Project Trade-off Decisions - Are they being used anymore?
Bill DowPMO Director| University of WARenton, Wa, United States
Hey there, I see that the industry is going away or has gone away (I am asking) from project trade-off decisions and was wondering why? Are projects simply not using them any more? Did we come up with a way now through Agile, DevOps or one of the other methodologies that we don't need trade-off decisions anymore?
You mention DevOps so I guess the context of your question is software development and configuration management? Trade-off decisions tend to be less important these days because software tends to be delivered in short cycles on the basis of continuous improvement where the triple constraint is largely irrelevant and priority and value are what matter.
In other scenarios where there is a triple constraint, trade-offs may still be relevant of course.
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1 reply by Bill Dow
Aug 11, 2021 1:49 PM
Bill Dow
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Thanks David, that's a great point, and you are right, I was leaning to software, but really looking across the board. You are right, with DevOps and Agile, software is delivered faster, but still lots of hybrid methodologies so was wondering in general still really relevant or not.
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Bill DowPMO Director| University of WARenton, Wa, United States
Aug 11, 2021 1:38 PM
Replying to David Portas
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Hi Bill,
You mention DevOps so I guess the context of your question is software development and configuration management? Trade-off decisions tend to be less important these days because software tends to be delivered in short cycles on the basis of continuous improvement where the triple constraint is largely irrelevant and priority and value are what matter.
In other scenarios where there is a triple constraint, trade-offs may still be relevant of course.
Thanks David, that's a great point, and you are right, I was leaning to software, but really looking across the board. You are right, with DevOps and Agile, software is delivered faster, but still lots of hybrid methodologies so was wondering in general still really relevant or not. Saving Changes...
I can only speak for a limited number of companies, but one thing I've seen that may be a factor is the decision making process. If a project has a good ROI, it gets added to the queue. This is in contrast to comparing two projects with good ROI and deciding which one will be a more valuable use of company resources. We can do everything on the list if we just "go faster".
I don't mean to sound cynical with the last comment, but that was the essence of the message delivered to employees at two different companies.
We're still making trade-off decisions with regard to project scope. Most recently, a developer presented two different options - one that is faster to deliver and one that is a better user experience. UX for the win. As project managers, I think we pursue trade-offs at the micro-level, but we are removed from decisions made at the macro-level, and (again, not to sound cynical) I think it has become more common for consumerism to affect decisions made at the macro-level.
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1 reply by Bill Dow
Aug 11, 2021 8:32 PM
Bill Dow
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Thanks Aaron, good thoughts. Yeah, no worries on the cynical at all, it is interesting to see how companies are and are not handling this decision. I love that UX for the win, I agree every time, but sometimes comes at taking longer and costing more, but UX is so important. Thanks for sharing. Bill
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Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Trade-off decisions are needed if you have to choose between 2 or more options, of which all have significant consequences.
They typically are strategy decisions or portfolio decisions, then often based on capacity limits.
The smaller the project and insignificant the consequences the less you would see trade-offs.
Thomas
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1 reply by Bill Dow
Aug 11, 2021 8:33 PM
Bill Dow
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Interesting Thomas, so in your company, you are not using the Scope, schedule, budget conversation. Or scope, schedule, resource conversation? How are you doing project trade-offs at the project level? Bill
Saving Changes...
Bill DowPMO Director| University of WARenton, Wa, United States
Aug 11, 2021 2:36 PM
Replying to Aaron Porter
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I can only speak for a limited number of companies, but one thing I've seen that may be a factor is the decision making process. If a project has a good ROI, it gets added to the queue. This is in contrast to comparing two projects with good ROI and deciding which one will be a more valuable use of company resources. We can do everything on the list if we just "go faster".
I don't mean to sound cynical with the last comment, but that was the essence of the message delivered to employees at two different companies.
We're still making trade-off decisions with regard to project scope. Most recently, a developer presented two different options - one that is faster to deliver and one that is a better user experience. UX for the win. As project managers, I think we pursue trade-offs at the micro-level, but we are removed from decisions made at the macro-level, and (again, not to sound cynical) I think it has become more common for consumerism to affect decisions made at the macro-level.
Thanks Aaron, good thoughts. Yeah, no worries on the cynical at all, it is interesting to see how companies are and are not handling this decision. I love that UX for the win, I agree every time, but sometimes comes at taking longer and costing more, but UX is so important. Thanks for sharing. Bill Saving Changes...
Bill DowPMO Director| University of WARenton, Wa, United States
Aug 11, 2021 4:32 PM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
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Trade-off decisions are needed if you have to choose between 2 or more options, of which all have significant consequences.
They typically are strategy decisions or portfolio decisions, then often based on capacity limits.
The smaller the project and insignificant the consequences the less you would see trade-offs.
Thomas
Interesting Thomas, so in your company, you are not using the Scope, schedule, budget conversation. Or scope, schedule, resource conversation? How are you doing project trade-offs at the project level? Bill
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1 reply by Thomas Walenta
Aug 12, 2021 3:53 AM
Thomas Walenta
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Bill
In small projects using agile concepts the decision making is frequent and consequences are low, so trade-offs are there but easily reversed.
In larger projects, yes there are trade-offs to be made by the PM but mostly sponsors and execs are not involved/interested. It is the job of the PM.
Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Aug 11, 2021 8:33 PM
Replying to Bill Dow
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Interesting Thomas, so in your company, you are not using the Scope, schedule, budget conversation. Or scope, schedule, resource conversation? How are you doing project trade-offs at the project level? Bill
Bill
In small projects using agile concepts the decision making is frequent and consequences are low, so trade-offs are there but easily reversed.
In larger projects, yes there are trade-offs to be made by the PM but mostly sponsors and execs are not involved/interested. It is the job of the PM.
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1 reply by Bill Dow
Aug 12, 2021 9:25 AM
Bill Dow
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Thanks Thomas, that's interesting. Appreciate your thoughts!
Saving Changes...
Bill DowPMO Director| University of WARenton, Wa, United States
Aug 12, 2021 3:53 AM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
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Bill
In small projects using agile concepts the decision making is frequent and consequences are low, so trade-offs are there but easily reversed.
In larger projects, yes there are trade-offs to be made by the PM but mostly sponsors and execs are not involved/interested. It is the job of the PM.
Thanks Thomas, that's interesting. Appreciate your thoughts! Saving Changes...
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