Throughout the project life cycle, you will see a lot of the terms “project assumptions” and “constraints.” These are significant phrases in the project planning process, according to the PMI’s exam the PMP (Project Manager Professional) certification, they play an important part in the scope definition process since the project scope is finalized during this stage. The project scope, on the other hand, specifies the characteristics of the project’s final deliverables. These phrases are also in the Project Scope Statement, which is the primary result of the Define Scope process. It’s important to Understand the Meanings of Project Assumptions and Constraints as they are very important for Project Managers
These two concepts, project assumptions, and limitations will be defined in this article. We’ll also provide you with some examples to help you understand them better. Try joining a PMP project management course and preparing for the PMP Certification test for more extensive explanations and examples.
Project constraints? What is the meaning of that term?
Project constraints are barriers that hinder various options and pathways available to the project team to complete the project. These come in many forms: Cost, Scope, Quality, Customer Satisfaction, Resources, and Time. Therefore, limits must be considered during the project planning phase and how they will affect the deliverables of the project. The project dependencies, as well as the scheduling, cost, quality, human resources, technical, and other restrictions, are more examples of these constraints in action.
A project timetable limitation, for example, could be something to the tune of “Project must be done in 6 months!” and that “From 12 a.m. until 6 a.m., the present system must not be stopped.” This is an example of a technical limitation. This limitation necessitates avoiding modifying the existing system from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. for 6 hours. As a result, no activities should be scheduled during certain time periods in a day while planning project activities. While this specific example seems benign enough, projects may have more severe and impactful limitations, if that time was set to 1pm to 4pm for example, most teams would have serious issues and would need to work around that.
Project assumptions? What is the meaning of that term?
“A thing that is regarded as true or as certain to happen, without proof,” is what we call an assumption, according to the dictionary. As a result, the project assumptions are presumed to be correct. However, these project assumptions may or may not be realized throughout project implementation and as such a project manager must clearly remember these are assumptions and not something that will 100% happen. Planning entails predicting future actions based on current facts. So, creating project assumptions is an inescapable part of the planning process.
“A committed individual from the marketing team will help the team,” is an example of a project assumption. However, specialized marketing employees may not be accessible during implementation or may be accessible only 1-2 days per week. And this will have an impact on your project.
Alternatively, “the bug fix effort for each advanced screen will not surpass 20% of the ongoing development for the same screen.” This is one of the most typical project assumptions in software project predictions. However, if there are a lot of issues after the program is produced, bug fix efforts might reach 20%, causing project delays or budget overruns. Planning and understanding that these assumptions may be wrong is essential to prepare your project for every eventuality.
We’ve discussed project restrictions and assumptions, as well as presented examples. During the project planning and execution stages, a project manager must consider these two issues at all times. Because limits will limit their choices, options and pathways during the project life cycle. Assumptions that do not prove to be correct may have an impact on the entire project.
Now that you can Understand the Meanings of Project Assumptions and Constraints you can look into more in depth solutions to improve your Project Management Career. Earn a project management certification and prepare for the exam with an online PMP Course. There are no constraints to your progress!