resource allocation.

For Example:

• If the timeline is absolutely non-negotiable, you will likely need more hands on deck, raising costs.
• If cost must be reduced, scope or timeframe may have to be adjusted.

Such a connected operating handle framework optimizes the use of resources and helps to eliminate bottlenecks.

3. Improved Risk Management

The iron triangle project management offers a framework to help identify and mitigate risk and prepare you for possible challenges and planning to mitigate them.

For Example:

• Reducing the time required for your project may result in poor quality or increased costs.
• Without extra resources, increasing scope could slow down the project’s completion.
• This also means that using the triple constraints of project management, Risk is minimized, contingencies are discussed, and project execution goes smoothly.

4. Improved Collaboration and Communication

Stakeholder communication is made easier through the project management triangle’s architecture. It also serves as a visual aide that reduces intricate project dynamics into manageable levels for teams to have conversations and get consensus on expectations.

For Example:

• In a meeting with a client, the project management triangle is used to articulate why the scope of the project may need to be broadened but will take more time or resources to complete.
• Project management triple constraint also helps align teams on priorities so that conflicts are minimized, and collaboration is improved.

This shared understanding provides clarity and transparency and ensures that everyone in the project management team is contributing towards common goals.

5. Enables Agility in Your Project

Adaptability is essential in dynamic industries like IT and construction. In fact, the project management triple constraints ask for flexibility, as changing one constraint affects the other.

For Example:

In Agile project management, where iterative and incremental development is crucial, the project management triangle enables the project teams to juggle several time-boxed sprints with constantly changing requirements. This flexibility means that your project stays in line even when circumstances change.

Final Words

Monitoring and balancing the triple constraints of project management gives many advantages.

1. Observing the Impact of Altering One Constraint on Others

If you decide to change the scope of a product you intend to launch, you can be certain that the budget or the timetable will need to be extended.

2. Reducing the Risk

Suppose you have a strict deadline for your software launch project and are concerned that your engineers won’t meet it. If you need to hire an additional engineer to assist with tasks, you can request a contingency budget from stakeholders.

3. Making a Project’s Priorities Clear

Does your project have precise deliverable requirements, a tight budget, or a firm deadline? Being aware of this can help you better envision what a successful project would entail.