“Complete the project in 6 months.”
“Complete the project within $ 100 Million.”
“The outcome of the project must have following features…”
The above statements are examples of project constraints. Traditionally; Time, Cost and Scope are considered as triple constraints. We all know that! However, we need to understand that these are project boundaries and not project targets!
Often, the project team plans the project keeping these as target and end up not meeting them.
Think about the following situations:
- If the project has to be completed within 6 months and your project team targets the project end date by the end of 6th month; how are the chances of project completion within 6 months?
- In order ensure project completion within 6 months, what if the project team plans to complete the project by end of 5th month; how are the chances of project completion within 6 months?
One could feel that the later looks more realistic because the project team is planning to end the project one month before. This is an example of project time baseline.
Project baselines (Time, Cost and Scope) are generally lesser than or equal to constraints. It need not be always equal to constraints. The project baselines are created by the end of planning process whereas the constraints are given in the beginning of the project.
Important notes on project baselines:
- If the baseline is equal to constraint, the project is running on a tight rope and carries a risk of not meeting the project objective.
- The baselines are created at the end of planning process. This is a chance for the project manager to reconcile the baselines with the constraints. If the baselines exceed the constraint, you would know that even before the project has started execution and hence gives an opportunity for the project manager to request a change the project constraint(s) or request reduced scope.
Author: Raghuraman Kadambi
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/project-constraint-vs-baseline-raghuraman-kadambi-pmp/
Image credit: Lucélia Ribeiro / CC BY-SA