The Golden Triangle of Project Management

Micro Learning Unit

  • Known also as The Triple Constraints
  • Describes the constraints in the project and the competition between them
  • demonstrates the basic mathematical relationship between its parts: any change to one axis necessitates corresponding change in one or more of the others
  • The task: Balance competing constraints before committing to a project
  • The challenge: to keep the triangle balanced throughout the project even in the face of changes that will necessarily occur

Any part of the triangle may change during the project – whether as a result of constraints / changes in the project itself or those that affect it from the outside. For example, it is quite common for there to be changes in the project’s resources or schedule due to different constraints. The project budget may also change as a result of constraints. But particularly interesting is actually the scope because it has a natural tendency to grow – regardless of external constraints, simply by the very nature of a project. There are two main reasons for the increase in the project scope:

  1. Legitimate reasons stemming from the low level of certainty that characterizes projects;
  2. Non-material reasons related to partial or defective planning.

The role of the project manager is to ensure the best possible planning under uncertainty, and to prepare well for the inherent uncertainty of a project.

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