Prior to my recent crash course introduction to project management at the University of Auckland, I had no idea what the project management triangle was.
It seems kinda basic now. To be honest, I feel like an idiot for not knowing this despite having worked on a number of projects where this language is used all the time.
However, it’s also possible that my experience is typical for people like me who don’t have a background in project management but end up rising to the level of their incompetence eventually.
Here’s the lowdown:
- The triangle models the constraints of the project.
- Sometimes this is called the triple constraints of project management.
- The constraints are time (or schedule), cost (or budget) and scope (or deliverables).
- These constraints are areas where changes are introduced.
- Together they determine the quality of a project.
- The key is to balance these constraints throughout the project.
- It’s an iterative process as changes are going to occur throughout the project.
This is part of a series I’m writing on the basics of project management. You can read the others here:
And it’s part of my self-imposed professional development for 2018 which I’m calling the NMBAMBA – The Non-MBA, MBA.
Any comments? Nope. That’s fine.