Triangles are a powerful force: the Bermuda Triangle, the rhetorical triangle, the Triangle Offense and now, the project management triangle.

At its most basic, the project management triangle rule states that there are three drivers of a project: budget, timeline, scope. Just as you cannot change the length of one side of a triangle without changing at least one of the others, you cannot make a change to one of the drivers without affecting AT LEAST one, if not both, of the other drivers.


The most often changed side of the triangle is the scope side. For example, a client will have a set budget and a launch date and then wants to add to the scope of the project without allowing for either more time and/or more money. Managing this scope creep is one of the biggest challenges in a Project Manager’s job and usually requires working with their Account team to explain the time and budget implications to the client (and hopefully getting more time and budget) or asking their development team for a huge favor to try to work the change in and find a way to absorb the cost (which is rarely the desired route, but ends up happening more often than it should.)
 


Scope changes will often result in changes to both time and budget because it is usually the only driver that gets bigger as opposed to smaller. While budgets and timelines are more often cut than expanded, scope decrease is virtually unheard of.



When budgets and timelines are cut, it usually is accommodated by reducing scope. The challenge here is reducing scope enough to make sure that you can successfully complete the project within the shortened timeline or reduced budget, while not cutting it so much that the finished product is just a glimmer of its original self.

As you manage your projects, keep the triangle in mind and your final products will stay true to what was envisioned.