The success of most complex projects relies on the participation of several levels of contracting / subcontracting companies. These companies may be providing services, equipment / materials, or a combination. In this scenario, each participating company would typically have a Project Manager representing them and each Project Manager would be managing the constraints (Scope, Cost, Schedule, Resources, Quality, Customer Satisfaction) in a manner that benefits the company that they represent.
A Project with multiple companies / Project Managers is ripe for conflict due to a constant tug-of-war between the different companies. Many of these conflicts can be reduced once one attempts to understand the constraints seen from different perspectives.
Let's take a generalized example of a project in which three companies are participating.
The Project
Company A needs to upgrade their facilities by installing a particular type of equipment and is purchasing this equipment from another company.
Company B manufactures this equipment and is selling it to company A.
Company C has been hired by company B in order to install / deploy this equipment.
Scope
Company A sees the scope of this project as 'whatever needs to be done to complete this upgrade succesfully'. Company A has little incentive to manage scope.
Company B sees the scope of this project as 'the delivery of equipment & services as purchased by Company A in support of this deployment'. They will keep a Hawk's eye on the scope of this project and they have little incentive to do anything extra.
Company C sees the scope of this project as 'the delivery of services as purchased by Company B'. They will only perform services as guided by company B and they have even lesser incentive to do anything extra.
Cost
Company A's cost includes everything they pay company B in order to deliver the equipment & support services. They need to have a very large budget and they will only recoup their cost (in most cases) after some time has passed and their customers have used their upgraded equipment for some time.
Company B's cost is whatever they pay company C in order to perform their services plus any operational overhead to support the project. Their costs are mostly recovered (depending on how the payment terms are written in the contract) as soon as equipment & services are delivered.
Company C's cost is based upon the time & materials spent on performing the services required by company B. Company C's costs are recovered mostly (again depending on how the payment terms are written in the contract) upon completion of services.
Schedule
Company A, if there are no references to timelines in the contracts, would want all equipment / services delivered immediately, and will drive company B & company C to do so.
Comapny B's schedule will mostly be dependent upon the availability of equipment that they manufacture & is being purchased by company A.
Company C's schedule will be dependent upon the availability of materials & manpower needed to complete the services purchased by Company A.
Resources
Company A, since having purchased equipment & services from company B will not want to increase their cost further by assigning many more resources to this project. They will only assign resources that they deem absolutely necessary for this project.
Company B will supply the resources necessary to support the delivery of equipment to company A but will expect company C to supply resources needed for delivery of services.
Company C will supply the resources necessary to support the services purchased by company B, but will make no effort to increase their cost by supplying extra resources.
Quality
Company A expects the project to be delivered with good quality.
Company B expects company A to define quality metrics for it to deliver good quality.
Company C expects company B to define quality metrics for it to deliver their services with good quality.
Customer Satisfaction
Company A's customers are all the potential users of the eqipment being deployed by Company B.
Company B's customer is company A and it will work toward their satisfaction.
Company C's customer is company B but it needs to work towards the satisfaction of company B & company C.
© 2008 Saad Farooqi
Monday, November 24, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Triple ? Constraint
I was reading some PM Blogs and saw that there is a lot of confusion / disagreement about the 'Triple' Constraint that project manager's use to manage their projects. The argument is, that the triple constraints have historically been of Time, Cost & Scope. Many Project Manager's argue that this picture of the triple constraint is incomplete without the addition of 'Quality'. Other's argue that Quality is actually part of the Scope. Some other Project Manager's think that the whole 'triple constraint' concept is now obsolete and some other means should be used to create measurable metrics for success of a project.
I will make an attempt to put this argument into perspective, but try not to be so arrogant as to come up with an end-all answer to this argument (although towards the end I will try to 'illustrate' my method managing a project).
PMIs Triple Constraint
As defined in the PMBOK, the Triple Constraint is: A Framework for evaluating competing demands. The triple constraint is often depicted as a triangle where one of the sides or one of the corners represent one of the parameters being managed by the project team.
As such, it is just a 'framework' for evaluating 'competing demands'. The fact that it is 'often' depicted as a triangle does not mean that it is 'always' depicted as a triangle or that there are only 3 elements to the triple constraint.
Also, throughout the PMBOK guide - third edition, there are only 2 references to the Triple Constraint; once where it is defined (page 378), and once where the constraints of project scope, time & cost are also said to be affected by quality, risk & customer satisfaction (page 8).
Basically, in PMIs approach, the triple constraint is the collection of 'constraints' (not necessarily three) that are interconnected and any change in one of the constraints will have an affect on another. PMIs nine knowledge areas are the areas that every Project Manager should have knowledge of and be able to manage - Integration, Scope, Time, Cost, Quality, Human Resources, Communications, Risk, Procurement. So, in essence through the knowledge areas, PMI has increased the triple constraint from three constraints to nine.
Rita Mulcahy's Approach
In Rita's books (PMP Exam Prep, Fifth Edition: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam & Risk Management, Tricks of the Trade) she considers the triple constraints to be of cost, time, scope, quality, risk and customer satisfaction. So, she thinks that there are six elements to the triple constraint.
Finding Common Ground
In my opinion, everyone is talking about the same thing but they are approaching it from a different view. If you really think about it, quality can be considered a part of scope (since it should be defined prior to the project by all stakeholders), and customer satisfaction can be considered a part of quality (since the customer will be one of the stakeholders and he will have a say in how the quality is defined and hence how the scope is defined) or the customer can also be considered a part of time since he will be driving the schedule. And finally, Risk is the unknown part of all the constraints. It is all about planning on how to react to an unexpected event. So, depending upon whether the Risk is related to cost, sope, or time, it can be considered part of the initial three elements of the triple constraint too.
My Approach
The way I manage projects, I take into consideration all the constraints of:
Summary
The 'Triple Constraint' refers to the framework for evaluating competing demands. How many elements this triple constraint has, depends a lot on the nature of the project. As a PM, we train ourselves to see these competing demands in our head, and make all our decisions in light of the fact that every decision that affects one element of this framework will have an impact on at least one other element as well.
© 2008 Saad Farooqi
I will make an attempt to put this argument into perspective, but try not to be so arrogant as to come up with an end-all answer to this argument (although towards the end I will try to 'illustrate' my method managing a project).
PMIs Triple Constraint
As defined in the PMBOK, the Triple Constraint is: A Framework for evaluating competing demands. The triple constraint is often depicted as a triangle where one of the sides or one of the corners represent one of the parameters being managed by the project team.
As such, it is just a 'framework' for evaluating 'competing demands'. The fact that it is 'often' depicted as a triangle does not mean that it is 'always' depicted as a triangle or that there are only 3 elements to the triple constraint.
Also, throughout the PMBOK guide - third edition, there are only 2 references to the Triple Constraint; once where it is defined (page 378), and once where the constraints of project scope, time & cost are also said to be affected by quality, risk & customer satisfaction (page 8).
Basically, in PMIs approach, the triple constraint is the collection of 'constraints' (not necessarily three) that are interconnected and any change in one of the constraints will have an affect on another. PMIs nine knowledge areas are the areas that every Project Manager should have knowledge of and be able to manage - Integration, Scope, Time, Cost, Quality, Human Resources, Communications, Risk, Procurement. So, in essence through the knowledge areas, PMI has increased the triple constraint from three constraints to nine.
Rita Mulcahy's Approach
In Rita's books (PMP Exam Prep, Fifth Edition: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam & Risk Management, Tricks of the Trade) she considers the triple constraints to be of cost, time, scope, quality, risk and customer satisfaction. So, she thinks that there are six elements to the triple constraint.
Finding Common Ground
In my opinion, everyone is talking about the same thing but they are approaching it from a different view. If you really think about it, quality can be considered a part of scope (since it should be defined prior to the project by all stakeholders), and customer satisfaction can be considered a part of quality (since the customer will be one of the stakeholders and he will have a say in how the quality is defined and hence how the scope is defined) or the customer can also be considered a part of time since he will be driving the schedule. And finally, Risk is the unknown part of all the constraints. It is all about planning on how to react to an unexpected event. So, depending upon whether the Risk is related to cost, sope, or time, it can be considered part of the initial three elements of the triple constraint too.
My Approach
The way I manage projects, I take into consideration all the constraints of:
- Cost
- Time
- Scope
- Quality
- Risk
- Customer Satisfaction
- Integration
- Procurement
- Communications
- Human Resources
Summary
The 'Triple Constraint' refers to the framework for evaluating competing demands. How many elements this triple constraint has, depends a lot on the nature of the project. As a PM, we train ourselves to see these competing demands in our head, and make all our decisions in light of the fact that every decision that affects one element of this framework will have an impact on at least one other element as well.
© 2008 Saad Farooqi
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Breaking in to the Blogging World
Today is November 12, 2008. A day when I have taken the dive into blogging world. Although a few friends of mine have had blogs for years now, I resisted the fad, until today.
In the coming days, months, & hopefully years, I will be sharing my ideas on project management through this blog. Ideas about what project management is, what I think it should be, and what I hope it will become.
I am a recent recipient of the PMP certification (last year), so, at the moment, my ideas and thoughts may appear to be limited by one methodology, but I hope to acquire knowledge regarding other methodologies as well.
I have also mostly worked in the Wireless Telecommunications Industry, so, again, most of my experience relates to that industry, though I will make every attempt to generalize my thoughts, or at the least illustrate how the concepts and ideas presented may be implemented in other industries as well.
The purposes of this blog will be the following:
1. To post my ideas about project management
2. To increase my project management knowledge, while searching for topics to blog about
3. To work on my literary skills while posting my blogs
4. To network with people interested in learning and sharing their knowledge about project management.
Well, that's all I have for now. I hope that I will gain a lot of knowledge & relationships through blogging & networking with the readers of my blog (maybe I'll be lucky enough to finally have my own stalker!!).
© 2008 Saad Farooqi
In the coming days, months, & hopefully years, I will be sharing my ideas on project management through this blog. Ideas about what project management is, what I think it should be, and what I hope it will become.
I am a recent recipient of the PMP certification (last year), so, at the moment, my ideas and thoughts may appear to be limited by one methodology, but I hope to acquire knowledge regarding other methodologies as well.
I have also mostly worked in the Wireless Telecommunications Industry, so, again, most of my experience relates to that industry, though I will make every attempt to generalize my thoughts, or at the least illustrate how the concepts and ideas presented may be implemented in other industries as well.
The purposes of this blog will be the following:
1. To post my ideas about project management
2. To increase my project management knowledge, while searching for topics to blog about
3. To work on my literary skills while posting my blogs
4. To network with people interested in learning and sharing their knowledge about project management.
Well, that's all I have for now. I hope that I will gain a lot of knowledge & relationships through blogging & networking with the readers of my blog (maybe I'll be lucky enough to finally have my own stalker!!).
© 2008 Saad Farooqi
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