The Magic Triangle – last time we looked, excel spreadsheets and project plans didn’t feature in Harry Potter!
… erecting a new factory hall within a few days? Development of a new technology component that has low production cost and a big profit margin?
…That sounds like some magic is needed! Here is a little ‘project magic’ to help you:
Let’s have a look at our three magic points:
- cost
- time
- effort, often also referred to as quality
Okay, cost time and effort – if you internalise these three dimensions and bear them in mind you will gain a lot. Indeed, virtually all decisions in a project go back to one of these three angles:
Cost: what budget is there for your project? What does it cost to implement the ideas?
Time: how much time do you have to complete the project? How long do the tasks realistically take?
Effort: what is supposed to be achieved/produced? What’s the required quality?
And right slap-bang in the middle – don’t forget – customer satisfaction! If we keep our customers right in the middle of it all we can’t go wrong.
The project manager is left with the honourable yet tricky job to balance these targets in order to lead the project to success. Naturally, this isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Let’s have a look at some examples: Continue reading →
Ricarda Baldock works as a freelance project manager and management consultant with experience in SMEs, the charity sector, in IT projects and in the finance sector.
Among her specialties are project planning, strategic analysis, process improvement, project branding and project marketing.
