How does the planning department balance the management triangle

One of the most difficult aspects of project management is balancing the critical elements of scope, time, and cost, sometimes referred to as the Project Management Triangle. Each of these components is critical to the success of any project, but they have an unbreakable connection, so changes in one can have a substantial impact on the others. Mastering this balance is important for the planning department to execute projects that fulfill expectations while staying within budget and time constraints. This article will examine how the planning department controls the relationships between project scope, time, and cost.

The project management triangle

To have a good schedule, you must cover all three aspects of the project management triangle. But let’s explain each one of them individually,

Ready to take your skills to the next level? 🚀 Check out our Special Online Courses! 🚀
Gain valuable insights, boost your career, and learn from industry experts.

Planning Courses

Cost: Refers to the financial resources necessary to finish a project. It comprises all expenses for labor, materials, equipment, services, and other resources required to complete the project.

Time: Refers to the timeline or period required to finish a project. It contains the planning, sequencing, and execution of activities required to complete the project’s objectives within a given period.

Scope: Refers to the whole amount of effort required to finish a project, including the objectives, deliverables, and boundaries. It describes what is and is not included in the project, detailing activities, features, and functionalities that must be completed to meet the project’s objectives.

Covering each aspect in the management triangle

Time

the duration of the whole project is usually covered in the contract while the duration of each activity is left to the planning engineer to estimate.

We have several techniques that cover the duration estimation

1. Analogous Estimation

It involves using data from previous, similar projects and any related document to timing and scheduling in the lessons learned report to estimate activity’s durations on your project.

For example, if the quantity of masonry required in the new project is nearly equal to an old project we can use the same duration as the previous project.

The quantities are nearly equal so we can take the same duration as the previous project.

Or we can do a simple cross-multiplication equation.

project	Duration	Quantity
Old project	25	1980.00
New project	?	1990.00

Duration =(25*1990)/1980 =25.16 ≈26 days

2. Parametric Estimation

Parametric estimating uses an algorithm to calculate duration based on historical data and project parameters.

For example. You take the previous project as a reference and tailor the new project’s conditions.

Activity	Historical Duration	Level of labor experience	Weather	Duration Estimation
100 m3 concrete for slabs	3 days	Less than before	Worse RECOMMENDED COURSE Cost Control for Construction Projects Course WhatsApp Support Group All enrolled trainees get an invitation to the course WhatsApp support group, where our team answers your questions… 810 students WhatsApp support group Certificate View course	6 days

3. Three-point Estimation

Multipoint estimating assesses duration by applying an average or weighted average of optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely estimates.

Activity	Pessimistic	Optimistic	Most Likely	Triangular Distribution	Beta Distribution
50 m2 Ceramic Tiles	17 hrs.	7 hrs.	10 hrs.	(O+M+P)/3	(O+4M+P)/6

Activity	Pessimistic	Optimistic	Most Likely	Triangular Distribution	Beta Distribution
50 m2 Ceramic Tiles	17 hrs.	7 hrs.	10 hrs.	12 hrs.	11 hrs.

4. Bottom-Up Estimation

The most accurate technique. Better used for complex activities that consist of more than one sub-activity. We break the activity into sub-activities and calculate the duration of each one individually.

Activity	Sub-Activities	Estimated Duration (Using any method)
Reinforced Concrete for 100 m3 Slabs	Formwork	2 days
	Steel Reinforcement	1.5 days
	Concrete Pouring	0.5 days
	Curing	4 days
Total Duration Estimation		= 2 + 1.5 + 0.5 + 4 = 8 days

You can learn more about time techniques from our new course here.

Cost

The cost aspect can be covered by the resource-smoothing. You receive the total project cost from the contract, but the cost of each activity can be found in the BOQ. However, you as a planning engineer need to distribute the cost over the whole project’s duration to make it achievable. This can be done using several approaches. In this article, we will talk about resource smoothing.

Resource smoothing is a technique used to adjust resource allocation without changing the project’s overall duration. The focus is on using resources as efficiently as possible without affecting critical deadlines or the project timeline. The goal of resource smoothing is to even out resource usage while keeping the project within its original schedule. It minimizes fluctuations in resource allocation, making resource usage more consistent without impacting deadlines. Using relationships between activities and modify durations accordingly. Resource smoothing can be achieved.

Example: If a construction project has two tasks that can start within a two-week period and share the same labor instead of hiring another labor and increasing the cost, resource smoothing would reschedule these tasks to evenly distribute the labor while ensuring the project stays on track without extending the deadline.

You can learn more about cost control in this article.

Scope

A scope is a way to set boundaries on your project and define exactly what goals, deadlines, and project deliverables you’ll be working towards. By clarifying your project scope, you can ensure you hit your project goals and objectives without delay or overwork.

Scope can be managed and controlled regarding the other two aspects by the BOQ, and any restriction attached to the contract.

The BOQ includes all the work required to be done and included in the project. Which is part of the scope. Any other item or work required that is not mentioned in the BOQ nor the contract is considered out of the scope, it is essential to know what your scope is to avoid scope creep and manage the cost and time effectively.

Conclusion

Time, cost, and scope, or as we call them the management triangle are the foundations to achieve a successful project, if each of them is managed effectively with respect to the other one, the project’s chances of success are higher. If time was estimated using the most suitable technique, the cost was managed and distributed smoothly along the duration to avoid high costs for resources, and the scope was known and very well defined no doubt that the project is well managed and planned.

Download the Resources of this Article