Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Your Friend, Triple Constraint
One of the most underrepresented tools in a project manager’s toolset is the simple use of the project triple constraint: time, cost and scope.
How, you ask? Simple. At the beginning of the project the project manager needs to have a serious discussion with the project and/or executive sponsor to determine where they stand with these three factors, which are commonly referred to as “project priority trade-offs” (appropriately named as — let’s face it — every successful project implementation is the result of effectively managed trade-offs). The idea is you give them 10 “points” which they must allocate to each factor based on the relative priority or importance of each for this initiative. So, for example, a sponsor may allocate his or her points as follows:
Time: 4 points
Cost: 2 points
Scope: 4 points
What does this tell the project manager? Well it says that the sponsor cares more about getting the functions or features he or she wants (the scope), within the timeframe set out at the beginning of the project, and isn’t as concerned about the cost. This important piece of information — documented in the Project Management Plan — will be used by in two ways:
1. At the beginning of the project the project manager will use this information to negotiate the appropriate number of resources to …
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