Assumptions

 

An assumption is a belief of what you assume to be true in the future. You make assumptions based on your knowledge, experience or the information available on hand. These are anticipated events or circumstances that are expected to happen during your project’s life cycle.

 

Assumptions are supposed to be true, but do not necessarily end up being true. Sometimes it may turn out to be false, which can affect your project significantly. 

 

Examples of Assumptions

 

• You will get all resources required by you.

• During the rainy season, cheap labor will be available.

• All important stakeholders will come to the next meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Constraints

 

Contraints are limitations imposed on the project, such as the limitation of cost, schedule, or resources, and you have to work within the boundaries restricted by these constraints. All projects have constraints, which are defined at the beginning of the project.

 

The PMBOK Guide recognizes six project constraints: scope, quality, schedule, budget, r

resource and risk. Out of these six, scope, schedule, and budget are collectively known as the triple constraints.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A constraint can be of two types:

 

• Business Constraints: Depend on the state of your organization; for example, time, budget, resource, etc.

   

• Technical Constraints:  Limit your design choice. For example, let’s say you’re constructing a pipeline, and according to the design your pipeline should be able to withstand a certain amount of pressure. This pressure limit is your technical constraint.

 

So now you know that every project has constraints; therefore, you must identify all your project constraints (such as any milestone, scope, budget, schedule, availability of resources, etc.), and develop your plan accordingly.

 

Examples of Constraints

 

• You must complete 25% of the work within the first 30 days.

• You have to work with the given resources.

• You will be given only two site engineers.

 

Summary

So you can see how important the assumptions and constraints are for your project. 

 

Assumptions and constraints can be anything; they might be related to human resources, budget, time or any kind of functionally.

 

Assumptions need to be analyzed and constraints need to be identified.

 

As a project manager you must analyze how assumptions and constraints affect your project and what will happen if any assumption fails or any constraint gets resolved or turns out to be false.

 

If you handle your project constraints and assumptions appropriately, it will help you deliver your project on time while meeting stakeholders’ expectations.