Project Factor Triangle
When I was in school for my masters degree, one of my teachers informed the class of a principal of the project factor triangle (I’m sure they had a snazzy name for it, but I can’t remember what it is). This was pretty much done as a side note afterthought, but it’s stuck with me. Only since I’ve been consulting the last year has this really hit home.
The premise is that you have a triangle and each side has a label:
- Money
- Time
- Quality
In a project as you reduce or increase 2 of those factors it will automatically increase or decrease another one. For example if you want a project delivered at a high quality (increase the quality line) within a short amount of time (decrease the time line), than it will cost a lot of money (to keep it a triangle than the money line has to increase). Or if you want don’t want to spend a lot of money and still want it in a short amount of time, than the quality is going to decrease.
The basic premise is you only get to choose 2 of these factors, the third is chosen as a result of the two you pick. So when you are planning your projects make sure you pick the 2 that are most important to you.
Ah, the iron triangle. Great concept.