Identifying Project Constraints

Everyone has constraints on decision-making and action. During project organizational planning, there are many constraints to consider. Some of the most common constraints on decision-making are the organizational structure, collective bargaining agreements, the preferences of the project management team, and expected staff assignments.

Organizational structure
Organizational structure can be a constraint. The level of authority given to a project manager is largely dependent on the organizational structure, which may be functional, matrix, or fully projectized.

• Functional structure - In a functional structure, personnel are grouped hierarchically by speciality.
• Matrix structure - In a matrix structure, project managers share responsibility with functional managers.
• Fully projectized structure - In a fully projectized structure, project managers have total authority.

Collective bargaining agreements
Collective bargaining agreements are another potential constraint. Written agreements with unions or other employee groups ensure that you don't ask anything of your team that goes beyond what the union has agreed is appropriate. For example, a union may require that certain employees be hired, or it may set boundaries concerning work done by members of the union. Union contracts may also limit work hours and travel and time away from an employee's designated job.

The preferences of the project management team
Team preferences may also be a constraint. A team may be used to functioning independently, and individual team members may resist the changes brought about by interdepartmental interaction.

Expected staff assignments
Expected staff assignments are constraints placed on you and your team from the larger organization. When someone above you expects you to use certain people on your team, you then have the constraint of a pre-selected team. A pre-selected team limits a project manager in a variety of ways. Expected staff assignments can hinder a project when tasks are assigned based on criteria other than competency, the required competencies of the project team are changed, and the chemistry of the project team is altered.

It may seem logical that competency should be the overriding factor in team selection. Unfortunately, organizations themselves are under the constraint of staff availability. There may be redundant employees who have not yet been reassigned to a new full-time position. Projects end at different times. If one ends just as yours is beginning, your project is a convenient new placement for these employees.

Overcoming project constraints resulting from organizational structure, collective bargaining agreements, team preferences, and expected staff assignments is possible when you learn to view constraints as a challenge. When you understand the constraints placed on you, you can plan your strategy to take advantage of the human and material resources at your disposal.

Project Schedule Constraints and Assumptions

When you prepare your project plan, you may be faced with factors that have a negative impact on the project and your planning activities. Two such factors are project constraints and assumptions.

Project constraints and assumptions can be a source of frustration for the project team, especially when the constraints are too stringent and the assumptions invalid. To reduce frustration and enhance efficiency you need to carefully manage constraints and assumptions as you prepare the project schedule.

Constraints
Constraints, as inputs to schedule development, are factors that limit the project management team's options. There are two main types of constraints that project managers must consider when developing the project schedule: imposed dates and major milestones.

• Imposed dates - Completing certain deliverables by a specific date may be required by project sponsors, customers, or other stakeholders.
• Major milestones - You may also be asked to complete a certain phase or aspect of the project by a certain date.

These dates will act as constraints, requiring you to make decisions to see that imposed dates and milestones are reached on time.

Assumptions
PMBOK defines assumptions as, "factors that, for planning purposes, will be considered to be true, real, or certain."

Project managers must often make assumptions in planning the various stages of a project. Assumptions generally involve a degree of risk, therefore they must be carefully monitored during a project's life cycle.

Consider this example. Tell-4-Funds, a telemarketing company, has recently been contracted by a client to lead a national fundraising campaign. The client would like to have the campaign finished in three weeks, in order to begin the next phase of its long-term plan. Tell-4-Funds has just begun the project's schedule development. It has made the assumption that the telemarketers can create the calling lists in two days and begin calling people on the third day.

Project managers use the process of project schedule development to determine realistic start and finish dates and to ensure their project is finished on time. Most constraints can be overcome with proper planning and, in many instances, assumptions can be verified, at least to some degree. Understanding how proposed constraints and assumptions affect the project schedule will reduce frustration while helping to keep your project on time and within budget.

Constraints, Assumptions, and Project Activities

The PMBOK Guide describes a constraint as "anything that can limit the project management team's options." If a constraint is going to limit you, wouldn't it be better to completely avoid it?

Of course it would. Unfortunately, you cannot always avoid constraints, which can create risk. Therefore, project managers should learn to handle constraints—which are inputs to activity duration estimating—so their effects on a project are minimal.

There are two major types of constraints that a project manager must consider when determining the duration of an activity—imposed dates, which are required, and major milestones, which are requested.

• An imposed date is a date that cannot be changed and must be met by the project team.

• A major milestone is a project activity that upon completion will be delivered to the client.

Another input to project activity duration estimating is assumptions. Assumptions are factors that are considered to be true, real, or certain. Over the course of the project, these factors may turn out to be true or false.
Project managers should be extremely careful when making assumptions about a project. Assumptions carry a degree of risk and should be used only when the degree of certainty about the assumption is high.

Remember, constraints and assumptions can cause a risk to your project. With proper planning, you can minimize or avoid the impact of the risk.

The Inputs to Project Activity Definition

When a project reaches the activity definition phase, certain documents or documentable items have already been established. These "inputs to activity definition" include the Work Breakdown Schedule (WBS), scope statement, historical informaiton, constraints, assumptions, and expert judgment.

• Work Breakdown Schedule (WBS)
  One of the principle inputs to activity definition is the WBS. This document defines project tasks and deliverables.
  

• scope statement
  The scope statement refers directly to project justification, project objectives, project deliverables, and project product description.
  

• historical information
  Historical information is another important input to activity definition. Consider activities required on previous, similar projects in defining current project activities. After all, if something works, why not repeat it?
  

• constraints
  Constraints are also an input to project activity definition. A constraint is anything that can limit the project management team's options.
  

• assumptions
  Assumptions are the fourth input to activity definition. For planning purposes, assumptions are factors that are considered to be true. Over the course of the project, these factors may turn out to be true or false.
  
  Assumptions always carry a degree of risk. For example, if assumptions about materials or costs are false, a project may be delayed or exceed its budget.
  

• expert judgment
  The final input to activity definition is expert judgment. Expert judgment is advice from people with specialized knowledge or training that directly relates to your project. Some sources of expert judgment are:
  

experienced employees in the organization
outside consultants
professional associations
industry watch groups.

The inputs to activity definition are an important part of any project. These documents and documentable items help the project manager and team to determine project deliverables and the tools and techniques needed to achieve the deliverables.

Two Inputs to Project Scope Definition

Project success can depend on how well you define the scope of your project, but defining project scope can be a daunting task. Is there any information that can give you a running start on this critically important activity?

The answer is yes. Two source documents—project constraints and project assumptions—are important inputs to scope definition. These documents are typically produced during scope planning activities.

1. Project constraints
One source document that contains information required for scope definition is project constraints. Constraints are factors that limit the management team's options when it comes to scope. It is important that project managers understand the constraints facing their projects so they can adapt their definitions to overcome any limitations. Two types of constraints are described below.

A fixed budget in a contract is an important consideration during scope definition. For example, you may have to use lower-quality supplies due to limited funds.

Regulatory constraints also can limit your options. For example, design specifications may have to be altered to adhere to the regulation laws of a city or state.

2. Project assumptions
The second source document that contains a list of information required for scope definition is project assumptions. Assumptions are factors that, for scope definition purposes, will be considered to be true, real, or certain. It also is important to note that assumptions generally involve a certain degree of risk.
Assumptions that can affect scope definition involve the expectations surrounding the project. When defining the scope, it is important for the project manager to ensure that everyone involved in the project has the same expectations as to deliverables, final product, and roles and responsibilities.

Project constraints and assumptions are two important inputs to scope definition. Not only will they help you set project boundaries, but they also will help you ensure that everyone involved in the project has the same expectations.

Project Management Constraints

Like any human undertaking, projects need to be performed and delivered under certain constraints. Traditionally, these constraints have been listed as scope, time, and cost. These are also referred to as the Project Management Triangle, where each side represents a constraint. One side of the triangle cannot be changed without impacting the others. A further refinement of the constraints separates product 'quality' or 'performance' from scope, and turns quality into a fourth constraint.

The time constraint refers to the amount of time available to complete a project. The cost constraint refers to the budgeted amount available for the project. The scope constraint refers to what must be done to produce the project's end result. These three constraints are often competing constraints: increased scope typically means increased time and increased cost, a tight time constraint could mean increased costs and reduced scope, and a tight budget could mean increased time and reduced scope.

The discipline of project management is about providing the tools and techniques that enable the project team (not just the project manager) to organize their work to meet these constraints.
Another approach to project management is to consider the three constraints as finance, time and human resources. If you need to finish a job in a shorter time, you can throw more people at the problem, which in turn will raise the cost of the project, unless by doing this task quicker we will reduce costs elsewhere in the project by an equal amount.

Time

For analytical purposes, the time required to produce a deliverable is estimated using several techniques. One method is to identify tasks needed to produce the deliverables documented in a work breakdown structure or WBS. The work effort for each task is estimated and those estimates are rolled up into the final deliverable estimate.
The tasks are also prioritized, dependencies between tasks are identified, and this information is documented in a project schedule. The dependencies between the tasks can affect the length of the overall project (dependency constrained), as can the availability of resources (resource constrained). Time is not considered a cost nor a resource since the project manager cannot control the rate at which it is expended. This makes it different from all other resources and cost categories.

Cost

Cost to develop a project depends on several variables including (chiefly): labor rates, material rates, risk management, plant (buildings, machines, etc.), equipment, and profit. When hiring an independent consultant for a project, cost will typically be determined by the consultant's or firm's per diem rate multiplied by an estimated quantity for completion.

Scope

Requirements specified for the end result. The overall definition of what the project is supposed to accomplish, and a specific description of what the end result should be or accomplish. A major component of scope is the quality of the final product. The amount of time put into individual tasks determines the overall quality of the project. Some tasks may require a given amount of time to complete adequately, but given more time could be completed exceptionally. Over the course of a large project, quality can have a significant impact on time and cost (or vice versa).

Together, these three constraints have given rise to the phrase "On Time, On Spec, On Budget". In this case, the term "scope" is substituted with "spec(ification)".