Conclusion
· Project manager has to balance cost, schedule and quality/feature of the project as the project being implemented.
· Some balancing can be done by the project team alone. Some have to be decided by the sponsor or by the executives of the organization.
******
3 levels of balancing a project:
- Project level
- Business case level
- Enterprise level
Project Level
· Re-estimate the project
· Change schedule to take advantage of the "float"
· Add people to the project
· Increase productivities (internal vs. external experts)
· Outsource
· "Crashing the Schedule"
· Overtime
Not reduce quality, but may reduce features, for example, from 8 to 5…
Business Case Level
· Reduce product scope
· Fixed-phase scheduling
· Fast-tracking (parallel tasks)
· Phased product delivery (intermediate product?)
· Do it twice (one quickly that barely works, one later with full feature)
· Chang profit margin
Enterprise Level
Should we choose this project for another?
Should we change the enterprise-level policy or strategy to improve all projects? For example,
- use more technology for meeting and communication?
- have an overall contract for outsourcing?
