Project Constraints
Unregistered says : what are the three constraints on a project?
bas says : Hi Unregistered,
You can find a description of the three constraints here
http://www.softwareprojects.org/project_intake_constraints25.htm
Its about money, time and people (resources actually).
There is also another threat where this is discussed.
After reading the thread I guess the third is quality... heck I'm not even sure right now :confused: just read my description mentioned above and you'll get the drift.
Bas
salcorp says : I believe quality shouldn´t be considered a constraint. It should be a pre-requisite.
Time, cost and resources can all be measured numerically but quality is the company´s own standard and guidelines. It shouln´t even be questioned when the other 3 are brought up.
ross_valusoft says :
salcorp>I believe quality shouldn´t be considered a constraint. It should be a pre-requisite.
Time, cost and resources can all be measured numerically but quality is the company´s own standard and guidelines. It shouln´t even be questioned when the other 3 are brought up.
So do you belong to the school that follows Phil Crosby's "Zero Defects" quality standards?
Regards,
ross_valusoft says :
bas>Hi Unregistered,
You can find a description of the three constraints here
http://www.softwareprojects.org/project_intake_constraints25.htm
Bas
Bas,
I have just read the first paragraph of http://www.softwareprojects.org/project_intake_constraints25.htm
where you say...
"We Dutch are cheap, or at least, that is what's suggested. In Belgium they claim that the Dutch are buried face downwards to have more slots to park our bicycles. I think you can say that we try to avoid spending too much money. If you would do a software project here in the Netherlands you would see a very strong tendency to save as much money as possible. However, never heard of a place where there is an unlimited budget."
I have done many software projects for a Dutch client who lives in Zaandam. I will be sending him this paragraph also...very funny. But seriously, I have not found him to be cheap. I think that you are doing yourself a disservice.
ross_valusoft says :
Unregistered>what are the three constraints on a project?
Hi,
Well actually these days, there are 4 constraints, although I think they are more likely to be considered as objectives.
They are time, cost, quality and scope. Some people tend to forget that resources such as people, equipment, a suitable workplace can all be lumped in the cost objective because generally they can all be bought with money.
In the software context, the scope of the project might be to release a version that includes x,y and z features. But as the project goes along, the PM may realise that he cannot have more time or money or sacrifice the quality of the product, so he may negotiate to alter the project scope by dropping feature "Z" .
Regards,
salcorp says :
ross_valusoft>So do you belong to the school that follows Phil Crosby's "Zero Defects" quality standards?
Regards,
To a certain degree... certainly.
I believe that a certain level of quality is not necessary, but demanded, by the team/individuals themselves.
I know that no project has 100% quality rated by the clients because different points of view tend to come up on the tinniest of matters but also because at some point clients tend to see the final result of their projects with that "this could be better with just a little touch-up" eye. That is inevitable.
But my wife always complains about me being perfectioninst (i think it has to do with me being Virgo or something) which I tend to always bring this trait to work with me.
After a few slips due to the eternal search for perfection I agreed with her and toned my standars down a notch... about 0.01% lower. =)
ross_valusoft says :
salcorp>To a certain degree... certainly.
I believe that a certain level of quality is not necessary, but demanded, by the team/individuals themselves.
I know that no project has 100% quality rated by the clients because different points of view tend to come up on the tinniest of matters but also because at some point clients tend to see the final result of their projects with that "this could be better with just a little touch-up" eye. That is inevitable.
But my wife always complains about me being perfectioninst (i think it has to do with me being Virgo or something) which I tend to always bring this trait to work with me.
After a few slips due to the eternal search for perfection I agreed with her and toned my standars down a notch... about 0.01% lower. =)
I am a Taurus...perfection is what we eat and breath...but that is a very dangerous trait to have as a Project Manager because it always works against the "time" objective of delivering a project. You need to turn this characteristic towards the project's process rarther than the project's deliverable. It is not easy...I know!
The thing about quality is that it too, like success, can be objective. William Edwards Deming, one of the fathers of the quality movement, said that the customer defines what a product's quality should be and that it has dynamic characteristics in scope and time which must be measured. So if you are engaged to produce a product that is meant to be used only once, it is your obligation NOT to design a product that can go beyond that requirement...even if your perfectionist gut wants to do otherwise
newbie says :
ross_valusoft>So if you are engaged to produce a product that is meant to be used only once, it is your obligation NOT to design a product that can go beyond that requirement...even if your perfectionist gut wants to do otherwise.
hey that is what i do with my use once utilities...but gee funny how they get used again and again...but still no error messages or documents...no perfects here
newbie
ross_valusoft says :
newbie>hey that is what i do with my use once utilities...but gee funny how they get used again and again...but still no error messages or documents...no perfects here
newbie
Hi newbie,
My father used the saying "Buy in haste, repent in leisure". Your comment has just inspired a new saying...
"Build in haste, regret in leisure" :D Thanks!
salcorp says :
ross_valusoft>Hi newbie,
My father used the saying "Buy in haste, repent in leisure". Your comment has just inspired a new saying...
"Build in haste, regret in leisure" :D Thanks!
Nice saying... now you just have to right a book on RFPs to put that on your book jacket. :D
Bernard says : Haste makes waste.
