Management of time, cost, and quality

Management of Time

Definition of Time Management: In terms of project management, utilising available time judiciously and strategically to complete tasks within allocated deadline.
Importance of Time Management: Ensures project stages are completed within proposed timeframes minimising cost overruns and maintaining credibility with stakeholders.
Scheduling: Creation of a detailed project schedule showing when each task should start, when it’s expected to be finished, and who is responsible for its completion.
Critical Path Method (CPM): A step-by-step technique used for planning complex projects, showing tasks that must be completed on time for the project to finish on schedule.
Gantt chart: A visual tool frequently used in project management to give a simplified overview of the project schedule.

Management of Cost

Definition of Cost Management: Process of estimating, controlling and planning budgets to complete project within allocated financial resources.
Budgeting: Making an itemised summary of likely income and expenses over a specified period, including allocation of funds to particular areas of a project.
Cost Estimation: Predicting the cost of a project through three primary estimation methods, namely analogous, parametric, and bottom-up.
Control Costs: This involves comparing actual spending with the project budget and making adjustments where necessary.

Management of Quality

Definition of Quality Management: Ensuring the final output meets the required standard or the clients’ expectations.
Quality Planning: Setting quality standards and defining how to satisfy them using quality management processes.
Quality Assurance: Involves regular checks during the project to guarantee that the output meets or exceeds specified standards.
Quality Control: Involves inspections after project completion to identify and correct defects or issues before handover.
Continuous Improvement: Monitor project outcomes and use feedback for improvement of future projects.

Balancing Time, Cost and Quality

Triple Constraint: Also known as the “project management triangle”, it is the balancing of time, cost and quality in a project.
The triangle illustrates that changing one aspect of the triangle will inevitably affect the other two: for example, increasing quality may also increase time and cost.
Successful projects strike a balance between these three constraints, delivering high-quality results on time and within budget.

Remember to use project management tools and techniques effectively to manage time, cost, and quality effectively in project management. Effectively balancing these factors leads to successful project completion within the stipulated timeframe and budget, and to the required quality standards.