Page 118 - Project+

project. These will be order-of-magnitude estimates based on actual duration and cost

of similar projects or the expert judgment of someone familiar with the work of the
project. Order-of-magnitude estimates are usually wide-ranging and do not have to be
precise estimates at this stage in the project.

Assumptions

You’ll recall from Chapter 3 that an assumption is an action, a condition, or an event
that is believed to be true. Assumptions can get you into trouble if they are not

documented and clearly understood by the stakeholders and project team members.
You may think something is obvious, but if it’s not written down, chances are other
team members or stakeholders will have a different opinion on the matter.
Assumptions must be documented and validated.

Constraints and influencers are the last element of the scope statement. They are topics
unto themselves, so you’ll take a look at them in the next section.

Scope Statement Purpose

Remember for the exam that the purpose of the scope statement is to document
the project objectives, the deliverables, and the work required to produce the

deliverables.

Constraints and Influences

The last section of the scope statement is the constraints and influences list.
Remember that a constraint is anything that restricts or dictates the actions of the
project team. An influence can bring about a constraint or impact an existing

constraint. Every project faces potential constraints regarding time, budget, scope, or
quality. From the start of any project, at least one of these areas is limited. If you are
developing a new product with a short time-to-market window, time will be your
primary constraint. If you have a fixed budget, money will be the constraint. If both
time and money are constrained, quality may suffer.

A predefined budget or a mandated finish date needs to be factored into any discussion

on project scope. Scope will be impacted if either time or budget is constrained. As the
project progresses and changes to scope are requested, scope may become a constraint
that in turn drives changes to time, cost, or quality.

Project constraints and influences comprise 17 percent of the exam
questions. Make certain you understand the definition of a constraint and
influence and also understand the types of constraints and influences that exist on

any project.

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