MLM companies can benefit by using the project management triangle in preparing for initial launch, website updates, new products, or expansion into new countries. If you are a project manager, you most likely have heard of the Time-Cost-Quality Triangle, also commonly known as the Triple Constraint, the Triangle of Balance, or the Iron Triangle.
The project management triangle shows us there are 3 concerns for a project
- Time / Speed
- Cost / Budget
- Quality
Where do your priorities lie
Unfortunately, you usually can’t have all 3, a high quality project, done quickly, at the lowest price (see our article about this). If Speed and Quality are the most important, the project will be more expensive. When Cost and Quality are the most important, your project will be slowed down. However if Speed and Cost are the most important, your project will be lower quality. All of these are important in project management
Triangle of balance has a 4th area that many do not address, which is scope. Unlike quality, scope is about quantity. If you can’t compromise on a schedule, budget, or quality you may want to look at the scope. So if you do want all 3, you can reduce the scale of your ambition to still meet the requirements of time, cost, and quality.
Scope Creep
Another phenomenon I would like to touch on is known as “scope creep” which is linked to the triangle. Scope creep is a tendency of a project to accumulate new functionality or grow larger than originally planned. If your project is poorly defined you’ll need to evolve and scope creep is inevitable. A large amount of scope creep however can be disastrous to a project, adding time and resources.
When the scope starts to creep, new functionality must be added to cover the increased scope. The quality side of the triangle represents fulfilling the client’s requirements. Thus, more requirements fulfilled = a better quality product.
A good understanding of your choices in project management, and the role of scope in the delivery of your project, leads to better decision-making.