课程: Project Management Foundations: Budgets

Balancing competing budget constraints

课程: Project Management Foundations: Budgets

Balancing competing budget constraints

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- Being a mediator is one of the most challenging of the many roles you play as a project manager. Rarely does a project happen without the need for a mediator, and this is because debates arise when stakeholder expectations need to be in sync. Most often, those debates involve competing constraints. For example, one may focus on keeping costs as low as possible. At the same time, another may focus on producing a high quality product and they want to spend more on the best materials to make the product. While quality versus cost is a common source of conflict, many items can trigger a debate. These include deadlines, meeting regulations, working with a predetermined budget, meeting quality policies, scope requirements to remain competitive, stakeholder priority conflicts, and other business initiatives pulling staff away from your project. It's important to note that the project sponsor is responsible for making decisions about these conflicts, but as the project manager, you can play a significant role in working through these competing constraints. Presenting solution options to stakeholders in conflict can significantly reduce time and frustration. So being a mediator who offers alternatives can save your project. Let's look at the example of cost versus quality. With one party saying to minimize cost and the other focused on the best quality, there needs to be more common ground to resolve the conflict. However, with proper analysis an experienced project manager will propose alternatives. One proposal could be to use some higher quality products and others less expensive with nearly the same quality. This would save money, but still produce a good quality product. Alternatively, you could create two versions of the product; one that's lower cost and lower quality and the other that's higher cost and the best quality. This could form the basis for a compromise your stakeholders may find acceptable. A document with potential compromise options you can use to address the debate topics I've shared in this video is included in the exercise files. It's wise to get the endorsement of your sponsor to investigate acceptable alternatives. Then talk with the stakeholders about conditions they may find acceptable. That way you only work through potential options with your team that will be accepted. While the role of mediator may seem intimidating, stakeholders usually welcome it. They often need help to get to an acceptable solution so you can make the process easier while you don't make the decision that resolves these competing constraints and you'll look like a hero, at least for a day.

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